Training recap week of 1/16

This week was pretty good in terms of training. Got all my runs in and felt strong on them. I also took my first Pure Barre class. Gilt City had a really good deal on class packages so I figured it was a good time to try it. The classes were more then half off - a great deal! This way I can try the classes and if I don't like them at least they were a deal.

Currently training for:

• Enchanted 10K
• Princess Half
• Star Wars Dark Side 10K
• Star Wars Dark Side Half

Monday
Scheduled: Rest or Cross Training
Actual: Pure Barre

Tuesday:
Scheduled: 4-7 miles easy
Actual: 4.5 miles, 43:35, 9:41
Cross Training: TIU K+K HIIT and Abs

Wednesday
Scheduled: Speedwork - 8 x 800m at HMP (8:46), plus WU and CD
Actual: 6.36 mi, 1:02:27
Paces: 8:49, 8:45, 8:44, 8:43, 8:38, 8:43, 8:53, 8:43
Cross Training: TIU Leg Workout

This was a tough workout, but I am pleased with how my paces ended up.

Thursday
Scheduled: 4-7 miles easy
Actual: 5.15 mi, 47:35, 9:14 pace

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Cross Training
Cross Training: TIU Arms and Abs

Saturday
Scheduled: 8 miles long run
Actual: 8.12 mi, 1:21:01, 9:59 pace

Sunday
Scheduled: 3-6 miles easy
Actual: 3.17 mi, 32:26, 10:14 pace

Overall, a pretty good week! I got my runs and some solid cross training in!

Total Miles: 27.30
Total January Miles: 67.78
Miles to Goal (1,270): 1,202.22 

Training recap week of 1/9

 

Remember last week when I complained about the cold weather? Well this past week we had a huge shift in the weather and I ran in shorts on Thursday. SHORTS! I was wonderful. Of course, it snowed on Saturday... so there's that.

This past week of training went pretty well. I skipped Tuesday run because we didn't get home until late Monday night and I was exhausted. Other than that, I did pretty good on my workouts. And I got 4 cross training workouts in! 

Currently training for:

• Enchanted 10K
• Princess Half
• Star Wars Dark Side 10K
• Star Wars Dark Side Half

Monday
Scheduled: Rest or Cross Training
Actual: Lots of walking around Disney

Tuesday:
Scheduled: 4-7 miles easy
Actual: Cross training
Cross Training: Abs

Wednesday
Scheduled: Speedwork - 2 miles @ 15 sec over goal pace (9:01), 6 x 30 sec hills, 2 miles @ 15 sec over goal pace (9:01), plus WU and CD
Actual: 6.7 mi, 1:02:53
Paces: {1st set} 8:48, 8:57; {2nd set} 8:56, 8:55
Cross Training: TIU Daily Moves

Pretty please with how the speed workout went. The second set was tough after running hills, but please with how it went.

Thursday
Scheduled: 4-7 miles easy
Actual: 5.16 mi, 49:34, 9:37 pace
Cross Training: TIU Arms

Ran in shorts! In January!

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 4 miles easy
Actual: 4.00 mi, 40:11, 10:02 pace

Sunday
Scheduled: 10 miles long run
Actual: 10.04 mi, 1:36:26, 9:36 pace

Since we only have like 5 weeks to Princess, I needed to start getting some back to back workouts in. Did 4 and 10 this weekend and felt really strong.

Total Miles: 25.90
Total January Miles: 40.48
Miles to Goal (1,270): 1,229.52 

Training recap week of 1/2

So we are barely into winter and I am already over the cold. I miss running in shorts and I am skip of having to wear a million layers to go on a run. Yes, I am a wuss 😏. But since I have no plans on moving somewhere warm in the near future, I guess I should stop complaining (out loud at least!).

This weeks training was much less then I expected. I was supposed to run the Disney Half this weekend, but it had to be cancelled due to severe thunderstorms. I'll have a full post later this week about everything so not going to elaborate more now.

I didn't do great with cross training this week. I haven't been doing it for so long, I am really struggling to get back into it.

Currently training for:

• Enchanted 10K
• Princess Half Marathon
• Star Wars Dark Side 10K
• Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon

Monday

Scheduled: Rest or Cross Training

Actual: Rest day

I was still off of work so I really should have done some sort of cross training, but I was feeling lazy and wanted to take advantage of my last vacation day.

Tuesday

Scheduled: 3-6 miles easy

Actual: 3.5 mi, 33:03, 9:27 pace

Kept this one nice and easy. I am really just starting to get back to running 5 days a week and don't want to overdue it. I also did a toning workout from Tone It Up, so that was good!

