Running in the Moment

It’s Monday again and back to the grind… but I just wanted to give a recap of the rest of week 10, which included the St.Patrick’s 5 mile race!

I knew the weather for the race this year was going to be much chillier than in years past, however I did NOT expect to wake up to snow on the ground!  Ugh… I was so ready to race in shorts and a tank top and knew that was not happening.  I dug out my running tights (I have had them packed away assuming I was done wearing them for the year, boy was I wrong) and pulled out a long-sleeved top, along with gloves and started to slowly get ready.  I’m not sure what the deal was but JMR and I just weren’t as excited to do this race as in years past…so much so we got up at 7:50a and the race was at 9a…. talk about cutting it a bit close!  We left the house around 8:24 when JMR noticed he was almost out of gas, so with a short detour to the gas station we were on our way.  By 8:45a we were getting close to the normal exit we take when we noticed that traffic was backed up in all three lanes, at least a mile away from the exit.  Ugh.  So we took the next closesest exit only to find out that all of the roads were blocked off for the parade and run route.  No dice.  We backtracked, went back over the highway and tried to take another side street, which was also blocked off.  More looping around… it was 8:55a and JMR said, ‘That’s it, I’m turning around’, but I convinced him to try one more street and hooray! we were able to get to the other side of the highway where the race was and quickly found a parking lot (which was $10!, usually we park for free or pay $5 in a garage…but we were desperate!).  It was already 9a, so after parking we both took off for the start…which was about .75 miles away, good grief.

Once we got to the start, we got stuck behind all of the walkers/strollers/and dogs on leashes and by the time we crossed the mat it was already almost 9:10a.  Oh boy, this was going to be fun.  I did so much zigging and zagging and weaving the first two miles it was crazy.  I was frustrated, however it also our fault for showing up so late that we missed the competitive corrall.  Since the first mile is mostly downhill, and due to adrenaline, I ran a 7:15 min/mile, however mile 2 was a bit slower at 8:06 pace.  I also noticed that when I crossed the mile 2 marker, that I was already .1 over, so I would need to pick up the pace knowing my splits were going to be off.  Unfortunately mile 3 was more than half of a very steep uphill, so I ran that mile at an 8:21 pace, but the last two miles were more flat/downhill and were 7:58 and 7:55…I ended up running .15 extra, so even though my avg pace was 7:55 (my goal!), my official race pace was 8:09.  Bummer. Last year I ran around .7 extra, so that extra bobbing and weaving in the beginning few miles definitely added up.  Lesson learned, we need to get there earlier next year! 🙂

After the race since it was so chilly, we decided to head to the car and head home, in years past we’ve stayed to get an early lunch and also watch the parade, but after the hectic morning and being freezing cold, we thought going home sounded much more appealing.  The rest of the day we weren’t too productive! I did some cleaning, watched some lifetime and cooked dinner.  To be fair it was freezing outside, so staying inside and relaxing sounded like a good idea.

Sunday I got up and rode the trainer for 1hr 30min, the first 30 min was tough because my legs were still fatigued from the race the day before, but then they warmed up and felt pretty darn good the rest of the ridde.  After the ride, JMR and I met his mom and aunt for lunch since they were in town for the weekend for a shopping trip.  Then JMR did some work, I did lots of laundry and that was pretty much the end of the weekend!

This week since my eye is looking back to normal (thanks to prednisone and steroid cream) I’ll be back in the pool, which I’m excited about but also dreading a little because it takes me a while to ’embrace’ swimming, lol.  Also since my pace was better than expected at the race (slower than year’s past, but not as slow as I thought it would be this year), and was closer to my 5k goal pace so far this season (7:50) my coach has me picking up the pace on my tempo and long runs this week, so that should be interesting to see how those go…I’m going to have to give myself some pep talks!  This week’s volume is getting back on track to where it was before the whole biopsy and then eye issues….hooray!  IMWI is less than six months away… yikes!  It really is time to buckle down and get back into a routine.

