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Monday Miles

Monday Miles : Week 7

Woohoo it’s week 7 with 12 more to go until the WDW Marathon. Here are my Monday Miles; what i’ve been up to in the last week!

When it comes to getting my runs in, this week I had a good week. I do have to say it is a struggle sometimes. Between work, homeschool, kids and life in general it is often a matter of squeezing them in. This past week my “short” runs were 6 miles. I felt good doing them except for my feet. They did not like the shoes I wore so on Friday after a doctor’s appointment I got new shoes finally! So far I have done one run in them and I love them! I picked up a pair of Altra’s Superior 2. They are comfy and I have plenty of room in my toe box. Something my feet desperately need especially since my insurance denied my orthotic.

That run I did in them was just my 17 mile long run on Saturday. I am so happy to have finally to get back on track. My original plan was for 18 and I am sure I could have pushed out 18 but at mile 15 I decided to head back. This past week I was doing loops around an air field on Fort Bragg, well Pope Air Force Base. According to what I found online the route was 6 miles and I planned to do 3 loops. Well, I took a wrong turnkey first lap and ended up at 6.6miles, lap 2 put me at 13.08. I wasn’t feeling 19.5 (plus I like doing whole miles) yet so I planned to go out 2.5 and come back. Mile 14 was hard and I ended up talking myself out of mile 18. Odd enough it was my fastest mile! Go figure. I headed back at mile 15, finished up at 17 and ate my pickles.

I am still working on nutrition for my long runs and this week I learned that Gluten Free pretzels were not what I needed. I have my Gu game down. I have a set schedule for them and as long as I don’t skew from that i’m ok but I have I have a calf cramping problem. I drink Nuun while i’m out but it’s just not enough. Pickles are my at home cure and I have considered bringing them with me on long runs. The pretzels just weren’t salty enough. I wanted to dump the pretzels and eat the salt at the bottom the bag. Then there is the fact I don’t feel the carbs did anything to help and I need the opposite. I need something to help stabilize my blood sugar. When I finished my 17 miles I felt my blood sugar crashing. Thankfully in addition to my pickles I had Mountain Dew in my car I grabbed just in case I needed the sugar and boy did I. I am thinking about going back to almonds but regular almonds, not the lightly salted that I usually buy or even some sort of jerky… I hate beef jerky though. Then I could be just bring pickles or mustard packets but then I would still need something for the whole blood sugar issue.

My shoes and pretzels weren’t the only new things for my run. I also wore new compression capri’s. After getting some CW-X leggings that did not fit at all I started looking for something else. I ended up with a pair of moving comfort capri’s that are like some compression shorts I like. I was so excited to get them and happy they fit. Unfortunately for me though once I was out on my long run I discovered my capri’s were actually too big. I tightened them up and kept pulling the material up but it didn’t help. I have some pretty nasty chafing on my thighs now. My hips were yelling at me too… the pants just weren’t tight enough. Not sure what i’m going to do about those capri’s now but i’m back in the market for some new compression gear.

My plans for the next week is to start adding more miles during the week. Just do whatever I can. I also have a doctors appointment where I plan to talk about my pre-diabetes. I am hoping to be put on something for it. My girlie doctor last week was pretty sure my weight issues stem from my blood sugar not being on estrogen. So we’ll see. My girlie doctor did adjust my estrogen and put me on a new medicine for the first time in 5 years. Hopefully, i’ll have some good news to report on that front come next week.

Monday Miles : Week 6

Another week of training has come and gone. Here is this week’s Monday Miles, just what I have been up to in the last week!

This past week I had a big appointment with my foot doctor. It wasn’t everything I had hoped for but I wasn’t told to quit running so that is always good. What I learned was that shot I had back in August did not work like it should have. That boils down to the area it needed to go was hard to get to. Now I get to have it done again but this time it will be x-ray guided. I have my appointment but I need to reschedule. My homeschooler is having some testing and afterwards I thought it would be better to have the shot done earlier in the week rather than later so it doesn’t affect my long run.

Talking with my doctor further we discussed my blister problem. As I suspected I had been overthinking things and he boiled down to my gait. I’m not running how I normally do or should due to my injury. Solution getting an orthotic at least temporarily. If the shot works, I shouldn’t need it. So later that day I got fitted for a custom orthotic and learned more about my feet.

