This has not been the greatest week of my training so far. I did not get any cross-training done and skipped one of my runs, all sue to some stubborn back pain. I occasionally sleep wrong or tweak my back somehow and am almost always able to resolve it through a day or so of rest and stretching. I assume this sort of thing is normal. It happened just a few weeks ago, in fact, and I attributed it to sleeping in awkward positions in order to protect my sore shoulder.

This week, however, the back pain I had on Sunday never really went away. It didn’t hurt me to sit, stand, walk, or run, but bending, twisting, or getting up from a seated position really did hurt. When I thought the pain was going away, I ran on Tuesday, but that may have been a bad idea.

I saw a chiropractor on Thursday, who told me that running was probably fine since I was able to do it pain free. However, he said to watch out for any increase in pain after the run or on the following day. I have some specific stretches and instructions to ice immediately after a run.

My consultation and X-Rays revealed that the problem is the same culprit that so often causes me hip flexor issues — it was just showing up on the other side this time — a rotated/misaligned hip. We think that the PT and hip strengthening I’ve done has helped me avoid hip flexor strain, but that the misalignment was going to cause problems somewhere, and if it wasn’t the right hip, it was going to be the left SI joint. It makes sense, the two areas being in complementary positions.

I had some ultrasound and electro-stimulation for pain relief on Thursday and I’ve been stretching and icing as recommended. I feel better enough to resume running, and on Monday I’ll go back for adjustments that should hopefully help me continue to run without re-aggravating my back.

So, with all that going on, workouts were minimal. Here’s what I managed to get done:

Monday: Rest. My back had been hurting me all day Sunday and felt no better Monday, so I skipped any workouts.

Tuesday: Speedwork, 3×1600 (5 miles total). This run went really well. I felt capable of the pace and felt satisfied with how I did. I just dialed in the requisite 8:57 for the first two reps, then took it down to about 8:50 for the final 1600. Not too shabby. My back felt OK the whole time, too.

Wednesday: Rest. Woke up with the back pain a bit worse (due to the prior day’s run?!), so I decided to make an appointment with a chiropractor to see if they could help.

Thursday: Rest and Chiropractor. This day was scheduled to be my 4 mile tempo run, which I had been excited to try outside, but instead I found myself lying flat on my face at the chiropractor with electrodes stuck to my lower back and butt. I could, I suppose, have run afterward (the doctor said it would be OK), but I thought it better to wait a couple of days.

Friday: Rest and PT. 

Saturday: Long Run, 10 miles. I woke up feeling much less pain when I moved around, and I decided that this day would be the day to put the doctor’s words about running to the test. This would be my longest run in quite some time. A year, maybe? The weather was perfect (40s and sunny) — I snapped the header photo for this post at mile seven. The entire run was pain free, and there was no increase in pain/discomfort afterward OR the next day. Victory! I didn’t try to push myself on pace because I was worried about angering my hips/back, but even still, I managed to be significantly faster on this hilly stretch of road than I was two weeks ago. My target pace for long runs is 9:45-10:00. Two weeks ago on these hills I ran 8 miles at 10:24 pace. Not so great, but okay. This week, I did 10 miles on those same tough hills at 10:13. Much better! The pace was even better than that average suggests, at least before the last mile or two, when my hamstrings tightened up. I need to work on that, because tight hamstrings cause problems for my hips, back, and knees.

Sunday: Rest and PT. 

I hope to get back to my usual 3 runs + 2 XTs training plan this week. I’ll likely not workout on Monday, because that’s the day of my chiro adjustment. Tuesday I hope to hit the track for 800s, and then Thursday I’ll have a brutal 8-mile tempo run. The Saturday long run will be a stepback at only 8 miles. Maybe a spin class or two for cross training? If my back allows it? Fingers crossed for me!

Well, this week I did not have any reason to back off my training — at least not the one I was thinking of when I wrote last week’s post –, so I carried on mostly as planned. This was a slight step back week in terms of the long run, but the speedwork and tempo run were both increases from previous weeks. It all went surprisingly well.

