Weeks #4-11 NYC Marathon Training: The Good, the Bad & the Evolving

It has been eons since I’ve posted, and for that I can only sigh. It seems that when my training started ramping up, so did “life,” which means that writing and sharing my journey back to NYC became a luxury I didn’t have time to indulge in besides a quick Instagram story here or there. I’m back now though, and even though the weeks have already started to blur together like a Polaroid dipped in water, I’ll try to bring you up to speed with a quick recap of the past eights weeks.

In a nutshell, training has been filled with high highs, a few low lows, and a whole lot of regular training days thrown in all along the way. It’s been a sweet dance of savoring the journey and reveling in the effort of pressing personal fitness boundaries again, while also managing the frustration of trudging through several weeks of healing injury setbacks–the price paid for pushing too hard too soon.

Here’s a look back at my training schedule (July 10-Sept 3). I share all the minutia here because I also consider my blog a digital diary, which I enjoy circling back to at times. If you aren’t interested in the daily details you can scroll down to Things I’ve Learned.

Week # 4: Healing hip/glute/SI injury, but still trying to keep moving forward
Mon 7/10-XT (swim 525 y, spin 25 min, elliptical 1.25 miles, strength 15 min)
Tues 7/11-Rest day and retail therapy buying new fuel and Hoka Clifton running shoes [ !! 🙂 ]
Wed 7/12-Strength 40 min
Thur 7/13-Spin class (60 min, 25 miles), strength 20 min
Fri 7/14-Elliptical 1.5 miles, walk 1.25 miles
Sat 7/15-Elliptical 1.65 miles, tested running on treadmill .25 mile (no bueno), strength 10 min
Sun 7/16-Walk 1 mile

*Week #4 You know you’re an optimist when you’re buying new fuel and shoes while you’re injured.*

Week #5: Still healing
Mon 7/17-Elliptical 3 miles
Tues 7/18-Pool running 50 min
Wed 7/19-Walk 1 mile
Thurs 7/20-Spin class 40 min (12 miles), walk 1 mile
Fri 7/21-Jog 1 mile on treadmill, pool running 30 min
Sat 7/22-Core
Sun 7/23-Run 3 miles

*Week #5 still healing–pool running and an emphasis on going especially easy, gently stretching, and good nutrition helped me turn the corner. Love all the apricots from our tree this time of year!*

Week #6: Slowly getting back at it
Mon 7/24-Elliptical 3 miles
Tues 7/25-Spin class (60 min, 21 miles), strength 40 min
Wed 7/26-Run 4 miles EZ at Lake Los Carneros, walk 1.5 miles, core 25 min
Thur 7/27-Swim 1025 y, pool running 15 min, strength 10 min
Fri 7/28-Run 3 miles EZ at Ellwood Bluffs trail
Sat 7/29-Run 8 miles w/ 1-minute walk breaks Goleta Beach bike path
Sun 7/30-Rest

*Week #6 slowly getting back at it–just trying to stay consistent*

Week #7: Trying to build back up
Mon 7/31-Run 4 miles (Nite Moves course)
Tues 8/1-Spin class (45 min, 12 miles), strength 35 min
Wed 8/2-Run 5.75 miles w/Becca at East Beach (Go Team B & B!)
Thur 8/3-Yoga 35 min
Fri 8/4-Run 3 miles at Ellwood Bluffs trail run
Sat 8/5-Run 10 miles w/ 1-minute walk breaks (UCSB Campus Point, More Mesa, Goleta bike path–took a spill and injured my elbow–argh! are you kidding me?)
Sun 8/6-Rest

*Week #7 trying to build back up and not lose my mind when I added an elbow injury to the mix. WTF?*

Week #8: A busy week calls for consistency with flexibility
Mon 8/7-Run 4 miles on Patterson bike path, strength 15 min
Tues 8/8-Rest day, Core 10 min (Taylor Swift concert in LA!)
Wed 8/9-Run 4 miles at Lake Los Carneros after getting home at 3am from TayTay, Elliptical 2 mile
Thur 8/10-Spin solo 48 min, strength
Fri 8/11-Run 3.2 miles w/Becca at Goleta Beach bike bath
Sat 8/12-Run 10 miles in the evening w/ 1 min walk breaks along the waterfront and at SBCC track
Sun 8/13-Rest, Walk 1 mile, (helped friends move)

