Category: Monthly Recap

Y’all. Is it really JUNE?

Month Recap: May 2019

The Running

Workouts: I got in several good quality workouts this month. I took some downtime after Boston and started to ramp back up the second week of May. Even though Boston didn’t necessarily reflect it, my fitness level still seems to be very solid.

2 mi. WU, 3 mi. @ threshold (5:57 avg.), 6 X 1:00 @ interval (5:16 avg.), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 10 X 200 @ repetition (4:50 avg.) w/ 200 recovery, 2 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 8 X 2:00 @ interval (5:26 avg.) w/ 2:00 recovery, 2 mi. CD

9 mi. WU, 10 X 1:00 hill repeats (6:45 avg.) w/ 2:00 recovery, 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 2 mi. @ threshold (5:55 avg.), 6 X 400 @ interval (5:12 avg.), 2 mi. @ threshold (5:52 avg.), 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: I couldn’t pick just one and since this is my blog, we are playing by my rules here … my favorite workouts were the 10 X 200 track session and the 2 mile threshold, 6 X 400, 2 mile threshold session.

Races: No races this month, but I have two coming up in June!

Hey friends! Can you believe that another month has come and gone? I feel like September absolutely flew by.

It’s time to recap another month of running!

Month Recap: September 2018

Training for CIM is trucking right on along. We are actually only two months out from the race right now, which really seems a bit scary. Part of me still really doesn’t feel like I am doing enough as far as marathon training goes. I haven’t really done many long runs yet, which is different from the training that I am used to. I am also not doing any doubles, which is different as well. However, I completely trust my coach and I know that I will be ready. I feel really good and I don’t feel worn down at all, which is excellent (and quite a refreshing change from past training cycles).

I can actually see tangible improvements in my fitness as well, which is amazing. I was essentially stuck on a fitness plateau for about three years and I think I am finally coming out on the other side of it. I am hitting paces in workouts that I have never hit before and feeling comfortable hitting them. It’s crazy!

Workouts: I had five solid workouts this month, as well as a few longer runs. The workouts have been challenging, but doable.

2 mi. WU,  5 X 1000 w/ 1:00 recoveries (4:01, 3:59, 3:58, 3:57, 3:53), 5 X 200 w/ 200 recoveries (37, 40, 38, 38, 39), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 8 miles @ marathon pace (6:57, 6:54, 6:42, 6:47, 6:55, 6:39, 6:47, 6:48), 1 mi. CD

1 mi. WU, 8 X 800 @ threshold (3:20, 3:18, 3:18, 3:14, 3:14, 3:10, 3:11, 3:08) w/ 800 recoveries, 1 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 4 X 200 (41, 44, 42, 42), 4 miles @ threshold (6:33, 6:31, 6:39, 6:23), 4 X 200 (42, 42, 44, 43), 2 mi. CD 

4 mi. WU, 7 X 800 (2:56, 2:50, 2:51, 2:49, 2:53, 2:56, 2:53) w/ 1:30 walk recoveries, 4 mi. CD 

Favorite workout: My favorite workout was probably the 8 X 800 w/ 800 recoveries. We did this workout on the track and while it seems like might get a little bit boring, it was actually fun! Fun might not be the right word, but it was enjoyable. I liked alternating the paces throughout the run and the nice thing about this workout was that it was done at threshold pace and not at an all out effort. the 7 X 800 workout was done at 5K pace and that was TOUGH!

Races: I only ran one race this month, but it was quite memorable! I ran the Hurricane Run 5K on September 8th and got a long-awaited, much-anticipated 5K PR. It only took 3+ years and 20+ 5K races, but I finally got the elusive 5K PR I have been wanting.

Favorite race: Not that it would’ve been any sort of contest anyway (due to the above-referenced PR), but the one race that I ran was definitely the best race of the month.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:47 (second mile of Hurricane) to 10:30 (on the beach).

Miles: 257 miles this month.

Longest run: My longest run was 15.5 miles!

Shortest run: My shortest run was 5 miles.

Rest days: I took one rest day.

Strength training: I got over 3 hours of Pilates in this month! I’m happy with how adding some strength stuff into the regular routine is making me feel. My instructor told me that I was getting stronger too, so that’s nice! I’ve changed a lot of variables up this training cycle, so it’s hard to know exactly what has been the catalyst of the improvements that I’ve seen. I have a feeling that Pilates is one of the major factors!

Hey friends! Long time no talk read or write! Another month has come and gone. Let’s chat a bit!

Month Recap: August 2018

Oh, August … what a crazy month you were! Within a time span of 10 days, I ran a one mile road race, a 5K and a Ragnar Relay. Oh and somewhere along the way, I also registered for a MARATHON! Surprise! California International Marathon … I’m coming for you!

