Hoka 10k 2018

Hoka 10k 2018

Monday, February 27, 2017

CTLR: 1 more week!!!

Countdown to Little Rock
 
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My cute little sitter...mostly there, anyway.
Should I be nervous?! They say not to try anything new the week before your marathon or on race day. I'll be breaking that rule by [hopefully] sleeping through the night without a baby waking me up! LOL. I initially planned to stay in a hotel with Amanda rather than stay at my Uncle's house so that I could be close to the start line and not worry about waking up super early and parking. I never thought about the fact that this meant I would be sleeping away from Ruthie. I know I will feel HUGE mom guilt, but it will be nice to at least have the opportunity to sleep through the night.
 
  • 2/20: REST. I did absolutely nothing active except keep a 300 lb. man from rolling into a street in Grandview after going down his ramp in a wheelchair.
  • 2/21: 8 miles, 8:28/mile. Tempo run...or, as some say, progressive run. Warm up miles were 9:31 and 8:51. Meg and I did a great job, without looking at our watches, of progressing our miles...minus mile 6. I think two things happened that mile: we saw Karen and we had a couple of inclines that must've thrown off our mojo. Those six were as follows [8:31, 8:21, 8:10, 8:25, 8:10, 7:42]. I think this is my last fast run until my race!
    This girl is always up for whatever. A perfect friend for an anal person who has to have a program! [ME, Meg]
  • 2/22: 6.01 miles, 8:50/mile. Took it to the construction streets of Westerville for a few miles with Jessie and Brittaney. Good times were had...talks of racing, margaritas, and how pregnancy broke us down.
  • 2/23: 6.8 cycling miles, 30:07; Shoulder/Leg/Yoga Workout. A short work day meant that I could hope to sleep more the night before, and go to the gym in the afternoon. I kept the intensity very easy on the bike, followed it up with some good stretching, and punished my shoulders.
  • 2/24: 10 miles, 9:02/mile. I didn't feel awesome during this run. The only mile that didn't suck was the last one. The wind was slightly brutal, but I was running at a slower pace so I should have felt ok. It was also 75 degrees in February so that might have been a factor. LOL! It was amazing being able to run in a sports bra and shorts. In true taper fashion, injuries magically appear the couple of weeks before a big race. I don't have an injury per se, but my right hamstring and piriformis have been extra tight the past month. It will relieve with stretching and rest, but flare up when I run. I may try to get a little massage before I go to Arkansas. [side note: I promised to include the story of my post run drama with a disrespectful teenager, but I decided against it for now...maybe another day. If you are dying to know, give me your cell number and I can text it to ya.]
    I said this on IG: When I run through tunnels, I always think of Harry Potter and the Dementors. How appropriate that this is the graffiti in this tunnel.
  • 2/25: REST. Lots of time with my lovely family today. I also got to reconnect with some friends from my old community group.
    My two smallest loves.
  • 2/26: 6.27 miles, 10:18/mile. Today we had our monthly bRUNch at DK Diner. Last minute shenanigans meant that Christine had to stroller run with her sweetie Aiden. So, we all [Me, Sweat, Karen, and Meg] took turns pushing him on our route! We made quite the stroller relay team. Post run, we met up with Amanda and Jessie for some grub. My hamstring, piriformis, and shin were tight during the run again today. I'm hoping an easy running week in addition to my massage will help me for race day!
    This month's bRUNch crew. [ME, Jessie, Amanda, Karen, Meg, Christine]

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Sunday, February 19, 2017

CTLR: 2 more weeks!!!

Countdown to Little Rock
 
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Taco Tuesday for Valentine's Day!
 
This week, I started squaring away some of the details of my trip to LR:
  • I figured out the details of flying with both James and Ruthie. I've traveled with babies before, but I always forget the rules and really don't want any surprises at the airport.
  • I've locked down a couple of eating dates. I'll be reuniting with some high school cross country friends (including my coach!!) for dinner one evening. I'll also being going to brunch with Felicia, Amanda, and friends after our 5k/10k Saturday morning.
  • So, long story short, I haven't seen my biological dad in YEARS. He has never met my husband or my children. I will be 30-40 minutes away from him over the weekend, and he basically told me he couldn't drive to see me. Obviously, there is a history to this story, but this situation is bullshit...but I digress.
 