I learned my feet are slightly 2 different sizes, and I definitely need a wide width shoe. The width of my foot though they don’t typically make. That right there explains how come I have such trouble finding a good shoe that fits. For fun you can add in that I don’t have the typical foot, I have a Morton’s toe. That mean’s my second toe is longer than my big toe. The toe thing I knew…
I just didn’t realize how it affected the rest of my foots mechanics. I also learned my toes and foot are hypermobile. The more he told me about the mechanics of my foot I was like, this completely makes sense when it comes to how I got hurt. He went on and made molds out of my feet and now I wait. I wait on my insurance. I have Tricare, it is the insurance military and their family uses. Well, the orthotics office has to submit and see if they will approve my orthotics. The orthotics office isn’t optimistic. Tricare typically only approves orthotics for service members. I’m not sure their reasoning but we will see what they say. Personally I think it is a bit ridiculous as does my husband.

My long run this week was a huge fail. I planned to finally go 16 miles and I only went 10 and change. I was so disappointed in myself. My course for the week was on a busy 2 lane military highway, speed limit 55 but people drive much faster. Once on got on that road I was on edge. I was constantly scanning the knee and higher grass for snakes and keeping an eye on traffic. I even saw a snake that my husband later told me was a copperhead! I’m thankful I was able to go far enough into the road to go around it. I kept going and chugging along. I felt good at my turn around point. I ate some almonds and kept going. Then in mile 9 my calves started to cramp. I told myself, it’s in my head, I got this, if needed I could cut things 1-2 miles short. I stopped though and my husband rescued me. I went home and ate some pickles, took a shower and was better. My only issue was my toes hurting from new black toenails. I am wondering though is this the wall everyone talks about? If so what do I need to do so it doesn’t happen again? I already carry water, Nuun,Gu’s and a small bag of almonds… maybe I should carry some pickles too.

Speaking of carrying things I can tell you something good about my run! For my birthday my husband got me a Camelbak Ultra 4 and he gave it to me early just so I could use it on my run. I really liked it! It was perfect! I was able to effortlessly carry everything I would want with plenty of room for more. Heck, I even took some toilet paper, because you never know! I don’t think I will be going back to my fuel belt.

So there it is! The highlights of my running week. 13 weeks to go!

Monday Miles: Week 5

Fourteen weeks until the WDW Marathon! Here is what i’ve been up to and what not!

The last week has been horrible when it comes to my running. Why? The weather has not been my friend, heck it hasn’t been anyone’s friend. Here in NC we hit our 12 straight days of rain today, Monday. Combine the rain and my favorite trail closing and being pushed to the roads to run, I now have a problem. My husband has vetoed me from running on the road in this weather. I understand why, even though i’m stubborn and don’t want to. People drive like lunatics in good weather and are even worse in the rain. It’s all about safety. When you don’t have sidewalks it is just not as safe to run on the shoulder of the road in rainy weather, especially country roads where people drive much faster than they should. I have been researching different areas to run but i’ve come up with a whole lotta nothing that is nearby.

At this point i’m frustrated. I want to run and i’m stressing about how i’m going to get my miles in as I was rolling a big huge ZERO miles for the week come Sunday morning. I finally decided to drive across town to get some miles in. In Fayetteville they have a great paved trail that runs along the Cape Fear River, the Cape Fear River Trail. From trailhead to trailhead it is 8ish miles, they have extended the trail though too and it is over 10 now, well something like that. It would work, definitely better than nothing.

After I left my house I discovered I forgot my Garmin. Ahhh! I decided i’d be ok, there is an app for that. I started out with my Garmin Fit App. After the 1st mile it wasn’t giving me alerts so I added my Nike+ app. At mile 2 the Garmin app decided to quit. Then I noticed my apps were no where close to what the trail was marked. So much for technology. I’ve heard about this running without technology though and how freeing it is. Well it wasn’t for me. I have always run with a Garmin and i’ve been running close to 10 years now. I really rely on it. I tried though. In the end it just wasn’t for me.

