Five on Friday

1.  So far this week (Monday through Friday), I have run 53 miles.  I’ll run 6 more on Saturday and 16 for my long run on Sunday for a total of 75 miles for the week.  Each week I have 3 key workouts.  A long run, hill repeats or 200 meter repeats, and a tempo run.  Tuesday Hills – 2 mile warm up, 10x1minute uphill, jog down, 2 mile cool down  Friday Tempo- 2 mile warm up, 4 x 30 seconds fast, 3 mile tempo, 4 x 30 seconds fast, 1-2 mile cool down
2. Last weekend I ran the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon as part of  my 20 mile long run.  The heat kicked my butt.  After the half, I ran 7 very slow miles barefoot on the grass in the shade.  I placed 5th in the half, but my greatest victory for the day was simply completing the assigned miles.
3. Upcoming races… the Millet Mile on June 30 with the Plano Pacers and Run for the Blue 5k on July 7.  Last year, I ran the Millet Mile in a thunderstorm.  Click here to read about it.    The Run for the Blue 5k was founded in response to the attack on the Dallas Police Department in 2016.
4. Last summer marked my second summer with no AC in my car.  I remember posting a picture of my dashboard showing 109 degrees.  This year, as summer approached, I said to myself “not this year, not this summer.”  However, just like last year and the year before that, I put off getting it fixed.  Why you ask?  Because three summers ago, I paid too much to get it fixed, and the summer before that I paid too much money to have it fixed.  Same result each time.  (Note-Repairs were done at different auto repair shops)  So…this year, when spring failed and summer arrived early, I drove with the windows down and my arm hanging out, and I coasted to each light for a continuous breeze.  Me, stubborn?  Maybe a little…but even so, I was not going to let my car affect training like last year, so I researched some cheap fixes and found a couple items on Amazon that were worth trying out.  A cooling seat and a dashboard fan.  The cooling seat plugs into the lighter socket and helps some just not enough for 100 degree days.  The dashboard fan is nice especially when there is traffic.  The cost?  About $50.  These two cheap fixes helped for sure, but the cheap solution that helped the most?  AC Pro from Autozone.  I was skeptical at first.  For $34, this stuff can plug leaks and recharge my AC?  Sure enough, it worked.  My car has been blowing cold air for 5 days now.  I don’t expect the fix to last much longer, but with a $34 temporary fix, I’ll make it through the summer!
5. A few favorites!   Favorite Show- Into the Badlands… I like the pretty colors.  Favorite Movie- Deadpool 2… Chimichangas!  Favorite Electrolyte Replacement- Power Pak Electrolyte Stamina from Whole Foods… Unlike the Tailwind I ordered from Amazon, it didn’t explode in the mail.  Favorite Shoes- New Balance Hanzo Racing Flats … The fast ones without holes!

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Locked Out

Spring Training

Week 2 brought a slight increase in mileage and an increase in intensity.  Early in week 2, my legs felt surprisingly sore.  I let myself rest and recover more than normal during my post marathon light weeks, which I view as a good thing but also as the reason for feeling a little out of running shape.  I ended Week 2 feeling stronger and faster so no worries here.  This is what building back up is all about.

Monday

8 miles easy on the treadmill

Everything started blooming so a break from the pollen is a must sometimes.

Tuesday

2 miles easy

16 x 200 @ 5:30-5:40 pace with a 200 meter jog in between

2 miles easy

This workout was tough.  I really had to push myself the last four 200s.  These were not at a sprint, but at a fast cruising pace.  My legs were pretty sore for the rest of the day.

Wednesday

8 miles easy

Thursday

7 miles easy (I had to cut this run short.  I got a bad stomach cramp at mile 7 that wouldn’t go away.)

Friday

2 miles easy

4xstrides

2 miles @6:55/mile

2 minutes rest

2 miles @6:55/mile

2 miles easy

Saturday

6 miles easy

I felt great for this run.  : )

Sunday

14 hilly miles

I felt a little tight on this run, but it never felt too hard.  Total climb ended up around 650ft for the long run.

I recovered from this run quickly, which was necessary since I had an afternoon full of outdoor activities with my family!  Water balloon games, water balloon tag, and football.  : )

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!  April Fools!  Happy whatever you chose to celebrate today!

 

St. Paddy’s Day Dash Down Greenville 5k 2018

Coming off two weeks of easy running and very low mileage, I went into the Dash Down Greenville with very low expectations, a desire to run fast, a goal to have fun, and the belief that I had on the correct bib number.

My plan was simple. To go out fast and hold that pace for as long as I could and finish with whatever I had left. Mile 1. Racing past the smoky grills. 6:02. Mile 2. Past the Village Apartments and up the steep hill to Skillman. 6:09. Mile 3. One more mile is nothing, Keep Going. 6:30. The Last .1. Legs don’t fail me now. 19:20. 10th Overall Female. Only the results won’t show that exactly. I found out later on the my husband and I accidentally switched numbers. So instead of 10th Overall Female, I finished 3rd in the Men’s 40-44 Age Group! #runnerproblems

I recovered fast and began my cool down a couple minutes after the finish. Two miles easy. Soon after, I met up with my husband. We grabbed some coffee and our kids. Then we headed out to Guy Mezger’s Combat Sports Club for Saturday Class.

