Sunday, October 27, 2024

Marathon Training? Not So Much! Thank you Hurricane Helene!!

Last I wrote, things were going good. I had mentioned that the week of September 22nd I started with a 5.37 mile hike and that I was going to do my long run on Monday. I did. I was working out with dumb bells doing curls, triceps, push ups. I was eating a lower carb diet, but feeling totally fine with running. I was doing really well at keeping my carbs to 120 grams or less per day. I was losing weight, getting faster, feeling better, things were GREAT!! But let me tell you, it got crazy after that!

Week of Sept. 22nd

After the 5 plus mile hike on Sunday I went for my long run on Monday. I ran the farthest I've ever run: 14.05 miles in 3:20:52 which is a 14:18 pace. Not as fast as I'd like, but faster than I need to run to make the cutoff of 6.5 hours. I rested Tuesday and Wednesday I was going to run in the morning but work got crazy and I was taking phone calls. I figured that I'd run at night but it poured rain! 

On Thursday, I had to go to a county first thing and it poured ALL Day so I did not run. Friday the rain continued non-stop and late Friday early Saturday, Hurricane Helene arrived in Western North Carolina. We lost power, water, cable, internet, and even cell service. In the afternoon, when the storm left and the sun came out, I walked 3.1 miles to check on my daughter and then walked back home. Why? Gas stations were closed. Numerous roads were closed or impassible by car, etc. but since I couldn't reach anyone by phone, I walked to check on her.  

Week of Sept. 29th. 

On Monday, I walked 4.25 miles to the local County Board of Elections office so I could start assessing damage in my various counties. (Remember, I work for the State Board of Elections). I of course then walked home 4.25 miles. I repeated this again on Tuesday, walking a total of 8.5 miles or more, since I did a bit of side excursions to find food, water, etc. I was able to find gas Wednesday, but I was still walking places after work to find food and water each night for this week.

Week of Oct. 6th. 

I didn't run most of this week. Hard to run and get sweaty and gross and then have no way to shower, not to mention that trails, greenways were still closed. I did finally run on Friday, the 11th for 3.5 miles which felt really good overall but I could tell I hadn't run in awhile. Work was insane this week trying the help get counties back up and running. We did manage to go to a friend's place in Waynesville, NC and stayed there and once again had water and power and such, hence me running again. 

Week of Oct. 13th

On Sunday, I decided to try a semi-long run. I went out for 7 miles and ran it in 1:25:17. That's a 12:11 pace!! I was so happy and excited by my time/pace. The funny thing was that I wasn't even trying to run fast. I was just out exploring Waynesville. Sadly, work was insane and this was the only day I ran this week. 

I was supposed to have a half-marathon on the 13th but it was canceled due to storm damage on the greenway and rescheduled to November 2nd, which I can't do so I canceled my entry. 

Week of Oct. 20th.

Crazy work schedule and I didn't run. Phone calls early in the a.m. starting at 7 or earlier and calls as late as 9 p.m.

I'll save the week of Oct.27th for next time as I haven't run yet today, but plan to run later. I was on-call this morning until noon. 

Marathon Training Update: Week of Feb. 2nd.

As I mentioned in my last post, last week was not great. While I did run 16 miles for my long, I spent the rest of the week with back pain. ...