Category: Uncategorized

Earlier this summer, my coach asked all of his athletes to do a goal setting exercise regarding our short and long-term running goals. Admittedly, this exercise was harder than any physical workout he’s given me. I used to have no problem coming up with concrete goals, but the majority of those goals were likely very time specific. While I do have a couple time specific goals now, running is about so much more than racing and the time on the clock.

Somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost the desire to actually show up to races. As someone who used to run 10 races in a low year and upwards of 25 races in a high year, this is quite a change. As of today’s date (late July 2024), I have yet to toe the line for one single race this year! What?! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still been training and working very hard. Why can I not get myself to an actual race?

Not to bring everything back to being a mom (I used to hate when people did this before I was a mom), but it literally changes everything. The logistics of getting to a race are certainly more complicated and that is whether I am bringing the little guy with me or not. I have also found that (for me), the race itself is so much more meaningful if I have my people there to support me (husband, child, parents, dog … bring them all!). At the same time, I feel guilty asking them to show up to race after race after race, so it seems as if I have basically just stopped racing altogether. However, I plan to change this!

There is obviously a nice middle ground where I ask them to come to races that are more important and I ride solo to ones that maybe aren’t as important or if I have friends running or something like that. I have also been feeling very disconnected from the local running community that I used to feel very much a part of and putting myself out there and showing up to more races will definitely put me back in the mix. Side note: I would also like to get to more group runs, etc., but I also don’t want to sacrifice time with my family on the weekends (such a conundrum!).

Here are the goal prompts that my coach gave us (numbered below) and my responses (bulleted below):

1) Long-term goals for your running career, including a process oriented goal:

• Train in such a way that I am able to achieve longevity in the sport
• Train in such a way that I am able to continue finding joy in the process regardless of if there is a race on the calendar or not
• Train in such a way that I am able to continue loving the sport regardless of the “outcome” (i.e., time on the clock)
• Take another crack at the marathon in 2025 or 2026
• Possible transition to trails and ultras in 5+ years

2) Short-term goals you have for your running in the next 3 to 12 months:

• Run some middle-distance races including 10k, 15k, 10 mile & half marathon
• Run a half marathon faster than 1:20
• Go after state records for 39 year old females (I truly only care about being my best on any given day, but if I can get some state records in the process, that would be cool!)
• Work on lowering my threshold pace (currently 6:04)

3) Macro-cycle goals you have for the late spring and summer:

• Run a 5k rust buster at LuLu’s Hot Trot on 06/16 to get a gauge of fitness
• Work on increasing my VDOT score (currently 58)
• Run a 2 mile race on 08/10
• Look for a 1 mile race in late July/early August

4) Make a list of actionable step by step plans on how you believe you can accomplish said goals:

• Run 7-8 x per week (includes potentially one day off and one to two doubles)
• Strength 2-3 x per week (includes Pilates)
• Cross Train 1-2 x per week (includes elliptical, arc trainer and/or stroller walks)
• Adequate hydration & electrolyte use as well as adequate fueling every single day
• Sleep 8-9 hours per night
• Regular supplementation with Iron Ferrasorb + Iron Bisglycinate (1 of each on empty stomach (typically in the late afternoon))
• Bloodwork 2-3 x per year
• Massage 1 x per quarter

There you have it. I have some good goals to work towards, a good plan of how to get there and I am already doing a good job of finding joy in the process regardless of whether there is a race on the calendar or not! However, I do plan to race more this fall as I work on chasing some state records in my last year before maturing into the master’s category.

Happy running friends!

