One week freak out

I used to always question football players when I heard they weren't playing due to turf toe.  Really?  You're making mega bucks and can't play because of a TOE? Toughen up, Buttercup!  

Cue the big toe pain...

I don't know what happened. 

I finished the Flower City Half feeling good.  Confident for Tink weekend.  I did 1 mile Monday and Tuesday to keep my streak alive and 2 on Wednesday.  I was noticing a little soreness in my left big toe, but didn't think much of it.

Yesterday it was still sore, but jumped on the treadmill and ROCKED a short tempo run.  I mean, it was the kind of run where I was flying high and felt like I owned the world.  Epic music played as I finished the run and people cheered for its greatness.

Then my night went on.  Slowly I noticed more and more pain in my toe.  I went to bed thinking that staying off of it over night would make me better, but this morning it still hurt.  Just random motions, and very generalized.  I couldn't pinpoint what hurt.  A day on my feet at school teaching didn't help, though when I got home I was at least able to point to two painful regions.  The top of my toe, one that seemed to run the top tendon, and the ball of the foot immediately under the toe.

Now tonight was supposed to be my last 10 miler before race weekend.  It's killing me not to do it.  Especially after my day at school.  Running is my stress release when my students suffer from justendtgeschoolyearalready-itis. 

 I did 1.5 miles on the treadmill and stopped to play it safe.  I hate doing the "right" grown up thing.  I wanted to continue plodding on.  Honestly, it's not overly painful running, but afterwards it hurts like a beast.  I must say, I apologize to all football players who I ever judged for not playing with turf toe.  

Now Pixie Dust Challenge starts in about one week.  I was planning on racing the 10k hard and the half moderately, with my goal half two weeks after that.  Now I'm worried about being able to run, let alone race.  So I guess for now I'll suck it up and do the right thing, taking it easy and icing and such.  Just hoping my stupid toe will be cooperative next week 😡.

The Flower City Challenge

So the Flower City Challenge in Rochester, NY has come and gone.  I had a great time, but it was definitely challenging!  My first du ended up being harder than I thought and that made the half a little more tiring!  Overall I had a great weekend, it was such a well run race, and I highly recommend it!

The Expo

We went to packet pick up Friday night.  It was in a Fleetfeet store in Rochester.  It was neat because they have multiple rooms, so they were still able to set up a small expo in one room.  There were several vendors, some free samples of GU, and some nice volunteers to help you get your bib and shirts.  They also had some race merchandise, but it was pretty limited in sizes when we got there, so I didn't buy anything.

Day One: The Du

5k run 20 mile bike 5k run

I was very anxious for this race.  Since it was my first I didn't really like not being used to prepping a transition and being so new to the logistics.  Of course it was easy.  The hubs and I snagged a spot towards the one end and set up camp.  As I'm such a newbie, I really had nothing to set up, which took some stress off.

The race started across the streets and guys and girls started separately so I started before the hubs, which meant we raced alone.  I started fast, but the legs felt heavy, so I toned it down.  It was a nice route along the river and my watch had it a little shorter than a 5k, but I was near the front as far as female competitors and was feeling optimistic.

Then I got on my bike.

I don't have a road bike and this race showed me how much harder it is for hybrid bikes out there.  Everyone was flying by me on the course.  I'll admit I was rather under trained, but even at the beginning I knew it was going to be rough.  Then I hit the hills.  

Having trained on flat ground, a few colorful words may have escaped my mouth during some of the climbs.  I would watch people fly by on their nice bikes while I just prayed to get to the top.    

It probably doesn't look too bad, especially if you are a seasoned cyclist, but I swore to someone I'd rather run those hills than bike any day.  

After the bike I was definitely near the back of the pack and it was so cold my feet were numb.  As I started running I felt like a pirate on peg legs, like I was stumping along.  It took nearly two miles to warm up.  I focused on just trying to pick people off and successfully passed some as we went back around the river.  I was so happy crossing the finish line.  They announced that I was going to do the half as I crossed the line, which I thought was a nice touch.

