Time Travel, Blog-Style: Weeks 13 and 14

Eight days from now, I’ll be in a car on my way back from Pittsburgh. And, Lord willing, I’ll be a marathoner! (My heart rate increased just as I typed that. Yeah, I’m nervous and excited.)

But now for a quick look back at two of the weeks that helped me to get to where I am right now: Weeks 13 and 14.

Week 13: March 23 to 29. Week 14: March 30 to April 5
Suggested Mileage: Week 13: 36; Week 14: 33
Actual Mileage: Week 13: 36.1; Week 14: 28.1
Long Run: Week 13: 18.1; Week 14: 14 (14 miles during Week 14? It’s like Hal Higdon tried that or something.)
Short Runs: Week 13: 9, 4, and 5; Week 14: 5.1 and 9 (I skipped another 5-miler)
Cross-training: Week 13: Basketball games immediately after my 18-mile run; walking around New York City the day after the 18-miler. Week 14: Training for the Warrior Dash with my sister (push-ups, jumping jacks, crunches, body weight squats, etc.).
Total Marathon Training Miles: Week 13: 269.6; Week 14: 297.7

One word to describe the week:
Week 13: Comeback.
Week 14: Unwise (?? – you’ll see).

What I liked about the week:
–Week 13: Having fought through the worst of a nasty head cold the week before, I still had some lingering effects. However, I was able to get back on track, completing all of my runs. That really felt nice. Also, the day after the 18-miler, Mom and I went to New York City to see “Les Mis” on Broadway; it was phenomenal! Of course, we were dressed pretty nicely, but we wore comfortable shoes so we’d be able to walk around the city before and after the show (hello, cross-training!). It was such a perfect day.
–Week 14: I love scale-back weeks! I did the 14-mile long run with Jocelyn, who is super fast (in my opinion). She had run a half marathon a few weeks before and was in perfect shape for knocking out the 14 miles. I’d picked a very hilly out-and-back route (it always tests me), and she kept me going at a very good pace, considering how tough the route was. In fact, I think our average pace was my fastest out of all of my double-digit marathon training runs.

What I didn’t like about the week:
–Week 13: Well, I didn’t have a great chance to recuperate from my long run. I had the 18-miler on Saturday, immediately followed by a few hours of playing basketball (I seem to like to play basketball after my long runs lately). On Sunday, of course, we had a full, perfect, wonderful day in NYC (which involved a lot of walking). So, in order to make sure my legs could rest up, I ended up using both of Week 14’s rest days early on in Week 14 (on Monday and Tuesday). That made the rest of Week 14 a little tough. That being said, though, I wouldn’t change a thing about Week 13: not the 18-miler, not the basketball, and definitely not the NYC trip!
–Week 14: OK, the 14-miler was rough, and there are multiple reasons for that. One, we ran a faster pace (which was great!). Two, the route was/is insane; it’s basically rolling hills one way for about 7 miles followed by the same rolling hills in reverse on the way back (and let me tell you, the way back is worse than the way out). Three, it was incredibly windy…and there was even HAIL for a few minutes! And four, I had run 9 miles not even two days before. That’s right. I ran 9 miles on Thursday evening after work and then planned the 14-mile run for Saturday morning. So my legs were definitely not in prime condition. Oh, well. I was still able to do my long run! Thanks to God, Jocelyn, and Hal Higdon!

