Training Rundown- Week 2 MS Run The US

Hello friends! Happiest Humpday to you! I'm not sure if it's just me, but I am already so excited for the weekend and honestly feel like I need a week off just to catch up on all my sleep (or else I need ample amount of sugar to get me to Friday...!). How are your New Years Resolutions coming? I started mine yesterday- I booked a massage and ended my evening with yoga to destress! Next on my list is finding a beautiful looking journal to put all my thoughts in : ) Week 2 of training is complete! I managed to get in 41 miles this week and had my first speed session of the training plan! I'm pretty proud that I was able to still get all this running in even when I worked over 50 hours last week AND 2 x 10-hour days. That certainly was NOT easy and I am so thankful for Alex for holding down the fort and getting all the chores done while I was busy at work. It really does make everything better when someone you love is around and able to help!

Monday: Christmas Day! Snowy 6-mile run @ 10:29 pace gaining 302'. I ran this run on mainly unplowed roads and wet feet, so pretty proud that I still managed to get my mileage in!

Tuesday: Track Tuesday is BACK! 1.5 mile warm-up; 12 x 400 @ goal of 1:48 per 400 (actual splits: 1:48; 1:49; 1:46; 1:45; 1:49; 1:49; 1:48; 1:47; 1:43; 1:44; 1:46; 1:44); 1.5 mile cool-down. I had to split this run between outside during my lunch break and then head over to the treadmill to get the rest of my splits in because the roads started to get really icy (that's those slower middle splits), but regardless I got it done and overall paces were pretty great. 

Wednesday: 6 miles easy on the treadmill @ 10:00 recovery pace & 15 minutes of strength

Thursday: 8.22 miles easy on some hilly roads. I got my run in between work shifts (10 hour day) and it was so nice to be able to run during daylight and outside too! 9:45 pace & 541' gain

Friday: 6 miles easy on the treadmill @ 9:59 recovery pace & 20 minutes of strength training

Saturday: 6 miles easy on some hilly roads by my house at 6am before heading off to teach skiing for the day! 10:29 pace BUT 699' elevation gain. After I saw my elevation gain, I gave myself some slack on the slower pace and felt pretty bada** Took an Epsom Salt Bath to recover later in the afternoon.

Sunday: Rest Day! Taught skiing again....

Positive Splits:

• Got in all my mileage, despite having a crazy busy training schedule
• Mileage gain for the week was over 1,500 which was AWESOME
• Got in two strength training sessions
• Finished out 2017 feeling strong and ready to go kick some 2018 butt

Negative Splits:

• Those few splits on my 400s... really wish I could RE-DO them!! #perfectionist
• Did not get to foam roll as much as I would have liked
• Didn't fit in yoga this week, which was on my list to-do

What goals did you crush this last week?

Have you started a new training plan for an upcoming race? WHAT is your race?!?

Favorite way to fuel yourself through a tough work week? Sugar...Candy...always....

Training Rundown- Week 1 MS Run The US

Week 1 of training for MS Run The US is complete and I finished out the week with 31 miles. I took 2 days off (breaking my Run Streak..bummer!) from a bit of numbness/tingling in my right foot and did a lot of stretching/strength training/ epsom salt bath soaking/ icing and it is finally feeling better. I've learned over the years that it's better to take a few days off to come back feeling 100% rather than push yourself through an injury and cause the injury to become much worse. I didn't gain as much elevation this week and I had originally planned, but also with the Holidays and all the snow we received (35+ inches), I'm pretty happy that I just got my miles in. I didn't stray from my training schedule and fit in the runs (besides my two days off) that were on tap.

My easy paces for this training cycle will run from 9:39 min/mi to 10:21 min mi. My marathon pace will be at 8:36 min/mi and speed sessions will be around a 7:13 min/mi pace. This week had only easy runs and next will include my first speed session again. 

Monday: 6 miles easy @ 9:59 on the treadmill & 30 minutes of strength training

Tuesday: 5 miles easy @ 9:45 outside

Wednesday: off/rest day

Thursday: 45 minutes of strength & stretching/ 20 minutes on the bike/ 10 minutes soaking in the hot springs

Friday: 8 miles easy @ 9:59 with 800' elevation gain

Saturday: 6 miles easy @ 9:43 on the treadmill

Sunday: 5 miles easy @ 9:59 on the treadmill

MS Run The US Training Rundown- Building Base Mileage & Elevation

Humpday! I have Friday off of work, so I cannot wait to sleep in and curl up on the couch with the kittens all morning and get my run in later in the day. It's going to be AMAZING. I can already tell! I'm able to look into the future...if you haven't already figured that one out. 

Here's quick rundown of my training that took place last week. This week currently kicked off week 1 of my marathon training for SLC and MS Run The US, so I was still just building my base mileage and also working on setting a solid foundation for elevation gains (which I will hope to build on each week, since both the marathon and MS Run will be very hilly). I ran a total of 35 miles and gained a total amount of 1, 200'. I was able to fit in 3 strength training sessions (on my own) and got 3 runs in during the day!! SCORE<-- got to sleep in 3 mornings yay! I'm still going strong on my Runner's World Run Steak and have ran for a total of 25 days straight. Hoping to finish the New Year out strong and have my first speedwork session of this training cycle on Christmas Day!