I took a down week with no stress workouts after Ragnar (which felt a bit like running a marathon in and of itself). I took a few days off completely before easing back into the swing of things. I’ve done a few workouts now, so I guess we’ll say that I am back in the saddle at this point. I took an unplanned break from writing training log posts, but when you aren’t doing any workouts there isn’t quite as much to report from each run. It’s like, “I ran. It was humid. The end.” I was almost ready to just scrap the idea of writing training log posts altogether, but I think I’ve changed my mind about that. I make no promises that I won’t change it again though.

My training for CIM will not officially begin until the middle of September (12 weeks out), but for my own purposes, I’m kind of using this past Monday as my starting date. That gives me 14 weeks until race day and with a two week taper, it’s only 12 weeks of training. Mentally, I need those few extra weeks so that I can tell myself that I have “plenty” of time to get into the shape that I want to be in.

I’ve got lots of fall races picked out to do along the way! I’d like to add a couple more as well, but for now a tentative schedule looks like this:

09.08.18 – Hurricane Run 5K
10.06.18 – TBD 5K
10.13.18 – Shrimp Festival 10K
10.21.18 – Gulf Coast Half Marathon
11.03.18 – Senior Bowl 10K
11.11.18 – Pensacola Half Marathon
11.17.18 – Turkey 10 Miler
11.22.18 – Turkey Trot 5K
12.02.18 – CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL MARATHON

Workouts: I only did a couple workouts this month, since the first half of the month was full of races and recovery. Once I did get back into it though, I got in some good efforts!

2 mi. WU, 8 X 300 w/ 100 recovery (66, 68, 66, 65, 65, 64, 63, 61 (5:43 avg.)), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 mi. (6:55 avg.), 2 mi. (6:44 avg.), 1 mi. (6:28), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 10 X 2:00 hard (6:01 avg.) w/ 1:00 recovery, 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: My favorite workout was probably the 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile cutback workout. Although it must be said, I really enjoyed the 8 X 300 workout as well! The 10 X 2 minute workout went fairly well and I didn’t *not* enjoy it, but man oh man, it was tougher than I was expecting!

I’d say it’s a good sign that I enjoyed the longer workout because I’m sure that’s exactly what I will have in store more as we progress throughout the training cycle. I’m planning to get VERY comfortable running at marathon pace. I don’t think that I’ve done enough training at my goal marathon pace in the past. Practice makes perfect and you certainly can’t expect your body to run comfortably at marathon pace if you haven’t practiced it a pretty good bit. The 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile workout was a good starting point as my goal for the 3 miles was just over marathon pace (6:55 was the goal there) and my goal for the 2 miles was just under marathon pace (6:45 was the goal there). Of course, goal marathon pace could change as the cycle progresses! In fact, I very much hope that it does.

Races: As I mentioned earlier, I ran 3 very unique races this month!

Race Recap: Fairground Road 1 Mile

Race Recap: Crime Prevention 5K

Race Recap: Ragnar CO “Last to Start, First to Finish … ROUND 2!”

Favorite race: I thoroughly enjoyed the one mile road race that I ran. It was a small race, but I love a small, local race. It’s also really fun to test your speed at the one mile distance (in my opinion). With that being said, it would be nearly impossible to top the experience that we had in mountains of Colorado! There is so much more to an overnight relay than just the race itself. While the race itself was amazing, it was the trip as a whole that makes this race such a memorable experience and really seals the deal as its spot as my favorite race for the month.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:25 (one mile race) to 10:41 (with Brooks).

Miles: 249.3 miles this month.

Longest run: My longest consecutive run was 13 miles. I did run 20 miles one morning (as an attempt to run my age for my belated birthday miles), but the run was really 13 miles with an hour or so “pause” for breakfast with friends and then 7 more miles, so I don’t think I can technically count that as a 20 mile run. While we are on that topic, I am officially putting my birthday miles tradition to rest at this point. Again, I make no promises that I won’t change my mind, but for now … it’s too much.

I attempted to run 33 miles within 24 hours twice during August. Once was at Ragnar. I was already running close to 20 miles as part of the relay, so I was thinking that an extra 13 wouldn’t really be too bad. Turns out … I was wrong. I was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted from the race itself and there was no way I was running one more step after my last leg of the relay. The second attempt was much better and I even made it to 26 miles before deciding that I was done. There’s no doubt in my mind that I could’ve run 7 more miles that day, but the point was that I simply didn’t *want* to. The tradition used to bring me a lot of happiness, but this year it didn’t and that’s completely fine. I’ll find other ways to celebrate I’m sure!

Shortest run: 3.5 miles.

Rest days: I took two days off completely.

