22 Miles & A Weekend in Review

My weekend started out with a boring dose of yoga. I know, I know. Yoga is SO good for you, especially ME being a runner. But, OMG-- I just find it SO boring. I'm always glad I go... but, I'd just SO MUCH rather be running or something. #runnerproblems

I sucked it up though and stuck out the 75-minute 5:30pm Friday yoga class. THAT'S dedication. All I wanted to do was go home, curl up on the couch with some CARBS and chill. It was rainy and the LAST thing I wanted to do was yoga. Blah, blah. Tough life. I went. It was OK. My upper body was sore the next day. End of story.

Post-yoga I went grocery shopping (in the RAIN-- boooo!!) and got Noodles to go. I love me some Noodles Pad Thai. Like, LOVE. I managed to get home right as the Hubs was getting home. Perfect timing for him to carry the groceries in (IN THE RAIN! Best Hubs ever!) and then to chill out on the couch watching Dexter for a few hours. Ok, more like 1.5 hours as I had to get to bed early. Told you-- EXCITING LIFE OVER HERE.

Grocery shopping on a Friday night = I AM SO COOL.

Both the Hubs and I had to get up Saturday morning. Me, to run. Him, to work. Poor guy. He's usually still asleep when I head out for my long runs. It was weird (in a good way!) getting ready and stuff with him around chatting. By 7:30am he was out the door on the way to the office and I was out the door starting my run.

I had 22 miles on the schedule, but told myself going into it I'd be OK if I cut it at 20. I didn't have very high hopes for myself.

Mile 1 was OK. I was worried that was about as fast as I was gonna get, which meant I'd get a WHOLE lot slower in the next 19+ miles. Then, it started to rain. Uuuugh. Not nice rain, either. COLD, COLD rain. The temp was a PERFECT 62ish*. But, the rain was COOOOOLD rain. And, it kept raining. And raining. And not a small drizzle either. RAIN. I ran miles 2-9 around Notre Dame's campus and kept entertained by either the rain or all the pre-football game preparations that were going on around campus. Tailgates being set up, grills starting, etc. I felt especially BA as I was RUNNING IN THE RAIN and all these big, tough FB-lovin' men were scrambling for cover so they wouldn't get wet. Running makes you pretty hard core. Running in the rain makes you feel like total BA. While I was SO OVER the rain, I was loving the looks I was getting. And, not a single beer can tossed in my direction. Win #1.

By mile 9 the rain was letting up (win #2) and I made my way out of tail-gate central to avoid getting puked on or run over by any passing kegs.

Miles 9-16 were non-eventful. I made my way from the Notre Dame campus to the St. Mary's College campus to the Holy Cross College campus through the East Bank Trail and then made my way to the Indiana University South Bend campus. Yes, I ran on FOUR college campuses during 1 run. And I kinda love that.

Anyway, right after mile 16 I HAD to make an EMERGENCY pit stop at a bathroom. Thank goodness the buildings on campus were open. Wowza. It would have been a DISASTER. Gross. It was probably a 5+ minute stop, but whatever. What can ya do? I was just glad my intestines chilled out and I could keep going.

I was thiiiiiis close to heading back after my bathroom pit stop, especially knowing I was a solid 2.5-3 miles from home. But, I sucked it up and kept trugging along. I kept reminding myself about the marathon and how moments like this are going to be what gets me through. Side note: the next day I was telling Matt how I thought a lot about the marathon during my run and he thought I was CRAZY to think about another run during a run. He just doesn't get it.

So, I did a few more miles and started my trek back right around mile 19.5. By 20.5 I was HURTING. Never have my legs EVER felt so tight and angry. Wowza. Around mile 19 I thought I miiiight push it to 23, since I realized I was further from my house than I thought, but by mile 20.5 I knew 22 would be IT. I was spent. Everything hurt. Mile 21 clocked in at 9:59. I was DYING just to keep it under a 10:00 pace. Mile 22 was a smidge easier, since I knew it was the last one and I managed to clock a 9:42, despite the BRUTAL (& stupid) uphill finish. 

