I keep getting behind on these training logs so here’s another quick catch-up. I’m gradually starting to run again and I averaged just about 30 miles per week this month. I finished up the last few EPAT treatments. I still feel the plantar fasciitis every day, but at least some days are better than others. I ran the Manchester Road Race, met some new running buddies, and started complaining about the weather. It’s a close to a typical November. If my foot felt a tad better, I would start to relax a little.
Monday, 11/12, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2250, Be A Shark workout
Usual Monday morning swim. Nothing fancy.
Tuesday, 11/13, Happy Hour Crew –4.5 miles easy (8:44 pace)
Ran after work in the dark. Lots of juggling work meetings and weather right now. My running feels totally discombobulated at the moment. I also had EPAT treatment #4. I sure hope it’s working.
Wednesday, 11/14, Morning Crew – 4 miles easy (8:48 pace) plus weights
Usual run from the gym. Foot was hurting a lot and grey skies not helping my mood. Feeling November-ish.
Thursday, 11/15, Morning Crew – 5.5 miles, fartleks! (9:00 pace)
This is a classic Coach Mick returning-to-faster-running workout and I love it. Three minutes fast / three minutes easy, 2:30 fast / 2:30 easy, etc. My foot felt much better today, who knows why? Winter has definitely arrived. I wore pretty much all my running gear and was still a little chilly. TOO SOON.
Friday, 11/16, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2400, F4%K Not Running workout
This workout has a lot of steady swimming, which I used to hate, but somehow loved today? This whole week felt kind of weird. Work is bananas so that’s partly why.
Saturday, 11/17, Early Morning Crew – 5 miles (8:32 pace), plus weights
Ran with a new friend from the gym. We are really well matched in terms of pace and it was SO fun to have someone new to run with. Trying to turn the worry level on the foot down a notch.
Sunday, 11/18, Early Morning Crew – 8 miles (9:24 pace)
Ran with Teacher Runner, Blue Turtle, and my new gym buddy out at the orchard. A beautiful morning. The geese had arrived by the time we finished and Teacher Runner said she didn’t care if her kids became runners, but she would love for them to experience mornings like this one. Well-said, Teacher Runner. Followed this up with a walk/run with the church group and a strenuous hike with the Girl Scouts. Foot hurts, but holding up ok.
Total: 27 miles running; 4650 yards swimming
11/19 – 11/26
It’s almost like winter arrived overnight here in New England. I ran the Manchester Road Race on Thursday in certainly the coldest temps I’ve ever raced in. My foot really doesn’t like the cold, or possibly the faster pace, and the race caused a significant plantar fasciitis flare-up. Managing this injury is at least as much mental as physical at the moment so I keep trying to think positively.
Monday, 11/19, Morning Crew – Swim 2400, Frank workout
Lovely swim with Snarky Girl and JJ. Loads of de-briefing from the Girl Scout hike to go along with the swimming. Of all my kids’ activities, I like Girl Scouts the best.
Tuesday, 11/20, Early Morning Crew – 5 miles, aerobic threshold (8:39 pace)
Doing a lot of “aerobic threshold” running these days, which Coach Mick says is the “faster end of easy”. Hmmm. Not sure when that pace started counting as easy? But actually these runs aren’t too bad. My average pace a tad slower than it’s “supposed” to be because I run really slowly for the first mile, pretty much always. Today was also my last EPAT treatment. I got rather stressed out and grouchy about it. EPAT hurts. But now it’s done so full-steam ahead to healing these feet!
Wednesday, 11/21, Morning Crew – 4 miles (8:41 pace), plus weights
Kind of a November-ish run again. Foot a little cranky. Skies grey. Lifting good as usual.
Thursday, 11/22, Morning Crew – Manchester Road Race! Finish Time = 37:39, 2:22 PR! 4.76 miles because TOO DAMN COLD for warm-up or cool down
Perhaps I will write a full race re-cap at some point. The highlights? It was really really freaking cold. Something like 15 degrees with a wind chill of 5. Aidan ran with two of his buddies and my mind was so focused on making sure those high school boys were ok that I could hardly think about my own race. I felt mostly like crap while running, probably due to the cold and essentially no faster running since Erie. But, I ended up with a shiny new PR, so I am not going to complain too much! Huge thanks to the Retiree for allowing my gang to be based at his house and therefore out of the cold. Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, 11/23, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2650, Fabian workout
With Snarky Girl and Mr. Snarky Girl. My attempt to counteract vast quantities of pie and no small amount of wine consumed yesterday. I’m paying for that cold race with a very sore foot today.
Saturday, 11/24, Morning Crew – 5 miles (8:27 pace), also weights
Spent a lot of the run and a lot of the day fretting about my stupid foot. What if it doesn’t get better? What if EPAT was a waste of money? How am I supposed to train for Boston like this? So. Many. Worries. Coach Mick finally said to write them all down and then follow that up with writing down as much positivity as I could and then stop thinking about it. This strategy proved surprisingly effective. Go Coach Mick.
Sunday, 11/25, Early Morning Crew – 10 miles (9:12 pace)
Ran with my new friend from the gym on a new route, over the bridge and back. I’m enjoying her company so much. The run was a bit of a struggle. I was running out of steam at the end and my foot was hurting (again). But, got it done, so moving on.
Total: 28.76 miles running; 5050 yards swimming. Whoa, that is a LOT of swimming!
11/26 – 12/2
This week brought the return of Track Tuesday and the Friday Girlfriend Run! It’s almost like normal running life. If only my foot would quit hurting, I’d be in heaven. The weekend was full of holiday events though so lots of good stuff too!
Monday, 11/26, Morning Crew – Swim 2200, Everyone Loves 50s workout
Snarky Girl and I – we go into the pool grouchy. We come out mostly happy. Every Monday. That’s a good thing.
Tuesday, 11/27, Early Morning Crew – 6.5 miles as: 2 miles WU; 10x400m @ 1:50 with 2 minutes of walking rest, 1 mile CD
First real track workout post-Erie! We had a big gang show up with six of us at the track at 5:45am! This was really fun. I’ve got two new running buddies who are happy to do my workouts along with me and they are making me think I’m going to make it through the New England winter after all. The 400s were mostly 1:48-1:50 and we ran the last one fast at 1:41.
Wednesday, 11/28, Early Morning Crew – 4 miles (8:57 pace), plus weights
Ran with the new girls so it was cold but delightful! I felt really good in the gym and was able to increase weight with a lot of exercises. A good day!
Thursday, 11/29, Morning Crew – 6.5 miles (8:44 pace) aerobic threshold
Six miles on a Thursday, so that’s good news.
Friday, 11/30, Early Morning Crew – 5 miles (9:11 pace)
The return of the Friday Girlfriend Run! Six people running today! I am loving the chance to run with friends. I think I had been missing this much more than I realized. This was the best run in ages.
Saturday, 12/1, Morning Crew – Swim 2400, also weights
Wore myself out a bit in the pool so weights were kind of meh. Whatever. Got it done on time to take Rose to her horseback riding lesson and then the Holly Fair at church. We also went to a special holiday ballet. It’s that time of year!
Sunday, 12/2, Afternoon Crew – 10 miles (8:57 pace)
The weather this morning was disgusting so I moved my long run to the afternoon, which meant going alone. Still – banged out 10 miles while listening to Christmas music and felt quite good doing it. Good ending to the week!
Total: 32 miles running; 4600 yards swimming.