Planning for the marathon

I am in taper mode, so only running enough to keep loose and maintain fitness.  If you've been following along, I missed some training due to a knee injury.  The week before the marathon for me is actually being used to get back into running.  This year I had ann ankle injury that prevented me from running for the last 2 weeks before the Brooklyn Half and I PR'ed big time.  So there is an advantage to being rested and building up your glycogen.  At this point, I've put in my time and I'm not going to turn it around just by working really hard in the last week.  Even worse, I could injury myself which would make for a miserable marathon day.  (Or no marathon day.)

I've been planning and ordering my final items on Amazon, and testing items out.  I ran with my first ever arm warmers tonight.  They were not as life changing as I thought that they would be. 

I ran 2.55 miles tonight with Landon, my chiweenie.  He is an amazing runner.  He has great posture and form.  His muscles are really defined.  I'm so proud of him.  Plus tonight I could tell he really enjoyed it.  After all that running, couldn't believe that he was in the mood tonight with Irene.  :P

Tomorrow night I'm supposed to run 3 miles, and then 5 miles on Thursday.  I think that I will go to the expo at the Javitz on Friday after work.  Or I might go Saturday, but I want to avoid coming to the city and also that should be a day of rest.

Friday/Saturday I will make sure that I will do laundry if needed and start charging devices and gathering supplies.  I mom getting some really great tips, and I keep ordering additional items on Amazon.

Feeling tired but making multiple trips to Organic Avenue.

Note to self: drink more water

Rest & Recovery: 6 days until the NY marathon

Ok, this looks worse than it really is.  I am practicing taping my legs with kinseology tape (I use Mummy Tape), plus I am covered in compression shin sleeves, a knee brace with ceramic particles (to bring heat and blood flow to my knee), and plantar fasciitis boots.  This was last night as I lay in bed.  Poor Izzy, he is a sport to put up with all of this.

This was preventative.  I don't currently have a PF issue, just trying to keep my Achilles healthy and long.  My knees were ok for a very conservative 5 mile run last night.

Today, I feel exhausted.  I didn't sleep well last night, plus a loud noise woke me up at 2:30 am.  If I can remember, I will take my resting heart rate in the morning.  If it is elevated, this is an indication that I may be overtrained or about to get sick.  

I said I was going to foam roll every morning and every night.  But I didn't wake up early enough this morning, and I was too exhausted all day.  The most important thing that I can do right now is rest and don't get sick.

I am supposed to run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday is an optional flex or short running day.  At this point, I am just going to do what feels good.  Friday will be carbo-loading/pasta.  Saturday is for resting and preparing.  At some point I will visit the Marathon Expo to pick up my number.

OMG.

Still don't know what I will wear, but piecing it together in my head.  

I downloaded the app today.  Follow me, I'm bib #65690.

OMG just 7 days left until the marathon!

Yesterday, I ran a 5k obstacle zombie run with Izzy at night.  We ran as humans, trying to stray away from the zombies who were out to eat our brains and steal our flags.  There was a lot of fast running from zombies, and a lot of running on uneven dirt and gravel in the dark.  I kept thinking about how this was a very risky move just a week away from the marathon.  But actually, it was just the kick in the ass that I needed, since I have missed so much training due to a knee injury.

Since the knee injury, I have had a couple failed attempts at running without pain.  And as time was running out, I felt paralyzed with fear and anxiety, which made it hard to start again.  But I did it, and the fast sprints felt good.  I remember stopping for water and thinking we were almost finished until someone informed me that we were actually at the 1 mile point.  Ha!  

I was worried about the obstacle part, but actually there was always the option to skip it.  The only obstacle that I didn't do was the rope climb up the wall.  I did try it for a second but it just wasn't happening, I'm too weak.

Izzy and I bought headlamps as suggested so that we could see in the dark.  Izzy's was bigger and stronger than mine, and it had a strobe mode, which we used at times to disorient the zombies.  I came up with a strategy: we would jog real slow and mellow, then when we got close we would suddenly burst out in a sprint.  This actually worked better than trying to fake them out.  We were laughing and having so much fun.  And guess what...

Izzy won his first medal!  And we were survivors!  So proud of him.  Seriously, he can do anything.

Speaking of medals, I added mine to my collection.  But soon there will be an 8th.  Seriously, just 7 more days...

I ran 5 miles tonight, even though my training plan called for 7.  I felt great, but that's probably because I was so liberal with the kinseology tape.  But I didn't want to push it.  Tomorrow will be a day off, and then I will run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday will be carbo loading.  And Saturday will definitely be a day off.  I am going to foam roll every morning and every night before bed.

Speaking of tape, I have confirmed that Mummy Tape is much stickier than KT Tape, and I'm switching over.  I ordered more tape, arm warmers, and knee compression sleeves.  Forgot to order more gu gels.  What would I ever do without Amazon Prime?  

