Training Log 9.7.15-9.13.15

Happy Monday–and Happy Boston Registration Week! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Ours was a lot of fun, and per usual, I’m sad to see it end.

It’s race week! It’s hard to believe I’m running a half-marathon this Saturday. It doesn’t feel like I should be ready for it. I’ll talk more about my goals for Saturday later this week, but I’m trying to just take it easy and not overly stress myself out about it.

I ended up “tapering” a lot more than I anticipated, which I guess is a good things. My legs felt pretty rough towards the end of the week, so I’m hoping to do some yoga this week to make sure everything is nice and stretched out before the race.

Monday – off

Driving back from Colorado.

Tuesday – 5 miles

I’ve been having a really tough time getting myself up and out of bed before 6 most mornings. Typically, that doesn’t leave me with much time to run in the mornings. Tuesday, I got up and decided to hell with it, and leashed up Rudy and we went out for two easy miles. After work and before class, I headed out for another three. I tried to run a little fast, and nailed a 7:06 as my last mile!!! That felt really, really good.

Wednesday – 4 miles

After work, I set off for four easy miles. This wasn’t anything spectacular, just some easy miles.

Thursday – 3 miles

I got up and ran early in the morning, but it wasn’t stellar by any means. My legs were feeling pretty tired. Kept it easy and short.

Friday – Strength workout

Alright, I’m just going to say it. I can’t do a strength day the day before a long run. I had a dentist appointment after work, which turned into 2 hours in the chair, and when I got home with a numb face, I just really didn’t want to run. So, I took Rudy for a walk and did a Deck of Cards workout instead.

Saturday – 6.5 miles

My last “long run” turned into “survive for at least six miles”. My legs were SHOT, it was hot out and I mentally didn’t want to be out there. My body was craving sleep after our pretty sleep-deprived weekend in Colorado, so I let myself sleep in on Saturday morning and then lazed around for a few hours. By the time I finally got myself out the door, it was almost noon and 80*.

I just wasn’t feeling it. My legs were pretty shot from the lunges and squats the day before, and the heat affected me pretty badly. I ran a hilly trail near the house, and it took everything I had to keep climbing up. I was trying to look at it from the perspective that I’ll be doing that a lot next weekend, and the start time isn’t until 9, so it’ll be warm. After getting home, I laid on the floor for a while before I was able to move again. 

Total miles: 18.5

Not at all what I was planning on for this week, but oh well. Sometimes that happens. The best thing to do–especially right before a race–is listen to your body and give it what it needs, and sometimes that’s a lot less milage than you would like!

Training Log 8.31.15-9.6.15

Happy Tuesday everybody!

I hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day Holiday! Jeff and I had an absolutely ah-maz-ing time in Colorado. I’ll be back this week with a full update on that, but it’s safe to say I’m head over heels in love and hope to get back very, very soon for a longer visit.

In the meantime, let’s recap this past week of running. It was my last week of training for this half marathon I have coming up. Oh, that’s right. Had some of you forgotten? I’m running a half marathon in a week and a half. To say I didn’t train like I normally would for a race is an understatement, but honestly, I feel pretty okay going into this race. Okay as in, I’ll definitely finish it. It will by no means be a PR (but on a course that gains 1100ft how could it?), but I am actually excited to see what I’ll end up doing.

Monday – 4 miles, 2 treadmill + 2 w/Rudy

I woke up this particular Monday feeling like I was getting a cold. My stomach hurt, my nose was all clogged and my throat was awful scratchy. I wanted to run though, so I hopped on the treadmill to see how things went, figuring it would be easy to get off and get back into bed. Once I started running, I felt a ton better. So after two miles I got bored, grabbed the dog and headed outside for another couple of miles right as the sun was beginning to rise.

Tuesday – 4 miles

Honestly. I can’t remember anything about this run. I think it was in the morning, and obviously, pretty uneventful. It was my first day of school, and I was already feeling incredibly crazed that week. So, it’s a miracle I got any miles in!

