Mobile Bay Runner

A Blog by Sam Yeager-Allen

Year: 2017

Race Recap: Shrimp Fest 10K

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Howdy!

I ran the Shrimp Festival 10K yesterday morning. The race was a very last-minute decision (as in, I decided Friday evening that I was going to run it). I had 18 miles on my schedule this week and so I concocted this master plan of running before the race, running the race and then running some more after the race. So yeah, basically my plan was to run, keep running and run some more. Genius! I needed to be at work around 10 or so Saturday morning and so I ended up doing the majority of the miles before the race so that I could leave and get back at a decent time.

I sipped on coffee and UCAN on the way to the race (about a 45 minute drive), got to the race around 6:30, registered and hit the [paved] trails! Daniel came with me to the race and rode his bike while I was running. The sun had just come up and I felt completely comfortable running on the trails by myself. I took my phone with me and listened to a podcast while I ran. I don’t wear headphones, I just let it play out loud. I would never do this in a race (as that can be quite annoying), but when I am by myself, I’d rather listen out loud (softly) than wear headphones. I saw some rabbits, a few deer and some other wildlife that I think I’m forgetting. It was very peaceful.

I met up with my friend, Jill, at about five and a half miles or so into my warm up. She wanted to do a three mile warm up and so we tried to coordinate our schedules so that we could run three miles together before the race. We haven’t seen each other in a while and I guess we were just extra chatty and also not paying attention to what we were doing, but before we knew it, we realized that we were actually about two and half miles away from the start … and it was 7:40! EEK. We had to really book it to make it back in time and we weren’t sure that we even would.

We threw down a 7:18 and a 7:14 mile in our best attempt to actually make it to the start of the race on time without completely exhausting ourselves. I hadn’t even pinned my number on my shirt yet and so we were definitely scrambling. Daniel called me asking what in the world we were doing and I explained that we just lost track of time and were currently hauling it to make it back. The race had chip timing, so we had decided that even if we had to start late, it would be okay, we would just have to do a lot of weaving around folks on a very narrow trail. There was also a 5K that started about 15 minutes after the 10K. We heavily contemplated that as well.

Ultimately, we made to the start of the race by the skin of our teeth with about 1 minute to spare. Whew! The good news is that we didn’t have to worry about getting nervous standing around waiting for the race to start and also that I definitely got the “continuous” feel of my long run in. There were no breaks between the warm up and the race!

The race starts and finishes at the Orange Beach Sportsplex and runs on the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail (a trail system with over fifteen miles of trails throughout Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and the Gulf State Park). The trails are all paved and it’s a great location for a race (or just to run if you are ever in the area)! The only minor drawback is that the GPS satellites are a little wonky in there and you can’t really rely on your watch for accurate mid-race data. I am trying to get away from Garmin stalking anyway, so this actually worked out.

Jill and I ran the first two miles together (6:49, 6:57). This wasn’t a goal race per say for either one of us and we talked about trying to keep it under seven minute pace with maybe a negative split if we felt good.

I kind of did a quick assessment at mile two and decided that I wanted to try to pick the pace up a little bit and get close to 6:30 if possible. I was feeling pretty good and managed to hit 6:33, 6:32, 6:33 and 6:39 for the last four miles of the race. I didn’t think to restart my watch after the “warm up” to have accurate times and splits for the race, so my mile markers were a little bit off the whole time and I wasn’t even sure what my total race time was until I got to the finish line (it was 41:37). I think I was fifth overall and first female, so I can’t really complain about that!

I didn’t have any real expectations for what I was going to feel like running a 10K already being 10 miles into the run. I was pleasantly surprised! I was also very thankful that I had already done ten miles before the race because that meant I only had to do two miles afterwards to get my eighteen in. My legs were definitely toast at that point, but I got it done. Daniel’s family was in town staying at the Gulf and they came out to the race, which was wonderful. It’s always great to have a little bit of extra moral support out there.

We weren’t able to hang out very long after the race since I had to get back to go to work. Only 1 more day until “second” tax season is over! Praise the Lord! I hated to miss the awards, but sometimes you just do what you gotta do. I’m glad that I made the last-minute decision to run this race. It’s definitely a good one. Hopefully I’ll be able to run it again next year and perhaps not have to come and go in such a mad dash!

Always on the Run

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Hey guys! Here is my training log for the week of 10.02.17 to 10.18.17!

Monday – Easy Run: 5.5 miles (9:02 pace)

I started the week off with a short recovery run with Daniel. This is pretty typical, as the weekends are usually filled with higher mileage and/or races and I need a day (or sometimes two) to recover. Last weekend was filled with lots of running shenanigans and I definitely needed a couple of easy days this week.

Tuesday – Easy Run: 8 miles (8:40 pace)

My legs were starting to feel better by Tuesday and I did 8 miles with the Daniels that morning.

Wednesday – Speed: 10 miles (7:30 pace) + Easy Run: 5 miles (8:21 pace)

Young Daniel and I hit track bright and early (well … actually very dark and early) for some 1200 meter repeats Wednesday morning. The workout was a 2 mile warm up, 6 X 1200 w/ 400 recoveries and a 2 mile cool down. There was a gorgeous harvest moon over the track for the majority of the workout.

My goal pace range for the 1200s was 6:10 to 6:20, which is probably somewhere between 5K and 10K pace currently. It took us a couple of repeats to ease into the pace, but once we got there, the pace felt manageable. My splits for the 1200s were 6:35, 6:27, 6:13, 6:14, 6:04 and 6:00. This workout was a great reminder that easing into the pace and nailing the last few repeats (or miles of a race) is definitely the way to go.

I did a double Wednesday and my legs were toast by the end of the day.

