This week was full of cross training and very not full of running (I prefer the opposite), due to the pain in my lower left leg and shin. Big time speed bump in my marathon training that had been going really well up to this point. The crazy thing is I have been just as hungry as I am when I’m running 30-40 miles per week. I have also been more tired than I am when I’m running 30-40 miles per week. Go figure. This week did end on a good note, though.

Monday- Rest day. Iced shin and stretched after Sunday’s long bike ride.

Tuesday- Cross training: approximately 8 mile bike ride with Barry. Made a few observations.

Wednesday- Cross training: core work.

Thursday- Cross training: Swam 2,000 yards at the local YMCA. This was the first time I’ve swam (aside from the ocean and playing around in the pool) in roughly 3.5 years. It felt pretty good. I was happy to find I’m still able to do all four strokes, including butterfly. I was also happy to find I look just as goofy in a swim cap as I always have. But then again, who doesn’t?

Took the requisite “I went for a swim” selfie.

One strange thing that happened, that’s never happened to me before, is that my feet kept cramping while I was swimming freestyle. Apparently my feet forgot how to be pointed while kicking. I kept having to dorsiflex my feet which probably looked funny if anyone was watching (anyone being the lifeguard and the five women doing a water aerobics class on the right side of the pool). It didn’t happen when I swam breaststroke, backstroke, or butterfly. It wasn’t painful or anything, though… just annoying.

Friday- Rest day. Wanted to give my leg a complete rest day prior to attempting a long run. Plus my arms didn’t work anymore after Thursday’s swimming.

Saturday- 10 mile long run on the Dora Trail. I met up with Kim and we ran the first 5 miles together in the cold weather (25 degrees!). Then I headed back out on my own for another 5 miles. My leg felt alright. I had some dull pain on and off but nothing that screamed “stop!” I mixed in some walk breaks as well to ease my legs back into the stress of running. The good news? Running 10 miles wasn’t all that taxing on the rest of my body. I felt fatigued during the last 2 miles or so. But other than that I felt like my endurance is still pretty good.

Mile 8 ‘selfie’

Sunday- 10 mile long run with Sven (the treadmill). I chose to run on the treadmill knowing it would give me more cushion than the pavement does. I also to run with Sven so that I could stop immediately if my shin did start to hurt (no walk back to the car, etc.). The good news is my leg felt fine! The only time it hurt was when I started back running after taking a bathroom break about halfway through my run. But that went away after about a minute. It’s weird how my shin feels okay as long as I’m running but hurts when I have to take a break. I am happy to report I never got bored the entire 10 miles. I watched Twilight, which kept me entertained the entire time.

The distance display says 10.00, not 1.000 🙂

If you remember, our woodstove is in the basement which is also where Sven lives. We fired up our woodstove earlier this week because of the cold temperatures we were having. If it’s 100 degrees in Charlotte, I’ll be ready for it after this run.

This was my first time ever doing back to back long runs on a weekend. It worked out pretty well and I’m glad I was still able to get some miles in. The good news is I still feel like my endurance is in a good place. Both of this weekend’s long runs felt very “doable.” I got fatigued, of course, towards the end of both runs. But overall I finished feeling like I definitely had a lot more in the tank.

Total Miles: 20 (2 days of running)

This week’s schedule*:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 7 miles w/ 5 @ MP
Thursday: rest
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 14 miles
Sunday: rest

*This is what my training plan calls for this week. With the onset of this shin pain, everything has kind of been up in the air. I am taking it one day at a time and making a call on what I’ll do each day based on how my leg feels.

This morning I met up with my running buddy, Kim, and was able to run 10 miles! Kim and I ran the first 5 miles together and then I headed back out on my own for the second half. My leg hurt some when we first started out, but it went away. And it never hurt the way it did last weekend. I had some dull pain off and on, but I made sure to mix in some walk breaks to give my leg a rest. It was freezing this morning! When Kim and I met up it was 25 degrees outside. I had to break out my running capris for the first time since last winter. I snapped a running ‘selfie’ around mile 8, but I think my beginner’s luck with selfies is wearing off.

I knew I could do it today. Want to know why? Summer Sanders told me so.

Speaking of this month’s Runner’s World, the Editor’s Letter section said that there will be live coverage of the New York City Marathon on ESPN2 next weekend (Nov. 3). I am all over that!

I am hoping to do another 10 miles tomorrow if my leg feels good. Today I am icing and wearing compression socks in the hope that it will help keep things in order. I don’t want to push it and end up back where I was a week ago, though.