Wednesday – 3 miles

I was SO tired. My alarm went off in the morning and I just went, NOPE. I headed home from work with every intention of running the six miles I had planned. When I got home, I sat on the bed for a while and tried to talk myself into running. Rudy was wiggling around asking desperately for a walk, so I figured I’d do that first as a warm up. When I got home, Jeff was home and we ended up talking about our days so when I finally went to go run, my friend was going to be over in an hour to get the low down on watching Rudy while we were gone. So, my six miles turned into three. And that’s okay. At least I got some miles in, rather than skipping them all.

Thursday – 6 miles

I rallied and was up at 5 am for 6 miles before 6 am. It was a great run, I felt strong and happy I got those miles in.

Friday – Rest day as we drove to Boulder

Saturday – 12 miles around Broomfield

This run was magical. I had googled Broomfield when we got in on Friday and found that they had an extensive trail system in the hills! Perfect. I headed out early Friday morning- 6 am – so that it wouldn’t infringe on our other plans for the day. I was nervous about how this run was going to go, since I didn’t do anything over 10 and my last 10 miler was a complete disaster.

I headed out into the beautiful morning as the sun was just beginning to rise.

After running aimlessly looking for these trails, I finally asked a nice old man out walking his dogs and he pointed me in the direction of the trails. I found the dirt easily and settled in to explore this system for twelve miles. It was beautiful. It climbed in and around the hills in Broomfield giving me amazing views of the Flatirons in the distance.

The first 7-8 miles of the run were great. I felt strong, I was running well and enjoying the hell out of myself. The fatigue started to set in around 9 and my legs got heavy goin up those hills. Overall, I felt really strong, and finished the run feeling good.

It made me excited about this race coming up. Even if it’s not the best race ever, I know I’ll have a great time running.

Sunday – Miles walking around Boulder and Longmont.

Total miles: 29

And now to “taper”! I’m going to try to keep my mileage kind of on the higher end of things this week–somewhere between 20-25 and then next week I’ll just run a few days before Saturday’s rest. I’m not tapering like I normally would since this isn’t a goal race and I’m just jumping back into training for Soulstice, which is just a few weeks later. Fall racing season is in full force!

Training Catch Up

Well hello there!

Sorry for playing quite the disappearing act the last few weeks. Things have been a bit crazy, and it was all I could do to keep running–writing about the running I was doing just kind of fell to the wayside.

I mentioned last week that I’m working on a post about the said craziness–and I am. It’s just not what I want it to be yet, and since this is near and dear to me, I want to make sure it’s great. Sorry for the cliff hanger, I promise to share it soon!

I’m not going to do a traditional training log post for either of these past two weeks. I typically do each post based on random notes, my garmin data and my memory, and I just can’t remember two weeks ago. I ran quite a bit of those runs naked, as well as this week, so my memory on specific runs is a bit foggy.

My mileage has sat nicely at 27.5 miles for the last two weeks. I actually think it’s kind of funny that it was exactly that two weeks in a row…but that’s how it played out. My legs were really tired at the beginning of this week, so I took it pretty easy, but wanted to make sure I hit my 10 mile long run over the weekend. The week before I had a drastic jump in mileage, so it makes sense my legs would be feeling that.

Midweek runs have been feeling okay lately. I definitely feel better in the mornings than I do the afternoon. It’s been hard getting up early lately. It’s dark again when I wake up and it’s getting much cooler. I’ve been opting to sleep and run after work, but my legs always feel dead and heavy after work. On the plus side, I’ve found a perfect 5.5 mile loop that includes a great number of climbs–both of the “oh man this is a climb” and rolling hill variety–that I won’t be able to run for much longer so I’m taking full advantage of it now. The main street the route is on doesn’t have street lamps, and then part of it is on trail, so once the sun stops coming up around the 5:20ish time, this route will probably be a no no.

First time running said hilly route.

Speed work? No, not yet. Not formally anyway. I did have a 4 mile run this past Friday that was pretty hilly that I managed to do at a 8:10 pace. My speed is definitely coming back, and I hope to start incorporating some speed work in soon.

