Julie's PR attempt at Fox Cities

Thanks Nick! Of course the fun part was it was her "Human Body" book so it was all about anatomy and physiology and I got to use fun words for a toddler like cerebellum and respiration and carbon dioxide. She loves that stuff.

Today was 6 miles not really pushing the pace at all, so a little slower than GA, only very mild pain, honestly, and iced after the run. I am really really hoping to have a good 16 miler on Sunday. Then I am up to 3 rest days/week per my schedule, just with tapering.

You are almost there play it smart. Good job so far lets get you to the line healthy! I think with tapering/less mileage and days off you will be fine!

Keep taking care of yourself, Julie. It sounds like it's getting better.

Nice job on the 6 Julie. One day at a time.

Kenny B. wrote:You are almost there play it smart. Good job so far lets get you to the line healthy! I think with tapering/less mileage and days off you will be fine!

Thanks Kenny!

Jim Lentz wrote:Keep taking care of yourself, Julie. It sounds like it's getting better.

Thanks Jim, I think it is, just can't push it too hard right now.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Nice job on the 6 Julie. One day at a time.

Thanks Alex!


This morning was 5 miles easy pace, very very little pain. I did take ibuprofen before I left for my run, as I have been taking it when I get up in the a.m. I will ice it again today and tomorrow I am going for a 8-10 miles with a faster friend so I hope I can handle it. If not, I'll just let her know I have to cut it short. Plan to rest on Saturday and then 16 Sunday. It's September now so the race is this month! (the 18th)

You're playing it very smart; just make sure that pride doesn't get in the way of keeping yourself healthy with your friend (it certainly would for me)

Sounds like it's the right time in the training cycle to be seeing some minor niggles and annoyances, anyway; taper will take care of that.

What Mike said ^^^^^^^

I am glad to hear that there is little pain in the knee. Continue to ice and take the vitamin-I. Taking off Saturday is also a good idea, especially if you are running with a faster friend. Don't be afraid to slow or stop if things start acting up. Good luck!!

So have you started checking out the weather for the race?

JohnP wrote:So have you started checking out the weather for the race?

No doubt...keep me posted as I am running the Half that day

Julie good luck on the 16. Just keep it easy.

Mike MacLellan wrote:You're playing it very smart; just make sure that pride doesn't get in the way of keeping yourself healthy with your friend (it certainly would for me)

Sounds like it's the right time in the training cycle to be seeing some minor niggles and annoyances, anyway; taper will take care of that.

+1

Alex Kubacki wrote:Julie good luck on the 16. Just keep it easy.

+1

Glad to hear your 5 miler was a good one from the niggle standpoint - here's hoping it is mostly gone come race day!

Mike MacLellan wrote:You're playing it very smart; just make sure that pride doesn't get in the way of keeping yourself healthy with your friend (it certainly would for me)

Sounds like it's the right time in the training cycle to be seeing some minor niggles and annoyances, anyway; taper will take care of that.

Thanks Mike! Yeah we ran slower than normal but she knows about my knee and told me about 4 times to ice it when we were done.

Jim Lentz wrote:What Mike said ^^^^^^^

Thanks Jim.

Nick Morris wrote:I am glad to hear that there is little pain in the knee. Continue to ice and take the vitamin-I. Taking off Saturday is also a good idea, especially if you are running with a faster friend. Don't be afraid to slow or stop if things start acting up. Good luck!!

Thanks Nick! Ice and ibu are my friends. And the rest days aren't harming me either...

JohnP wrote:So have you started checking out the weather for the race?

Why yes! I have been for about a week. It's crazy because it's not even in the 10 day forecast but I can check what average temps are and if they're experiencing a warmer or cooler than average trend overall. Right now it is very average which would put the race mid 50s at the start and then upper 60s towards the end. I just wish it started at 7 instead of 8 but that is OK.

Nick Morris wrote:

JohnP wrote:So have you started checking out the weather for the race?

No doubt...keep me posted as I am running the Half that day

Will do!

Alex Kubacki wrote:Julie good luck on the 16. Just keep it easy.

Thanks Alex, I am definitely not logging miles for miles' sake, just doing the bare minimum to stay in shape while trying to rest my knee at the same time.

John Kilpatrick wrote:

Glad to hear your 5 miler was a good one from the niggle standpoint - here's hoping it is mostly gone come race day!

Thanks John! I hope so too!

10 miler this a.m. with my Boston-bound friend (she qualified over 10 minutes under so she has a pretty good chance of getting in, I think). We ran a little slower than we usually do, really humid and upper 70s. My knee did hurt at times but mostly in the first couple of miles. When it was flat or down hill it was pain-free. I'm icing right now and will be smart on Sunday and attempt the 16 but am not going to do anything foolish to get it done. I might mess around like that towards the beginning of training but 2 weeks till the marathon really doesn't seem like the time.

I get 3 rest days next week and don't think I'll do the speedwork since that seemed to set my knee off last week. I hope I'm not losing too much speed but I'd rather have a pain-free /low pain marathon than an injured one.

Glad the knee seems to be healing up somewhat. Hope your weekend runs go without a hitch. Like you said, you don't want a painful marathon in addition to what you'll already be dealing with.



