On Race Training

I probably shouldn’t let my race pass by tomorrow without doing a post about my training season. I've almost always done these posts either before or shortly after every race I've done. 

Just to recap, I ran the {Provo Half in 2013}.

I skipped 2014.

I ran the {Alpine Classic in 2015}. This was uphill, and I beat my time by a lot!

I ran the Fantasy Run at Gardner Village in 2016. It was 0.3 miles short. I was ticked. I needed to know my new PR. Looks like I didn't even write about it besides {this post} which you can see if we're Facebook friends.

I was going to do the Alpine Classic again in 2017, but it was canceled with only two weeks left of training, so I ran my own 13.1 on the Jordan River Parkway.

I ran the {South Jordan full marathon} in October 2017.

And I’m running the Thankful 13 half tomorrow morning at 8am.

This training season has been different from the rest of any I’ve had. The coldest training season I did was last year for the marathon, but that race was on October 21, and any Utah resident knows the temperatures drop considerably after that.

So this year takes the cake for the coldest training I’ve ever done. The last couple weeks of morning runs have brought below freezing temperatures. Today was 22°, but it was only 3 miles, so I went ahead and did it outside.

I’ve been blessed not to have any major issues. Chafing was my main challenge with marathon training last year. I didn’t have too much trouble with that this season. I did get some on my hip and bikini area, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

I haven't lost any toenails. 

Shin splints basically were limited to the other day on 11/19 when I ran on the treadmill due to the temperatures outside. Other than that, I haven’t had any major issues.

I haven’t been sick or suffered from any kind of exhaustion like I did with my full. I was severely over-training last year, and I drove my body into the ground. It’s been so great to feel so great ever since then! Bless this body of mine.

The main challenge I’ve had this year has been with my feet. Ever since marathon training, they’ve given me a lot of grief. They hurt on the bone up above the arch of both of my feet. They hurt to the touch, and they hurt depending on the position I am standing in or how I position or flex my feet. I haven’t been taking good enough care of them. I do rub them with a lot of pressure (grimacing the whole time), and that helps. And I’ve used Deep Blue a few times, but not consistently enough.

I went to the Elite Performance Chiropractor center last week and got laser treatments on my foot. The next day, it didn’t seem to make a huge difference, but two days later my feet weren’t hurting as badly as usual. I’m not sure it worked any kind of miracle, but of course it’s supposed to be more of a compound effect. I’ll have a follow-up next week and see if treatment is affordable or worth it for me.

I switched to an older model of Altras (2.0) to see if that would help. The pain has continued even with the swap.

I am ready to see what happens as I drop my miles in the next few weeks. I’m going to switch to Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday runs instead of MWFSat. I’ll be lifting the other days, of course. I’ve missed lifting.

I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do tomorrow, even though there's a 40% chance of rain and 41° temps. Should you want to see the results afterward, they'll be at the website www.thankful13.com. Women in my division at my pace finished 30-32 out of 111 last year. I can't believe these women who run 7:19 miles. So crazy. I enjoy running and don't see myself wanting to push so hard that my pace gets to that point. 

Anyway, it's been a good season, and I'm feeling ready for this race, and ready for some FOOD after that. Let's do this.