Favorite run or aspect of a specific run:
–Week 13: I hit a wall around the 15-mile mark of my 18-mile run. (Side note: I went outside early in the morning to check the temperature, and I saw snow! On the ground! And in the air! I mean, seriously? What in the world?!) Candace had run the first 5 miles with me and had helped me get off to a great start. It was crazy to think, after I dropped her off at the 5-mile mark, that I “only” had a half marathon distance to run. Later on, Mom ran 2 or so miles with me (miles 10 to 12-ish) and planned to hang around a bit while I completed part of an out-and-back; she’d then meet up with me at mile 15.5 to run the rest. It snowed most of the way (it finally stopped with 1 mile to go…thanks), and it was cold! I had been doing well, but at mile 15 I just felt like I couldn’t go on. Having your eyeballs continuously pelted with snowflakes for mile after mile really takes its toll. Plus, I was starting to get cold, and I just wanted to be done. I knew, though, that if I could just make it back to where Mom was waiting, I’d be OK and I’d make it the whole way. FINALLY, I saw her. She didn’t make me talk much, which was perfect. One conversation snip-it: Mom said, “Well, at least the weather won’t be like this in Pittsburgh for your race!” And I replied grouchily, “Yeah, it had BETTER not be!” Those last few miles felt slow, but I did it. And with a half mile to go, I started to taste the end of the run, and I just went for it. I love finishing a run strong. 🙂
–Week 14: I had a revelation during that ill-advised 9-mile run (you know, the one I did about 36 hours before the 14-miler). I was running a 4.5-mile trail twice; I’d completed one time and was maybe a half mile into the second time when three people – a mom, a teenager, and a young girl (maybe 9 or 10 years old) – came speeding past me. As in, I ate their dust. I almost had a moment of feeling sorry for myself because I was going so much slower than they were. But then came the revelation (which I’ve had many times as a runner but somehow doesn’t stick with me as much as I’d like): I should not compare myself to any other runner! Maybe they were doing 3 miles…or 4.5…and I was doing 9. But who cares? Who cares if they were running 9, just like I was? Or if they were aiming for 13 or 26 or 50? It doesn’t matter that their pace was faster than mine, just like it doesn’t matter that I had passed a bunch of people earlier in my run. Elites can worry about that stuff. But my focus shouldn’t be on comparing myself to other runners. My focus should be on doing the best I can and giving it 110 percent, no matter if I’m first or last.

Memorable running moment (good or bad):
–Week 13: Well, let’s just say that my nose seemed to be inspired by my running; it wanted to run, too (thanks to the head cold that had bombarded my body the week before). My 9-mile midweek run was the absolute worst as far as the whole nose thing was concerned; as in, I felt bad for anyone who saw me and hoped that they’d think my face was just sweating a lot (and not that my nose was running so uncontrollably that I gave up trying to stop it). And then there were the two monstrously catastrophic snot rocket attempts during my 18-miler. I’m not even going to go into detail. I was glad it was still very dark when I made my valiant attempt. It was bad.
–Week 14: The day of the 14-mile run was overcast and very windy. At one point, with probably about 5 miles left (we had just passed an Amish produce stand/shed, Jocelyn and I noticed that the clouds were getting increasingly dark.
“Well,” she said. “At least it’s not raining.”
“That’s true,” I replied.
No kidding, like 30 seconds later: Precipitation! But it wasn’t rain. Oh, no. It was hail! Ridiculous.
“At least it’s not golf ball size!” Jocelyn said. “But what would we do if it was?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the produce stand. “We’d go back to that Amish stand and pretend to be interested in buying pickled beets until the hail stopped!” I exclaimed.
Thankfully, the hail stopped after a minute or so, and there was no more precipitation the rest of the way.

Another conversation from the 14-miler:
Jocelyn: “Ugh, I can’t wait to drink some coffee after this!”
Me: “Coffee? Ewww! I am craving chocolate milk, though.”
Jocelyn: “What? Ewww!”
To each her own, I suppose!

What I’ll do the same in the future: As strange as it sounds, I like having some sort of cross-training to do after a long run. It seems like it helps with recovery because it keeps me from sitting around and getting stiff/sore.

What I’d like to change in the future: I want to avoid doing my medium-distance run so late in the week, like I did during Week 14; that affected my weekend long run. If I have to do it late in the week, then I have to, but…I’d rather not if I can help it!

What I learned: No matter how slowly you feel you’re going, at least you’re moving forward! Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you’ll make it!

One-sentence summary: 
–Week 13: I returned to form following an off-week (due to sickness) and persevered through less-than-ideal weather conditions and a run-in with the wall.
–Week 14: Hal Higdon prepares runners to do crazy things, like run 9 miles one day, 14 miles a day and a half later, and 10 miles two days after that (the 10-miler was part of Week 15’s training).

Now for Week 13 in pictures:

After the awful 9-mile run where my nose ran as much – if not more – than I did

Blurry, pre-sunrise pic on the 18-miler

Should be beautiful in Pennsylvania this time of year (spring)…all that snow.

This, my friends, is what it feels like to hit the wall on a run. I couldn’t even muster a fake smile!

I was smiling after the 18-miler, though! Woohoo!

I was so glad Mom was there to keep me going those last few miles!

Ready to see “Les Mis” on Broadway the day after the 18-mile run 🙂

And Week 14:

A scene from my 9-mile run (the one where the three people passed me). It’s good to stop and enjoy the scenery every now and then.

After the 14-miler, I enjoyed the chocolate milk I’d been craving!