Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Training recap week of 7/21 (Eugene Half Week 4)


This is the last week of my crazy work project and then I should be back to normal blogging!  I have so much I still want to share with you all, so I am excited to get some normalcy back in my life.

Monday
Scheduled: Sweat
Actual: Rest

I was stuck at work really late on Monday and wasn't able to get this in.  

Tuesday
Scheduled: 4 miles easy + Core
Actual: 4.00 mi, 40:56, 10:14 pace + Core

Wednesday
Scheduled: 6 miles easy + Buns
Actual: Buns

Was at work later then expected and by the time I got home there was a really bad thunderstorm going on so heading out for a run was not feasible.  I still got my PiYo in though!

Thursday
Scheduled: 4 miles easy + Drench
Actual: 4.09 mi, 40:59, 10:01 pace

I was at work a little late and still needed to pack for Oregon.  Plus with the early flight I needed all the sleep I could get!

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 2 miles easy
Actual: 2.31 mi, 23:00, 9:57 pace

Since we were in Eugene, we did this run on Pre's Trail which was just gorgeous.

Sunday
Scheduled: Eugene Half Marathon
Actual: 13.25 mi, 2:04:47, 9:23 pace + Strength Intervals

More to come about this race, but it was fun one!

Total miles: 23.65
Total July miles: 60.17
Miles until goal (1,250): 499.93

Monday, July 21, 2014

Training recap week of 7/14 (Eugene Half Week 3)





I am so sorry for the radio silence this past week.  It'll probably be a bit quiet for the next week or two as I am in the middle of a huge project at work and it is going to be consuming my life for the next two weeks.  Stay with me guys!


Monday
Scheduled: Define: Upper Body
Actual: Define: Upper Body

Tuesday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy + Buns
Actual: Buns

Was at work late and by the time I was able to get home and out for a running, it was thundering and lightning so that didn't make it a good idea to run outside.

Wednesday
Scheduled: 5 miles easy + Core
Actual: 4.51 mi, 42:34, 9:26 pace + Core

Thursday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy + Define: Lower Body
Actual: 3 mi, 30:45, 10:15 pace

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 4 miles easy + Sweat
Actual: 4.1 mi, 40:45, 9:56 pace

I worked 15 hours on Friday and had minimal sleep Friday night, so could barely get my 4 miles in and then slept all day.

Sunday
Scheduled: 10 miles long run + Strength Intervals
Actual: 10.3 mi, 1:37:56, 9:30 pace + Strength Intervals

Was a gorgeous morning out and got out for a run to the lighthouse.

Total miles: 21.92
Total July miles: 36.52
Miles until goal (1,250): 523.58

Monday, July 14, 2014

Training recap week of 7/7 (Eugene Half Week 2)

This week went better.  I got all my PiYo workouts in and almost all my runs.  I took my first run back on Tuesday easy just to make sure my knee was feeling fine - and it was!  I skipped Thursday run solely because I was stuck at work and feeling lazy.  Since I don't want to burn out post marathon, I am giving myself permission to skip sometimes.  It's a balancing act sometimes!

Monday
Scheduled: Sweat
Actual: Sweat

Tuesday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy + Define: Lower Body
Actual: 1.50 mi, 17:18, 11:31 pace + Define: Lower Body

Wednesday
Scheduled: Core
Actual: Core

Thursday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy + Define: Upper Body
Actual: Define: Upper Body

Skipped the run since I was late at work and not feeling up to it

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 6 miles easy + Sweat
Actual: 5.92 mi, 1:01:13, 10:20 pace + Sweat

Sunday
Scheduled: Core
Actual: 4.17 mi, 45:24, 10:53 pace + Core

Since I skipped Thursday's run and I was feeling in the mood for a run, I went out for 4 miles. 

Total miles: 11.60
Total July miles: 14.60
Miles until goal (1,250): 545.50

Friday, July 11, 2014

Book Club Friday: The Fault in Our Stars

As mentioned earlier this week, I finally read The Fault in our Stars.  Or should I say, sobbed through it.  I anticipated it being sad and crying, so I was not that surprised about that fact.  As my cousins about what happened when we went to see The Notebook in the theatre.  Spoiler alert, I sobbed hysterically through most of it.  They almost moved to different seats in the theatre.  In my defense, I had been dumped about 5 days prior (literally, that is not an exagerration).  I think I was allowed to be hysterical.

Needless to say, I will not be seeing this movie in the theatre.  I'll wait until it's on Netflix so I can cry through it in peace.


Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

My thoughts:
I really liked this book - it was an quick read, but hit me a lot.  The plot was not what I expected and I enjoyed the twists.  And yes, as mentioned, I sobbed for about the last 1/3 of it.  Sometimes, you just need a good cry, right?

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

2 on Tuesday

I realized I forgot to include my PiYo workouts in my recap yesterday.  I started well with the first three workouts (Align: Fundamentals, Define: Upper Body and Define: Lower Body).  I skipped the last three because of my knee.  I really wanted to do them though!  I got back to it on Monday and it felt great.  The workouts were hard, but it makes me feel good.  Flexibility is really not good, so I think this will help.  Moving forward, I'll make sure to include them in my recaps.