Hey friends! Here is what the last three week’s training looked like:

Week 19
Monday – Easy: 8 miles
Tuesday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Blitz45: Back + Biceps
Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 2 X [2k @ threshold, 1200m @ interval], 2 mi. CD + PM – Blitz45: Legs + Shoulders
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Friday AM – Pilates + PM – XT: 60 minutes
Saturday – Easy: 12.4 miles
Sunday – Easy: 8 miles

Week 20
Monday – Easy: 7 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 9.3 miles
Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 10 min. @ 10k, 2 X 5 min. @ 5k, 6 X 1:30 @ 3k, 2 mi. CD + PM – Blitz45: Legs + Shoulders
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Friday AM – Easy: 9.2 miles + PM – Blitz45: Back + Biceps
Saturday – Easy: 6.7 miles
Sunday – REST

Week 21
Monday AM – Easy: 6.3 miles + PM – Blitz45: Chest + Triceps
Tuesday – Easy: 9 miles
Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 10 min., 4 X 3 min. @ threshold, 2 mi. CD + PM – Blitz45: Legs + Shoulders
Thursday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Easy: 5 miles
Friday – Easy: 8 miles
Saturday – Easy: 12 miles
Sunday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 16 X 400, 2 mi. CD + PM – Pilates

Hey friends! Here is what last week’s training looked like:

Monday AM – Elliptical: 75 minutes + PM – Easy: 6 miles
Tuesday AM – Easy: 9 miles + PM – Blitz45: Chest + Triceps
Wednesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 6 X 5:00, 4 X 3:00, 2 mi. CD
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Friday – Easy: 8 miles
Saturday – Easy: 9 miles
Sunday – Quality: 10 miles w/ 8 miles at marathon pace + 30-40 seconds

Talk to you guys soon!

Hey friends! Here is what last week’s training looked like:

Monday – Easy: 9.5 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Blitz45 (Chest + Triceps)
Wednesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 8:00, 4 X 4:00, 2 mi. CD
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Daycare Pickup Walk: 3 miles
Friday – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Pilates & Blitz45 (Back + Biceps)
Saturday – Easy: 7 miles
Sunday – Easy: 14 miles

Talk to you guys soon!

Hey friends! Here is what training looked like for the week of 04/15/24 to 04/21/24.

Monday – Easy: 7 miles

Today is DEADLINE day! WOO to the HOO! I got out for a few easy miles before tying up loose ends on a couple last-minute projects.

Tuesday – Easy: 9 miles

I waited a little too late to get out the door today and it was a casual 79°F w/ a dew point of 65°F. For mid-April, that was just plain rude.

Wednesday AM – Elliptical: WU, 15 X 1:00, 15 X 0:30, CD + PM – Blitz45 (Legs + Shoulders)

My plan has one day of cross-training per week, so I headed to the gym Wednesday morning for some time on the elliptical. Actually, I did half of this on the elliptical and half on the arc trainer. I find those equally as enjoyable, but even better when you mix it up and combine the two!

Wednesday afternoon I did a Blitz45 workout. My goal right now is to do some sort of strength training at least twice per week.

Thursday – Easy: 8 miles

I ran a little before 8 a.m. after dropping little man off at school and it was 71°F w/ a dew point of 66°F! Another rude one!

Friday – Easy: 9 miles

It was the same song, slightly different verse on Friday morning. It was 71°F w/ a dew point of 69°F. Apparently the conditions are the most notable thing for me to talk about this week. Typically I would have some quality sessions with a little bit more juicy details, but I was mentally and physically exhausted from tax season and I wasn’t feeling anything but easy runs. The post-tax season feelings are a bit polarizing. On one hand you feel like you’re on top of the world and have a whole new lease on life and on the other hand you feel totally exhausted, depressed and unmotivated. It’s a very strange transitionary phase that thankfully only seems to last for about a week to 10 days.

Saturday – Easy: 11 miles

I started this run with 7 solo miles solo and finished with 5 stroller miles. Phew. This seemed like such a good idea at the time, but those stroller miles just about did me in. My little man is not so little anymore and pushing him on a sandy, hilly road is quite the challenge. He got out and “ran” the last half mile or so with me, which of course makes my heart oh so happy!

