January Recap/February Goals

The last two weeks of January completely flew by.  I don't usually like to wish time away, but I have no problem if January and February seem to disappear.  I'm ready for the dark, cold days to be gone.  The January numbers ended up like this:

Running: 89.1 miles
Swimming: 6000 yards
Strength Training: 10 hours

I started out the month on track to hit 100+ running miles.  I ran through sub-zero temps (and double digit below zero windchills) during the second week of the month.  And then the third week, I had four days in a row where court went through the lunch hour.  Since I do most of my weekday runs during my lunch hour, my mileage took a pretty big hit that week.  Oh well.  I ended the month with two great runs in beautiful weather - 11 miles on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.

My official training for Grandma's Marathon starts the first week of March.  I created a little pre-training training program for this month, mostly because I'm a little sick of not "training."  I've basically been in off-season mode since after Twin Cities in October and am feeling ready to push myself a little more.  My running goals for February are to consistently run long-ish on the weekends (between 8 and 11 miles), and to get in one run that includes some miles at half marathon pace during the week.  My other goal for February is to increase my swimming yards.  I have my eye on an August triathlon - Turtleman, in Shoreview.  It's a one mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 5 mile run.  That one mile swim is the only thing giving me hesitation in hitting the register button.  I need to get some longer swims in the pool to give me the confidence to know that I can do it.

Reality Check

Or should I say, bitch slap?  We've been super lucky this winter.  Not much snow, not much really cold weather.  Weather hasn't been a deterrent in getting outside and running.  All that changed today and a cold, blustery wind came to slap me in the face and remind me that yes, it is January in Minnesota.  I planned to tough it out and still get out for a run.  I made arrangements for a babysitter to come over during EJ's nap time.  And then I went to Walmart.  As the wind whipped me while I walked across the parking lot, I decided to bag the run.  Instead, I did the 21 Day Fix Challenge DVD, which always sneaks up on me.  It doesn't feel too challenging at the beginning.  And then all of a sudden I'm drenched in sweat and my heart rate is through the roof.  So good times.  The forecast is for more frigid cold tomorrow, but I'm determined to not let it get the best of me.  Plan is to get my off season "long" run of eight miles in.

Last week's workouts:

Sunday: 8 mile run
Monday: 850 yard swim; 5 mile run
Tuesday: 1 hour kettlebells, 3 mile run
Wednesday: 800 yard swim
Thursday: 1 hour kettlebells, 4 mile run
Friday: 2.5 mile run
Saturday: Fix Challenge DVD (30 min.)

I get up just before 5:00 on swimming days and just before 4:00 a.m. on kettlebell days.  After a couple of "off" weeks for the holidays, four days in a row of getting up early sort of kicked my butt.  By Thursday, I was toast.  I felt good working out in the morning, but was sooooo tired on my way to work.  Thank goodness for coffee. 

How Time Flies

Happy 2016!  In some ways, it feels like it was yesterday that I posted last (in July of 2012).  In other ways, it feels like a lifetime.  A quick catch up on what I've been up to: 2013 - got pregnant and had my second child (a boy) in September 2013.  2014 - recovered from a rough pregnancy (during which I was not allowed to exercise) and C-section, gradually started ramping up my running and workouts.  Quit private practice and took a government job.  2015 - completely reclaimed my active lifestyle.  And that brings us here, to January 2, 2016.

I am so excited for what this year holds.  I ended 2015 with some strong races and feel very motivated to keep working and improving.  I have registered for the Earth Day half marathon in St. Cloud (in April) and Grandma's Marathon (in June).  My immediate plan for 2016 is to keep a solid base of running miles so I am ready to start training in February.

Here's what last week's workouts looked like:

Sunday: ran 3.6 miles
Monday: ran 3.6 miles
Tuesday: 1 hour kettlebells
Wednesday: ran 3 miles
Thursday: 1 hour kettlebells, ran 1 mile
Friday: ran 6 miles
Saturday: ran 5.5 miles, Pilates leg workout

I will be adding swimming back in this week after a two-week hiatus (pool was closed over Christmas break).  Looking forward to getting back into a routine now that the holidays are over.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

1 Down, 99 to Go

Happy July!  I set a goal to run 100 miles this month.  I think the last time I made it to 100 miles in a month was sometime in 2010, so I decided it was time to step it up.  After setting that lofty goal, I ran a whopping one mile today.  Oh well, thirty days left to get it done!