Long runs. My 9 miler last week was tough. My legs were heavy and didn’t want to move from the very beginning. And when you feel like crap at the beginning, there’s just no way to salvage that run. It was a mental battle from the get-go and I let it beat me. My brother was in town visiting and he wanted to go hiking after my run, so I didn’t want to do any gnarly trail climbs. I picked a nice, easy, flat run and it was really hard! Afterwards, my brother and I went and hiked part of the trail I’ll be racing in October….let’s just say THAT’LL be a doozy.

At the top. It’s quite the view up there!

Yesterday, I ran my 10 miler for the week. It was the complete opposite of my 10 miler. It was fun, my legs felt great and I enjoyed some epically great single track. I had some major climbs that made my legs feel like jello, but I’ve got some major climbs in my next two races, so it’s good practice.

The next two weeks I’ll be trying to run 12 milers before tapering before this half marathon. I cannot believe it’s in 3 weeks! Where did the summer go?

Training Log 7.27.15-8.2.15 + Short July Review

Hello! Happy AUGUST! I always love August. It’s my birthday month (woohoo!) and it always seems like August is your last chance scramble to enjoy all the bits of summer you can before fall begins.

While training for the Phoenix Marathon, I used to do monthly recaps where I’d review what went right, and what went wrong for the month. I found it a really useful tool to look at everything by the numbers and try to identify areas where I could improve. I’d like to eventually bring that back into the posting rotation, but since I haven’t been doing any stellar months since February (yikes!), I haven’t posted one. Today at the end of this post, I’ll do a quick recap of how July went for me. In the meantime, let’s get crackin!

I didn’t run with my Garmin much this week, as I wanted to focus on how I felt, rather than my pace. So for a lot of these runs, I went on trails or routes where I knew mile markers so I could turn around when I wanted to. It seemed to work pretty well for me, so it’s something I may incorporate on rest weeks from here on out.

Monday – 4 mile accidental progression run

This was completely accidental and nothing stellar.  I set out for my run on Monday after work on one of my favorite urban trails. Since I didn’t know what I wanted out of this week, go hard or step back a bit, I decided to just run and see how my legs were doing, rather than force myself up hills repeatedly. I started out and my first mile clocked in at around a 9 min/mile pace. I cursed myself for wearing my Garmin and tried not to focus on the pace, but focus on my breathing and how my legs felt. I was enjoying the trail and the beautiful day and tried with every ounce of me to not look at my watch. My next mile beeped at 8:30, the third at 8:15 and my fourth at 8:05. I felt tired by the end, but not spent. Towards the the third mile I realized that I was negative splitting, so I pushed myself towards the end to hit under the 8:15, and felt really good. It wasn’t terribly hard maintaining that pace, so I’m happy to actually have proof that as my endurance comes back, my speed should as well!

Tuesday – 1 mile + Deck of cards workout

It was so hot on Tuesday after work. I got home and got ready to go run. I stepped outside and ran about 0.06 of a mile and turned around. It was so hot and my legs felt so heavy and dead. I figured that maybe running on the treadmill would be a better option. I got on the treadmill and got through a mile before my knee started to hurt. I really needed new shoes and I figured that had to be the reason. So, I hopped off and decided to make the day a strength day instead. Deck of cards workout (I’m really loving this workout. Challenging and fast and you can customize it for whatever you want to focus on!): Squats, donkey kicks, push ups and sit ups.

Wednesday – 4 miles total, 2 miles in morning, 2 in the afternoon

I had set my alarm to get up and run early before work, but when 5am came around, I opted for more sleep instead. I got up at 6 and realized I had some time since our lunches were already made (thanks leftovers!), so I leashed Rudy up and we went on a quick 2 mile run.

When I got home from work, I laced up again and ran another two to bring my daily total to 4. Not quite the double I’d like to be doing, but it was kind of nice to split it up throughout the day.

Thursday – 5 miles

I already wrote about the magic that was this run. 5 miles at about an 8:30 pace.

