Workout Recap - Week 12

Sunday, March 13th – Rest Day

Monday, March 14th – Rest Day

Tuesday, March 15th – 2 mile walk

Wednesday, March 16th – 4 mile walk

Thursday, March 17th – 6 mile walk 

Friday, March 18th – Rest Day

Saturday, March 19th – 10 mile run

Sunday was supposed to be a 12 mile run, but my hip/ back/ pelvis area was really bugging me after my 50K (so much so that I couldn't get comfortable when I was sleeping and got all of about 40 minutes of rest, so decided to scrap my run and make it a rest day). I really dislike not following my plan to a T, but I have to remind myself that listening to my body is more important (and the plan is more of a guide, not the law). My midweek runs turned into walks to give my body extra time to recover. Let me tell you, I had to wake up earlier for my walks than my runs seeing as it takes so much longer... but in the end it's worth it to listen to your body, right?! On Friday I was able to see a sports medicine doctor so he could look everything over and make sure I was okay to continue training. He checked my range of motion, took x-rays to make sure it wasn't a stress fracture, etc and gave me the thumbs up. With that being said, I decided to go for my 10-miler on Saturday. I'll be honest, the area that was giving me trouble was still painful, but I pushed through anyway (because at this point I'm not sure if that feeling is just something I'm going to have to live with or what). I'm going to try and get in to see a physical therapist next week to see if maybe it's a muscle issue that needs to be addressed, so wish me luck!

How were your workouts this past week?

100-Miler Training : Update #2

Who's stoked for another update on this HUGE goal I'm chasing down?! I hope you are, cause it's coming - ready or not ;)

As soon as I hit "publish" on my first update I remembered two fairly BIG updates I didn't even mention in that post... 

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First, I never told y'all WHAT race I'm running. In the original post where I spilled the beans about wanting to attempt my first 100-miler, I hadn't officially registered yet (registration didn't open till January 1st and I didn't want to jump the gun in case it sold out and I was forced to pick a different race). I have shared the deets with folks if they've asked, but I guess I haven't made it public knowledge yet, so here goes... I'll be running the Washington Yeti 100 Mile Endurance Run! 

The race is July 15th and will take place through the central Cascades of Washington. I have taken part in a couple Yeti Trail Runners' virtual events thus far [the Yeti 24-Hour Challenge and the Twelve Days of Yeti] and LOVE the race director (I'm sure Jason makes EVERYONE feel like he's their best friend, but I'm gonna act like he really does know who I am and might consider me a friend ;)), not to mention the group of people in the Yeti family are FAN-FREAKIN'-TASTIC! 

Who wore it better?!

And now onto the second piece of "business". As I'm sure you can imaging, training for a 100-mile run is NO JOKE. The training plan I am following is about 6 MONTHS LONG. (Obviously someone could just wake up one morning and go run a hundred miles, but if you want to do it with as little injury as possible [and without hating your life for weeks afterwards], you "should" put in the work.) With that said, training while working full time is TOUGH {especially when said job has you on your feet for 9+ hours a day}. I'm currently waking up some days at 3:30am just so I can get in my runs before work. 

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Hear me out, I am NOT complaining about having a job or having the privilege to be able to live somewhere I can safely run in the wee-hours of the morning without having to worry, but I'm explaining the commitment it takes and my current situation. For the past six months or so I have been working Monday through Friday, open to close. Well, I realized the last couple weeks that being out of the house for 55ish hours Monday through Friday (I walk to work, so leave around 8:30am and then don't get home until close to 7:30pm from the store) and then trying to get in my long run Saturday morning was ROUGH! Not only was I tired from being at work all week and didn't want to wake up at 3am to get in my 20+ mile run (FYI - I try to get in my runs before the hubby wakes up on the weekends so my running doesn't impact the time we get to spend together - especially on our day(s) off), but my body was fatigued from being on my feet all day during the week.

