It’s been way too long since I’ve posted any kind of training or life update, so here we are. I feel like when we get into the winter, which is the “season” in my neck of the woods, all I really do is work, run, eat, and sleep. Kind of boring, right?
In case you didn’t know, I’m a personal trainer and fascial stretch therapist at a country club in Palm Desert, CA. Because our weather is (almost) perfect, snowbirds from around the country and Canada flock down here in November to enjoy the warm temperatures, golf, polo, tennis, and more. Of course, once the weather heats back up to 100+ they fly away and leave us service workers to recover.
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that I’m training for the Sprouts Mesa-PHX Marathon on February 9. It will be my 38th marathon, and first in almost five years. As if marathon training isn’t hard enough when you’re busy, I also was sick for two weeks at Christmas, putting me behind the curve a bit.
Training, Life, and the Mesa-PHX Marathon
So, now that we’re caught up a bit, here is a little more about training, life, and the Mesa-PHX Marathon. Let’s do life first, shall we?
Life
As I said, it seems most of my life during December and January is spent working. In addition to my work at the country club, I also have private in-home stretch clients that keep me busy too (if you’re ever in the desert, I have a table and will travel to you!). There’s also this little blog, which takes a significant amount of my time.
Fortunately, or not since I don’t get paid if I don’t work, clients cancel occasionally, which is when I fit in my own workouts, including one I posted about last week on Instagram and plan to share here on Wednesday. Honestly, without cancelations, I’m not sure if I’d ever get time to work out since my lunch is about a half hour if I’m lucky and I’m exhausted by the end of the day.
View this post on Instagram
Alan and I do find time to have some fun, though, including this past weekend when the Desert Classic Golf Tournament was in town. No, I’m not actually a golf fan, but for the last couple of years they have added a concert after the golf day is over on Friday and Saturday.
This year they had Sammy Hagar on Friday and Bad Company on Saturday! Alan and I are both rock ‘n’ roll fans, so we were excited. I bought tickets for Friday, but then Alan received free weekend passes from a friend, so we went both days! Both bands were good and we had a lot of fun. We joked that it was the perfect senior rock ‘n’ roll concert. The music started at 5:30 and was over by 7:30!
The only bad thing was that when we were walking into the venue on Saturday, Alan didn’t see the step down from a curb in the (almost) dark and fell. It happened so quickly that he went down flat before he even had a chance to try to recover his balance. He was more embarrassed than hurt, though his ribs are hurting today and he’s afraid he may have cracked one. He stuck out the concert though!
Training
With three weeks to go until the Sprouts Mesa-PHX Marathon, I haven’t really felt confident in my training, I got a late start considering it’s been so long since my last marathon, but my thought was that I was in pretty good shape after the Temecula Half Marathon. My speed training has been, um, sparse, though I had a great tempo run this week.
Because the race has a net elevation loss, I’ve tried to slip in some downhill training too. The idea is to prepare your body for the impact of running downhill during training so that it doesn’t take such a toll during the race. I plan to continue that for the next couple weeks too.
When I was sick in December, I was really concerned that I wouldn’t get back on track with my long runs. They are really important to me because of my exercise-induced asthma. Every time I increase my distance, my lungs adapt and get stronger. Yes, that is subjective, but it is a philosophy that has worked for me through my 37 marathons, so I’m sticking with it now.
When I recovered, I pushed my long run to 14 miles. I’d run 15 miles the week I got sick, then ran very little over the next two weeks. The following week I pushed it to 17 miles. Amazingly, I felt pretty good throughout, with the expected tiredness over the last couple miles.
On Saturday, I had a 20 mile run on my schedule. It had been a long time, nearly five years, since my last 20 miler, and I was not exactly looking forward to it, especially since I’d be running alone. I play tricks with my route, thinking that will fool my brain into thinking I’m not running as far, so when I headed out of my house on Saturday morning, I ran an eight-mile loop around my neighborhood to start out.
When I was almost to mile two I realized that I’d forgotten my bottle of Nuun! I’d prepared it before I left, then left it on the counter. Fortunately, the loop around the neighborhood includes a lot of drinking fountains, so I stopped and took a sip at most of them. When I finished that loop, I went into my house, got rid of my gloves and top layer, then headed out again and managed to remember my handheld bottle.
Twenty miles is 20 miles, and it was tough, but I felt pretty good throughout. My Instagram post below was taken at mile 18 and I think I still look pretty perky! I finished strong and felt pretty good through the rest of the day! I even made it to the concert! I did take an extra day off, though, because my knees asked me too.
View this post on Instagram
I plan to run one more 20-mile run next weekend. I was questioning whether I should do that or run a 10k that my husband is announcing next Saturday. I had a lot of great suggestions on Instagram, but in the end, I think I’ll get more benefit from the 20-mile run, so that’s what I plan to do.
The Mesa-PHX Marathon
The Sprouts Mesa-PHX Marathon is three weeks away and it’s time to get excited! The marathon is sold out! I super excited about running my 38th marathon, even if my training hasn’t been exactly what I wanted. It’s a net downhill course so I’m hoping gravity will help me stay strong and on track!
