Training Rundown Week 9-MS Run The US

Less than 90 days until my MS Run The US start line! I think I'm much more nervous to hit my fundraising goal compared to running 175 miles over 7 days! I guess that's a marathon runner for you though.... I came down with a bit of a cold/ major headache/ sore throat on Thursday and ended up switching my runs around a bit to accomodate that as my rest day. We also got hit with a bunch of snow all week, so I spent most of my runs on the treadmill because the roads were a disaster early in the morning and also super chilly out (less than 10*...too cold for me to be outside running!). 

MONDAY: 1.5 mile warm-up; 8 miles at tempo 8:20 (last mile 7:53); 1.5 mile cool-down--> 11 miles total. All on the treadmill + 20 minutes of strength + 30 minutes of yoga

TUESDAY: 7 miles easy; actual: 6 miles easy (all I had time for) @ 10:19. So snowy outside and no clear roads/trails. Much more like a trail run than a road run...

WEDNESDAY: 1.5 warm-up; 6 x 800 @ 7:13 (actual: 7:08 pace) with 400R between sets; 1.5 cool-down (actual: .75 cool-down). All done by 6:30am and on the ice teaching by 7am. Did this on the treadmill because roads were not clear and had to cut my cool-down short because of time constraints. 60 minute Jumpboard Reformer class at lunch.

At least I had a rose to keep me company on the treadmill this morning!

THURSDAY: REST DAY

FRIDAY: planned 8 miles easy. actual 6 miles easy @ 10:00. Still felt a bit off, so cut it after 6!

Cold & Snowy!

SATURDAY: planned 16 miles @ 9:03-9:18 pace. actual: 13.25 miles @ 9:10 pace. Was on the treadmill and still felt a bit weak from being sick the past two days. 

SUNDAY: 8.0 miles easy @ 9:50. Finally felt stronger and got to run outside as well! Perfect morning before teaching skiing. 

Positive Splits:

• Got in 3 strength training sessions
• Hit my paces and felt strong on both my speed & tempo workouts
• Fit in 30 minutes of yoga!
• Hydration and rest were key this week

Negative Splits:

• Got a bit of a cold...boo...and had to readjust my training days
• Most runs on the treadmill
• Definitely did not foam roll enough! 

Training Rundown Week 8-MS Run The US

50 miles this week! I somehow always feel like it takes me a bit to adjust to running 50ish miles a week and then it becomes easy (ier). It's crazy to think that I'm now less than 100 days away from my MS Run The US start line AND less than 8 more weeks until the Salt Lake City Marathon! I was able to hit all of my paces this week and am feeling really strong. I shifted back to my early AM workouts and think that was a major difference in feeling more like myself and not so 'scatter-brained'/ in a funk!

Monday: 10 miles; 1.5 warm-up; 7 miles @ TM 8:20-8:35 (actual: 8:22); 1.5 cool-down. I love when I start getting to the point where I can hit my goal marathon pace without even looking at my watch every 2 seconds. 60 minute Yoga class after work!

Tuesday: 6 miles easy @ 9:43. I split this run up between teaching skating and did about a mile before with Stella and the remaining 5 afterwards solo. It's SO nice to run outside after work and have it still be light out.

Wednesday: 8 miles; 2.0 warm-up; 3 x 1600 @ 7:13 (actual: 7:08, 7:07, 7:05); 2.0 cool-down. I did this on the treadmill since it was cold out and I'm just not a fan of speedwork when it's chilly. 60 minute Pilates Jumpboard Reformer class at lunch.

Thursday: 6 miles easy @ 9:43. ~300' elevation gain. 

Friday: 10 miles easy @ 9:58. 600' elevation gain. 15 minutes of strength & stretching.

Saturday: 10 miles easy @ 10:52; 1, 392' elevation gain. Almost died on this one, but really glad I pushed through it!! SOOO much elevation gain and so hard. My legs were completely dead afterwards

Positive Splits:

• Hit my paces in each workout
• Got in 2 strength training sessions
• Finally got to go to Yoga!
• Foam rolled almost each night before bed...really helped me sleep well!

Negative Splits:

• Nutrition wasn't the best this past week.
• Easy runs (for the most part) were a bit fast

Training Rundown Week 7- MS Run The US

Happy Humpday! I cannot believe I'm already almost 2 full months into my training plan! It really flys by and next week I'll be LESS THAN 100 OUT from my May start line (and much sooner for my Salt Lake City Marathon). I honestly feel like January just came and went so quickly. I've been in a bit of a funk lately and so I switched up when I did each of my workouts last week and that REALLY helped. I ended up starting my week with some tempo miles and did my long run on Thursday afternoon/early evening. I really had an inkling to run long all day at work Thursday and had the perfect window to do it after I got out at 3:30!

Monday: 10 miles; 1.5 warm-up @ 10:00; 7 miles tempo 8:20-8:35 (actual: 8:27); 1.5 cool-down. Rocked it. Felt strong and pace never felt hard.

