Well, December has finally graced us with its presence and we are just a little over 30 days out from race day! I ended up taking most of week 10 off from running and did home workouts two of the days to allow my body to get some extra rest, logging about an average of 9 hours of sleep per night. Taking those extra few days off or just sleeping in and doing a home workout was just what my body needed to reset itself for this final month of training.
Week 10 – 11/20-11/26:
Monday: The plan called for a rest day, and after the pain I was having the previous day I took full advantage of it and I tried to stay off the leg as much as possible.
Tuesday: My knee still wasn’t feeling 100% so I took an extra rest day.
Wednesday: I had 5 miles to do, and normally Wednesday’s are solely for running only, no camp, but we changed that up this week. I hit the pavement for two easy miles before camp with Kim. Thankfully my knee was feeling much better but I still took it easy during the workout.
Thursday: I intended to go to camp and run afterwards, however I overslept my alarm and didn’t end up waking up till almost 8:30a. It was a dreary, rainy kind of morning so instead I did a homework out – tabata style, then finished off with a little Bring Sally up leg lift challenge.
Friday: I slept in again, this time was intended and then when I woke up, I did another home workout testing out the Fit Coach app on my Fitbit.
Saturday: Enjoyed my final rest day of the week before getting back to it tomorrow with my long run.
Sunday: I took my long run to the beach today, and although I only did 8 instead of 10, I did challenge myself to run up and over three bridges.
Week 11 – 11/27-12/3:
Monday: Rest day, I planned to go to camp but did not sleep well Sunday night.
Tuesday: 3 miles before camp with another 1.17 in camp. Not as much travel and sprint work for it being HIIT week this week.
Wednesday: Our weekday long runs increased to 7 miles this week! Kim, Laura, Becky and I met bright and early at 4:45am.
Thursday: Rest day.
Friday: Two mile run with Kim and Becky before camp.
Saturday: Rest day.
Sunday: Today we had the big 2-0 to do. I really took the time last Sunday to work on my nutrition through meal prepping for the week. I was also really concerned how my knee would hold up. I was able to run last Sunday’s 8 without any issues and Wendesday’s run was solid so I tried not to stress too much about. I made sure to ice and foam roll the knee and legs after every run and/or workout during the week.
It was just Becky and I for the long run today. We started at 4:30am, the miles actually flew buy relatively quickly. We did the same loop as the 19-miler except I stayed off the trail. The 11 mile marker came quickly and lined up perfectly back at our cars, with a quick bathroom back we were on our way and took the same route as our 7-miler from Wednesday. As we hit mile 13, I started to feel some slight discomfort in my right knee again. I tried not to pay too much attention to it and at our water stop I took a moment to stretch the quads, which seemed to help. I took a few extra walk breaks between miles 14 and 16. I was hoping to at least make it to 17 and then try to walk 2 miles to get me to 19.
Throughout mile 17, I was definitely starting to feel some aches and pains in my right knee, but only when I was running, if I was in a walk interval I was fine. When the mile came to an end I told Becky to keep going and I was going to work on getting my last two miles in walking and I would meet her at Starbucks after wards.
I was able to log the 17 miles in 3:26 and then it took me 34:21 to walk the last two miles.
I’m definitely frustrated regarding the situation with my knee. It’s interesting that it’s only one knee and not both. I also find it strange that on both on my long runs, the pain did not arise until after mile 13. I also have had no issues when it comes to squats or lunges at camp. My knee was almost back to feeling 100% normal Sunday evening after an ice bath, espom salt bath, some ibuprofen and additional icing throughout the afternoon. I definitely have some thoughts and mixed emotions on how to proceed next. I am in the home stretch with only 34 days till race day. I hate to have a DNF (didn’t not finish) and even worse a DNS (didn’t not start).
Miles logged Week 10: 11.94 miles
Miles logged Week 11: 33.93 miles
Total Miles logged for Walt Disney World Marathon training: 209.34 miles
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