Thursday – Easy: 5 miles (9:47 pace)

I stuck to the treadmill Thursday morning and my legs were definitely feeling the effects from Wednesday’s runs. I had a hard time settling into a comfortable rhythm and overall this run was just kind of blah.

Friday – Easy: 7 miles (9:22 pace)

I ran 5 miles with Daniel and 2 miles with Brooks Friday morning.

Saturday – Endurance: 15 miles (7:48 pace)

I had a fast finish long run on tap this week. I was planning to jump into a local 5K Saturday morning for the fast finish portion, but the race was cancelled courtesy of Hurricane Nate. I like using races in my training, especially for something like a fast finish long run, as I find that having a race makes me exponentially more motivated to actually pick it up at the end of the run. That didn’t exactly workout for me this time around, but I did manage to complete the run sans race.

My goal pace range for the last four miles of the run was 6:45 to 7:00, which is goal marathon pace range (eek … I try not to think about that too much). The first 10 to 11 miles of this run felt so long. The anticipation of knowing that you have a workout to do, but not being able to just get it over with is really tough. Our splits for the last four miles were 6:59, 7:21 (big hill (i.e., 100+ ft. of elevation gain)), 7:02 and 6:45. Having a buddy gut it out with you at the end is really nice … thanks Sasser! I was just outside of the goal pace range on those miles, but I’m still really happy with it. I think some workouts count as mental victories and this was one of those for me.

Sunday – Easy: 9.5 miles (8:39 pace)

Sunday morning was a bit of a wash out due to Hurricane Nate, but thankfully it never got too bad here. I got to run with Rebecca and Jessica Sunday afternoon, which was so nice! We’ve not been able to run together as much recently, but I guess that makes us even more thankful for the times when it does workout.

I hope everyone has a great week!

 

Profesh

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Hey guys!

Hurricane Nate blew through our area last night. It’s early Sunday morning and I am currently without internet access (writing in a word document), sipping some coffee in my PJs. I was really hoping to watch the coverage of the storm and of the Chicago marathon this morning, but our TV is through the internet and so, I can’t do either of those things. Daniel had to go to work this morning (apparently people don’t stop being sick because there is a storm … go figure). I was worried that he would have trouble getting to the hospital, but thankfully he made it there safely. Brooksy and I have been out to play fetch and he’s settled in for his morning nap. I figured this would be a good chance to catch up on life!

Edited to add: if you are reading this, we are back in business! Haha.

Work has been a little bit crazy lately. I haven’t gotten too much into the details of all of that on the blog. I really want to be completely transparent and able to share the things that are going on in my life, but at the same time, these things affect more people than just myself and it’s not always fair to share the details. Honestly this frustrates me, because when I first started the blog, I wanted it to be as much about the ups and downs of real life as possible and now I feel like I can’t really write about some of the things that I want to and so I basically just stick to running. Not that I am complaining about that! I can talk about running A LOT, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.

Where does that leave us? Oh yes … work. Over the last several years, I have been struggling with the idea of my career choice. I’m sure you know, but in case there is anyone new, I am a CPA and I work in public accounting. Basically I prepare business and personal tax returns. I don’t dislike what I do, but at the same time, I’m not passionate about what I do. I’ve never actually met anyone who is passionate about taxes, so I don’t guess I am alone in this feeling. When I started out in this profession, I kind of just assumed that my goal would be to work my way up and make partner. I don’t even think I gave it much thought, that was just the path that most people took and it sounded respectable, so why not?

Ugh. I wish that I could go back and talk some sense into my twenty year old self. I guess that’s the funny thing about life something though. I don’t think my twenty year old self would’ve listened. I’m a completely different person than I was then and there is no way that I could’ve known what I know now. After several years in public accounting, it became very apparent to be that I didn’t want to be a partner at a firm. I saw lots of unhappy people working tons of hours, but not truly enjoying life. I didn’t want to be one of those people and I knew that I could’ve EASILY have become one of those people. My personality is wired to throw myself 100% into something at the expense of … well, basically everything else in my life. I didn’t (and still don’t) want that for my life.

I do think that I have been able to establish a tiny semblance of balance in my professional life at this point. I have learned to set boundaries and to speak up for myself when I am in a situation that isn’t right. I’m not saying that I have this completely dialed in by any means, but I am much more confident in myself in general and in my professional abilities than I used to be. Some of this just came naturally with time. When you’ve been doing something for 9+ years, you have more leverage than someone fresh out of school. I have basically been able to say, I will work X number of hours, but nothing more. This has helped me tremendously. You can’t work 70 hours per week (doing something that you aren’t passionate about) and have a happy life.

I started a new job this summer and right off the bat, I was hit smack in the face with the number of hours I was willing to do and what my boss expected me to do (which in my defense, was not communicated to me in my interview). We worked through this and for the most part I have held my ground. I feel torn sometimes because I hate feeling like I am not doing what is expected of or needed from me. There are certain situations where I am still willing to work extra, especially if we are up against a deadline (as we are currently).

The point I was originally trying to get to was that I *may* have an opportunity to switch out of public accounting altogether (finally!) and try something new … teaching! This is something that I have (in the back of my mind) thought about for years. I am planning to pursue it on a very part-time basis (i.e., teaching one class) over the next year and then, I guess we’ll see. I’m excited and nervous about it at the same time, but I think that is completely normal. I’ve said this before, but growth occurs outside of our comfort zones. This will definitely be a period of growth and I’m excited to see how it works out.

