I know a lot of you have been enjoying seeing a daily breakdown of my workouts, and I will return to that leading up to the marathon, but since it’s been a hot minute since my last update, I’m just going to give you the general idea of what’s been happening.

I left off my last update with happy news–after spending almost two weeks nursing a knee injury, I had gone for a short run and felt great. I was back in action!

LOLZ. Nope.

No exaggeration, a mere couple hours after I hit publish on that post I was standing around with my friend watching the Super Bowl and my knee started to throb and swell back up out of nowhere. Was it from the brief run I had done earlier? Was it from standing on it for a prolonged period of time? Was it the two beers I had? Was it bad karma for all the times I hid in the woods during cross-country practice in high school? Am I now doomed to never finish a marathon because I was a corner-cutting punk during my early running career?? That must be it. Sonofabitch.

Luckily the swelling went down after some icing and elevation and didn’t return. Still, I didn’t want to risk really injuring myself so I took yet another week off from running. After some motivational self talks, I felt good about the decision because there’s a big difference between taking a week off from running and a week off from training, and I definitely was still training. I did yoga almost every single day that week. I was loving megaformer workouts because of how effectively they challenge lateral movement (good compliment to the front-back plane of running!). I did low-impact cardio on the spin bike, doing back-to-back classes some days, switching it up between Recycle, Vélo-City & Soul Cycle. I did as much as I could without putting undo stress on my knee.

I returned to running after almost three weeks off and felt great. No pain, so swelling, totally healed. My first long run post-injury was 13 miles and I even got a new PR for my half marathon by four minutes (1:54)! A couple days later I went for a short 5-mile run and felt like I was flying. I was so amped to hit the rest of my marathon training hard.

LOLZ. Nope again.

Last week I came down with the worst cold I’ve had in a long time. I think it’s the crazy weather changes we’ve been having in Boston (20 degrees one day, 60 the next) because it seems to be going around. I felt so completely drained of energy all last week I could barely get through teaching my classes. I’d finish up and then have to immediately take a four-hour nap. There was no way I could have gone on a long-distance run. Luckily, five days of being sick is more like a speed bump than the red light my knee injury was, so it didn’t throw me off too much. I started to feel better by the weekend and on Sunday I went for my longest run of training: 16 miles. 

I’ve never run that far in my life, and completing it gave me the best high. I actually looked down at my legs at the end and thought to myself, you have the ability to run 16 miles, how fucking cool is that?! I said it out loud, too, which would explain the weird looks …

What got me even more excited though was how good I felt after the run and today. I’m not even that sore! I take that as a good indication my body is where it needs to be regarding strength and endurance, and that I’m taking enough time to stretch and roll out after workouts. Yesterday’s run gave me the upmost confidence that despite the minor setbacks throughout my training, I will be able to run 26.2 miles on race day.

Which is a damn good thing considering the upgrade to my running status I got a few weeks ago…

I’m Running Boston as a Guide!

When Andrea Croak from Team With a Vision told me that I, along with Heather Armstrong, would be guiding athlete Simon Wheatcroft, my first reaction was actually confusion. Simon is an ULTRA MARATHONER. He ran from Boston to NYC and then completed the New York marathon. I almost wrote back to Andrea: Hey I think you have the wrong number, this is Nicole, not Shalane Flanagan. 

After being reassured that, while Simon can probably run 700 more miles than me, my projected pace for the marathon is adequate, the significance of this opportunity fully sank in, and as cliche as it is, I truly do feel honored. It gives more meaning to the whole training process and I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the experience. Not only is Simon, who started losing his vision at age 17, flat-out inspirational (watch this video), but Heather’s blog dooce has been crushing it for fifteen years, a success to which I aspire with P&I. To say I’m motivated by my team would be a flimsy understatement, but ya know what, I’ve been up since 4AM so flimsy understatement will have to do.

If you’re feeling inspired, you can donate to my fundraiser for Team With a Vision benefiting the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired HERE. All donations, regardless of size, fill me to the brim with gratitude.

Anyone else training for Boston? How’s it going for you? Biggest challenges so far? Advice to share? Let’s chat in the comments!

 

 

 

Sooo I wouldn’t exactly say marathon training has been going *well*…

In my last update I talked about a bit of an emotional breakdown due to overextending myself with work. I thought a positive attitude had gotten me through that but turns out a smile doesn’t change the fact that I was simply doing more than my body (and mind) could handle. I was rundown and constantly tired with no signs of slowing–it was a breeding ground for injury.