Monday: 5 miles easy on the treadmill @ 9:55 with :30 second hill sprints at the end (8% incline) & 30 mins strength training

Tuesday: 4.5 miles outside with Stella @ 9:45 average after work

Wednesday: 5 miles outside @ 9:36

Thursday: 4.5 miles on the treadmill with some cut-backs (10:00 1 mi; 9:36 1 mi; 9:01 1 mi; 8:34 1 mile; last .5 alternating .1 between 7:00 & 8:34)

Friday: 5 miles outside @ 9:40 during lunch

Saturday: 10 miles outside on the hills @ 10:18 pace. I climbed over 900' during these miles, so was SUPER proud of still getting my easy pace in there. 

Sunday: 1 mile easy recovery @ 10:30 pace after teaching skiing all day

What are you training for in 2018?

Do you keep track of your elevation gains each training week?

Weekend Recap & Training Log for Off-Season

Happy HUMPDAY! Does anyone else feel like once November hits, the weeks go by so fast (especially the weekends)?! I wanted to share with you a few photos from our weekend and my training log for the last week. 

We've been drinking a lot of hot cocoa lately after dinner. I typically prefer mine to be 1/2 cocoa, 1/2 whipped cream. What ratio do you prefer?

We got our Christmas Tree on Saturday and it is definitely a Charlie Brown tree. Also the kittens learned a fun new trick- they love to climb the tree and knock down all the ornaments (*eye roll*). So, after spending Sunday decorating the tree, it now only has the star and one set of lights on it (no ornaments). Not really sure if we'll decorate it again. I'm just waiting until we come home one day and the tree is completely tipped over...It's a good thing they're so cute.

Kitten snuggles. When they aren't driving us both absolutely crazy, they are so cute & cuddly. We're in love. 

Training Log (11/28- 12/2):

Sunday: 10 mile trail run around the lake. Longest run since my marathon! 

Monday: 30 minutes of Upper/Lower Body Strength Training & 4 miles easy

Tuesday: 2.5 miles after work with Stella

Wednesday: 30 minutes of Upper/Lower Body Strength Training & 5 miles on the treadmill

Thursday: 3.5 miles after work with Stella

Friday: 4 miles with 1 mile warm-up; 1 mile up a hill with 350 vertical ascent; 1 mile down the hill; 1 mile cool-down

Saturday: 1 mile easy in between ski clinics

30 miles total!

It's always really weird to not be "actively training" for something, when it's basically all I've been doing since July. BUT it is also really nice to just take a breather and run whatever speed I want and sleep in when I want too. I'm taking these next few weeks and relishing in the extra time that I have. 

What do you love to do in your off-season?

Hot Cocoa- yay or nay?

Trail running vs road running? Which is your favorite? I've always been a fan of road running, but also am loving the challenge of trail running!

Sneak Preview @ Training Plan for MS Run The US

Happy HUMPDAY! Oh my gosh, WHAT a WEEK this has been! Between the excitement of the Holiday season kicking off, Cyber Monday, GIVING TUESDAY, all the wonderful donations and support I've gotten for my MS Run The US Fundraiser, and beginning my Runners World Run Streak- this week is FLYING BY! I hope yours has been the same ; )

I wanted to share with you the training plan that I put together for my MS Run the US 175 mile Relay run (while also training for a possible Marathon PR in mid-April) in May 2018. MS Run the US provides us with a 3-step multi-week build-ups (depending upon the level of fitness you are currently at). The first step builds you up to running a half marathon (averaging ~30 miles a week); second step builds you up to running a marathon (averaging ~50-60 miles a week); third step builds you up to running 6 x 26.2 mile runs (averaging ~70 miles a week)! 

Because I was in such great shape from doing the Hansons Marathon Method and I peaked around 63 miles a week, I decided that I would use that training plan for my Spring Marathon (to be announced SOON when I post my races for next year!! I'm almost 100% set on one, just need to sign up) which will in mid-April (a month prior to my relay). After my marathon is done, I will have around 4 weeks left to build my mileage up another ~10-13 miles to peak around 71-75 miles a week two weeks before my relay.

I will be running 6 days a week from here on out. I've begun building my base mileage now (for the next three weeks) and am really trying to focus on strength training and getting in easy runs before my next training cycle kicks off the last week in December. 

Strength Training, trail running, AND hill training are going to be BIG components in my plan from now until my relay. I have two very large mountain passes to climb up AND over, as well as varying terrain so I know building up my glute and lower body strength is what will propel me up and over those passes. I haven't done too much trail running in the past, so I plan to incorporate my every-other-week double 10 mile runs (one on Friday; one on Saturday) with a trail run on one day and a hill run on the other day. 

When I say "hill run" I'm not talking about hill repeats, I'm talking about finding the hillest courses I can (and VARYING those courses each time) and running on them (even if I have to do multiple loops). I also really want to try out many various trails to run on, so I challenge myself each week. For both of these workouts, my pace will remain SUPER easy and I will mainly be focusing on FORM and activating those muscle groups that are important. 

It is definitely pretty daunting to see the next SIX MONTHS laid out infront of me, but I am also SUPER excited! I can't wait to become a stronger runner and conquer this major accomplishment! 

For my 2018 race calendar, as well as goals for 2018- I'll be posting those over here shortly (as well as reflecting on this past year), so make sure to keep checking back ; )

I will continue to post weekly training logs, so you can follow my journey and will also include a recap of my 40-day Run Streak!

Ever participated in a Run Streak?

Ever done a relay? 

Trail Running- yay or nay?

Any tips/advice for me!?!?