I still don't know what I will wear.  I might keep changing my mind til the last minute.

Pre-marathon jitters

11 days til the marathon and I'm freaking out.  I'm not doing what I know that I should do.  I ran 2.6 miles on Sunday and I stopped the second I felt a tiny bit of pain, even with both knees taped up.  I am not icing or foam rolling like I should.  Add an extra layer of anxiety: my 39th birthday is Friday.  Like in 2 days Friday.

I said a week ago I think that I would blog every day up until the marathon.  I thought this would keep me focused.  But I am absolutely freaking out!  Freaking out about the training that I've missed, beating myself for running too hard at the 18 mile Marathon Tune Up, and obsessing over everything I could have done differently leading up til now.  What's done is done, and my attitude does not help.  I know this in my rational mind, yet I can't stop.  And having a pity party about feeling old doesn't help either.

I've ran 18 miles as my longest run.  I've built up my base.  Now just try really hard not to be injured 11 days from now.

I'm also quietly freaking out on the inside about a couple other things that I don't really want to share on the internet.  

Maybe I need more yoga in my life.  I went to hot yoga the past 2 weekends and felt great.  If someone would open a gym and a hot yoga studio within 2 blocks of my house, this would really help combat the winter blues.

I did find a great website with tons of information and advise about running your first marathon, and all about the NY Marathon: http://www.runarweb.com/index_e.php. 

I still don't know what I am going to wear.  The weather looks like it will be low of mid 40s and high of mid 50s.

I have been thinking about the various devices that I need to charge. Will I wear earphones?  The crowds and bands along the route are supposed to be amazing and motivational.  I really need new music and playlists, I'm open to suggestions.

I can't see putting myself through this again.  Especially next year, so close to my 40th birthday.  Why the hell do I put myself through this?  All this time, effort, money, pain, and anxiety!  (I did take the time to look up the chances of gaining entry by lottery which is 8-10% and I did check out the half marathon times for qualifying which I am nowhere near close.)

I promised myself and my fiancé that after this, I will chill out.  No more new projects, classes, sporting events, for at least a little while.  Which is not a specific unit of time, and is subjective.  I have to admit, I am already secretly planning to conquer conversational spanish and my great return to knitting so I can make wardrobes for my doggies.  I keep pushing myself and pushing myself and pushing myself. 

Am I any different or better than a workaholic?

What is my point?

Really need to reasses some goals after this.

Rest & Recovery: 19 more days of blogging 'til the marathon

Today was a scheduled day off from running for my training program.  My knee is a little hurty, but feeling much better overall.  It did start to bother me while sitting down for a long meeting, and then again while sitting in Spanish class.  Unfortunately, this is a repeat injury for me and the symptoms are way too familiar.

I have been taking a medication that a specialist prescribed for me last time I had the same knee injury: diclofenac.  For some reason Aleve doesn't really work for me, even the prescription strenghth.  But this medication really helped with pain very quickly.  I remember last time that I felt great by the end of my 1st 30 day supply.  After I went off of it, and the pain returned in 2 days.  By the end of the 2nd 30 day supply I was healed.  I'm about 2 weeks in so far, so the meds should having me feel great by race day.

I hate Physical Therapy.  I've done it twice before, different injuries and PT's.  I've learned a lot about my injuries and my body.  But I still hate it because I feel like all the exercises and poking around in my trouble areas just makes it worse.  Sometimes you need to just heal and rest.  My Chinatown acupressure guy is so much better, I seriously might go to him soon.

Izzy must have pulled something in his back because he burst out squealing in pain tonight for no reason.  Actually, as he was eating cookies and milk he suddenly keeled over in pain.  I laughed, because all I could think of is that the milk was bad and he had stomache cramps and explosive diarrhea was eminent.  I know, I am such a lovely girlfriend!  So I took my muscle roller stick to his back and backs of his entire legs.  I could tell that he enjoyed it, I think he was even able to block out the lecture I gave about how foam rolling.  And then I made him do it to me and it was magical and so much better than doing it to yourself.  They sell much more expensive ones, or I've heard people take a rolling pin to their sore muscles.  I got this one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GTLOUDM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seriously, they have a stick roller massager for pets: http://www.amazon.com/The-Stick-GW-740-Pet/dp/B001HTX80C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413255517&sr=8-1&keywords=The+pet+stick

I put some icy hot on my knee, popped a pill before bed, and put on my knee brace from Back On Track, which has ceramic powder within the fibres which creates infrared thermal warmth which is supposed to increase blood flow to the injured area and reduce inflammation: http://www.backontrackproducts.com/People-Products/Knee-Calf-Braces/Knee-Brace-w-Strap-p306.html

I did not foam roll and I did not wear my night splints for plantar fasciitis.  Still feeling a lot of tension in my hips, going to see if Izzy will hang me upside down tomorrow night in the gravity boots.

