Training recap week of 5/4 & 5/11 (Pixie Dust Challenge Week 18 & Recovery Week)

Hi!  I'm alive.  Sorry for the bit of radio silence, came back from Tink last week and got crazy caught up in work.  Sometimes I wonder if vacation is worth it?  Just kidding, vacation is always worth it! 

Since I am a bit behind, let's do two weeks in one?  Tink went really well!  I actually managed to set a PR in the 10K which makes me very happy (it even included photo stops).  My 10K PR was pretty old and not reflective of my current speed.  Hoping to maybe find another 10K I can actually race and see what happens.  I'm hoping to get all my race recaps up in the next 2 weeks (fingers crossed!). 

The week after Tink basically became a recovery week.  I wasn't planning on it, but my body was clearly calling for it, so I decided to listen.  Especially since I have another half this weekend!

In terms of cross training, I did not do so well.  Hoping to get back on the cross training bus this week!

Week of 5/4 (Pixie Dust Challenge Week 18)

Monday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest
Cross Training: 21 Day Fix - Lower Body Fix

Tuesday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy
Actual: 3.07 mi, 28:46, 9:22 pace
Cross Training: 21 Day Fix - 10 Minute Fix for Abs

Wednesday
Scheduled: 2 miles easy
Actual: 2.03 mi, 18:31, 9:07 pace
Cross Training: 21 Day Fix - 10 Minute Fix for Abs

Thursday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Friday
Scheduled: Neverland 5K
Actual: 3.12 mi, 27:02, 8:40 pace

Saturday
Scheduled: Tinker Bell 10K
Actual: 6.30 mi, 51:48, 8:13 pace

Sunday
Scheduled: Tinker Bell Half Marathon
Actual: 13.36 mi, 2:00:33, 9:01 pace

Total miles: 27.88

Total May miles: 32.92

Miles until goal (1,250): 835.25
Cross Training: 3/4

Week of 5/11 (Pixie Dust Challenge Recovery Week)

Monday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Tuesday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Wednesday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Thursday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 4 miles easy
Actual: 4.02 mi, 39:05, 9:43 pace

Sunday
Scheduled: 8 miles long run
Actual: 8.16 mi, 1:20:06, 9:49 pace

Total miles: 12.19

Total May miles: 45.11

Miles until goal (1,250): 823.06
Cross Training: 0/4

Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend Race Costumes

Happy Tinker Bell half weekend!  I did this race the very first year and loved it, so I am excited to do it again.  When I ran it the first time, I did not dress up.  I wore a sequined lime green headband and called it a day.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I spent many, many hours making my Donald shirt.  I didn't really talk about how long it took me, but trust me, it took way longer then I wanted it too.  There were several times during the process that I wanted to throw something.  In the end, it was worth it, but man was it frustrating.

After that, I decided costumes should be easy.  For right now, the most I am willing to commit to is doing an iron-on.  And yes, I continued that commitment for these costumes, so they were quick and easy to pull together!

Since I am going all three races, I needed three costumes ideas.  Tinker Bell has always been one of my favorite characters (and Peter Pan one of my favorite movies), so I decided to do all costumes from Peter Pan.  Given the theme of this race weekend, I am sure I will not be the only one in any of these costumes!

Let's start with the Neverland 5K!  I'm going as Smee!

Fortunately, I already owned the tank (I picked it up a couple of years ago from Gap Body) and the Sparkle Athletic skirt from a previous costume.  The only item I needed to pick up was the red hat, which I got from Amazon for a couple of bucks.

For the Tinker Bell 10K, I decided to go with the man himself - Peter Pan.

Unfortunately for this one, I owned nothing.  I was worried about finding the shirt, but I was able to get one from Amazon for like $7.  It's technical too!  I'm pairing it with a kelly green Sparkle Athletic skirt and red feather.  I also ordered a matching sparkle visor, but decided to get it too late for it to be delivered in time.  I'll be picking that up at the expo.

And of course, the main event - the Tinker Bell Half Marathon.  I think it should be no surprise to anyone that I am going as Tinker Bell!  She is my favorite after all :)

I ordered the wings and lime green skirt from Sparkle Athletic.  For the shirt, I ordered the tank on Amazon and did an iron-on from Etsy show DesignsbyMKC (same person who did my Anna and TOT iron-ons).  The tank and skirt colors do match - it just seemed to photograph weird.  I order the bow on Etsy as well - they are from miniPanda (a fellow runDisney fan and blogger).  I also ordered some white pom poms from Sparklet Athletic for my sneakers that I am picking up at the expo.

So those are my costumes for Tinker Bell weekend!  I am a little nervous about the wings, but I am sure it will be fine.

What is everyone else dressing up as for Tinker Bell weekend?  Share your costumes in the comments below!

Crank Arm Brewing

On our walk to The Pit for lunch, we passed by a brewery with outside seating.  A quick stop (and closer investigating) informed us that this was Crank Arm Brewing - one of the breweries downtown that we had found online pre-arrival.

Michelle and I both enjoy a good beer, but what I think sold us on this particular brewery was that it was cycling themed!  Both Michelle and I ride, so a visit was a must!  So after stuffing ourselves as The Pit, we headed over to Crank Arm.