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  • 2/13: REST. Complete and total rest. I needed it after a tough running weekend.
  • 2/14: 8 miles, 8:24/mile; Leg workout. Speed day. My friend asked a few of us to join her on the road for her speed workout. We deviated slightly from the original plan because one of us was having a tough day. We ended up taking turns hanging back for a mile with our friend so the rest of us could get in some faster miles. My workout ended up being 2 mile warm up [9:34, 8:58], 3x1mile with 1 minute recovery (I don't have a fancy watch so not sure of exact mile times. I do know the first was 7:18 and the other were likely in the 7:20s based on the pace my watch showed when I looked at it). Splits with recovery were [7:18, 7:46, 8:01, 8:03]. I ran my 4th repeat a little slower with my gutsy friend. I was proud of her for not giving up when she felt rough. It's so hard to be on the struggle bus! Then we ran a 1.5 mile cool down. Last two splits were [8:40, 8:49].
    Just a fun group of ladies ready to burn calories and eat donuts. [Tamara, Brittaney, Jessie, Katie, Meg, ME]
    That afternoon, I had time for a strength workout at the Y.

    Last day of my Yoga challenge.
  • 2/15: 6 miles, 9:08/mile; Shoulder/Chest workout. Between the speed workout and the leg workout yesterday, I was ready for something easy. It also allowed me to vent about my semi-conversation with my dad the night before.
    We "ran" into some of our favorites at the dam. [Tamara, ME, Karen; Meg, Melissa, Ellen]
    After work, I had a little time to an upper body workout before picking up the kiddos.
  • 2/16: 8.1 cycling miles, 30:09. I did a REALLY easy ride today. DOMS set in after that leg workout on Tuesday, and I just wanted to circulate the ick out of my legs.
    New shoes!
  • 2/17: 8 miles, 8:30/mile. HILL REPEATS. This time, I took it to the dam in Westerville. Amanda joined me for this cray cray hill. Our road warm up was approx. 3 miles [8:48, 8:04, 8:12] followed by about 4 miles of repeats [8:27, 8:41:8:46, 8:42], and the cool down [8:20]. The hill is almost a quarter mile...something like 0.23. Do that x8 and you have a good ole workout! It was hard to get up and go because I only had two hours of sleep...and that was broken sleep! Ugh. I felt like I was struggling up the hill, but still managed a great overall pace. Glad it's over.
    Why are we smiling after going up that hill 8 times? [Amanda, ME]
  • 2/18: 13.32 miles, 8:24/mile. I'm bound to run too fast when I run with my speedster friends. I feel like I haven't run with them in two weeks or so...I had to make an appearance!  Per usual, fun was had and I was SO happy to see them. I'm also super excited that this will be my longest run until my 26.2+!! EEK!
    I seriously cannot get over my crazy ass hair. Not sure what was happening. [Marion, Dani, ME, Jeanne, Jackie]
  • 2/19: 3.57 trail miles, 18:13/mile; Hatha Yoga Class. I joined some fellow runner ladies for my first adventure on the Alum Creek Trail. I've been wanting more exposure to trails to prep for my 50k in May. I seized the opportunity when I saw a post on one of my running pages. I already ran my miles for the week, but figured a few more wouldn't make or break me...unless I slipped and fell to my death. It was quite the adventure, and I can't wait to go back!
    Look at our pretty, clean shoes!

    Showing our buddy some love. [ME, Kara, Emily, Rebecca]

    Ropes growing out of trees!

    More creek crossing action.

    Nature. Such a peaceful morning.

    Our shoes earned their title of trail shoe!
 
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Two weeks....TWO MORE WEEKS.
 


Sunday, February 12, 2017

CTLR: 3 more weeks!!!

Countdown to Little Rock
 
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These two keep me motivated.

