The Broad Running Broad

Once upon a time, Allison was the runner who followed the conventional advice because she had seen it work for other runners who were faster and frankly more impressive than she was.

Then 2020 happened. And depression. And having to find a way back to something resembling normalcy after losing Grandpa. The good news is I am back, albeit with another new normal to adjust to, but that’s a story for another post.

I still love running and run regularly, but I’m discovering I don’t want to run all of the miles all of the time. Which is a bit of a humdinger considering I’m running a full marathon in the middle of April.

Since the last time I wrote, I had a solid week of running. Then the week that followed it consisted of lethargy and horrible diet choices that weren’t helping matters. I just couldn’t get it in me to get up and get out the door in the cold dark morning, so instead I spent my mornings before work cuddled with Marina. I was stressing about work and life in general, which killed any desire I had to train – running or cross-training.

Last Sunday was the Fifth Line 5k. When I registered for it back then I told myself I was going to race this one to see how my training was going along. In between registering and race day I didn’t get the quality miles in.

A few years ago, I would have beat myself up about it, acting like I’m somehow not a “real” runner for not running every mile. But I’m older and frankly don’t have near as many damns to give. So I decided I was going to enjoy my 5k instead. If I ran fast, awesome and if not, that would be cool with me as well.

To my pleasant surprise, I finished in 32:10.

The pace was 10:25, which I hadn’t seen in years at this point.

I’ve never been a fast runner, and over the past three years, I’ve held steady in the 11 or 12-minute pace. A part of me was starting to accept I’m just going to be slow no matter what. So seeing 10:25 calculated on the results page was a surprise and honestly a massive confidence boost.

If I can do that without trying that hard, why couldn’t I buckle down for the next six-to-eight weeks for Carmel? I don’t expect a PR, but I can train in a way that keeps the joy for the sport alive and makes me proud come race day.

So that’s what I did this past week. Tuesday and Thursday mornings were on the treadmill because I decided I wanted to try some negative splits in non-frigid temperatures. Yesterday I ran four miles, then followed it with recovery on the recumbent bike and upper body lifting.

Today I ran five. We had some significant snow and ice roll in Friday night, so I considered moving my long run to Sunday if the sidewalks were semi-clear. They weren’t, and since I’m doing it my way, I ran five miles on the treadmill instead.

15 miles are done. 15 happy, empowered miles.

I’m finally lifting and cross-training after some time off. I can tell when I go too long without lifting – my back hurts like crazy and I feel like death. Interestingly enough, I’m having little back pain from lifting yesterday. Today was legs and glutes. I’m not as confident in those being pain-free.

So Reader-Friends, I’ve decided it’s high time I do marathon training my way. Tomorrow I cross train. This upcoming week I have four runs to accomplish. I can do this.

I’m going to do this.

So knights ‘n dames, I’m glad I got the chance to stop in. I hope you all have a great week ahead.

Yours in running and life,

Allison