A long and lonely run

I couldn't get my butt to the gym this morning at 5:30 because my adorable 3 year old was having nightmares last night and kept me up all night.

So I had to do speed work on my treadmill after work all alone. So sad. So hard. So lonely. I did 10 miles total with 4 one mile intervals at a 7:28 pace with half mile jogs between.

I'm glad it's over and stoked that I ran 10 miles on a treadmill.

Tomorrow: hill work and lifting

Liquid Awesome

Today's spin workout was endurance hills.  We did pursue & attack drills (2 min pursue, 1 min attack, 2 min recover on hill - 3 x's).  Then we did 25 minutes of rolling hills.  Alternating between seated and standing hills with different levels of intensity between 7 and 9.


I love this quote and since I was extremely awesome today after my workout I thought it fit well. 


I used to love the saying "girls don't sweat they glisten".  But I think this one tops it!

The more I run...

The better I feel.  Our mileage has been steadily increasing for months now.  Before doing this training program (even the last time I trained for a marathon) I found that 7 miles was my break point.  That was when I needed water and gu and anything more than that just felt sooooo long.  Now that I rarely run less than 9 miles at a time my body has been adjusting and I can easily go 10 miles without taking any GU.  I still carry water or Gatorade with me just to be sure I don't dehydrate but I don't feel like I'm going to die without it.  

Today I took a little bottle of Gatorade with me - the kid size ones.  I have some extra from when I had to take drinks and treats to a basketball game for one of the kids.  Anyway,  it was the perfect amount of hydration as well as a nice little pick me up with the carbs and electrolytes.  I'm hoping that with this training and my body adjusting to the miles by the marathon I can still feel great with fewer gu's and less water so I don't have to stop to use the porta potty.  I guess training does pay off :)

Today:  10 miles

Tomorrow:  spin and lift

Sore Muscles

Yesterday after the long run I had to take my 3 year old to the hospital to have some major dental work done.  I spent 7 hours sitting in a hospital room waiting.  The few times I got up (to go eat, or use the bathroom) my legs were so sore I was limping.  I'm sure I looked funny.  I should have been smarter and gotten up to walk around every hour and stretched but I wasn't so by the night I was really paying for it.  Last night I spent extra time rolling out my muscles and stretching.  It felt a little better but I was still pretty sore.  Then this morning I went for a nice flat, easy 7 mile run.  That did the trick.  I felt so much better after the run.  It took the first mile before my legs felt relaxed but once they let go the rest of the run felt great and I'm not sore at all now.

This weeks total miles: 40!! 

Late night + Early Run = Brutal

Last night we had a Ragnar "team meeting". We went to frozen yogurt and a movie. I didn't get into bed until 12:30. I never stay up that late but it was worth it to hang with the girls and talk running over yummy yogurt.

Today we did our 14 mile long run and had to be home by 7:30 so we left at 5:30. It was ridiculously early today. Doing a long run in the cold on 4 1/2 of sleep was tough. But hey what doesn't kill me will only make me more awesome!!

I didn't feel great on the run. I was really cold and my legs were heavy. But thanks to the awesome girls running next to me I made it.

Tomorrow: 10 miles

It's getting easier

Today was a speed workout.  Basically the same as last week but a little faster.  9 miles total with 6 miles at an 8:10 pace.  This week I didn't dread it as much and the time felt like it went by pretty fast.  I love that I feel like I'm getting stronger and faster from this training.  Now I just have to maintain.

This quote fit perfect with how I feel about training right now.  HA!  

Still to run this week:  14 mile long run, 10 mile easy run.

I wanna be a tough chic

Like every Tuesday today I taught spin then lifted weights.  It was a good day of lifting for me - I only had to lower the weight from the person before me 3 times....I'm so tough!

Seriously though, it makes me crazy that I am such a weakling and that I am always lowering the weight on the machines.  I guess I'd have to lift a lot more than twice a week to be a tough chic.  Maybe that can be my 2013 goal - this year is all about running faster so I don't have time to bulk up.  Ha. 

Today's Spin Workout:

5 minute hill - tap it up each minute

Hill Intervals - 1 min on/1 min rest - 5 x's

Sprint Intervals - 30 s on/30s rest - 5 x's

10 minute hill - over/under intervals (3 min seated - tap up each min/2 min standing - 2 x's)

Pyramid Intervals 

30 on/30 off (2 x's)

1 on/1 off (2 x's)

2 on/1 off

Jumps (4 minutes)

It's been a while

I guess I got busy last week....I might have not posted but I still ran.  I ran 9 miles on Thursday and 10 miles on Saturday.  Last week was a mileage week so we didn't have a long run or any speed work.  I'm really liking the mileage weeks - it feels like a break.  Which is really pretty funny to me that we still ran 30 miles last week and that was a "break" and I even missed a run.  

Today I started my week just like every week with a nice 10 miler.  The best part is that since it's Presidents Day I got to sleep in and go at 7:30!!  Heavenly.  I really like running when the sun is out.  It just feels more normal.  And now for the rest of the day I'm going to do laundry and lay around doing nothing but read.  

Happy Valentines

Today I taught spin and I even went an extra 10 minutes just so I could burn off extra calories.  I love starting holidays or birthdays with a good workout.  If I do that then I don't feel guilty the rest of the day when I eat a few treats.  For me it's easier to workout a little harder than to not have a treat or two on holidays when they are everywhere.

Since it's Valentines I wore my pink outfit to the gym so when I saw this quote I thought it fit me perfectly.  Although I wasn't wearing cute knee socks like she is!!