Week #8 A busy week calls for consistency with flexibility. I don’t usually like to run in the evening, but had to squeeze my 10 miles in late. It ended up being one of my favorite runs. #dontthinkjustgo

Week #9: After a storm comes a rainbow
Mon 8/14-Run 4 mile trail recovery run at Ellwood Bluffs, core 30 min
Tues 8/15-Spin class ez (50 min 11.5 miles)
Wed 8/16-Run 5.71 miles w/Becca on the She.Is.Beautiful 10k course
Thurs 8/17-Spin class (45 min), strength 35 min (elbow still healing), walk 1 mile
Fri 8/18-Drive up to San Francisco to take my daughter back to college (epic)
Sat 8/19-Drive back from SF before the storm hit. (doubly epic)
Sun 8/20-Run 12 miles w/ 1-min walk breaks from Leadbetter Beach up around Douglas Preserve and back down to East Beach and back

Week #9 A fair amount of stress wrapped itself around this week with taking my daughter back to school in San Francisco, a C_r_a_Z_y drive both ways up and back on the 101 (an overturned celery truck may give you a glimpse into it for starters), and a hurricane heading our way for the first time in a century. But, of course, it all worked out, and as Katy Perry tells us, “after a storm comes a rainbow.”

Week #10: Steady as we go
Mon 8/21-Core/strength 35 min, walk 1.5 miles, PM stretch
Tues 8/22-Elliptical 3 miles, run .50 miles on treadmill
Wed 8/23-Run 5.5 miles (SBCC track and hill repeats at Leadbetter, strength 35 min
Thurs 8/24-Spin class 45 min, strength 45 min
Fri 8/25-Run 3 miles (UCSB Campus Point trail run), strength 30 min, walk 1 mile
Sat 8/26-Run 7 miles w/ Becca (UCSB Campus Point and Goleta bike path)
Sun 8/27-Rest, walk 1 mile in nature

*Week #10 steady as we go-enjoying the journey, especially running with my friend Becca, who always adds a dollop of light and levity to our miles.*

Week #11: Finally feeling strong again!
Mon 8/28-Run 4.75 miles w/ rolling hills on Mt. Drive, strength 35 min
Tues 8/29-Spin class 50 min, strength 40 min
Wed 8/30-Run 6 miles at SBCC track w/ some 800s and 400s
Thur 8/31-Spin class 55 min, strength 30 min
Fri 9/1-Run 4 miles Goleta Beach bike path and UCSB (testing more new shoes)
Sat 9/2-Run 14 miles w/ 1-min walk breaks (Hendry’s Beach, Modoc bike path, Cliff Drive, Douglas Preserve, Shoreline Park, back down to Hendry’s)
Sun 9/3-Rest, walk 1.5 mile

*Week #11 feeling strong again-stoked to be up to 14 miles, and loving a hint of fall in the air*

Things I’ve learned

The older you get, the more closely you need to listen to your body. Ignoring niggles and telling yourself “It’s not that bad” when you feel an ache or a twinge doesn’t often pay off. Twenty-five years ago, when I ran my first marathon, I know for certain I got away with a lot more if I over-trained, under-slept, or over-indulged. At 57, there’s much less room for error. Rest and recovery are as important as reaching new distances or pace numbers. Mobility, mindfulness, and quality nutrition are as important as day after day of quality training.