Monday: Cross Training. Betty Rocker Days 17, 18, and 19. These workouts targeted the core, then total-body, then the posterior chain. I had to modify a few moves for my shoulder, but overall felt very capable during all three of these. It was a nice 45 minute session — and, spoiler, it turned out to be the only XT day I got in all week.

Tuesday: Speedwork, 4x800s (4.5 miles total). Dialed in 8:20 pace for the 800s and recovered at about 10:30. I did this on the treadmill because I am still a big fat chicken about taking my speedwork to the track. This coming week I have 1600s, but when I get to another 400 or 800 workout, I WILL go to the track, I promise. I just don’t want to start going on my first mile repeat workout, because chicken.

Wednesday: Rest. My plan this week was to rest on the days before my tempo and my long run, to reduce the chance I’d have trashed legs and not hit my paces. It worked pretty well, I think.

Thursday: Tempo Run, 5 miles (6 total). Dialed in my target 9:05 pace and hung on. I did this on the treadmill because last week’s tempo run had me feeling scared. It worked out fine, and this coming week I only have to do 4 tempo miles, so I am going to take it outside again and see if I can do better than in the past.

Friday: Rest. 

Saturday: Long Run, 6 miles. Target pace: 9:45-10:00. This run went much easier than my hilly 8-miler last week, when I was nowhere near my target pace. Even better, it was also much easier than my 6-miler from two weeks ago, when I did make my target pace but it felt a bit too hard. This week, I was actually ahead of pace for most of the run and finished with an average of 9:42 — and it felt easy and fun! I think this training plan just might be working, friends! I took this run out to the last 6 miles of the Auburn Classic course, which go through some neighborhoods at first but mostly loop around/through campus. This section of the course is much flatter than the section I ran last week, and thankfully it comes later in the race. I guess we’ll get most of the hills out of the way early and then cruise on in. Two things I learned about the course: 1) it takes you within sight of the finish area about 1.5 miles before the finish, and 2) it ends on a massively steep uphill — one I’ve complained about before. So, you know, it’s a typical Auburn race. As Britney would say, “you better work, bitch.”

Sunday: Rest. Sunday was supposed to be my second cross-training day of the week, but I woke up with a completely tweaked back, thanks once again to sleeping in a bad position to spare my sore shoulder. I could not do much of ANYTHING. Better to miss a cross day than a run day, though, right?

I ran a total of 16.5 miles for the week, slightly less than last week, and completed only 3 Betty Rocker workouts. Part of that is that it’s a step back week and part of that is my tweaked back. Things should change this coming week: I’ve got mile repeats, a four-mile tempo (outdoors!), and a ten-mile long run to look forward to. I haven’t run double digits in quite some time and — dare I say?! — I am excited.

Week two of training is in the books! I got all the workouts done, even though I had pace problems a couple of times. I wonder if the paces I’m targeting are too ambitious for me, or if I’ll simply begin to improve and find them easier as time and miles go by.

This week, I got a new pair of shoes – Newton Distance S III, which are lightweight stability trainers for speed work and racing, pictured in the header photo – and I tried using the virtual pacer on my new Garmin Forerunner 10, which was a Christmas present from my husband. I love both. Hooray for awesome new gear!

Monday: Cross Training. Betty Rocker Days 10 & 12. One 15-minute workout was full-body interval training; the other was a 1-12-1 pattern of box jumps and ab work. The ab work was substituted in for pushups, which I still can’t do on my bad shoulder.

Tuesday: Speedwork, 4×400 (4 miles total). I took this run to the gym treadmill and dialed in my target pace for the 400s, which was exactly 8:00. It wasn’t easy, but it was doable.

Wednesday: Rest & Shoulder Rehab.

Thursday: Tempo Run, 4 Miles (5 miles total). I took this tempo run to the streets in order to see how well I could do without the help of the treadmill. The first three miles clicked by at my target pace (9:06, 9:05, 9:05), but the fourth mile pretty much fell apart and I came in at 9:18. I also have to admit I paused for a few seconds between each mile — just long enough to cross the street, or something, but still. Not ideal. These training paces are not easy! I hate to think how easy they would have been two or three years ago, before my hip injury saga and when I was 10 pounds lighter. But I can’t turn back time, so I’d better work with the body I have now.