Wednesday
Scheduled: Speedwork - 3 miles @ tempo (8:56), plus warm up and cool down
Actual: 5.00 mi, 46:30
Paces: 9:02, 8:58, 8:34

My paces started a little slow, but they picked up throughout the tempo workout. Felt really strong on the last mile and was way ahead of my planned pace!

Thursday
Scheduled: 3-6 miles easy
Actual: 3.08 mi, 30:31, 9:54 pace

Kept this one short as I needed to finish packing and had a very early wakeup call the next morning.

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: Disney World Half Marathon
Actual: Does lots of walking around Disney count?

No half due to weather 😡

Sunday
Scheduled: 3-6 miles easy
Actual: Rest (lots of walking around Disney)

I completely bailed on this run due to the temps out (only 32 degrees) and I had not brought proper gear for that temp. It wasn't supposed to be that cold, which is why I didn't bring the right stuff.

Ended up not being a great week mileage wise, but it is what it is.

Total Miles: 11.58
Total January Miles: 14.58
Miles to Goal (1,270): 1,248.72

Goals: January

Happy Thursday everyone! Is it me or has this week just flown by?

As I mentioned in my 2017 post, I am going to do mini goals each month. I think having smaller goals will help me reach my larger goals for the year.

But, before I get into my January goals, I wanted to add one to my 2017 goals. This one totally slipped my mind when I was typing up my list, which is funny because it's one of the ones I really want to adhere too! I went back and added it to my original post, but I'll include it here too.

• Downsize my stuff. This should really read "get rid of my excess crap". Because really, I have too much stuff. I love my apartment and love that I haven't felt a need (or had) to move in years, but the downside to that is that I am not forced to clean out/go through my stuff every time I move. This means I have a lot of stuff in my apartment. My closets are packed and my drawers overflowing. While I plan on going through my stuff, a big thing I am doing is instituting a "1 in, 2 out" policy. This means whenever I buy something, two thing must go in the donate pile (and stay there). I am hoping this helps me make smarter purchases ("Do I want this enough to get rid of 2 things?"), while also helping me downsize my clothing collection.

In full disclosure, this will not fully apply to my race shirts. I don't get rid of those (as they have sentimental value to me), but at the same time my race shirt collection is out of control. What I am thinking about doing is removing shirts from the rotation and packing them away. Especially some of the older shirts that have already gotten a lot of use. I am also considering pulling all my Disney shirts and making a quilt out of them. Has anyone ever had one made? What company did you use?

Okay, so now that I've shared my last 2017 goal, let's get to my January goals!

1. Run 100 total miles. This is a gimme since I want to run a total of 1,270 miles for the year. Ideally, I'd like to run more then this in January, but don't want to overdue it in January.
2. Sleep a minimum of 7+ hours a night. I really got off my sleep schedule in December. I'd like to focus on getting into bed at a reasonable hour each night and actually going to bed. I have a (bad) habit of getting into bed and then playing on my phone for an hour. Not good! 
3. Focus on following a meal plan and not eating junk. This is a year round goal, but I feel like January is a good month to truly reset and start the year off right. I know this will be tough when I'm in Disney, but really going to focus on this the rest of the month.
4. Cross train at least 4x a week. Again, part of my annual goal. But, I also know this will get harder once I get into marathon training and my mileage increases. Want to focus on this while I can.
5. Take 2 bags of stuff to Goodwill. Let's get that closet clean out going!

That's all for this month!

What are your goals for January?

Training recap week of 12/26

Hope everyone had a good last week of 2016! As I mentioned in my last post, I am almost fully back to normal. Although, I don't think I will ever go back to the exact same I was before surgery (there are some scars on my stomach that prove that), but I am feeling as close to the way I was pre-surgery as I can be.

I ended the year on high note - first true speed workout! It felt really good to get a speed workout in. Felt ideal to do it at the end of the year. Here's to 2017!

Currently training for:

• Disney World Half Marathon
• Enchanted 10K
• Princess Half Marathon

 
Monday
Scheduled: Rest/Cross Training
Actual: Spin class

Used this Monday to get some cross training in! I was still home in PA, but fortunately, a CycleBar just opened near my mom's house and I got a solid spin class in there. It's been a long time since I took a spin class, but it felt good to shake out my legs and sweat out all the holiday treats.

Tuesday
Schedule: 3-6 miles easy
Actual: 3.0 miles, 29:58, 10:00 pace

Easy 3 mile run today. I was a little sore from CycleBar yesterday, so didn't push it or anything.

Wednesday
Scheduled: 3 x 1 mile at 10-20 seconds over goal HMP (so 8:56-9:06), plus warm up and cool down
Actual: 5:41 miles total
Paces: 8:55, 8:56, 8:46

This went surprisingly well. I was nervous about hitting those paces, but they were not as hard as I thought they would be.