Let’s talk about Girls on the Run! I am currently coaching a GOTR group at a local elementary school. We meet for an hour and a half Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Not to bring work up again, but my boss was very understanding and totally cool with me leaving to go do this (I have to make the time up, but still) … hopefully he’ll be equally as understanding and cool with me leaving to go teach. Fingers crossed. Maybe he’ll find this blog and it’ll tell him for me. Ha. Each week at GOTR, the girls have a snack, we discuss our lesson for the day, we do a warm up activity and then they set a lap goal for themselves and RUN. They absolutely love it, which makes my runner heart want to explode a little bit. On Tuesday we talked about our emotions, both comfortable and uncomfortable (as opposed to good or bad … because there are no “bad” emotions). I feel like I am learning so much from these lessons. Perhaps that means I am on a fifth grade level emotionally? Things that make you go, “Hmm.” LOL!

On Thursday we talked about how to express our emotions, using the four phrases 1) I feel, 2) when you, 3) because and 4) I would like for you to. It has taken me many years to learn the importance of expressing emotions, rather than keeping them inside. Heck, a lot of the time I still struggle with this! Expressing your emotions clearly helps others to understand how you are feeling and how they can help you. Each of the four phrases has a purpose. “I feel” lets the other person know exactly how you feel, “when you” tells the other person the exact behavior that makes you feel a certain way, “because” gives the other person a better understanding of why you feel that way and “I would like for you to” explains to the other person what you would like for them to continue to do or to do differently.

Just for funsies, I will do a comfortable and uncomfortable workplace example. I might say to a coworker, “I feel hopeful when we discuss our ideas for making our processes more efficient because I can tell that we are on the same page and care about the direction of the firm. I would like for you to always come to me with any ideas that you may have so that we can work together to make everyone’s job easier.” I might say to my boss, “I feel frustrated when you don’t clearly communicate what is expected of me because I don’t work well in an environment without clearly defined expectations and assumptions. I would like for you be upfront with your expectations.” See how it works?! I just think these are such amazing life lessons for these girls to be learning. The GOTR curriculum is amazing!

Despite what it may seem like I was saying earlier, I actually feel way more fulfilled in my career at the moment than I have in a while and I think that GOTR is playing a part in that. I read an article recently called “The Millennial Woman’s Quest for Career Purpose: A Response to the Ambition Collision,” and it was ON POINT. Women enter the workplace filled with ambition and optimism and then, by 30 or so, we start to feel “stuck,” yearning for something “more.” We shouldn’t ditch our professional responsibilities out of indifference, but instead we can’t always look to work as the answer to the big questions that we have about life. We need to establish ourselves in such a way that we do not have only one source of validation. If you put equal emphasis on your life outside of work, you get further ahead and are more satisfied at work as well. Of course it’s all about finding that balance!

When I took my two month career hiatus a few years ago and started this blog, that’s exactly what I was doing. I had let my work become my life and at the time, the only way I saw out was to leave the job altogether (obviously that is exactly what this article advises you not to do). I was searching for purpose. In some ways, the blog has been a part of that journey to discover my purpose. I thought about leaving public accounting altogether at that point, but realized fairly quickly that a girl’s gotta eat. Here I am now, two years later, pondering some of the same thoughts. I guess the difference now is that I can recognize that work isn’t my life and I have found passion in several areas outside of work.

I still struggle with the idea of spending any of my time doing a job that I am not truly passionate about, but at the same time, I know that it’s okay, normal even, to feel this way. My job allows me to have a decent amount of flexibility, which is very nice and it allows me to make enough to pay the bills and enjoy my hobbies. I am still planning to pursue the teaching thing, I’m just not sure exactly to what extent. I am going to be teaching an undergraduate corporate tax class this spring … I mean, talk about passion! Ha. In all seriousness though, if I can continue to do some work in accounting, some teaching and have time to volunteer at things like GOTR, I will be living the dream.

Sorry for the long ramble of a post. It’s been a while since I have gotten a chance to do that. I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this topic. How do you find balance and passion in your life?

Race Recap: Bras Across the CAUSEway 5K

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Sunday evening I ran in the inaugural Bras across the CAUSEway 5K. As you might have deduced, this is an event that supports breast cancer awareness and the benefits actually support LOCAL breast cancer patients! For those of you who aren’t local to the Mobile Area, the Causeway is the term used for the approximately 7 mile stretch of road connecting US 90 and US 98 across Mobile Bay. The road is also known as Battleship Parkway as it is home to the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.

I knew this event was coming up, but didn’t realize that it was on Sunday evening. Rebecca mentioned that it might be fun to run and of course, it didn’t take too much convincing before I was in! She ran 21 miles that morning and I ran 11 miles, so we weren’t really planning to race this thing, but mainly just wanted to show up and support a great cause.

As I drove across the bay, I saw hundreds of bras strung along the side of the road, which was really cool! The race started at 5:15 p.m. I got there sometime around 4:45 and got registered. I thought about doing a couple of warm up miles, but really just didn’t feel like it … so I didn’t (for the record, I don’t really recommend this). The course was an out and back and it was windy! Goodness gracious. I took my visor off and ran with it in my hand for over half of the race.

My main goal for the race was to get a negative split (each mile faster than the one before it). I know that starting out conservatively and negative splitting is usually the best way for me to race and *sometimes* I do a decent job of keeping the pace even to slightly negative, but in the last several 5Ks that I have done, I have ended up doing quite the opposite. I’ve started out too fast and crashed hard, which is never a fun way to run.

I was the lead female from the gun, so there isn’t too much to tell as far as that goes. I did end up catching two guys that were ahead of me for maybe the first half to three quarters of a mile, but after that I kept the same position for the remainder of the race (second overall). I could see Brandon out ahead and I just focused on trying to steadily reel him in, which didn’t really happen, but it gave me something to at least think about. The first mile was pretty much directly into the wind and also ran across a slight bridge. I wanted to give you the incline of said slight bridge, but I guess Garmin doesn’t recognize bridges. Does this sound correct? Someone help me out here!