My run was far from my best. I was hoping for better but it just wasn’t happening. I have decided I need to replace my shoes. No ands, ifs, or buts. The tread is disappearing and I slipped and almost fell on my ass about a half dozen times. I love wearing minimals and Merrell’s have been my go-to shoe but their selection of women shoes has dwindled over the years and they no longer make the shoe i’ve worn the past few years. I have tried a few pairs of neutral running shoes but they just haven’t worked for me in the long run. I really have no clue what i’m going to get, only that it needs to be 0 drop.

So forgetting my Garmin and other tech issues, running in the rain and slipping what else could there be to make this a crazy run. How about a downed tree? Yep, that happened to at the 2 mile point. Took a minute or two to access the situation and decided to climb over it. I was getting my run done.

As my run went on there were no other obstacles it was a very basic run. I will say I did not fuel like I normally do. I barely touched my water or my Nuun. I took one gel when I was a bit past half way. When I finished I felt okay other than being bothered by not knowing how far I had actually gone or my pace. I drove the about 45 minutes home, got home showered, and went about my day. I sat down and ate a yogurt and then got up to make some cupcakes with Lil Miss. That’s when it happened. As soon as I got in the kitchen calf cramps hit in both of my calves. My husband massaged them out for me some and then I put my compression sleeves and ate some pickles. I would have never guessed that the cramps would have taken so long after my run to hit but they did. I put the blame entirely on myself too. I know my body. I am a “salty runner” and even though I didn’t feel like I needed it I needed to properly fuel and hydrate during my run to prevent these situations.

I am hoping the rain really does clear up and I can get back to my regular schedule this week. If not I will be spending more time in the garage with weights. Today we are getting a new bar. It is lighter so the kids can use it and it will help me with my form. Well that is the plan. Then, later this week I get to see my foot doctor again for a follow up. I’m really not sure how that is going to go. As for my big toe I can now finally bend it but it does not bend like my other toe. As for pain it only bothers me after long runs. I’ll let y’all know how that goes next week.

What do you do on rainy days when you need to run?

Monday Miles : Week 4

The countdown is on and I have 15 Weeks to go until the WDW Marathon! We are now also under 100 days, crazy! Here is how I am doing!

I am still recovering from blisters. I never knew they could be so bad! My training during the week has continued on my bike. This past week I have been able to improve my time by 10 minutes! If only I could improve my run times that easy.

Initially I didn’t have a long run planned for this weekend. It was my 20 year high school reunion but life happens and things come up. I’m sad I missed it but I was able to get in one last long run on the trail by my house before it closes for deer hunting season. My plan was to do 16 miles.

The weather here has been pretty blah and rainy and I have been checking it left and right. My Sunday run was my first run in the rain. I have intentionally tried to get stuck in the rain before but it has never happened. The rain always disappeared off the radar. This time that was not happening. I put on extra body glide and grabbed a hat and I was off. With the rain I took it easy, not even a fifth of a mile in I had slipped on some mud. I continued on in the light rain and other than some slippery spots and squishy mud it wasn’t that bad. My pace wasn’t anything amazing but was within the time limits for rundisney.

I kept chugging along and took a bypass and left the main trail. The bridge had been out all year and I’m finally at a point I need to go past it. I thought I was doing well but soon found myself on an adventure. Where I run is near Fort Bragg and there are fire breaks all over the place to include off of the trail I was on. The bypass route is a fire break and the entrance is marked really well but the exit wasn’t. I ended up turning the wrong way and ended up at a different bridge that was out. In my defense I saw orange ribbon on the trees and I thought I was going the right way. I called my husband who was tracking me and then I looked at my phone. Duh, I had Maps, I could figure this out. I ended up making my way to the main road but with the weather my husband decided to come pick me up. He wasn’t too keen on the idea of me running in the rain on the side of road that people regularly go much faster than the 55MPH speed limit. My milage total was just over 10 miles. I was fine with it seeing how it was originally going to be a big ole zero

I am happy to say that this week I was blister free! This week I had an a-ha moment. Earlier this summer I had been promoting Band Aid blister band aids. I carried them everywhere this summer but we never needed them. I finally used them around the house for my blisters and they stuck really well to the bottom of my foot so I tried them for a run. At this point I had nothing to lose.They were perfect! They are now a running must have for me.
Nutrition wise, this week everything is the same. Pre-diabetes and all. I keep hoping that one more I will wake up and have a normal fasting blood sugar.

