Sharing my everyday thoughts about running, strength training, books, outdoors with the occasional side of sarcasm.
Happy Memorial Day! The best day to kick-off summer with cook-outs, gardening, and spending time with friends and family. I hope you have the BEST day. I’ll be having a pretty grand day because I DID IT!
I’ve got my 50 miler race recap here for you.
I may have also bought out the entire Rite Aid with blister band-aids. Sorry if you needed some.
Have a fantastic day!
Happy Humpday! It’s a nice transition to focus all of my attention solely on the trails. It’s certainly something that I’m not really great at, but that I enjoy. I got my last back-to-back long runs done yesterday (34 miles in 20 hours with 2,500’ elevation gain) and they felt pretty good! I’ve been focusing on engaging my glutes more and also strengthening them, since I will DEFINITELY need them to do my Mt. Washington Road Race next month!! Ekkk! I’m not sure what will be more challenging- Mt. Washington or my 50 miler. Ha. I’ve also been doing some heat-acclimating since I know it will be plenty warm this summer (but hopefully not for my races)! Monday & Tuesdays run were both in the low 60’s with not much cloud-cover. I’m looking forward to a nice break from running AND training after my 50 miler in just 17 DAYS?!? What!?
Last week I just listened to my body and didn’t hold myself to any sort of training schedule (for the most part). My FOUNDATION of my training has been built and now all that I’m doing is securing it for my upcoming races. There’s no need to do anything crazy at this point and that’s oddly satisfying. I think back to those training runs when I REALLY wanted to quit, wasn’t feeling it, or pushed through some crazy moments of doubt and am really proud of what I’ve already accomplished in 2019. I’ve been able to give myself more grace when I didn’t feel like running or hitting ‘x’ mileage and carried more gratitude with me on every run.
Monday, 4/29: 6 miles easy. 3 min slow run / 2 min walk in Eugene. The amount of trails that are present in Eugene was amazing and the views from this run did NOT disappoint. So glad we stayed within 1/3 mile of the trail (AND mile 14 of the marathon course)!!
Tuesday, 4/30: Rest day. Did a nice long ~5 mile walk along the ocean, but otherwise took the day off of any sort of exercise.
Wednesday, 5/1: 8.02 miles easy. 3 min run/ 2 min walk in Seaside, OR along the beach. Couldn’t ask for a better view and softer surface to run on than the ocean floor!
Thursday, 5/2: 12 miles easy. 4 min run/ 1 min walk in Portland, OR on the hotel treadmill before flying back to CO. I felt really comfortable on the treadmill and was going to go outside at one point to finish up my run, but just went with the flow and stayed comfy on the treadmill with a nice view of the traffic outside.
Friday, 5/3: 6.01 miles easy 10:43 721’ up. Back in CO in the mountains. I had fasting blood work done in the morning, so decided just a few super easy miles were the best idea since I didn’t feel the best post-blood draw.
Saturday, 5/4: 6.26 miles easy 9:40 150’ up. Some easy miles before seeing the Avengers movie!
Sunday, 5/5: Rest day. Did an afternoon hike, but otherwise took the day off and felt 0% guilty about that.
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Total Mileage: 38.31 miles
Total Elevation: 1, 049’ up
Happy Humpday! Another week almost halfway gone ; ) Last week was a recovery/rest week (I’m blending together a plan from this book and this one for both my marathon goals (sub 3:40!) and to complete my first 50 miler)- the recovery week is built into the Ultra Training and I’m all for it to help my muscles recover after the last few weeks of high mileage/ long back-to-back runs and then it will also help sustain me (mentally) for the next few months of training. I did do one hard workout (marathon training schedule)- with 7 goal marathon paced miles, but then everything else was super easy or else just lots of sleep/rest/yoga/ cross training. It was exactly what I needed to feel rejuvenated for the next 3 weeks before I get my next one!
Monday, 1/28: REST DAY! Wanted to swim, but I forgot something very important when you want to swim (AKA my swimsuit). Did some nice yoga to stretch out at the end of the day.
Tuesday, 1/29: 1.5 mi warm-up/ 7 miles at goal marathon effort (8:23)/ 1.5 mi cool down & 30 minutes of strength. My legs felt absolutely terrible at the beginning of this run and I got on the treadmill that feels “off” so I’m super happy to have mentally pushed through it!
Wednesday, 1/30: REST DAY! Yoga using this video. One of my favorites!
Thursday, 1/31: 5.31 miles easy to finish out January!
Friday, 2/1: 3/4 mile swim!
Saturday, 2/2: 8 miles easy with 446’ up at 9:55 pace & recovery yoga
Sunday, 2/3: 7 miles easy in crazy wind, but warmth! Strength afterwards
Total Mileage: 30.35 for recovery week!
Total Elevation gain: 1,534’ up
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What are you training for right now?
Favorite run of the week? —> I’m really loving the challenge (both mental and physical) of goal marathon paced miles. After I finish those runs, I feel INVINCIBLE!
Happy Humpday! I’m so glad we’re already halfway through this week. It’s getting close to our yurt trip and I’m so excited. I also just can’t wait for a few days off.
Monday, 1/21: 5.30 miles easy @ 11:40 pace with 838’ up. I definitely felt super tired & sluggish on this run, but was really surprised at the amount of elevation I gained. I’m starting to get stronger with those hills!
