(Duke Residency) Week 1 in Review

Week of September 21st
70 miles
13M MLR
16M Long Run solo
0 Doubles
36 hours of class
7 days at Duke

My first week of my last residency for Duke MBA!  Wow - it was so great to see all of my classmates.  It's definitely been a long year with work, Duke classes and running, but it was all made possible with the support and friendship from my classmates.  I'm taking market intelligence and marketing strategy this week and I'm really enjoying the classes so far.  Katie and I are getting in lots of miles together, which has helped tremendously since it's been raining the entire last half of the week.

I feel really good about this week of mileage, given the full schedule at Duke!

Week in Review

67 Miles
12.6M MLR
10M Fartlek
12.3M with 8x1000m repeats

This was my last reading period I'll ever have to do again for my MBA! WOOHOO!!! I can't believe that Term 1 has started.  It's been such a great ride, but I'm relieved that the end is in sight.  Can't wait to get my diploma in December.

I had a lot of stuff going on this week, with Katie and Claire staying with my before the start of residency and then also trying to work at the Bank, while also finishing up some final pre-work for my classes.

I felt really good about the workouts this week and am so ready for the weather to finally cool down.  It's still been ridiculously hot and humid for the time of year, which is just annoying!  My knee is still slightly bothering me, but not a lot and all the doctors said I can still run on it.  :)

Crappy Rust Buster: Labor Day Five Miler

Goal:
Run as close to 27:45 as possible
Top 2

Actual:
2.7 mile warmup solo
5 miles in 29:12
2.7 mile cool down with Sarah Powell and another guy

Saturday, May 30th, 2015.  98 days ago.  The last time I raced.  Seriously?  That's a really long time ago.

I'm pretty sure that's the longest stint of not racing that I've ever had...Those 98 days extended into a long break from racing that included two weeks in Turkey, one and a half terms of MBA classes, two weeks of sickness, six work trips, a trip to the beach, a decision to move long-distance from my husband to California, a trip to the Midwest to see family, and lots of hours at work.  Even though I haven't been busy racing, I've been busy in about every other aspect of my life.

Back to the race. I laced up my Skechers GOrun 4's for the Labor Day Five Miler in Columbia, SC.  With a small prize purse of $200, $100, $50 for 1-2-3, it seemed like a decent place to test my summer training.  But what really attracted me to the race back in June was the site that boasted a bonus prize purse of an additional $500 for breaking 27:45 and then another $500 for breaking $500.  I knew that best case scenario I could break 27:45, but that I was not in shape for sub-27:00.  After all, I only did that once back in 2013 at the Main Street Crit, two weeks before I PR'ed at the Cal International Marathon.

So, what happened in the race, you ask?

It was crap.

It was hot.

My time was slow.

I ran practically the same pace for my marathon two years ago.  I ran faster than this pace in a 4 mile tempo on Thursday of this week.  I ran my 2014 half marathon PR approximately 10 seconds faster per mile than I did today for five miles.

I'm done ranting.

Important to consider though is that I did put myself out there. I race to test my fitness and my mental fortitude; I use this to understand what to tweak in my training. This race was not an accurate indicator of my true fitness, but I do believe that it was an accurate indicator of my mental tenacity.  It's not where it needs to be. I've been worrying too much about little aches and pains, about my weight, and about my upcoming move.  It's time to really refocus my attention to all the small things that make a huge difference when it's comes to a giant goal race like the Olympic Trials.  With so many upcoming changes, it will be critical for me to focus my energy in the right places, in the positive places, so that that I can be as successful as possible.

Photo courtesy of Alex McDonald

Week in Review

70 miles
8 Runs / 1 Double
12 x 300m Repeats at 52-58 for 10.5 Miles total
4 mile tempo at 552 - 604 for 12 miles total
13M MLR
3 Days in Illinois

I was in the sweltering heat and humidity of Southern Illinois for the first three days of this week, visiting my family.  It was hotter there than in NC, and I paid for it on all of my morning runs.  It was a struggle to get out of the door, but I got in the work and felt crappy doing it.  We drove on Tuesday 6 hours to Cincinnati to see my nephew Eli. It was definitely the highlight of the trip.  He's such a sweetie.  At 16 months, he's such a snuggler.  When I would try to put him back down after holding him, his legs would just grip my waist like he didn't want to ever let go. My heart melted 100x over, again and again and again.

I spent the rest of the week in NC doing a tempo run with Billy before beginning a very light taper for a 5 miler race that I'm doing on Labor Day.  My knee is still bothering me when I walk, or sit a certain way, but so far it hasn't affected my runs this week.

Also, to be clear, I've always known that I'm bigger than most distance runners.  In college, I used to let this get to me.  However, as a post-collegiate athlete I realized that it's dumb for me to compare myself to other body types. I've had the same body type and weight since I was 21 years old.  I decided to focus instead on what I have to work with - and that is a lean, muscular build that I can use to my strength.

Unfortunately, this past week I digressed in my own body image.

I came home to Durham to realize that I weigh about 5 pounds over my race weight.  I have been lifting more, but just twice a week so I don't think that it's muscle.  At the same time, I impulsively tried on all my tightest skinny jeans and they all fit the exact same way as before...I'm not sure what it's about but I definitely need to take a close look at my diet and determine how to optimize my performance through an improved diet. Last time I met with a dietitian, she told me that I'm not eating enough calories so basically I'm slowing down my metabolism.  Ironically, in April, upon my return from India, I weighed 125, which is SUPER light for me.  I had just come off a diet of lentils, stir fried vegetables, brown rice and whole wheat naan. Perhaps I need to eat more lentils and naan. :)

I need to make sure that I feel confident that my own body type will propel me to greatness at the Olympic Trials, so this is a focus item for me over the next couple of weeks.