running

The Final Countdown

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL RACE DAY!

I guess I should be excited, or reflective, or something, but at this point, I’m just ready for the day to be here.

I leave this morning for a work trip, so I’m gone most of the week before flying back and hopping right into race weekend! Not ideal, but it is what it is. The good news is it makes taper easy (this week I won’t have much time for running … but I will be on my feet most of the time), and it keeps my mind off the impending race weekend!

Anyway, here’s how this week went. I got in my first stroller run in a while and a few short/long runs (less than double digits but more than my typical 3-5 mi), but with work being busy before my trip, I didn’t have time for much else.

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Two Weeks Until Race Weekend

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 7 Comments

Where have the past three months gone? Somehow, I’m only two weeks away from Cleveland Marathon Race Weekend! That’s right, I can see the weekend in my 10-day forecast – but refuse to truly look at it because we all know how quickly the weather can change.

In looking back over the past few months of training, I know it wasn’t my best training cycle. I started off with an injury and didn’t start training until later than usual. Because of this, I didn’t do any speed workouts either, as in the beginning I was focused on just getting some slow miles in and testing out my hip … now I have no excuse except for the fact that I just didn’t get any speed in the beginning so I created a modified training plan that didn’t include any speed workouts. I’m about to travel for work, which is less than ideal for a few days before my race, because I’ll be wearing heels for the first time in a year (perhaps since the last work trip), staying up late, on my feet a lot, not drinking nearly enough water, and not getting much sleep.

So my goals in two weeks for race weekend are mainly TO HAVE FUN and FINISH STRONG. I plan on doing the 5K on Saturday and half marathon on Sunday to complete the “Challenge Series.” I will work at the Marathon Expo Friday afternoon and attend the pre-race banquet Friday night. I know it will be a fun weekend, and I just need to remember to enjoy every minute!

And now, here is what this week looked like for training. It was pretty good – a longer run, a few shorter runs, and even some cross training.

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No Complaints

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 11 Comments

For once, I have no complaints about my week! I feel like every single week I have some excuse – something interfering with my training. During this training cycle I’ve had injuries, a week in Germany, sick kids, no water, crazy weather, and more. But this week – somehow, there were no interruptions in my training. Was it perfect? No – I haven’t done any speed work. But I got in a weekend long run, a mid-week longish run, some walks, some core work and some light weights. 

It was a busy week on our end – outside of work, we had a soccer game and family dinner on Sunday, ballet on Monday, soccer practice and book club on Tuesday, piano lessons and ice skating on Wednesday, baseball and soccer and swimming and a school event on Thursday, soccer and a father/daughter dance on Friday, soccer, birthday party and a school retreat on Saturday … let’s just say, we had a lot going on. So I’m glad that despite being tired, I was able to get up early and get it done! It will continue to be crazy through the end of May, so fingers crossed I can keep this up for another few weeks.

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It’s Always Something

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 12 Comments

Welp, there’s always something it seems getting in the way of my half marathon training. This week, after FW was finally feeling better (yay!) we lost hot water!

What does hot water have to do with my running? Okay, not a lot. But not being able to rely on having a shower in my house actually made my workouts change somewhat. The idea of not being able to shower after a run, AND having to be in the office, made me think twice about my workouts. We were without hot water Sunday through Wednesday evening due to a problem with our water heater, but thankfully it got resolved (with a new heater ugh!) so I could shower back to normal Thursday morning.

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Back from Spring Break Abroad

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 12 Comments

Wow, taking a week off from my usual weekly running update was strange! But I’m back now, and ready to share how the week went.

The reason I wasn’t able to share last week was because we were out for spring break! B and I took the whole family – the 5 of us – to Berlin to visit my brother and enjoy the kids’ first plane ride and European vacation.

It was great! If you haven’t read it yet, here’s my blog of a few trip highlights. But because I was out of the country, I didn’t get to write a full recap of workouts. So here’s the cliff’s notes (do young people even know what those are anymore?) and a quick Instagram post to see what we did.