This week was set up to be my most challenging week thus far. It included my last 20 miler, a race pace run, a track workout, an easy, mostly flat run, and an easy paced hilly run. All of this, of course, if my body would allow. As I've said since giving birth, I'm not here to hurt myself. I always listen to my body! I also planned to continue with my yoga challenge.
Saturday's challenge.

Well, mission accomplished! I survived my week with both legs still attached. It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but I made it happen. I ended with 50.16 running miles, 7.5 cycling miles, three strength workouts, Hatha yoga class, and my yoga challenge each evening.
 
  • 2/6: 8 miles, 8:08/mile. Race pace run. This day seemed to be a disaster in the beginning. Per usual this past week, sleep was lacking and illness was looming. That seemed to be the case in the world of my friends as well. The morning run was cancelled, and I didn't have the desire or time to treadmill it before work. Even though mom guilt set in, I did my run after work [hubs was gracious enough to tackle watching the kids and making dinner]. I was not confident at all about this run. I just wasn't feeling it as I started. After my warm up mile [9:01], I wanted to keep the remaining miles between 8:15-8:20. My first one was 8:07 so I attempted to slow down. For whatever reason, this is the pace my body chose to run today. The other miles were [8:06, 8:03, 8:04, 8:04, 7:49, 7:52]. I was impressed with my consistency in miles 2-6, but annoyed that I couldn't pace myself at the intended range.
  • 2/7: 7.5 cycling miles, 30:05; Chest/back/other workout. The "other" included exercises that I try to do a few times a week for my hips and Achilles...more of a prevention technique!

    Trying to make my skinny arms look strong.
  • 2/8: 7 miles total, 2 mile warm up @9:24/mile, 5 mile interval section @8:08/mile. Track Day!! The workout was supposed to be 5x1200m at 7-7:15/mile with 400m recovery. I try not to judge my workout by the first couple of intervals, but, today, they were speaking truth. My legs felt like lead, my congestion was awful, and I was simply sleepy. I think these things just added up to equal a bad workout. I knew this week was going to be challenging, but I was hoping for a successful track workout. I ended up doing 4x1200m and 1x800m. My pace was much slower...more like mid 7's. I don't get too hung up on bad workouts lately. I just wish a different run sucked. Track days are my favorite so I always want to walk away feeling like death but in a good way. Today just sucked.
  • 2/9: 8.01 miles, 9:16/mile. I SO needed this run. My legs were so tired during yesterday's run. I knew I needed a no pressure recovery run to make it all better. It snowed just a bit overnight...enough to make the roads and sidewalks slippery. We did have some clear areas towards the end of the run, but the slick terrain at the beginning forced us to slow down which is exactly what I needed. I left this run feeling great and feeling like I didn't actually run 8 miles. Thanks to Tamara, Meg, and Katie for joining me!
  • 2/10: Upper body workout and core circuit. I spent an hour at the gym avoiding anything leg related in hopes that they'd be fresh for my long run!
    Kind of annoyed I forgot to crop the photo.
  • 2/11: 20 miles, 8:52/mile. My last 20 miler before the Little Rock Marathon!!! I still can't imagine running 6.2 more miles. Of all of my 20 milers, this felt the worst. It wasn't horrible...just not awesome like the others. I took a gel at 5, 10, and 15 miles. I forgot salt tabs and think they actually might have helped the tightness. I even felt my calf cramp at one point mid run. Theresa gave me one as we were approaching 18 miles but I think it was too late at that point. I was hoping it would kick in more quickly! Now that I think about it, I ran my other 20 milers in the early afternoon when I tend to feel better. I had to start this one at 6 a.m. on a Saturday after 1 1/2 weeks of horrible sleep due to a sick baby...minor details. ;) No matter how it went, I was able to share it with some lovely ladies. Thank you, Meg, Tamara, and Theresa!!
    Two of my favs. [ME, Theresa, Meg]
  • 2/12: 7.15 miles, 9:05/mile; 1 hour Hatha Yoga class. Highbanks! I decided another hilly adventure was appropriate. I knew there was a potential for limb loss after yesterday's long run, but I eventually texted Meg and said "F it...let's do Highbanks!" I recovered surprisingly well. I was sore for a few hours post-run yesterday, but had no soreness by the time I went to bed or after I woke up. Our overall average is one of my speedier attempts at Highbanks. I felt sluggish up our biggest climb, but recovered well after it flattened (3,000 years later). I celebrated my successful weekend by sippin' on a vanilla latte.
    Love a good Highbanks run! [Amanda, ME, Meg]
 
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I'm still in denial that my marathon is in three weeks. Mileage will decrease from here on out, but I'll still have some challenging speed workouts and hilly runs. At this point, there's not a whole lot I can do to change things. My body is officially prepared to conquer 26.2! I'm speechless.
 