Happy Monday – I’ll leave you with a picture of what I woke up to this morning… and it’s going to be in the 60’s this weekend….such crazy weather!

Well right now I’m on week 10, but I’ve been slacking on updates so I thought I would pop in to give an update, before a month goes by!

Week 8 was pretty bad… didn’t get in much of a workout during the week due to work being crazy and not having enough energy to force myself to work out late after work, however I did get in my 8 mile run on Saturday.

Week 9 was much much better….

Monday – Made up missed long trainer ride from Sunday

Tuesday  – The LAST power max challenge.  I will admit, I did slack on these in the middle of the month (especially week 8), I just got tired of riding every day and sometimes doing 3 work outs a day.  However, I did get the last one done in the am before work, and also did my speedwork at lunch.

Wednesday – Trainer ride at lunch and swam after work.

Thursday – 6 mile tempo run and core.

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – 10 mile run.  This was a struggle.  Not sure what the deal was (maybe only having a salad for dinner the night before didn’t help) but my legs felt dead by mile 5.  The remaining five miles were a struggle to get in, and I definitely didn’t hit the planned pace, but at that point I was just focusing on getting in the mileage rather than stressing about pace.  This coming weekend is the St. Patrick’s 5 mile race, but the following weekend I am determined to have a good long run because this one was downright miserable!

Sunday – Long-ish trainer ride with lots of hills!

Total Training Hours: 9:47

Week 10 hasn’t been great, but it’s also race week so it’s a light week.

Monday – So……this stupid rash that I had biopsied has come back after the round of (TWO WEEKS!) prednisone and I woke up with a swollen, red, itchy left eye and 100% decided to skip my swim.

Tuesday – My left eye was swollen shut when I woke up so I made a Dr. Appt as soon as the office opened and was able to see the NP at 10a (phew).  She didn’t think it was an infection and instead just a really bad allergic reaction (what am I allergic to, darnit!) and prescribed another TWO WEEK round of prednisone.  I am going to be so fat by the time this rash (if it ever) goes away.  The rash is also under my arms but it isn’t itchy or swollen, which I can deal with, but not when it comes to my face 😦  Since I had trouble seeing well out of my left eye, and overall just felt frustrated about the mystery rash, I bagged my speedwork session and watched a movie after work instead.

Wednesday – Easy 30 min trainer ride

Thursday – Easy 3 mile run

Friday – Rest Day

And the plans for this weekend…

Saturday – Race Day!  Saint Patrick’s 5 mile run 🙂

Sunday – Trainer ride

Ok that’s about it, Happy Friday!

Happy Monday!  Back to the grind after a low-key weekend, which I’m always happy about…not a fan of jam-packed busy weekends, then I feel like I’m starting the week wiped out.  Other than the usual weekend long-ish workouts, cleaning and laundry (well, it seems like I’m always doing laundry these days with my training volume increasing) and going out to dinner Saturday night I didn’t do too much.  We are having a random semi-heat wave given how the temps are usually in February so I did try to spend a decent amount of time outside.  This week’s volume wasn’t as big as last week since I can’t swim (stitches came out today) and I also missed Wednesday and Thursday’s workouts due to hectic workdays.  That said it still was a good week!

Monday – Max Power Challenge

Tuesday – Speedwork, 12×400 (ouch!) at lunch followed by Max Power Challenge after work (cut the cooldown a tad short due to dinner plans for Valentine’s day)

Wednesday – Trainer ride + Max Power Challenge

Thursday – 6 miles with 4 @ 8:30

Friday – Max Power Challenge

Saturday – 6 miles with 4 @ 8:20 pace.  Nailed this one!  Wasn’t sure how it would go since I missed Thursday’s run and I’ve been struggling with hitting the usual 8:30 pace.  Either our treadmill isn’t calibrated correctly (faster than the pace it shows), or it’s just plain easier to run harder outside (especially in nice weather!).  My first mile was up a hill so I was really pushing (8:19), then some downhill (8:00), then some flat (8:07) and a little uphill and fatigue (8:13). Finished feeling strong though!  Once I got home I ate a honeystinger waffle and hopped on the trainer for the Max Power Challenge.