Week 7 Recap

MONDAY | 10-Mile Run

This was the first training run I did along the marathon route. I took the green line out to Newton and then ran home. I actually live on the marathon route, right by the end of the course, so I quite literally ran home. It got me so excited for race day! And Heartbreak Hill isn’t too bad … when it comes at mile 4. 😉

I felt great during this run but it ended up being slower than my other two 10-mile runs because of the snow on the ground. Once I got onto Comm Ave it was clear, but the first two miles I was tip-toe prancing in 4 inches of disgusting snowy slush. I couldn’t really avoid it by getting off the sidewalks either because Washington St. is a major road. I would encounter this same problem every time I neared an intersection as well. That aside, I felt great, which is the most important thing in my book.

TUESDAY | Strength Training Double Session (Btone + BodyPump)

I took a Btone class in the morning and then that evening went to check out BodyPump at BSC for a blog project.

I would say this is when I started to notice something was a little off with my right knee. I didn’t think much of it though because it felt kinda like I just had a bruise on my knee cap: tender to the touch, hurt if I kneeled directly on it, but wasn’t affecting my range of motion and didn’t seem bothered by impact or movement. I figured I’d just bumped into something.

WEDNESDAY | Active Rest

I had a busy teaching day, which I think only aggravated my knee more. When you demo some exercises for the class, you mimic the megaformer on the floor by kneeling down and sort of dragging your lower body across the floor (this sounds totally bizarre if you’ve never taken a Lagree Fitness class, I know, haha). Every time I demoed wheelbarrow or cobra, my knee was NOT having it. Still, it didn’t seem to affect other activities so I wrote it off as a bruise.

THURSDAY | 3-Mile Run + Yoga (YogaWorks)

It’s a cool marker of how far I’ve come with the training that running three miles feels like NOTHING. It doesn’t even mentally register as a “real” workout (even though it most definitely is). Crazy! Knee felt fine during the run, but it yelled at me a few times throughout the Hip Hop Yoga class I took at YogaWorks that evening (any time I kneeled on it). When I walked home from yoga, it felt achey. Ok, starting to worry …

FRIDAY – SUNDAY | Injured

Yeah, yeah, my pinkie toes are weird. I’m aware, and I embrace them.

I taught four classes Friday morning and that was the last straw for my knee. When I got home, it started to stiffen and swell up, and by that evening, it looked like I was smuggling a softball under my skin. Because of the swelling I could barely bend it.

Normally, my reaction would be immediate despair and anxiety. But–as weird as this sounds–I honestly felt a little relieved by it. My body was telling me I needed to slow the hell down and I just looked at my throbbing, swollen knee and said a silent thank you to it. You’re right, I need to pump the breaks.

Rest, frequent icing, elevation–I cancelled all my active plans for the weekend and instead devoted myself to healing my knee. By the end of the weekend the swelling was pretty much gone and I could walk normally, but I still couldn’t bend it deeply (quad stretch = no way) or put pressure on it (kneeling = not happening).

Week 8 Recap

It was a no-brainer that I’d take the week off from running. The notion made me a little nervous–a natural reaction when you’ve committed yourself to training towards a goal with a set-in-stone date. But as I talked to more and more people, I felt reassured and even good about skipping a week of running.

I was told stories of people who’d done their entire training for the marathon on an elliptical to lessen the impact on a bum knee. Other people told me they only ran once a week for their long runs and then did other forms of low-impact cardio the rest of the week to avoid injury. People reminded me that overall physical fitness is a huge part and I’ve been committed to regularly working out for years. I can do this. A week off is good. Don’t push your knee or it’ll just end up worse.

MONDAY | Spin (Recycle) + Strength (Btone)

I was itching to workout after three days of barely being able to move. I took a spin class at Recycle, sitting in the back corner so that I could modify if needed. I knew the seated stuff would be fine but wasn’t sure how riding in third would feel. I was elated to find that I could do 90% off the class without my knee speaking up at all! Quick jumps from first to third were the only moves I had to skip.

After spin I walked across the street to take a Btone class, and while I had to modify all the kneeling positions, I know that machine like the back of my hand at this point so I was comfortable in knowing what moves to substitute. Again, I just went off to a corner machine so that I wouldn’t distract the class during the exercises I had to adjust.

TUESDAY | Spin (Recycle) + Yoga (YogaWorks)

Feeling excited after a double of classes the day before, I again went to a class at Recycle followed by yoga at YogaWorks. I modified some of the yoga flow to avoid kneeling on my right side, but otherwise was able to do everything pain-free. Yay!

WEDNESDAY | Quick Core Workout

In between teaching classes, I put myself through a 10-minute core workout on the megaformer. Self motivating on that torture device is no easy feat haha. Here’s a little video I posted to Instagram that shows part of what I did. In real life everything is done much slower and you stay on each movement for a minute.

