What I'm Currently......

Happy Friday! We finally made it to the weekend and I’m kicking off a new Friday Series—> What I’m Currently….! It will encompass all things that I’m eating/ reading/ loving/ current events/ confused by/ wishing I had/ excited about etc.

So here we go!

Currently loving….

That I got into the Beach 2 Beacon 10k! My training runs. Working on my mental fitness while on the run. This podcast episode. This planner. Carbs.

Currently excited for…..

SPRING RUNS. Running a MARATHON in 44 days. Traveling to the PNW for the first time!! So many things.

Currently reading……

THIS book. So good. Go order it right now. I’ve been limiting my books purchases (by going to the library), but I will be buying this one. I can’t fall asleep after reading it because I’m so inspired.

Currently watching……

THIS documentary during yesterday morning’s treadmill run. There may be nothing more entertaining to watch while running than someone on the run (and kicking butt at their goals)!

Currently wishing…….

That it could get both lighter in the morning AND the evening rather than just one during Daylight Savings Time. I love that it’s lighter out later, but I REALLY love when it gets lighter in the morning as well. Running with a headlamp in the AM is just not appeasing to me anymore. Ready for Summer.

Currently thinking………..

I should definitely try to put my name in for the London Marathon lottery for 2020 because my race lottery streak just keeps improving (got into this one, this one, AND this one). Or maybe Berlin 2020? Or maybe NYC 2020? What do you think? Probably all three is a bit aggressive…..

Currently wondering……

If the snow will ever melt or if it will just morph from ‘Spring’ to ‘Fall’ snow without any Summer in the middle? What are the best shoes to do a 50 mile trail run in when it’s muddy (because they snow may not be melted by then at the rate we’re going!)? Is duct-taping my feet pre-50 miler the best plan?

Currently planning…….

My mom and mine’s trip post-Eugene marathon! We’re planning a trip up the coast of Oregon (I’ve heard it’s BEAUTIFUL) and need suggestions! Anyone have anything they’ve absolutely loved along the coast? Must-sees? Must-dos? TELL ME EVERYTHING.

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What are some things that are on your ‘currently’ list? Loving? Watching? Reading? Planning? Wishing?

Feature Friday: GUEST Post & Happy International Women's Day!

Happy FRIYAY! I’ve got my long run this morning (18 miles) and then 10 miles Saturday before a FULL rest day on Sunday! This week has been really busy, but I’m happy to see the finish line. I always feel as though March goes by way too fast and then it’s Spring before we know it. I’m not really sure what we’ve got going on this weekend, but hoping to make it out skiing one of the two days. I’d also really like to work on my crocheting a bit this weekend, but reading has taken over my free time (because my book is SO good).

I know I’ve already done a blog post to celebrate International Women’s Day (find it here), but thought it would be fun to share my mom’s experience with her first Triathlon (why is that word so difficult to spell)?!? She’s turned into a total bada** triathlete and I can’t wait to see her crush some more of her goals this summer!

Guest Post from my mom on her Triathlete!

After a couple of people raved about a local Tri-for-a-Cure Triathlon (women-only) that raises money for the Maine Cancer Foundation, I thought I would put my name in the raffle and if I got drawn…I would have to figure it out. Well, guess what? My name came up and the triathlon training/education began. I read everything I found on triathlon trying to figure out what to wear, what the transition area situation was all about and how far was 1/3 of a mile in open water anyway?

Can’t see the fear on my face here but I was terrified!!!

Fast forward to my first event. I signed up for a couple of practice sprint triathlons in my area so I could figure things out and be prepared for the upcoming main event of the summer. Well, my first open water swim was scary! First time in a new wetsuit, never really practiced in one before. If there hadn’t been some friends that just happened to be there watching, I might have backed out. I got into the water fine and swam with the group about 20 feet and started having a mini-panic attack. I was able to side-stroke/back stroke/freestyle my way through the 1/3 swim! Onto the transition area, where I miscalculated what to wear for the bike ride and had to put my bike shorts on over my swimsuit (very hard to do since you’re still soaking wet). Onto 15 mile bike ride, I opted for the trusty road bike and running shoe combo since I was still afraid to clip-in on the bike. Oh so slow! Wow, the hills almost did me in I thought I was going to tip over I was going so slow. Finished up the event and went away feeling like I learned so much.

The big day came for my Tri-For-a-Cure event, it was going to be raining and I was so worried about biking in the rain. Before the event started, they gathered everyone together by the water to recognize the cancer survivors in the group. It was pretty emotional, I remember the tears coming partly because I was terrified and partly because I had wanted to be a part of this event so badly and here I was doing it! The waves of swimmers started shortly after that and being one of the older competitors I was near the final waves to go, just enough time to get more nervous. It was an ocean swim, so wetsuits needed, luckily they had “Wetsuit Strippers” when you came out of the water. They basically peel off your wetsuit for you so you can move on to your transition area. It was pouring buckets on the bike course and I know I was going to much slower than I was capable of going but I was worried about sliding on those skinny bike tires and wiping out. Finished back into the transition area and headed out for the 5k portion, my feet were so wet they were squishing on every step and the puddles took up the whole trail. But, the view made me forget all of the discomfort. We were running alongside the ocean and a beautiful park, I remember thinking that I was so proud of myself for completing the event that the tears started before I even got to the finish line. This was the hardest thing I had ever done! I was scared and I conquered my fear by taking one step at a time and moving onto the next step, not thinking of the whole event.  