Sunday – Trainer Ride + Power Max Challenge followed by a 2 mile run.  I really have missed doing bricks!  The two miles (even though my legs were still a little sore from the run the day before) felt great and the weather was beautiful, so it was nice ot get outside after being on the trainer for almost 2 hours.

Total Training Hours: 7:57

Now that the stitches are out, I will be adding my swims back in, my dry skin won’t be a fan, but I do miss those workouts!

Happy Monday!

Well, I was going to post weekly training updates but each week I felt like there wasn’t anything very exciting to report.  Week three I was on call so it was a little tricky getting all of my workouts in, so it ended with a measly total of 4h 40min.  Week four I was back on track, getting in all of my workouts and ended the week with 6h 54min.  However week five, the wheels fell off due to a stomach bug and I got in one swim and one ride with a whopping 1h 45min.

Once I got over the bug, I got back into training and this week was my biggest week yet and it felt great 🙂  My coach’s company, Endurance Company, puts on some challenges during the winter months to keep everyone motivated, and this month was the ‘Max Power Challenge’, where you go as hard as you can for 5 seconds with a 2 min recovery, and add an interval each day – so for example yesterday, 2/12, I did 12 Max Power Intervals.  It’s pretty cool to see the watts go up each workout, today I was sooo close to getting to 600!  Ok, let’s get into the details of my big training week… I will say that if this is the volume when I’m not ramping up for IMWI, I’m a tad scared to see what it will be like then!

Monday – 2350y swim after work, followed by Max Power Challenge

Tuesday – Speedwork in the am (15×300…oh lordy), yoga at lunch and Max Power Challenge after work

Wednesday – 2850y in the am, followed by a trainer ride after work with Max Power added at the beginning

Thursday – Tempo run in the am….argh, this kicked my butt again… I need the 8:30 tempo pace to feel good so I can run it for all 13.1 miles… not just the three in my tempo runs! Max Power Challenge after work

Friday – Took PTO in the afternoon for a derm appt later in the day so I did the Max Power Challenge when I got home, chilled for a bit and then headed to the gym for strength training.

Saturday – This was the last race in the Frostbite Series, and since I did the short course, it was a 3 mile race.  Pretty close to a 5k so I was interested to see if I could hold the pace I’ve been using as my 5k pace during speedwork.  The first two miles I held on but the third was a little slower because my stomach was getting angry and I was worried things were going to get ugly if I didn’t slow it down a tad.  I ended with an avg page of 7:44, hooray, since I’ve been using 7:47 pace  during speedwork!  We stayed for the awards ceremony and I ended up 3 place overall in my age group, and JMR got 4th in his.  I will say, he worked much harder for his placing, my times this year were dismal and I lucked out placing at all.  With the warmup and cooldown I ended with 6 miles total since I need to get my mileage up for the Go! Half which is only 2 months away.  When we got home, I hopped on the trainer to do the Max Power Challenge

I was also supposed to swim but due to some skin issues and a biopsy resulting in stitches, I won’t be back in the water until they come out on the 20th.  😦

Sunday – 1:40 Trainer ride with Max Power Challenge at the beginning, where I got super duper close to hitting 600 watts.

Next time…next time I will hit 600! 🙂

Total Training Hours: 12:23

Ok, back to the grind, happy Monday!

Well last week flew by and I can’t believe it’s already Monday 😦  I wish I had an extra day! I contemplated taking today off, but I’m on call so that really wasn’t an option anyways.  This will be a quick update, so I’ll get right to the training details!

Monday  –  1850y swim…and managed to walk out of the locker room with a huge glob of lotion on my nose, and didn’t notice until I got home.  Sigh. I’m sure that gave a few people a good laugh 🙂

Tuesday – 3 miles with speedwork

Wednesday – 2100y swim in the am, followed by a trainer ride with intervals after work

Thursday – 5 mile tempo run with 3@8:30…and I survived and felt much stronger than last week, hooray!