Strength training: I started doing Pilates and I LOVE it. I’m going once a week, but I really wish I could go more. I’ve been going for three weeks now. I’ve also been keeping up with my planks at home and have also added in some crunches. Somewhere along the way I forgot about crunches (not sure how that happened). I went to the gym one day and rediscovered medicine ball crunches. I don’t even think I did that many of them, but my stomach felt like it was on fire (in a good way (if that is possible)) for days afterwards! Apparently planks don’t touch some of those key core muscles.

Well guys, another month has come and gone. July was a good month, but I have a feeling that August is going to be even better! Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s recap July’s running.

Month Recap: July 2018

Workouts: I got in some decent workouts this month and also had some workouts that were cut short or otherwise modified. I actually completed and hit the paces I was prescribed on four of the workouts (in blue below) and the others were all supposed to be longer or different workouts. For example, 3 X 1 mile was supposed to be 5 X 1 mile,  the “fast finish” run was also originally supposed to be a 5 X 1 mile workout (after the first attempt was a bust) and the 3 mile tempo was supposed to have 8 X 400 afterwards. You win some, you lose some. I won more than I lost this month, so at least that’s … something.

3 mi. WU, 3 X 1 mile (5:55, 5:53, 6:30), 3 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles (6:49 avg., 6:35 avg., 6:39 avg.), 4 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 X 1000 (3:46, 3:42, 3:43), 3 X 600 (2:12, 2:12, 2:14), 3 X 400 (1:24, 1:23, 1:22), 2 mi. CD

10 mi. w/ fast finish for last 3 mi. (6:59, 7:11 and 6:36)

3 mi. WU, 4 X 600 (2:09, 2:09, 2:09, 2:08), 4 X 400 (83, 83, 83, 83), 4 X 200 (39, 40, 39, 38), 2 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 3 mi. tempo (6:39 avg.), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1.5 mi. threshold (6:20 avg.), 8 X 400 (82, 82, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 78), 3 mi. CD

Favorite workout: My favorite workouts were the two ladder workouts where the reps got shorter as the workout went by. I like “front loading” the workout and getting the hard part of the workout out of the way early on. I felt like both of those workouts absolutely flew by, which is always a good thing!

Races: I ran the Shark Run 4 Miler on the Fourth of July!

Favorite race: Months with only one race make me a bit sad, but it doesn’t always work out to run more than one race each month. I definitely enjoyed the Shark Run, but I would’ve enjoyed it a bit more if the course hadn’t been short.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:53 (second mile of the mile repeat workout, which was too fast and also why I only made it through 3 of my 5 repeats (insert facepalm)) to 9:50 (on the beach).

Miles: 299.7. Ahh! I can’t believe I got so close to 300 and didn’t even know it. It was a bit tempting to go back out and run a third of a mile, but in the spirit of not being *too* crazy, I’ll just let it be.

UPDATE: I was using the total from Strava, but I just looked at Garmin Connect to double check and my total on Garmin Connect was 300.1! I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that Strava rounds everything down to the nearest tenth. Either way, I’m calling it good.

Elevation gain: 14,108 feet! I added this category since a lot of my “easy” runs this month were as hilly as I could possibly make them. I’d like to think that all of this climbing has been beneficial. I know it has. I’m just still not entirely convinced that we are going to be properly trained for the mountains that await us in Colorado.

Longest run: 13 miles. I had 12 runs in the double digits, but never did more than 13 (well … 13.1 to be exact).

Shortest run: 5 miles.

Doubles: 6 days of doubles.

Rest days: 2 rest days.

Coming up: August is going to be a race-filled month! I’m doing a one mile race this Thursday, a 5K next Tuesday, RAGNAR COLORADO next Thursday and maybe a trail race in Auburn the weekend after we get back.

I’m also still ironing out the details of how I am going to get my birthday miles in this year. Ragnar Colorado starts on my birthday and my three legs of the relay add up to close to twenty miles. I’ve just got to figure out how to squeeze in another 13 somewhere along the way. I’m thinking that I might just keep running along the course after I finish my last leg. It’ll be an adventure one way or another!

Tell me: What do you have coming up in August?

Y’all. The year is half way over! Isn’t that insane?

Month Recap: June 2018

The Running

Workouts: I got in some pretty solid efforts workout-wise this month. My new routine basically has me doing workouts on Tuesdays and Saturdays with doubles on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The schedule seems to be working pretty well and I’m trying to stick to it as much as possible.

