Overtrained?

I can tell a major difference between the way I ran last year and the way I am running this year at the same mileage marks - and it really isn't a good difference. My long runs are feeling okay, instead of great, and my short runs are feeling long. Also? I am constantly feeling like I am dragging, and between Friday night and Monday morning, I sleep about 30 hours. That's all I do all weekend. I come home from my long run, nap all day, piddle around the house, eat, and go to bed. Get up Sunday, work out, nap, church, eat, piddle, sleep. This can't be that good for me.

So I started examining the reasons behind why I am so tired and my runs are dragging. The difference between this year and last year is that now, I am actually cross-training. I do boot camp twice a week, yoga once, and I try to swim and bike at least once each per week - on top of two training runs and a long run. Boot camp lasts only one more week, fortunately, but at the same time, I almost feel like if I am not working out so much then I am not going to burn as many calories and get to eat what I want, and I'm not going to improve my cardiovascular endurance and my muscular endurance. Am I give out because I'm not in good enough shape, or am I give out because I'm trying too hard to get into good shape?

Then there is also this interesting "exercise-induced inertia" - if I keep moving working out, I'll keep moving in other areas. For example, last Saturday night, I could not sit still. If I sit on the couch, I'll fall asleep. I had to get up every five minutes to clean something. The upside is my house is spotless, but the downside is here I am scrubbing the cooktop at 11 pm when I should probably give it up and get in bed.

Somehow I need to find a balance. I'm hoping that boot camp ending will help a little, but I need to get it into my head that I am a runner, and I run. I can do a little bit of other things to cross-train, but not to the point of derailing my running. I know in the back of my mind there's a triathlon spirit, pushing me through breathless swims and grueling bike workouts so that when my triathlon comes - and I hope it will - I'll be ready. But right now isn't the time to stress the biking and swimming, because it's not important to my running, which is the main focus here. It's 144 days until the Vegas Marathon, and if I'm tired at 8 miles, then I'm going to fall over before I see the finish line. We can't have that.

So how much is too much and how much is not enough? Where do I draw the line between cross-training and overtraining?

Viva Las Vegas - A Sigh of Relief

It looks like Devine Racing is taking care of business in Vegas (finally!). I have read a few things, but this article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal made me feel better.

Woohoo!

If you want to keep up with the latest on Devine Racing - which will hopefully be taking a turn for the better - click here.

Training Schedule - Updated (For Real This Time)

Okay, made some modifications to the 16-18 mile stretch to throw in a short run in between. Should have me caught up to B by September 13. I think I can handle that.

Not 100% positive that the JDR Bridge Run and the Tour de Pain are going to happen - I figure one of them will, at least, but I think I'll just sort of see how it goes. It's mega hot that time of the year and both of those races are exhausting, much less back-to-back in the middle of marathon training and still having to run more to keep up with my long-run mileage. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure:

Training Schedule - Updated

Just wanted to upload the newest training schedule. Click on it to enlarge.

A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action (Please)

This has all gotten me nervous. There was an artice in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on June 3 that Darcey sent me today - looks like Zappos.com pulled out as title sponsor. Uh oh. I am really starting to wonder if this thing is going to happen. And this isn't the first article I have seen, either. I have even read that the LA Marathon (also owned by Devine) is in trouble.

Rock'n'Roll San Diego is starting to look good all the sudden...

Undefeated.

So the ankle sucks. Ice is helping A LOT, and I think learning some stability poses in yoga will really help my ankle, as will P.T. (signed up to go on Friday!) I keep trying to think in terms of what's coming next, like the Peachtree, or Vegas... but then I read this.

Jerks.

I realize the message board is a bunch of people who are probably at the worst end of things - seemingly a bunch of surgery folks looking for someone to tell them anything - but when you read that some of them are never the same again, especially as distance running goes, it's really heartbreaking for me. I am taking that pretty hard. And I know that those people are different than I am, and mine may not be as bad, and I may not have to have the surgery, or I might and it'll be good as new, but between my being impatient and my ability to latch onto the worst case scenario, I'm just not excited.

However, let's keep in mind here the things I CAN do.

Bike.
Yoga.
Weights.
Swim.

All things I enjoy, even if they are just distractions from what I really want to be doing. I just can't let the defeatist attitude get a hold of me.

Dr. Google, M.D.

So I went to the ortho, who poked and prodded my foot and ankle and came up with the determination that I have messed up my peroneal tendon.

Didn't I say that like two weeks ago? Just call me Dr. Google, M.D.

Anyway, I get to wear a super awesome (not!) ankle brace, some heel pads in my running shoes to turn my ankle the other direction, and some physical therapy to teach me exercises to strengthen my ankle. Oh, and my regular doc still wants an MRI of my ankle, so I'm going to get that done. (Hooray for being over the deductible! Free MRIs all around!)

The REALLY important part of all that is that I can still bike to keep my cardio up, I am following my regular doc's suggestion that I take more yoga (see B's first yoga experience here!) and when it stops hurting on a daily basis, the goofy brace can come off, then I can start walking... then "running slowly". (I didn't tell him that's the only way I run.) So while I am not there yet, I am still pretty darn excited!