Instead of pushing back against a body that has had the privilege of enjoying so many fun fitness adventures over the decades, and now may carry a few creaks and scars from those indelible moments, it’s time to lean in and embrace this it for what it can still do and celebrate every step, no matter what speed it cares to move. It’s truly a gift to be able to keep running and challenging ourselves, and a gift that many, many people in this world never get a chance to experience. Can I get a “Hell yeah sister” from anybody else who knows exactly what I’m talking about? 🙂

Rest and recovery are as important as reaching new distances and pace numbers.
Mobility, mindfulness, and quality nutrition are as important as day after day of quality training.
~The evolving athlete (me)

Highlights

With the help and generosity of so many of you, I’ve not only reached my $2,620 fundraising goal for Team for Kids, but surpassed it!! I’m so appreciative of all your good wishes and your help in paying it forward to the next generation of runners. Thank you!!!

Congratulations to Anna Stump for winning a new pair of Hoka running shoes during my fundraising giveaway for Team for Kids. I hope they make your feet happy and your heart full as you log your miles, knowing you have supported a great cause and are helping make a difference in the lives of kids.

Even though I’ve reached my personal fundraising goal, there is no finish line when it comes to raising funds to help kids continue to live an active and healthy lifestyle. If you’d still like to contribute to Team for Kids, you can do so HERE. I’d be thrilled to raise just $200 more to reach an even $3,000 by October. Who is in?

Things I’m loving right now

I’ve been struggling to settle into running shoes this training season because my feet are getting a little more sassy. The latest pair I’m trying is Saucony Kinvara 14s. They are light, breathable neutral shoes for short-medium distances. So far, so good! Bonus–they were super discounted. The color might be a little too bright for some, but not for me! Bring on all that sunshine on my feet. 🙂

Lately I’ve been setting aside my beloved music and opting for an audio book during my long runs to mix things up. I’m really enjoying Liz Robbins’ A Race Like No Other: 26 Miles Through the Streets of New York. It takes me right back, reminding me why I’m working so hard to get to the starting line again. It’s all about the unique energy, diversity, and quirky details of the city…and then of course, the running.

Even though I’ve been lifting weights on and off since high school and am familiar with all kinds of strength exercises, I realized I was haphazardly throwing together my core and strength work, or spending way too much time overthinking it. Instagram has a way of “reading our minds” [#eyeroll] and Kim Miller Fitness’ strength training for runners kept popping up in my feed. I liked her approach so I finally decided to give her app a whirl. It has been great, saving me time, introducing me to new exercises (videos included), and taking the brain strain out of this important component of training. Link to check it out: Kim Miller Fitness Insta: kimrunsthemitten

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little catch-up session. Thanks for coming along on this long and winding journey with me! I love sharing it with you!

I’m heading back out the door for a run now, but drop me a comment if you can spare some of your precious time, and tell me one thing that has made you smile over the summer with your fitness, or life in general. Positive energy is contagious. Let’s spread it far and wide!

xo Becky

PS: If you’ve missed any of my previous NYC Marathon posts, you can click here to check them out:

Kicking off 20 Weeks until the NYC Marathon

Week #2 of NYC Marathon Training: Patience & Grace

Week #3 of NYC Marathon Training: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Week 29 and 30 of Ironman Training: Rollercoasters, Crazies, and Comebacks

TriJerseyRide71816 Coming back from our epic Aspen vacation the week before last, I was excited to get out on my bike again and see how my legs and lungs felt riding at sea level.

After three day’s rest (two days of driving home from Colorado and one “just because”), I was ready to roll. It wasn’t a long ride–less than an hour–but it was magic. One of those great spins, which leaves you grinning from ear to ear. Most exciting, my knees weren’t cranky for the first time in several months. Woohoo! Bonus “happy points,” my sweet new SB Tri kit arrived.

This was the perfect way to launch back into my regular training schedule. I was ready to kick it up a notch, and I couldn’t wait to see what my coach, Matt, had in store for me.

With Ironman Arizona less than 4 months away, it’s time to start rocking for real.

Late in the afternoon, after my morning ride, I headed to Goleta Beach Park to enjoy a 7 mile run around UCSB’s Campus Point. It was a beautiful day, and a perfect reminder of how freaking lucky I am to live and train in Santa Barbara, even if I may have left a tiny piece of my heart back in Aspen.

