Running. Rest Days. Respect Your Needs: Don’t settle for less than you deserve

Running. Rest Days. Respect Your Needs: Don’t settle for less than you deserve

As a runner, when do we really stop to access our progress, recover or simply to take a step-back and change the routine? I think that the answer is “almost never” unless we are forced to take a step-back due to illness or injury. We often need to be reminded that rest days are part of the training just as much as doing the workouts and racking up the mileage month after month.

It is an automatic response, and perhaps because it is part of our training to push through obstacles to build mental toughness, to keep going with the training – even if it is for maintenance purposes. The reality is that whether it is for maintenance or for specific race training, the body is still going under the stress of training – both physically and mentally.

After dealing for a few weeks with a nagging calf muscle soreness and tightness, I finally came to reason that I needed a break from running and a total reset.  I needed a reset in training plan, goals, routine and purpose.  Running is part of my life. It is sacred to my well-being and I want to continue to run for a very long time. There is no shame in taking the time to regroup. The only shame is disrespecting the body that gives so much in return.

Here are a few examples of self-care practices that I am incorporating in my training / rest day routine that benefit my running and well-being:

• Recognize your strengths. Make a list of what you do well and what makes you most proud. Your opinion is the one that is the most important. Journaling is one of many outlets to express our feelings and seeing it in physical form. When expressing the positive feelings, it helps as a form of affirmation. When expressing the negative feelings, it becomes a toll to acknowledge, detach, and release those feelings by either burning or shredding the paper into pieces.

• Slow down.  It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and  bustle of life’s demands, but taking the time for a quiet,  slow moment, can help you to really see, feel, and live the experience you’re in while appreciating who you are and taking that “me time” for reflection. Slowing down to enjoy a bubble bath, unplug from electronics, or to simply sit outside and observe nature helps be present in the moment.  Practicing mindfulness is the key to be in the moment.

• Do what makes your soul happy. Whether it is going for a mindful-walk, playing with a puppy, reading a book while sipping on warm tea, getting a pedicure or a massage, listening to music, or practicing mindful eating, search for things that makes your soul happy and personality glow.

• Exercising. Physical activity is not only beneficial for the body but also for mental health. The body needs movement to perform at its best – a light yoga session, stretching exercises (to help with flexibility & mobility), walking, or riding a bike. Exercise can boost endorphins and help us relieve all the stress that builds up in day to day life. There is great joy in cross training as well as running.

Practicing self-care doesn’t make one selfish and neither taking a few days off from running makes a runner to be lesser than a runner. On the contrary, it just means that you won’t settle for less than you deserve, because you understand and respect your own needs.

Celia 
Certified Mindfulness Life Coach
Certified USATF Level 1 Coach

150 Miles Club

“The Road to Easy Street Goes Through the Sewer.”

~John Madden

Woot! Woot! I made in the #150mileclub It took me a day to digest that I actually ran 150 miles for the month of January. It amazes me that with the right training, right coach and proper recovery, the body can push just a little more each time.

Now I know exactly how my body feels what is like to run 150 miles for the month, and I’d say, it’s pretty exciting and exhausting. However, the runner’s high takes over.

The month of January started out a little rocky. Coming out of the runner’s high from closing the 2017 year with 1,028 miles, took me some time to get adjusted for it all was going to start again. The difference was: it was going to start harder and tougher than ever before. The grind of waking up early for runs, strength training, transcendental meditation, stretching – and all before work, was getting brutal on my body and mind. Trying to find balance was again a challenge.

I usually don’t bother much as to how many miles I can bank in a month. I usually go week by week, day by day. But when the half of the month starts to approach, then I start to take a glimpse of how many miles I’m about to close the month.

Based on January’s training plan, the weeks were leading me up to close the month at 143. I recalculated numerous times and the miles added up to 143. I just could not believe it! So of course that being so close to 150, my highest yet, I could not let this opportunity go by.

I started to add the additional 7 miles sporadically throughout the runs. Two miles were added in a LR with my friend Krista, and additional 1 mile cool down on a LR+tempo run and 4 miles on a family run with my husband and puppy, R2-D2. These 3 were my recovery run and a comeback road run for my husband, which was done on a 3:1 interval. The last mile, I ran at my recovery pace. It was 6 consecutive days of running to actually make to 150 miles for the month. The only extra day added was on a Sunday which was the 3:1 run; everything else was already scheduled on the calendar. I just needed to get it done.