Friday: Cross Training. Betty Rocker Days 13, 15, & 16. One full-body tabata, one pilates, and one longer stretching workout for a total of 60 minutes. I am pretty tired of these, to be honest. Looking forward to getting in some “Real” cross training, e.g. cycling.

Saturday: Long Run, 8 Miles. First off, I did not at all hit my target pace on this run. I had decided to head out to the race course and get some practice on the hilliest part — which includes a stretch of road about a mile long that consists of varying gradual and steep inclines and which I know to be KILLER. I kind of told myself I didn’t need to hit the pace because I’d be focusing on hills, and maybe I let that give me an easy way out. The run sure as hell did not feel easy, though. My legs felt heavy and tired and it was honestly a slog. In good news, not only did I not need to walk on the killer hill (in fact, I never even considered it), I somehow kept my pace consistent. Okay, then.

Sunday: Rest & Rehab.

I ran a total of 17 miles for the week and completed 5 Betty Rocker workouts (having skipped her upper-body routines in favor of my own shoulder rehab). Not too shabby. I am really enjoying the training cycle so far, even though my fervent wish is that I’ll have a certain tiny reason (ahem) to back off. Conflicted.

I just love training for a race, don’t you? I love making out the schedule, checking off the workouts, and just having that sense of purpose — the feeling that all my miles are adding up to something. Last time I trained for a half, I kept track of my progress every week here on the blog, so I thought I’d do that again this time. I’ll be posting these every Monday. This is mostly for me, but hopefully my fellow runners will find something of interest here — if not, no worries.

Regarding the shoulder rehab I mention below, I’ve had an injury bothering me off and on since summer — something that I think started in my weights class. I was really worried lately, since it wasn’t improving and may have been getting worse, that I may wind up needing surgery. Luckily, my doctor doesn’t think that I do. It seems to be bicep tendonitis, and I’ll be working on rehabbing it at home to start with. Luckily it doesn’t interfere with my running, but I do have to modify certain moves in my other workouts. Fair enough.

So here’s how the week went:

Monday: Rest. I had no idea at this point that I was about to start training for a race. In the future, these will usually be cross-training days. On this particular Monday, I had my shoulder and back checked out at the doctor and got prescribed some rehab exercises for each.

Tuesday: Rest-ish. Shoulder & back rehab plus a 4-mile walk. My back was back to normal by the end of the day, which is what allowed me to get out the door on that walk.

Wednesday: Cross Training. I did two Betty Rocker workouts, one of which was a full-body tabata-style workout and the other focused specifically on the lower body.

Thursday: Tempo Run, 3 Miles. I wrote more about this workout the other day. In brief, my prescribed pace was 9:00-9:15, so I dialed in 9:05 on the treadmill and just stayed there. The distance for these runs doesn’t include warm-up or cool-down miles, so my total distance was a little over 4 miles for the day.

Friday: Cross Training. I did two Betty Rocker workouts plus a 4-mile walk. The BR workouts were one yoga (20 sun salutations) and one core, which was an interval workout that had both cardio and strength moves. I also did my shoulder rehab.

Saturday: Long Run, 6 Miles. The FIRST plan’s target pace for this workout, based on my race goal, is 9:45-10:00. I set up the virtual pacer on my new Garmin and went for it. It definitely felt like a bit more work than I thought it should, but nonetheless I totally nailed my pace at an average of 9:52. Splits were 10:06, 9:37, 9:58, 9:42, 9:56, 9:53. Totally happy with that.

Sunday: Rest + Shoulder Rehab. I had a couple of Betty Rocker workouts I could have done, but I had a tight, sore calf (surely from some of her previous stuff — her workouts tear UP my legs), so I rested instead. Monday (today), week two starts with cross training, so Betty and I will have our chance.

Looking ahead to the coming week, I’ll have my first real speed workout tomorrow (4x400s). I’d love to just head to the gym and dial in a pace on the treadmill, but I don’t think that’s what the authors of the training plan have in mind. I could go to a track, but…well…for some reason, I’m dreading that. We’ll see. Wish me luck!

Note on the header photo: this is my in-laws’ farm, seen from  the very long, straight road I ran on while visiting over the holidays. The runs were more fun than you’d think.