I just started reading The Fault in Our Stars.  I've been on the waiting list from the library for ever and it finally came in.  I am excited to read the book.  I haven't seen the movie yet either - I wanted to read the book first - but the trailer makes me cry, so hoping the book doesn't make me sob (the entire time).  I usually read on the subway into work so that could be awkward.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Training recap week of 6/30 (Eugene Half)


Sorry for the bit of radio silence.  I was home for July 4th weekend and decided to disconnect when I was there.  It was really nice and needed!  Hopefully, I'll get my posts done for Grandma's done this week (fingers crossed).

So this week was not great.  I was rushing to work on Wednesday and tripped on the subway stairs and landed hard on my knee.  It was a little sore for the next couple of days so I didn't run.  It feels better now, so that's good.  Fortunately it was still a down week from Grandma's so didn't miss too much.

Monday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Tuesday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy
Actual: 3.00, 29:55, 9:57 pace

Wednesday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Thursday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy
Actual: Rest

Friday
Scheduled: Good Neighbor 5K
Actual: Rest

Bailed on this race since my knee was a little sore.

Saturday
Scheduled: 6 miles easy
Actual: Rest

Sunday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Total miles: 3
Total July miles: 3
Miles until goal (1,250): 557.10

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

2014 Goals - Mid Year Check-in

We are officially halfway through 2014 (holy cow is it going by fast!) and similar to last year, I thought I'd do a check-in on how my goals for 2014 are coming along.

Complete the Dopey Challenge 
This is a pretty obvious goal as I spent most of 2013 preparing for this.  I can't believe it is only 8 days away!
COMPLETED
It was nice to start the year off completing a goal right at the beginning.  In case you missed them, you can read my recaps here: 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon, Final Thoughts.  It's been almost 6 months and I still have trouble believing that I did all that and how well the marathon went (second fastest at the time, third fastest post Grandma's).

PR in the Half Marathon 
My current PR is a 1:51:52 set back in 2010.  I ran a 1:55:03 this past September, so I am hoping to make this happen.
COMPLETED
We can check this one off the list!  I set a new Half Marathon PR at the Nike DC Women's Half with a 1:50:04.  Since I reached it, wouldn't it be fun to get under 1:50 sometime in the fall?  Challenges are good for you.

Check 5 states off my list 
I've already got 3 states on the schedule (Kentucky, DC, Oregon).  I have a couple of ideas for the other 2 states and will let you know once they are finalized.
ON TRACK
3 states down and 2 to go.  Eugene is already on the schedule and since we are talking 50 States, I can tell you all that as of Monday, I am officially registered for state #5 for 2014 - Maryland.  I'll be running the Baltimore Half Marathon on October 18th.  

Race a marathon 
I am not running the Disney marathon with a time goal with Dopey going on, so I would like to actually race a marathon in 2014.  I already have an idea for a race and will let you know once it's been decided.
COMPLETED
As you might remember, I just raced Grandma's Marathon during which I set a new marathon PR (which wasn't even a goal, so I feel extra good about this one).

Run 1,250 miles total 
I ran a total of 1,145.77 in 2013 according to my Garmin, but I did a lot of my Jan-Mar weekday runs on the treadmill (without my Garmin) and they are not counted in that number.  So I think this doable.
ON TRACK
As of July 1, I have run 689.90 miles or 55.19% of the way towards having this goal completed.  I'm a little ahead, which is good since I won't be training for a marathon in the fall and won't be putting as many miles in.  I have to do about 93.35 miles a month, which I think is  (probably) doable.  Got lots of halves to train for so it should be fun for the second half of the year!  This was always a stretch goal, so if I come close but don't reach it, I'm okay with it.

Commit to core work 
This is one area I have definitely been slacking on.  I really want to get back to this and to get it started, I am taking part of the Athleta 30-Day Plank Challenge.  You should join me!
SLACKING
There had to be one I wasn't doing well in right?  I started off well, doing the Plank Challenge for the first week (wow, it's sad that I just said 1 week was doing well).  Then Dopey came up and I didn't want to do anything that would interfere with that and then I just didn't go back to it.  I would do some ab work here and there, but nothing major.

This is one I definitely want to work on for the rest of the year (and I'm adding stretching in.  Man, am I inflexible).  So to help me accomplish those goals, I am going to be doing PiYo for the next 60 days (I officially started this Monday).  PiYo is a fast paced yoga-pilates combo from Chalene Johnson and Beachbody (the company that does P90X).  It's low impact (which will be good for my knees and joints) and focuses on core and flexibility, two things I am in desperate need of improving.  Moving foward, you'll see PiYo included in my weekly training recaps.  I'll still be running, so some days it will be doubles, but I think committing to this will help me get faster in the long run.  For most of the 60 days I'm doing PiYo, I won't be doing any speed work so it'll mostly all be easy runs.  I might throw in a couple of tempo runs to change it up, but not at race pace or anything.  Just slightly faster.  {Side bar: in case you are wondering, I bought and paid for PiYo myself.  I'm not being sponsored or anything - although that would be nice, right?}

Not too bad half way through!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

2 on Tuesday

Image via
Can you believe it is July 1st already?  This year seems to be flying by; before we know it, it is going the holidays again.  I am heading home for the long weekend and could not be more ready for some pool time.

Image via Disney Parks Blog
runDisney shared the medals for the Tower of Terror weekend races yesterday.  I saw the 10M medal back at the Everest Expo (seriously thought I shared it, but apparently not).  I love this medal and that the elevator moves.  I really love the 5K medal - Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides so now I sad that I am not doing the 5K.