Friday – 3 easy miles

I got my new shoes Friday!

Aren’t they pretty? Brooks, you know how to make a good shoe!

I decided to branch out from my Adrenalines and try out the Ravennas. They’re definitely different, but I like them a lot so far. I’ll do a full review after I have a shot to run in them a few more times.

I took Rudy with me initially, but the boy did not want to run that day. He wanted to sniff all the things. So, I did a mile with him, dropped him off and home and then did another easy 2 miles on my own.

Saturday – Long run, 8.5 miles total

I woke up early on Saturday in order to get my 9 miles in. We had plans to head down to Phoenix that morning to meet up with my folks + little brother who were driving through on their way to Tucson (my bro just moved there to start school! Wooohooo for having him so close!). When I was on mile 2, my mom texted me to let me know that they left an hour earlier so they’d be in Phoenix an hour earlier, sooo I had to cut my run short. I got through 7.5 miles and then we got on the road. I figured I’d finish the last two when we got home with Rudy. Well, nachos and 2 beers happened at lunch and when we got home, I wasn’t feeling super motivated to run. But, I laced up and leashed up Rudy and gave it a shot anyway. We made it a whole half a mile before I decided there was just no way. My legs felt heavy and gross and it was hot out which made me feel even worse. So, we did a mile total and then I went home, had a snack and watched “The Astronaut Wives Club” and napped. It was worth it.

Total miles: 25.5

I’m really happy with how this week went! Even though I didn’t get my goal mileage for my long run, I got close and that’s good enough. My weekly mileage is still increasing steadily and I feel really, really good. Hoping to get back into the 30’s in the next couple of weeks!

July mileage total: 82 miles

I’m pretty happy with getting 80  miles in during July. It makes me wanting to hit 100 in August seem more realistic. I finally feel like I’m getting my mojo back and that makes me really excited to keep running. We’ll see how the next few weeks go in terms of training for the half, but I’m keep an open mind about running the 10k, too. I want to be as healthy and happy (mentally AND physically) as I can be, and I want to run to have fun. So, we’ll see how August goes. July was a great month for me, it started rough in Houston, but I was able to pull together a few really solid training weeks in the last 3 weeks. I’m finally feeling good and excited and hope to keep the momentum going into August!

Have a great Monday everyone and a stellar week!

Training Log 7.20.15-7.26.15

Hey everyone! I’m back after an insanely busy week and emotional weekend. We lost a good friend yesterday. Our friend had to put his dog down after an unfortunate accident and it was absolutely heartbreaking. He was a joy and an absolute love and will be greatly missed.

Hug your pet a little tighter for me today!

Anyway, here’s this week’s workouts:

*Quick note: I won’t be incorporating mile paces or splits for the time being. This weekend on my long run, I was running a pretty challenging loop and found myself pushing myself to run times that, to be frank, I have no business running right now. I realized I’m putting quite a bit of pressure on myself to run hard trails fast, which doesn’t make any sense. So, I’m taking those off the table. Numbers will become important again soon in my training, but right now, I don’t want to focus on them. I want to focus on getting fit and my endurance back. 

Monday – 4 miles

I was planning on running hills per my Monday plans, but I ran up the hill once and threw a big ol’ NOPE at that.

So, instead, I looped around a did an easy four mile run.

Tuesday – 3.5 miles with Rudog

My last bit at work and my drive home was SUPER frustrating, so I got home and wasn’t planning on running since it was close to six already but J was like “erm…maybe you should.” Ha. So, I leashed up the dog and we went out for a few miles and felt a million times better.

Wednesday – 5.5 miles

I tried to do some kind of speed play on this run and surprise! Fell apart real fast. It was a wake up call that I’m not in the kind of shape to be running fast for very long. Then I ended up with a stomach ache and it was hot, etc. etc. This was just not my run, but I’m glad I pushed onwards.

Thursday – REST

My legs have really been feeling the increase in mileage, so I took the day off to rest.

