Week 18 & 19: Another High Mileage

I’m continue to slack off with my training recap.   I am combining two weeks in one post.  Again.  Life got in a way.   I got sick, I was injured, my kids got sick, the busiest time in the year at work.  You know, those kind of things.   I’m still training.  I’m still loving it.   Even though I’m not big on running on a cold day.   I’m such a big pantsy when it comes to cold weather.   Yes, I know.   I’m a mountaineer who don’t like to run in a cold weather.   I haven’t master the layering technique yet.  If I’m out in the mountain, I know what to wear to face the weather that could change from one extreme to another.   I’ve been climbing the mountain and hiking for over a decade.   Running is a new thing for me.    I have to re-learn things and this whole new experience humble me.

Week 18:  Recovery Week

After my 20-miler, I injured my IT Band (again).   I could barely bend my left knee and both of my shins hurts.    On Monday – I tried to do 3 miles on the treadmill and that was not a pleasant run.   I saw my Physical Therapy on Tuesday and she ordered me to take a a couple days break from running, and did a lot of stretching, icing and foam rolling.   So I did.   I did my mileage on Elliptical machine instead.    On Sunday, I ran 6 miles with my best friend, Mindy on my favorite trail.    It was, an okay run, to say the least.   My knee felt so-so and my shins hurts but I pushed through it and finish the 6 miles.

Week 19:  18-Miler

I did 3 miles on Tuesday and Thursday.   Nothing to ride home about.   It was cold out so I went to the gym and settle on Treadmill.   My knee seems to be okay and my shins doesn’t bother me, so overall, it was a good run.   In between, I also did a little strength training.   When I said a little – it’s very little.   A few here and there at home.   I really, really need to get better on this.   I know that my hips could use some strengthening and I need to do more lower body work out as it will help my run tremendously.   I’ll try to do better in the coming week.    I miss my trainer.  Sigh.   I’m struggling to find the time on my schedule to come and work out with him so I’m doing it at home the best I could.

My long run this week is 18 miles.   A lot of my friends said, you’ve done that before.  You got this.  Yes, yes, those are all true but 18 miles still 18 long miles.    It was 30 degrees morning.   The ground was covered with frost and just looking out from my bedroom window, it looked really cold out.   I woke up around 6:30 am and didn’t feel like moving.    I’m not a morning person (surprise!) to begin with and I don’t dig cold weather.  So it took a lot of will power to finally move from my comfy bed and put on my running clothes.   I wore my base layer, and my running hoodies plus my long tights, headband and gloves.    I figured if I overheated half way through, I just shed my layer.

I got to the trail at 11:30am and started to run.   I was shivering, even with my layers but I figured that I will be warm soon.   It took me almost a couple miles before I can really get comfortable with my running, weather and everything.   It was wet trail, and kinda slippery so I ran pretty slow and really took my time.

The trail was beautiful.  Some of the area covered with fog with a backdrop of fall color leaves.  It was eerie, yet beautiful.   I started from Fall City and ran east towards Snoqualmie and back (6 miles) and ran west towards Carnation and back (12 miles).   First six miles went by fairly quick.   I felt great, but started to notice my left knee hurt a bit so I decided to run smart.   I stopped and stretched quite a bit throughout the run.    I found that easier on my knee and I still get my mileage in.   I really don’t want to get injured anymore than I already have, 5 weeks before my race.

Oh as usual, I have the luxury of tweet-cheer from all my friends.   You know who you are.   Your support, your tweet, your facebook messages was read to me my RunMeter app and kept me company and entertained the entire 18 miles.   It was awesome.   I am so fortunate to have so many supportive friends!

To end this week in a good note, I went for 3 miles jog on the treadmill on Sunday.    It was hard to walk, let alone run the first mile, then it got easier on the second mile, and I ran normally on the third mile.    It was much needed recovery run.   Thank you Allen White (t) and Tom LaRock (t) for recommended me to do this after my super-long run.

Fundraising

I have a lot to report.   I sent out my fundraising email update and raised  $885.   Big shout out to SQL Sentry and Idera Software who were generously donated to my fundraising!!    They are not only awesome to the community, they are supporting the community member and supporting my effort.    I also want to thank Brent Ozar (t) for mentioning me on his blog and helping me spread the word.   And to Jes Borland (t), who not only donated and supported me, but also spread the word about my fundraising.   Every little help matter.   Every dollar matter.    If you want to know more about why I’m running, visit my fundraising page at http://tinyurl.com/RobelMarathon.