And now, onto this week’s workouts. They weren’t great. FW was pretty sick a few days this week with a high fever and cough, which impeded not just my sleep but also my workouts in the mornings a few days. But I was able to get in my long run early in the week, so at least that was done! Here’s the full week:

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Is It Finally Spring?

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 10 Comments

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! And Happy Spring break to us!

In addition to my weekly update, this post serves as my (mostly) March in review post. I can’t believe that April 1 is TOMORROW. 

March was an okay month for me.

Total mileage: 112.58 miles – ish  (We’ll see if I get in a run today with everything going on)

The good – Overcoming/healing from my hip issues and getting back into running. I’m still not 100% – I feel sore if I run too many days in a row or too long, but it’s not pain or debilitating like before. And I successfully started cross-training, which includes some minor lifting, core workouts, rowing machine, walking and indoor cycling.

The bad – My running mileage was low (For me), as I’m trying to incorporate more xtraining and less running. Also, I’m still not feeling 100%, which is discouraging less than 2 months from my half marathon.  That said, with March ending, perhaps spring is finally here and I can stop running in snow, etc.? Who am I kidding – I just jinxed it!

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March is Definitely a Lion

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 10 Comments

As happy as I am to back running (yay!) we had more snow (boo!) this week! And we had more snow than no snow this week:

Sunday – snowed.

Monday – snowed.

Tuesday – snowed.

Wednesday – snowed.

Thursday – no snow, but high was in the 20s so it was COLD.

Friday – snow.

Saturday – snow, and this time it stuck to the ground.

Now, I am lucky that it only flurried most of those days so we got minor accumulation, but it still didn’t help my running and made everything just a little more slippery and less manageable. The only day I really woke up to snow accumulation was Saturday. BUT I’m also happy to be back and running PAIN FREE. My leg has been feeling good and I’ve been trying to be good about taking days off from running and focusing on other activities. I was pleased to get in an early morning 9 miler one morning this week for my long run, plus some runs and cross training. Overall, it was a good week of getting back into the swing of things. Next, hopefully I can start up some speed training again.

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How I’m Getting Back to Running

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

It’s week 3ish of my return to running from my hip adductor injury, and I’m pleased to share that I’m feeling pretty good. I still don’t feel 100%, but I’m feeling so grateful to be back at running!

We had some snow this week (ugh!) but on Sunday when it was snowy and a little slippery, I definitely had a change in attitude about running in the weather. I told myself, “I’m so lucky I can run in this!” Instead of “Ugh, I have to run in this” and immediately felt different. A few weeks ago, it would’ve been a different mentality for me.

So here’s how my runs went this week – and also some ways that I’m healing myself. Here’s what I’ve been doing to get back into running (hopefully) injury free:

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The Weather in the Land Goes Up and Down

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 12 Comments

Our weather this week was another wild ride – we had 70 DEGREES on Monday with sun, then it cooled down to 30s, then went up again, and we’re due for cold and snow today. And I clearly have 3 little ones, because all I thought of was, The weather in the (Cleve)land goes up and down, to the tune of Wheels on the Bus, one of my 2-year-old’s favorite song.

I’m not complaining – the 70+ degree weather on Monday was amazing. It was 55 degrees when I woke up so I got in an unplanned run. I got in 2 walks that day. Every little bit of sunshine helps and it’s amazing what some natural vitamin D can do for your spirits!

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Taking It Easy

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 13 Comments

Normally this post would include a monthly running recap with total milrs run, highlights of the previous month, etc. But I will be honest with you — February did not include many miles. I was nursing an injury and instead stuck it to the indoor bike. But … I ran this week! I ran!

I didn’t have a lot of miles, but I did go running outside a few times to see how my leg felt.

Disclosure – it didn’t feel 100%. There’s still a slight soreness. But I’ll take soreness over PAIN any day. I remember when I tried to run around the block about a month ago and couldn’t do it because of my leg pain. Hopefully the soreness will go away and if I take it easy the next few weeks while starting to build up my mileage, I’ll be better soon.

Am I being too optimistic? Maybe. But with spring half marathons less than 3 months away and the weather getting better, I need to be! Here’s how this week looked:

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