We crested the top of the bridge right at mile one and I glanced down to see a 6:36 mile split. I honestly had no expectations going in, so I didn’t really feel good or bad at the sight of the split. I just figured that it is what it is and let’s keep rolling. The first half of the second mile was slightly down the other side of the bridge and once we got to the turnaround, the wind was a little bit more at our backs. Of course, it didn’t really *feel* this way. If you are running and it is windy out, it always feels like a headwind! Ha. Once you got to the turnaround you also got to see all of the other runners, which is always great! I tend to really enjoy out and back courses because I love the feedback.

My split for mile two was 6:14. Woo! I hardly even noticed that we had to go back up and over the slight bridge and I knew that my pace was on the right track for the negative split (assuming that I could keep my effort level about where it was).

My split for miles three was 6:01, which I was ecstatic about and I crossed in 19:42. To be honest, I likely wouldn’t have been happy with this time in most circumstances, but since my only goal was to negative split … I was happy! Sometimes it is nice to set goals that aren’t solely based on your overall time. I think we are more likely to be pleasantly surprised with the outcome when we set smaller, more attainable goals. Once you get to a certain point, you can’t expect a PR at every race, but you can still set other goals and push yourself.

In the spirit of just rolling with it, I decided to forgo the typical cool down as well (also not recommended), but I did get in a half a mile or so, which I guess is better than nothing. We hung out for a little while after the race and chatted with friends. Jessica came and brought Miss Olivia to spectate, which was awesome! Savannah got a snow cone and was perfectly happy. The overall and age group winners got pink arm warmers as our awards. I thought this was very unique and I like them a lot! I really love the idea of arm warmers, but I have never actually run in them (and I have three pairs now … insert facepalm). Maybe this winter will be the year that I finally get up the courage to wear them (#goals).

This was a really fun run and I’d love to do it again next year!

09/25/17 – 10/01/17

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Hey again! Two days in a row. I’m on a roll!

Here is what went down last week, training wise:

Monday: 5 miles (8:21 pace)

We got home from Augusta around 3 p.m. or so Monday afternoon. I was able to meet up with some of the usual suspects for an impromptu group run after every one else got off work. We did a loop and it felt good to stretch my legs a little bit after driving all day.

Tuesday: 8 miles w/ 4 miles @ tempo (6:39 pace)

This week’s schedule called for Tempo Tuesday! Young Daniel did the workout as well and Husband Daniel rode his mountain bike with us. We did a 2.75 mile warm up (basically to get us over the biggest hills) and then it was time to tempo. The goal pace for the tempo miles was 6:20 to 6:30. It took us a good mile and a half or so to settle into the pace. The first two miles were 6:56 and 6:39. The 6:56 was a little disheartening because it definitely felt like we were working hard, but we didn’t let it get to us too much. The temperature and dew point were both in the 70s and so we knew that the goal pace range would actually be slower if we had adjusted it. I don’t always like to adjust it beforehand because I think I tend to use that as a crutch, when I’d rather just gut out the workout knowing that I did my best and check the adjustment after the fact to make myself feel better. Ha. Whatever it takes, right?

After the first two tempo miles we were cruising! I hit the last two in 6:31 and 6:32 and Young Daniel finished ahead of me. My tempo miles averaged out to just under 6:40 pace, which I think is very respectable given the conditions. We were definitely glad to have that one behind us.

Wednesday: 8 miles (8:42 pace)

Wednesday’s run was nice and easy to recover from the previous day’s stress workout. I did a loop with Young Daniel and then headed out for 3 more solo miles.

Thursday: 10 miles (8:08 pace) 

The training plan called for 10 miles with 10 X 30 second pickups with a 1:00 recovery jog on Thursday. I typically use the workout feature on my Garmin for timed intervals, but decided not to for this one. I didn’t really have a set pace that I was trying to hit on the pickups and I didn’t specifically need to have the post-workout feedback, so we just ran by feel and used the overall running time to know when to start and stop the pickups and the recoveries.

We did the pickups during miles 5 and 6 of the run. The 30 seconds flew by and I definitely enjoyed this workout. Having the pickups gave us something to focus on and the pace naturally gets a little quicker during the recoveries and after the pickups after your body wakes up and your legs start turning over.

Friday: 6 miles (8:14 pace)

I hit up the treadmill Friday morning for a few easy miles. I listened to The Ali on the Run Show. She interviewed Danielle from The T-Rex Runner, whose blog I have read off and on for years. I thoroughly enjoyed the podcast and the miles flew by!

Side note: I decided to wear these lovely Nike spandex shorts that I want so badly to like. They are so darn cute, but about 10 steps into the run they are not where they are supposed to be and it stresses me out. Oh well, I tried. The treadmill is a really good place to experiment with clothing options (well … maybe not if you are on a public treadmill).

Saturday: 17 miles (7:58 pace)

Saturday was long run day! I had 17 miles to tackle. Several of us got started at 5 a.m., which was actually quite nice. We had 7 miles in the books by the time a few others joined in at 6 a.m. and somehow I always seem to almost “forget” about those super early miles. I guess my body is still half asleep or something … I can’t really explain it. Basically it felt like I only ran 10 miles, when I actually did 17, which I guess is a good thing! I didn’t quite get my pace down into the “moderate” range that I was supposed to, but I’m not super concerned with that at this point. The 17th mile was the fastest mile of the day at 7:00 flat, which helped to bring my overall average just under 8:00 pace. Whew!

Sunday: 11 miles (8:18 pace) + 3.15 miles (6:17 pace)

Sunday morning I got some much-needed girl time! I was originally planning to meet Rebecca for the second half of her long run. We also got to run some with Lizzie, Jill and Jessica, which was so great! We haven’t all gotten together for a run in several months.

