Laurie

Runfessions – July Edition

Meditations in Motion

I am linking up with Marcia’s Healthy Slice for our monthly Runfessions.

Meditations in Motion

Here is the big runfession for the month: I am burnt out on marathon training. I have never had quite this experience before. I cannot seem to make myself do long runs to train for my August marathon. My longest run so far has been 18 miles. Is that far enough?

I am doing the Tunnel Vision Marathon in Washington state next month with two friends. Hubby is coming along, but only for support. He is not running the race. I actually think the main reason he is coming is that one of his favorite restaurants is in Seattle, and our hotel happens to be right across the street. Our son and daughter-in-law are coming up from Oregon to meet us, so I am really looking forward to the trip.

My friend said that her longest run before the race will be 15 miles. I thought that was pretty short for a long run. “Come on, Laurie!” she said, “You know how to run a marathon. You will be fine.” Hmmm….

Meditations in Motion

Another runfession is that the ankle that I rolled in a trail half marathon last month is still not completely healed. It doesn’t hurt when I run or walk, but when I swim, the pressure of the water against my foot makes my ankle ache. I cannot swim for very long before I have to either switch to some swimming drills without kicking or stop completely. Squats and plate presses in body pump hurt my ankle too.

 

Meditations in Motion

And finally, does anyone else do this? I runfess to scrolling my newsfeed or reading my emails while I am holding a yoga pose. I know, I know, Namaste, and all that! It gets boring, and I need something to think about when pigeon pose hurts for several minutes. Same thing when I hold a plank. The minutes go by so much faster when I am looking at a really funny cat video or seeing pictures of my high school classmates’ grandchildren. I feel so shallow (shaking my head).

Thank you for allowing me to runfess. It has been good for my soul!

I am linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for their Friday 5, and Marcia’s Healthy Slice for our monthly Runfessions.

 

 

 

38 comments

  1. 18 miles will be enough. Especially since you’re doing strength training too. I never got my training mojo together for Berlin last year and I could definitely feel it in the latter miles but a finish is a finish. I hope that ankle heals up for you soon!

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    • I did Berlin last year too! That was before I started blogging. The same friend who convinced me to do Berlin, is the one who I am doing the August marathon in Washington with. We just did our 18 miler yesterday!

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  2. It is so tough to train and do long runs in the summer time. Maybe the cooler weather in Wash State will propel you forward. Sounds like you both have lots of marathon miles under your belts and will be just fine.

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  8. When I do yin poses without a video to guide me, I tend to scroll instagram to take my mind off the discomfort. I also do yoga poses while reading in bed.

    I hope your ankle is back to 100% soon!

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  10. Running in WA & ID was such a blessed relief from our humidity. Seriously, it was great!

    I think if it were your first marathon, you could be in trouble. But since it’s not . . . one of the coaches for a running group I belonged to always said that 16 miles is fine for a marathon (and 10 for a half).

    As to yoga, as I’ve said, I’m a person who is naturally ok with sitting (to a point, although I do like to be active, too, obviously). So no, I do not look at my phone doing yoga. Now ask me when was the last time I actually did some yoga . . .

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  11. Heaven forfend you should ever take my advice about training, but I say that since you insist on doing such painful things to yourself (pigeon pose for SEVERAL MINUTES???) then you have my full permission to look at your phone. Every torture victim deserves a little distraction 🙂

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  12. Oh yes, I have scrolled on my phone while stretching! In fact, this evening I took a walk and I found myself scrolling through my phone while walking… augh.

    I think it is completely possible to run a marathon with 18 miles as the longest run. It’s not like it’s your first race. As long as you don’t have a serious time goal, I’m sure you will be fine! I often sign up for trail races without doing many long runs but just have the attitude that I’m there for fun and if I need to walk, I will walk.

    Have fun in Washington! We are thinking about vacationing there next summer.

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    • If this were a trail marathon, for some reason I would have a completely different mindset. I would not hesitate running a 50k with only 18 miles under my belt, but for a road marathon, it’s disconcerting. Ugh! Thank you!

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  13. I am also guilty of looking at my phone while I am stretching or planking! It does make the time go faster, but I think it messes with my form. There are some training plans that have the longest training run as 18 miles! I think that’s the most I did when training for the Raleigh marathon in 2014.

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  14. I always do my daily planks while scrolling through Facebook or Insta (I have a timer to alert me when my time is up). No guilt whatsoever 😉 I think 18 miles is darn close to 20, especially with your base and experience. Some people do multiple 20-milers (and good for them!),but I’d rather save all those miles, energy and (increased) potential for injury for the race itself.

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