I ended up placing by default, with only two in my age group, and we received nice beer steins with the race logo.  Once I got the award we left, we were both so cold and exhausted from the race.

We kept our bikes up in our hotel room.  It was quite interesting getting them from the parking garage, up some stairs, on the elevator, and to our room on the eleventh floor.  

Our hotel was only a few minutes from the du by car and a five minute walk to the half start, so it was a great location.  Plus it had some spectacular views!

Day Two: The Half Marathon

I love this half.  The volunteers are always super supportive, and it starts next to an arena, so you can hide from the cold and use the restrooms up to pretty close to the start of the race.

This year it was crisp and sunny, perfect running weather.  The sun made it feel so much better than the day before.

I lined up with the 2:00 pacer.  It felt weird.  I'm used to running farther up, but as I was using this as my final long run before Tink and my legs were already tired, I was trying to hold back.  I also didn't run with my water belt- the first half in a long time that I didn't use it.  I walked through water stations, accidentally taking the GU water (which was yummy) a few times.  

The course is nice, lots to look at, and they have neighborhood spirit competitions so there are a lot of spectators out cheering you on.  It gets hilly in the middle, which I wanted since we don't have loads of hills around my house.

At the 8 or so mile mark you get to the Mt Hope cemetery, which is really pretty.  

Shortly after you leave the cemetery you see this.  It made me happy.

You then hit up some bike path until you return to the streets, being greeted by lots of spectators and finishing right near where you started.

They had some chiropractors, pizza and other food, and some merchandise inside the arena.  I took advantage of the chiropractors, who were really nice and thorough, despite all the people.  

The Flower City Challenge is really a great race.  It's well run with awesome volunteers on the courses, great medals and shirts, and a positive and inciting atmosphere all the way though.  I recommend either race!

Sunny skies= renewed spirits

Throw back to my first Tink in 2013

It's about time... We are finally going to have a whole weekend with temps into the 60s and sun.  After having such a mild winter, our spring has truly been hiding this year, but waking to the sun shining brightly has put me in a good mood to train.  I've got A LOT to train for, too!

One week from today I will be attempting my first duathalon.  I managed to get out on my hybrid bike (yup, don't even have a road bike) for the first time since last summer on Wednesday.  First I did a 9.3 mile fartlek run since running is still my top priority.  Then I layered up (it was only 45) and went out.  My first 5 miles were into a headwind and made me doubt my ability to do this.  I was struggling through 5, how was I going to hit 20?? My legs felt like lead and I wanted to give up.  Luckily I did a out and back route, so the wind was with me on the way back and I finished my 10.25 with a little more optimism than I started with.  All night my legs felt exhausted, but I never was actually sore, which surprised me. I guess the 10 mile rides I did on my exercise bike really did help.  Heading out for 15 miles today.  I figure if I can get through that, I'll survive next weekend.

Next Sunday is a hilly half marathon.  Yup, following my first du with a half the next day.  All part of the Flower City Challenge in Rochester, NY.  I'm not planning on racing this half at all.  It's just my final long run for Tink.

Three weeks from now is Tink weekend at Disneyland.  I'll be just getting ready to start the 10k.  I was hesitant about my ability to race this event, but my work out last night made me feel better.  I like doing pace work in the treadmill, so I warmed up with 1.25 miles, then did 1 mile at 7:09 pace, followed by .25 at 8:00 pace.  I repeated that four times on an incline of 2% and felt pretty good.  If I could keep near that pace for the 10k I could get a pretty big PR!  

The next day will be Tink half, which is one of my fav Disney races.  Still would like a PR there, but probably not as big as I originally hoped as I am now planning on going hard in the 10k.  I am super pumped about the race now, though, as we just received our bib and corral assignments for the race!  I get to be in corral A!  I've heard a bunch of people in different Facebook groups discussing how they got put in the wrong corral, so I always get worried I will end up that way at some point.  My husband is happy that he will be in B, since no men are allowed in the first corral.  He's hoping to get a PR at this race as well, and since it's only his second half, he definitely has a shot!