Funny story … as we were finishing up the run, Rebecca came up with the grand idea that we should run a 5K that evening. The inaugural “Bras Across the CAUSEway” event was taking place that evening and of course at the time (i.e., riding those post-run endorphin waves), it seemed like a wonderful idea! I told her that I was in. I texted my coach to keep him in the loop and we planned to meet back up at the race that evening.

I’ll recap the race in a separate post, but the short version is that I ran a major negative split (6:40, 6:14, 6:01), which is likely due to the major headwind we were running into during the first half of the race and probably also somehow related to the fact that I didn’t do a pre-race warm up … I wasn’t planning to run this thing all out, so I just kind of went with it. It was a great event all-around and I’m really glad that we did it.

That wraps up last week’s runs. I’ll talk to you guys soon!

September Recap

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Hey-o!

October really snuck up on me and I have gotten behind with the regular scheduled programming around here. Work is going pretty well (better at least), but we are SUPER busy right now and will be for about two more weeks. I’m also LOVING Girls on the Run! We have practice two times per week for an hour and a half, which is great, but is also a bit of a commitment. Definitely worth it. Anywho, let’s recap the running for the month of September really quickly, shall we …

Month Recap: September 2017

Workouts: September was a fairly consistent month of building back some fitness after taking a short break in August. Each week seemed to have a good mix of speed, tempo and endurance workouts. September was the first month of the fundamental phase of marathon training. October will be another month of the same and then in November and December, we will move into the specific phase.

Here is what my September workouts looked like:

13 miles: LR @ 7:51 avg. 

8 miles: 15 X 1:00 on, 1:00 off

10 miles: 8 easy + 2 brisk (6:53, 6:42)

15 miles: LR @ 7:49 avg. 

12 miles: 2 mi. WU, 6 X 1 mile (6:24, 6:18, 6:20, 6:23, 6:22, 6:21), 2 mi. CD

10 miles: 2 mi. WU, 12 X 600 (2:17, 2:17, 2:18, 2:16, 2:16, 2:18, 2:21, 2:17, 2:21, 2:20, 2:23, 2:18), 2 mi. CD

10 miles: 8 easy + 2 brisk (6:58, 6:56)

17 miles: LR w/ 11 easy + 6 steady state (7:12)

8 miles: 2 mi. WU, 4 mi. tempo (6:56, 6:39, 6:31, 6:32), 2 mi. CD

10 miles: 10 X 30 seconds on, 1:00 off

17 miles: LR @ 7:58 avg. 

Favorite workout: In looking back over the workouts, none of them really stand out as a favorite, which isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy any of them, but rather that I enjoyed several of them. I think the 6 X 1 mile @ tempo pace and them 4 mile tempo were probably two of the most enjoyable. I’m digging the tempo pace runs these days!

Races: I only did one race this month. Womp, womp. The next few months will be full of fun races though, so at least I’ve got something to look forward to. Daniel did his big race the last weekend of September too, so check out his recap (here) if you missed it.

Favorite Race: The Jubilee Race for Life 5K was a wonderful race! I love a local, hometown race and this race was exactly that!

Paces: The paces ranged from 6:11 (during the 5K) to 10:22 (during an easy, recovery run).

Total miles: I ran 287.75 miles during September. Woo!

Distances: My shortest run was 3 miles and longest run was 17 miles.

Strength work: Y’all. I am so proud of myself. I actually did a really good job of stretching and doing some strength stuff this month! I averaged 10 minutes a day, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but definitely adds up over time.

That’s all I’ve got for now … keeping it short and sweet today. I share more of the ins and outs of all of my workouts on my weekly recaps (which I also happen to be a little bit behind on at the moment … hopefully I can get last week’s up this evening). So, check those out (links are below) if you’d like to see more details.

08/28/17 – 09/03/17
09/04/17 – 09/10/17
09/11/17 – 09/17/17
09/18/17 – 09/24/17

I hope you guys have a great week!

 

Try Tri Again

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Hey guys! I hope your week is off to a good start! We had a wonderful time in Augusta last weekend and Daniel did amazingly well at his first Ironman 70.3! I *think* there may be a recap in the works!

I am in week 4 of the fundamental phase of my training for First Light. I’ve got 5 more weeks of this phase and then we will move on to the marathon specific phase, which will be 10 weeks long. Here is what my last week of workouts looked like …

Monday: 5 miles (8:46 pace)

I ran a loop with the Daniels Monday morning. We are pretty predictable at this point.

Tuesday: 10 miles (2 mile WU, 12 X 600, 2 mile CD)

Track Tuesday is back in my life! Tuesday morning’s session was a bit of a bear though. It was 79 degrees (feels like 85) w/ a dew point of 74 for our 4:45 a.m. start. This was so incredibly miserable. I hate to sound whiny, but there is really no other way to describe it. My goal range for the 600s was 2:09 to 2:12 (5:44 to 5:52 pace). After my 5K last week, my coach mentioned that the dew point lowers your V02 max potential, which definitely makes sense. With that in mind, I figured that I would need to adjust my expectations for this workout as well and focus on completion rather than hitting exact times.

My splits were 2:17, 2:17, 2:18, 2:16, 2:16, 2:18, 2:21, 2:17, 2:21, 2:20, 2:23 and 2:18. Not a single one in the goal range and yet, this workout still felt like a victory. It was miserable and I am just proud of myself for gutting it out and completing all 12 reps.

Wednesday: 8 miles (8:22 pace)

I hit the treadmill Wednesday morning for some easy miles. I listened to Tina Muir’s Running for Real podcast episode with Nancy Clark, RD who was a pioneer of sports nutrition in the running world. I’ve read her book, Food Guide for Marathoners, which I found to be extremely informative, so I was interested to hear this interview. I really enjoyed this episode and the miles flew by.

