Week in Review (September 12 - September 18)

Tuesday (10,379 steps) - Peloton before work. Ended up doing two videos, which put me running a bit late to work. Work in the office, with more cross training at lunch. Took Olive for a walk after work. Ben and I went to 4 Noses.

Wednesday (16,334 steps) - Work in the office. After work I headed to Boulder for more "hill beasts." Felt good on the lower trails/warm up & the hills repeats bamboozled me. 

Thursday (21,629 steps) - Work from home.  Run in the morning and walk with Olive at lunch. They are putting crusher fine on the neighborhood path to the lake, which was "exciting."

Friday (13,717 steps) - Work in the office. Due to rain, our normal Wash Park walk was cancelled. Ariel called me at lunch to tell me that Olive had an "accident" on their walk, so I rushed home after work to give her a bath. Poor thing has diarrhea after getting into things she shouldn't be getting into.

Saturday (26,771 steps) - Short walk with Olive before Ben and I went to Rock Creek for our run. It started out ok - it was supposed to be a progression run. By mile 3-4 I was ready to die. I did manage to hit some paces on the way back, but this was not fun at all. We got Ziggi's on the way home.

Also stopped for a beer and took Olive for a walk before going to Larry's birthday party in the evening. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday (13,873 steps) - Only had a few miles on schedule, so we took Olive with us. She did great for about a mile, then seemed very uninterested in running. It was basically like dragging a tire most of the run. Went to Torchy's for lunch then did a lot of yard work, which resulted in me getting a zillion mosquito bites. Again.

Monday (16,366 steps) - Work from home. Easy run early, took Olive for a walk. After Ben got home we decided to go to Hoffbrau. They were doing some food specials for Monday Night Football, so we had Ariel meet us there. Her and Ben played some pool - it was a fun evening!

Stats:

• 119,069 steps
• 27.21 miles run
• 50 minutes of cardio
• 25 minutes of strength

Working It Off

Even with running a half this week, my weekly weigh in was less than ideal. Lousy holidays with awesome food! I slothed around all day on Friday, and felt completely BLAH by Saturday. (I was in bed before 9:00 on Friday night and didn't get up until 8:00 on Saturday). My dad brought me a holiday latte (non fat of course) from Sbux, and I decided I'd head to the gym to work off the rest of my turkey dinner.

Looked cute!

Not too bad!

I initially thought I would do an "easy-ish" hill program and then stop after the hour. However, after the ridiculously tough half that I just did the other day, the treadmill seemed really... easy.

Completion of hill program and 5 min cool down

I got done with the hour and I was still feeling good. So I decided to keep going... and going...

The treadmills at the gym cap out at an hour. And daycare is maxed at two hours per day. So time-wise, I did the most that I could do. In 1:50, I did 10.81 miles, and 60 minutes of that was a hill program! I rarely have the motivation to do so much on a weekend, and it's even more rare to feel good enough to go so far after running a half just a few days earlier.

The 1000th Mile

I've never had a specific mileage goal when running. My goal has always been to do "just a little more than last time." And then THIS year came along. The racing. The traveling. The distances. I'll admit. I became a bit obsessed. And then I came across Tall Mom's blog - where she challenges people to run 1000 miles. Sounds like SO many... especially since I have averaged running mid 600 miles a year for the last two years. But then I realized I could certainly do 1000 miles!! So yes... today's run put me over 1000 miles for the year. And there are still  many weeks to go. Who knew I had it in me??

Anyway, hitting 1000 miles was really the only remotely interesting part of the run. I haven't  run on the treadmill in over a week. I've been doing my loops at Lake Arbor instead (and it's been fabulous). However... I really have appreciated how much doing the random hill programs have helped me during my races. So... treadmill it was:

This one was tough!

The last few times I've done a program I have been lucky enough to get "easy" ones. This one was pretty tough, and the last few sections I seriously considered stopping!! But, determined one that I am, I continued and rocked out another few miles. I ran over 8 miles! This will likely be my last run until Thanksgiving when I head to Atlanta for my next half marathon.