22 miles. Done. 3:23:37. 9:21 average pace. Win #3.

I was honestly SHOCKED at the pace I kept. I had no idea I was on par for that and I was SO excited when I saw it. I even had 3 sub 9:00 miles! Woah. I don't even know who I am.

I had a 1 mile trek back home after I finished my run and hoped it'd help shake out my legs a bit. They were BEYOND sore and screaming.

I got home and CHUGGED some chocolate milk and a powerade zero before stretching (woah! WHO AM I?!?!) and then a nice, hot shower. Felt so good. I felt like a new person after. Still a very, very sore person, but so much better. I started cleaning up the house and before I knew it 2 hours had passed. Whoops. I immediately made some lunch and then the Hubs finally got home.

The rest of the weekend was a relaxed, low-key blur filled with compression gear, mexican food, a home-DIY-manicure, lots of TV, and fro yo.

Great weekend. Great.

Now with my longest long run behind me before the marathon I'm trying to focus on other things to get myself mentally and physically ready for the race. Things like a massage to sooth sore muscles and like buying fun fall decorations to make me happy!

I'm sure the Hubs and our bank account will be super happy too. :)

Happy Monday!!!!

Weekly Workout Recap (9/3-9/9)- Marathon Training Week 15

"When you recognize that failing doesn't make you a failure, you give yourself permission to try all sorts of things."

-Lauren Fleshman, American track and field athlete

Weekly Workout Recap (9/3-9/9)- Marathon Training Week 15:
(Reminder: My actual workouts in RED, what my plan called for in BLUE)
Monday, 8.27- Rest {Spinning & 5 miles}
Tuesday, 8.28- 8.5 miles & 6.5 miles {Signature Strength}
Wednesday, 8.29- Spinning & 2.5 miles {Spinning & 5 miles}
Thursday, 8.30- 6.5 miles, 5.5 miles, spinning & 2.5 miles {8 miles}
Friday, 8.31- 40 min. elliptical & 75-minute yoga class {Rest}
Saturday, 9.1- 22 mile LR {12 mile LR}
Sunday, 9.2- 6 mile walk w/ the Hubs {90 minutes cross training}
*Note- I was out of town on Monday, 9/3


Totals for Week 15:
54 Miles Run {30 Miles}
2 Spinning Classes {2 Spinning Classes}
0 Signature Strength Classes {1 Signature Strength Class}
40 Minutes on Elliptical {90 Minutes Cross Training}
6 Miles Walked {None on Plan}
1 Rest Days {1 Rest Day}

Week 15 of 19. BOOM. I mean... boooooom. Crazy, crazy, crazy. When did this happen? When did it start getting OMG SO CLOSE? Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.

How I Felt:

Body: Felt good. Really good. No sore legs all week. Kinda crazy. Not sure how that happene, but I'll take it!

Mental: Kinda starting to freak out. The mental idea of just how f-ing far a marathon really is is starting to settle in and I'm starting to doubt myself. In my head I KNOW I've put in the time and done the training, skipping VERY VERY little, realllly pushing myself. But, somehow doubt creeps in and I wonder just who the F I think I am to think I'm capable of this. Saturday's LR was a pretty big confidence boost, but feeling just how painful those last 2 miles were almost negates the first part of the run and SCARES THE CRAP out of me thinking about running 4 more.  

Energy Level: Pretty good! The 4 rest days in a row last left me feeling good! Definitely passing out HARD each night, but overall feeling pretty good.

Hunger: Same old, same old. HUGNRY. More than hungry. Nothing new to say about that. Anyone have any food?

GOALS (new section!): I'm going to focus on getting at least 8 hours of sleep from here on out. Or I'm going to try, at least. I'm also going to TRY to cut back my diet soda intake and up my water intake. This will be HARD for me. I love me some Diet Pepsi. Starting next week, I'm going to track my water intake and really focus on getting enough. I'm also going to try to start focusing on getting whole, natural foods and try to cut out as much of the processed crap as I can. Not crazy style... just try to do better to help my body be as strong as it can going into the marathon.