Playing around between classes! Carriage pulls >> mountain sliders (need a name for these) >> snake >> side plank. #megaformer #btonefitness #btonenorthend #lagreefitness #bbbleggings #pilates #bostonfitness

A video posted by Nicole Perry • Pumps & Iron (@nicoleperr) on Feb 3, 2016 at 6:09am PST

THURSDAY | Spin (SoulCycle) + Yoga at Hotel Marlowe

SoulCycle had a Super Bowl Halftime Show class (Beyonce!!) conveniently following the two classes I was teaching at Btone that morning so I walked over to spin. Later in the day I checked into Hotel Marlowe for a blog project. As part of their Feel OMazing package, I got a private yoga lesson in my suite! I’ll be sharing all the details tomorrow or Tuesday.

FRIDAY | Strength (Btone)

I took the Btone class right before the night shift I was covering.

SATURDAY | Rest

SUNDAY (today) | Test Run, Literally

I AM SO HAPPY. I subbed a couple classes in the North End this morning and decided to run home afterwards to test out the ol’ knee (it’s been feeling 100% the past couple days). No irritation AT ALL! I felt so good I contemplated continuing and just doing the long run I have planned for tomorrow. But to be safe, I think it’s best not to jump the gun and see how it feels tomorrow. Discipline doesn’t always involve doing that which you don’t want to do; sometimes it’s equally important to hold back when you want to go all out. I ran an easy three miles today, spent a lot of time foam rolling and stretching, and iced my knee afterwards just to be safe.

WOOOO I’m back in action! 🙂

Have you had to train through an injury?

P.S. I honestly don’t even know who’s playing tonight, but go Beyonce!

Good morning from a cozy nook of Starbucks! Boston finally got some snow last night and I used it as an excuse to stay in and binge watch Sons of Anarchy. And before we go any further into this post–I just finished season 6 … WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH. What Gemma just did to Tara?! What? WHAT?! Are you kidding me?? I’m just gonna leave it at that.

I decided to combine the past two weeks of training because they fell in a similar theme. Just kidding. I’m a huge procrastinator and didn’t feel like blogging last weekend. But they do go well together in one post, so my laziness is partially justified.

Recap of Week 5 (Last Week): Negativity

Last week was such a work-life-balance failure. You know when your to-do list is so long and overwhelming that it practically paralyzes you and instead of chipping away at it, you just say fuck this and take a nap instead? That sums up last week.

I see my life as a balancing act between personal life (my own workouts/health, my family, friends, etc.), the blog and teaching. On any given day, I can do two of those things really well and the third usually gets deprioritized. Every day is a little different though, with a different focus, so it usually works out well overall. Welp, not last week.

I’m taking on seven additional classes a week through mid March because another instructor is traveling, and I definitely underestimated the strain it would put on my schedule and just the sheer amount of energy it’d zap out of me. In total, I’m now teaching 15+ classes a week and adding marathon training into that mix along with running a blogging business all on my own and … ahhhhh. BUT mindset is really everything. Last week I got stuck in that snowballing gloom of focusing on the negative and it was awful. This week, I changed my attitude and thinking. My work/class/training load didn’t change, but my experience juggling it all did a complete 180. Positive thinking is some powerful shit, my friends!

MONDAY | 10-mile Run

This was the first week my long run was actually a step back from the previous week and it felt good to cut down a little. Since I’ve already tackled the 10-miler, I looked at my previous stats so that I could have a pace goal in mind before setting out. On December 28th I ran 10 miles in 1:34:41 with an average pace of 9:26. I improved on that by a little, finishing this run in 1:31:38 with an average pace of 9:07. Even if it’s small, it feels awesome to see progress.

TUESDAY | Strength Training (Btone)

WEDNESDAY | Yoga

In between classes at Btone, I did a recovery yoga video that a reader suggested (thanks, Wendy!). It’s basically a guided stretch so it was perfect for sore running legs.

THURSDAY | Most Pathetic Gym Workout Ever

Joe got me a guest pass to come with him to Equinox, but by Thursday I was already in the beginning phases of I-Give-Up-Gonna-Nap-All-Day-I-Hate-Everyone Meltdown Mode so it ended up being really special. The intention was to run 5 miles on the treadmill, work on my chin up & pull up game (I still can’t do an unassisted pull up, but it’s on my list of goals for the year!) and then spend a solid chunk of time foam rolling and stretching. LOLLLLLLLL

This is what actually happened (warning: strong language, sorry, Mom):

Front desk person asks me to fill out my contact information in exchange for a guest pass. Look, homegirl. I’m not going to sign up for your overpriced bullshit gym membership and don’t want your annoying ass salespeople calling and emailing me every goddamn day so how about NO.

