So by the time my (mostly successful) tri season was over after Luray in August, I was already well into a 6-month training program for Marine Corps Marathon. Online registration to the general public sold out in less than 2 hrs, but the First Time Marathon program with MCRRC had some entries to give to true first timers, and I was the very lucky and grateful recipient of one. I was fine with simultaneously managing a tri schedule and a marathon training schedule up until the first long runs of 13+. The week before Musselman was a 13 miler, which was a good way to start taper. But then, the week after Musselman was the first 16 miler (Bethesda to Union Station via Haines Point), and what would have been my longest run to date. I probably messed up lots of little things that day, but the bigger issue was, I was in no way recovered from Musselman. My legs/hips completely seized up at the end of Haines Point and I had to walk at about mile 13. It was after that run that I started seeing an ART specialist (Terrel Hale at Georgetown Sports Massage, recommended by the MCRRC listserve) and took off from running almost entirely, until Luray. My piriformis/SI issues were acting up again, plus new issues with my hip flexors and IT bands. IT bands are the worst. I hope I don't ever have major issues with them again. Terrel worked with me after my Weds track workouts, which was key. I learned so much from him that I can take home and use to try to prevent these issues from coming back later.
The timing on this unplanned break was fine because (a) it was the hottest few weeks of the year and (b) I was in the process of the slowest. move. ever. from Bethesda to DC. I had a full 2 months overlap between my places, but under no circumstances should you need all 2 months to move. I'm grateful to the handful of friends and mostly family who helped, but really, I tried to take on too much myself and should have just hired people. I miss my old neighborhood a lot, but I gained a lot of really awesome things, like a back deck with bbq, a whole room for our ever-growing stable of bikes, properly functioning a/c, and most importantly, an awesome roomie and dog!
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| At Vivek's wedding! Photo via Ryan Hoshi |
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| I would not be here right now without these awesome people. Photo via Jerry Girard |
Then, the government shutdown happened. I did not lose my job, but I did lose my gym. What, gym personnel are not 'essential'?? This took me totally out of the (admittedly weak) schedule I had for lifting. By the time I realized what was going on and took advantage of a friend's guest pass at another local gym, I was already struggling with pes anserinus tendonitis/bursitis which had flared up again. So, another week off for me. Luckily, I'm also already tapering at this point. So now, hopefully, I can just coast on in to MCM. The miles are banked, nothing more I can do besides some good strength and stretching and yoga. I started a groupon with a new yoga studio in my new neighborhood this week. I enjoyed bikesharing down there on Tuesday!
The thing I'm most happy to have taken on in the last few weeks was an assistant coach position with Girls on the Run. We have about 15 3rd-5th grade girls on Tuesday mornings training for a 5k in November and learning important lessons about physical and mental health. I am so excited to share my love for running and hopefully conveying what I've learned about self-esteem and living a healthy lifestyle. I wish I had a program like this when I was that age. I've kind of embraced the 'pinkyness' and 'girl power!!' -ness of it all (which I've never been that into, even as a kid) but still need to tone it down sometimes. These girls don't have HR zones or cadence meters or anything yet. They're just there to have fun, as it should be :)
And, I almost forgot to mention I was asked to help fill in as a leader for Wednesday track workouts while Hillary is out. I am super-psyched to be included in a group of very very accomplished runners and coaches who are also helping to fill in. I feel like the 'one of these things is not like the others' answer. But, I am excited to stretch out my 'coaches hat' and give back to a group that has helped me out immeasurably over the last few years.
One of the things I was not anticipating this year was this awesome feeling of seeing the people I helped advise ('coach' is not the right term here) do really really spectacularly this season. Mary and Rob at Musselman and again at Savageman. Jess and Srin at Richmond. Komal at Chicago. And my mentee Dan is quickly outgrowing his 'mentee' role and is a rising bad-ass in triathlon. All these people were already talented in their own right. I just hope that whatever little I was able to contribute made their experiences just a little more enjoyable. :) I do enjoy a lot of the aspects of coaching. I just don't have the experience base to offer, the way others do. Which I know isn't necessarily a disadvantage but I can't help but see it that way. I'll have to keep an eye out for other opportunities moving forward.
