Here it is. We can talk about it later, but this is the training for the next 8 weeks.
You need to eat well to do this.
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First of all, thank you. I really appreciate your putting in the time and effort into this. This is awesome. 
Second of all…I’ve got questions. I know we can talk about it all later, but I’ll just make this observation: I don’t run the full race distance once. I assume you realized that. 
Third of all, thank you 
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Yes, I know. You are running 8’s, 9’s, 10’s, and 11’s. Plus a lot of mileage in each week. You will be running those long runs on tired legs. In the race, you won’t be starting on tired legs.
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I’m just going to trust you on this one. It’s counterintuitive, but I can see, I suppose, how that will…
Just gonna trust you.
I’ve got more questions, but they can wait for daylight. 
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I was reading all of this very late, @Eric. I’m just now getting the chance to come back around on everything you said here and in our other exchange. It all makes sense. I was too tired for it to make sense last night. It’s written into my personality to not trust what I don’t yet understand, but that was no reflection on you. It’s actually a compliment. I don’t understand how I don’t run 13 miles once over the next 8 weeks but can expect to run it on race day, but because I trust you, I won’t give it another thought. I don’t think there’s been one idea you’ve shared with me that I haven’t come to validate in my own time, and this, I’m sure, will be no different. Take no offense. My dad taught me to question everything, so I do. The cool thing is every time I’ve questioned something you’ve shared with me, what I dig up is the fact you give good information. So I’ll drop the “I’ll just have to trust you” rhetoric because I obviously do, and maybe you’ll permit some questioning knowing I’m going to take care of stuff—- just not without grilling you a little. 
I owe you some food totals. I’ll get them to you as soon as I get up from this splendid nap I’m hopefully about to enjoy. I also have a “cumulative fatigue/Hanson brothers” search open for when I’m upright again.
It’s a helluva plan, and you’re a helluva coach. Just so we’re clear. 
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It’s fine to question it, as long as you are gaining an understanding.
In your 5k training, not once did you go all out at a 9 or 10 RPE for 3.1 miles. We built you up to that. Certain things you just save for race day.
I know late night messages are not always easy to understand. Let me try again, just in case it did not make sense.
The first 3 miles of a 1/2 marathon are easy. Very easy. The whole thing is pretty easy…until you get to the later miles. Your body needs to learn to run on tired legs.
Look at week 6 above (gotta post these differently so it’s easier to see…).
Your long run is “only” 11 miles. But before you do that long run, you are running hills, a base run of 5 miles, pace work at 6 miles, 1 day of rest, another 5 miles of base, and then 11 miles. So you have about 21 miles on your legs BEFORE you run that 11. Those 21 miles simulates what you feel at the end of the 1/2 marathon.
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One other thing on this. When you run the 11, force yourself to stop. You will feel like you could easily make another 2 miles. You will be frustrated and angry about not getting to go 13.
Good. Hang on to that feeling. Remember how you felt like you could keep going. Keep that feeling and let it fester and bother you for 2 more weeks.
And then spend it on race day. Like I told you before, all these things are going into your piggy bank. Spend them on race day.
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I’ve done some reading, and I think I understand what you’re saying about cumulative fatigue. It makes a lot of sense. Some of my thinking is flawed. Probably a lot, but at least some. There is a permanent imprint in my brain that says if you haven’t pushed yourself to the limit in a workout, then you haven’t benefited. I know this is wrong, but it tugs at my brain when I exercise. Part of me can see that this training isn’t going to be easy, but then that other part still sees the 4 and 5 mile days and thinks it won’t be enough. But everything you said was there, and it does make sense. I’d say all I need to do now is get my brain to shut up, but what I think is going to happen is that once I get going, I’m going to be too tired to question whether or not it’s working.
I’ve got stuff to get to you and stuff of yours to which I need to respond. I’ve also got a very sick little boy. I hope to be able to get everything done, but it might be tomorrow. Either way, tomorrow I run. I can’t wait for that.
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Right now for this stuff, let me take care of the thinking for both of us.
And you - think less, run more.
Answers please.
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Gladly.
Imma do just that. 
What else can I put you in charge of?
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Thank you for just bringing those questions to me. Will be back in one second to answer…
More than one second. Tonight. The sky is falling right now. 
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Take your time. Whenever you have a chance is fine.
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The Huma gel was great. I liked it a lot. It felt like I had done something— like there was no doubt whether or not it was going to do the trick. I can’t remember for sure now, but I think it was still a little slower to kick in than I thought it would be, but I can’t remember it clearly now. What I do remember is how it was good for miles. I also think that was a result of having cut out the basal, but I liked what I saw either way.
About the insulin… yes, I certainly think it was the right ballpark. I was a little nervous at the time because I wasn’t flat and even going into the Huma and bolus. We had talked about doing that combo when I was even, but I was dropping a little… and definitely felt like I needed the carbs. I still wanted to try out the insulin just to start getting used to it and was not overly concerned with what a 1/4 unit shot would do. I like doing very small boluses while I run. They’re great. I never had any idea you could do this.
Post-run fueling… That’s also going great. I’m finally listening and doing it right. I’ve been doing varying amounts of insulin either before stopping the run or just having finished, and I try to start building it back up again so that I can have my banana almost right away. I think I’m having the banana within about 10-15 minutes of finishing. I’m doing plenty of insulin afterwards but keeping a close watch and am having my dinner (good protein and carbs) within about 30 or 45 minutes of finishing. I’m also doing some temp basals over night.
