Hoka 10k 2018

Hoka 10k 2018

Sunday, December 18, 2016

CTLR: 11 more weeks!!!

Countdown to Little Rock
 
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Celebrated my sweet boy this week.
Week 7 of training brought about a change in my mindset. TYPE A is the name of my game. Schedule oriented, can't slack off the intended program, must get ALL THE MILES! My main goal as I train for Little Rock has always been to train smart postpartum. I just want to be nice to my body and stay uninjured. The past couple of weeks, I've missed a few of my intended miles and it really got me down. I was so annoyed at myself. I mean, what is two more miles or one more mile?! Surely I can do that! Well, in those moments, those miles might have meant passing out or throwing up or something else completely stupid. This week, after my race pace workout and a conversation with a friend, I realized that those itty bitty miles aren't worth the fuss. I kept trying to figure out how I could fit them back in rather than sucking it up and just throwing them away. Everyone has a bad day...or two...or three.

So, from here on out (at least for this training cycle! LOL), I vow not to stress about missed miles. I vow not to feel like a failure when workouts don't go my way. I vow to continue to listen to my body and know that postpartum progress is a process.
 
  • 12/12: 7.04 miles, 8:38/mile. I knew I wasn't going to get up early to run after a weekend of travel. I also had no idea what my legs would be able to do after racing. I felt like I might be a little tired, but that doesn't mean you can't have a solid run. I headed out after work and decided not to look at my watch...not even for my mile splits. Based on how I felt, I fully expected something in the low 9s. Looking back at my splits, I ALMOST had a progressive run. [9:15, 8:44, 8:38, 8:30, 8:34, 8:27, 8:17]. Mile 5 included two uphills, so I wasn't shocked that it was a little slower. My last mile included a dog chasing me so I knew it would be faster. See bottom of post for my DOG STORY.
  • 12/13: 6.2 cycling miles, 30:02. What a horrible ride!! I had been up since 2:45 with Ruthie (and she had me up another time earlier in the night...and I didn't fall asleep until almost 11). Not only was I sleepy, I just felt plain fatigued. I mean, there are people that run a 10k faster than I cycled it! LOL!!
    Coffee is my friend.
  • 12/14: 8 miles, 8:35/mile; leg circuit. This is the workout that brought about my epiphany. Another rough evening with Roop made for another sleepy morning. Because I feared the slippery roads, I opted to go to the Y for my race pace run. The intended workout was 10 total miles with 8 in my goal race pace range. I ended up with a 2 mile warm up and 6 miles in the 8:20s. I just couldn't will myself to finish the last two miles. I JUST COULDN'T. I was pissed at first, but realized that I had a really good run despite missing two miles. Later that evening, I managed to fit in my leg workout.
  • 12/15: 8 miles, 8:51/mile. I planned to get up and run 7 miles with Meg, but it was stupid wickedly cold outside. Something like single digits with wind ?-teen mph and wind chill in the area of -8 or so. I've run in that crap before, but I'm just not ready to make it happen again. I hate it. Why get in the crap when I have the opportunity to run in a schweaty YMCA on the treadmill?! (something I'm also not a huge fan of...my max tolerance is about 4 miles). I did end up at the gym after work to knock it out. I started the mill at an easy 6.4 mph and pushed it up each mile until I reached 7.1 mph. I felt great the whole time and actually enjoyed it (which is why I did the extra mile!).
    Sun...but cold. So cold.
  • 12/16: 16+miles (accidentally turned off my watch and didn't realize for a while, but I had to make sure Garmin had 16!), 9:27/mile. I don't even know where to start with this run. I didn't intend to run this today, but the weather was looking sketch for Saturday, and Sunday wasn't an option. Fortunately, Gahanna did a great job clearing their trails and roads so the first 4-5 miles were mostly snow/ice free. Once I hit Hamilton/Morse Road area, it was all snow and ice from there. I thought for sure New Albany would have their paths cleared...WRONG! I was shocked. Because of that, I ran in the snow and ice for the next several miles (minus a small are in which I could safely run on the road). The worst part had to be the last 2 miles on Morse Road...awful, just awful. I did eventually find my groove and didn't fear falling. I was excited that the run felt very easy. It made me look forward to longer mileages. SIDE NOTE: 18 degrees, cloudy, light wind. I think I did a perfect job of dressing appropriately. I was never hot or cold. Fleece lined tights, tank, short sleeve and jacket; ear warmer and hat, gloves, buff.
    C'mon New Albany! Clear those paths for your people.
  • 12/17: CORE. I didn't get to it until 9:30 p.m., but I did it!! Busy day with Christmas festivities including Breakfast with Santa, last minute shopping, and Christmas at the in-laws.
    Breakfast with SANTA!!!

    I'm in love with this face.

  • 12/18: Leg circuit. It felt weird not to run over the weekend but also awesome because I didn't have to run in this icy mess.
    Angel wanted to get in on the action. I don't know what it is about my yoga mat that attracts these dang dogs.

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So, I finally locked down some goals for my marathon. I debated not having any
 goal except to finish, but I realized I can't really do speed work or race pace runs if I don't at least have an idea of what I would like to run. Even though I have my A, B, and C goals, I don't think there is any way I can be disappointed in the outcome. I just need some sort of structure to keep me sane.
 
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Dog Story:
 
I was less than a half mile from my house on Monday when it happened. I live on a semi-busy road and NEVER see dogs out (unless my beagle escapes and we are chasing her down the road in our underwear or without shoes...but I digress). They are either in their homes, in their fenced in yards, or on a leash while walking with their owners...normal, right?
 
Well, I was running on the sidewalk and looked over to cross a side street to the next section of sidewalk. When I looked over, I saw a dog chasing after me while barking. He was about 2-3 houses down when he started. There was what I assumed to be its owner putting something in or getting something out of her vehicle. I was immediately freaked out because it was coming after me with no intention to stop. My initial reaction was to stop (after turning off my Garmin, of course) and just stay still in hopes it would get the dog to leave me alone and maybe just sniff me rather than chase me. The owner yelled for its dog to come back. The dog didn't listen initially until the owner raised it's voice slightly. I was extremely startled and I told the girl she needed to have her dog on a leash so this would not happen. When I said this to her, she got super offended and yelled at me saying I was in her dogs territory and messing up its flow. Ummm, no lady.
 
First of all, you live 2-3 homes down from where I am currently running/standing. Second of all, I am on a pedestrian sidewalk where I'm supposed to be. Third of all, get your damn dog on an f'n leash or at least pay attention to your surroundings or simply control your pooch. (side note: I have dogs and I'm a dog lover. I respect other people by keeping my dogs controlled when appropriate AND leashing them).
 
Of course, I didn't say these things to her, but this is what I did say after she yelled at ME  (I was pissed and yelling at this point): "You need to control your dog and leash it." She did not like this and continued to yell at me. I was pissed and did NOT practice self control. In fact, I decided that the F-word was appropriate at this point. I just said "Control your f'n dog." As she continued to yell and finally had ahold of the dog, I just left her with a big "F you" and ran off. I'm sorry, y'all. I get so mad at irresponsible pet owners. I also get mad when stupid people make me feel like my life is in danger when I'm doing something as simple as running in the middle of broad daylight. I likely would have brushed it off if she had not blamed it on me, but she made the choice to yell at me so that was my response. You can at least be proud that I didn't pay her a visit after I finished my run. I'll try to behave next time.
 

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