Getting close to the 12k of Christmas! [50M]

I'm so thankful to finally have two weeks at 40mpw under my belt! That gives me a lot of confidence, because for a lot of this fall's training, I really didn't feel like I could say I was training. It's pretty embarrassing when you say you're a runner and someone asks how much you run per week, and all you can say is twenty something miles, ha. Another bonus to last week is all of the soft surface mileage I got in. I was only on pavement for ONE run out of the whole week! How awesome is that?! I also got a new pair of shoes on Thursday night, so I'm hoping those help me knock out this shin and hip flexor pain I've been dealing with.

This weekend Jake and I have a fun little race in Houston called the 12k of Christmas. It's a cute idea. The race is 7.45 miles (12k), so it starts at 7:45 AM. I thought that was clever. :) Even thought it's in Houston which is known for high turnouts at races, I'm hoping it's a low-key high turnout. There are no prizes or anything, it's just a good, old-fashioned race. My goal is to break 6:30 pace for the race, which will be a big challenge, but that's what races are for.

Sunday, December 15th

9M averaging 7:45 pace or faster. Jake and I went out to the gravel/ rocky path across our toll bridge for this run. I ended up averaging 7:24 pace for the run. Lots of mud clunked up in the crevices of my new shoes making them very heavy (note to self, don't wear shoes with deep holes in the bottom on muddy trails), but it was still nice to be on a soft surface. I will try to get out there for some of my shakeouts this week. Random ache showed up in my lower back/ upper tailbone on the left side. 

Monday, December 16th

Rest day. Took an epsom salt bath in the morning, relaxed all day (in my jammies while I worked!!), and got some ART done after work. Successful off day! :)

Tuesday, December 17th

2M shakeout. I absolutely LOVE starting my day with these shakeouts! No time pressure, no effort pressure, just simply running for the fun of it! I did my run on the grass track at DBU and then walked through some drills and stretches. Still some pain in my right hip/quad, though not as bad as I feared. My sacrum (?) had a sharp pain on the left side again for the last couple minutes of my run. So weird as that just showed up out of nowhere on Sunday.

9M w/ 8x1000m @ 3:50-3:53, 200j recovery. 3M warm-up around Grand Prairie, then changed shoes, one set of drills, and two quick strides. 1k times were 3:51, 3:52, 3:53, 3:54, 3:50, 3:49, 3:50, 3:47. My pacing was really off on several of them. The first four were supposed to be in 94" pace and I came through my first 400 in 86. I spent the rest of the first four trying to relax enough to get back on pace without relaxing so much that I slowed down too much. The second half was supposed to be more aggressive and those went fairly well. I'm extremely thankful Jake was able to time me to tonight because without him calling out splits, I would have been clueless! I did feel pretty good though muscularly. Right hip/ upper quad (whichever it is) and left sacrum (?) are still very painful. I took an empsom salt bath immediately when I got home.

Wednesday, December 18th
2M shakeout. Same aches and pains, but my stomach with the big yuck-o this morning. I've felt sick to my stomach since we went to bed last night. Regardless, it was still nice to get in the shakeout before starting my day. No weights this morning as planned because of my stomach. 

7M averaging 7:45 pace or faster. Still an unsettled stomach, but I was able to get in the run as scheduled. 7 miles in 7:41 pace on the rocky trail across our toll bridge. I got chased by a dog at one point that scared the poop out of me, but other than that it was a nice pleasant run. The outside of my right hip was the most painful out of everything today.

Thursday, December 19th

4M shakeout, 8x100m uphill.Only got in a 4 mile shakeout today, and it was a shakeout in every sense of the word. A shuffle is actually probably the best description I could give! My right hip and hip flexor were super painful, both shins hurt, my left glute hurt... Just an all around achy, sluggish, weak feeling. Bleh.
2M shakeout.

Friday, December 20th

3M 5M shakeout. Got lost on the Rice loop in Houston and accidentally ran some extra mileage. It's probably a good thing since I lost two miles yesterday. Since I got lost and wasn't sure how far out I was, the second half of this run was at a very solid effort. Still the same big time pain in my right hip and left sacrum, just like I've been having, but thankfully not as stiff and sluggish elsewhere today compared to yesterday.

Saturday, December 21st

12M w/ 12k race (goal 6:2x pace). Definitely a failed race today. I felt okay on the warmup and was honestly anticipating a surprise-yourself race. I have had all successful workouts since Jake's schedule picked up, so there was plenty of confidence boosting material in my mind. Unfortunately, I was not smart with race tactics and blew myself up too early. 5:56 pace thru 800m, 6:09 thru the mile. Then first crash, falling to 6:32 pace in the second - at this point I still felt very good. Next, a further crash, falling back to 6:45 pace, starting to hurt. By the time I got to the four mile mark, I had a stabbing pain in my right chest, so I stopped my watch, bent over and pressed as hard as I could for around a minute, just until it passed. Watched several groups of guys go by and made it my goal to catch as many as possible when I started back. The first group was about 100m ahead. When I got to them, I was averaging 7:15 pace for the mile and blew past them... That's a sign of how long I stopped for! I went from running 6:46 pace to blowing by a 7:15 pace group! The last half of the run was touch and go. Middle miles were the slowest, then I gradually picked it up a little. In summary, mile paces were 6:09, 6:32, 6:45, 7:03, 6:58, 7:03, 6:44, ?. The last 1/2 mile was faster than the 6:44 mile, but I don't know the actual pace - I forgot to stop my Garmin at the finish!! :( Sacrum was not a problem until my cool down, right hip was not an issue until the last three miles of the race, then it got worse. All in all, it was a big time bummer of a race. Lots of mental and physical improvements to work on!