Friday – Strength

Saturday – Bike Test – 2×20 min with 5 min recovery interval.  Woof! That was tough, physically and mentally. I have been really working on this bike this winter and was a little dissapointed with my FTP (it was 178 last February and according to this test it is now 182). But I guess it’s better to have at least improved rather than have regressed!

Sunday – Swim test… I totally failed and did not make it to the pool… I will make up the test this evening (monday night).

Total Training Hours: 5:42

Along with nailing my training except for sunday (although the workouts aren’t very long and I only have 1-2 2 a days, I wonder how consistent I will be once the load starts increasing), I also did a good job with meal planning last week and am on track again this week!  Ok, back to the grind!

The last couple of weeks before January 1st were busy with lots of holiday festivities and some training, but nothing too exciting to report about…well I guess there is one exciting thing to report, I bought JMR a treadmill for Christmas!!  He’s been asking for one for a while since he works long hours and running at night isn’t the greatest option (especially in the winter when it’s icy out, day or night).  He did have a gym membership last year and went zero times, so I wan’t going to push that option again. So after a lot of research and a little drama (do NOT buy a Nordictrack Treadmill, that’s all I’m going to say about that, I won’t even get into the story)…I bought him a new LifeFitness T3 Treadmill from 2nd Wind, and it is beautiful. 🙂   So that was the big news in our house for a while :).

I even bought a red bow! 

Workout related I ‘raced’ a 5 mile run on January 1st because JMR had already signed up and I had 5 miles on my schedule, so why not?  It was hardly ‘race’ pace for me after a late night (I made it past midnight! First time in three years I think) with probably one too many glasses of wine, but I got it done.  When we got home we celebrated the run/New Years Day by making a big breakfast of sausage, eggs, biscuits and fruit  🙂

So this past week was the ‘official’ first week of IMWI training and wasn’t too different from the previous weeks, but I guess because it’s now ‘officially IMWI training’, I’m feeling a little more serious about it.  No missed swims and every workout was done on the planned day.  Let’s see if I can keep that up past week one… 🙂  I’ve also been cleaning up my diet along with taking my Amazing Supergrass Geen Superfood and my Pure Clean Powder Beet Powder.  I’ve been taking Amazing Supergrass in the mornings with breakfast and it really helps keep my energy consistent throughout the day, whereas in December I wasn’t as consistent about taking it and could really tell my energy was lacking in the afternoon on days I didn’t take it (although I probably didn’t eat very healthy on those days which I’m sure didn’t help).  Also I am back to taking Pure Clean Powder before my workouts and they have seemed stronger and more focused (if I do two workouts a day, I just take it before the first one).  I stopped taking it during the off-season because it is a little pricey, but now I remember why I started taking it to begin with! I’m not sure how my stomach will handle either on race day (I never took the Pure Clean Poweder on race day last season), so I will have to experiment with that, but fortunately I have plenty of time!

The usual suspects, plus Infinit for my long trainer ride on Saturday morning.

Other than training, this past Saturday we finally took our Christmas decorations down (lights are still up though…it’s asss cold outside so I think we’ll wait until Wednesday when it’s supposed to be a high of 60!) and I also got up early before my Sunday am swim and run to go grocery shopping for the week.  I have tried to do meal planning in the past, but usually have failed after a week or two (the holidays were a bad idea to try to attempt with so many different events going on), so I’m hoping that this time it will stick.  I already have meal plans and grocery lists planned for the next two weeks, so there is hope!

Ok, on to training!  Not a huge volume, although I do have my migraine to blame for Monday’s shortened workout:

Monday – 1975y.  Soo…this was supposed to be a challenge: Do as many 100’s you can but stop at 100.  I thought to myself after reading that… stop at 100? that’s like…10,000 freaking yards!  So I thought my coach must have been joking.  That morning I woke up with a migraine, but was determined to start off my IMWI training without missing the first workout, so I headed to the pool…I think everyone made swimming their New Years Resolution or something because I have never seen it that crowded…and tried to hammer away.  After doing circle swimming with two ladies that swam at completely different speeds, and my head pounding, I called it a day at 1975y (which I’m pretty sure was 2000y but I was still trying to figure out my new watch).  Later that afternoon I saw my coach had posted on FB that he did 100×100.  Woah.  I guess he wasn’t joking.  Then I really felt like a slacker.