In other news:

• I'm published!!! I got a shout out regarding my first marathon in Greece. You can read it here.
• I had a job interview on Friday afternoon... I think it went well, and the job is literally PERFECT for me. I have sent a thank you email and plan on calling tomorrow... I still haven't heard anything. Good thoughts requested!

Freaking Out

Treadmill - Random Hill Program
Monday, October 4

Loving the Zensah argyle socks!

My race in Maine was tough... "hillier" than I expected, and my legs have been screaming since I got back. With that said. The Foot is feeling better so I decided to continue with my regular running schedule, AKA "Awesome Random Hill Program Race Recovery Run." I was psyched to see the treadmill was being kind and gave me an easy one:

I'm not gonna lie. This one was tough. And made exponentially more annoying by the fact that my Yurbuds seem to be dead? They still play music, but after having them a few months they slid out of my ears about a zillion times. Which was SUPER annoying. Guess I need to order a new pair (or two).

Now. The freak outs.

Freak out #1: The Double Header

In an effort to save money and travel less, L and I have booked a few double headers - back to back races on the same weekend. This weekend is my first one. And I'm started to LOSE IT:

• I'm coming off injury. While The Foot seems better, my left quad (same one I injured before Christmas) has felt... off. I've been using the stick and massaging. I need to keep an eye on that.
• Time limits on both courses. Saturday is the ING Hartford in CT, with a limit of 3 hours, and Sunday is Boston in MA, with a limit of 2.5 hours. Normally (with 10 half marathons already completed) I would not be worried. The Boston one though? The day after racing? I'm freakin.
• The course profile for Hartford. Looks hilly. :(
• The course profile for Boston is non-existent but is described as a "rolling" course.

Freak out #2: The Marathon

• Um, 26 days away???????????
• No long run over 16.7 miles completed (thanks stupid Foot)
• No plane ticket yet???? I've sent a few emails with no response. I am Queen of planning and this is very troublesome to me.
• I'm doing this completely alone. I don't know anyone else doing this race, and none of my family will be there and L couldn't raise enough money. Sucky :(

The Never-Ending Climb

And the incline got steeper and steeper...
Treadmill - Hill Program - Monday, August 30

Blah!! I really can't wait until I'm done with Kauai and I don't have to do such an intense hill workout. I really don't mind the "wimpier" hill programs that cap out at 3 or 4... or even 5. But the last few weeks I've been doing the "random" program and I've been getting some really hard programs. Like this one:

the first half hour? No big deal. The whole second half???? I have never been so close to throwing up on the treadmill. I had over-eaten a bit on Sunday night, and thought I was feeling better... until this program. One of those peaks I had to walk (about 30 seconds) and then the second peak I slowed my speed considerably. 6.0? Freakin A. That's just ridiculous for a treadmill workout! I was sweating and dry heaving and trying not to faint or die (that would be awkward). Never have I felt so happy to be done. Even after I got to the "cool down" I struggled because my muscles were so tight after that last half hour.

Then I still had to do the rest of my run... I actually started in a walk and increased speed every 30 seconds or so. My calves were REALLY struggling today.

Happy with the mileage, happy that I managed to suffer and (mostly not suck) at the hill program.

No matter what lighting I take a pic of this skirt, it does not do it justice... it's neon!

L had brought her friend (the crazy one who went on our long run last week with us) to the gym. He seemed to think we were pretty hard core on the treadmill. Yup.

To answer a few questions from last entry (also answered in comments):

@ Average A - I love running in the Newtons! They are a lot more comfortable than my last pair of running shoes. I didn't have any adjustment period at all, but rumor has it that could be because I've done some running in Vibrams.
@ Silly Girl - I got the skirt as a birthday present!! It's different than any other one I have, I love it!
@ Alma F - Eeek... I dont' even know how many (running skirts) I have... Off the top of my head at least a dozen :D

As another aside - @ Little Fruit Fly - I've heard the Goonies song three workouts in a row now.