So there it is, my Monday Miles! My running this next week will be interesting as rain is on the forecast every day. In addition to that I will be back to mainly road running. I need to seek out some new places to run too, to keep it interesting.

Monday Miles : Week 3

16 weeks to go until WDW Marathon! So here is what i’ve been up to!

My training during the week has turned into bikes instead of runs. I have been mountain biking 8 miles on the trail near my house. It is full of soft sand and hills. So it’s a pretty decent workout. Each ride is getting easier too so that is a plus, must mean i’m improving. I wish I had more time during the day to add some more distance.

The reason why i’m biking instead of running is because of my feet. My poor, poor feet. I’m not sure what is going on but I have been blistering in the same spot the last 3 long runs. I’m not sure if it is a problem of blistering and it not fully healing and it keeps getting irritated. My shoes having too many miles or something else. All I know is although I may be over thinking things (something I do well), I need to figure it out soon because the not being able to run like I want to sucks.

So far I have tried brand new Balega (anti-blister) socks, Wrightsocks, body glide on my feet and plain ole petroleum jelly with no luck. I won’t use moleskin because it’s not as helpful on long runs. It always bunches up and comes off. Something’s gotta give though. The spot is right under my second toe. Yes, my second toe is my longer toe and I know this relates to the fact I push off that toe not my big toe like most people. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them!

This week I did 15 miles. It was not a good run. Can I blame volunteering the day before at Spartan Race for 12+ hours. I was on my feet the entire time standing and handing out bibs and didn’t eat anything more than almonds a couple at a time between people.

I was slower than expected but my pace was steady even after that new blister developed around mile 6. I did slow down considerably in my last 3 miles. I even stopped 2 miles out for about 5 minutes to sit down and check my foot. Then Not even a quarter of a mile from being finished pain in my foot stopped me in my tracks. I hobbled the rest of the way back but I finished. Woohoo! 15 miles in the books. Next week will be 16 miles.

Weight training has taken a back burner in the past week. My lifting partner hasn’t been working out due to some knee issues. Sooo… it’s all on me now. Gonna figure out a plan and get at it!

Nutrition wise things are going ok. Keeping things simple and trying to keep my blood sugar in check. I still have not had a normal waking fasting blood sugar no matter what i’ve tried. When I spot check after meals i’m still in the pre-diabetes range. The only time I have had a normal range blood sugar has been after my long runs. I am at a loss. All I can think to do is go back to the doctor and see the actual doctor this time, not his nurse practitioner.

So there it is, Monday Miles! Until next week!

What are your best training tips?

Monday Miles : Week 2

I am now at 118 days until the WDW Marathon. Just under 17 weeks! I am sure the time is going to fly by. It seems as though that is what time now does now that I am a grown up. Seriously, how is it the middle of September?

This week I have been pondering a few things. The one of those things is training programs. There are several of them out there and I am completely baffled by them. More so which program is the best program to use. My training program for my half marathons is one that I put together for myself and it works well. My biggest want in a training program is I want to reach 26.2miles before my marathon. Knowing that I can do the distance beforehand is very reassuring for me. So until I find or mash together a program I will just be upping my milage every week. This weekend my long run was 14 miles.

14 miles is not anything new for me, my furthest distance has been 15 miles. It was earlier this year while I was training for the Disney Princess Half. It was thanks to a series of GPS glitches. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready this weekend. My week day training was not been what it should have been. This past week I only got in one run and some strength training and I could tell it in my long run.

Here is what I learned this past week:

If the snake is green it is typically a “good snake” ok i’m stretching there. There is no such thing as a good snake but just because you see it and almost step on it doesn’t mean you need scream and freak out for 2 minutes because it is laying in the middle of the trail.
Sand gets everywhere and that includes inside your blister resistant socks and you may get a blister or two. Blisters really suck.
Speaking of blisters. Draining them is helpful sometimes. Just know they may refill with fluid.
Pickles are good post run. They help restore balance and keep cramps away. 2-3 dill pickle spears seem to work for me.I am resting today, well maybe. I may end up doing some strength training with my husband later. Since I could really fill my lack of training on my run yesterday this week I will be making sure I get it in. This will include possibly biking as well as running and then strength training.As for my diet I am trying to keep it simple. Last week I was diagnosed with prediabetes. Having had 3 pregnancies with diagnosed gestational diabetes and the first I was told I did have it after my son was born (my test was borderline but my son was born with signs of gestational diabetes such as low blood sugar and weighing over 9lbs). I knew it was a matter of time. My personal guess is my hysterectomy was the final straw. My goal is to have a normal fasting blood sugar although after learning about the dawn phenomenon i’m not sure that will happen. I can thank my healthy lifestyle that it has not turned into full blown type 2 diabetes.