Tuesday – 3miles of speedwork/stairs

Wednesday – 55 min trainer ride at lunch followed by a 2100y swim after work (hate swimming at night…but oveslept that am)

Thursday – Weights in the am followed by 5 mile run with 3 @ 8:30 pace at lunch.  I. Am. Out. Of. Running. Shape.  It was painful and shouldn’t have been, that is all.

Friday – Off

Saturday – 2 hr trainer ride at 75%.  My legs were a little fatigued by the end, but I got it done!

Sunday – 2800y swim followed by a 5mi run on the treadmill (took a Powerbar Powergel in between the swim and run)

Total Training Hours: 7:07

Ok, back to the grind!

Well these past two weeks haven’t been too high in volume, but instead focusing on just trying to get into a training routine so that when IMWI training officially starts on 1/2/17, I can hit the ground running.  I will say what will be one of the bigger challenges for me is getting my darn monday morning swim workout in.  Mondays are rough in general and then to head to the pool to swim just doesn’t sound like fun at all.  I’ve usually been making up those swims on Fridays (my planned rest day), but once the training volume increases, I really can’t be moving things around too much as Mondays are supposed to be active recovery days and Fridays are rest days.  I did get up this am and get my swim in, so at least this week is off to a good start 🙂  Ok, on to the past two weeks of training:

12/5 – 12/-11

Monday – 1550 y swim at lunch followed by 20 min of yoga after work

Tuesday – Track session – 3.5 miles total

Wednesday – 2400y swim in the am, 50 min trainer ride at lunch

Thursday – 1hr trainer ride at lunch, followed by 20 min of strength training after work

Friday – Off

Saturday – 2 hr trainer ride

Sunday – 300y swim followed by a 5mi run on the treadmill

Total Training Hours: 7:17

12/12 – 12/-18

Monday – 1550 y swim in the am, 20 min of yoga at lunch

Tuesday – Track workout – 3 miles total

Wednesday – 55 min trainer ride at lunch, followed by 1700y swim after work

Thursday – 65 min trainer ride at lunch, followed by 20 min of strength after work

Friday – Off

Saturday – Frostbite Series 3k.  Ouch.  I was 20 seconds slower per mile than last year.  The temperatures were completely different this year (this year it was freezing) but that shouldn’t account for that big of a difference.  The next race in two weeks is 2 miles.  The goal is to have a pace faster than my 3k pace!  After the race I got home, showered, ate breakfast and then headed to the pool to do Sunday’s swim since I had a family Xmas brunch Sunday morning and wouldn’t be able to get my swim in.  2800 yards done!

After the swim I did a little Xmas shopping, bought groceries for dinner that night and Sunday night, cleaned, did several loads of laundry, and by the time dinner was ready, I was wiped!  Usually we go out to dinner on Saturday nights, but because the weather this weekend was freezing – as in single digits – with a mix of snow, we were happy to stay at home and eat the Jambalaya I made (and oh boy I have leftovers for days….).

Sunday – A couple of hours after brunch I finally dragged my butt to the gym, but all I wanted to do was nap.  I started on the treadmill but just couldn’t will myself to stare at the wall for 50ish minutes, so I headed to the track and ran 50, yes 50 laps to get in 5 miles.  As boring as that was, I still think it was better than the treadmill.  I spent the rest of the day on the couch.  I think Saturday’s activites wore me out!

Total Training Hours: 5:50

I don’t have any fun pictures to share this week, but I promise I will next week 🙂  Ok, back to the grind, Happy Monday!