Friday – 3 easy

I wanted to try to do a shake out run before my long run on Saturday. I ran a loop in a nearby neighborhood that had a park with a water fountain, since it was about 85* out when I went on my run.

That’s some high quality H20

Glory to the Water Fountain Gods.

Saturday – 7ish long run

So, my original plan was to go run Soldier’s Trail + Highland’s Trail for a total of 9 miles. When I got to Ft. Tuthill, the place was packed and there was some kind of event going on. So, I turned around and was going to go back home to just run a random trail near the house, when I decided to run Mars Hill instead.

It’s a very, very tough run. The first 2.5 miles are all a steady climb, and then you don’t start to decline for about another mile (which is rolling hills). Then, once you get down the mesa, you’re running on more rolling hills until you get back to town.

My legs felt dead from the very first moment–my first mile was a 9 something. I’m trying to remember that I’m not going to be running trails like these fast–there’s just no way to do it. I’m still working on my endurance and there’s just no way to climb hundreds of feet at an 8 min mile–at least not for me.

It’s been a tough mental shift for me, especially when I have marathon training looming in the distance. I was being really tough on myself during this run when I finally stopped to think about it. Why was I pushing myself? Because I feel like I should be running X amount of miles in X amount of time? It doesn’t make sense. These fall races are supposed to be fun, and I haven’t been having much fun lately. So, I decided that I will continue to train and see where I am at the end of August. If I’m not feeling awesome about my fitness, I’ll drop from the half marathon to the 10k. There’s no shame in that. I’d much rather enjoy myself and get to the beginning on marathon training excited and ready to work then already exhausted.

So, there that is!

Today is again supposed to be hills, and instead I’m going to go for an easy run on one of my favorite trails. I may not even bring my Garmin with me!

What was your favorite run from last week? Share some run love!

Training Log 6.29.15-7.5.15

Hello! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely Fourth of July weekend! We started off ours by leaving bright and early Friday morning (hello 3am) to head to Houston for the week. After about 21 hours, we finally rolled into H-town around 3am Texas time (blegh). We spent the fourth at a friend’s BBQ and then have just been hanging out laying low since then!

I caught some kind of stomach bug (again!) and am trying to rest and get it under control. I’m feeling better, so I’m hoping to be up and moving again later this afternoon.

In the meantime, let’s recap this past week!

Monday – 4 early morning miles, 8:20 pace

This was a tough run for me. My legs were SO sore after that insane Deck of Cards workout I had done on Sunday, so I tried to keep the pace nice and easy. I got up to run early before work, and it was a beautiful morning.

Tuesday – 3 mile progression run, 8:30, 8:05, 7:40

I had a hair appointment after work and I had about 30 minutes to kill, so I decided to go run right before. I had trouble moving my legs at first, but then decided to try to pick up the pace, since I was going to be cutting it close to my appointment. Ended with my first sub-8 mile in a while! I also ran on one of my favorite urban trail systems in town! I haven’t been on it in a long time, so it was nice to just cruise through and enjoy the views.

Wednesday – 3 miles w/Rudy, easy

My legs on Wednesday were JUST starting to get back to normal after that workout, but since I ran faster than I have in a while the day before, I brought Rudy with me to take it easy. We ran on a trail near the house, and I tried letting him off leash, instead of fighting him the whole time, but I ended up stopping and waiting for him to quit sniffing too often, so I leashed him back up again so we could finish our run!

Thursday – 4 miles, split between treadmill and trails.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to run on Thursday, or do the prescribed strength workout I had on the docket for the day, but since I figured I’d be in the car all day Friday, I’d run instead. When I got home from work a monsoon had blown in and it was POURING rain, so I hopped in the treadmill. After about two miles, I was struggling with boredom and the rain had stopped, so I headed outside for a few more easy miles. I didn’t want to be gone too long, since we had a lot to do before we headed out and it was already past 6:00, so I cut it short at a mile out and a mile back.

Friday – Rest. Road trip!