PalmTreeGoletaBeachRun71816

CampusPointRun

My run went well, except for a niggling pain in my rib/back, which I’d been trying to ignore since I’d tweaked it playing in the snow on the superpipe back in Aspen. Until this run, I simply refused to acknowledge its presence, even though I was far too familiar with this pain. I had injured this exact same spot twice in the past year and a half. Once was during an intense track workout and another time was earlier this year when I hit a pothole really hard while riding my bike. Clearly, I have a weakness in that part of my core that I need to redouble my efforts to strengthen.

On this run every breath felt like having a sharp knife jammed between my ribs, each step like a jackhammer chiseling away at my confidence. How could this happen again?! Then, no matter how hard I tried to distract myself with the beauty around me, I could not stop the flood of doubts and mental f-bombs as frustration washed over me.

UCSBRun71816

When my coach got word of this little “issue,” he immediately trashed the week’s workouts he had planned for me and opted for a daily check-in instead, to see how things were progressing. And things did not progress at nearly the pace at which I was trying to force. %#!@#

After two weeks of riding high in Aspen, this felt like bottoming out on the Ironman training rollercoaster. Argh. Throw in some fatigue from going non-stop on vacation with little sleep….cue the “How low can you go?” music.

Here’s what Week 29’s scaled back training schedule looked like:

Monday: Bike 45 minutes, Run 7 miles
Tuesday: Bike 2 hours
Wednesday: Swim 600y super easy to test rib
Thursday: Rest/Recovery (took this as a mental reboot day)
Friday: Bike 1 hour
Saturday: Run 30 minutes to test rib
Sunday: Rest/Recovery 2 mile walk with family

Every endurance athlete knows there will be aches, mental fatigue, and “things” that pop up along the way during a long training cycle. It’s how you handle them that will determine the outcome. As my coach wisely counseled, “An easier week of light maintenance isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

So I tried to embrace this week, snap out of my malaise, and spend it doing things like finally cleaning out our garage and having a yard sale, relaxing with my family at the beach, and doing some back-to-school shopping with my daughter. The tricky part was not getting grumpy or impatient without my usual flood of exercise endorphins to keep me chirpy. 🙂

An evening picnic at Butterfly Beach helped. And so did an awesome massage from my friend and massage therapist, Stephanie Trager. Thank you Stephanie!

ButterflyBeachDinner72216

When I tried my 30 minute “test run” on Saturday, my rib was still quite uncomfortable, but at least it was fun to chill out at the beach with my family afterward.

ButterflyRunRecovery72416

Here’s what this week’s schedule looked like:

Monday: Bike 3 hours
Tuesday: Rest/Recovery (road trip to LA with friends)
Wednesday: Run 5 miles
Thursday: Bike 2 hours, Ocean Swim
Friday: Run 30 minutes, Swim
Saturday: Bike 2 hours with moderate hills, Run 6 miles
Sunday: Run 1 mile, Bike 3 hours with hills

On Monday’s 3 hour ride, I sported my Colorado jersey to try to rekindle that feeling of joy while navigating the roads here in Santa Barbara. Never mind several close calls with distracted drivers, it was still a solid ride. 40 miles with 2000 ft of elevation.

Ride72516 Ride71816Flowers
Wednesday I was stoked to be back running without huge pain in my rib! 5 miles logged and feeling optimistic again.

MorningRun72716
Thursday’s workouts, I’m VERY happy to say, finally took this Ironman rollercoaster on an upward swing back up to the top again. Not only did I have a nice, solid 2 hour ride where I was finally able to keep my cadence up the whole time, but I FINALLY got myself into the ocean to swim.

ReefandRun
I’m not sure why it has taken me so long this summer to get into the right frame of mind to swim in the ocean, but I guess we all have our silly mental blocks we need to work through. I’m glad I finally did. It was fun–super short and sweet before the Reef & Run races started. Hopefully I’ll be joining in a race soon too.