So there it is my Monday Miles! Do you use a training program? If so which one?

What have you learned during your marathon training?

Monday Miles : Week 1

Week after week while doing my long runs I have had one recurring thought. I really should blog about that. Many times the blog ideas disappear by the time I get home but this one hasn’t. It just keeps floating around. Now that i’m going from being half crazy to full crazy I am going for it. Once a week I will be posting an update about my training and any tips I learn along the way. This week it is late, the holiday threw me off but this is week one of Monday Miles.

My first Full Marathon will be January 10th at the Happiest place on earth, Walt Disney World. I have read repeatedly how the Walt Disney World Marathon is one of the best marathons out there and knowing how well run the Princess races are I took it as a sign to enter when registration was on my anniversary. Happy 16th anniversary, your going to run a full marathon! To be fair my husband signed up for his first marathon too, just not WDW.

We are at 17 weeks and a few days before the marathon now and with my foot being cleared to go, it is go time. During my time off from running I was still active. During the week I was out in my garage working out with my husband, 15 year old and sometimes lil miss joined us. I would also go with my husband on his long runs during the weekend. The only difference is that I would ride my bike (ok and walk some of the steep hills but each week that was less and less). Once my foot was cleared I started walking instead of running. I wanted to test out my foot plus I was going to be sweeping a half marathon in a few weeks. 10 miles is a slow start right? I was able to do the 10 miles within the half marathon’s time limits easily with no foot problems. The following week I did 13 with my husband. I was set to go.

Sunday morning came all to early and before I knew it myself and the 3:30 pacer for Fayettevilles Race 13.1 were walking down the All American Highway. Moving right along, chit chatting and all that fun stuff.

We stayed together until around mile 7 when I picked up someone from the 10k. I helped him until around mile 8, well a bit before. I have to give this guy mad props. He was out there after having both of his hips replaced! He just wanted to see if he could do it and he did! I stayed with him until his wife came up to finish with him and her urging me to go ahead, she had him. I went ahead and saw my husband who was working as a course monitor and sped up trying to catch back up. Right about mile 9, I did my first scope on Periscope and sent a video out on Instagram.

It took about a mile but I caught back up to the back of the pack. Where I stayed for the rest of the race. I carried the American Flag and kept making sure everyone was doing ok. Outside of aches and pains and being a bit tired the ladies were doing good. One of the complaints was an achy hip from a mom of a 6 month old. She didn’t want to stop to stretch so I had her do some lunges which helped some. I also suggested she invest in a pair of good compression shorts. I explained to her the compression will help with her core which often becomes weak when having kids as well as additional stability in the hip. There are many claims that compression does this, that and the other thing but the stability is the stand out for me.

We kept on going and I kept doing what I could to encourage the back of the pack ladies. When another said they didn’t think they could do it at mile 12 I told them to stop and that they could. I explained running is in your head first. If you say you can you will. We made it up the on ramp and down to the mall and with encouragement I slowed down so she could run it in and own her half marathon finish. She worked hard for it and finished running. I came in last, like I was suppose to. It was the first time i’ve come in dead last it was very weird. I was given water and handed my medal and then I wandered my way to the Team RWB tent as most of the vendors had broken down or were in the process of doing so. My feet were killing me, I wore the wrong shoes and I am back on the quest to find a pair of shoes for the WDW Marathon. My feet are full of hot spots,blisters and i’m pretty sure I have new black toe nails.

I took Monday and Tuesday off. Well I tried to run Tuesday but my feet were not having it. My feet have not been this bad since 2012 when I did my first half marathon. I am going to try again today but we’ll see how it goes. It may be a cross training type of day.

Are you a runner? What has your training schedule looked like for the past week?

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