Tempo Thursday

HHM: 1.5 mile warm up, 4 miles @half pace, 1.5 miles cool down, 11.2km total

Me: 2 km warm up, 6km half pace, 1 km cooldown 9km total

I had a great run today for a number of reasons, or maybe none of the following:

1. A great night's sleep. I logged over 8 hours of snoozing!

2. I huge supper. I had a big plateful of gluten free pasta and half a chicken breast.

3. I started my run about 9am, which is hours earlier than the afternoon runs I have been doing. I find my brain is sharpest in the morning, so I need to do school work then while I can still think clearly.

4. I slowed down. My previous race pace runs have been about 5:32/km. I slowed this to a 5:38. The five seconds don't seem like a lot on paper, but they really helped. Also 5:38/km is closer to what a true 2 hour half pace is, 5:41. I don't need to try to train for the faster result. 

This morning my feet do feel tender. I have the plan to call the doctor that did the cortisone injections in my feet to see if she will do them for me. I don't want to have to go through my rheum.

Tuesday intervals

I do love running fast and I do llove when fast training pays off in the end. I am getting a bit tired of the treadmill for speed though, because I like running towards something rather than follwing a cursor around the track.

I realize now I should have been listing what the plan says vs what I actually did.so today:

HHM: 1.5 mile warm up, 6 x 800m (5-10k pace) w/ 400m rec, 1.5 mile cool down 12 km total
Modificaton: 1.5 mile warm up, 6 x 800m (ave 5:13/km) w/400m rec, 1 mile cool down 11km total

Slightly shorter because like ever speed session I just want the workout done and I'm usually tired, so the cool down gets cut. Also, I wore new shoes yesterday and I think there is too much cushioning in them and my feet really started to hurt the last 15 minutes or so.

The post workout glow of actually surviving!

Being all bendy.

I had some thoughts about the plan as a whole that I posted on an online journal:

I trust the training and I really want to give it my best shot. I fully think I am capable of a sub 2 half. I look at my training the last time I achieved it, and I thought I trained hard for it but this is much harder. I know I have to stay ahead of the fatigue and the possible extra inflammation I may be afflicting on my body. For example, I did 4 x 1.6km as my toughest interval workout last time and my weekly mileage the last 6 weeks was in the 45-55km range. I'm sure that is enough. I don't think I need to run 6 x 1.6km and 2 x 4.8km in addition to a 6-10km tempo in the same week. I'm already in that 45-55km range.

But that devil on my shoulder wants me to follow the plan....

The angel knows I need to have a hard look at it and do the modifications to it now, so when it pops up on my calendar it's already done, in stone, and "officially" the plan.

From Ironman to now - the update

The following is a generalization of what I have been through since Ironman. I will expand on some of the time points as I move forward in this blog.

December 2012-June 2013
I was having neck pain which evolved to tingling on both sides of my body. I had difficulty standing for long periods of time and dropped about 10 pounds suddenly because I was too nauseous to eat. i eventually had an MRI done to rule out a neurological dysfunction and the diagnosis was inconclusive as to what caused it. It eventually "sorted itself out and these symptoms never presented themselves again. I started increasing my activity again, but by April 2013 foot pain started and I couldn't weight bear for that long. I was still teaching fitness classes and that was about the limit of my activity. I did start to walk more during the summer.

July 2013-January 2015
My activity level slowly increased to the point where I was starting to be able to run and eventually built up the endurance to complete a half marathon in May. Unsatisfied with my result I took advantage of another race opportunity in October. I had an amazing training cycle setting a PB in the 10k en route to my first ever sub 2 half marathon. I was looking forward to an amazing off-season which I was going to use to increase my speed and aim for a better half marathon time in the spring

January 2015-May 2015
I was starting to notice foot pain creep up again, and it escalated quickly. I was having difficulty being on my feet and even though I was still teaching fitness classes, I started teaching more by sitting on an exercise ball or in sandals, because I couldn't stand having my feet enclosed. i was noticing pinpoint blood blisters on my feet and was starting to uncontrollably gain weight. My doctor referred me to a rheumatologist. At that first appointment, she looked at my knees and feet and diagnosed me with rheumatoid arthritis on the spot and prescribed medication to help control the pain and reduce swelling. I was on prednisone for 2 weeks and then started Methotrexate and Plaquenil. I dropped 20 pounds in a very short time on that initial therapy and have put about 5 of that back on.

May 2015-May 2016
I spent a lot of this first year getting used to the medication and building myself up again from the inside out. My activity was limited to the classes I was teaching and outdoor walking. I was also noticing changes in my feet, however at that point there was no physiollogical damage. I spent a lot of time researching medication, holistic treatments and basic activity recommendations.

June 2016-today
I have been well controlled with medication. October 2016 was my last MTX injection because I was tired of the nausea so she switched me to Arava and that continues to work well. I started running again but built up too quickly and then had to take a break because of overwhelming fatigue. I restarted again in August very slowly based on the advice of my physiotherapist and have not had to restart again. I have since completed a 10k and a half marathon and I continue to run..