Stressed About Everything And My Top FIVE Favorite Pump-Up Songs!

Happy Friday-eve! How’s the week going for you? I’ve honestly had better, but know that on Sunday it will all (mostly) subside. I’ve honestly just been on the struggle stress bus for a while now. I’ve tried to keep my stress at bay (meditating, sleeping, good nutrition, yoga, reading a good book - which these all definitely HELP for sure), but it is still so present and weighing on me. By now I would normally pull-back from something to ease it, but I’m almost done teaching skiing and my skating calendar is lighter for the month of March so I’m staying optimistic that these things will decrease my stress. Work is extremely stressful right now and honestly I just wish there was something I could do about it. You know that something needs to change when you physically dread going somewhere every morning and unfortunately that is where I’m at at the moment. Looking at this face helps.

Journaling has also really been helping me lately just write down all my thoughts and purge everything on my mind at the moment. My right eye has been twitching for what only seems like a million years and when I get too stressed out, I tend to isolate myself (which I KNOW isn’t good for me, but I do it anyways). I get real crabby and hate to be even around myself. I’m a work in progress and I think it’s a big step for me to just acknowledge how I’m feeling (even if I’m not at the point of acting on it yet).

It’s so funny to me to hear so many reports these days on how ‘millennials are the most stressed generation’, ‘most anxious generation’, ‘we spend 20 percent of our year stressed’ and yet, these reports are making me even MORE stressed out! I would be lying if I said that all of my stress stems from my work, but that’s really the only one that I’m able to talk openly about at the moment (life stress & financial stress are two others). Until I figure things out, I guess I’ll continue to find those moments of peace while journaling, meditating, and doing yoga (oh, and running helps too!). I’m really loving my goal marathon paced runs and long runs because they give me either 1. more time to work through my stressors or 2. run faster and leave it all in the dust (or well…I feel like I am!).

PLUS running to music is my ‘guilty pleasure’ and these are my favorite songs right now to just really run it all out.

SOURCE

1. Glorious By Macklemore ft. Skylar Grey

2. Wild Horses By Bishop Briggs

3. Wings By Mac Miller

4. Litost by X Ambassadors (it’s a slow song, but I just love it for my cool down!)

5. 7 Rings By Ariana Grande

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Favorite way to de-stress?

We need a new movie to watch this weekend- any recommendations?! We LOVED Bohemian Rhapsody!

How many cups of coffee is considered ‘too much’? Asking for a friend….

Eugene Marathon/ 50 Miler RUNdown Week 8: 2/11-2/17

Happy Humpday! I’ve got my speedwork on the treadmill this morning, then hoping to get in the rest of my runs this week outside (if the weather cooperates!). How’s the weather where you are? I have no energy left to continue to dress in a million layers, with my spikes outside anymore. I’m perfectly content with just holing up on the treadmill and catching up on shows at the moment. I really do miss those perfect running temps and none-slippery surfaces though….

I ran 50 miles again last week and this is my last week before I have a cut-back recovery week! Yay! I’m feeling strong, focusing on getting a bunch of sleep, and refueling with GOOD nutrients!

Monday, 2/11: 5.3 miles easy at 11:20 851’ up & yoga to recover

Tuesday, 2/12: planned 7 miles @ tempo, but plantar fasciitis was not having it so cut it after 4.5 miles and got in extra strength.

Wednesday, 2/13: 6.15 miles easy @ 9:35 322’ up / yoga. Followed by the best dessert out there. Popcorn & Justin’s Dark Chocolate PB Cups.

Thursday, 2/14: Rest day! Went skiing!

Friday, 2/16: 14 miles split into 2 runs (7.3 miles in the AM / 6.75 miles in the afternoon/ strength to recover). I wanted to get it in all in the AM, but had the kitties vet appointment and ya know- life happens! So I adjusted and got it into two runs. Total elevation gain was over 1, 500’. Also YAY for muddy un-covered legs. Even though it was only one day, I know that spring is just around the corner!

Saturday, 2/17: 12 miles easy @ 10:02 pace with 150’ up. Another blizzard, another treadmill.

Sunday, 2/18: 8 miles with 1.5 warm-up / 3 x 1 miles (7:24 / 7:11 / 6:58) with .37 recovery between sets then 2 x 1 mi @ 5% incline at 8:48 pace? / then cool down until I hit 8 miles. Felt incredibly strong and I think I could have gone faster on those mile repeats, but happy with the results! 15 minutes of strength beforehand.

