2020 Dopey Challenge: 13 Days out

An alternative title for this post: What do you mean we will be in Florida two weeks from now!

I have to say, the entire month of December feels like a blur, there has just been so much going on. Dennis and I started the month by moving out of the apartment that we have lived in for the last year and a half, and into his parents basement, which we spent most of November cleaning out and re-painting. We are working on saving up for a house of our own, so this felt like a smart decision for our future. So far it has been going well, and our cats have adapted to their new surroundings already.

My work life has been crazy as well, as I prepare for a new product to launch, and try to see it through a successful engineering run - so stress has been high on all fronts really. Mix in a little marathon training, holiday get togethers that are all over my schedule, out of town family coming in for the holidays, and suddenly I understand how it is the end of December, when I feel like I just ran a turkey trot yesterday. This isn’t a complaint though, all in all I am thankful for all of the good stuff that has been going on!

After we got home from Disney late on Tuesday night, I had to head to work Wednesday morning. I spent Wednesday night unpacking and dealing with a closet that had collapsed while we were out of town, so no run happened that day. But Thursday I made plans with Mike to meet up at the gym after work, so we could run together. This weekend was to be our last Dopey simulation, so I knew that I had a lot of miles ahead of me, all to be squeezed into the holiday chaos. I was, once again, doing things a little out of order. Since a cold front had blown into NY, and I planned on running outside for Friday’s leg of the simulation, I opted to complete the simulation out of sequence – 5 mi, 3 mi, 10 mi, 20 mi was my plan. At least the two longest legs were in order this time!

Back to Thursday – I headed right to planet fitness after work, and Mike and I managed to find treadmills next to each other. We chatted as we ran, and I kept the pace easy. Five miles went by in no time, and I headed home to pack once again – I was headed to Jersey for a wedding on Friday, and an overnight stay was involved.

It was cold out on Long Island when I woke up Friday morning, and it took all of my energy to get myself out of bed, knowing that I had to get in at least a 3-mile run before heading to work. It was a real feel of under 20 degrees, so I had a lot of layers on. I felt really stiff, but did an easy loop around the neighborhood and got my miles in. Then it was off to work for a half day, and then a ride to Jersey that included a lot of traffic to get to the wedding.

I had a lot of fun at the wedding with Den’s family on Friday night. His sisters were even in town from Grenada and California, and it was great to have everyone together for a night. It was a late night, but I somehow managed to get myself out of bed and onto the hotel treadmill the next morning. The plan was for 10 miles, so I brought along my headphones and phone so that I could watch TV while the miles went by. The hotel gym was tiny and warm, so I opened a window and let the cool air flow into the room. I had the gym to myself for the first few miles, until another guest hopped on an elliptical, and was not happy about my open window. She asked if she could close it a little, and then closed it a LOT. I kept running as the room got warmer, but eventually had to apologize as I re-opened the window a few inches, as it was just too warm. I was already in shorts and a tank, so it wasn’t like I had another means of cooling off. I kept trotting through my miles, and was quite pleased with myself when they were complete. I grabbed a quick shower, and then we hopped on the road home. I got to spend Saturday with some of my family, including my cousin Jen and her husband Will, who were in town from Georgia for the holidays. We headed to Barcade and then wandered through Chelsea market, before hanging out at my parent’s house for the night.

Now, for the last and longest long run of dopey training – the 20 miler at the end of back to back running days. My original intent for this run was to get it done on Sunday morning, but I prioritized family over running (gasp, I know!). But I did eventually manage to get it done! Since my job was closed on Christmas eve and I had no hosting responsibilities, for the third year running I headed out to get the miles in then. In 2017 and 2018 I ran 18-milers on Christmas eve, and this year I successfully completed a 20 miler. Unfortunately, it was a solo 20 miler, so it didn’t exactly fly by like some other training runs have. Before the run I applied some KT tape to my injured knee, and I also ran with the band that I have been using lately. I put some fuel outside my front door as I headed out, and first did loops around the house until I made a quick fuel stop at mile 5. Then I headed over the parkway and towards my parent’s house, where I made another fuel stop at mile 10, and may have also stopped to chat with my Dad for a few minutes. 10 down, 10 to go. My knee was feeling good so far. I was losing steam, so I made one more pit stop at my parent’s house before heading home, around mile 14. When I walked in to grab water, my Mom had just gotten back from the deli, so I grabbed a pickle and it really hit the spot. I got back on the road, only 6 miles to go. I had to get a little creative with my path home so that I wouldn’t be tempted to cut the distance short, and with all of my weaving I managed to get all the way up to the 20 mile mark, with no back and fourths in front of the house required. I was exhausted, but the run was done, and my knee felt ok. As I approached the front stoop, I noticed that an addition had been added to my running fuel – a white claw had been left with my water and gel! Had Santa come early???

I spent the rest of Christmas eve and Christmas celebrating the holiday with my husband’s family and my family – I may have even been gifted a few new pieces of running gear.

Now, with only two weeks before the Florida trip, it is time to get working on costumes, and to make sure that everything I need for the dopey challenge gets packed!

Week 8: Chicago marathon Training

I knew after the long day I had on Sunday, there was no way I was getting up on Monday morning- but that was ok, because I scheduled two days of rest after the Jamesport triathlon. Realistically, I thought maybe I would be able to get in some speedwork on Tuesday- how sore could a two hour race really leave me?

One other thing that happened on Monday - I got an awesome package in the mail from ProCompression that included this Ambassador shirt, and these socks!

Well, the answer was it could leave me feeling like I was hit my a small car - I was so much sorer than I expected to be on Monday! My limbs were heavy, and there was no way any running was happening. I had agreed to meet up with Jennie at the gym to weight train, and had it not been for Jennie and Sophie committing to going, I probably would have bailed. We stuck to upper body exercises, and finished with some core work. I left the gym feeling energized, but by the time I got home I was even more pooped. I went to bed early, and was very happy to be under the covers. 