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That leads me to sharing that starting in March I actually adjusted my work schedule. I'm now working Sunday through Thursday. My thought was that then Friday could be a legit rest day (I could actually sleep in, not even have to walk to work or walk on my lunch break, eat dinner at a normal hour, go to bed early, etc) and hopefully have a better Saturday morning long run. Although I am now working on Sundays, we don't open at the running store until noon so I have more time in the morning to to run/ hang out with the hubby/ etc. I absolutely realize how lucky I am that I have the luxury to do this (and that my boss was willing to make the schedules work) and know not everyone would have this option. 

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I mention this for a few reasons. First, although I could have made my training 'work', I knew I wasn't going to give myself my best chance at succeeding. Next, I would never want someone to put unrealistic expectations on themselves because of me ('if Carlee can train for a 100-miler, than I should be able to too') - everyone's situations are different and I want to be as open and transparent about mine. Lastly, I want folks to know that it's okay to not do it all. I know there are runners doing so much more than I am doing (ie. raising kids, keeping up with a side hustle, going to school and working while training, etc), but I can't get stuck in the comparison game {AND DON'T WANT YOU TO EITHER!}! We have to do our best with what we've got. Your best might look different from my best, and, shoot, my best today could look different from my best tomorrow. All we can do is put in the work and give it our all (whatever that looks like on any given day). 

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And now that I've shared everything that technically should have been in the first update (OOPS), we can get back to our regularly scheduled program ;) If there's anything you're curious about with my training, ask away! I'm obviously learning as I go, so am NO expert, but am totally willing to share my thoughts/ experiences if you all have specific questions.

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What BIG goal are you currently looking to tackle?

Workout Recap - Week 11

Sunday, March 6th – 8.08 mile run 

Monday, March 7th – 4 mile run of hill repeats 

Tuesday, March 8th – 3 mile run

Wednesday, March 9th – 2 mile run

Thursday, March 10th – Rest Day 

Friday, March 11th – Rest Day

Saturday, March 12th – Old West Trails 50K

This was a "taper week". I was still able to get in over 48 miles, but that was due to my 31.1 mile race on Saturday. Unfortunately it did not go how I would have wanted, but more on that in my recap (whenever I can get around to writing it ;)). My lower back/ glute/ pelvis area on my left hand side is still giving me issues, so I am going to try and make an appointment this week to have it checked out. I am praying that it's not a stress fracture or anything serious...

How were your workouts this past week?

Walt Wednesday

Some people do a "Wordless Wednesday" post, where they simply share a photo or image, but I thought I'd make a little series out of my Wednesdays. And since I love alliteration so much, why not go with Walt Wednesdays (obviously everyone can use a little break from the seriousness, scariness and sassiness of life - and what better way to help put a smile on your face than with a cute wiener dog picture, am I right?!)... So, without further ado...

WALT WEDNESDAY!

When life gets overwhelming, how do you de-stress?

Workout Recap - Week 10

Sunday, February 27th – 12 mile run 

Monday, February 28th – Rest Day

Tuesday, March 1st – 4 mile run of hill repeats

Wednesday, March 2nd – 10.10 mile run

Thursday, March 3rd – .2 mile run 

Friday, March 4th – Rest Day

Saturday, March 5th – 10.10 mile run

As I'm sure you can see, Thursday's run definitely didn't go how it was supposed to go... It technically started during my Wednesday lunchtime walk - I could feel my left glute/ hip flexor was acting up again so I didn't walk as far and stayed on a flatter route. Then Wednesday night I couldn't get comfortable while I slept because it was still achey. I woke up at my normal time on Thursday morning (3:33am) so I could get in 6 miles, got up like normal (even though I could tell it still felt 'off') and made my way down to the beach for my run. Well, I have to run down a bit of a decline at the beginning of the run and right away I said "OUCH" out loud. I limped a bit to try and get my left leg going, but it was just not doing well. I gave it another minute and by two minutes in I pulled the plug. I have a 50K next weekend and am still at the beginning of my 100-mile training, I do NOT need to be silly and risk anything for a 6 mile run. (I really wish I would have just slept in rather than trying to do the run anyway, but I am thankful I listened to my body when I did rather than trying to push it since I was already awake and there). I'm not sure if the issue is still from the 50-mile bike ride I did in November, if it's due to my fibromyalgia (especially because we've been having some weather swings lately which can definitely impact my body) or maybe because of the increased elevation I've been adding into my training. Whatever the case I am going to dial it back a bit until I can get it resolved. Saturday's run went better. I could tell there was a nagging issue, but it wasn't making me limp or need to stop. Here's to hoping my chiropractor has an opening tomorrow and can help me out! 

