Day 65: 4.0 miles

4.0 miles. 42:46. 10:42 pace.

I adjusted my bra the entire duration of this run.

As I did yesterday

And the day before. 

And the day before.

And the... Well you get my point. 

It's so frustrating and a total energy suck. I can't get into the groove if I'm constantly trying to keep my bitties in line. 

My shoulders are constantly shrugging. If I loosen the straps to take pressure off my back/shoulders than my boobs start bouncing. 

And it's not like my bra is cheap. I use Moving Comfort's Juno (I'll add links when I'm on my laptop). I started with 34C last spring. I thought this bra was a godsend. Over the summer I bought one in a size 34B. The first one started to feel loose. Now the 34B is unwearable and I'm in a 32C. Now this last one is no longer working. I've had it for only 2 or 3 weeks. I do alternate the 32c and the 34b, however I now have no desire to wear either one of them ever again.  Which means I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow.

A couple of runs ago I tried wearing my old Lululemon tata tamer (size 34C). No dice. For one thing... It makes my boobs look pointy or something. Like it lifts and separates too much. 

Look.. I'm not going to be in a fashion show here. I just want the gals flattened and outta the way. I don't care for them to look perky while I'm running. 

The only reason I try to avoid the uniboob look is simply because I hate feeling sweaty between the jugs and underneath them. 

The last few months I've joked about just buying some ace bandages and wrapping those suckers in place.

I even found some at Walmart.

Well, I visited my ole pal Google and typed in somethig like ace bandage chest running.

It was actually RECOMMENDED by some track coaches. 

What? I gotsta try this!

Day 64: 5.0 miles

5.0 miles. 49:33. 9:55 pace.

(January 30, 2014)

I'm going to start this post with the positives of this run.

During this run, I hit 100 miles for the month of January.  Last month I squeeked out 89.6 miles.  The highest mileage month prior to this streak was around 50 miles.  Yay!!!! Go me!!!!

Nike+ appreciates my efforts.

That is probably the only positive I can come up with.

This run was downright terrible.

What was supposed to be a 5 mile tempo run turned into a complete disaster before mile 2 was even over.  I had to STOP the run and give myself a pep talk to continue TWICE.  The last half mile was so bad, I'm surprised I'm still around to tell the tale.

I felt heavy.  I felt clumsy.  I kept having to adjust my bra... and this was the one that is the smallest and fits the best.

I haven't bonked this bad on a run this short in... a long ass time-if ever.

I'm not really sure even what the problem was.  I have a couple of theories of course:

When I got home from work, there was a Papa Murphy's pizza on the stove that Karl and the littles had just made.  Of course I grabbed a couple of squares. (I don't like eating right before I run)

I wasn't as watchful about my fluid intake during the day.

Perhaps I hadn't eaten enough earlier in the day?

My monthly visitor made her presence known.

Perhaps it was a little bit of all of the above.  The funny thing about my little monthly visitor is that it kind of took me by surprise.  Normally the week before it arrives I'm a bottomless pit.  I'm hungry ALL OF THE TIME.  Last week... I had a lot of problems with my lack of appetite. 

I felt sick after this run.  Not nauseated, but my stomach really hurt.  And I was, ahem, kinda gassy.

I should be super excited for hitting that 100 mile achievement.  But the crappiness of this run has just totally overshadowed it.

I'm going to have to back off on the paces for the next few runs.  I have a sneaking suspician that I'm sticking my toes in the overtraining pool.  I've got to keep myself from falling in.

I'm more than likely going to alter my time goal for the Get Lucky half marathon.  As long as I beat my last half time of 2:12:13, I'll be a happy camper.

You need the bad runs in order to know when you're having a good run.

Day 63: 2.0 miles

2.0 miles. 21:03. 10:32 pace.

Starting February 1st I'm going to start including the date into the subject line.  Why starting in February?  Because my OCD would not like to start seeing something different in the archives in the sidebar partway through the month.  See how nice and orderly it looks over there to the right (if you're on your phone just take my word for it mmmmkay)?