Monday Monday

Well just like the last several weeks my Monday morning started early with a 10 mile run.  I think it's getting easier to run 10 miles so maybe all of this training is actually working.  By saying it's getting easier I mean - my body is able to do it without taking a gu and a bit faster than I have run in the past.  But it's not getting any easier mentally to get up and do it.  

I wonder at what point I won't dread doing a 10 mile run.  Anyone know?  Any of you amazing runners out there know?  

Running until it hurts

 I love this image and quote (I found it during my ice bath and it helped me get through the last 3 minutes).  Today was a 16 miler and it hurt.  The entire last mile I had to talk myself into putting one foot in front of the other.  I mean really will it ever get easier?  The girls and I were talking about our aches and pains and old age for the last 1/2 mile.  The response to the question "will it ever not hurt?" was something to the effect of we're getting stronger so that every run it will hurt less. I did 40 miles total this week.  Ah yeah - getting stronger every week!

Thank goodness I have the girls along side me suffering every step of the way.  Otherwise I know I could never do it.  After the run my knees and hips were really aching so I took an ice bath.  I hate taking ice baths.  They hurt more than the run but they work.  My knees felt better by the time I got out and my hips and ankles are feeling much better as well.

I also found this quote on pinterest during my ice bath and laughed out loud.  I love it and think it's hilarious.

 

Making the time pass faster

Yesterday morning I was going to do hills on the treadmill and lift weights....but I slept in.  So last night right before bedtime I decided to just get a few miles in on the treadmill while the kids were playing.  I decided to try something new to pass the time and took my iPad with me.  I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the 5 miles went by.  I had to stop my show several times because the kids came down to ask me questions and once because the 3YO who was playing in the room with me peed her pants.  Little stinker!  I watched an episode of Glee and I thought it was a perfect running show.  I couldn't get the sound up very loud so I could barely hear them talking but the singing was great. 

Today is a rest day and tomorrow is a long run - 16 miles. 

A new PR....9 miles on the treadmill

I honestly hate the treadmill.  So far this year I haven't been "forced" to the treadmill for any runs.  There hasn't been any snow so no matter the temp we run outside.  Once a week we run on the treadmill for our speedwork.  Knowing ahead of time that I'm running on the treadmill and "wanting" to has made a huge difference.  

Today's workout was 9 miles total.  1 mile warm up.  6 miles at tempo (8:10 pace) then a 2 mile cool down.  I've never run 9 straight miles on the treadmill before today and it actually went by fairly fast.  I felt pretty good on the run.  We chatted during the warm up and cool down and during the tempo miles plugged in the iPod.  

Something totally awesome that happened today on the treadmill.....the calories turned over when they past 999.  I'll admit that it wasn't my actual calorie burn since I didn't put in the right weight but it doesn't matter it was still inspiring!

Today's Workout

Today was a spin/lift day.  As much as I hate getting up to teach spin at 5:30 am I sure love how much I can get done before 7:00 am.  I am liking lifting more and more these days.  Probably due to the fact that since I do it regularly I'm not dying every time.

Today's Spin Workout:

Over/Under Hill Intervals

3 m (tap up each min) - 2 m standing hill sprint (2 x's)

Pyramid Intervals:

30 s. fast flat - 30 s. hill sprint - 30 s. recover (2 x's)

1 m. fast flat - 1 m. hill sprint - 1 m. recover (2 x's)

2 m. fast flat - 2 m. hill sprint - 1 m. recover

1 m. fast flat - 1 m. hill sprint - 1 m. recover (2 x's)

30 s. fast flat - 30 s. hill sprint - 30 s. recover (2 x's)

Over/Under Hill Intervals

3 m (tap up each min) - 2 m standing hill sprint (2 x's)

Monday morning run

I love this!  And it's so true.  In the last week two different times I've tried to figure something out while on a run (like what's 8x6 or will it be lighter or darker after daylight savings) and it took WAY longer than it should have.  We joked that it's a good thing our brains aren't firing on all cylinders while running or maybe we wouldn't do it.  I guess the combo of early morning, long runs and brain freeze due to the temp are to my advantage.

Today's run was 10 miles.  I have a love/hate for Monday morning 10 milers.  It's a great way to kick off the week but I am so tired on Monday mornings.

Also - a question my left foot has been bothering me (inside of the back of my arch to the bone on my ankle) any stretches I can do for it?

Today's Workout - Long Run

Today all the running girls had husbands in town so we decided to sleep in and go running at 6:00 am instead of 5:00.  And we only had to do 12 miles for our long run this week.  How sad is it that I was so excited to sleep in until 6:00 and run 12 miles?  Today's run was a tough route - I'm not sure we'll be doing this one again there were a lot of long uphills.  Luckily, I skipped yesterday's workout so I was running on rested legs.  We did our gu at mile 6 when we hit the half way point.  Next time I think it would be better to push it back to mile 7 or even 8 so my legs would have felt stronger at the end of the run.  

I'm excited that I don't have to go to bed super early tonight to prepare for a Saturday long run.  Tomorrow I'll put in a few miles and lift weights. 

A little guilt isn't always bad

This morning the alarm went off at 5:15 am and I just didn't want to get up.  Sophie has a cough and I didn't have a great night sleep so I sent off a quick text that I had a bad night and was out.  Then I laid back down and the guilt set in.  After about 4 minutes of arguing with myself in my head I decided to get up and just do it.  Once I got there I was so glad that my guilt got me up and out of bed. 

The workout today was tough.  Speed work.  I did a warm up mile then four sets of one mile intervals at 7:30 pace with a 1/2 mile jog between each.  Then did another mile cool down.  8 miles total.