How were your workouts this past week?

100-Miler Training : Update #1

I'm sure you've been sitting on pins and needles waiting for an update on how everything is going for my first 100-miler ;)

It's technically been a month since I officially started my 100-miler training (although, I have a rescheduled 50K in March so I started training for that in November, which transitioned into the current plan). I'm happy to report - so far, so good. 

Two thumbs up!

The majority of my miles have been on the road and done in the wee hours of the morning before I have to get ready for work, but I've been adding in more trails whenever I can. For example, a friend of ours is planning to tackle the JMT (John Muir Trail) this summer so has been doing a lot more hiking. One Sunday, when I had 10 miles on the calendar, the hubby and I joined him for a 14 mile hike. I figured more time on feet (and time on trails) was better than a faster road "run". 

A heatwave and Super Bowl Sunday seemed to keep everyone off the trails but us ;)
I think we saw 8 people total in the 14+ miles we got it.

I've also been adding what I've deemed "vert and dirt" a couple times a week on my lunch break walks. Normally I walk around the neighborhoods near the running store, but twice a week I have been doing stairs and trails instead of the neighborhood sidewalks. I'm still just walking it (I don't want to get too nasty before I have to go back to work for the rest of the afternoon), but getting in some extra climbing and uneven surfaces can't hurt. Although my overall pace does seem to be slowing down a bit (as compared to what I've been clocking recently), I am stoked to report that when I do tackle more hills or trails I have felt stronger than in the past. Here's to hoping the hard work continues to pay off!

These stairs are NO JOKE! About 150 in total and I normally do them 5 times before hiking the trails.

As I'm sure you can imagine, the training plan for a 100-mile race includes A LOT of miles. Instead of running them all on my own and on the same route week after week, I decided to look around to see if there were any somewhat local-ish races that I could add into my schedule. My thought was that I'd be able to get in more trails, I would have aid stations and spectators to give me a little extra morale booster if I needed it, not to mention I don't have to worry about getting lost on trails [I'm TERRIBLE with directions] or having to rope the hubby into a longer run than he might be interested in doing ;)

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Thus far I have added the Run with the Burros Trail Marathon, the Leona Divide 50K and the Bishop High Sierra 55K. I am currently also eyeing two timed events (they would be 6-hour events, where you would run loops on a course for as many miles as you can [or as you would like] within that time frame), but haven't pulled the trigger on them yet.

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Note: I don't plan on "racing" any of those events... they will simply be training runs to get in mileage. (I'm saying that as a reminder to myself and so that you can help hold me accountable - I NEED TO DIAL IT BACK, NOT PUSH THE PACE OR LET MY COMPETITIVE SIDE TAKE OVER ;)) I'm excited because the hubby and I are planning to make a couple of them camping trips, so I'm sure that'll help to remind me it's about the ENJOYMENT and not the time on my watch. 

As you can tell by looking at an official picture from my most recent trail race, I LOVE running!

PS If there are any specifics you're interested in when it comes to these updates, let me know and I'll try my hardest to address them. Obviously I'll post race recaps once I run the events (even if I'm "just" running them as training runs), but if there are other deets you're curious about, leave them in the comments and I'll include my thoughts in the next post.

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What are you curious to know when it comes to my training?

Walt Wednesday

Some people do a "Wordless Wednesday" post, where they simply share a photo or image, but I thought I'd make a little series out of my Wednesdays. And since I love alliteration so much, why not go with Walt Wednesdays (obviously everyone can use a little break from the seriousness, scariness and sassiness of life - and what better way to help put a smile on your face than with a cute wiener dog picture, am I right?!)... So, without further ado...

WALT WEDNESDAY!

When life gets overwhelming, how do you de-stress?