End of Week 15 Double Dare Training

Oh boy am I tired! I was up all night monitoring a website until 12:30.

Crazy? Maybe.

Determined? You better believe it!

I bet you're asking why was I up half the night staring at a website? If you are versed at all in the world of runDisney, you would know or have heard about their coveted social media meet-ups. They hold one at each big race weekend in WDW and Disneyland to help promote the brand runDisney and teach health benefits fof running, as well as share some secrets/tips on nutrition, training and gear.

The focus is to have individuals who are active in the social media spheres attend so that they can tweet, Facebook, Instagram and blog about the experience. This coverage helps to get the runDisney name and their ideals out to the masses that are on social media everyday. For the participant, it is a great way to connect directly with the core of the brand and help them promote races that are near and dear to our hearts. I have been very focused on trying to get a place into one of these meet-ups as it would be a great honor to be able to partake in the process and meet some of the fantastic people that make runDisney, well, "run".

So while I am working on recovering from my lack of sleep last night, I can review how my training went this past week! Let's take a look at the schedule!

Tuesday: 30 minute run
Thursday: 30-45 minute run
Saturday: 4 miles with 1 Magic Mile

That's how the schedule looks, but this is what my schedule looked like.

Tuesday: 30 minute run
Thursday: 30 minute run
Friday: 6 mile walk/run
Saturday: 12 mile run

I changed it up because I really hadn't done any back-to-back training run days. Bad, I know. So this is what I came up with to help simulate how race weekend would go for me.

Tuesday's run didn't happen. I've been battling headaches and insomnia lately. One of those by itself can be difficult to deal with, but both of them together just made me miserable. I was a pill at work, no doubt. So of course, no training happened that day. Boo hiss!

Thursday came and I got out for a great run. Nice and easy, pushed the pace a bit but didn't want to overdo it since I would be running the next couple of days as well. Took a run along the waterfront and it was perfectly overcast so it was nice and cool. It felt so good to get out and run and I felt confident at the end of my run that I would be able to amp up the mileage during the next two days and kill my runs! My distance was alright, I'd gone farther last week during my run, but I was pleased with how I felt afterwards.

I had Friday off, so I was able to just roll out of bed and get my 6 miles done. Well, I slept in a bit, (let's be serious!) then headed out for my run. It was a HOT morning with direct, blazing sunshine along my route, so I wanted to get this over with toot sweet!! I decided to walk the majority (read: all) of this distance, that way I could save my legs a bit for the 12-miler I had planned for the next day. Plus I wanted to see how long it would take me to walk the course, just in case I wasn't really able to run the whole thing, considering I will have just busted my butt getting through the 5K course to get to the start of the 10K on race day. My time wasn't my personal best by any means, but if my calculations are right, even if I walked the WHOLE course, I would still beat the sweepers. So that is good to know that if push comes to shove, I can walk some or all of the course and still finish on time.

Saturday's run was a nice long 12 miler. It was a gorgeously overcast, cool day along the waterfront making for perfect long run conditions. I started out having a very productive run and going along at a good clip. Then as I was approaching mile 5 I was quickly stopped in my tracks. **WARNING TMI MOMENT!! I WARNED YOU!*** I was stopped by severe nipple discomfort. I've never had runners nipple, but holy cow is it horrible! I ended up walking most of mile 5 as I was approaching my car. I had to stop, I was in SO MUCH PAIN. I felt so defeated and was so mad because the weather was PERFECT for my run and I wasn't sure when I would get out for another 12 mile run. So I filled up my water bottles and turned back around to get back on the trail again and I was going to finish this mileage even if I had to walk the next 6 miles. I was NOT going to give up.

The next two miles were bad, but the pain was finally starting to subside and I was getting increasingly better. By the end of mile 7, I wanted to try running to see if I could finish out the rest of the mileage running instead of walking. To my surprise, there was no further discomfort, I was able to run pain free! SUCCESS!! I finished out my mileage and got it done. 12 miles!

My time was a bit slower than I'd hoped but I couldn't help it with the walking. If I'd continued to run, it would have been disastrous! But I was proud of myself, I didn't quit, I didn't let the pain stop me. I figured out a way to deal with the situation and get the mileage done. I couldn't have been more pleased with how it all turned out.

With the succession of days that I ran and the mileage I accummulated, I for sure felt like I am ready for this race weekend. This is the first time in all of my training where I have felt that the mountain of miles I will have in front of me race weekend is not insurmountable. I can do this and I've proven to myself that I could. One more mile is all I needed to do to finish the total mileage I will rack up during the race challenge. I was sore for sure, but with the training and conditioning I've been doing, the stiffness and sore feeling didn't hang around for too long and the next day I was feeling just like normal. I'm so excited about this upcoming race weekend and with my training in line as it's been, I feel ready for it too!

Now it's your turn: How is your training going? Have any issues pop up on a run that you thought would derail you but you were able to make it through?