Saturday – 3 hot, humid, sweaty miles

We woke up around 9:00 on Saturday morning, and I wavered back and forth over whether I could go run. I knew we were going to a BBQ that night, which meant I probably wouldn’t be wanting to get up at 5 am to run Sunday morning. I walked outside and it was warm and humid, but there was a nice breeze, so I figured I could probably stand to run a few miles.

I’ll just say it was rough. I didn’t have a plan for how long I wanted to go out for–I knew 8 miles (my prescribed long run) wasn’t going to happen, but I had hoped to manage between 4-5. I had to cut it at three! There was just no way I was going to make it any longer than that. I was tired and dehydrated and the humidity was almost suffocatingly thick! I got a few glances from people who clearly though I was insane, and I had to agree with them by the time I made it back to the house.

Total miles: 17

I’m not super stoked about how low my mileage still is weekly. I know travel makes things difficult, but I’m hoping to start upping my mileage a bit more. I had planned to go out for 8 early this morning, but the stomach bug knocked me down. Maybe I’ll feel better enough to try for it this evening, but at this point, I think I’ll have to try for tomorrow.

I know I have plenty of time until the Flag Half in September, but I’d like to start getting my base mileage up a wee bit higher so I can go into that race feeling strong. Oh well, it’s all about adaptation! Hopefully things will turn around this week!

I’ll leave you here with this photo of my playing giant Jenga with our Steve.

Best part of your Fourth of July weekend? Did you travel anywhere?

Training Log 6.22.15-6.28.15

Happy Monday! I’d like to take a second to wish my little brother a very happy birthday! The dude turned 25 yesterday and got to celebrate in Europe! Lucky duck.

Now let’s get down to business! Training technically starts for me today…ish. I’m going to start buckling down and start building up my base milage and hope by the end of July I’ll be in good shape to really start upping my milage. I don’t have any runs longer than 12 miles on the schedule prior to the Flag Half in September, but I’d like to be running 12 miles comfortably. I may also try to get in a 14 miler beforehand if things go well the next month or so. I’m going to be incorporating a lot of hill work and all my long runs will be on some sort of trail with some decent amount of elevation gain.

So, with that plan in mind, I took this week pretty easy as my last “non-training” week for quite a while!

Monday – 2 mile run with Rudy + 3.5-5 miles hiking

I woke up early Monday to go for a few quick miles before I went into work. I woke up and my stomach wasn’t feeling awesome–probably due to the stomach flu I had had on Friday and then the amount of drinking done on Saturday with my girlfriends. Either way, Rudy and I headed out for a few easy miles. After I headed into work for a few hours, I left and went for a hike with Alyssa, J and Rudy.

We did a trail called Fat Man’s Loop, but I’m not sure what the milage was. I thought it was two originally, and then maybe three, Jeff’s phone said it was closer to four, and then his buddy said it was five. So..it’s safe to say we did something around 3.5-5 miles.

Tuesday – 4 trail miles + 4 miles walking

Lots of walking this week! Since Alyssa was in town visiting, there was a lot of walking around Flag and reminiscing about our college days. Tuesday morning we headed out to walk around NAU and then we walked around Downtown for a bit. Before that, I got up in the morning to run and managed to do four on some nearby trails.

Wednesday – Strength training

I did a quick arms, abs and legs workout before heading out to a friend’s birthday dinner.

Thursday – Rest

I had plans to run after I got off work on Thursday, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I was really exhausted for some reason, so I took the evening to rest and relax.

Friday – 3 treadmill miles @ 7.2mph

I couldn’t get myself up out of bed before work on Friday and when I got out of work at 2, it was 95* out, so I hopped on the treadmill for a few easy miles. It was during that run that I decided getting up and out before work was a way better alternative to running on the ‘mill. As much as I love it during the winter when it is a much better option than 5am running in single-digit weather, I’d much rather be outside in the summer!

Saturday – 5 miles on Soldier’s Trail

I was planning on doing the whole loop I ran at the trail race a few weeks ago, but my legs felt like lead the entire time, so I cut it short. I still got a decent amount of climbing done and my jello legs at the end made me feel like I really got a workout, so I’m happy with it.

