Let’s Take Care of Business

 

#1 Item of Business:

Workout Business

I think I have quite a few days of workouts to record here.  where do I begin…

Thursday night Family Track workout

There was a lot of this going on…

 

and not a lot of running.  but we made it to the track.

Much of what I expected.  I just did 2 miles.  really not even worth it, but it was my last run in my 20’s.  farewell.  It was more of a let’s see how the legs are feeling kind of track run.  they weren’t feeling so hot.  not because I ran a marathon 4 days before, but because something is just really tight in my right leg.  much better today.  but solidified that I will not be running much at all until the next marathon.  surprise.

1/2 mile warmup, 1 mile @ 6:23 (cruising, didn’t feel like I was pushing it) (but it was only 1 mile), 1/2 mile c/d.  big time.  I’m pulling reverse psychology on marathon training – called don’t run at all for 4 weeks leading up to a marathon and have big expectations.  solid training.

some mild not dramatic at all self talk following the little unnecessary, not useful for anything track run:

oh good God in heaven, my leg is broken, that hurt so bad, I’m never going to run again

there’s nothing wrong with your legs, katie, you are 100% fine, it’s just a little numb feeling and you should definitely run 10 miles in this 75 degree weather

oh dear Lord my leg hurts from my glute to my big toe and it will surely need to be amputated.  maybe I could be an elite amputee runner.  that could work.

I pulled myself back down to earth and am preparing to run with a decent amount of leg discomfort on Saturday.  marathons do hurt.   it is a fact.  I will not say pain because certain unnamed people (mom and nana) will get upset if I say I am going to run with pain.

 Side note business…

I’m trying to keep out of my conscious that it’s been one month since I called it on extensive amounts of running.  I think I could count on one hand the # of runs I have done, none of which have exceeded in miles the # of fingers I have on one hand.  I have 5 fingers on my hand.  I don’t have a freakishly odd number of fingers on my hands.  they’re normal.  that’s not a lot of running.  staying positive.  making smart choices.  riding the line between taking it easy and preserving my running body- and overdoing it and killing my running body.  I don’t want that.  I’m really taking it easy, and that’s not necessarily by choice but by the fact that my right leg will eat me alive if I push it through a run before another marathon

Friday Workout 

I put my taper hat on and called it a complete rest day.  I am technically tapering.  how did we get to one week before a marathon again???  I am SO EXCITED to run this marathon.  more on that in uno momento.

Saturday Workout

In the new cool racerback.  another item of clothing everyone should experience.  along with a pair of designer jeans and lululemon wunder unders.  complete wardrobe right there. 

Pretty decent cross training at the gym

1 hour elliptical – I wanted to push it a little bit so I did level 20 alternated with level 16 intervals – alternating forward and backward motion.  fun.

20 minutes speed intervals on stairmaster.

Leg strength training – seated leg abductors (great for IT band issues), seated leg press, squats with shoulder work, planks.

#2 Item of Business:

30th Bday Business

Recap in pictures.  because I’m pretty sick of talking about myself, my birthday and all other things going on.  I was treated like a queen. as it should have been.

Birthday eve cupcakes from the madre

I took a little nibble pre pic.  couldn’t wait.

approximately 3 hours later

   possibly three of the most wonderful things all together in one package

only to possibly be trumped by these that came on my birthday.  that came to me for free.  doesn’t get better.

These will get an entire post of their own.  but I love them.  thank you mizuno.  you are awesome.  and comfortable.  and make my feet happy in every level of stability.

I couldn’t decide which to put on first.  so I wore one on each foot around the house. 

mizuno musha to the left.  mizuno wave precision 12 to the right.  fab.

more flowers…

birthday rocks.  everyone needs birthday rocks. 

according to my children it’s because it would be ‘sad if I didn’t have anything to open on my birthday’.  thoughtful.

because my girls were so generous and gave me precious rocks from the yard that are now sitting on my nightstand, as naturally that’s the only place for them – I in turn took them for a little bday girls day to the salon to get their haircut for the first time and to get their nails done.  I guess salon Katie in the bathroom wasn’t good enough for them. 

to finish off the bday, dinner with the hubs and a trip to lululemon to spend the bday money appropriately and quickly before it got spent on something like food or gas.  fashionable athletic wear is far more important.

here’s my only dinner pic.  it’s a dark picture.  I wore the target shirt.  that was not ugly at all.  hangin’ with my peach kicker in a jar.  it was super tasty.  no pictures of food.  it was super tasty too.  

the peach kicker had peppers in it.  that’s a first for me.  drinking an adult beverage with a vegetable in it.  I’m 30 now.  I can do adult things like that.  another first for me was entering “age 30” on the cardio machines at the gym.  honesty is the best policy.

#3 Item of Business

Running Talk

I’M EXCITED TO RUN A MARATHON IN LESS THAN A WEEK.  really excited.

While I have put ZERO pressure on myself to achieve a certain outcome, I still have tucked away in my mind an adjusted and possibly tangible, but possibly tough to reach goal.  one that will still make me work.  but one that I’m holding onto loosely because I’m not letting this race be my new goal race.  this is my fun race.  and this is my race that I want to love running.  but one that I know will be hard…. 

because my last long run (not including gansett marathon) was in February

because I have taken a huge break from running in this past month

because my right leg still does not feel great.  or near great.

but one that I will be mentally prepared for….

because I am going to remember the training that I have done

because I’m going to tell myself that I am more than capable of achieving what I want to do

because I am going to be confident in my running abilities aside from the speedwork and tempo runs and track work and long runs that I did or did not do.  I have an ability to run.  and I am going to hold onto what I know I can do.

because I know it’s going to hurt.  I know my threshold and I know when the hurt is making me a better, stronger runner and when the hurt is truly a potential injury.  sometimes it’s a fine line and I’m learning how to ride it because I’m not convinced I’m truly injured.  I’d like to get completely off the line and just be a stronger runner.  a work in progress.  balancing work and rest.  I’m in that phase of training where I had upped my miles quite a bit and upped the stress on my body with speedwork and my body is responding and trying to adapt to this stress.

According to The Runner’s Body by Runner’s World, when running and training – there are three stages your body can go through:

1. Alarm

2. Adaptation

3. Exhuastion

Running places a stress on your body and induces an alarm reaction.  this can go either way – lead you to adapt, become a stronger runner.  If the stimulus is too much, it can lead to injury and bodily breakdown.  If the stimulus is too little, you won’t see improvements.  Certain things that determine which way your body goes are Volume (duration, frequency), Intensity and Recovery.  The right interaction of these things determine how your body adapts.  very interesting.

Your body moves into the ADAPTATION phase.

If you put too much stress on your body, you move into the EXHAUSTION phase.  which can be managed by understanding and changing the volume, intensity and very importantly recovery (and rest)

I’m learning how to REST.  I probably came close to the exhaustion phase.  not in the sense that I was physically exhausted, but like I said – walking the line between becoming a stronger runner and getting really injured.  when things start to go wrong, it’s really important to REST.  it gives your body a change.  and a new way to adapt.

It’s very hard for me to rest.  it’s becoming harder to not run.  but I want to run for a long time.  not just the next time I want to go out for a nice 10 mile jog.  patience.

So I’m excited to run this marathon.  with no pressure.  in hot nashville weather.  with my little girls at the finish line and my little sister running the half.  listening to country music all the way.  fantastic.

Tell me about the races this weekend?!?  Who did what?

What is your favorite type of flower?

Cupcakes or brownies?  you must pick one of the two.  no other options.