The Honest Mother Runner: CTLR: 5 more weeks!!

Countdown to Little Rock

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Five more weeks?! Are you serious?!! Holy crap. This week was so much fun. Another 50 mile week in the books! I can't believe it. I like this little routine I'm in. These strength workouts are becoming part of my normal routine and I'm lovin' it!!! I also made a return to Highbanks, and...gasp...I'm starting to like yoga. Not the intense, crazy crap. I don't have the body for that.

1/23: 10 miles, 8:53/mile. The dang weather app said 49 degrees, 16 mph wind, and 80% chance of rain before I went to bed. Therefore, I decided that sucked and opted for the treadmill instead of meeting my friends. Reality: lots of good feels with very light rain that would have felt awesome. Whatevs. To avoid boredom, I started slower and changed my speed every 1.4 miles. I also took a gel at 5 miles. Practice makes perfect!

My face because I just tolerated 10 miles on a treadmill.
1/24: 20 miles, 8:35/mile. Oh boy...the 20 miler. It never fails that I am always scared to do it. A really short work day meant that I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity not to have to get up at 5 am on a Saturday. After work, I met my friend Kimberly who ran the first 15k with me. She is SO SPEEDY! She was pushing a double stroller and I told her I would just go whatever pace she could do. Umm...we averaged 8:24 for that section of the run! Ha!!! My original plan was to run a 9 mile warm up then 3x3miles at race pace (with 1 mile recoveries in between). When I saw the average of the section I ran with her, I decided those were my race pace miles! LOL. At that point, I said I wasn't going to look at my watch and I would just run what felt good. I'm confused. When I see my averages, I feel like I'm running way too fast for my long runs. I'm trying this whole "run by feel" method. Ugh. I dunno. I guess all I can do is hope that I feel this good on race day and can pull off running a marathon at a faster pace. As far as the refueling aspect of this run, I added salt tabs to the mix. During my last 20 miler, I started getting tight around mile 17. I wondered if taking salt tabs in addition to my gels would make me feel any different. It didn't seem to have an effect...or maybe it did. I have no idea. I took a tab at miles 10 and 15. I also took gels at 5.5, 10.5, and 15.5. I started getting tight earlier in this run mostly because of the route and the inclines that I had at certain points. Then again, after I conquered the inclines, I felt much better and not as tight. I am thinking way too much for this to be just a run. LOL.

My second 20 miler!! EEEK!
1/25: Yoga, 30 minutes. I was going to run an easy 6, but 1) sleep didn't happen. 2) it took me a few hours to get my pelvis working again so I probably didn't need to run anyway!

My number 6 did NOT look like that.
1/26: 5.22 miles, 9:52/mile. I met some long lost friends at the rec center for some 5@5 action. The wind was a bit crazy, but Emily used her magical route powers to avoid it for most of the run.
1/27: 8.3 cycling miles, 30:19; upper body strengthening. I was SO tired when I woke up. I just wanted to turn on my music and ride really slow. Unfortunately, a dude got on the bike beside me and started chatting me up. I had no way out. TOO EARLY, DUDE! I ended up riding further and harder than I intended so all is well.

As far as the strength workout, I think I hurt my shoulder catching James over and over during his swim lessons Wednesday night! I had to decrease the resistance today.

Check out those guns. LOL!!
1/28: 8.05 miles, 9:37/mile. HIGHBANKS!! Love, love, love running there!!! It's some of the best hill action you can get in Columbus...the land of minimal, whimpy hills. Although Highbanks isn't true trail (more of a gravel-like path through the woods), I wore my new trail shoes to see how I liked them.

Fun with Brooke at Highbanks!
1/29: 6.77 miles, 8:39/mile; Yoga (YMCA Hatha Yoga Class). I met with some close friends for a little bRUNch! We ventured out to Marion's hood a.k.a. Delaware, Ohio to eat at The Hamburger Inn...HELLO delicious cinnamon rolls!! Everything was totally normal about this run except: 1) it was a little slick; 2) we heard a coyote; 3) an old lady scared the shit out of me. She told us to be careful on the slick path as she had a cane in her hand. Ha!

[Karen, Meg, Dani, Marion, ME in the back]

Cinnamon roll, bacon, and coffee courtesy of The Hamburger Inn.

After church and nap time, James and I went to the Y so we could both have some fun. I was so nervous about attending a yoga class. I'm easily embarrassed about these things. As soon as I entered the class, I told the instructor I was new AND nervous. She made me feel at ease (and so did all of the 60+ year olds in the room! LOL.) Eventually, others my age showed up. I will definitely go back. It was a good mix of stretching and a few strength moves...I even tried a headstand!

Gym time with my boy.