And then I read this article. Then I was pretty darn not-so-much excited. Darcey forwarded it to the Zappos CEO (a Twitter friend of ours), who said "we are investigating and trying to learn more about devine's situation". Um, I hope so!!!

Where was I on things that excite me? Ah, yes. My friends Joseph and Tiffany had their little bundle of joy last night at 1103 - Madelyn Elizabeth, 6 lbs, 8 oz. Yaaa! Another kid I can spoil then send back to it's parents. I have 18 years to get her to defy her parents and go to Auburn instead of Georgia... better get started on that!

There She Goes Again...

I am always coming and going, as my friend Mike likes to point out.

The cruise was AWESOME! I'll take any excuse to be in Key West, even for a little while, and it was so worth it (see the pineapple pancake and the stretchy cat below - I wanna be that cat!) Of course, all it did was make me want to go back for a few more days. And I did get Michael McCloud to play "She Gotta Butt" for the low low price of 2 cds and a $10 tip.

Cozumel was super fun, too - I actually did an adventure park! Climbing, rappelling, bridges, ziplining... and, okay, my butt hanging out in a Bridget Jones kind of way (If you've seen it, you get that) so I'll spare you the pics and link you to Flickr when they're ready - you can check them at your own risk! We also finally found the coolest, non-touristy bar in Cozumel - appropriately named, No Name Bar. It sure beat watching the 50-something year old ladies embarass themselves at Carlos'N'Charlies.

On the boat, I didn't eat too badly (not TOO TOO badly) or drink too much, but still somehow managed to gain about 6 pounds. So, since I feel "heavy in my running shoes" (read: sluggish and huge), I tried a detox cleanse I found at the natural foods store. It's not the nightmare people always tell you it is, and when you're coming off a massive food binge it might not be a bad idea. Just do your homework and know what your body can handle.

Enough with the overshare. (Sorry, I come from a genetic line of oversharers. My mother and brother are the worst!) ((Blogger's note: Sorry, Mom, but you know it's true.))

Oh... did I mention I got a PR? Oh yes I did! In fact, Billy, Mike, and I *all* got PR's at the Corporate Run! I was beginning to wonder how well they measured the course, but my mom seems to think we all PR'd because we're so good! (See? Momma said Nikes were my magic shoes...) I realize 37:11 isn't most people's idea of a great 5K, and that the guys came in a full 10 minutes ahead of me, but you know what? PR's make me happy, and y'all I am happy about this one! A full two minutes and change ahead of my time from the Race for the Cure in October. (Billy has a great write up on his blog about the run - and even though this is a running blog, he's a better blogging runner).

So, on to two more running-related topics: The Minnie Marathon and the Vegas Marathon.

I don't know why they call it a Minnie Marathon - it's a 15K, folks. But this is the last year they are doing it, and the last chance for a Minnie medal. Someday I want to have all of the Big 4 Disney World Running medals - I already have Donald, and I need Mickey and Goofy. Maybe in, say, 2010. Leana has all 4 now and is getting her second Minnie this year - and I hope I run into her at Disney! If not - GOOD LUCK, GIRL!!! (And good luck to Billy, who is running the Go Red For Women 5K - supporting the fight against heart disease in women!)

And when I come back from the Happiest Place on Earth, it's time to start training for Vegas. Oh boy! (say that in a Mickey Mouse voice). I have slacked off a little lately, I confess - the week of the cruise, I lifted weights once in the gym, once on the cruise, and ran and took a spin class on the boat (see? I did good on my vacation! Else I would have gained like 10 lbs...) But even with that, a PR, a 7 mile run this weekend, and a 1.5 rain-out run last night, I still feel like I need to REALLY get myself in gear for training. It's going to be a little more difficult than training was last year with the Galloway group - it was great to be surrounded by motivated people, even a few experienced marathon runners, at an organized place and time, with a map, water stops, and all the encouragement. Instead, I have B, Mike (who has been kidnapped into training for the Jax Bank Marathon and just doesn't know it yet), and Darcey and Rhonda by remote. However, I like challenges, you get to show just how tough you really are. Am I tough enough for 26.2 miles of potentially boring, dry-heat running through the desert? Can I turn down In-N-Out burger the first two days I am in Vegas? Can I run 20 miles in Auburn on my birthday when I'd rather start the tailgating at the crack of dawn?

Abso-freaking-lutely.

Here's my Galloway-inspired training plan, complete with my "extra curricular runs" I'm doing this summer:


This shouldn't be so hard after all...

Can You Handle A Challenge?

Darcey, dahling, this one's for you.

Nike+ has a big thing on Resolutions this year. They even have a shirt - If I don't (BLANK) This Year, Then I Will (BLANK). I was supposed to run my first marathon last month, but due to an ankle injury, a cold, and a big fat pause in training, I missed it. That has made me all the more determined to do it this year - December in Vegas, baby! And it's going to be so awesome running down the strip!

That said, I am up for a little challenge. If I don't run my first marathon this year (barring injury, sickness, or no fault of my own), then I will... What? I thought about cutting my hair (that was my first thought but Billy vetoed that). He suggested I have to perform 3 random dares, but I want something more concrete. I could buy his next tattoo. I could run every race in 2009 dressed as a pirate (ooo, I'd be famous! The Jacksonville Pirate Runner Girl!). I could...

Come on, help me out here!

Darcey, are you in?!?