Throwback to my first marathon which happens to be the Little Rock Marathon:
Pre-race posing.

Action shot!

Part of my fan club...my sister and her BFF.




Sunday, February 5, 2017

CTLR: 4 more weeks!!!

Countdown to Little Rock
 
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Lunch with my boy.
Overall thoughts about this week:
  1. I've become a little obsessive with this yoga thing. I found a runner/yoga girl in the most recent Runner's World mag and started following her on IG. I caught the last two days of a 5 day challenge she was doing (Monday and Tuesday). I loved it so much that I found an old 14 day challenge she did in 2015 and started that on Wednesday. If you want to be entertained, you can follow me on IG to see my moves. Bahaha!!
  2. I had one bad run and determined I never want to do a short race ever again (see 2/1). I  was thinking about a 10k in a couple of weeks, but NO THANKS! Yet, I will likely run it. LOL.
  3. I hit a HUGE postpartum milestone (for me, anyway) and ran 185 miles in January!
 
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  • 1/30: 6.14 miles, 9:09/mile. I met up with some friends for Carrie's birthday run! It was nice to have some easy miles after a weekend of hills!
    The birthday run crew!
  • 1/31: 7.7 cycling miles, 30:10; strength training. My shoulder hasn't bothered me the last couple of days, and I wanted to keep it that way! I opted for upper body exercises that didn't seem to irritate my shoulder, and I kept the resistance lighter than usual.
    Anti-rotation Press

  • 2/1: 8.04 miles, 8:18/mile. Tempo run day! I didn't sleep well the night before and kept dreaming about how I was going to fail this workout. I didn't fail it, but it wasn't that awesome. I felt good the first 6 miles. Mile 7 was tough, and I wanted to give up (thanks to Meg, I didn't). I was happy that I did three of my miles in the 7s (barely squeaking in one of them!). I think I would have felt a lot better if a) I had slept more/better; b) I had taken a gel mid-run.
  • 2/2: 8.03 miles, 8:46/mile; Core workout. I met Megan and Katie for an easy run through Westerville. I think we were all pretty sleepy, but we made it happen. Ruthie hasn't been feeling well so I was going on two rough nights of sleep and my second 4 am wake up call.
    Zzzzz....
  • 2/3: Leg workout, 45 minutes. I was happy to have a rest day from running and decided to hit up the gym. I anticipate having wobbly legs during my run tomorrow! I ended my workout with child's pose to get my mind relaxed and reclining pigeon pose because it's a fancy name for a piriformis stretch.

    Side-lying hip abduction

    Ball bridge with straight leg raise
  • 2/4: 12 miles, 9:01/mile. Cutback weeks are awesome! I met some friends at the Olentangy Trail for a short long run. My calves were screaming from my leg workout yesterday!! Also, it was frickin' freezing outside. Garmin told me 10 degrees so I'm sure it was single digit real feel. BRRRR!!!
    We're awesome. [Meg, ME, Tamara, Katie]
  • 2/5: Hatha Yoga Class, 1 hour. I love that this instructor mixes things up a bit. This week seemed to have a little more strengthening, and the stretching poses were more challenging.
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Ever since that leg workout on Friday, my left calf has been screaming. I think the yoga class helped work out the final yuckiness. I'm entering into my final 50 mile week before my marathon!! I can't believe it. I have a tough week ahead of me including a race pace run, a track workout, and my third 20 miler. I'm also hoping to make it to Highbanks over the weekend for some hill action. If my body survives this coming week, I might just make it through this marathon!