2 mi. WU, 10 X 400 w/ 400 recovery (86, 84, 83, 84, 85, 83, 83, 83, 83, 81), 3 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 1 X 1600 (5:53), 4 X 800 (2:56, 2:56, 2:53, 2:57), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 13 X 1:00 hard (5:51 pace) w/ 1:00 jogging recoveries, 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 12 X 1:30 hard (5:50 pace) w/ 1:30 jogging recoveries, 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 6 X 1000 (5:49 pace) w/ 2 minute standing recovery, 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1 X 1600 (6:17), 6 X 400 (86, 90, 89, 91, 93, 99), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1600 (6:05), 800 (2:58), 400 (1:29), 1600 (6:07), 800 (2:59), 400 (1:28), 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: My favorite workouts were the 10 X 400 and 12 X 1:30. Whether you run by time (1:30) or distance (400 meters), the workout is essentially the same if you are running close to 6:00 per mile pace. Both of these workouts went really well for me and I’ve actually been enjoying the timed intervals. I have pretty much trained exclusively by distance in the past, so it’s a nice change of pace (not literally). I also don’t really recall enjoying 400s much in the past, but I’ve definitely been enjoying them here recently.

Races: I ran the Grandman Tri Relay on June 2 and the Hot Trot 5K on June 16.

Favorite race: Hot Trot was definitely my favorite race this month. Oftentimes the best races have nothing to do with the time on the clock and have everything to do with who you shared the experience with.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:53 to 11:31 (with Brooks).

Miles: 262. I likely have one more month of “lower” mileage and then things will start heating up (hopefully as the temperatures start to cool down).

Longest run: 12 miles.

Shortest run: 4 miles.

Doubles: 6 days of doubles.

Rest days: Just one and it was not scheduled.

Miscellaneous: I did several Jasyoga videos (like 10!), played tennis, did lots of planks, went fishing, rode a bike and went paddle boarding. It was an active month outside of running!

Y’all. Is it really JUNE?

Month Recap: May 2018

The Running

I started working with a new coach towards the end of April. You can read about that and more here! May brought some challenging workouts as I settled into a groove of working with Sarah. I struggled with the longer workouts that were prescribed. One was a two mile warm up followed by four miles at 6:45, three miles at 6:35, two miles at 6:25 and one mile at 6:15 with a three mile cool down (with a half mile recovery in between each of the sets). I didn’t quite make it all the way through this workout, but I at least came close.

Another one was a three mile warm up followed by three miles at 6:50, three by one mile at 6:26 (with a half mile recovery in between), three miles at 6:50 and a three mile cool down. This workout was scheduled for a Saturday morning, but I procrastinated it until Sunday (in the name of giving myself an extra day to prepare). I was struggling to run during the warm up miles and made the executive decision to just bag the workout all together. I had run a 5K the weekend before and done a really hard 15 X 90 second interval workout the week of this workout, so I think my legs just weren’t recovered enough.

With the idea of a late fall marathon in mind, my workouts this summer will be focused on building both speed and strength. I am in better shape speed wise than strength wise currently (in Sarah’s opinion at least (I don’t know how good my speed really is)). Those longer runs are definitely challenging, but I know that I need to do some work on that front in order to build the strength that I need for a good marathon.

Workouts: I got in six pretty solid workouts this month. I think the goal is basically two quality sessions per week, but I did two races as well, so that pretty much gets me to an average of two quality runs per week.

2 mi. WU, 15 X 2:00 hard (6:11 avg.) w/ 1:00 easy jogging recovery, 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 4 mi. (6:54 avg.), 3 mi. (6:41 avg.), 2 mi. (6:59 avg.), 2 mi. CD 

2 mi. WU, 3 X 800 (2:57 avg.), 6 X 400 (1:24 avg.), 3 X 800 (3:02 avg.), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 15 X 1:30 hard (5:56 pace) w/ 1:00 easy jogging recovery, 2 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 3 X 800 (3:00 avg.), 3 X 600 (2:15 avg.), 3 X 400 (1:24 avg.), 2 mi. CD 

2 mi. WU, 15 X 1:00 hard (5:41 avg.) w/ 1:00 easy jogging recovery, 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: My favorite workout was the 3 X 800, 3 X 600, 3 X 400 ladder workout. The workout was easy to manage mentally. I told myself just to get through the 3 X 800 and I’d be almost done. While that wasn’t really the case, by the time I got through the 3 X 600 portion, I was definitely almost done. I felt really strong on the 3 X 400 portion and it’s always great to finish up a workout feeling strong!

Races: I ran the Do it in the Bush 5K on May 12 and the Paradise Island 5K on May 27. DIITB was a trail run and Paradise Island was on the paved trails at the Gulf State Park.

Favorite race: While I really enjoyed running through the woods at DIITB, Paradise Island was my favorite race. DIITB is a no frills race (I do enjoy that from time to time), but Paradise Island definitely took the cake this month. I loved the medals and the awards, which influenced my opinion for sure.