Once I got home I gave Hank and Scout baths. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself, because the last time I gave them baths Hank got sprayed in the face by a skunk the next morning. I do not want to go through that again. After the dogs were clean I got cleaned up and went to visit Barry at work. They recently switched to new robotic milkers (as opposed to a “standard” milking parlor where the milking machines are put on the cow by a person). It was really neat, I hadn’t seen anything like that before. The cows are still in the training phase of learning how things work with the new milkers. It was pretty funny to watch one go in to get milked while the others stood there and watched closely.

Now it’s time to watch the Hokies take on Duke! Go Tech Go!!

Do you ever watch running on TV? Are you going to watch the live coverage of the NYCM?

Are you having winter-like temperatures?
We flew right by fall and arrived in winter.

I woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow. It’s our first official snow of the season!

The dogs were super excited. They love the cold weather and absolutely love playing around in the snow. From Instagram:



{turkeyrunner}

Don’t worry, that is Hank’s excited face. However, the chickens were less than thrilled about the snow. They came out and checked it out and then promptly went back in their coop.

They don’t seem to mind the cold weather too much, but they won’t really come out in it unless the sun is out. Agnes knew that she still had to go to work (i.e. lay an egg) even though it snowed.

That’s focus right there.

We had some gorgeous fall weather last week and weekend, but earlier this week it seems like we flew right past fall and landed in winter. We have had heavy frost most mornings and the overnight lows have been below freezing. Barry decided it was time to fire up the wood stove.

I love the heat from the woodstove and the smell. I especially love coming into the basement after a run outside in the cold and standing next to the woodstove so I can warm up.

Speaking of running, I am cautiously optimistic about my running prospects this weekend. My leg is feeling a lot better. I have been able to run up and down the stairs in our house without any pain and I can press on my shin without any pain. I am still debating between doing a longer (13-16 miles) run on Saturday or doing 10 miles Saturday and then 10 miles on Sunday. The latter was a suggestion from Holly and it’s not something I had thought of. But I like the idea of doing two shorter long runs with Sunday’s run simulating more fatigue. What I end up doing will all depend on how I feel tomorrow, I guess. It’s supposed to get down to 25 degrees tonight, so maybe it’ll be so cold tomorrow morning that I won’t be able to feel my leg! Just kidding, if it hurts I’ll stop. Promise.

I am looking forward to my run tomorrow morning for another reason, too. I get to run with Kim tomorrow! We have had conflicting schedules the past few weekends, which quickly adds up to it being nearly a month since we have run together. My leg better feel good, because I have a lot of catching up to do with Kim!

Have you had the first snow of the season, yet? Do you think it’s too early for snow?

What are your plans this weekend (running or otherwise)? Anyone racing??

I keep thinking what did I do wrong? I have listened to my body throughout training and haven’t had any pain. After my 20 miler my muscles were sore, but nothing hurt. So I thought it was okay to run my 6 miles last Monday as planned. Again, my muscles were sore but even after my run nothing hurt. And then I wake up Tuesday morning with a pain in my shin that hurts even when I walk?? What the heck? Where did I go wrong?

While I ponder that, I continue to not run until my leg feels better. For now I’m relying on biking to keep my cardiovascular system in shape and I have tentative plans to mix in some swimming, too (no one say anything about triathlons, my focus is the marathon and you can save those suggestions for later).

I am doing lots of icing and some gentle stretching. But for the time being I have laid off of the foam roller and the Stick. I think my leg needs a few days to just calm the heck down.

My will and determination are still there. I still want to run the race this November more than anything. Don’t think I’m throwing in the towel. But I will say that my morale is a little low right now.

Trying to keep this in mind

As I had mentioned, I was on top of the world after my 20 miler. It was crushing to wake up last Tuesday with that pain in my lower leg and was made worse when I couldn’t do my long run this past weekend. That being said, I have come up with the following options:

Option 1: Spend the rest of the week doing cross training, run 20 miles as planned on Saturday (which would be my last long run before taper).

Option 2: Spend the rest of the week doing cross training, run a shorter final long run (16-18 miles) on Saturday before taper.

Option 3: Spend the rest of the week doing cross training, run 13 mile long run on Saturday.

Clearly, all of these options are under the assumption that my leg is feeling better after taking a week off of running. I don’t really have any contingency plans if my leg is not feeling better by Saturday. Any suggestions?

I’m most scared that my dreams of my first full marathon are in jeopardy (possibly a little dramatic at this point). I’m also scared that my ability to complete the marathon may be in danger if I cannot finish my training plan as written. If I can’t do another 20 miler or even another longer long run (over 13 miles), does the 20 miler I did five weeks out from my race benefit me at all come race day?

Which option do you think is my best one? Or do you have a different suggestion?

Have you ever been in a situation like mine? What did you do?

What do you do when you can’t do your preferred form of exercise?