Its 2:30 in the morning. I hope those answers make sense.
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Can I just second that!!! When I ran my 10-miler I had to stop myself from running super fast at the beginning – I knew I was going too fast because I was running 8:30 minutes/mile and most of my practice long runs were 10:30min/mile. And 8:30 felt EASY on race day, maybe because of the initial adrenaline! I was like “maybe it’ll be fine.” NOPE. I was dragging by in the last mile or two, seriously dragging. I did make it over the finish line with a 10 min/mile average, but I’m pretty sure if I’d been better at pacing myself early on I could have finished a touch faster.
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Those are good reminders, @TiaG. I’ve got just a little of that in me… the overzealous gung ho start with trying not to die finish. That’s a good thing to keep in mind for my daily runs, too.
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Monday’s run (March 11)… I had big plans to write this up last night as well as to get all kinds of other stuff done, but you can’t do these things asleep. Well, you can… but it’s probably not a good idea. Anyway, I’ll try to remember what happened yesterday because I do remember it being a great run…
So Zero Basal… I didn’t get it turned on too much before I started. Sick son, busy schedule— all kinds of things going on so I wasn’t sure when I was going to run until it was just about the time it was available. The good news is I had a ballpark in mind, so I was able to stay away from boluses throughout the morning. Oh! And I also want to add a thought about Basal-IQ and carbs… because I had no Basal-IQ yesterday… but I’ll try to get that at the end. Anyway, maybe 15-20 minutes ZB.
Tested while I got my shoes on at an 86. 5 minutes later, as I started it up, I was at a 90. So it was a good starting BG, but with there being a weak basal cut, I decided on a Huma Gel early on.
The run was a tempo tun with 1/2 mile warm up (6.5), 3 miles at 7.5, and 1/2 mile cooldown (6.5).
Starting BG: 90
1/2 mile: 75
Huma Gel… Not 100% sure why I did it, but I didn’t like that fast drop and knew I had a decent run ahead.
Mile 1.5: 70
Mile 2.25: 74
Mile 3: 79
Mile 3.5: 87
Mile 4: 90
I resumed basal at 3 miles and did a unit bolus at 3.5 miles. Took another 2 units as soon as I got off the treadmill and had a banana within about 15 minutes. No spikes afterwards today (I’ve gotten a really good handle on those lately), but there was a surprising amount of lows. They weren’t terrible, but they were persistent. I was surprised because the run wasn’t long and didn’t feel hard— RPE of about 6-6.2– but, looking back, I probably could’ve done a little reduction afterwards.
About the Basal-IQ… I’ve started doing some of the reading about cumulative fatigue and carb intake and all of that. Very interesting stuff, and I’m thrilled because, having been listening to you for a spell (and, yes, I do listen), a lot of it sounds familiar. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how to get carbs into my breakfast without causing big spikes. Thinking a lot about it because morning carbs are hard on me. So I messed up starting my new transmitter Sunday night and never got my transmitter to connect with my t:slim. It meant no Basal-IQ Sunday night or Monday morning. It meant full basal. It meant lots of carbs. I realized that when I have any pump that is working those suspends in the background, it’s also having an effect on how I eat. Yesterday morning I had oatmeal, a banana, coffee to my heart’s delight… yogurt… and never went above a 120. The downside is that on school mornings, with no suspends, I’m also one breath away from a crash at all times. Point being, this doesn’t mean I’m choosing one over the other but have realized I’ve got another tool. Today I wanted to not pour sweat over my children as we got ready for school, so I left Basal-IQ on. I did another hefty bolus for breakfast, included oatmeal, and am now watching that rise. Tomorrow maybe I’ll try turning off Basal-IQ halfway through our morning rush… I’ve got things I can try. That’s my point. I’d like some morning carbs, and I may have found a way to get them.
Hoping for a noon run today… but first bills. 
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And today’s run… Good run, so-so numbers.
It was an easy run today— just a straight 4 miles @ a speed of 6.5. RPE was maybe a 5-5.5. However, it did take me almost 3 miles to get settled in so that I felt like I was just at a cruise. The first 3 miles had me feeling tight in the right hip/glute area. No pain, just tight. What was interesting though is that when I pulled myself up in position, the tightness was gone. Completely. The last mile felt wonderful.
So I did a good job this morning doing my last bolus at around 8:30. I ate well and managed to stay away from coffee. I did start to drop a little though at maybe 11:00, so I corrected. I figured I could get a yogurt, and I think it was just a bad call. I saw I was rising a little around 11:30, but I had really wanted to turn off my basal, so I decided to go ahead and do it despite the little rise. By the time I started on the treadmill 40 minutes later, my BG was a 164. I was a little irritated, but I decided I’d try to see what a tiny bit of insulin would do. I chose just .35 units and started.
So:
Starting BG 164
*.35 units
Mile 1: 170
*.5 units bolus and resume basal
Mile 2: 122
Mile 3: 93
MIle 4: 73
I do think I would’ve either cut out one of those boluses OR maybe left my basal off for another mile or two if I had a longer run, but honestly, I was very happy.
Off to read…
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That could be applied to so many life situations of mine. I kinda want to frame it and hang it on my wall.
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