15 Thing Friday

1. THE MARATHON IS 1 MONTH AWAY. Exactly 1 month from today I will be running the f-ing Chicago Marathon. Remind me... why am I doing this again? I'm so beyond nervous I’m having heart palpitations. Insert nervous breakdown HERE.

2. Target busted out their fall candles. You know what that means. Fall is here. Breakout your hoodies, start tailgating for college football games, eat some s'mores, and go to Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

 

 

3. Work is a mad house today. All my co-workers are gone at off campus meetings or taking the day off or who knows what. I just know my calendar looks like a disaster.

 

4. I FOUND THEM. Chocolate Peanut Butter Puffins. I was SO BEYOND EXCITED to try them. Yeaaaah. To be honest-- they weren't good. Like, at all. Like, I didn't even want to finish the bowl. I mean, I did finish it. Duh. But, I was disappointed. The regular PB ones are WAAAY better.

5. The Hubs has to work late (again-- boo!!) so I have a HOT, EXCITING evening planned... wait for it... wait for it... YOGA (woah! I know! I don't even know who I am anymore), grocery shopping, getting NOODLES (YAAAAAY!!!) for dinner and possibly renting Hunger Games (yes, I've already seen it twice. Don't judge). EXCITING LIFE I LEAD.

 

 

 

6. I got new running shoes. New running shoes = Happy Meagan. I'll spend $100 on a new pair of running shoes, EASY, and not even think about it. But, ask me to spend $100 on a non-athletic shoe and I'll tell you you're talking crazy. Interesting.

 

 

7. 22 miles tomorrow on the schedule. Boom.

 

 

8. Tomorrow is the first home Notre Dame football game. The Hubs and i live in student central ND land, so it'll be interesting to see how this effects our life. The game is at 3:30, so I'm HOPING it won't effect my run to much. Hey-- if no one throws a beer bottle at me (yeah, that's happened before), I'll call it a win.

 

 

9.  My baby sister's birthday is coming up. She's turning 26. Like TWENTY SIX. NO FREAKING WAY. I'm so old. I can't handle it.

 

 

10.  I stopped by the library yesterday and got this book. I'm a few pages in and so far not really digging it. We'll see. According to Amazon I'll like it. It was in the TEEN SECTION. Woah. Maybe I'm not so old?

 

 

11.  I did 40 minutes on the elliptical and am going to yoga tomorrow so I can use Sunday as my rest day. I could not be more excited to NOT SET AN ALARM for Sunday morning and to use the entire day being as lazy as humanly possible. I have very high expectations for my laziness level. Hey, gotta have big dreams, right?

 

 

12. I'm teaching a class this semester. Nothing is scarier than 25 19 year olds staring at you twice a week. Nothing.

 

 

13.  I had TWO doughnuts for breakfast this morning. And, I'm not even a little sorry. Oh, and I had some Greek yogurt. Totally makes it healthy.

 

 

14. What did people do before Pandora?? Really. My work day would be infinitely worse if not for this magical site.  

 

 

15. Did I mention the marathon is 1 month away? Exactly. Woah.

 
 

12 Mile Thursday

It's definitely a bulleted-list kinda day.
 

• I ran 6.5 miles on the treadmill (we're in the love stage of our relationship... give me Felicity on the iPad and a TM any day!) this morning in 9:05s and 5.5 miles on the indoor track this afternoon in 9:12s. 12 miles on a Thursday. Boom.

• I'm nervous for my long run Sunday. WHYYYY? Why do I do this to myself? I've run 21 miles. 22 is do-able. Why then?? Why does it feel like this OMG SO HUGE of a thing in my brain?? I'm a freak.

• I ordered a pizza for lunch. Even though I brought a nice, healthy, cheap lunch to work. All I could think about was pizza. And, yes-- I did eat all that's missing BY MYSELF. And, yes- I'm still hungry. Wtf is wrong with me?