What I learned over that summer was that I was stronger than I thought I was and I was capable of doing so much more than I gave myself credit for! Everything is now based on surviving that first open water swim. I often tell myself, if I can do that, I can do anything! I am a triathlete!

I have a few triathlon events for the upcoming summer and I was drawn to compete in the Tri-for-a-Cure again this year. Redemption time, I hope to beat last years’ time in every event. I will be clipping into a bike for the first time this year! Stay tuned, hopefully there won’t be any injury updates to report.

Happy Swim, Bike, Run---Enjoy!

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Swimming in open water completely TERRIFIES ME so I don’t think I’ll be catching the Tri-bug anytime soon, but such a fun perspective don’t you think?

Have a GREAT weekend!

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Tell me about someone STRONG in your life that’s altered your journey?!?

Three things you’re doing this weekend? —> finishing my book, baking some homemade bread, trying to convince Alex that we need to go to the movies & see the newest Avengers!

Eugene Marathon/50 Miler Training RUNdown Week 10: 2/25-3/3

Another recovery is behind me! You would *think* that after running almost 60 miles the week before, I would welcome the recovery with open arms, but honestly it was TOUGH. I love my schedule and when I have these cut-back weeks I don’t know what to do with all the extra time! I feel like I should be RUNNING, not lounging about or cross-training. It feels like the taper except that I’m especially tired, but restless at the same time (I guess that’s normally how I feel in the taper too TBH).

I was SO HUNGRY at the beginning of my recovery week and probably ate something like 5 meals a day and my legs felt tired, but still not too bad. By mid-week, my legs felt dead and had no pep —> AKA why my speedwork on Friday felt especially amazing (…completely sarcastic). It’s also been really hard to see all these other runners on social media posting their ‘monthly mileage’ / hitting ‘x’ amount of miles / hitting ‘x’ paces (all OUTSIDE too? Does it not snow and ice and hit below 0* temperatures there or something?!?), while I’m over here on my recovery week waiting for my muscles and brain to feel ‘normal again’.

Janae posted this the other day and it really resonated with me. I just need to keep reminding myself of how much fitter and stronger I feel overall this training cycle than I ever have before and that the results will FOLLOW.

Monday, 2/25: 5.06 miles easy @ 10:03 with 120’ up during my lunch! Decided to get some extra sleep this week (one thing I do love about recovery weeks! All the extra sleep) and got my run in outside in the sunshine. It didn’t feel as challenging as I anticipated it feeling.

Tuesday, 2/26: Rest day. Opted for a rest day because I started to feel a cold coming on and I really want to avoid getting a full-blown sickness.

Wednesday, 2/27: 11 miles with 1.5 warm-up / 8 miles @ goal marathon effort (8:16) / 1.5 cool down. It was mentally challenging, but I felt oddly really strong. Also got in 30 minutes of strength

Thursday, 2/28: Rest Day / Yoga. Another rest day! Did some yoga to not feel like I was completely out of shape (ha —> isn’t it crazy how your mind always goes to that after taking an extra day or two off?)

Friday, 3/1: 6.1 miles with 1.5 warm-up/ 3 x 1 mile (7:52/ 7:45/ 7:30)/ 1 mi cool down & .5 mile cool down hike @ 12% incline 3.7 mph & strength. My legs felt completely dead and it was a struggle from the start. Glad I never completely gave up even my paces just were not there today.

Saturday, 3/2: Cross-training day! HIked up our ski mountain in Stagecoach (1 mile —> 800’ up). Was oddly VERY sore after this!

Sunday, 3/3: Still sore from skinning up the day before. Also a blizzard outside with sneaky snow-covered ice in spots and unplowed several inches of snow. 6.36 miles at 11:30 with 811’ up. Kept my pace easy and had to walk several spots because I kept slipping (didn’t want to wear any spikes today) on the ice-covered uphill sections. Still so beautiful out. 30 minutes of a new strength training program!

Total Mileage: 28.51 miles

Total Elevation: 931’ up

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How do you stop the comparison game when social media makes it so challenging?!

Favorite cross-training activity?

Feature Friday: I THINK I'VE LOST IT, Tell Me What To Do Next, and The Extra Mile By Pam Reed Book Review

Happy Friday! Wohooo. Finally! I can’t wait to sip coffee in my PJs this weekend! What is something you’re looking forward to this weekend? I’m all about sleeping in this week and will be getting in some speedwork this afternoon (3 x 1 mile repeats) and then I’m not sure what the weekend plans are yet! TBD. (almost typed TBD, which I’m pretty sure that makes no sense at all.