Sunday – Deck of Cards workout

Has anyone done one of these? Holy balls! My quads were SMOKED after this workout. I did the following:

• Hearts: Lungers
• Diamonds: Squats
• Clubs: Push-ups
• Spades: Sit ups

You take a deck of cards and go through the deck one-by-one. Numbered cards are the amount of reps you do for each exercise, Jacks are 12, Queens are 15, Kings are 20 and Aces are 25. It was quick and killer! My legs are gonna be sore!

Total miles: 14

If you add in the walking, it’s a bit more, but 14 running miles. Time to buckle down and start increasing!

Training Log 6.1.15-6.7.15

Good morning!

I hope everyone had a restful and fun weekend! J was gone on a man’s trip, so I took the opportunity to read. A lot. I finished two books this weekend, ran, and went to the Flagstaff Hullabalooo with some friends! It was tons of fun. This past week was definitely an improvement over the week before. I could feel my body getting stronger on runs, which is awesome.

Monday– 3 miles @ Buffalo Park

I was going to do a four mile loop, but just didn’t have it in me, so I ran three instead. It was pretty warm out, and super, super windy, and I was having a hard time. So, I rode the struggle bus through the three miles and then went home and did some abs..

NEON! And thank goodness for filters so that my poor white skin doesn’t blind your eyes.

Tuesday- Rest

My plan for Tuesday was a strength workout when I got home. Well, I got home around 7 because of car trouble, and I was starving and exhausted, so I took a rest day instead.

Wednesday – 4 miles for National Running Day!

I actually felt really, really good on this run. My legs felt strong and I managed to get it done in a pretty okay time. I took my Garmin for distance, since I wasn’t exactly sure where two miles would be on this particular trail, but I paid no attention to my pace.

Thursday – 10 min arm toning workout + 30 min ab and leg workout

Friday – 3 miles with Rudy

I got home from work on Friday and leashed up the pup and went for some miles. A storm was blowing in and I wanted to get the miles done before it hit. And we barely made it! Not too long after, the rain started and we had an epic thunderstorm Friday night.

Saturday – 7 miles

This was not easy. For one thing, I just am not ready to be going that long. I ended up walking a fair amount. Secondly, the wind was insane. The gusts were easily somewhere in the 35-40 mph range, and the constant winds were around 20. I also just was not in it mentally. I considered running on Sunday instead, but I forced myself out the door, and honestly, I wish I had let myself rest on Saturday and ran on Sunday. The weather was nicer and I was just in a better mood. Regardless, the miles got done and now I can feel a little better about this coming Saturday. At least I know I’ll finish the race.

We’ve had an unusually wet Spring/early Summer and everything is SO GREEN and there’s water!

Sunday– 30 min Pilates

Total miles: 17

This week felt really good overall. I definitely feel myself getting stronger and the shorter runs are getting easier. On Saturday, my run felt really good until about mile 4.5 when I had to turn into the wind. Then it got really sucky. But, that’s all part of the game–and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And all that jazz.

Training Log 3.25.15-3.31-15

Hello! Happy Monday! Happy JUNE! How in the world is 2015 already half over?

June’s going to be an exciting month! A race, our anniversary, my best friend visiting and a concert! And then we head to Houston! All amazing, fun wonderful things! But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk the end of May. Specifically, RUNNING! I am back with a training log for the first time in forever! So, let’s check out how my first week back running shaped up!

Monday– 3 stormy miles

Towards the end of this run, I got a little rained on, which is always fun. This run was my second one back, and I think the hardest. That’s when I came home and was frustrated and upset that running wasn’t easy. I hit one of my favorite trails and even though I was on it for less than a mile and a half, it was still nice to hit dirt.

Tuesday – NTC 30 min Ab & Butt workout

Trying to stick to my plan to run every other day, I looked to one of my favorite Nike Training Club workouts. It’s quick and always makes me feel like I worked hard for it.