So as I type this I've eaten my breakfast and am getting ready to run.  I think I'm staying on the treadmill this morning again for my 15k, despite the sun, in order to minimize the pounding on my legs.  Planning on 10 or so miles outside tomorrow, so not sure my legs can handle that much stress two days in a row.  I like to be extra careful to avoid possible injury.  Now that nice weather is here I need to ease back outside, since I hate running in the cold and hide on my treadmill most of the winter.  

After my run I'll be heading out for my 15 mile ride, then plan on actually relaxing outside with a book.  Here's to good weather and sunny afternoons!

4 weeks to go...

(Picture from RunDisney)

So Tinkerbell Weekend is just 4 weeks away... Time for the second guessing to begin!  Like most runners, I'm now wondering if what I've done since Princess has been enough to achieve my goals.

I didn't follow a full out written training plan.  I decided one of my major issues after my A1A Half and Princess weekend experiences was endurance and lack of long miles in training.  So I've thrown down more double digit runs at this point in my training than I did for my entire Princess cycle, sometimes getting in two a week, hitting 15 twice.  I've also done tempo runs and have quickened my interval pace, but was all this enough?

I've got a 14-15 miler planned for today, but it'll be on the treadmill since its 27F and I've been fighting something the past few days.  Next weekend will be a 13 miler, then the following weekend I'm doing my first duathalon on Saturday, which I'm totally not ready for.  I haven't been out on my bike since last year, and there's a twenty mile bike portion.  I've done a couple 10 milers on my exercise bike, so hopefully that helps!  Oh, and should I add that I have a hilly half the next day?  😮 Should be a fun weekend... Lol.

ANYWAYS...

I really want to PR at both the 10k and half at Tink, which is stupid, I know.  I just really want some more recent times for those distances.  I have another half, the Buffalo Half Marathon, at the end of May, so I have a back up race for that goal, so I guess I should really focus on the 10k.  Plus, if I race the 10k at my best, I have an outside chance of placing in my age group.  

On that note, I guess I should go stop being a bum and hit the treadmill... Here we go!

Goals check in!

So scarily enough we are a quarter of the way through 2016, so I figured I'd take a moment to check in on my goals and see where I stand.  

1.) 2016 miles in 2016.  I'm doing pretty well with this goal, especially since I had a lot of race miles, so fewer weekly miles, in February.  I'm currently at 513, which is just 4.1 miles off of where I should be.  On the positive side, I'm running injury free and have been much better about throwing down some consistent miles.  I'd like to start banking some miles to help with some tapers and recovery weeks through out the year.  But at least I'm currently on track.  

2.) Sub 1:40 half.  I haven't raced a half since Feb, where I fell short, but I've regrouped and realized I wasn't running long consistently enough.  So since the end of February I've done seven 10+ mile runs, two of which were 15 miles, some on consecutive days.  Tinkerbell is in the beginning of May, so I plan on at least three more double digit runs prior to them and we shall see where I stand.

3.) Sub 21:00 5k.  This hasn't been my focus yet, this will be my main goal through early summer, but I have been doing various length repeats st 6:40 and more recently 6:00 pace.  I think this is one of my harder goals to achieve.

4.) place at a Disney race.  I was shut down at Princess.  A fast field and rough day for me didn't go well.  Still have Pixie Dust and Wine and Dine.

5.) Qualify to Boston.  I'm working towards this by building a base and running more double digit runs. I've also begun looking at which marathon(s?) to attempt at.  I'm thinking of trying two... To have a back up just in case.

So with three months already gone I feel like I'm working towards my goals.  February gave me some feedback through racing and I've really been able to make some adjustments that should be able to help.

Now if Mother Nature would just cooperate.  We had snow last night and a winter storm warning for tonight as well.  I hate running on ice/snow, so I did my ten miles on the treadmill this morning.  Thank God for DVR,