Miles in
2013: 979.4
Days Until
Dopey: 34
A quick
recap of the past month. After the NYC
Marathon I fell into a little bit of a post marathon slump. I guess it happens to the best of us. If you start to type into a google search
engine “post marathon” it suggests “depression”, “blues”, and “slump.” I know you are supposed to rest and recover
after a marathon. Trust me, I enjoy the
sleeping in. But, I found myself drained
physically and mentally. I had been
looking forward to NYC for most of 2013, even when I wasn’t officially “IN” I
knew that I would be going and running that race. Now that it was over, what
did I have to look forward to? Yes, I
have that crazy Dopey 48.6 coming up in just over a month, but having done the
Goofy last year it doesn’t seem quite as exciting or intimidating, plus Disney
is just down the street. I’d have to
check my Nike+ log, but I think in the month of November I only ran about eight
times, and 3 of those were races! Who
is this person I was becoming? I only
went to 3 of our weekday work outs all month!
December is here and I haven’t started out much better, I skipped
yesterday’s workout too!
The second
weekend of November, Leah and I volunteered at the finish line of the Wine and
Dine Half Marathon. It was lots of fun
and I enjoyed being on the other side of the race. We also didn’t plan very well and had signed
up for the Baldwin Park Half Marathon the following morning. Since our shift ended at 3:30 in the morning
we drove to the race and slept in Leah’s car.
Yeah. We are those girls. So on
two or three less than quality hours of sleep we rolled out of the car and
headed to the race. I didn’t go into the
race planning on doing anything other than finishing – I mean I had just PRed a
marathon the week before. Leah took off
and I lost sight of her about 3 miles into the race. I ran most of the race by myself, and just
went along at a pace that felt comfortable.
I spent the last half of the race looking at the person ahead of me and
just trying to pass one person each interval.
I was super surprised when I finished with a time of 2:37! It was my fourth best half time ever! I couldn’t believe that a week after a
marathon I ran one of my top half times.
But man, the
next day I could tell I was going to pay the price for it! I was so sore. I felt worse after the half than I had felt
after my past few marathons. I knew I
was in trouble. I took it easy and
didn’t run for a week and a half. My
first run back was terrible. I was
miserable and bailed after 4 miles. I
skipped Thursday that week. We met for a
Dopey Double on Friday, and I took my 6 miles easy. Saturday I was supposed to run 14 miles. By the time I was 5 or 6 miles in I knew 14
wasn’t happening so I bailed and did 10 miles.
I started to get worried, I still have a very busy Fall/Winter schedule
ahead of me and I was worried that all of these less than stellar runs meant
something.
I got up
(while on Thanksgiving Break!) and ran Tuesday morning (mostly because I had
about 4 people’s race packets for the weekend that I needed to give them). The run was tough, but I did better than I
had been expecting to do. Thanksgiving
morning I woke up to temps in the high 30’s/low 40’s and was in heaven. It is no secret that I run considerably
better in cold weather. I met Krystal in
Deland for the Thanksgiving 10 Miler which is one of my favorite races. I like to get up on Thanksgiving and run more
than the usual Turkey Trot 5k, it makes me feel like I can eat my face off
later at dinner. I ran the race at what
felt comfortable and improved my time from last year by 8 and half minutes!
Sunday was
the Space Coast Half Marathon. This is
also one of my favorite races. Last
year, Leah and I had huge PR’s there and both ran our first under 2:30
half. The goal for our group was to run
an under 2:15 half, but being in the slump I’ve been in I was doubtful that was
possible for me that day. I still tried
to give it a go an attempted to keep up with the 2:15 pace groups. I was only a few miles in before I felt like
I was going to throw up. I backed off my pace a little and watched Leah
disappear ahead of me. I still was running
a pretty strong pace for most of the race.
Space Coast is one of my favorite races because at about mile 5 I start
to see all of my fast friends headed back and it starts to take my mind off the
running. As I make the turn around I get
to see other friends who are a little slower than me. When I saw Leah she was ahead of the 2:15
pace group and wound up finishing with a monster PR and our group half record. Then, I get to see my REALLY fast friends
running the marathon and cheer them on.
As I came up on the turn near mile 13 I saw a bunch of Track Shack
people there cheering us in. After I finished
(with a 2:30! – my third fastest half time) Leah and I went and got ready for a
long day of cheering. We stayed to cheer
on Rumen and Rebecca in their first full marathons! Both of them did awesome jobs and I’m so
proud of them both.
Then it was
back to the slump… I didn’t run Tuesday.
I was sore and tired. Yesterday I
went to go get a much needed massaged and was benched for this morning’s run by
both my massage therapist and my coach.
While I enjoyed the extra three hours of sleep it is not helping the
mental slump that I am in! Hopefully I will
snap out of it soon and be back on my regular 3-4 days of running a week!
Looking
ahead: This Saturday I am pacing the
2:45 finish pace group at the OUC Orlando Half Marathon. I think I even convinced Leah to take it easy
and run with me, let’s just hope Dennis and Lauren don’t reclaim our group half
record at the race or Leah might kill me.
The following Sunday we have the Mount Dora Half Marathon, and I’m also
running a “Beat the Stress” Christmas Eve morning 5k. After the Dopey I might still have a crazy
half schedule! I’m signed up for 7 more
half marathons and a 10k in the span of 3 months. One series I’m particularly excited for is
the Best Damn Race series. We ran the
first Best Damn Race last year in Safety Harbor and it was beautiful. This year they’ve stepped the medal to a
beautiful spinning sailboat and added a race in Orlando. If you do both of them you also receive at
spinning medal showcasing both cities.
It’s pretty awesome – if you want to join me (and want to save some money)
go sign up and use the code “MOREHEAD” to receive $5 off your registration fee
(it also works for the 5k and 10k if you’re just not up for a half).
One thing
that will help snap me out of this slump is that our group of 10 ladies made it
into THE NIKE DC WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON!
A group of us tried to get in last year and didn’t make it. If you know me the lure of that swoosh and a
Tiffany and Co. necklace at the finish line is my idea of heaven. So instead of wearing myself out and training
for a spring marathon this year, I think we will work on getting faster and
focus on the half marathon distance and start back on the crazy marathon
schedule in June when we will hopefully be training for the Chicago Marathon!