Total Mileage: 50.01 miles

Total Elevation gain: 2, 823’ up

Post-Run Recovery And Why It's So Important

Happy Tuesday! SO we’re officially back to winter this week (or well until at least probably March it looks like…). Mid 20’s are the high and negatives/ very low single digits until infinity. This is also my last PEAK mileage week before recovery next week. So while I know I’ll be super busy (and also on the treadmill more than usual), I know that spring is just around the corner AND that it doesn’t matter where I get my runs in, just that I still put in the effort. I’m ready to tackle the challenge. Just hoping it stays remotely warm-enough on Friday morning for my first 20 miler of this training cycle! Wohooo. I’ll be getting 36 miles over Thursday/Friday and am switching up my rest day to Sunday this week (normally I have it on Wednesdays) because it just works better with my work schedule this week. Here’s to hoping I don’t need to be THIS bundled up for my run on Friday!

With my increased mileage, I’ve really been focusing on recovery. Whether you believe in active recovery days or complete rest days (I’m somewhere in between normally- I like to do something, but nothing that requires much effort). Some of my favorite ways to spend a recovery are swimming, getting a massage, or doing yoga.

When you train hard, your body begins to breakdown to adapt to the continual stress. When you recover, it gives your body time to repair those muscles. When you don’t take recovery seriously, you put yourself at an increased risk of injury, illness, or burn-out (among other things). Luckily there ARE things you can be doing to help speed-up that recovery process (and help your body get ready for your next run or big workout)! I also found a lot of great information in this article by Runner’s World.

Here are some of my favorite ways to boost recovery (whether post-run or ON my recovery days)!

-Drink a lot of water and replenish any electrolytes. Think of water as the means to turn your muscles from ice to snow. It gives them their fluidity after you’ve been running with them for an extended period of time.

-Refuel with real food. 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein. I’ve been focusing more and more on refueling immediately after my run and I think it helps so much. You really need to plan-ahead post-run, but doing-so will help your body recover and decrease your risk of any sort of injury or illness. Dark Chocolate Almond Milk is one of my favorites or PB on Toast with Honey and blueberries or bananas.

-Epsom Salt Bath or Ice Bath. Ice baths are amazing to decrease the inflammation in your muscles, but honestly I have such a hard time taking one (I’m always SO cold). So, I generally apply ice to any problem areas I have (normally my plantar & knee) and will then hop into a hot Epsom Salt Bath after stretching.

-Stretch! I used to overlook stretching (I know, I know…shame on me), but now I take a few minutes to stretch post-run (no matter whether I’m running late or not!) and also stretch before going to bed every night. I haven’t had one niggle this training cycle thus far, so I think it’s helping!

-Yoga. I love JasYoga (they have a few free videos on YouTube that I love) and their running-specific videos.

-Get out for a walk. Ultrarunner extraordinaire, Karl Meltzer, takes his dogs for an hour long walk every morning (even post 100 mile races!). I think that says the importance of getting out and moving everyday even for an hour.

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What are some tips you’d add?

What are YOUR favorite ways to spend a recovery day?

(Long) Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! How was your weekend?! Unfortunately we didn’t make it our yurt this past weekend because it was a crazy windy (90mph!!) blizzard! We DID get to go skiing so that was still pretty fun :) 

Friday I took the kitties to their 1 year shots & check-up. Brady was quite happy that they had a sink for him to lay in the whole time.  

It was also FORTY DEGREES OUT ON FRIDAY?!?! I was pressed for time, so had to split up my 14 mile run into 2 runs, but it’s all good because I got to wear capris and be covered in mud!  

I’m really focusing on recovery this week, so it was an Gilmore Girls/ refueling/ strength training post-run.  

And then the weather took a turn for COLD until the foreseeable future, so it looks like I’ll be running indoors this week. This is a really busy week both life & running wise for me (first 20 miler of the training cycle coming up on Friday!!) , so I only have time to get it in early in the morning (when it’s supposed to be in the negatives) . More views like this for the week,  

Also had the pulled pork (slow cooker) with purple cabbage slaw from Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow on Saturday night and it was amazing!! Cannot recommend it enough.  

Stella was also intrigued.  

Have a great Monday!  

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! And This Or That

Happy Thursday! We’re off on our yurt trip and I’ll recap it tomorrow, but just wanted to share some exciting news with you. I’m officially a Bib Rave Pro!

I am SO EXCITED to join this amazing community of other runners, rate and review races, test out new brands, and learn from others along the way. I’ve always felt so isolated when living in a small Colorado Mountain Town, but this is just one of the organizations that I’m a part of that I know will help me feel ‘connected’ with other runners! Whether it’s communicating with them via social media, hearing their thoughts on products/races, and meetups during races! I can’t wait.

I also thought it would be fun to know your thoughts on the following below:

SO THIS OR THAT

Long run OR Speed Work

5k OR Marathon

Destination OR Hometown Race

Big OR Small Race

Solo OR Group Run

Headphones OR No-Headphones

Podcast OR Music

Beach OR Mountain Run

Trails OR Roads