After today the humidity should be down quite a bit. It's going to seem almost cold by Sunday and Monday. Should be a welcome change.

Good to hear the knee ache hasn't completely side-lined you. Taking days off can only help. Losing speed is probably the least of your worries since the marathon is truly more about endurance when all is said and done. I'd think easy running at this point would suffice especially since it's taper time anyway. I'm staying away from any intervals mysself this cycle after being out for the month of May because I thought speed work on the treadmill was a great idea since you can go real fast by turning up the controls. ha ha

Julie, I'm glad to see that the knee hasn't gotten any worse and that you seem to be managing it smartly. I hope the 16 miler goes well, but you're absolutely right to be cautious. It looks like you'll be good to go in two weeks.

I am glad to hear that you were able to make it through 10 this morning. Good luck with your 16. If you can make it through that unscathed, taper should help heal you up.

jon c wrote:Glad the knee seems to be healing up somewhat. Hope your weekend runs go without a hitch. Like you said, you don't want a painful marathon in addition to what you'll already be dealing with.



After today the humidity should be down quite a bit. It's going to seem almost cold by Sunday and Monday. Should be a welcome change.

Thanks Jon. I saw a few people wearing sweats and jackets this a.m. running. I thought that was a bit much but it was nice weather.

fostever wrote:Good to hear the knee ache hasn't completely side-lined you. Taking days off can only help. Losing speed is probably the least of your worries since the marathon is truly more about endurance when all is said and done. I'd think easy running at this point would suffice especially since it's taper time anyway. I'm staying away from any intervals mysself this cycle after being out for the month of May because I thought speed work on the treadmill was a great idea since you can go real fast by turning up the controls. ha ha

Oh that sounds like a fun way to get injured! Yeah I had hoped to follow the training program completely but the last few weeks have been a little less just trying to heal my knee.

Seth Harrison wrote:Julie, I'm glad to see that the knee hasn't gotten any worse and that you seem to be managing it smartly. I hope the 16 miler goes well, but you're absolutely right to be cautious. It looks like you'll be good to go in two weeks.

Thanks Seth!

Nick Morris wrote:I am glad to hear that you were able to make it through 10 this morning. Good luck with your 16. If you can make it through that unscathed, taper should help heal you up.

Thanks Nick! I am still weather checking for you.

Saturday : rest

Sunday : 16 miles! The first 15.5 were great, I was thinking of how great it was, I think in the 50s? The coolest weather I've felt since May. The first 15.5 mi, just barely sore in my knees and I was really happy about that, less sore than Friday's 10 miler, even. Then the last .5 mi both knees started hurting. Not severely but nothing I really want to feel when I'm running my marathon. Hopefully the next 2 weeks heal it completely

Tomorrow's a rest day as are Thursday and Saturday! Just a few runs this week working on my taper.

I glad to read that you made it through the 16 miler, for the most part unscathed. You should be able to use your taper to get healed up and feel good for race day.



Thanks for the weather updates...I'll start checking myself when it gets to about 10 days out

Good job on the 16, sounds like your knee recovery so far has gone well. You might end up expecting some knee soreness in the race. But if you play your cards right, hopefully it will be kept to a minimum. Overall I must say it appears you are right on track!!

Sounds like wonderful weather and glad you got 16 in with little issues. Taper will do the body good!

Thanks Nick, Jon, and Kenny.

Rest day today with a nice breakfast pot luck of sorts with my running group. Just all brought something and visited for awhile. It got pretty cool last night, too. I believe upper 40s. It should be about 50 degrees for my run in the a.m., aiming for 7 miles possibly with 100m strides but not if my knee is sore. I think the speed work the week before last really set my knee off again.

Still weather checking and planning our trip to WI. I think I'm getting a cold, either that or just massive allergies. I guess I'm not too worried since I have almost 2 weeks to get over it and need my rest days to heal anyway.

I think those niggles love to show up right at the end to just keep us honest! Way to go, you made it through the 16. It's all downhill from here. Hope the healing starts now for you.

Julie, I believe in taper and it's going to do magic for you. It's good you got through the 16 and that it didn't hurt till the last half mile. So you're done! A few more weeks of workouts and you'll be toeing the starting line. Get lots of rest to heal up and I hope you don't have a cold. Maybe the cooler weather is just playing with your allergies.

fostever wrote:I think those niggles love to show up right at the end to just keep us honest! Way to go, you made it through the 16. It's all downhill from here. Hope the healing starts now for you.

Thanks!

JohnP wrote:Julie, I believe in taper and it's going to do magic for you. It's good you got through the 16 and that it didn't hurt till the last half mile. So you're done! A few more weeks of workouts and you'll be toeing the starting line. Get lots of rest to heal up and I hope you don't have a cold. Maybe the cooler weather is just playing with your allergies.

Thanks John, definitely a cold now. Oh well, that means I'll be miserable a few days vs somewhat miserable for 6 weeks or so, right? (trying to keep positive, trying).

Haven't run yet today, probably get the jogging stroller out later if I have the energy. Right now spending all my spare time sneezing.