Hey let’s change the subject and look how cute Stella is!

Also I signed up for another race lottery last week thinking that I won’t get chosen (I did this a few years ago and didn’t get in)

Typical runner—> Hey! There’s a race lottery! Let’s put my name in because I never get chosen for ANYTHING! Yeah…except I guess 2019 is my year?!?

Chicago lottery - got in.

NEDD Mt. Washington Road Race - GOT IN!?!?

I’m so excited, but also equally TERRIFIED! It’s 2.5 weeks after my 50 miler, so I’m honestly just planning on using my fitness from that (I’ll start incorporating more treadmill hikes on my ‘off running days’/ after treadmill runs for a few minutes) and will do very little running post-50 miler before the race. I don’t really want to start doing any sort of running until mid to late July after my race (they say it takes your body the same amount of days to recover as you ran.. so 50 miles ran ….50 days to recover —> which puts me somewhere near the beginning/ to middle of July).

Watching this video of the race gave me goosebumps of both fear/excitement. Average 12% grade over 7.6 miles.. I totally got this…….

I recently finished The Extra Mile: One Women’s Personal Journey to Ultra-Running Greatness by Pam Reed.

I really love to give good book reviews and very rarely do I like to see anything as ‘negative’, however this book was not the best. I 100% respect and appreciate Pam’s honesty and think she absolutely incredible for everything that she has gone through (she really DOES have an incredible story!). Unfortunately the writing in this book just didn’t do it for me. It seems to jump around a bit too much and there isn’t enough ‘cohesiveness’ throughout the story to have hooked me. Some parts really are great, but she never really tells any secrets to her success in ultra-running (she says that she isn’t anything special —> she’s FINISHED Badwater 5 times including winning it all twice?!?).

She does describe more about her eating disorders, which I really appreciate her honesty and openness. If there was a bit more flow through the book, I think I could have really gotten into it. I still really loved her personality and think that she is an amazing runner, just not quite the book for me!

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3 things you’re doing this weekend?!? —> sleeping. lounging in my PJs. Hopefully going skiing!

Favorite time of day to run? —> there’s nothing like an early morning run for me.

OK well since I’m clearly on a lottery-entry streak…tell me what race lottery I need to enter next!

Eugene Marathon/50 Miler Training Week 9: 2/18-2/24

Happy Hump Day! I’ve felt a bit of a cold coming on, so I’ve opted to get the majority of my runs this week in the afternoon (so I can get more sleep). I was still on the fence on whether to get my 8 miles at marathon pace in the morning (on the treadmill) or try to get it in this afternoon (it could be sleeting)- so still up in the air as of last night! I WILL be getting it in regardless though. I’m also getting my haircut today! I was still trying to decide if I should get some bangs (they looked so cute on me in High School, but are also a super pain-in-the-butt!), but I’m definitely excited to get some fresh highlights (it’s been since October!) and shorter hair again. Photos to come tomorrow ; )

Last week really tested my patience with the weather. It was in the negatives every.single.morning and a high of low 20s the entire week. I had a crazy busy work/personal life week, so mornings were the only time I could run (for the most part), so I was on the treadmill a bunch (hoping to only be on it ONCE this week!). Not ideal- but do what you can right?

Monday, 2/18: 5 miles easy on the home treadmill while catching up on the news.

Tuesday, 2/19: 1.5 mile warm up / 8 miles at goal marathon pace (8:15) / 1.5 mile cool down. 11 miles & strength. Felt really good even after getting kicked off the treadmill for 10 minutes. Gotta love the 6AM treadmill rush that lasts 10-15 minutes. Sigh.

Wednesday, 2/20: 6.5 miles on the ‘mill. Normally I try to break up my goal marathon paced miles & speedwork, but this week was funky and this is when I had time. SO I did the repeats mainly on an incline (same benefits as a faster pace, but less strain on your body).

Thursday, 2/21: 13 miles in the morning on the ‘mill & then had a unexpected free afternoon, so decided to just go for the remaining 7 miles to get 20 for the day! Happy to get some afternoon miles outside : ) Plus some strength afterwards.

Friday, 2/22: 9.37 miles in a BLIZZARD in the morning (I didn’t think it was supposed to snow?!?). I took it slow because I was TIRED and it was icy (didn’t have my spikes). I ended up cutting it short in the morning and then got in the remaining 6.63 in the afternoon on the treadmill (still super icy out), which felt MUCH better. 16 miles for the day.

Saturday, 2/23: REST DAY! Completely lounged and it was amazing.

Sunday, 2/24: REST DAY! Went snowshoeing, did some strength, and a bunch of stretching.

Total Mileage: 58.5 miles!

Total Elevation: 2, 122’ up

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Also LOVING this new shirt I got from Oiselle.

THIS cream cheese (almond milk!) tastes amazing.

It’s finally warm enough here to wear just ONE layer on top & bottom! YAY! Does this mean Spring is coming?!?

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How’s your week going?

What’s the weather where you are?

Favorite ways to pass the time on the ‘mill?