So excited to have mom visiting for a few weeks!

The only drawback of running 150 miles for the month was managing my scheduled to include strength training. It was a lot to manage and I felt failing behind in including strength training and physical therapy workouts. On the plus side, I now have the feel of what will take to adjust to marathon training schedule. It is scary. But it is also exciting.

Cheers to a new month!

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have”.

~Vince Lombardi 

A Thousand Miles Year

“Once you make the decision that you will not fail, the heart and the body will follow.”

~Kara Goucher

What a year 2017 was!!! It was a great year, it was a majestic year, it was a PR year – and if you had ever told me that I could run the massive miles I did, I’d have a hard time believing it. The good news is, I made the decision that I CAN run all the miles. I CAN and I WILL succeed!

There’s no short cut to BQ. I have to face the distance and time challenge, and I am doing it with love, grace, perseverance and with a wicked smaht attitude! Without further ado, let’s get to the point!!

• December 2016 – I made the smaht-a$$ decision to work with Run4Prs, Coach Victoria. The best decision evah!
• Trimmed down Race Schedule – Coach V knows what’s best! I had a bunch of races scheduled for 2017 and she recommended that I let go of many. In January, Shark Bite half marathon became a 5K; in March, Swamp House half marathon became another 5K, and the scheduled March’s Tomoka half marathon was still on the menu.
• Turns out that I totally forgot how difficult a 5K can be. I had never trained for a 5K before, and I noticed how excruciating and glorious a 5K can be. But I got it done in 26:20 and I took a bite of the third place AG award. Not too shabby!!

JANUARY MILES = 75.8

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• The training continued in February – building up mileage, working on speed and heading to a PR month on a short month!

FEBRUARY MILES = 90.1

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• After building up some mileage and speed work, I was gearing up for my second 5K of the year. My legs were feeling trashy, but I knew I could get Swamp House 5K done. Sure enough, 25:40, and I missed first place AG by 1 freaking second! Or should I say, by 1 freaking stride!
• And here comes the good stuff when a PR is crushed: THERE’S NO PAIN WITHOUT A PR! Got it??
• I pushed my body like never before, and unfortunately, I got to experience what most football players go through at some point in their career: GROIN injury. It is a pain in the butt. It is not to be taken lightly. It does not forgive! It took me a good 6 weeks to start to feel normal again. It was hard to do anything and don’t get me started trying to get weight workouts done – just not a good idea.

• I felt the pinch right after the race, but it didn’t really flared up until two weeks later when I was gearing up to race Tomoka half during a 7 miler run and it only got worst within hours. Tomoka was a no go.  Want to know what my rehab routine was? Check it out my blog entry.

MARCH MILES = 40

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• By end of April, I was starting to feel a lot better. Easy runs, low mileage and a lot of strength training going. I was heading on my way up even though the mileage does not seem to reflect so. And Christmas arrived in April for me as my husband surprised me with an awesome treadmill. YES!!!

APRIL MILES = 34.2

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• The month of May was all about building up again in a much healthier and smarter way. I started doing cryotherapy and chiropractor adjustments which later became a mandatory thing once a month. PT and strength training was part of the routine and the Roll Recovery, aka R8, was my life saver rolling on that groin area, glutes, hammies and quads.

MAY MILES = 60.4

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• With the month of June comes the hot and humid days and running in tough conditions required a more strategic approach – treadmill miles! It was the best purchase evah!!! I was able to increase mileage without beating up my body. Training for a BQ and running Boston had become more real than I could have ever imagined as I reach my first evah 100+ miles for the month!

JUNE MILES = 102.1

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• June Miles got me really high, and entering my birthday month, I really had to make a splash and celebrate all month long. July was hot and humid as hell. Cryotherapy never felt so good – and don’t get me started with the ice baths! From June forward, the build-up for half marathon training was on full gear.

JULY MILES = 107.39

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• Oh August…. such a long and hot month! I continued to do the work, strength training, mileage logged, and all shorts of recovery methods with special attention to meal-prep, anti-inflammatory diet and naps after runs over 10 miles. Say YES to Gluten free, ginger and turmeric people!! AND for a second sesh of Cryo for the month! BAM!!! AND for a 4-hour nap after a LR (6 miles) during my cut-back week! Yes, I was drained.

