Have I said before that I am NOT in training right now? I am just checking because it is hard not to beat myself up for taking a day off. I didn’t really need a day off from running; my muscles aren’t sore at all from yesterday’s run. My shin, however, is tender when I point my toes. So, I am not going to point my toes anymore.
Tom took the van to meet a friend a few cities away this morning. They were going for a bicycle ride and I was going to do my running from home. Well, I didn’t.
Around noon I put on my running shorts & shoes, pulled my hair up into a ponytail and left the building. People handle stress in different ways. This is my way of handling it. I turned on my forerunner to let it locate the satellites as I did a few stretches and turned on my iPod. iTunes recently released a podcast, by Hal Higdon, for those who are training for the LBCM in October. I listened to the 1st episode as I did my stretches. It was still playing when I began my run and as I made my way out the driveway, I heard Hal mention a question from a V-Teamer who posts regularly on Hal’s Interactive Forum. He mentioned the guy?s vocation and to my surprise it was pharmaceutical. Oh? Could it be that some of you, in my running network, are the people who might be able to direct me to the next step on my career journey?
I continued on my run, now listening to any song that my iPod would play for me. No particular playlist for today’s run. Remember, I am not training right now, I am just maintaining my running in between marathons. The path took me onto the dirt and past various people out walking. I greeted them all with a smile and a friendly hello…as I ran and thought about the similarities to marathon training and the career path.
Before I go into training, I have to look at myself carefully – Identifying my strengths, prior running experience, and determining a goal for myself. For me, having the goal to BQ, it is a goal of significance but I am willing to put in the work. It parallels my career goals as well. I 
like a challenge where I can pull from my prior nursing experience and continue to learn the clinical research role. After the goal has been set, I choose a race to target, and then the figure out the plan to achieve the goal. Although I yet to achieve my running goal, I have a good base for the process. Now, I figure I can do the same with my career.
So I ran today and thought about my strengths, and prior experience. I thought about my journey, and figure I will do what it takes to live down the dream – be it running, family or my career. 
It occurred to me that it has only been 1 week since Grandma’s Marathon. It actually feels like it has been longer than that. Today, I got the urge to do some abdominal work, and weights. It wasn’t much – it was just enough to remind me that I haven’t been doing any for the past many weeks. It actually felt good to work those muscles.
I found my running things and when out for a run in the streets around my house. I didn’t pay too much attention to the pace displayed by my Forerunner; I just ran. At a nice point where I could turn and head for home, one of my favorite songs came on my iPod. All the songs on my iPod are good ones, but this song is particularly fun to run to. I continued straight, extending my run. The sun was already putting the heat on, but there was a nice breeze blowing and the street was tree lined. I listened to the beat and though about my running.
Technically, I am not “training” right now. I remember reading in a newsletter from www.active.com about the difference between working out and training. The article explained that in training there is a focus where the training peaks for a goal race. In contrast working out simply maintains a level of fitness. Well, right now my running focus is on recovery, then it will be a few more weeks prior to starting with another training schedule.
I figured this time, my focus will be for the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon. My plan would be to build upon my marathon training using Hal Higdon’s Advanced Half-Marathon Training Plan for the October race date. I knew that the half-marathon training would overlap with the beginning of my marathon training for the California International Marathon in December. What I didn’t figure out (until now) is that *both* the 12-week half-marathon training and the 18-week training plan have the *same* start date of July 30th.
Yikes! Okay, I was enjoying the idea of a break from marathon training. I think. Here is the revised plan. Nothing is set in stone; perhaps I can somehow combine the two programs, or I could have a new goal marathon.
Today is, my husband, Tom’s Birthday. DD is up for a visit, and it is just one of those family kind of days. We all managed to sleep in past 8 a.m. That in itself is cause for a celebration. Since I knew that Tom wanted to get out for a bike ride with DD, we quickly presented Tom with his gifts – new cycling jersey, shorts and a helmet.
It wasn’t long after the gift giving, that he and DD were off for their bike ride. The kids and I headed to the track. BoBo and YaYa played around on the football field while I did some running on the track. The track is only a year or so old so it has plenty of bounce. I judged my thigh to be okay after a 1-mile warm up, so I tried my legs out on some speedwork.
Time / Distance(mi ) / phase
9:04 / 1.00 mile / warm up
3:38 / 0.53 mile / 800 repeat
3:23 / 0.26 mile / rest
3:43 / 0.52 mile / 800 repeat
3:13 / 0.26 mile / rest
3:50 / 0.53 mile / 800 repeat
9:42 / 0.90 mile / cool down
Now, I realize that 3 repeats isn’t all that agressive of a speed workout, but it was good enough for me. It was also about all the time the kids seemed to have the patience for. With the cool down, it totaled 4 miles.
Afterwards, we got something cool to drink and then went to the library to look up a book that Dori recommended for my little blogger (YaYa). Although we were unsuccessful in locating the book (it would have helped if I had remembered the title correctly), we picked out a few other fun books. On the way home we passed 2 cute cyclists who were looking tired and hot.
Here I was eager to launch into my next marathon quest. I was even contemplating running the San Francisco Marathon which just happens to be only 6 weeks from Grandma’s Marathon. Hal Hidgon has a multiple marathons training plan on his website to guide me in my training approach. By the time I looked into his plan I was already behind on my miles. I still delayed getting out for my first post-marathon run due to the annoying cold that I have.
Today, I slipped on my running shoes, shorts and my jog bra and went outside for a lunchtime run with Mark. It was a hot day in the 90s, but it just doesn’t compare to the torturous heat on marathon day. No water, no sunglasses, and no sunscreen – my bag isn’t restocked yet – and still I figured that it would be fine. It was only going to be 4-5 miles at a nice easy pace.
I was so nonchalant about this run that I didn’t even mind starting out before my forerunner fully located the satellites.
The first half mile or so was not easy; I was breathing a little rapidly due to my stuffy nose. Finally, I settled into the pace as we made our way up a quick but steep hill and onto the paved bike path. After this point was when I became aware of my left thigh (just above my knee). It was hurting. This was not alarming. It was however a sign that my plans to attack another marathon were probably not a good idea. I really don’t want to drive my self to the point where I’d have to stop running so I’ll just be happy to slow it down a bit.
We stopped at the water fountain. I told Mark that I’d wait while he ran a bit farther and I would start back up when he continued back towards work. We were 1.99 miles out at this point. Mark was happy to turn back right there, so we continued back towards work on our semi-loop course. Being no stranger to injuries getting the best of his running, Mark began to probe me for whether this pain that I was feeling was the pain that said, “slow down; I’m sore” or “you stop or I’ll stop you.” It was too mild to tell, but I said I’d let him know. We slowed the pace as we continued back.
We ended up running 4.6 miles at an average pace of 9:15/mile. By the end of the run I didn’t even feel the pain in my thigh. After my shower however, I felt it again as I tried to climb the stairs. I didn’t question it; I just stepped back down and went to the elevator. I drank some recovery drink, and iced my owie. I guess I *won’t* be running tomorrow. For now, I’ll settle for a slow down.