19:20 is not a PR for me, but it is a great first race back for me. Historically, I have had to work my way down to a 19 something 5k. Last year after four solid weeks of training, I ran a 40:32 10k, a 62:00 15k a week later, and then a 19:01 in the Dash Down Greenville 5k a week after that. My race performance went downhill from there. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Half didn’t go well and my spring 5k times stayed between 19:36-20:15. That said, I am very happy starting this next 4-5 weeks of training with a 19:20 5k.

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Spring Training

Week 1 was all about easy running, low mileage, rest, and midterms.

Monday

Easy but faster than planned. And more than planned…I needed a jump start on Monday before school. An energizing 3 mile run. The quickest shower ever and short drive to my 8 a.m. class. Monday evening I had my first midterm. It was a challenge.

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Rest and Midterm #2. Taking apart and putting back together a Dell Optiplex in less than 20 minutes (none of us needed the full time though). In January, I didn’t even know how to open the case. : )

Thursday

3 miles easy

Friday

3 miles easy

Saturday

3.65 miles plus upper body strength. I got in an extra workout in the afternoon. Two hand touch football with my husband, our kids, and their friends!

Sunday

Today, I ran inside. 7 miles easy pace with 1 minute @6:15/miles at the beginning of miles 2-6.

I ran most of my miles this week in my new Nike Vaporflys. My feet and ankles needed a break from the Vibram Five Fingers. The Vaporflys are comfortable and responsive, and I will write a review after I put some more miles on them.

Coming Up this Week

A slight increase in miles, Spring Break, and the Dash Down Greenville 5k.

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I Run Because

Cowtown Marathon 2018 Race Recap

Cowtown Marathon Training

I realized I had some sort of evil marathon sabotaging virus, while I puked my guts out Tuesday night. 12 days before the Cowtown Marathon. The day before my Hardware Exam. And the day before all of my Hardware Labs were due.

M.I.A.

Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference.  In life.  In running.  In competition.  In health.  And change often occurs without warning.  Comes out of nowhere.  Hits hard for better or for worse.  Change is chaos to me.  Imagine a long line of dominoes that took weeks/months to set up.  Change knocks one domino over, and every domino crashes down.  That is my initial view of change.  It is not logical.  It is just me.

So, when I lost my GPS watch two weeks ago, I went a little crazy.  Runner crazy.  “What am I going to do?”  “My training is ruined.”  “How am I going to run my 24 mile run?”  “What about Strava?”  If you are a runner, I imagine this or something like this has happened to you.  A race routine disaster.  A stormed out long run.  Music that won’t sync.  To the non-runner, maybe you can relate in some other way, or maybe this is one of those times to read, smile, and enjoy the lack of runner problems in your life.

Buying the Polar m200 forced me to change more than I expected, and I was unwilling to see any good in this at first.  A new app that I didn’t know like the back of my hand.  A buzz instead of a tune to let me know the GPS is ready.  A display that didn’t show me what I needed to see.  All impossible to fix issues, right?

After a few days of messing around with the display, evaluating my workouts on the Polar App, and ignoring Strava, I embraced the changes.  The Polar App turned out to be awesome, and in using the App, I discovered a new way to share my running data.  The display, which concerned me at first, turned out to be easy to adjust so that the correct data is visible while I run, and a break from Strava was surprisingly refreshing.  The forced break opened my eyes…

Every single mile that I run doesn’t need to be uploaded to Strava.  I enjoy giving/receiving Kudos, but it is not necessary.  Additionally, too many challenges and too much comparing (which I try to refrain from at all times) can be distracting from the real goal.  

I plan to share some of my runs on Strava, but now it is a choice, not an automatic upload.  I will also be sharing more of my workouts on Instagram, so if you haven’t yet, check out my Instagram Page.

Here are some other small changes that have made a big difference recently.

Eating a bigger breakfast before hard workouts has helped me finish stronger and recover faster.

Using Tailwind for hydration has shortened my recovery time both physically and mentally after long runs.

Using a standing desk has decreased my lower back pain and has improved my posture.

Have you ever been forced to make a change?  Did everything work out?  How did you deal with it?  Does adapting to change come easy to you?

Thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend!

October Stats

Running Stats

In October I…

Ran 309.6 miles

Climbed 9,366ft

Ran in 2 races

Completed 4 20 Mile Runs

Took 1 Day Off

and

Placed 338th out of 152,175 in the Strava Distance Challenge.

Blogging Stats

I published 23 blog posts.

Tuesday Steady State had the most views.

Wordless Wednesday had the least views.

People from 36 different countries viewed my blog,

And I set a new monthly views PR of 3,609.

How was your October?  Any new PRs?  Or new experiences?  Let me know!

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