Thursday 
Scheduled: 3-6 miles easy
Actual: 3.18 mi, 30:55, 9:44 pace

Kept it nice and easy for today's run. Since yesterday was my first speedwork, didn't want to overdo it.

Friday
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

Saturday
Scheduled: 11 mile long run
Actual: 11.5 mi, 1:53:13, 9:51 pace

Didn't have the greatest month of long runs (in other words, I didn't get any in), but with the Disney Half next weekend, wanted to get a solid long run in. It was good and what a way to end 2016.

Sunday
Scheduled: 3-6 miles easy
Actual: 3.0 mi, 30:23, 10:08 pace

Total Miles: 26.08
Total December Miles: 67.95
Total January Miles: 3.00
Miles to 2016 Goal (1,000): 190.18
Miles to 2017 Goal (1,270): 1,267

I didn't not make my 2016 goal, but given my surgery and the recovery following that, I am not surprised. I did finish the year with just over 800 miles, which I am pretty proud of! It was actually more then I expected to, so I was really psyched. I upped my number in 2017, but with two marathons, it should not be an issue.

How did your training week go?

Happy New Year + 2017 Goals

Image from Tone It Up (I loved it so much, I borrowed it!)

Happy 2017 everyone! Long time, no talk, eh? 2016 was not a great year in terms of blogging for me, but I am hoping change that in 2017. I am borrowing a term from one of my Volee teammates and "zamboni'ing" it for 2017 (i.e. making a fresh start). So rather then re-hash all that I did in 2016, I am just going to start fresh in 2017.

So to start 2017, I want to share my goals for this year. These are my overall goals, but I also plan on setting smaller monthly goals (some related to my overall goals and some not related).

Let's start with my running goals:

1. Run 1,270 miles in 2017 (same numbers, different order). 2016 was one of my lowest mileage years, but that is to be expected given the surgery. I am finally feeling back to normal and am excited to tackle 2017.
2. Tackle 5 states in 2017. I still don't have them all set, but I am excited to check some more states off of my list.
3. Run 2 marathons. My plan is to run a marathon in the Spring (likely in May) and then the Chicago Marathon. I had a time qualifier for Chicago so I didn't need to wait for the lottery results. Really excited to head back to Chicago after the heat of 2007 (and praying for better weather!).
4. And the big one - qualify for the Boston Marathon. I haven't spoken to much about this goal, but this one has been a longtime goal for me. I got pretty close at Route 66 and am hoping to get back there. My plan is to run the spring marathon to get the cobwebs out and get my speed back, then use Chicago as my goal BQ race. Dream big or go home, right?

And now for some other goals (blog-wise and life wise):

1. Get back to blogging regularly. I really do enjoy it and miss doing it. My plan is to do 2 posts a week: a weekly training recap and one other. The second will change each week, but I do know I want to go back and recap my recent races (more for my own personal memory).
2. Work on eating clean as much as possible. I don't know if it's getting older or a side effect from my surgery (they did route around in my stomach for a bit), but I just really can't handle processed foods anymore. I'd like to focus on eating healthy (and clean) as much as possible. It'll be a work in progress - I know I won't be perfect all the time (especially when traveling) and I know I'll slip up, but it's something I am going to be working on.
3. Cross train more often. This is something I really want to focus on. My best year of racing (2015) included a lot of cross training and especially, core work. I know it's shocking, but my abs/core did not magically reappear post surgery (and wishing them back didn't work either!). Really going to focus on this, especially in the winter/spring.
4. Travel more. I love traveling and am looking forward to visiting some more states as part of my 50 States goal. I am also looking forward to visiting far flung friends and family.
5. Downsize my stuff. This should really read "get rid of my excess crap". Because really, I have too much stuff. I love my apartment and love that I haven't felt a need (or had) to move in years, but the downside to that is that I am not forced to clean out/go through my stuff every time I move. This means I have a lot of stuff in my apartment. My closets are packed and my drawers overflowing. While I plan on going through my stuff, a big thing I am doing is instituting a "1 in, 2 out" policy. This means whenever I buy something, two thing must go in the donate pile (and stay there). I am hoping this helps me make smarter purchases ("Do I want this enough to get rid of 2 things?"), while also helping me downsize my clothing collection.

In full disclosure, this will not fully apply to my race shirts. I don't get rid of those (as they have sentimental value to me), but at the same time my race shirt collection is out of control. What I am thinking about doing is removing shirts from the rotation and packing them away. Especially some of the older shirts that have already gotten a lot of use. I am also considering pulling all my Disney shirts and making a quilt out of them. Has anyone ever had one made? What company did you use?

What are some of your goals for 2017?