I guess I could go back and add the date to every single post but....

yea I'm just too lazy for that right now.

I know I'm only supposed to do 1 slow mile on Wednesdays.  But the truth is that I had a wee bit of anxiety and anger (mostly anger) come up right before I was going to get my run in.  I was so fired up I wanted to just knock out 5-6 miles to calm myself down.

I REALLY had to restrain myself and stop at 2 miles.  I've got to figure out how to bottle this anger so that I can tap into it when I'm struggling through a run.

Let's take a quick second to talk about all of the haters out there... We all have some in our lives.  We know who they are.  As much as we hate having haters and wish they would just keep their damn mouths shut and leave us the eff alone...

We need them.

Well... I do anyway.

When I am at a low point in a run; when my brain is telling me to quit; I try to remember every time someone ever told me in my life "You can't."

I hate being told I can't do something.

To me, that's just a dare.

Watch me, you jealous hag.

WATCH ME SUCCEED.  I can.  I will. End of story.

Keep trying to bring me down bitches.  It just adds more fuel to my fire.

Hating on me isn't going to make you better.  Do the work.  I am.

Ok... I feel better now.

On tap for the upcoming week:

Thursday: 5 tempo (race pace) miles
Friday: 4 easy miles
Saturday: 6 easy miles
Sunday: 10 easy miles
Monday: 6 easy miles
Tuesday: Speed (6x800)
Wednesday: 1 super easy "rest" day mile.

I may end up shortening the Sunday run to 8 miles and the Monday run to 4 miles, depending on how I'm feeling.  I can't be running myself into the ground, remember.  I have a handful of people ready and waiting to tell me, "I told you so... running everyday is a terrible idea" 

I've made it NINE straight weeks so far.

Loving every minute of it.

Day 62: 8.0 miles

8.0 miles. 1:18:33. 9:49 pace.

Today (1/28/14) I had intervals.  12 of them to be exact.  Each one 1/4 mile in duration at 7mph (8:34 pace or something like that).

This was a repeat of last Tuesday's speed session.  The one that I bonked on because I started my intervals at 8mph (7:30ish pace).

I'm happy to report that I was able to complete ALL TWELVE intervals.

And then I promptly ran an extra mile.  Just because I wanted to.

Well... technically... I was SUPPOSED to run a cool down mile but I didn't do it at a cool down pace.  I did it at a moderate pace of 6.1 mph.

To recap: My 1 mile warm up was at 5.5mph (10:54 pace).  Each speed interval was at 7mph (8:34).  Each recovery interval was at 5.5-5.7 mph (10:32-10:54).  Extra "cool down" mile at 6.1mph (9:49).

Via Instagram... This is my "Holy shiz I did it!!" face.

I did use some fuel during some of the recovery periods.  I bought a bag of Haribo gummi bears after Adriana mentioned she used them on her runs.  I forgot to open the bag and fish out the green ones beforehand.  I think I only ended up eating one yucky green one though.  And no... there's no way to see what color I'm shoving into my mouth because I like to run in the dark.  I'm a freak like that.

When I came upstairs after running, I discovered that my little loves had made a fort out of the dining room table using practically every blanket we own and using all of the books from the bookshelf to keep the blankets in place.  They also had lots of random crap tossed under the table, like little squirrels stashing goods for winter.  So much for big sissies doing the baby sitting.  There was more iphone watching that younger sibling watching.  Tsk. Tsk. At least everyone was still breathing and the house wasn't aflame, right?  Beggars can't be choosers.

When I mentioned the stuff under the table to Max he says, "Mom!! We cleaned off the table for you!"

Sure as shit... inside their little hoard under the table was the pile of mail and other miscellaneous junk that accumulates on our table throughout the day.

Sigh.  Thanks, kids... someday I'll have to teach them that cleaning something doesn't mean just hiding it all under the table (or their bed).

I wish I would have had the foresight to take a picture.

Day 61: 4.0 miles

4.0 miles. 42:09. 10:32 pace.