Random rant:
So one of the races that I registered for (a month or so ago) arbitrarily changed the date of the race to a week later. I found out only because the link on my blog was broken and when I googled there was a little blurb about it. The race director seems to think it's totally my problem and "hopes I'll figure it out." I even booked my travel (package through Orbitz). Still have not seen a refund from the race, and the travel... well, I guess I'm out the money. I don't insure my travel (I had no intention of missing) and the cost to change is just as much as new package. So.Freaking.Pissed. No other races nearby that I can head to instead. Question... Who is at fault here??

Worst Workout Ever (or What was I thinking????)

Treadmill Training Run (Random Hill Program #17) - Monday, August 2

Ugh. UGH!!!

Yes, I know everyone has their good days and their bad days. I was cranky all day yesterday pretty much from the time I got out of bed. I've been super tired lately. I do not have enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done. Which often means I am still up after midnight and then up in the morning to go to work by 5:45. It's draining and exhausting. So after a few weeks of not being caught up I had a blah rest day on Sunday. Slept in, went to a water park with the family, then took a nap, then gorged myself at a buffet. I hate that!!! Which leads me back yesterday.

I was still feeling tired and blah from the overeating and too much "catch up" sleep. My job is ridiculous and boring and draining. I got home late, had to make dinner, then rush to the gym. Best part (like usual) is that with a treadmill day I get to wear a skirt (yes, I just wore this. yes, I washed it first):

It's hot and crowded at the gym. Random guy stops and talks to me and L on our way to the locker room (I love conversations like this):

Random Guy: Are you guys sisters?
L: Is it that obvious?
RG: I get here and I see you on the treadmill. Then I go do something and come back and you're still on the treadmill. Then I go do something else and you're still on the treadmill. You girls are always on the treadmill.

Yep. Sounds about right.

Somehow I decided it would be a good idea to do a random hill workout instead of my usual (safe) program. The one I did ended up looking like this:

Max incline 4.0. I don't know if any of you run at 4.0, but to ME, it feels like I'm actually running up the side of Mt. Everest or something. The program was actually supposed to end with 4 of the last 5 bars also being at 4.0 but I was literally exhausted and dripping sweat and wimped out and lowered it to 2.0. So there.

Barely made it through the workout, had to walk a few times within it (WHO DOES THAT ON THE TREADMILL???)

Why on earth does it feel like I have never ever run before SO OFTEN??? I should be getting more in shape, not feeling like I haven't ever exercised before?

My next half is this weekend, and I have an extremely packed race schedule through October. I am feeling really dejected after this workout. I hate that. I'm really really dreading the full in Greece. Dreading.

Treadmill Training Run - Tuesday, July 6

Anything can happen Tuesday...

I normally don't run on Tuesday. I do the 24 Hour "SET" class for an hour, then do random cardio (Elliptical, StairMaster, CrossRamp). Rarely run. However, I was off Monday for a recovery day after the Foot Traffic Flat, and I was in the mood for doing a few miles after class. Monday is "hill day" - so I decided instead of skipping it completely this week I'd do a short version (which I figure is better than nothing). It was actually not too bad! A little tightness when I got done, but I wasn't as fatigued as I have been in the past.

Maybe, just MAYBE, I'm actually getting the hang of this whole running thing after all... *wink*

Treadmill Training Run - Monday, June 21

What used to be a super easy day at the gym (BodyFlow - which is Yoga/Pilates/Tai Chi) is now "hill workout day." We were sorta unimpressed with the "Kauai Program" that we did last week. We opted to do the Aerobic #6 program which capped at 3.0 incline. This is what the course looks like:

I managed to keep my pace of 5.2 mph the entire hour, which was hard since it was a billion degrees in the gym. Again.

Other than it being unbearably hot, it could have been worse.