Sunday AM – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 10 X 200, 3 mi. CD + PM – Walk: 3.5 miles

While I technically did get one little quality session in, I was |thisclose| to skipping the quality work altogether and actually did modify this one mid-run. The workout was supposed to be 10 X 400 w/ 200 recoveries, but instead I did 10 X 200 w/ 400 recoveries. The workout was pre-programmed on my watch, so I switched the interval and the recovery portions to make it less challenging. I think this was the right call on the day, as I still just couldn’t quite muster up the motivation to run fast for much longer than 45 seconds at at time. Basically this was like adding some strides into a run. Strides are always a good little stimulus with the bonus being that they aren’t too physically taxing. I was well taxed out at this point! Ha.

Totals – 55 miles running, 3.5 miles walking, 105 minutes of elliptical + 45 minutes of Blitz45

Talk to you guys soon!

As a surprise to no one, I was not able to keep up with the weekly training log posts throughout tax season. I gave it a valiant effort, making it halfway before calling it quits. As soon as I start getting overwhelmed with work (and life in general), I start removing things left and right. Training logs were one of the first thing to get axed. Of course I was still putting in all of the work! I truly do not think I could make it through tax season without some form of movement in my life. We will save the discussion of whether or not that needs to be addressed in a therapeutic setting for another day.

At this point I can say that I officially survived tax season 2024 and it feels like I have a fresh start to the year! I have no idea what I am planning to do with that “fresh start”, but I am loving the idea of it regardless. I started with a good closet clean-out, which is surprisingly good for the soul. For the sake of completeness, I am going to do a very abbreviated training log catch up post below. I plan to get back to my regularly scheduled programming next week.

Week 8 (February 19 – February 25): The cranky hamstring week.
Monday – Easy: 8 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 6.7 miles
Wednesday – Easy: 7.2 miles
Thursday – Easy: 6 miles
Friday AM – Elliptical: 60 minutes + PM – Easy: 4 miles
Saturday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 5 X 4:00 @ threshold, 2 mi. CD
Sunday – Easy: 10.2 miles

Week 9 (February 26 – March 3): The this turned into a knee thing week.
Monday – Easy: 8 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles
Wednesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 4 miles @ half marathon, 6 X 1:00, CD
Thursday – Easy: 6.1 miles
Friday – Arc Trainer: 60 minutes
Saturday – Elliptical: 60 minutes
Sunday – Elliptical (“Long Run”): 90 minutes

Week 10 (March 4 – March 10): The week of no running!
Monday – Arc Trainer: 65 minutes
Tuesday – Elliptical: 75 minutes
Wednesday – Arc Trainer: 65 minutes
Thursday – Elliptical: WU, 4 X [1, 2, 3 minutes hard w/ equidistant recovery], CD
Friday – Elliptical: 30 minutes
Saturday – Elliptical (“Long Run”): 100 minutes
Sunday – Walk: 5 miles

Week 11 (March 11 – March 17): The week of easing back into things.
Monday AM – Elliptical: 60 minutes + PM – Easy: 5 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles
Wednesday – Easy: 6 miles
Thursday – Easy: 6 miles
Friday – Easy: 8 miles
Saturday – Elliptical: WU, 4 X [3, 2, 1 minutes hard w/ 2 minute recovery], CD
Sunday – Easy: 12 miles

Week 12 (March 18 – March 24): The week where nothing stands out.
Monday – Elliptical: WU, 30 X 30 seconds w/ 1 minute recovery, CD
Tuesday – Easy: 9 miles
Wednesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 12 X 1:00 on/off, 2 mi. CD
Thursday – Easy: 7 miles
Friday – Easy: 10 miles
Saturday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 1600, 1200, 800, 400, 2 X 200, 2 mi. CD
Sunday – Easy: 12 miles