This run was fantastically awesome.  It was as if all of the stars aligned to give me this (much needed) great run.  The odds were stacked against me.  For one thing... it's so cold outside that there's no school.  Therefore, absolutely no way am I doing today's (Monday's) run outside.  The second factor I had against me was that apparently the person who is supposed to work at Anytime Fitness today decided for whatever reason that they'd rather not.  No staff = no registering for free trial for Tara.  The third factor is that my treadmill is still "technically" out of commission.  On Sunday, my dad stopped over and he got the crease flattened enough so that it didn't rub against the plastic motor housing.  He did this by holding a rolling pin up to the back roller while the treadmill was going at a slow pace.  The crease is still there, but not as obnoxious.

I decided I was going to attempt the treadmill.  I spent a few minutes making sure the tension was right and making a few adjustments to keep the belt from moving to the side.  I kept my speed down and kept checking the belt to make sure I wasn't making the crease worse.  

Success!!!!

BOOM!  Knocked out 4 easy miles.

I really wanted to speed up a few times but... say this with me... EASY RUNS ARE BENEFICIAL.

When it was done I felt refreshed and energetic.  Which is how I'm supposed to feel after an easy run.

As a last resort, if I found I was unable to run on my treadmill, I was simply going to run laps around my kitchen, dining room, and living room until I hit a mile.  I was going to use both the Nike+ app and my Garmin with the HRM because they both act as pedometers.  Yes, I would have been that desperate to run like a raving lunatic around my house for at mile.  I've got a streak to keep alive, don't I?  Actually maybe I should do that one night anyway when I only have a mile to do.  I'll call it "tag" and chase Max and Cede around the house thereby saving myself a visit from the men in white coats.

When I was at Target on Saturday I saw this and thought it looked good, since I like curry and all.

Golden Lentil BORING curry

I ate it for lunch. It was ok.  It definitely had a curry flavor to it, but it was a bland curry like it was watered down for old people or babies.  I would buy it again, but only if it was on sale.  Just thought you'd like to know. ;)

On Friday I let my hair down... and straightened it.  I almost always have my hair back in some sort of messy bun.  When it's not straightened it's pretty wavy (which is why I can't cut my hair short... it just poofs up and looks ridiculous) so it was hard to gauge just how long it is.  Check this out:

 

 

 

Long hair, don't care.

Adriana over at Laced Up With Lipstick also has some crazy long gorgeous looking dark locks.  Where am I going with this?  Well... nowhere really.  I just kinda wanted to show that I don't always look like a sweaty mess!  Plus I happened to take the selfie in front of my race bib wall and even though the pic is grainy (bad lighting in my bedroom) I like the pic.  I'm starting to embrace the selfie, haha.

Funny story about Friday.  I was at the varsity girls basketball game (Callie plays on the 7th-8th grade team and Taylor is a varsity cheerleader) and during half time the cheerleading coach does this scavenger hunt type game.  She called out, "first person to the stage with hand sanitizer gets a prize." Well the lady I was sitting next to loads her purse up with odd items just for this game and she had hand sanitizer.  She handed it to me and said "Go!" So... I went.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a high school chica heading up to the stage.  I booked it.  She noticed I was racing her when I got close and she started sprinting.  Well... naturally, so did I.  It ended up being a dead tie and I got a little candle for my efforts (which I gave to the lady with the hand sanitizer even though she told me to keep it - we don't burn candles in our house).  I was pretty jazzed.  Normally the old people (you know... all of the people that are no longer in high school) don't sprint up to the stage and race the high school kids.

Later that evening, when we were home, Callie said that when I was running up to the stage her friends were like, "Is that ... Taylor...?" "Wow, your mom is fast." "She runs just like you!"

Bahahahahahahahaha thanks kids.  Thanks for making this "old-timer" feel good about herself.  Callie and Taylor have been known for their speed in running since... well they could run. Someday I'll be able to keep up with them.  :)

Day 60: 1.10 miles

1.10 miles.11:52. 10:44 pace.

