Because Being Ordinary Is Boring: marathon training

Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Week in Review (February 16 - February 22)

Tuesday (24,478 steps) - After yesterday's brutal wind I didn't even want to THINK about running outside (even if it wasn't windy). For the first time in ages I suffered through running 7 miles in the basement inferno. And "suffer" is a pretty accurate way to describe this run. I was slow, it was hot, I was tired, NOT fun. Although I did get in a few more episodes of "Breaking Bad" (re-watching before I start "Better Call Saul"). After work we had a cookie booth. All girls showed up, so even though it was pretty busy, A's share was just under 50 boxes. Tokyo Joe's for dinner.
Wednesday (21,772 steps) - 5 terrible miles. My calves are tight, I haven't been sleeping well. My arm is so sore from where I got my depo shot that I actually had woken up in the middle of the night in extreme pain. Ugh. I guess this is what happens after weeks of "good" running? Blah.

But so pretty!!

After work we headed down to run club. Did a short run with Heather and A and then A sold cookies again.

Pretty exciting that I won one of the raffles and got a discounted entry to a cross country race - now, I just need to put together a team?
Thursday (13,920 steps) - I had 6 miles on schedule and I opted to skip the run because I've been feeling so crappy for the last week. I slept a little bit later and did a yoga/pilates video instead. The evening was spent trying to figure out how to solve a Girl Scout camp registration catastrophe.
Friday (22,896 steps) - All week long the wind has been unbearable. I didn't even bother to check what the weather was like when I got up, I just sucked it up and did 6 miles in the basement inferno. After work we had YET ANOTHER cookie booth. My new Roost teammate, Kate, met up with us at the booth so she could borrow my singlet. A and I went to dinner at HuHot and it was blissfully quiet so we didn't have to wait forever to get food (just the check).
Saturday (33,907 steps) - Long run day with Runners Edge and Heather. And by "long," we were both happy that we "only" had 14 on schedule. Unfortunately my legs were dead tired and I had crampy calves most of the run. Lakewood is also hillier than I remember. Always enjoy running with Heather, so it wasn't all bad.

Stopped at Einstein's to pick up brunch (seems to be a new tradition) and headed home to relax a bit before the Roost launch meeting. TONS of new faces on the team this year. I also won a week rental of Elevated Legs, which I cannot wait for. After we picked up our gear a group of us went to Crazy Mountain brewery, a new sponsor for our team this year. Such a fun night with everyone!

Sunday (16,781 steps) - Of course the one day I can sleep in, I don't. We made omelettes and pancakes for breakfast and then went to Target to do our grocery shopping. A joined me on a 3 mile run by the lake so she could test out her new Garmin. It was a bit windy, but FINALLY the sun was out!!

First, of probably many, A "Garmin" pictures

After lunch, we baked some red velvet brownies and then SHOCKINGLY, we had another cookie booth. We went over to Jessa's again for a viewing of the Walking Dead.
Monday (26,010 steps) - I only had 4 miles on schedule, but after looking at the forecast for the next few days I decided to swap my 4 with Tuesday's 8 (since we have more snow coming). Legs a tad tired, but it was honestly the best run that I've had in weeks.

A mile in... Super early, super moon

About 5 miles in - moon set!

7 miles in and a gorgeous sunrise!

I actually did a short yoga video when I was done (need to get in the habit of doing this ALL THE TIME). Began the run looking at the full moon and ended it with yet another gorgeous Colorado sunrise. After work? COOKIE BOOTH OF COURSE. The best part about the booth? It put A over her goal of 750 boxes!! We picked up Tokyo Joe's for dinner.

Stats:

159,764 steps
Miles Run - 46.0 (with no races??)
No cross training
32 minutes of strength/stretching

Everything Else

As you can see, the miles were all there. But a lot of them were not good. Luckily the short trail run I did with A on Sunday seemed to "reset" everything. The training plan I am on is fairly high mileage and I hate to get burned out so early in it!
Cookies!! A is super pumped that she hit her goal. We still have FIVE cookie booths left, but the pressure is now off. If she gets to 1000 boxes, it will save me another $60 for her camp. As for camp, she got into a pretty cool one, it's called "Girl v. Zombie" and is a survival camp where they teach self-defense, how to make a disaster kit, etc. Looking forward to hearing about it when she gets back (IN JULY).
One of my Colfax relay buddies submitted pictures from the race for an article in the "Denver Business Journal" - and turns out, they liked mine.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Week in Review (January 26 - February 1)

Tuesday (25,434 steps) - Finally have my training program. Lo and behold, crazy stupid long(ish) run scheduled (7 miles). It was COLD COLD COLD, but I got it done. I was tired and pretty much miserable the entire time though. Oh, marathon training.

Yes, this community in west Arvada still has their trees decked out with lights from Christmas...

Wednesday (21,021 steps) - And the opposite of Tuesday's run... 4 miles and they were glorious. Almost wished I had more time and miles on schedule.

After work we went to the "Pre" themed run club at the Roost. We ran a few miles with Heather and then stayed for yet another super fun event, like usual.

Thursday (18,448 steps) - Totally unmotivated for my 5 mile run, but it actually turned out all right.

Tokyo Joe's rounded out the evening.
Friday (17,029 steps) - Rest day! I have been waiting for you! My mystery box from INKnBURN finally showed up. I managed to wait ALL DAY until I picked up A before we opened it.

We met up with my friend Amy for dinner (we had to go a few places before we found somewhere with less than a 45 minute wait, which ended up being Sweet Tomatoes). In bed early.
Saturday (44,299 steps) - Long run with Runners Edge of the Rockies! Thankfully, the weather was perfect. Our route was in west Arvada on Ralston Creek trail and I imagined it would get really windy, but thankfully, it didn't. 16 miles ironically didn't feel as terrible as 14 miles did last week. Serious about building a better base for racing season this year!

After lunch A and I went to the Colorado History Museum. I actually had never been there. It was super interactive and even I learned a few things.

We went grocery shopping, out to dinner for Mongolian food, and then picked up her ration of Girl Scout cookies. LONGEST DAY EVER.
Sunday (17,951) - Short recovery run... in the mud. I had envisioned a nice, easy run in the dirt before the storm rolled in. Turned out I barely beat the storm (started getting snowed on on my way back), but the "dirt" was "mud."

A and I loaded up the wagon and went door to door selling cookies (or trying to) for about an hour and a half before heading to yet another birthday party at the skating rink.

After THAT party, we went home to pick up cookies, headed out for a bit more selling, and then went to Runners Roost for the Trail Sisters event, which was a LOT of fun, and very informative.

By the time we headed home the snow had started falling. BOO.
Monday (16,878 steps) - I knew it had snowed the night before so I slept later and did a total body strength video (I KNOW, I haven't done strength training in forever) and then did my 3 mile run on the treadmill during lunch. After I picked up A we went door to door for about 45 minutes, hoping to get some "sympathy" sales (which we did), since by now the snow was really coming down and it was about 20 degrees.