Week 13 (March 25 – March 31): The week of no daycare (some people call this “Spring Break”).
Monday – Elliptical: WU, 25 X 1:00 on/off, CD
Tuesday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Blitz45: Chest + Triceps
Wednesday AM – Quality: WU, 2 X 10 miles @ threshold, CD + PM – Quality: WU, 5 X 3:00 @ threshold, CD
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Blitz45: Cardio + Core
Friday – Easy: 8 miles
Saturday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 1200, 3 X 800, 3 X 400, 2 mi. CD
Sunday – Easy: 10 miles

Week 14 (April 1 – April 7): The week where we are so close and yet still so far away.
Monday – Easy: 7 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles
Wednesday AM – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 4 X 1 mile @ critical velocity, 3 mi. CD + PM – Blitz45: Legs + Shoulders
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Friday – Easy: 8 miles
Saturday – Easy: 6 stroller miles
Sunday – Quality: 4 mi. WU, 5 X 300, 5 X 200, 5 X 100, 4 mi. CD

Week 15 (April 8 – April 14): The week where I started to see the light!
Monday – Easy: 8 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles
Wednesday – Easy: 9 miles
Thursday – Quality: 2.5 mi. WU, 8 miles @ threshold, 2.5 mi. CD
Friday – Easy: 7 miles
Saturday – Easy: 8 miles
Sunday – Easy: 12 miles

I wish I had done a better job of documenting the cranky hamstring turning into knee pain. If I am going to have anything that is cranky, it’s going to be my high hamstring, so when that first started bothering me, I didn’t think much of it. However, when it made it’s way down into the meat of the hamstring, that was more concerning and then all of a sudden I couldn’t run without my knee hurting. The odd thing is that I still can’t truly explain the pain. Sometimes it felt like it was the front outside of the knee and sometimes it felt more like it was the back of the knee. It was very odd! My sports chiropractor helped me navigate it and ultimately got things cleared up for me.

The whole process was a bit eye opening as it helped me to realize 1) I am not invincible (obviously! … and yet also sometimes the reminder is good) and 2) I need to focus more on strength training, building muscle mass and taking care of my bones if I want to keep running into my forties, fifties and beyond. Right now, longevity in the sport is very important to me. I stumbled across a functional training studio that offers 45 minute group-fitness classes that are primarily strength-based and I’ve added that into my weekly routine. My plan is to go to two classes per week.

The other crazy thing is that the week to 10 days of no running and only cross training seemed to skyrocket my fitness, at least according to my watch. I was able to push myself much harder aerobically than I do on easy runs, but was also still able to recover without any trouble. It was almost as if my watch had an aha moment and realized how much of a training load my body could actually tolerate. My projected marathon time went down by 20+ minutes and now most mornings the watch tells me that I am 100% recovered (as opposed to never getting above 25% or so before that). It definitely makes me think that there is something to be said for Parker Valby’s approach to training. The main problem would be the lack of fresh air. I really, really started to crave fresh air during those cross training days. A heart-pumping sweat session is great, but fresh air does the mind and soul a world of good! So for now, I think I will continue with the majority of my activities being outdoor runs, but it’s nice to know that there are other options out there when running isn’t in the cards!

Monday – Easy: 8 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 9.6 miles
Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 6 X 1 mile @ threshold, 2 mi. CD + PM – Pilates
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Friday AM – Elliptical: 60 minutes + PM – 5 miles
Saturday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 5 X 1:30 + 2 mi. @ critical velocity, 2 mi. CD
Sunday – Easy: 14 miles

Totals – 65 miles running + 45 minutes Pilates + 60 minutes elliptical

Hey friends! Catching up on the training log today. Week 6 was a crazy week. Richard was out of town all week, Ward has yet another ear infection and tax season is in full swing. I was supposed to do a one mile race on Sunday, but I honestly just was not feeling it at all. I was exhausted from a stressful week and I came up with a lot of excuses to not race. A friend reminded me this morning that sometimes excuses are perfectly valid. I needed to hear that! At this point, I think I am shifting my goal of going for every state record from the mile to the marathon to coincide with my birth year, which actually makes a lot more sense anyway. I’ll go for all of them in my 39th year and if I happen to get a few 38 year old records along the way, that’ll just be icing on the cake!