Paces: My paces ranged from 6:05 (first mile of Paradise Island) to 10:55 (on the trails at Chewacla in Auburn). I felt like I was flying on the trails at Chewacla, but my average pace for a seven mile run was 10:28. I was taking smaller, quicker strides than normal, trying [unsuccessfully I might add] not to bust my butt on the trails. Taking more steps than usual gave me a false feeling of running faster. I’m sure that there is a technique to trail running that I don’t have mastered. If I pursue trailing running, I’ll have to look into that some more.

Miles: 287!

Longest run: 15.4 miles.

Shortest run: 5 miles.

Rest days: I took two days off completely.

Strength training: Lots of planking and one Jasyoga video (facepalm). What would be a good goal? One Jasyoga video per week? Surely I can make that happen.

It seems that every month flies by but goodness gracious, this one really flew by. I lost the first 17 days to tax season, so that pretty much explains it. The good news is that it is done now!

Month Recap: April 2018

The Running

As April wraps up, I’ve got some clarity as far as what I want to do, training-wise at least (there are still a lot of other areas that are lacking clarity (ha)). I am going to focus on my speed and shorter distance races throughout the summer. In a perfect world, I’d LOVE to get back into 5K PR shape. I don’t know if that will happen, but it’s worth a shot.

We are going to Colorado for another Ragnar Relay in August (which I am SUPER PUMPED about) and I plan to shift my focus to longer distance training in the fall. I am thinking about the possibility of a late fall marathon, but nothing is set in stone at this point.

Workouts: After running all the races in March, the first three weeks of April were quite lame tame on the workout front. In fact, I only did two workouts in the first three weeks and then I started to redeem myself by doing two workouts in the last week as well.

3 mi. WU, 4 mile progression (7:00, 6:48, 6:40, 6:35), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 mile tempo (6:34, 6:27, 6:18), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 8 X 400 (1:29 avg.) w/ 200 float (0:55 avg.), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 6 X 1 mile progression (6:41, 6:31, 6:19, 6:11, 6:08, 6:03), 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: I enjoyed both of workouts that I did during the last week of April. It’s amazing how much a new outlook on training can have on the quality of your running! While I think that the 6 X 1 mile workout was stronger, I really enjoyed the 8 X 400 w/ 200 float workout that we did on the track. Having company for a workout trumps a solo workout every time.

Races: I ran the 8K by the Bay on April 21st.

Favorite race: Even though it was the only race that I did, the 8K by the Bay is a fabulous event! I loved the shirts, the medals and the awards, the course and pretty much everything about this race. It’s a good one!

Paces: My paces ranged from 6:03 (last mile the 6 X 1 mile workout) to 10:37 (first mile of our beach run).

Miles: 270.6!

Longest run: 14 miles.

Shortest run: 4 miles.

Rest days: Four!

Strength training: I have still been consistently getting in 5 to 10 minutes of strength work each day. I figured that I would add pictures of my “planking routine” below. I alternate the poses every so often (as it really isn’t super beneficial to hold one position for as long as you can). I also add some other variation by lifting one leg at a time, tilting my hips up toward the ceiling and by doing plank push ups where you repeatedly go from a forearm to a regular plank and back. Those push ups get really tough really quickly!

The Other Stuff

Current activity: Spring cleaning! I have been going through the closets, drawers, etc. and getting rid of stuff that I don’t ever use.

Current book: I can’t say that I’ve made a ton of progress in the reading department this month. I’m planning to make up for that at the beach next week!

Current confession: After the above-referenced spring cleaning (and every closet “purge” that has been done in the last ten years), I just can’t bring myself to get rid of my first ever pair of Nike tempo running shorts from college. They aren’t even cute, but I just can’t part with them. I even wore them last week so that they wouldn’t fall into the “if you haven’t worn it in the last year, get rid of it” category.

Current drink: Smoothies! We got a Nutri Ninja Pro Blender and now we can blend up lots of whole fruits and veggies into delicious smoothies. Sweet!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiX5pjwhjUf/?taken-by=mobilebayrunner

I also discovered a new coffee flavor, called toffeenut, that is quite yummy.

Current excitement: Going to the beach for a few days next week and then going to Auburn for a few days the next weekend (Daniel is doing a race :))!

Current fail: I consider myself a fairly organized person, but I can not, for the life of me, keep up with important things like keys, phones, credit cards and rings. I’m pretty sure I “misplace” one of these things every single day. It’s annoying (as in I am annoyed with myself when it happens).

Current game: Daniel has been playing a ton of disc golf. I’ve played with them several times, but all of the guys are getting really good and I’m … well … not.

Current habit: Listening to music as I get ready for work. I feel like this puts me in a better mood than simply getting ready in silence.