Well, I finally had a week where I got in ALL of my workouts on the actual planned days!  Hooray! I’m not going to lie, by Friday my legs were tired and ready for a rest day 🙂  I was also very productive this weekend and organized the kitchen cabinets, cleaned the basement (which was much needed), put up the rest of the Christmas decorations, and put up the tree.

Our little ‘gym’

Donating the items in the middle. There were boxes in the far left corner and all along the wall to the right.  Kind of glad I didn’t take a ‘before’ photo because it was embarassing!

I woke up this morning with sore arms, but it was worth it!  Ok, on to last week’s training:

Monday: 1500y swim in the am, followed by 30 min of yoga in the pm

Tuesday: 5.35 miles of speedwork on the treadmill before work

Wednesday: 52 min trainer ride in the am followed by 2500y swim in the pm. I hate swimming in the evenings since my gym only has 7:30-9:30p swimming hours, so by the time I got home it was time for bed.

Thursday: early morning 70 minute trainer ride, followed by 20 min of strength work

Friday: Rest day, and it was much needed, my quads were sore.  I now know I am definitely out of shape….

Saturday: 3050y swim/5 mile brick workout (on the treadmill…not ready for cold weather running yet)

Sunday: 2 hours on the trainer.  I was bored after 1.5 hours…next week I need to get creative!

Total Training Hours: 8:43

Hooray for a solid week for the first time in MONTHS. It really felt good to get back into the groove and remember what training actually feels like.  Also, I cannot believe I’ve been swimming 3x a week for over a month. Wow.  I’m happy I’ll have some good looking guns and also am hoping it will translate into some faster swimming times too!  I will leave you with a picture of Patrick next to our tree (JMR worked late last night, so still waiting to put the ornaments on).

Dreaming about our first snowfall…which is hopefully soon!

This past week flew by between upgrade support at the beginning of the week, celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday and then putting up the Christmas decorations over the weekend (and we had nice weather!). After four days off, now it’s back to the grind, so onto this past week’s training:

Monday – 1500y swim in the am, 30 min of yoga at lunch

Tuesday – 4.5 mile speedwork on the Treadmill

Wednesday – Trainer ride in the am with 7×30 intervals, 1900y swim (was wiped after a long day at work)

Thursday – Hungry Turkey 5k, JMR got 1st in his age group and I got 3rd, I love small races! Also, my time was nowhere close to a PR, 24:09… but hoping to get some speed back now that I’m able to run pain free.

Two new additions to our trophy shelf!

Friday – Rest Day 1500y swim that I missed on Monday

Saturday – Strength training and a looong 3050y swim

Sunday – 2 hr trainer ride

Total Training Hours: 6:15

I will leave you with our newest holiday addition in our front yard.  It makes me smile every time I pull into the driveway 🙂

Happy Monday!

Slowly but surely my training hours are going back up, but a strong emphasis on the word ‘slowly’, lol.  Knee is feeling good (ran on Tuesday with no pain!) and my swims are getting faster!  I have a Turkey Trot 5k on Thursday, but given the limited (aka nonexistent) running I’ve been doing since the Trail race, I think it will be more of a ‘fun run’ than a race. Ok, on to last weeks workouts:

Monday – 2050 y swim at lunch

Tuesday – Easy 3.25 run on the treadmill in the am

Wednesday – 48 min trainer ride

Thursday  –  30 min of strength training in the am, followed by a 70 min trainer ride after work

Friday – 1200y swim (overslept so I squeezed in what I could before I had to be at work, was suppposed to be a 1900y swim)

Saturday  – 2900y swim and then headed to Quincy, IL for my mother in law’s birthday

Sunday – Rest day

Total Training Hours: 4:52

I am working on my race calendar for 2017… the half I’ve done the past two years in Effingham, IL has been cancelled for good. 😦  The family that put it on has decided to not run it anymore so I am sad as I had it on my list for 2017 to go back for revenge!  Also it was a fun, well organized, small race so I am sure many others will miss it also. Well that’s about it, back to the Monday grind 🙂