What else can I do???

20 days blogging to the NY Marathon

20 days, 16 hours, 28 minutes and 30 seconds until the marathon on November 2nd.  I have been preparing for this since January 2013.  I became a member of New York Road Runners, ran in 9 qualifying races in 2013, and volunteered at the 2013 NYC Half Marathon.  This year I've run almost 500 miles so far, spent hundreds and hundreds on entry fees, membership fees, virtual training programs, and energy gels.  There is no other option but running on November 2nd, I will walk or crawl if needed.

My knee is STILL hurting, and my training has suffered a lot.  For the last 4 weeks, I have done very little running.  Today was supposed to be a 19 mile run, the longest in the training program and would have been my longest run ever.  So I'm getting nervous.  I have got to get better.  

I can feel my hips, lower back, legs, and IT band are still really tight, so I went to hot yoga tonight.  And I feel great.  The key to relieving my knee pain is going to be loosening up all of these areas.  Tomorrow is a day off from all fitness, and I'm hoping to do an easy, pain-free run on Tuesday.  My strategy is yoga, stretching, foam rolling and gentle running for the next 20 days.  And Epson salt and ice.  I will be taping everything on race day.

Ideally, I would love to do 10 miles next Sunday and then taper for the remaining 2 weeks.  Wish me luck!  I am going to blog every day until the race.

Marathon Training Blues

4 weeks now until the NY Marathon.  As it gets closer and closer, my goal finish time increases.  Before I started training, I had a goal of 4 hours 30 min in mind (beat Oprah!).  Now my goal is to finish under 6 hours (beat Pam Anderson!).  Check out some other celebrity marathon finish times here: http://running.about.com/od/famousrunners/tp/celebritymarathonrunners.01.htm

Training was going pretty good, I felt really fit, strong, and injury-free until the 18 mile Marathon Tune-Up on September 14th, which I finished in 3 hours, 34 minutes, and 28 seconds.  This is a 11:55 min per mile pace, which is significantly slower than the pace that my training program estimates (11:04-11:24).  Izzy commented that I looked completely fine as I crossed the finish line, not like someone who ran 18 miles.  But as the day went on the serious pain sunk in.  Previous to this, my longest run was 17 miles, after which I was tired but my body was injury-free. 

I got almost no running in before my next running event, which was the Bronx 10 mile run on September 28th.  My right knee was killing me, so I taped it up with KT tape.  For anyone who has ever wondered how much this helps, I can attest that this is pretty amazing stuff because my right knee didn't bother me at all.  But my left knee started hurting immediately!  And my right ankle was sore too.  This was one of the worst runs I have ever had, my finishing time was 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 40 seconds.  (Actually, I am making a commitment to myself right now to finish a half marathon in less time than this next year.)  But I finished and I earned another medal.  And I completed 4 our of 6 of the Five Burroughs series which earned me guaranteed entry to the NY Half next year.  Clearly, I am going to tape all of my legs for the marathon.  I did a little research, and decided to order "Mummy Tape", which isn't as pretty as pre-cut, colorful KT Tape but is supposed to stick better.  And I bought a spray that also helps the tape to adhere better and stay put.

This past week I ran less than a mile and a half with my doggies, and today 2 miles on the treadmill.  A whole week wasted when the marathon is so close!  My plan at this point is to take it easy and slowly ease back in to running this week.  If I have to go to the gym and ride the exercise bike just to keep up my fitness then I'll do it.  Because time is running out and I don't know what else I can do.

I'm sure that this is totally related: I have been feeling fatigued and depressed for the past several weeks.  I sort of crashed the other week, all of the extra training and also extra work hours seemed to catch up to me at once.  As much as I would love to be able to do everything that I set out to do (which is a lot) I do actually have a physical and emotional limit.  I think the changing of the seasons has a lot to do with it, and cumulative effects of hard training.  I had my first facial ever yesterday, and the facialist suggested that the pattern of my new acne breakouts on my skin suggest stress or adrenal dysfunction, and hormonal issues.  All of which were theories of mine based off of internet research.  Another theory is that my pH level is too acidic, I plan to eat more whole foods this week and drink lots of Smart Water.

Also notable news is that my birthday is this month. And Izzy's birthday too, he is exactly 10 days older.  We'll both be 39.  We're keeping it mellow this year, just having one combined celebratory dinner.  Izzy won't even tell me what he wants for a present.  Training is definitely keeping me in line.  Usually, October is always such a busy month for us.

Besides that, I have been taking spanish again.  This time just a 6 week class, which is perfect.  Better teacher this time.  My spanish is still not that conversational, but it's getting better.