Current indulgence: Napping. All the napping.

Current joke: What did the nut say when it was chasing the other nut? I’m a cashew.

Current knowledge: Did you see this article? Basically one sports scientist suggests that holding any specific planking position for any longer than 10 second intervals is pointless. I don’t know if I 100% agree, but I do throw in a lot of variations as I go, so at least all of my work is not for naught.

Current list: My to do list is very, very short, which is a very, very good feeling! 

Hey-o! It’s time to recap another month of running and madness!

Month Recap: March 2018

The Running

Workouts: Not a ton of workouts in March this year. I typically don’t do a ton of workouts in March anyway, just because work tends to get a little hectic and there is less time to focus on training. This year the lack of workouts was primarily due to the fact that I ran lots of races on the weekends and was trying to recover during the week or, if I did happen to do a workout, it was likely short and just to try to stay sharp.

1 mi. WU, 6 X 400 (6:00 avg. pace), 1 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 mi. @ marathon pace (6:59, 6:57, 6:58), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 mi. @ threshold pace (6:36, 6:35, 6:29), 3 mi. CD

 2 mi. WU, 4 X 1 mile @ threshold pace (6:26, 6:23, 6:24, 6:18), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 mi. @ marathon pace (6:54, 6:59, 6:47), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 2 X 2 mi. @ threshold pace (6:25 avg., 6:19 avg.), 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: If I have to choose one, I’ll go with the 4 X 1 mile at threshold pace. I felt the best during that workout and the others were all just sort of … meh. For what it’s worth, I definitely have a least favorite workout and that would be the second to last workout of the month. I labeled it as marathon pace above, but it was originally supposed to be a threshold pace run. I did this workout after work (so basically, I should receive an award simply because I did the workout :)). I don’t know what it is about evening runs, but I tend to feel very sluggish and not particularly motivated. I think morning running is so ingrained in my routine at this point that my body is just like “what the heck” when I ask it to try to run in the evening. Let’s face it, I’d pretty rather do anything in the morning than in the evening.

Races: I ran all. the. races. in March! It was wonderful! Recaps are here, here, here, here and here.

Favorite race: SPRING FEVER! Duh.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:59 to 9:55. Variety is the spice of life and training.

Miles: 251!

Longest run: 12 miles. I did three 12 mile runs and a few 10 mile runs, but otherwise, everything stayed in the single digits.

Shortest run: 3 miles. I overslept one morning and 3 miles was better than no miles.

Rest days: Two. Both unplanned, but both much needed and greatly appreciated.

Strength training: I am still pretty consistently getting in 5 to 10 minutes of strength work each day. It is definitely adding up over time.

The Other Stuff

It’s been a little while since we’ve chatted about other random current things.

Current activity: Blogging.

Current book: I’ve been stuck in a dark hole reading The Racketeer by John Grisham for over a month now. It’s not that I don’t like the book, it’s just that I fall asleep within 5 minutes of starting to read every night and you don’t make a ton of progress that way! I actually finished it up last night though.

I also just ordered Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David. I recently listened to her interview on The Rich Roll Podcast and it was AMAZING. It was like light-bulb moment after light-bulb moment as I listed to the interview. It’s a really long interview (it took me two and half runs to get through it, which is definitely saying something), but it is definitely worth your time if you are a podcast person. I loved it so much that I’m thinking about going back and listening to it again and taking notes. In the meantime though, I ordered a paperback copy of her book (also so that I can underline and make notes). Nerd status level 100.

Current confession: I am a sucker for targeted advertising on social media. I am now the proud new owner of a Hippie Runner tank …

Current drink: Ginger lime diet coke. Have you guys tried this? It is so good!

Current excitement: 15 MORE DAYS until the end of tax season! 30 MORE DAYS until the end of the Spring semester!

Current fail: Why?

Current game: Ping pong!

Current habit: Drinking at least 64 oz. of water each day (with Nuun of course).

Current indulgence: Eggs … of the chocolate variety.

Current joke: What did the DJ say to the farmer? Lettuce turnip the beet!

Current knowledge: Learning is a lifelong activity.

Current list: Each week I make a list of things that I need to get accomplished for work, for school (which is also work, but I just separate it in my mind by calling it school) and for home. 

Hey-o!

Welp … February sure flew by! Seeing as how it has less days than all of the other months, I guess that makes sense. Although I’m fairly certain all of the other months fly by as well.

Month Recap: February 2018

Workouts: I did a lot of workouts this month! I’m doing a new thing with my training these days (post-marathon). I intended to do a separate post about it, but I have been a little short on spare time. I’ll try to give you a brief overview here …

This new program is built on Jack Daniels’ VDOT training. VDOT refers to the rate at which oxygen is consumed (or more specifically the volume of oxygen consumed per minute) and it provides a way of determining your training intensity based on a recent race performance. All of your training runs and workouts are done at either repetition, interval, threshold, marathon or easy pace.