AUGUST MILES = 120 (58 MILES ON TREADMILL)

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• September was just as hot as June, July and August, but the work still needed to get done. By now, I was already starting to feel the drain of training for so long, even though cut-back weeks was a big part of my training scheduled. My debut half marathon with Coach Victoria was the Jacksonville Marine Corps half marathon on October 14. I knew there was a chance the weather would be very hot for me, so my expectation for a sub-2 was dependentable on the weather conditions.

SEPTEMBER MILES = 121.3

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• It’s finally October and time to race. I was a nervous wreck and I strategized every detail of this race to help increase my chances of a sub-2. I could not have done it without my loving husband’s support. JAX Marine Corps was pure grit and determination like no other! Time: 1:59:35 – down to the wire.

            OCTOBER MILES = 78.3

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• I was excited for November. First of all, there is hope that the weather will cool off down here in FL. Second, it’s Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season which I love! Thank goodness I have the OUC half marathon right after Thanksgiving to keep me trained by eating healthier. This month was simply a rollover from JAX Marine Corps training – just 6 weeks between these two races.

            NOVEMBER MILES = 118

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• Bring it on December! I love this month and I love running OUC half marathon. What I don’t love is the 2.5 miles of brick road. I was distracted with so many things that I totally forgot about it. I found the perfect shoes in Asics DS Trainer 22 for tempo, speed and race. I didn’t think or trained with it on brick roads. I just wanted to PR and PR big because OUC is my fav race and it is the last race of the year for me. The race was a success. I PR’d by 8:41 and crossed the finished line at 1:50:54. That’s exactly a 10:00 PR from previous year. As I told you, THERE’S NO PR WITHOUT PAIN! My left foot didn’t like the beating and it responded with the worst tendinitis I’ve ever felt. Anti-inflammatory, a MRI and two weeks of no running was my rehab. AND…. I was back in business to finish the year strong!

DECEMBER MILES = 81.1

And just like that…. 1,028 MILES for 2017!

The joy and gratitude I feel is immense. These numbers were hard to get and I could not have done it without my husband’s love and support. I’m grateful for the team behind my success in this journey: my coach, my podiatrist, my chiropractor, my massage therapist, my physical therapist, my run squad, my friends, my family and my IG friends. I feel so grateful for all of you.

I am so ready for 2018. It will be a big year!

“Be unrelenting. If you don’t believe, then who will”.

~Kara Goucher

It Takes Guts to Build Mental Strength

 

“It’s hard to beat a person who never GIVES UP.”

~Babe Ruth

September was another hectic month; add Hurricane Irma’s stress to the occasion and you’ve got some real stress and some tight muscles as a result of it. Since surpassing 100 miles for the month, I started to get hooked and excited to find out how many more miles I can accumulate in a month. However, I kept in mind that a healthy month was and is more important than the accumulation of miles, especially in the final stretch of training cycle.

My awareness towards my body’s well-being was in higher frequency this month. I paid attention to every detail and unusual discomfort my body was feeling. This time my left calf and shin area was more than I wanted to. However, it is was not a surprise as I was exiting August with 120 miles for the month.

Two days after Labor Day weekend, the news were blasting us with updates on the fast approaching arrival of Hurricane Irma and its deadly force of a Category 5 hurricane. Seeing the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Matthew in Texas, Florida wasn’t going to be the one state to play with its strength, and a state of emergency was then effective. The prediction of the storm’s arrival in Central Florida was for Sunday evening, so up to Thursday, I was able to log in my miles. But my right calf wasn’t too happy.

After my husband examined my left calf, he found a dense knot and it hurt. I took a rest day from running on Friday, rolled, iced and stretched, but I was not 100% sure if it was in the best interest to run my 11-miler on Saturday. I knew it was due to stress and I know that when I run on a tight muscle, nothing good happens. The entire week was about Hurricane Irma prep – going to the store to stock up on water and food, maneuvering through hectic traffic frenzy, arranging for a tree company to come over and cut tree branches hanging on top of our roof, helping my father-in-law remove flying debris from his backyard, removing our patio and yard furniture out of harm way, and really doing the best we could given the situation and time we had was exhausting.