I had a period of time this year where I decided I wasn't going to say 'no' to anything. Sign up for a marathon? Sure! Attend 4 weddings in 4 weekends? Sure! Race Luray last minute? Sure! Maybe it was an unconscious effort to break some patterns that were established earlier in the year. Maybe it was a distraction technique. Not sure. I met some awesome people and did some great things. But there is sometimes too much of a good thing and I burned out somewhere in there. I still feel like I'm barely holding it together. But I no longer feel guilty when I have to say 'no' and can't make everyone happy.
So the announcement that MCM might be cancelled because of the shutdown initially sent me into a tailspin. But soon it was lost in the haze that being overtired can bring and just brought a 'shrug' whenever someone brought it up. I had no energy left to be excited/stressed/overthinking it. But now that things are officially back on, this is a huge turning point for me. The finish line is in sight! And I can allow myself to feel excited finally. I'm pretty confident that I can stick with the Mighty 10:00s for the entire MCM, just as we did in all our training runs. Now to just taper properly. I should be sleeping during this time that I would have been running, not catching up with people and projects that I've neglected these past few months. Not yet, anyway!
The thing about marathon training compared to 70.3 training is, it beats up on you. 3 hours on your feet is not the same at 3 hrs on the bike. I was not this worn down at this point in the training for either year of Musselman, even though you are planning for a 6-7 hr effort there and MCM is only 3-4 hrs. Also, when it comes to food, marathon training has rendered my self-control equivalent to that of a 5 year old. I am not beyond eating massive quantities of terrible, terrible food. AFTER I've eaten a wholesome, good-for-me salad/fruit/yogurt/nuts lunch. I feel like I am constantly at a calorie deficit. This is also different from 70.3 training. I am really, really looking forward to the start of tri season again. I got back in the pool after 2 months off and realized I really missed it. What is wrong with me?? ;)
I thought about signing up for IM Chattanooga next Sept. I thought about it all the way to the registration page. Thought about it long enough to let the page expire. And by the time I refreshed the page the event sold out. I spent a long time that day crying to a coworker and trying to understand what happened. And she is right, I am not defined by the numbers on the bumper sticker on my car. I need to do what is right for me at the time. And this was not right for me, at that time. It's not totally out of the picture, though. I will try again soon.
It's way too early for this, but you know I've started already. Tentative 2014 plans (? is not signed up yet):
RnR USA Half Marathon 3/15 http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/usa
Pittsburgh Half Marathon 5/4 http://pittsburghmarathon.com/
Kinetic 70.3 Relay 2nd weekend May (?) http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=2307
Rev3 Knoxville 70.3 (?) 5/18 http://rev3tri.com/knoxville/
ITU Chicago Oly 6/29 http://chicago.triathlon.org/
Musselman Sprint or 70.3 (?) 7/12-13 http://www.musselmantri.com/
Rev3 Cedar Point 2nd weekend Sept (?) http://rev3tri.com/cedar-
ChesapeakeMan Iron distance Aquavelo 3rd weekend Sept (?) https://www.tricolumbia.org/
Ironman Chattanooga volunteer 9/28 (?) http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/chattanooga.aspx#axzz2i0bbbIQ6
Oh and on a non-athletic note, my sisters and cousins and I, after talking about it since 4th of July, finally all had the same weekend free. So last weekend we decided to do a day at Six Flags Great Adventure. Roller coasters and haunted houses! I love being able to spend time with them now that we are all more independent adults (and by the end of the year none of us will be teenagers. Man, we are old.) I hope we can make this a regular thing!
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| love these girls! |
P.S. Here's a treat if you made it this far.
OMG HOW DID THEY KNOW??
Buzzfeed: 28 Reasons Why Training for a Marathon is the Worst Thing Ever
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