Thursday AM: 10 miles (8:04 pace) 

Thursday morning I had a mini-workout of sorts. My plan called for a 10 mile run with 8 miles easy and 2 miles brisk. I did 5 miles with the Daniels and headed out to do the second 5 miles on my own. I decided to pick the overall pace up during the second 5 miles in general and not just for the last 2 brisk miles. This gave me something to focus on and ended up feeling fairly comfortable. We averaged 8:35 for the first 5 miles and I averaged 7:30 for the second 5, which included my two brisk miles at 6:56 and 6:58.

Thursday PM: 8 miles (9:24 pace)

There is a Thursday evening group run that I try to attend every now and then (it’s been a bit of a rarity here lately). I ran 3 miles with the group and then went back to the park and met Jessica for 5 miles. I only did one double this week, so I figured I might as well make it count.

Friday: 5 miles (8:56 pace)

Young Daniel and I did a loop Friday morning before Daniel and I left for Augusta.

Saturday: 6 miles (8:28 pace)

We found a beautiful place to run in Augusta Saturday morning. As long as we are near the water, I am happy!

Sunday: 6 miles (7:12 average) + 11 miles (spectator pace)

I did a few quick miles before Daniel’s race started. He had to check in around 5:30 a.m. and his wave of the swim start wasn’t until 9 a.m., so we had plenty of time to just hang out before the race started. I decided to go ahead and do a few miles since I wasn’t really sure what the rest of the day would hold. I was able to run 6 miles on the run portion of the triathlon course. The course was closed to traffic and there were plenty of volunteers out getting things set up for the race, so I felt fairly safe. I wouldn’t typically run alone in a city that I am unfamiliar with, but this seemed okay. I didn’t feel completely safe (not that I ever really do if I am running alone), but I had my phone with me and all was well. I ran a little quicker than I normally would do, so we are counting this as a mini workout!

I got back and still had plenty of time to sit with Daniel before his race started, which was perfect!I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but he finished in 5:18 and did SO WELL! I ran all over the dang place cheering for him and seeing him as many places as I possibly could. We were both sufficiently pooped at the end of the day.

That’s all I’ve got for now! I gotta run! Talk to you soon!

Everyday I’m Hustlin’

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Hey guys! Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend. Week #3 of training for the First Light Marathon is in the books and here’s how it went down …

Monday: 7.25 miles (8:36 pace)

Started the week off by doing a loop with the Daniels and adding on a little extra at the end. Irma was making her way into Florida and we had a little wind, but nothing too bad. The bay was crazy low (a lot of water was sucked out into the Gulf).

Tuesday AM: 2 mi. WU, 6 X 1 mile (6:24, 6:18, 6:20, 6:23, 6:22, 6:21), 2 mi. CD 

My schedule called for 6 mile repeats at LT (lactate threshold) tempo pace Tuesday morning. I was oddly excited for this workout. I guess that’s a good example of how taking a little time off from training can rejuvenate your desire to train. I’ve done these repeats at tempo pace before, as opposed to at V02 max pace (which is what likely typically think of when you think about mile repeats), and so I knew that the workout would be tough but doable.

The cooler weather was still hanging around Tuesday morning and while we did have a little bit of wind (remnants from Irma), the conditions were pretty much ideal. We (the Daniels and I) did the workout on the track. While it would’ve definitely been possible to do this one on the road, I’ve gotten to where I would just prefer being on the track. You don’t have to worry about silly things like dodging cars and cracks in the sidewalk.

Our goal range for the repeats was 6:20 to 6:30 (so probably a little slower than 10K pace and a little faster than half marathon pace). We pretty much stuck together for the first 4 repeats. My Daniel led the workout (mainly just because he doesn’t like running directly behind anyone) and Young Daniel and I just hung on behind him. The Daniels stopped after 4 repeats (my Daniel is entering the TAPER phase of his training and Young Daniel had to get to leave to get to work). I did the last two on my own, which was a mental feat in and of itself and the paces stayed pretty consistent. Woo!

Tuesday PM: 3 miles (8:34 pace)

I did an easy 3 mile shakeout run Tuesday evening after work before attending a child protection certification class for Girls on the Run.

Wednesday: 6.5 miles (8:45 pace)

Thursday morning I did a loop with the Daniels and Cody. I followed that up with a 1.5 mile trot with Mr. Brookser.

Thursday: 8 miles (8:37 pace)

Thursday morning I hit up the treadmill, listened to some podcasts and got the miles done. Thursday is typically another workout day, but since I was doing a race Saturday, I only had one major workout this week. I went to my first Girls on the Run practice Thursday afternoon and it was a blast! We have 12 precious girls (3rd, 4th & 5th graders) and they are hilarious. I think the coaches are having just as much fun as the girls.

Friday AM: 8 miles (8:57 pace)

I ran easy with the Daniels Friday morning and followed that up with another 1.5 mile jaunt with Brooks. He’s become quite the little runner dog.

Friday PM: 5 miles (10:19 pace)

I got to run with Jessica again this week on Friday afternoon! Woo! We did 5 miles and it poured rain on us for about 4 of the 5 miles. We looked like drowned rats when we got back to the house, but we had a blast. Running in the rain is actually really enjoyable IMO (that is, of course, as long as it isn’t lightening). For a few moments, all of your cares are washed away and in general, you just feel super hard core!

Saturday: Jubilee Race for Life 5K! 

Feel free to check out the race recap linked above if you’d like and if not, no hard feelings.

