BLP Live: Final Morning
The last session was great; I feel like I learned a ton from the attendees and feel inspired MYSELF for 2025, so I would call that a win! This group got along so so well.
When last year’s event ended I felt unsure about whether I would want to do it again (it was a lot of stress and honestly financially it’s not the most profitable endeavor!), but I didn’t feel that way at all this year. I’m excited about next November already.
Similar to last year, however, I was SPENTTTTTT at the end. I was super lucky that Josh was with both C & G at a soccer game and A had an all-day theater event so I had ~2 hours to recover in an empty house. I watched The Perfect Couple and totally vegged and it was fantastic.
5 Weeks Until Jax: Cutback Week
This graphic is a bit misleading; I haven’t done my long run yet! (Josh wanted to do his first and I was fine to sleep in; it will be a warm one but it’s 12-14 at a relaxed pace so I should be fine.)
M: 8.5 mi with big group! 9:36/mi, some strides in there at end.
T: Workout – 4 x 2 mi @ (MP-15 sec). Weather was lame all week (felt like summer, essentially) but I was pretty happy with this one under the circumstances. (I made the mistake of comparing it to a similar workout pre-Bayshore and I definitely was running faster then, though in better weather.)
W: 6.1 mi at 9:19/mi. Post-election run so perhaps a bit more adrenaline than I normally have after a workout day!
R: 9 mi easy run, 9:54/mi with strides. I labeled it “July in November” in strava so I guess it was hot.
F: REST (at BLP Live, so I changed my usual pattern a bit). I did do some beach yoga!
S: BLP Live Run!! 6 mi @ 11:13/mi, lovely social run!
S: Today –> 12-14 mi not yet done, but let’s assume it will be!
TOTAL = will be something like 52-54 miles. I can’t believe my marathon is in 5 weeks. I continue to feel like this training cycle was kind of blah, and I’m not entirely sure why. I put in the mileage, but my body just didn’t seem to respond as well. I do think the lack of strength training could be a factor. Or just overall high stress levels. Or the freaking ENDLESS SUMMER we are having.
I stand by my declaration: never again for a fall/Dec marathon unless I’m living in a different climate. I am still hoping I can get a solid BQ at this race but if not I will probably choose a late spring one for next year. If I do have a solid race next month I think my planned number of marathons in 2025 will be ZERO! (I’ll still run of course, but focus on strength and speed at shorter distances).
Screen Time
Not that bad considering it was election week!
(ONE day I did go to Reddit, as previously noted, for something dumb, and it was really not very interesting anyway AND I had to pay a kid $10 so hopefully not repeating that any time soon!)
Which I am generally okay with!
A sizable chunk of that texting/WhatsApp is life management/coordination type labor rather than recreation anyway. But definitely plenty of the latter, too.
Onward and upward –> here comes a CALL WEEK! It’s my last call week of 2024, and I haven’t been on call since AUGUST, so I’m going in with a (pretty) positive attitude. Here we go . . .
11 Comments
I’m glad the event went so well! I would love to attend some day when the kids are at easier ages for solo parenting… I can’t add anymore time away with all the other travel I am doing. But in 2 years, life should look different as my youngest will be almost 6! I love the dress you are wearing in that first photo!
I think training for a marathon during your least favorite season in Florida is probably part of why you are feeling the way you do. Plus you came off another training cycle. Did you run 2 marathons in a calendar year before having kids? I know some do that but it’s a lot since the training cycles last so long and can take a lot out of you! I hope you get your BQ in JAX so you can take a year off from intensely training for a BQ! It’s good to have it in writing that you will never run a marathon during this time of year again! I am sure Kae will hold you to this if you waver and consider a marathon at this time of year again 😉
I totally agree with one marathon a year being a much better plan. I have run FIVE total marathons – two in 2005, and one in 2006. Then I got repeatedly injured, ran one in 2009, and then 2024!!! So nope, 2 in a year not a ‘normal’ thing for me other than that first stretch when I initially got into it (and had no kids then 🙂 ).
I can imagine the perfect training seasonality in FL being:
Dec-January – start training for Aprilish marathon
May – focus on strength and shorter distances, dial mileage down, go to gym/strength classes
Sept-Oct – start gently ramping mileage up again
Dec-Janaury – repeat 🙂
which april marathons are good?
Boston, haha. I haven’t looked recently but there are a few!
oh and thank you re: the dress! It’s a Marine Layer dress I got over a year ago. I love that it goes right into the washing machine. It’s been very versatile bc it’s kind of beachy and casual. Definitely check out Marine Layer’s dresses if you haven’t – they are my favorite (I have like 3! And they often go on sale towards the end of the season)
I’m thinking you’ll luck out weather-wise for your marathon. Looking ahead, it’s supposed to cool down here in about a week or so (FINALLY) so it should be really nice up in JAX.
Glad your workshop went so well! And- good luck with the call week.
Where are your dress and shoes from? They are fantastic!
Dress is Marine layer (from at least a year ago) and shoes are flexx, a brand I learned about from Lani at reallifestyle.com !!
Are you still using the collagen, and if so, what brand do you use?
I use the vital proteins one! Half a scoop in my coffee every day 🙂
I can see how a fall/Dec marathon is not ideal if it stays so humid for so long. It was hot here, but I could mostly escape the heat in the early mornings and now I am actually more worried about a freezing or rainy marathon in three weeks. Eek.