Monday – Easy: 6.4 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles
Wednesday – Easy: 7.1 miles
Thursday AM – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 12 X 1:00 on/off, 3 mi. CD + PM – 30 minutes elliptical
Friday – Easy: 6 miles
Saturday – Easy: 6 miles
Sunday – Easy 10 miles

Totals – 54 miles running + 30 minutes elliptical

Talk to you guys soon!

Hey friends!

Monday – Easy: 7 miles

Tuesday – Easy: 9 miles

Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 4 X 7 minutes, 2 mi. CD + PM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, [6, 5, 4, 3] minutes, 2 mi. CD

Thursday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Pilates

Friday – Easy: 8 miles

Saturday – Easy: 8.6 miles

Sunday – Quality: 4 mi. WU, 4 X 400, 4 X 300, 4 X 200, 3 mi. CD

Totals – 70 miles running, 6 miles walking + 45 minutes of Pilates

Talk to you guys soon!

Hey friends!

Monday – Easy: 6 miles

Sunday’s double threshold day necessitated a few “easy like Sunday Monday morning” miles to start the week. I was very sore and very cold for this run. The former was due to the fact that I slightly overran the second “threshold” workout the day before (thus slightly changing the intent of the workout and the system that was worked) and the latter was due to the fact that I slightly underdressed for temps that were still in the low 30s.

Tuesday – Easy: 8.5 miles

I was able to meet Rebecca for some easy miles Tuesday morning. Luckily we got this one in between rain showers in our area. I’m not gonna lie, I feel pretty accomplished on the mornings when we have eight miles done before 5:30 a.m.

Wednesday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Easy: 5 miles

I was originally supposed to have a quality session on Wednesday. It was going to be 6 X 5:00 at “critical velocity” pace (i.e., slightly below threshold). My legs were still very sore and I knew about 30 seconds in to the first repeat that the workout was not going to happen. I ran easy instead. After a brief discussion with John, we determined that I essentially ran the second “threshold” workout at critical velocity pace. He tweaked the plan for the remainder of the week based on the feedback that I gave him. Here is your friendly reminder to run the intent of the workout!

Thursday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 12 X 200, 2 mi. CD + PM – Pilates

Thursday’s workout ended up being a two mile warm up, 12 X 200 with a 1:00 walking recovery and a two mile cool down. I didn’t go to the track for the 200s as I typically would. Instead these were more like some strides thrown into an easy run. The goal wasn’t to do them all out, but just to get the legs turning over without overdoing anything. After a rainy morning, I got this one in around lunchtime. Holy moly … it was in the seventies with a dew point of seventy-one! After the frigid temperatures we had the week before, that was a harsh jolt back to reality!

Friday – Easy: 12 miles

Saturday AM – Elliptical + PM – Easy: 5.5 miles

Sunday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 15 X 1:00, 2 mi. CD

Sunday’s workout was a two mile warm up, 15 X minute “on” minute “off” and a two mile cool down. This was meant to be a fartlek type of run with no specific focus on paces. The temperature ended up being basically perfect for this one (mid-forties), which was a relief. There was nothing too notable about this one except for that minute on minute off workout always end up being a bit sneaky and harder than you think. I averaged 5:46 for the minutes on (paces ranged from 5:34 to 5:59). As I mentioned, there wasn’t a big focus on the pace, but of course I like to check it out afterwards. My next race coming up is a one mile race and I don’t even know if I can hold my fastest one minute interval pace for a mile at this point. We shall find out in a couple of weeks!

Totals – 63 miles running, 3 miles walking, 60 minutes of elliptical + 45 minutes of Pilates

Talk to you guys soon!