Today ends my 5th week of training for the Rock N Roll Raleigh Marathon. Overall, training has been going well. I’ve gotten in all my planned runs, although last week I cut my long run short due to some foot pain. I am happy to say that my foot has been feeling good, although I am still paying attention to it and focusing of stretching and strengthening my calves and feet.
Actually, I have been REALLY working on preventing injuries and listening to my body during this training cycle. I have tried eat more food that provide the necessary nutrients for runners, along with icing anything that feels sore, foam rolling and such ALL THE TIME, and couple yoga sessions each week, and core/strength work. I believe all of these things have allowed me to increase my mileage into the 50 mile per week range.
I think my husband is a little tired of seeing this on the living floor every day.
With all of that said, the past 5 weeks have been challenging in particular for the long runs. This is mainly because of the weather, and there’s not much that can be done about that besides running on the treadmill. Here is how my long runs have looked:
December 27th: I was traveling for the holidays, and ran13 miles around the hotel in New York where I was staying. There wasn’t really anywhere to run, so I basically circled a neighborhood for 13 miles. It was BORING but I just kept telling myself how happy I was to be marathon training again.
January 4th: I ran 15 miles the day after a snow storm. I couldn’t find many places to run that weren’t icy. It was also cold and windy. I ended up stopping at my gym and running 3 miles on the treadmill.
January 11th: Ran 15.3 miles in the pouring rain. This was a better run as far as temperatures, but instead of dodging ice I was splashing through puddles, and was drenched by the end of this run.
January 18th: I think the weather cooperated for this run, and there was no snow/ice on the ground, but my foot was bothering me. I tried to be smart by cutting it short at 11 miles.
January 25th (today): We had another snow storm this week (Tuesday). Unfortunately we also had temperatures in the teens and 20s all week (as the high) so nothing has melted…or if it did it refroze again. I was able to find a clear trail around Patterson Park, but it was annoying getting there because of ice along the harbor path.
It ended up going really well once I found a clear area to run. By the end my face felt like it was frozen in place. This should give you an idea of the temperatures in Baltimore lately:
While talking with a coworker this week (also a runner) we agreed that running in this weather can only make us stronger for when its not as bad. We also raised the question, would you rather run in 20 degrees with wind or 80 degrees with humidity? I voted for the warm weather, but ask me again in August and I may change my answer.
This 80 degree run is sounding pretty good right about now
On another note, I wanted to touch on the incident that occurred at the Columbia Mall earlier today. Apparently a gunman entered the mall and shot two other people before shooting himself (or herself- they have not revealed the gender yet). While I am writing this, it sounds like the scene is deemed to be safe and everyone who was on lockdown are being allowed to leave. This hits particularly close to home because my mom works at a store in that mall. Fortunately, she was not working today and she was able to quickly communicate with her coworkers who said they were locked in the back of the store with any customers who had been in the store at the time. It seems that lately we are hearing of acts of violence more and more frequently. All the places that are supposed to be safe- malls, movie theater, schools, races…- are no longer places we can go without extra concern. Many family members of Olympic athletes are choosing not to attend due to safety concerns. It’s all so disheartening. It’s wonderful to hear about the good things that are going on, but it doesn’t take away from the feeling that the world is becoming less and less safe.
What are your thoughts on the violence that has been taking place in malls, schools, etc.?
Has your training been impacted by the weather?
Would you rather run in 20 degrees and wind or 80 degrees and humidity?
Have you heard of any great acts of kindness lately? Please share!
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missadventuresinrunning says
I feel your pain on finding safe places to run outside! We were just talking about whether we preferred the winter or summer at my running club. We decided it was a win-lose. You just can’t have it all! I definitely know what you mean about not feeling as safe these days. I am a teacher, and some of the safety training we have gone through are terrifying.
runningoutofwine says
You’re right, it is a win-lose. Hopefully spring will be here before we know it!