Tuesday: 6 miles easy @ 9:55. Split this run up between teaching skating in the afternoon. 2.6 miles with Stella; 45 minute break; 3.4 miles solo

Wednesday: 8 miles (actual: 7 miles); 1.5 warmup (.5 warm-up); 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 (400R- all done @ 7:08-7:13 pace on the treadmill); 1.5 cool-down (.75 cool-down). I started and finished this run by 6:30 in the morning at the gym (had to be to work by 7) and felt really strong and was going to finish out and get that last ~1 mile later in the day, but I felt strong and was good with just leaving it as is. 60 minute Jumpboard Reformer at the Pilates studio over lunch

Thursday: 14 miles long slow 9:03-9:18; 14 miles (8.6 miles; 1 hour break; 5.4 miles on treadmill) @ 9:03 . Felt strong and a bit sore. Normally I try not to do two hard workouts back-to-back, but where my Wednes run was done by 6:30pm and this run didn't even start until after 3:30pm, I felt recovered and ready to run hard (knowing that I'd take the next few runs super easy)

Friday: Rest Day. Switched around my rest days again. I had a terrible day at work and was feeling a cold possibly coming on. Slept in and just focused on recovery.

Saturday: 8 miles @ 9:59 on the treadmill & 30 minutes strength (started a new strength training program)

Sunday: 7 miles @ 9:58 599' elevation gain

Positive Splits:

• Hit all my workouts
• Sleep was a priority this week
• Foam rolled almost every night before bed
• Took a few Epsom Salt baths to recover
• Hit over 200 miles in January!

Negative Splits:

• Was 2 miles short on weekly mileage goal
• Didn't get in 3 strength sessions (only 2)
• Still no yoga :( 

Happy Wednesday! How's your training going?!

Training Rundown- Week 6 MS Run The US

HUMPDAY! I am still re-adjusting to my running schedule and last week was a bit of a disaster in terms of half of my runs were on the treadmill and I had a hard time hitting my tempo pace on Wednesday. I still got my mileage in, but it was not pretty. OH WELL. Time to move on from it! 

MONDAY: 1.5 warm-up; 4 x 1200 @ 5:20; 1.5 cool-down (actual: 1.0 warm-up; 4 x 1200 (5:20, 5:20, 5:20, 5:20); 1.0 cool-down

TUESDAY: 6 miles easy on the treadmill @ 9:55

WEDNESDAY: 1.5 warm-up; 7 miles Tempo @ 8:20; 1.5 cool-down-> 10 miles total. This was hard on the treadmill and the gym that I was at in Denver just had a different vibe. Change is never easy folks. 

THURSDAY: 6 miles easy; (actual: 7 miles easy @ 9:40); Went a bit too fast on this one, but felt so good to run outside! 

FRIDAY: Rest Day. I was so exhausted from traveling and driving home on Thursday, that I decided to take the day off. 60 minute CoreReformer class at lunch.

Saturday: 10 miles easy @ 10:06 (actual: 10.25 1, 025' gain).

Sunday: 8 miles easy @ 9:54 with 627' gain

Positive Splits:

• Hit my mileage
• Hit my speed workout paces
• Kept easy runs easy
• Gained a significant amount of elevation

Negative Splits:

• Tempo run was really hard and had to take a few breaks during it.
• Just felt tired and over worked
• Only one strength session fit in this week.

MS Monday- Guest Post

Happy Monday! Today my mom wrote a post about how MS has affected her and the view of the disease through her eyes. I'm so fortunate that she agreed to write this post and was so strong to share her thoughts with us. 

I have experienced a loss. My family experienced a loss. Our community experienced a loss. My father experienced the ultimate loss. Multiple Sclerosis is responsible for every one of these losses.

First, by having his mobility taken away a little bit at a time, my father wasn’t able to continue to do the things that made him who he was every day. He lost his “person”. It’s what makes everyone of us the individual that we are today. He worked with his hands on everything. He was a mobile person, always in motion.

Dad’s day job was a Fork-Lift driver at a wood mill. I remember riding with him on the Fork-lift sometimes after school when I would catch a ride home with him. He was impressive to watch. The Fork-Lift would almost glide across the lot, maybe he was showing off just for me but I thought he was pretty cool. The smell of the wood mill is something you never forget. Whenever I pass by a fresh-cut woodlot or a wood mill (not many left) I always have the memory flash of hanging out at Dad’s work.

He wasn’t much of a reader, unless you count the tool catalogs that he would scour for the next best thing that he would use in the garage. He also was the original Uncle Henry’s shopper (think before Craigslist). Every Sunday morning was spent listening to the “swap shop” on a local radio station where people would call in with things for sale. I don’t even remember if he ever bought anything or not but he sure did like the thrill of the “hunt”. I can identify with this and find myself scouring E-Bay for bargains.

My dad was a driving fiend. He loved to drive anytime, anywhere. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the Interstate or big cities though. My childhood is filled with memories of Sunday drives, camping trips, and outings throughout New England.  He liked to explore and experience new places. Especially if food was involved, he liked to eat out (but who doesn’t).           

As we get older, we have to make changes to our daily routines because physical limitations make us adjust to where we are today. However, when MS decides when you are going to have to make these changes it is frustrating to the person.

I know my dad was frustrated when he first started having walking issues but I don’t really remember a time when he curled up in a ball and stopped fighting. It would have been so easy to just stop doing things but he continued to fight.

At first, using a cane to help him get around and gradually moving into a wheelchair but he still kept going back to the garage and tinkering. He was so patient with his disability, I don’t think I would have been able to be that patient. He had his days when it would get a little overwhelming but honestly, I think he just took it in stride and kept on keepin’ on. Looking back now, I’m surprised he didn’t complain more. I guess everyone has their pain-threshold and tolerance-threshold, well, his was pretty strong.

So, I started with what has been lost but I find that I want to focus on what I have been given instead. I am a lucky girl, to have had my dad for as long as I did and for everything that he gave me that makes me who I am today. Multiple Sclerosis will never take my memories of him.

THANK YOU to the moon and back mom, you are so brave.