ReefandRunSwim
Friday’s run was hot, hot, hot in the middle of the day, which made my swim afterward feel nice. My rib was still not 100%, perhaps from being jostled a little in the ocean the night before, so I only swam 650y, but it’s a start back in the right direction! Woohoo!

RunMontecito72916
And this how we roll after we train…stretching, foam rolling and aaaahhh!
RecoveryLegs
After yesterday’s 2 hour ride and 6-mile run, I was completely overheated, but feeling super happy to have put that one in the bag. From day one of my training, my mantra has been, “One Day, One Workout at a Time,” and that is exactly how I’m doing this. A tall iced latte afterward helped a little too.

BrickRun73016
It’s always nice to be able to balance training with family and friend time. After this one we joined friends at the Mission Rose Garden for an evening picnic.
Mission
Today’s ride was meant to be a toughie, and it was. All great stuff. Hills, hills and more hills. Love it! I can tell I’m getting a little stronger with each ride, so it makes the sufferfest worth it. I didn’t take any pictures today, except for this one when I stopped to fill my water bottle back up at Gobernador Canyon. The flowers were so pretty, I couldn’t help myself.

FlowersRide73116

As I sign off for the week, I thought I’d leave you with one parting thought…something I remind myself of daily.

NotEasy

Until next time, my friends…

Thanks for continually lifting me up on this crazy journey. Knowing you’re right there gives me a shot of confidence when I need it most!

PS: As always, if you missed any of my previous posts about Ironman training, you can click on the links below:

Fueling Setbacks with Gratitude

It has been a SERIOUSLY fun year of running for me—pushing myself out my comfort zone, competing, playing, connecting with new people, doing new events.

Each week I’ve gotten stronger, faster and more confident as I’ve worked at getting back into shape.

By late August, I had logged well over a dozen races—many of which I’d run slightly faster than the one before. It was exhilarating.

But then I hit a speed bump.

After running the Ventura Half Marathon in early September and then the She is Beautiful 5K a couple weeks later, with 18 and 20-mile runs in between, along with some tempo runs and track workouts, my body let me know that not only had I taken it too far, I had taken it for granted by ignoring its subtle, yet persistent warning signals.

The aches, “which every runner feels,” I told myself, were never “that bad.” But then those aches suddenly turned into ones that were that bad. With just six weeks to go until my target race—the Santa Barbara Veteran’s Day Marathon—I was forced to put on the brakes as I pushed my foot and back beyond their tipping points.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Long story short (because I don’t want to bore you with a litany of injury details), the Santa Barbara Marathon did not happen for me. Disappointment doesn’t even begin to describe my frustration.

YOU IDIOT! I scolded myself, YOU KNOW BETTER! WHEN WILL YOU EVER LEARN?

After beating myself up, then administering several generous doses of chocolate and wine, I finally pulled myself together. I was determined to salvage this marathon, no matter what.

Thus began my 6-week “mega taper,” which involved a whole lot of rest, pool running, cryotherapy and compression sessions, nothing but uber healthy food, extra cushy Hoka shoes, then slowly easing back into short, easy runs on grass with Coach Nash’s guidance.

I tried to convince myself that by not stressing about it and embracing this “mega taper,” I’d at least get myself to the starting line. Eventually though, it became painfully obvious that attempting a full marathon would be stupid in my marginally healed state, and my marginally maintained fitness level. I might have been able to do it (ever so slooowwwly), but I didn’t want to just run another marathon; I wanted to race it.

But here’s the good news (the cup is half full, right?): although I didn’t run the full marathon, I did manage to salvage race day by at least participating in the half marathon. It was not fast (about 8-10 minutes off my goal time) or pretty, but I did get through it, on a very hot day no less, and did cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

That was three weeks ago. I know Continue reading →

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Run Be Run

A blog about running, triathlons and everday life…for those who are happiest being in motion and chasing after it

Tag Archives: injuries

Weeks #4-11 NYC Marathon Training: The Good, the Bad & the Evolving

Week 29 and 30 of Ironman Training: Rollercoasters, Crazies, and Comebacks

Fueling Setbacks with Gratitude

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