All of that added up and my body felt unrested. It was no brainer that I’d be better off sacrificing 11 miles out of training than to run the risk of losing the entire cycle and possibly missing another race. My Coach could not had agreed with me more!

Opted for a 10-mile spin sesh instead of running

Going through the storm on Sunday evening was one of the scariest experience I’ve ever had. The storm started around 8:00 p.m. and it lasted for a good 12 hours. The rain and wind intensified around midnight as the eye of the hurricane passed through. For most part,  it was a steady rain fall with an occasional 10-minute break between gusty winds. At 2:30 a.m. I could not take it anymore and had to go to bed, not that I really feel sleep. Kurt came to bed around 4:00 a.m. when the storm appeared to be lessen. When we got up around 8:00 a.m., the rain was gone but the wind gust and tree branches were all over the place. We were very grateful that all we had to do was clean up. Many people lost electricity, we did too, but we only lost for 16 hours whereas many people in Central Florida didn’t have electricity as much as two weeks.

The before, during and after Hurricane Irma left me drained for days. It was exhausting, bust I used the non-running time to rehab my tight calf with icing, tens-unit sesh, rolling and lots of stretching. By the time I got back into the running routine again was on Tuesday after the hurricane. It felt good, but I was still lacking on energy. After that, the rest was history as I kept moving along with training and tackling one speed workout after another. The mental strength training this time was even tougher, especially preparing and executing what I’d say was one of the toughest run yet.

8 Mi Speed Workout   2 mi easy warm up 6 x .5 mile @ 7:45-8:00 pace with .25 jog between Cool down to mileage

2 mi up @  10:31 .50 @ 7:38 (death pace for me!) .50 @ 8:00 (yep, slow down a bit, Celia!) .50 @ 7:49 (crank up a notch, you can do it!) .50 @ 7:48 (steady and fast, find a sweet spot) .50 @ 7:48 .50 @ 7:49 1.50 cool down @ 9:20   TOTAL: 8.0 / 1:23:23 / AVG 10:25

I did it!

The mental strength and toughness I had to dig for this month was no joke! I constantly used watching Breaking 2, Breaking 2 Special edition, the 2016 London Marathon, part of the 2016 Berlin Marathon, the New England Patriots post games press conferences as part of mental training as I logged another massive 57 miles just on the treadmill. In addition, I’ve been listening to Peak Performance audiobook and the fascinating TB12 Method by Tom Brady audiobook.

The heat and humidity in September was still intense. It seems that such weather conditions do play tricks in your head as I started to feel unsettled on whether I could run a slightly faster pace under these conditions. My Coach had a 13-miler on the schedule, and I saw that as a great opportunity for a trial race training; however, its success was possible to my husband’s assistance. On a Saturday, I headed to the trail with the intention of completing 13.1 without stopping. Kurt rode the bike and followed me with water and nutrition. I felt like I was having Kipchoge’s special treatment throughout the run. And that, made a huge difference! That Saturday was a 6-day running streak, so my legs were tired, and unfortunately due to heat, humidity and a late start (6:50 a.m.), I started to feel the crash in the last 5K. Completing this 13.1 training run gave me a huge confidence boost – just what I needed to finish the month strong.

Thanks to my hubby for helping me 🙂

Even after losing the 11-miler LR, I was still able to close the month with a PR – a PR by just one mile, but nevertheless it’s hard earned miles that I am proud of because I managed to close the last week of September with my highest weekly mileage at 35 miles to bring to a total of 121 miles. Yes, I did it! And I still managed to take a day off from running during this week to respect my body and be cautious as I’d be entering taper week on the following week.

And as if you already didn’t know, to celebrate the month and to keep my body healthy, I had my monthly chiropractor adjustment, therapy and cryotherapy sesh as the week and month closed. And to my surprise, Saq was there doing cryo too! That was an interesting experience as I met the former Orlando Magic and LA Lakers basketball player in the same place I do cryo.

Whether you are 5’3” or 7’1”, athletes do cryo! That’s a wrap for September guys!

3-minute, temps as low as -255F

(P.S. I also hit my cryo sesh PR at 3-minute as temps went as low as -255F = take that to the mental strength bank!

“Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.”

~Shaquille O’Neal

You Can Do This

“That’s what a comeback is. You have a starting point and you build strength and momentum from there. Stay the course… remain patient. Focus on small steps that are constantly forward.”