Wednesday – 4 miles

I can’t for the life of my find where Angry, Injured Nona hid my Spibelt, so running pictures aren’t happening too often on runs [I only have one pair of shorts my phone fits into the pocket and I’m kind of afraid to carry it in case I drop it and smash my screen even more]. But, I headed out after work for four miles at Buffalo Park. It was really, really hard. I wore my Garmin, since I wanted to know how far I was going, but the bad part about that was I got to see my pace, too. If huffing and puffing up the hills wasn’t discouraging enough–the numbers on the face of my Garmin pushed me over the edge.

I realize I can’t compare myself coming back from an injury to where I was while I was marathon training, but it’s really hard not to. I know if I’m patient and work hard, I’ll be back to running up those hills like they’re nothing. And now that I know I the distance of the loop, I’m going to continue leaving the Garmin at home.

Thursday – 2 miles with Rudy

I got home from work on Thursday and couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. Rudy’s face and anticipation of going outside for anything at all made the decision for me. I leashed him up, and out we went. He made me run WAY too fast, with our first mile coming in at around 7:00min. I was spent after that! So we looped around to finish with two miles.

Friday – Yard work

Jeff and I were having some friends over for a BBQ on Saturday, so we spent the afternoon cleaning up the weeds and pine needles. It took a couple hours and was some serious raking work, so I’m counting it as cross training.

Saturday – 5 miles

Summer finally came to Flagstaff! When I went out running Saturday morning, it was already in the 70s. Whew! I forgot what it’s like to run in the warmth. This was tough. I struggled and took a lot of breaks to catch my breath, but I knew I wanted to get 5 miles logged. It wasn’t easy–and it took me a while, but I managed to do it!

Total miles: 14

Not bad for my first week back! It’s certainly not easy, but it’s getting better and now that the nice weather has come to Flag, I’m ecstatic to be spending my time out running in it!

Training Log 4.6.15-4.12.15

Another Monday, another week!

I took it a bit easier this week since last week I really wore my legs out. I’m still trying to figure out a training for this 27k in June, so I’m alright taking it a bit easier for a while.

Monday – Rest

J and I came home from camping and I was utterly exhausted. The wind was pretty strong up on the Rim and it kept me up for most of the night. I thought about running, but when we got home, an afternoon on the couch watching Park and Rec seemed a lot more appealing.

Tuesday – 6 treadmill miles. Speed work

I started out running outside, but the wind made me turn around and head back home pretty quickly. Since I was confined to the treadmill, I decided to make it a speed session. I made it into a ladder workout. 400, 800, 1200, 1600, with 400 rest in between. I didn’t push the pace too much. I kept it between 7.8-7.9 on the treadmill. The last speedy mile was around a 7.6. I haven’t done any speed work since before the marathon, so I didn’t want to push too  hard.

Wednesday – 3 miles in Sedona, 8:42 avg

I usually do a strength workout on Wednesdays, but since I took an extra rest day, I opted for running. I ran after work in Sedona and checked out another new trail. The wind was still blowing pretty hard (welcome to Spring in Northern Arizona),  and I was pretty tired, so I kept it short and sweet. This trail was a pretty steady climb, so I didn’t try to push the pace.

Thursday – 4 treadmill miles, 8:20 avg

I knew I was going to have to stay late at work on Thursday, so I got my run done early. It was cold out, so I took to the ol’ mill again.

Friday – 3 miles with Rudy, 7:50avg

I had planned on running after work again on Friday and I got out of work a little later than I would have liked. We had plans that evening, so I got home, changed with lightening speed, leashed up the pup and headed out for some speedy miles.

Saturday – Rest

I stayed out late on Friday and slept through my alarm to run on Saturday morning. When I got home from work, I considered running, but drinks and dinner with friends sounded like more fun. So, I did that instead!

Sunday – 90 min Bikram Yoga

I’m going to do a full post about my first hot yoga experience, but let’s just say I was fully unprepared for how intense it was. That was the longest 90 minutes of my life!

This week I’m going to try to nail down a training schedule and see what the next few weeks need to look like in order to run 16.8 miles in a month and a half. Gotta get movin!