Monday: (memorial day) The gym was closed, and I spent the day in Newport with Russ. He bought a beautiful row house and we painted all day (I painted, he figured out ways to get out of painting). My back is still bothering me, and I couldn’t get in the pool. This will count as my off day for the week.

Tuesday: Bailey and I got in the pool around 7:00PM and did a monster ladder. It felt great. It was 2,100 meters altogether, which felt easy. I was extremely motivated to get as much as I could out of my workout. I am excited about this marathon training, and even though I’m not running at the moment, swimming gives me a great workout.

Wednesday: I had a swim planned with Bailey, but I ended up doing a workout with a client that I had! Normally on Wednesday I will just have an upper body workout and won’t run, but since my back has been healing, I haven’t been on my normal “schedule” this week. My client and I did sprint work and ran/walked for about 90 minutes. So I had a pretty good workout, and didn’t up getting in the pool.

Thursday: Bailey and I got up early-ish and did a 4 miler at around 9:00 and went back to Gym a la Menke and did some leg training. The run felt really good today, but I can’t wait until my body gets adjusted to distance again. I haven’t focused on it for a while, and I am eaten up with it. Bailey and I are geeking out and really excited for both the good and the bad that comes with training for such a hard race! I didn’t do much weighted stuff because of my back; so I did a lot of lunges, curtsy lunges, calf raises and squats. I had to modify today, but I hope to get back to weight training next week!

Friday: We had 4ish miles to do this morning and we invited a good friend of ours to truck along. You will quickly learn through these training logs that Bailey and I use running as a time to connect with each other, bow off steam, and relieve stress. We pretty much don’t stop talking the entire time we run. After our 4.8 mile run we walked another mile just to catch up with our friend and enjoy the weather. Normally we would have Fridays as our rest day for the week, but like I said earlier, this week has been a little wonky…its about persistence not perfection.

Saturday: We bought NEW shoes! Bailey and I went to Bob Ronkers in Newport and bought some new Hoka One One running shoes! Which was an awesome experience and I would recommend you going there if you want to get fitted for shoes! The employees there are all runners and one guy was even an ultra runner!! He gave use some good trails to try out for our future long runs! I was starting from square one (or so I thought), and tried on a bunch of different types of shoes. I ended up going back to the same kind I have ran in for almost 10 years, which are Asics Gel-Kayano. I just found out I need a wide width. Which I would have never thought of, but my feet swell when I run (which makes your toes and feet go numb if your shoes are too tight), especially when it is hot. So, just a good reminder that it’s always good to get a second opinion and a fresh pair of eyes. We did an active rest day and walked a lot, but it got too hot in the afternoon to run. Long run will be in the AM! I am way too excited to try out these new shoes.

Sunday: First official long run of the season, and with brand new shoes, and great company! Bailey and I got started a little late and began our run around 8:30 (should have started at 7:00), and ran a 7.5 mile loop through downtown Maysville and across the new bridge into Ohio and then ran back into Kentucky on the old bridge! It is a route that a lot of local runners use, and I have run before with my friend Meghan (view previous post: We haven’t always been fit friends to see her story!). The run was good this morning, it felt solid, considering I feel out of shape and it was extremely humid and the air was thick. I think Bailey and I have already found our water spot. We took a quick stop at Taco Bell to fill up our hand help water bottle. OHHH the things we do on a long run. I plan to write about them throughout this training, because they are just too funny not to tell.

Extras:

1. I tried coffee for the first time this week. I don’t know if most people would even consider it to actually be coffee, because I added about 4oz of dark chocolate almond milk, French vanilla coconut milk creamer, and ice. So it actually tasted pretty dang good.

2. I started with two new personal training clients during the last week or so, and they have been so empowering to me. Both really doubted their own abilities and have done so well. It is so cool to see people realize how strong they are, and how much they are capable of.

3. I have also started drinking warm lemon water with about a tsp of local honey in it. There are a lot of benefits of this habit if you do it first thing in the morning. So I’m going to see how it goes.

4. My boyfriend bought his first house! I am so proud of him, so I have been spending time there helping him paint and get it all ready for him to move in! I never would have thought that I would be excited to go to Lowes back when my mom and dad used to drag us there all the time when I was younger.

5. This Sunday at church, my whole family was at the same service (our church is really big and has multiple services and we all have different schedules), and it felt so nice for all of us to be sitting in the same row today. It just gave me such good energy, and made me excited to start my week.

6. I bought a new 26.2 sticker for the back of my car! I swear the smallest things make me so happy. My old one was really faded and gross, so I got a cool new pink one!

7. Bailey, Keller and I decided to start and Instagram account to document our ultra marathon journey, fitness, PRs, Deadlifts, and all things Menke girls! So go follow us!! @3FitSoleSisters

Long Run Story of the week: Bailey and I were about to run on to the old bridge and we had less than a mile left of our run and this man with no teeth rolled down his window and yelled “Ber de dotern Keerp Moovin’ “, we both just looked at each other and laughed. I think he said, Good job, keep moving! You gotta love the encouragement you get from people who drive by. We always get a lot of honks and waves. Makes for an interesting couple hours! I can’t wait to share more stories with you. I’m also telling you these so I can look back on them and laugh later down the road. I have a feeling that some of these stories will be more like “You had to be there” to think they were funny!

With so much love (and running),

-B

Training Diary: Week 1