I’m actually staying at an Airbnb in Mesa Arizona. I love having a kitchen, privacy, and it’s close enough to the finish line that, while I can’t walk there, it’s just a short drive. They will bus us to the start line, which is at about 2082 feet elevation and it’s all downhill from there! Not that I have any BQ expectations, but last year I think 25% of the participants qualified for Boston!
There is also a half marathon (which I considered dropping to at one point in my training) and I’m pretty sure I’ll be seeing a lot of my running and blogging friends doing one race or the other! That’s one of my favorite parts of it all these days!
Well, that’s pretty much what’s been going on recently. Will I see you in Phoenix?
Weekly Linkups
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
Meatless Monday with Sarah and Deborah
Tuesdays on the Run with Marcia, Erika, and Patty
Wild Workout Wednesday with Annmarie, Jen, and Nicole
All About Running with Janell
The Running Coaches’ Corner with Lora Marie, Marc, and Me!
Friday 5 2.0 with Rachel and Lacey and Meranda
Weekly Wrap with Wendy and Holly
WooHoo! All the best with your marathon! You’ll be great. So sorry Alan fell like that. It’s so shocking when it happens. I hope he didn’t break a rib!
Thank you. I’m a little nervous. It’s been so long! We’re pretty sure Alan’s okay. He feel much better today.
It seems like you have had a great training cycle this time. I am really excited for you and I know you are going to crush it in a few weeks.
Thanks! Fingers crossed!
My son just got back from Tempe, visiting his girlfriend. Sounds like the conditions are perfect for a long distance race. Your training has gone so well. I think you’re going to do great!
Today was the first day I started stalking the weather. It’s pretty similar to us, though the mornings look a little colder.
The Mesa-Phx Marathon sounds like my kind of race. I love a good downhiller! I find them so much easier on the heart/lungs. The DOMS though… Still worth it. 😉 I don’t think your two weeks off due to illness will effect your performance. Your in fantastic shape and will get those all important last long runs in. I hope your hubs is OK after the fall. Thanks for linking!
Thank you. My PR was at the St. George Marathon (almost 20 years ago!), similar idea, they bus you up then you pretty much run back to town. And yes, I was so sore I could hardly walk the next day!
I have seen Sammy Hagar a few times. Cool that he’s still touring! I’m already getting nervous about my 15+ mile runs, let alone those 20 milers. It’s been a few years since I’ve run a full marathon. Good job getting your miles done!
When you haven’t done really long runs for a while they are intimidating. Sammy was good. I’d seen Van Halen before, but that was after he left. He’s 71!!!
Congrats on the upcoming marathon!! That’s exciting! I have a half coming up at the end of February….and it’s approaching sooner than I thought, haha! 🙂
The time does seem to fly when you’re training for a big race!
ohhh Debbie, so excited for your marathon. I’m sure you are going to do just fine even if your training hasn’t been optimal. I WISH I was joining you in Phoenix!!
your senior concert sounds perfect for me as well! I’m only a junior-senior at the moment! sorry to hear Alan fell – that sucks. Hope he’s ok and he’s just sore and his rib isn’t actually cracked.
I wish you’d be in Phoenix too! It’s going to be fun. There are a lot of bloggers/Pro Compression/Skirt Sports Ambassadors who will be there too.
I’m pretty sure Alan just bruised his ribs. He says he feels a lot better today. Whew!
Oh man, I hope Alan is okay!! Has he been to the doctor to have it checked out? And sticking out the concert sounds exactly like something I’d do. I see he and I come from the same kind of stubborn stock. LOL
I don’t think I ever considered how busy you must get in the winter months! That’s a lot of nonstop activity you’ve got going on there and you’re training for a marathon during it? Goodness. You rock!!
Yeah it’s weird. I go the whole summer basically surviving on unemployment and what little I make on my blog. And maybe one client who lives here year-round. Then bam! It gets crazy!
Alan didn’t go to a doctor but he feels much better today and doesn’t think it’s broken. Which is great because broken ribs are soooo painful!
I’m really excited for you, Debbie! It’s been fun watching a seasoned marathoner train for a big race after a brief sabbatical from that distance. I think you’re gonna do far better than you’re anticipating, because you have such a solid base.
Thank you for having more faith in me than I do myself! The big thing that always concerns me is my exercise-induced asthma. That’s always a big question mark on how a race is going to go.
Glad Alan is feeling OK after the fall
Love your photos, especially the downhill one
Good luck with the marathon!
Thanks! Alan is feeling much better and thankful that his ribs aren’t broken. He went through that pain several years ago and doesn’t want to again!
Yay for the concert but sorry about your hubby. Hopefully he is doing better now! I think you will do well at the marathon. I haven’t done on in Arizona but this definitely sounds like a fun one. Also, I haven’t done a race with so much downhill so it would be a doozy to train for since it’s pretty flat where I am! Good luck and can’t wait to hear about it as it gets closer! 🙂