When we arrived, it was still pretty empty.  The outside tables were full, but inside the brewery it was almost empty.  We grabbed a seat at the bar to enjoy our beers.

The entire brewery was cycling themed.  There were bikes handing on the walls, bike artwork and chains on the wall.  All of the beers were also named after cycling terms (Unicycle, Rickshaw, Whitewall, Peloton, etc).

 
The bartender was very friendly (and helpful!) and I started with the Whitewall Wit, which was a wheat beer.  Similar to a Hoegaarden or Blue Moon.  I love wheat beers and this one was no exception.  It definitely was one of my favorites.

While we were drinking our first beers, we realized they did samplers of some of their beers.  Both Michelle and I decided to get that next as it was a good way to taste a bunch of their beers.

The sampler wheels got you 5 of their most popular beers - Whitewall, Unicycle, Rickshaw, Flying Scotsman, Dunkelbiken.  I am not a beer connoisseur (I just really like to drink it), so I can't give you full descriptions of everything.  Personally, my favorites were the Whitewall and Rickshaw.  I am not a huge fan of dark beers, but I didn't hate this one.

By the time we were ready to leave, the brewery had gotten packed!  And a lot of other runners had the same idea, as we saw many of the Rock'n'Roll backpacks there.

If you liked craft beer and are ever in Raleigh, a visit to Crank Arm Brewing should be on your to do list!

Training recap week of 4/27 (Pixie Dust Challenge Week 17)

This week was pretty good.  I had to cut a couple of runs short due to time constraints, but I was still able to get them all in.  I even got a run in while in New Orleans, so calling this week a win!

I am not sure what happened - none of my runs from the week saved on my Garmin.  It was very weird - I have never had that happen before.  I knew my distances because I also write them in planner, but I don't have any of the details.  Type A Sarah is pretty annoyed by this!  Anyone else having issues with Garmin this week?

This weeks cross training included some Tai Cheng (one of the Beachbody on Demand workouts).  It' is Tai Chi, but I am also doing it because the first 15 minutes of every workout includes stretching and foam rolling.  Definitely can use more of that in my life!

Monday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest
Cross Training: 21 Day Fix - Total Body Cardio Fix

Tuesday
Scheduled: 4 miles easy
Actual: 4.00 mi, 39:00, 9:30 pace
Cross Training: 21 Day Fix - Upper Body Fix and Tai Cheng

Wednesday
Scheduled: Speedwork - 6 x 0.5 miles @ 10K pace (with 2 min recovery) + WU and CD
Total miles: 5.23
Paces: No idea :(  Stupid Garmin...
Cross Training: Tai Cheng

Thursday
Scheduled: 3 miles easy
Actual: 2.5 mi, 24:00, 9:36 pace

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 6 miles easy
Actual: 5.04 mi, 44:33, 8:50 pace 

This is when it started to go a little crazy.  I definitely did not run an 8:50 pace (at least I don't think so!) so I think it didn't have my GPS right.  It was in the range of 5 miles though...

Sunday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Total miles: 16.77

Total April miles: 113.70
Total May miles: 5.04

Miles until goal (1,250): 863.13
Cross Training: 3/4

Monthly Goal Recap - April/May

First street fair of the season!

How is it already May?  Winter seemed to drag on, but summer seems to be quickly approaching.

Since it's May, let's do a check in of April goals.

Run 100 miles - A
As of Sunday, I had run 101.97 miles and I did probably another 10-11 miles this week!

Complete the Blogilates 30 Day Sleek Arm Challenge - B-
Yea... didn't do so hot on this one.  I started great, but petered off around Day 16.  I'd like to finish it off though, so maybe try again for May?

Complete 1 full round of 21 Day Fix - F
This was just a poor goal for me to set.  I know better.  I've talked about it before.  Oy vey.  Granted, I was planning on starting it the Monday after Raleigh, but that was before I PR'd.

Lose that last 1 pound - A
Completed!  I actually lost 1.5 pounds, so yay!

Average 7 hours of sleep a night - A
My FitBit tells me my current average for the last month i s 7 hours, 2 minutes.  I just barely made it, but that doesn't matter!  I still did it!

Now, onto May goals!

Run 115 miles
I made 100 miles the last two months with no issues, so want to challenge myself to get an extra 15 miles in.

Complete the Blogilates 30 Day Sleek Arm Challenge
Bringing this one back.  I really want to do this and complete it!  Think I am going to start from Day 1 again.

Cross Train 4x a week
I know cross training (strength training and core) were one of the things that helped with my PR.  It's a long term goal for 2015, but I really slacked this month, so want to focus on getting my 4 workouts in.  I'm a big fan of 21 Day Fix and Beachbody (the people who created it) now have a streaming video library.  They are offering 30 day free trials, so I signed up.  I have discovered I really have workout ADD and can't do the same thing long term, so this will give me the opportunity to try different programs.  Expect to see lots of random workouts in my weekly recaps, but hopefully this will help me get my cross training in!

Complete the Neverland 5K and Pixie Dust Challenge
Since this is a big one and I've been training for it all winter/spring, figured I should include it!  Will be an easy one to check off, at least!

Check a state of my list
This should be another easy one as I'm already registered for the Madison half at the end of the month!


Share some of your goals for the month!