Sunday: 11.75 miles (8:14 pace)

I finished up the week with a medium long run with the Warehouse crew. Since I had raced the day before, I didn’t specifically have a long run this week. I figured I would just show up and run with whoever ran the shortest distance, which turned out to be just shy of 12 miles. Everyone is in the thick of marathon and/or ultra training at the moment!

I ended the week with 70 miles and 75 minutes of strength work. I also got plenty of good rest and a sports chiro adjustment. It was a good week and I’m ready to tackle the next one!

Jubilee Race for Life 5K

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This morning I ran the Jubilee Race for Life 5K. The race takes place less than a mile from our house and so I really just couldn’t pass it up. This wasn’t a goal race per say, but more of just a chance to get out there and race (which I love!) and to get a gauge for where I am at this point in the marathon training cycle so that we have a good baseline to work from going forward.

With the race being so close to home, I was [theoretically] able to sleep in. I say theoretically because my internal alarm clock didn’t get the memo. Regular alarm was set for 5:45 a.m., but internal alarm was still set for 4:30 a.m. Toots. I had plenty of time to piddle around the house, have coffee, etc. before I headed up to the race. It’s actually quite nice to have some extra time to just “be” before having to rush off and do things every now and then.

We left the house a little before 7 a.m. (me on foot and Daniel on bike) and headed to the race start so that I could get registered and run the course as a warm up. This is a small, local race that is VERY well organized and VERY well executed. I highly recommend it to anyone local. I registered, got my number and shirt (a fun neon orange tech tee) and headed out to get my warm up in. The volunteers were working on getting all of the water stations set up and getting the roads closed as we were out on the warm up loop. One of the volunteers asked if I was “just out sampling the course,” which we thought was so funny! Yep! Just getting a little sample of what’s to come.

It was incredibly warm and humid! We’ve had some really nice fall temperatures already this season, but apparently it was NOT here to stay. The temperature and dew point were both exactly 76 at the start (i.e., 100% humidity). It was ROUGH! I entered the temperature and dew point into my pace calculator before I left the house (#nerdalert) and knew I was likely going to be looking at a 6 – 8 percent adjustment. I’m so glad that I checked this before the race, because my time definitely reflects the rough conditions and I probably would’ve been a little disappointed if I hadn’t done my research. Knowledge is power I suppose!

I didn’t have any specific time goals going into this one (thank goodness). Based on recent races and workouts, I figured that I should be able to run fairly close to 6:00 pace in good conditions. Seeing as how the conditions were far from ideal, I decided to keep a goal range of 6:15 to 6:20 in the back of mind. I honestly tried not to look at the pace too much mid-race and really focused on running by feel.

The race took off precisely at 8 a.m. I found myself in the top 5 or so pretty much immediately. I knew that it was going to be a small race and I was prepared to work by myself. The first half mile had 8 turns, which can be a little tricky. I mean, I don’t think there could possibly be any more turns in a half mile segment. Haha. I got a fun little surprise at one of the early turns … my mom was there! Daniel also rode his bike all over the course and saw me 4 or 5 times. I’m super thankful for my people!

The course was an out and back and after we got past the last turn at the half mile mark, the course was straight as an arrow (flat to downhill) until we got to the turnaround. I came through the first mile in 6:14 and had moved into the second overall runner. I was pleased with the split and thought to myself that I might even be able to negative split the course (how cute) since I had run smart for the first mile.

I tried to use the gradual downhill of the first half of the second mile to my advantage and just focused on the guy in front of me. I didn’t think that I would catch him, but having a rabbit to chase is always nice. Once we got to the turnaround, I was expecting things to get a little tough. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually got a big boost from seeing the other runners (I love out and back courses for this exact reason). We were all encouraging each other and before I even realized it, I had made it back up the hill! My split for the second mile was 6:11.

Things got a little dicey during the last mile. I knew that my place was pretty much solidified and I tried to keep the effort consistent, but that didn’t really work out for me. We have to reweave back through the 8 turns from mile 1 and the last three tenths or so of the race was uphill. I didn’t specifically feel like we were running downhill at the very beginning of the race, but apparently we were (gotta love it when that happens). That last little bit of incline got to me and my effort level dropped off. My split for the third mile was 6:36.

I finished in 19:29. Time wise, definitely not my best, but effort wise, I was pleased.

One of our precious little Girls on the Run girls was at the race and she did SO WELL. I thought she might need some encouragement at the end of the race so I ran back to find her, but as it turns out, she was just fine. Her finishing kick was amazing and I was really impressed with how she raced! After she finished, Daniel and I headed out for a short cool down. I thought about running the course again, but decided against that. I was really craving a diet coke (it happens), so we ran to the nearest gas station and got a drink before heading back to the race finish to enjoy the carbonation and wait on the awards.

The overall male and female winners got gift certificates for a pair of shoes from Running Wild. A runner can never have too many shoes. Fact. The age group winners got very unique, homemade awards, which is always a nice touch. There was also music, door prizes and Chick Fil A to be enjoyed after the race. We stayed for a while (because of said door prizes) and chatted with friends, new and old (in terms of how long we’ve known them, not because of their ages :)).

Daniel left the race a little bit before I did (Game Day was on … I can’t compete with that). I came home to find he and Brooksy chillaxin in the hammock watching Game Day. So sweet <3

If you are local, you need to do this race next year! It’s always the third weekend in September. This morning was really fun, despite the sogginess of the air. Side note: I have yet to get a brush through my hair (it’s 5:30 p.m. at this point). I think I’ll just wait and deal with that mess tomorrow.

I hope you’ve had a good Saturday! Talk to you soon!

Run the World (GIRLS)!

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Hi! I survived the second week of marathon training. Woo! Here’s how it went down.

Monday (Labor Day): 8 miles (8:23 pace)

Rebecca and I met Monday morning for an easy 8 miles. It was so nice to have a long weekend!