The other day, as I was lying around on the couch bemoaning the state of my aching lower back, I happened to see a surprising announcement on Facebook that my town’s half marathon would be taking place in just nine weeks — I knew they’d changed the date from previous years, but I wasn’t aware it was coming up so soon. “Hmmmm,” I thought to myself. “I am currently injured. What better time to start training for a half marathon, am I right or am I right?!” So that’s what I’m doing.

If that sounds completely insane to you, let me first reassure you that the injury I had at the time is completely resolved two days later (I had just cranked my hamstrings up way too tight thanks to one Ms. Betty Rocker and was dealing with the repercussions on my SI joint — I just had to loosen things back up again and now I’m fine). Also, while I know people usually go into a half marathon with more than nine weeks of time to train, I am using a ten week plan, slightly modified, and I am starting with a solid base where an 8-mile long run is already comfortable to me. So. It should be totally fine. Right?

I realized today, as I was hitting the treadmill for my first official run of the training cycle, that it’s been a year and a half since the last half I ran. It’s been even longer than that since I trained to race a half. I think I’d like to race this one, if circumstances allow. That is to say, as long as I won’t be carrying a tiny teammate along with me. If I am, well, I’ll be happy to do whatever my body allows, even including stay home on race day. But if I can race it? Man oh man, I’d really love to.

I don’t mean I’ll be racing to break the tape, of course, but I would love to be able to PR. For me, that would mean a time faster than 2:06:xx. Do I have it in me? I’m not sure. I’m heavier and arguably less fit than I was three years ago, when I got that 2:06. But I’m more than willing to work on that.

Here’s what I’m trying — the FIRST half marathon training plan. It’s set up to have you run three times a week, each workout with a specific purpose (speed/trackwork, tempo runs, and long runs — no easy/”junk” miles), plus cross-training twice per week. I like this approach because every time I’ve tried training plans that have me running four or more times per week, I tend to injure myself. As much as I’d love to be that person who can run every day (or even, say five times per week — I wish!), my body just doesn’t like it. I think this training plan could really work well for me, so here’s what it’ll look like (with the caveat that I’m not sure how Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays will shake out; I may swap those around from week to week as needed. One will be Cross Training and the other two will be rest/PT):

• Mondays: Cross Train (probably a spin class or bike trainer workout)
• Tuesdays: Speed Work (sets of 400s, 800s, or 1600s, different each week)
• Wednesdays: Rest Day (should do strength/PT exercises)
• Thursdays: Tempo Run (hitting a target pace around or a bit faster than goal race pace, increasing distance each week)
• Fridays: Cross Train Option (probably a spin class or bike trainer workout or another cardio-based gym class) or PT/Strength
• Saturdays: Long Run (I start with a six miler, work my way to 12, then taper. Target pace is goal race pace plus one minute)
• Sundays: Cross Train Option (probably a bike trainer workout) or PT/Strength

The only thing I feel this training plan is missing is a hill workout. I usually like to incorporate hill repeats into my training for a few reasons: it’s a great form of interval training; it builds leg strength and cardiovascular fitness; it makes you stronger and faster overall; and, well, my town does not have a single flat race. So, I’m currently thinking about ways to work hill repeats into my training plan. I could occasionally substitute them for either speed work or a tempo run, or I could simply plan to run hilly routes for my long runs. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, so we’ll see.

Today was the first official run of the training cycle (yay!). It was a 3-mile tempo run, plus warm up and cool down (4-5 miles total). The target pace, according to the range I’m using for my race goal, was 9:00-9:15. I had to run on the treadmill due to weather, so I just warmed up, then dialed in a pace of 9:05 and went with it. It felt okay, but definitely not easy. I knew I was working the whole time (and so, I’m sure, did everyone around me). I suppose that is the goal of a tempo run — to run “comfortably hard” — and that it shouldn’t necessarily be easy. I just wonder whether I could run the same pace on the road for three miles. I suspect not. I hope this pace will be feeling more “comfortable” than “hard” by March.

So that’s that. I’ll update on my training progress week to week. I’m pretty excited! Anyone else training for a spring/late winter event?