• Repetition pace is the fastest pace and is used to improve speed and economy. Repetition pace is fast, but not necessarily “hard,” because each repetition is relatively short and is followed by a longer recovery. Repetition pace should be similar to your current one mile race pace.
• Interval pace is the next fastest (but slower than repetition) and is used to stress and improve your aerobic power (VO2 max). It takes about two minutes for you to build up to functioning at VO2 max so the ideal duration of an interval is 3 to 5 minutes each. If you go past 5 minutes at this pace, there will be anaerobic involvement, which results in blood-lactate build-up.
• Threshold pace is used to improve endurance. Examples of threshold pace runs are steady, tempo runs or intermittent runs, also called cruise intervals. So this would be comfortably hard running for either a steady 3 to 4 miles or repeated runs of 5 to 15 minutes each, with 1 to 3 minutes of rest between the runs.
• Marathon pace is used to experience race pace conditions for those training for a marathon or simply as a slower alternative to threshold pace.
• Easy pace is used to promote the physiological benefits that build a solid base from which higher-intensity training can be performed. Easy pace is a crucial, but often overlooked part of training.

Here are my actual workouts from February (color coded based on the above-referenced paces, because I am cool (i.e., a nerd) like that):

3 mi. WU, 2 X 2 miles (12:40 (6:20 avg.), 12:28 (6:14 avg.)), 1 mile (6:11), 2 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles (12:48 (6:24 avg.), 13:24 (6:42 avg.), 13:24 (6:42 avg.)), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 5 X 1K (3:42, 3:40, 3:42, 3:45, 3:49), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 miles (6:39, 6:21, 6:19), 2 miles (6:23, 6:20), 1 mile (6:14), 2 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 5K time trial (6:04, 6:14, 6:29), 5 mi. CD

 2 mi. WU, 4 X 1200 (4:31, 4:34, 4:39, 4:51), 2 mi. CD

 2 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles (12:43 (6:21 avg.), 12:38 (6:19 avg.), 12:32 (6:16 avg.)), 2 mi. CD

14 mi. LR w/ 2 miles at 6:42 & 6:38

2 mi. WU, 2 X 1 mile (6:20, 6:17), 2 X 1000 (3:46, 3:50), 2 X 400 (1:23, 1:23), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 6 mi. tempo (6:27 avg.), 1 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 miles (6:40, 6:28, 6:28), 1 mile easy, 2 miles (6:38, 6:29), 1 mile easy, 2 miles (6:36, 6:29), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1 mile (6:22), 2 X 1000 (3:44, 3:50), 2 X 200 (39, 39), 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: I’ve really enjoyed switching things up a bit. A lot of these workouts vary the paces and the length of the intervals and the recoveries during each run, which keeps things interesting. My favorite workout was the 3, 2, 1 threshold workout. The workout was 3 miles at threshold pace, 3 minutes of recovery (easy pace), 2 miles at threshold pace, 2 minutes of recovery (easy pace) and 1 mile at threshold pace. The workout flew by and I loved that after the first set, I was already half way done with the hard part of the workout.

Races: A big goose egg. I can’t believe that I didn’t run any races. This was my first month without a race since December of 2015. How crazy is that? Let me answer for you … very. I didn’t even realize that I had that much of a streak going until I just thought to myself, “I can’t remember the last time I wrote a monthly recap and didn’t have at least one race.” Ha. I am planning to more than make up for my lack of February racing during March though. I’ve got plans for 4 (potentially 5) races in March!

Favorite race: Sad face.

Paces: My paces ranged from 6:04 to 9:07.

Miles: 271!

Longest run: 14.75 miles. Nothing too long in February, as my training was more focused towards 5K and 10K type of races.

Shortest run: 3.5 miles. This was an easy double one afternoon where I was short on time and couldn’t get my standard 5 miles in.

Rest days: I took two unplanned rest days (both on Thursday). The class I am teaching this semester is on Wednesday nights. I typically don’t get home until around 9:30 and I’m not getting to be until close to 11 (which is about 3 (or 4 :)) hours later than I prefer). I usually set my alarm to run Thursday morning before work, but I don’t think that has actually happened yet. A few days I have gone after work on Thursday, but otherwise, it just becomes a good day to take a rest.

Strength training: I am pretty consistently getting in 5 to 10 minutes of strength work each day. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s better than nothing and it definitely adds up over time.

Other activities: We’ve gotten really into disc golf and ping-pong recently! I played disc golf 3 times this month and Daniel and I have been playing ping-pong pretty much every day for about a week now.