Tuesday: 2.75 mi. WU, 15 X 1:00 on/1:00 off, 1 mi. CD 

Tuesday was definitely a Monday. I woke up with a really sore neck. I feel like the frequency of these random neck cricks has gotten much higher recently. I don’t know specifically what causes it other than the typical suspects of sleeping funny, straining to look at a computer all day and general stress. Regardless, it’s kind of debilitating in the moment. I had a workout on tap for Tuesday morning and I definitely thought about postponing it, but that would’ve basically meant rearranging the entire rest of the week of workouts and I decided to just suck it up and go for it.

Daniel took a rest day (he biked 40 miles and ran 5 miles on Monday), but thankfully Young Daniel and Cody came over to run with me. Cody ran the first three miles with us and then headed back so that he could get to work and Young Daniel and I were on our own for the 15 X 1:00 repeats with a 1:00 rest in between each pickup. I programmed the intervals into my watch and so it counted down the minutes on and the minutes off for us, which is nice. The minutes on were supposed to be HARD. Coach gave me a goal range of 5:30 to 5:45 for these.

Our average paces for the minutes on were 6:29, 6:35, 6:20, 5:41, 5:47, 5:55, 5:57, 5:45, 6:12, 5:51, 6:04, 5:57, 6:18, 5:49 and 5:43. We were a little over goal range and not super consistent, but I know without a doubt that we put in sufficient effort to reap the benefits from this workout.

As a semi-random side note: I was legit late to work Tuesday morning because I couldn’t brush my hair out. My hair tends to be a good barometer of the humidity and Tuesday it must’ve been out of control. Even after two rounds of conditioner, I was dealing with a massive, stubborn, tangled web of lies hair. I spent an extra 10 or 15 minutes trying to brush it out before realizing that it just wasn’t going happen. Thank goodness for the top knot!

I was able to get worked in to see my sports chiropractor Tuesday afternoon. He fixed my neck and also stretched out my hips, quads, hamstrings, etc. while I was there. I’ve not had any significant issues (knock on wood), but I am planning to see him fairly regularly during this training cycle to make sure that I stay as healthy as possible (I think the term for this is “prehab” :)). Prehab and 10 minutes of strength work per day … getting that #extrasalt in (the Salty Running coined term to describe all of the little things that we know we *should* do, but rarely make time for).

Wednesday: 5 miles (8:54 pace) 

Phew. My legs felt sore and heavy Wednesday morning. I was definitely feeling the effects from the quicker running on Tuesday and probably also from the chiro adjustment (I’m always the most sore the day after an adjustment). I did a loop with the Daniels and we were all moving a little slower than normal.

Thursday: 10 miles (7:55 pace) + 5 miles (8:23 pace)

Thursday morning the schedule called for 10 miles with 8 miles at an easy pace and 2 miles at a “brisk” pace. This run was similar to one I did last week, except for last week it was 5 easy and 5 brisk, which made this week’s 2 brisk miles seem like nothing more doable. Waking up to temperatures in the SIXTIES also made the run seem more doable as well! Oh my goodness … it was heavenly!

We (the Daniels and I) did the workout on the same 10 mile route from last week and picked it up during miles 8 (6:53) and 9 (6:42), which gave us one mile to cool down a bit at the very end. The two brisk miles felt really smooth and fairly effortless, which I guess is good because eventually I will need to be able to do 24 more miles at that pace (insert wide eye emoji). It sounds a tad intimidating for sure, but that’s the whole point of having a training cycle … we gotta put in the work to chase those big goals!

Thursday evening Rebecca and I met with one of the local running groups and did an easy 5 miles. We had both done 10 miles with some faster paced stuff that morning, so we just wanted to get in a few easy miles to shake out our legs. An added bonus was that it just so happened to be #tbt and it was the anniversary of our annual photo with Savannah! She will be 3 tomorrow! Time flies.

Friday: 5 miles (8:39 pace) + 5 miles (WITH JESSICA)

I ran an easy 5 miles with Young Daniel Friday morning. I got to work and got the best text message ever! Jessica wanted to run (Baby Olivia is just over a month old). She’s been running a few miles on her treadmill, but was ready to test the waters with an outdoor run. I wasn’t planning to run again, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I was so excited to see her! We got in five miles and lots of laughs. She is a rockstar.

Saturday: 15 miles (7:49 pace)

Saturday’s long run was a little longer and a little faster than last week’s run. The weather was much nicer this week, but still … it’s fun to be able to tangibly see the progress. We eased into the pace over the first two miles and then picked it up a little bit. I averaged 7:40 for the last 13 miles, which I am super happy with.

During the run I found myself getting a tad discouraged that the pace didn’t feel easier (translation: how am I going to run 26 miles at a 50 seconds to a minute PER MILE faster than this). I had to remind myself to run the mile I am in (and don’t worry about how I might be feeling 20 weeks from now), that this run was supposed to be at a “moderate” pace (i.e., not “easy”) and that I still have an entire training cycle to get there. Gotta love giving yourslef a mid-run pep talk! The good news is that I got through to myself (in the short-term at least … I’ll probably have to talk some more sense into my head again at some point in the near future).

Sunday: 5 miles (8:14 pace)

We slept in (until after 8!) and did a loop mid-morning. It was really nice to have at least one day of week to sleep in! I’m headed to a Girl’s on the Run training class this afternoon. Girls on the Run uses running to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through accomplishment.

WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY GIRL
CAN EMBRACE WHO SHE IS,
CAN DEFINE WHO SHE WANTS TO BE,
CAN RISE TO ANY CHALLENGE,
CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.
CAN.

I absolutely adore everything that this organization stands for and I’m really excited to get involved as a local coach.

Talk to you soon!