Yesterday I did my first tri of the season - our local sprint tri.  It was a 300 yard swim, 11 mile bike, and 2 mile run.  It is a super informal event, no timing.  So I have no idea how fast (or slow) I swam, biked, and ran.  But I was out of breath the entire time.  So I'm going to say that means I put in a pretty good effort.  It reminded me how much I love triathlon, and of course, how much I love getting a good sweat on.

Because I'm Classy Like That

My first tri of the year is this weekend, so I thought it might be a good time to start swimming again.  I made plans to meet up with a tri friend at the local beach over lunch today.  It's pretty hot here today, so when I pulled up at the beach at 12:30, the parking lot was packed.  I felt a teensy bit awkward hiking across the parking lot in my fancy suit and high heeled shoes to the beach bathroom/changing house.

After a quick swim, I headed back into the changing house to get ready to go back to the office.  And quickly discovered that putting on nylons right after swimming while simultaneously trying to avoid touching bare skin to any floor/wall surface is a workout in and of itself.  I'm sure I got a few looks as I busted out of the changing house in my high heels and suit again.  I tried to ignore any people looking at me and made a beeline for my car.  After about five minutes of unsuccessfully punching in my unlock code, I realized I had made a beeline for someone else's car.  Had to go a little further down the parking lot to find my own car . . .

And now I'm back at the office, ready to get a few more hours of work in before golf time.  In summary: I apparently have a high threshold for public humiliation when it comes to getting my workouts in.  I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm going to go with it.

Ready (Maybe)

My training for the last year or so has been sort of non-training-ish.  I've been running (and biking and even sometimes swimming), but without following any sort of training plan.  And I haven't put in the training that I should for the races that I have done.  I think there's a couple of reasons for this - for one thing, for me running and racing goes through cycles.  I have periods where I feel very driven to train for specific goals.  But I can't do that all the time.  If I do, I end up getting obsessed with results.  And feel crushed if I don't get my expected results, which leads to running being something that makes me feel bad about myself.  Which is a little counterproductive.

The other reason for the non-training is because I have been trying to get pregnant for the past year.  When we first started trying, I assumed that I would get pregnant right away.  After all, I got pregnant with Sophie when we weren't trying and I was on the pill.  One year, two chemical pregnancies and a miscarriage later, joke's on me.  When I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon last year, I assumed I would be pregnant and wouldn't end up running.  So I half-assed the training and had a crappy race.  When I signed up for the Wisconsin Marathon this spring - same thing.  Except then, two months before the marathon, I was pregnant.  I was still running and training for the marathon when the miscarriage started.  In my head, I thought a miscarriage would be a one day event.  In reality, between the spotting and what I consider "pre-mascarriage drama" and then the actual miscarriage, it was about three and a half weeks worth of suckiness.  By the time the whole miscarriage thing was done, it was too late for any "real" training for the marathon.  But I still ran and surprised myself with a half decent race. 

For my own sanity, I have to give up thinking about getting pregnant (easier said than done).  The desire to find something else to focus on has given me a hunger to throw myself into some solid training.  I have my sights set on two fall marathons - the Women Rock Minnesota marathon in September and the Whistlestop Marathon in October.  I think that if I put in a solid couple of months of training I can get a PR and go sub-4:30 at one of these races.

Last week, while I was resting my legs post-Grandma's (what is it about marathon recovery that makes you think about more marathons?), I made a little training plan to take me from now until September 1st (the Women Rock marathon).  I tried to keep it flexible to take into account summer schedule craziness.  I am excited to start checking off workouts.  After taking it pretty easy during the week last week, I had a couple of good workouts this weekend - a five mile run yesterday and a 40 mile bike today.  Tomorrow?   I've got speedwork on the calendar.  Now I've just got to try to remember where the track is . . .

Grandma's Marathon 2012

Last Saturday I ran my ninth marathon and my third Grandma's. I ran with a friend who was doing her second marathon (but it had been a very long time since the first). Our plan was to start slow and slow down, and we were in it to finish. We executed our plan and finished in about 5:27. It was a weird weather day - started out hot and humid (I was completely drenched in sweat after the first mile). At about the halfway point, it started clouding over and cooling down. We were cold the last few miles, and by the finish it was 54 degrees. We finished just in time to beat the rain, thankfully. I was glad it cooled down when it did - my stomach was just getting to the really angry, nauseous stage. Otherwise, I felt great. My back started to really tighten up the last 10 miles or so, but within several hours after the race it felt better. I've been spending the last few days recovering. I feel ready to get back into some hard workouts. Unfortunately, we're having some crazy weather this week so I might have to wait a few days. A little more recovery probably won't kill me! I'll be ready to really hit it hard this weekend when the weather (hopefully) cooperates.