• I am OBSESSED with the new Taylor Swift song. OBSESSED. I cannot get enough. I've played it like 10,000 times in the past 5 days. Odds of me being sick of it in another day? Pretty high. Why do I always do this?!?!

• The Hubs is working on a crazy busy project at work so he had to work late last night and will have to work late tonight, tomorrow, and on Saturday. BOOOO!!! So, rather than sit bored tonight (b/c I have no life outside my husband-- duh), I'm gonna go get new running shoes, go to spinning, and then watch Gilmore Girls re-runs while eating B&J's new Greek frozen yogurts. Watch out. I lead SUCH AN EXCITING LIFE. Things are getting wild.

10 Things I've Learned About Marathon Training

10 quick things I've learned about marathon training thus far:

1. It takes a LOT of time. Like, MUCH more than I expected. It fits in my lifestyle right now. I don't have kids. The Hubs has to work late a lot. I have a flexible boss who doesn't mind if I come back to work crazy sweaty after a lunch-workout (nor does he mind if I eat lunch at my desk afterwards). But, really. It does take a lot of time. HOURS of running. Cross training. Strength training. Hours and hours. It's a commitment.

2. You'll have to say NO to other things. See the whole "it's a commitment" thing in #1. Prime example-- a great friend of my asked if I wanted to go to a semi-local wine festival this weekend. My first thoughts: "WINE? Yes, please!" But, then reality set in and I started thinking about how I would possibly be able to drive an hour to the festival, have a good time, drive an hour back AND get up the next morning for a solid 22-miler. Not gonna happen. So, I had to say no. Sadly no. Marathon training is my priority right now. I absolutely know life is all about balance and am working hard to maintain that balance... but, I also know that marathon training takes commitment. And, that means saying no sometimes to put training first. Training's not forever. There will be more wine festivals. And, mark my words-- I'll be there for those.

3. You'll be hungry. Like, all the time. And, WAY more hungry than you think. Pre-training I read a TON of running blogs. I read all the "OMG I'M SO HUNGRY" posts and really didn't think much of it. See-- I thought I already understood. I thought I WAS ALREADY hungry all the time. Um, yeah. I was wrong. So wrong. In the past few weeks I've experienced whole new levels of hungry I never knew possible. I legit feel like I'm basically hungry all the time. An hour after a meal, I'm hungry again. Not that "I'm bored so I'll eat" thing. No, no. HUNGER. Like, tummy-growling-painful-give-me-food-NOW kinda hunger. I was in no way prepared or expecting this. I now understand why many people GAIN weight when training for a marathon.  

4. I mean... it's gonna hurt. It amazes me when people are SO amazed when I say I'm sore. Or when they tell me that means I'm working out too hard. Hello. It's marathon training. A little uncomfortableness and sore muscles and tired legs/feet are kinda part of the game. Should it be CRAZY PAIN all the time? Well, no. Of course not. But, do I have sore legs like a lot? Are my legs heavy and tired most of the time? Well, yeah. I mean-- I'm running. Like a lot. All the time. Of course it's not all rainbows and sunshine.

5. The runner's high I'm going to get from crossing that f-ing finish line is going to be the best high in the entire world. I honestly can't even imagine just how amazing it's going to feel. I'm beyond pumped. Thinking about that feeling is what gets me through a LOT of those long run miles. Cheesy? Sure. True? Absolutely.

6. Turns out, running really is like 90% mental. Ok... maybe not 90%. But, a freaking lot. Right now, 4.5 weeks out-- I think my legs are pretty good to go. They could do this thing... I hope. But, mentally, I need a few more weeks to talk myself into this whole "you can do it!" thing.

7. (Especially for women, I think) You see your body in a whole new way. As a female, I have food/body issues. I mean- hello-- I'm not sure I've ever met a single woman who doesn't have at least SOME issues with these areas. I'm no different. I've never had HUGE issues, but definitely am not issue-free. But, training for this marathon has made me see my body in SUCH a different way. My legs are STRONG. They are carrying me through all this training. My body is capable of pushing farther and harder than I ever imagined. I'm strong and capable of covering MILES and MILES on foot. It's an incredibly empowering feeling. I've never been more proud of my body, even though I am certainly not the thinnest I've ever been. Am I pure muscle? Do I have a even remotely "perfect" body? No and no. It's not about being THIN or PERFECT. It's about being a STRONGER version of me. It's a pretty amazing feeling.