I slept in again on Tuesday morning, but by Tuesday night I was itching to get a few miles in, regardless of lingering soreness. So I shot texts to Mike and Sophie, asking if they wanted to meet up after work for a few miles. Sophie and I had to be ready for Mom’s birthday dinner at 7, but I wasn’t trying to get too many miles in. They both agreed to meet up, and when I got home from work I packed a change of clothes and passed them off to Den, so he could bring them when he headed to my parents for dinner. 

I headed out the door and towards Mike’s house, and he was ready to run. We headed towards my parents house, and ran inside to alert Sophie to our arrival. She groaned at me a little bit for making her come running, but was in better spirits once we got moving. This run marked the first official run of Mike’s NYC marathon training plan, and I was happy I got to share the miles. We chatted as we looped through the neighborhood, and I logged a total of 4.5 miles, which were particularly sweaty. 

It was back to my usual training schedule on Wednesday, and I made sure to get out in the morning for my run, because Wednesday night I was hosting track for the Tri team! Due to conflicting schedules our coach, Jackie, asked if I could help out and run a weekly track night for the summer, and I am so excited that she asked me to help. So, Dad biked over on Wednesday morning and after a slower first mile I settled into the groove of things, and trotted through a big loop, completing a total of five miles with no real pace goal in mind.

After work I headed over to the track, and was excited when people actually started showing up. As much as people had committed to coming out, I was still nervous that other plans would get in the way. I lead the team through some warm up stretches, and then sent them out to run loops of the track to warm up. Jackie had given me the workout for the team, and I wrote it on a white board and explained the plan to everyone. As they ran their loops I shouted encouragement when I could, and guided them through the workout. Everyone did a great job, and I was so happy to be able to support my friends like that! It started to thunderstorm just as everybody finished up their cool-down laps, so we got out of there quickly.

The thunderstorms were supposed to continue through Thursday morning, so I planned to run after work. I had a training at work all day, that lead to more sitting than my hip-flexors prefer. By the time I hot home from work I was having sharp pains in my hip, and decided to play it safe, and save my tempo run for Friday morning, but made sure to spend some time that night stretching and sitting with a heating pad. I had planned to head to yoga with Mike and his husband, Jude, on Thursday night, but got stuck at work late. They headed to the class without me, but we all decided to head to the meatball place, a restaurant on main street, when the class got out. They picked up Dennis and I and we all headed there together, and shared a delicious meal with many laughs shared. The highlight of the meal was the charcuterie board that we all split.

I got up nice and early Friday morning, ready to get in some faster miles. I had a solo morning on deck, and left the apartment, running towards my parents house so I could use it as a water station. After a two mile warm-up I tried to pick the pace up, but despite my best efforts I wasn’t moving as fast as I was supposed to. When I made my pit stop to grab water at my parents, I chatted with Dad for a minute, who was busy painting the dining room. When I got moving again, I had a sharp pain that in my hip that forced me into a walk break. I was having trouble telling if it was just a tight hip flexor, or a cramp. I tried a few more times to get running, but the pain was just too much. I eventually decided just to walk home, because walking felt fine, and it seemed like a better idea than getting a ride home from my parents and then sitting on my couch. I tried to run one more time as I headed home, but the pain persisted. This was the first time that I ever had to quit a run - I have had to slow paces, maybe cut a mile off, but never have I had to completely throw in the towel. I was super bummed, and a little nervous that this was going to become an on going issue. I tried to force the thoughts into the back of my head, and not stress about it too much.

Friday night my family was having a get together to celebrate some summer birthdays, and it was a nice way to take my mind off of things. We headed to my grandpa’s house for pizza, some drinks, and s’mores, which dad had brought his little camping grill along to make. My cousins and brothers ran around playing volleyball, while Den and I sat around with my parents and aunts and uncles, discussing life, travel plans, and

I spent more time stretching on Friday night, and when I woke up on Saturday morning I took my time getting moving. We had a heat warning, and temps were over 100 degrees in New York, plus the humidity was high. I was opting to run on the treadmill, and was nervous that I would have to quit again. I made sure to stretch and warm up my body before getting on the treadmill, and set it to a pace on the slower side for me. After a mile I paused the treadmill, and stretched out some more, as had been recommended to me. I cautiously kept going after, and felt ok as the miles slipped by. Eventually the count hit 6, and I had successfully completed the miles. I did make sure to wear the brace/wrap that I had previously purchased for the rest of the day, just as a precaution. I didn’t want to get too excited about one good run, since I was still having hip pain any time I was sitting.

Sunday morning rolled around, and I slept in once more, since I was planning on getting on the treadmill again. They temps were once again high, and I didn’t want to find myself in too much pain to keep running and stuck outside in hot temps. So after a normal amount of procrastination, I locked the cats in the bedroom, put my iPad on the treadmill deck, queued up some Veronica Mars, filled my water bottles, and got moving. Twelve miles was a long time to spend on the treadmill, but it seemed like the better option. Mentally I tried to focus on four miles at a time, which was about as long as it took to get through an episode. I found myself really wanting to take walk brakes, and just feeling generally fatigued. I tried to limit my stops as much as possible, and just tried not to think about how much was left each time I finished a mile. Slowly but surely the mileage climbed, until I at last reached 12 miles. It wasn’t the best long run I had ever done, but at least I got the miles in, and something is always better than nothing.

I ended the week hoping that my hip would continue to improve, so that I could really get back on track with my training. By the end of the week my body was at least less fatigued, but that didn’t do me much good, if my hip was going to start refusing to cooperate.