~Kara Goucher

Coming back from an injury is never easy even though we’re so looking forward to the day to start running and increasing mileage. It’s like a concoction of emotions inside a Blentec blender ready to get mixed and blended into a perfect smooth result – a pain free and happy run. But, will that happen? Is the body ready for it? Is the mind ready for the challenge?

The only way to find out is to just do the darn run and be smart about it. I started to do my test-long-run with a 6 miler. On that Saturday morning, I was scheduled to run 4 miles. But two days before my scheduled “long run”, I started to prepare and believe that I could go for 6 miles. My body was responding well to the steady 2 and 3 weekday miles and an extra 10-minute worth of running. PT, strength training and recovery methods were all included. I just cannot afford not having it done. Quite frankly the way I see it, if I don’t get my foundation done I’m simply not allowed to run. I’d only be sabotaging myself if I neglect my body from what is needed.

At mile 4 my left leg started to feel stiffed and my thoughts started to go crazy in my head telling me to stop and that I should not had gone this far. But I was determined to end the day with 6 miles; however, I also promised myself that I’d go easy and stop for water breaks at every mile. There was no pace settled, only going the distance mattered. I calmed myself by focusing on deep breathing while running and enjoying my surroundings. I also pep-talked positive affirmations and that’s when it came to realization that perhaps the light discomfort and stiffness was a way of my body to adapt to the longer mileage and promote healing process that way.

From that moment on, the discomfort settled at that level and never got any worse. I was very thrilled to get that run done and having gone the distance without any major setback. My body was starting to respond well and getting acclimate to longer mileage. A 30-minute active isolate stretch and rolling session was a must for post-run recovery.

On the week to follow, I was even more diligent with my PT and recovery methods routine because I had planned to run 10 miles with Beata. Beata is training for her third major world marathon, the Berlin marathon. She is on fire, strong and determined to become a better runner than she already is. I believe in exchange of energy and I do my best to be of support to my running peeps. So running with her or at least some of her planned mileage in prep of her race is an honor, and I get to run with friends in my favorite trail, the West Orange Trail.

When we first discussed about our runs together, I intended to run half of her scheduled mileage. I was being cautious and conservative to avoid any unnecessary setback. I consulted with Coach Victoria for feedback on the mileage and my plan to run half of Beata’s mileage. She gave the go ahead because I should be okay by going on an easy pace with walk breaks when needed. To my surprise, when I looked on my TP calendar, I noticed that Coach Victoria had scheduled my Saturdays’ run for the full mileage. Whoa, I am thinking… well, Coach must believe that I can do this and that going up on mileage at easy pace is doable.

I was excited and a little nervous on that morning, but seeing Beata and Rebekha gave me a boost of energy. Beata and I ran the entire first 4 miles together while Rebekha and Paige took off. We met at the 4-miler turn around point to figure out what’s next. Paige and Rebekha decided to go back to the starting point and complete their 8-miler run for the day. Beata needed to run 11 miles for the day since she was short 1 mile the day before. I had in mind 10 miles, but since I was feeling well and there was no pressure on pace, I felt confident in adding another mile with breaks as needed. It was settled then! Beata and I proceeded for another 2 miles, although, she thought we were going just an extra mile and turn around.

We had such a great time catching up on so many things and time flew by so fast. After passing Killarney Station, we went about .40 mile further. That’s when Beata said, let’s turn around. I said, well we are going for 11 today so let’s keep going a little further because it’s amazing this part of the trail and that’s when the hills begin. Her eyes went wide open; nevertheless, she went along with my suggestion. I was happy and excited to show her this part of the trail. When the hills started we both were mesmerized how steep it looked. We ran through three hills, I think, until we decided to head back stopping only on the top of the last one.

At mile 10, we were both getting worn out. We were hungry and tight. The sun was shining brighter and hotter by the minute. Our motivation to keep moving was to get our Garmins to show 11 miles. Beata’s Garmin was .22 mile behind mine because she didn’t restart the watch from one of our stops. At that point, she didn’t care if she had even mileage. I encouraged her to get it done by running with her. She thought about it, said no, but then she went ahead to get that 11 mile mark.

Just like that, we got it all done! Running can be a team sports. It’s up to us to get ready and run the miles on our own feet, but a good company can take us much further than we think our limit is.

 “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

~African Proverb