8. You'll want to talk about marathon training all. the. time. It will take over your brain and you'll think about it 90% of your waking hours. OCD to the extreme. Turns out-- not everyone else will want to hear about it all. the. time. Find the people who will want to hear about it non-stop and talk them to death. Leave the other people alone and talk to them about Big Brother or the Real Housewives of NY or whatever. Not that I watch those shows. Ever.

9. You're gonna need a good support network. I honestly feel like I am SO lucky in this areas. The Hubs is the BOMB and asks me all the time about my training. He lets me get crazy OCD about it and not only listens, but SUPPORTS me. He gets excited about my good runs, texts me every morning to ask me how the gym went, and geeks out over my Garmin each Saturday when I get home to check out my splits. It's adorable and I am SO grateful. He keeps me motivated and gets me pumped to work harder. Plus, I have an amazing extended network of friends and family who just freaking ROCK. So many of them are going to come cheer me on marathon day. Just knowing they're out there will make me feel SO, SO, SO much better and excited and pumped. I'm beyond lucky to have them.

10. It's kinda the coolest thing you'll ever do. Ok, maybe not EVER. I feel like having a baby will be cooler. And, OK-- so, getting married was basically the best thing EVER and will be the happiest day of my life, even after the killer runner's high finish line experience. BUT-- it's up there. Like, top 3 for sure. I'm pretty sure I'll never be more proud of myself then in that moment, crossing that finish line. I mean-- it's a freaking MARATHON. How cool is that? I have every intention of congratulating myself and being beyond proud of myself for pretty much the rest of my life. Boom.

WIAW

It's WEDNESDAY!!!! It's been a while so I figured let's do another WIAW. Hopefully it's been so long, in fact, that you've forgotten just how boring what I eat everday really is. As a quick reminder, this is what I ate Tuesday. You were warned. Without further ado, let's do this. And, of course, thanks to the brains behind this concept.

Breakfast: Coffee and run of the mill multi-vitamin between 8am-9am.

That was kinda the pre-breakfast. Then, my ACTUAL breakfast I had at about 9am. Before we get there, am I the only one who HATES taking vitamins? I just hate them! They make my tummy queasy. And, I've tried taking them at all different times of days, with food/without food, different brands. BOO. Finally, I learned that cutting it in half and taking 1 half and then the other about 30 minutes later really helps. Ok, overly dramatic story over.

I know. It looks gross. I know. Apple jacks and vanilla Chobani mixed together. Think of the yogurt like it's milk. Or the cereal like it's granola. Whatever. Don't judge. It's good.



Lunch: The usual. Diet Pepsi, hummus, apple (it's hiding but it's there, I promise!), string cheese, Special K chips, and carrots. Around 1:30pm. (In full disclosure: this is an old pic, but I literally had this exact same thing yesterday for lunch.)

 

 

 

It was a busy day at work and I honestly completely forgot to have a snack. Let me just tell you though, my stomach was GROWLING-- like, I could legit hear it, on my drive from work. Wowza. I had to run to Target and was hoping I could make it til I got home til dinner. Yeah... didn't happen. I got a 1/2 cherry, 1/2 coke slurpee thing from the Target cafe. It wasn't good. And it just made me more hungry. Luckily, I was in and out of Target and home pretty quickly.

 

 

 

Dinner: RANDOM. About 1 cup of brown rice (yes, sometimes I eat plain rice. I'm a freak, I know.) and 4 servings (Hey! I was hungry! Plus, one serving is 4 wontons for only 50 calories! 4 servings was only 200 calories!) TJ's mini chicken cliantro wontons (cooked in about 1 tbsp of EVOO). Again, RANDOM. But, it hit the spot!