Tuesday, 1/22: 30 minutes of strength & 1.5 mi warm-up / 6 miles @ goal marathon effort (8:20) / 1.5 mi cool down. 9 miles total. originally had some 1k repeats on the schedule, but decided that this morning felt like a good one to get my tempo run in and I’m glad I did. I started out at a conservative pace (8:41) and bumped it up from there until my last mile was under 8 minute pace! All done at 0.5% incline and on the treadmill since it was an icy mess outside.
Wednesday, 1/23: REST DAY!
Thursday, 1/24: another snow day! 8 easy miles on the treadmill
Friday, 1/25: ANOTHER snow day! I did this speedwork on my treadmill at home (it’s not the best for going fast, but I made do). 5 x 1k with 400m Recovery between sets & 1.5 mi warmup & cool down. 7.5 miles & then strength work afterwards
Saturday, 1/26: 6 easy miles!
Sunday, 1/27: strength & followed by my longest run since July! 15 miles on a mix of snow covered trails & then slush-filled roads
Total Mileage: 50.82 miles!
Total Elevation Gain: 2,171’ up
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Back to above 40 miles per week! Also last week was SO COLD. Multiple negative temperature mornings, which meant getting a bit creative with when I could fit my runs in. I did my best to run outside when I can, but I generally do not run outside when it’s below 5* (give or take). I also have determined that it takes FOREVER to get all those layers/ stabil icers on my sneakers/ hats/ mittens/ hand warmers on, so sometimes sheer laziness wins out and I hit the treadmill. What can I say- somedays it’s just pretty nice to wear just a sports bra, shorts, and binge watch some Gilmore Girls. I’m human.
just too cold to really be doing anything besides cuddling with the cats and heated blanket.
Also got a belated Christmas gift from my mom- looove these lush bath bombs. I’m trying not to use them all at once (also trying not to take a bath every single night to save on our water bill, but it’s HARD because cold temperatures + soothing warm water + great smelling bath soaps = baths are so necessary).
It’s finally starting to quiet down a bit at work (so needed), but I also found that taking a runch break last week really helped de-stress me. Most days I’m unable to take a lunch break (due to teaching skating lessons in the afternoons), but when I can get out it feels pretty amazing. Let’s recap last week shall we?
Monday, 12/31: planned 6 miles easy, but wanted to get in a good ‘end of the year mileage number’ so I ended up with 6.81 miles at 10:45 pace on the treadmill because I just re-did my treadmill run and wanted to take advantage of it!
Tuesday, 1/1: planned 1.5 mi warm-up, 12 x 400m, 1.5 mi cool down, but actually did my strength and then called it a rest day. I was feeling really exhausted and had the complete day off of work so just decided to take advantage of it and listen to my body. It was amazing and so glad I did that. Not every run needs to be perfect and sometimes listening to your body will do wonders.
Wednesday, 1/2: planned rest day, but since I took my rest day on Tuesday I ended up doing 1/2 mi warm-up, 5 miles at goal marathon pace effort (because it was 5* outside at 2pm) 8:38 pace, 1/2 mi cool-down. Avg pace was 8:54 78’ up & also fit in some yoga. Felt pretty good until close to the end of the run, where I got so cold I had to check to make sure my nose didn’t fall off. Don’t worry it was still there.
Thursday, 1/3: 1/2 mi warm up, 5 miles goal marathon pace, 1/2 mi cool down, but did that yesterday so I stuck with 8.06 miles easy at 10:13 548’ elevation gain over my lunch break! Also fit in my strength (started a new strength routine on Tuesday and will stick with it until March then do a whole new one to prevent becoming stagnant) that morning before work. Sunshine + hills + 20* weather felt incredible.
Friday, 1/4: 12-14 miles easy, but had my first back-to-back long runs on schedule so to the treadmill it was (considering how it was -5* outside and I could only fit it in early in the AM)! Goal was anywhere from 12-14 miles and ended up with 12.5 miles. I varied the incline from 1% for the first 60 minutes then rotated through 1% -> 2% -> 3% rolling hills for the next 55 minutes. 9:40 avg pace. Also working on my nutrition! I tried out Huma Gels and LOVED them. I’ve got some Spring Energy gels coming too to test out. I also have found that sweet potatoes right before a run makes me feel AMAZING. I’m going to try out some sweet potato toast with almond butter before my runs this week and will let you know how it goes.
Saturday, 1/5: 4 miles easy- ended up with 4.10 miles easy at 10:31 453’ elevation gain. We went snowshoeing in the morning (great crosstraining) and my butt was SO sore from my incline treadmill the day before/ hiking in the morning.
Sunday, 1/6: 1.5 mi warm-up, 12 x 400 (400R), 1.5 mi cool-down & strength- 1.5 mi warm-up, did my strength, did 6 x 400 then called it because I felt my knee starting to feeling a bit not so great (and our treadmill isn’t the best for speedwork), .75 mi cool down. I came up short, but I’ll get it next week!
Total Mileage: 42.74 miles
Total Elevation gain: 1, 079’ up
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Favorite Bath bomb scents or bubble bath?! I’m obsessed.
Coldest temperature you’d head out for a run? Am I a big baby over here?
Favorite crosstraining activity?