*Writes down contact info*

Locker room is super crowded. Get the fuck out of my fucking way. I hate you all.

Treadmill I want is taken. You sonofabitch.

Run 1 mile on second-choice treadmill. This sucks. I hate treadmills. Why is this guy next to me running so fast–relax, hardo. Ohgod what is that smell? Did this bitch in front of me seriously just fart? Get me the fuck out of here. I hate everyone.

*Dramatically tears emergency stop magnet off the treadmill and storms off*

*Doesn’t whip down machine in flagrant display of defiance*

*Realizes she has no idea where anything in this gym is and angrily stomps in circles hoping no one notices she’s lost*

I find a corner with foam rollers and sit down to roll out my legs when Joe walks up to me and asks if I’m okay. OBVIOUSLY I’M NOT OK!!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?

*Cue the tears*

–END OF “WORKOUT”–

So in other words: Awesome gym sesh, most romantic date night ever, and I am basically the poster child for emotional stability.

FRIDAY | Meltdown Day 1

After finishing up a morning of teaching, Joe and I drove up to Maine to spend the long weekend at my parents’ place. This was the “take a nap instead” phase of my overwhelming week. We were active during the day snowmobiling and skating, but other than that I didn’t workout at all. I went to bed at like 8PM every night, lounged in front of the fire and did jigsaw puzzles on my iPad (I’m addicted … it’s embarrassing).

SATURDAY | Meltdown Day 2

SUNDAY | Meltdown Day 3

 

Recap of Week 6 (This Week): Positivity

I love teaching. Sure my class load is a little heavy right now, but I never leave a class in a bad mood. It always sets a positive tone for the day and if I go to the studio stressed, I leave feeling relieved. Plus, hello extra spending money! I made the conscious decision to focus on the positive this week and the result was increased productivity and decreased stress. This is the mantra I continually repeated to myself:

I’m going to do the best I can with what (time) I have. And that is enough.

If I don’t get a blog post up every day because I need to put my own wellbeing first, that’s ok. If I’m exhausted after teaching and decide to do yoga instead of an intense bootcamp workout, that’s ok.

MONDAY | Rest / Drive Home from Maine

Because after all those workouts I did over the weekend, I really deserved a rest day …

TUESDAY | 13-mile Run

This was the hardest long run I’ve had so far. And not because it was the longest distance. The temperature had dropped to 20 degrees and snow from the previous weekend left the ground icy around Boston. But 13 miles on a treadmill? No. Not even an option. The air was so cold that my eyes ached. Significant portions of the running path around the river were iced over so I had to practically tiptoe across them. My hips started tightening up from the cold and the weird ice-shuffle thing I adopted so my stride became awkwardly short. It took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to finish the run. A full TWENTY minutes longer than when I ran my first half marathon.   

BUT when I finally walked in my apartment door, I felt so proud of myself and the discomfort of the run quickly got pushed into the background. I didn’t stop, I didn’t decide to put off the run for a warmer day (although I thought about doing so no less than 500 times haha), and I finished what I started.

WEDNESDAY | Core Workout & Foam Rolling

Just like last week, I used the time in between classes at Btone North End to do my own workout. My legs were sore from the previous day’s run so I revisited this Quick Bodyweight Ab Workout I posted two summers ago (13 minutes long and challenging)  and then spent a full 30 minutes rolling out my legs, hips and shoulders. I felt AMAZING afterwards!  

 leggings are Fabletics

THURSDAY | Strength Training (Btone) & Yoga (YogaWorks)

YogaWorks was on Gilt recently so I bought a 5-pack of classes for $35. I love doubling up on classes, taking a Btone class and then just walking across the street to YogaWorks. So convenient!

FRIDAY | 5-mile Run

It’s pretty cool that 5 miles seems like a short run to me now!

SATURDAY | Strength Training (Btone)

I taught a class at Btone benefiting my Boston Marathon fundraiser for a bunch of my friends (so fun!) so I took the class before that to get in my own workout.

SUNDAY | Upper Body/Core Strength Training

I have my long run tomorrow so I don’t want to do anything too exhausting for my lower body, but I’d like to get a sweat in today. When I get back to my place from Starbuck’s, I’m going to put together an upper body/core workout I can do at home. 

And that’s that! BTW I loved your comments on my last training recap post–it’s been awesome to get so many tips from those of you who’ve done a marathon before and are waaaaay more experienced runners than me. Thanks for creating such a supportive, encouraging community for me as I train! 🙂

You can donate to my marathon fundraiser benefiting the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired here. I’m giving away awesome prizes over the course of the next few months as a thank you to donors! I’ve been holding off on January’s giveaway because I’m waiting to secure an *awesome* prize. Stay tuned–it should be up early this week! 🙂