Ew. Now seeing that it looks pretty gross. I promise-- it was delicious. Pure carb heaven.

Post-Dinner Snack: Some baked tortilla chips and salsa.

Dessert: OMG. Have you tried this stuff yet? Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Banana Greek Frozen Yogurt. HEAVEN. SO good. Not GREAT stats-- but, with 6g of protein per serving for a dessert, I'll take it. I had several spoonfulls. Maybe not a full serving, but pretty close.

Enjoyed in compression socks while watching Dexter with the Hubs. Perfect end to the day.

Happy Wednesday! :)

Weekly Workout Recap (8/27-9/2)- Marathon Training Week 14

"I love the fact that not many people can say 'Oh, I went out and ran 20 miles today.' I love how much dedication it takes and how much you learn a lot about yourself, your physical and mental limits. There's just something about it."

-Shalane Flanagan, 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathoner

Weekly Workout Recap (8/27-9/2)- Marathon Training Week 14:
(Reminder: My actual workouts in RED, what my plan called for in BLUE)
Monday, 8.27- 5.5 miles & 10 min. elliptical {Spinning & 5 miles}
Tuesday, 8.28- 7.1 miles & 4.9 miles & 5 miles {Signature Strength}
Wednesday, 8.29- Spinning {Spinning & 4 miles}
Thursday, 8.30- Signature Strength & 2 miles & 6 miles & 2.5 miles & Spinning {9 miles}
Friday, 8.31- Rest {Rest}
Saturday, 9.1- Rest {22 mile LR}
Sunday, 9.2- Rest {30 minutes cross training}
*Note- I was out of town Friday (8/31) night to Monday (9/3) night.
 

Totals for Week 14:
33 Miles Run {40 Miles}
2 Spinning Classes {2 Spinning Classes}
1 Signature Strength Classes {1 Signature Strength Class}
10 Minutes on Elliptical {30 Minutes Cross Training}
0 Miles Walked {None on Plan}
3 Rest Days {1 Rest Day}

Week 14 of 19. DONEZO. Can't even believe I'm getting so close to the marathon. It's completely freaking crazy. Crazy crazy crazy. I'm in shock.

How I Felt:

Body: Yeaaaaah. Probablly not the smartest move in the world to do a 17-mile day 2 days after a 21-mile day. Not smart, Meagan. Not smart. My body was tiiiiired and just beat up all week. My legs felt like 1000 poud weights for the rest of the week. My body was just warn down and a little beat up. Then, the Signature Strength class KICKED MY ASS. Like, my legs were so sore I had to use my arms to lower myself down and up from a chair (or, ya know, toliet for example). SO SORE. The most sore I have been in as long as I can remember. I was upset that I had to take so many rest days, but it ended up being a blessing. I seriously woke up Monday morning and my legs were STILL a bit sore, but FINALLY starting to feel back to normal. Crazy. This led to the decision of no more Signature Strength classes til after the marathon. I'm not thrilled with this choice, but I have to make the marathon my priority and the sore-level that Signature Strength leaves me with is just not meshing with the whole running a bagillion miles thing. So, no more. For now. I'll talk more about this in a different post.

Mental: A little burnt out. I have loved marathon training. I really have... but, I'm getting a smidge mentally tired. It consumes almost all of my thoughts. It's all I think about. I'm SO excited for it... but, I'm also excited to finish it and get my brain back.

Energy Level: Started the week of tiiiiiired. Didn't sleep well/much over the weekend, so I was exhausted Monday morning. Not a great start to the week and the trend just kinda continued all week. Boo. Then, doing the 17 miles on Tuesday really, really took it out of me. I struggled all week and just felt exhausted all the time.

Hunger: I honestly didn't think I could get any hungrier. Yeaaaah. I was WRONG. I think I'm in the "it's just going to get worse til the marathon" stage. Everyday. Hunger all day. Hungrier than the day before. It's just crazy. Totally out of control. I could eat all day everyday. I'm hungry an hour after each meal.