Funny story … we’ve had a ping-pong table for several years now, but it’s been in storage. We were planning to take the table over to a friend’s house last weekend. We borrowed a truck from one of Daniel’s co-workers, loaded the table up (using a life jacket to keep it from scratching the bed of the truck (naturally)) and headed to make the exchange. Well … we only got about half a mile before the truck started smoking pretty badly. We weren’t sure what to do at this point, so we returned the truck to its owner, explained what happened and decided to just “wheel” the ping-pong table down the street to our house. Thankfully, we only live about half a mile from Daniel’s co-worker, so that *seemed* easy enough.  Turns out, the wheels on ping-pong tables aren’t exactly “street-legal,” and we had some major malfunctions along the way. Daniel basically ended up having to carry one end of the table. I had on the life jacket, was carrying 6 ping pong racquets, an entire container of ping-pong balls and also two coffee mugs that we found in storage that we wanted to bring home and we were pushing a ping-pong table down the road. It was quite a sight … but now that we have the table at home, we are thoroughly enjoying it!

Coming up: March is going to be the month of the 10K! I’m headed to Birmingham for the Wine 10K this weekend and then every other weekend in March there is a local 10K (Leprechaun Chase, Spring Fever Chase and Azalea Trail Run). I might try to do them all … because, why not?!

Happy Friday! I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Hey-o!

The first month of the year has come and gone. Well, that was quick!

Month Recap: January 2018

I ran lots of treadmill miles this month. I am so thankful to have the treadmill as a training option. It can actually be a great tool to use for speedwork and of course, it is also great safety reasons as well. If I am doing a workout on the treadmill, I like to listen to music and if I am doing an easy run on the treadmill, I like to listen to podcasts. Distraction is the most definitely the key to a successful treadmill run!

Workouts: I didn’t do many workouts this month, comparatively speaking. The first part of January was spent tapering and the middle of the month was spent recovering, but I was able to get in a few workouts towards the end of the month.

2 mi. WU, 8 mi. tempo (6:44 avg.), 1 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 4 mi. tempo (6:45 avg.), 1 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 10 X 400 (85, 89, 88, 89, 89, 91, 90, 90, 92, 89), 2 mi. CD

 3 mi. WU, 2 X 2 mi. (12:44 (6:22 avg.) and 12:52 (6:26 avg.)), 3 mi. CD

1.5 mi. WU, 6 X 800 (3:02, 3:03, 3:02, 3:03, 3:09, 3:08), 2.5 mi. CD

Favorite workout: I think my best workout of the month (and likely my favorite because of that) was the 8 mile tempo that I did the week before the marathon. I ran this one on the treadmill, so perhaps it felt a little bit easier because of that, but this workout went really well and was a huge confidence builder for me. Up until that point, I was unsure if I would even be ready to run the marathon. Granted, I didn’t end up running the marathon at the pace that I trained to run it in, but that’s really not the point anymore.

Races: Only one this month! The First Light Marathon. It’s tough to race a marathon and do other races in the same month due to the taper beforehand and the recovery afterwards.

Favorite race: I have a sneaking suspicion that even if I had run several other races, First Light would’ve still been the favorite!

Paces: My paces ranged from 6:22 (during 2 X 2 mile workout) to 9:40 (first mile run post-marathon).

Miles: 241.6! Less than normal, but still very respectable.

Longest run: 26.2 miles. I expect that this will be my longest run for the year, but who knows …

Shortest run: 5 miles. This is typically my standard, go-to easy run distance.

Favorite run: In the midst of all the treadmill miles, I did manage to get outside and run with friends some as well. One run in particular that stands out was a mid-week, early morning run with Rebecca and Jessica. We met at Rebecca’s house at 4:30 and got in 8 miles. We don’t all get to run together during the week very often, but when we do, it is always wonderful!

Least favorite run: I don’t typically have a least favorite run, but this month, I most definitely did! It turns out that I have a limit when it comes to cold weather running and I found that limit on January 17, 2018.

Rest days: 3!

Strength training: I’ve been doing 5 minutes of planks + 5 minutes of upper body several times per week. For the planks, I alternate as I go from doing them on my elbows, to doing them on each side (still on my elbows though), back to my elbows and finally do doing them with my arms straight. For the upper body stuff, I am doing a minute each of bear crawls, dips, pushups, dive bombers and then plank pushups. I likely should modify this routine a bit and not do the same thing every single time, but whatever … it seems to work for me and I’m actually doing it, so that’s a win.

Coming up: I’m planning to run the Joe Cain Classic 5K next weekend and otherwise, I will contine to train for the Wine 10K in Birmingham the first weekend in March. I’m excited about both of those races!

That’s it for now. Talk to you soon!