Yup.  I skipped my 8 miler today.  Heading back over to the Y definitely would have taken up my whole day again.  I just… didn't feel like it was worth it. I need to feel like I had at least one day "off" this weekend.  I'm so behind on housework and laundry.  I think I'm on my last pair of clean undies.

Because of the stress of last week I didn't sleep or eat a whole lot.  My runs definitely suffered. Yesterday wasn't any better food wise.  I'm tired.  I felt stiff.  I even lost 4 pounds over the week.

I'm trying not to get too down on myself for cutting out 7 miles.  I'm trying to remind myself that sometimes, drastically shortening a run or two is a lot better than persevering when I shouldn't and having to quit running (again) due to severe injury.

I went out this morning (shocker, I know) before the wind picked up.  (currently we are under a wind chill advisory and as of 3:00pm it's -22F)

I dressed like a girlie ninja:

Running, ninja style

I got in my 1 mile run.  I actually got a little hot.  I had three shirts on.  :)  At least I know that I can run a mile outside when it's this cold:

At least there was no wind!!

Now I'm spending the rest of the day relaxing, EATING, and trying to recharge my soul.  I've got a chicken in the crockpot and a load of laundry in the washer.  Life. Is. Good.

Day 59: 6.0 miles

6.0 miles. 1:04:41. 10:47 pace.

After the pity party was over on Friday about my treadmill being out of commission, I had to strategize as to how I was going to get my runs in this weekend.  I was scheduled for 6 miles on Saturday, and 8 miles on Sunday.

There are two gyms in the next town over (about 5 miles away).  Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness.  Anytime's website said that they were staffed on Saturdays from 10-2.  I signed up for a free trial via their website and then called the location and left a message.  I never heard back from them.  Their Facebook page listed different hours than the corporate website.  Apparently no one is there on Saturdays.

My last option (no, running outside was never an option.  too cold) was to drive 45 minutes to the YMCA I used to go to when I lived closer to it.  They offer day passes and are staffed on weekends.  So… I headed over there at about 1:15.

Holy hannah.  It was HOT in the fitness room.  I'm used to a 50 degree basement PLUS a fan.  I felt like I was running in a sauna.

I didn't mind running around other people.  It was kind of a distraction.  I watched the lady on the bike in front of me do some sort of intervals for awhile.  I watched an old dude in jeans walk on two different treadmills for a few minutes each before leaving.  I did, however, hate how brightly lit the place was.  Jeez…

After my run was over I had to wait to be able to get back to my locker.  A mom and her 3 little kids were hogging the area after getting out of the pool.  I'm too nice to say anything.

My workout clothes were so drenched with sweat that I'm sure I could have rung them out.  It was like I had taken a dip in the pool myself.

With so many people using the pool, I felt uncomfortable taking a shower afterwards. I just got dressed (in the bathroom stall… there was a little girl around 8 that kept staring at me while I was grabbing my clothes and I got weirded out and didn't want to change in front of her). When I finally got out of there I went to Target, praying that I wouldn't run into anyone I knew, being a sticky mess and all.

I didn't get home until 5.

I wish I had some pictures to post about this run.  I was too self conscious.  Plus… I actually had to start a new run because the treadmill only allows runs of 60 minutes.  Lame.

Day 58: 2.0 miles.

2.0 miles. 19:00. 9:30 pace.

(Friday January 24)
This run was run mostly outside.  At 10:00pm.  I started my run on the treadmill at about 9:30.  For some reason the belt was creased down the middle.  Not sure what I did wrong when lubing it the day before.  I figured that I would try it anyway… maybe the heat from running to cause the crease to flatten out a little bit.

After .38 mile or so… I noticed it was actually getting worse.

I FREAKED OUT.

I rushed upstairs, threw on some warm clothes and went outside to get at LEAST a mile in (-10F wind chills, I knew I wasn't going to go far)

And then I came home and cried.

Seriously.

When I'm running… it's pretty much the only time I'm not thinking about my crazy hectic life.  I'm not thinking about the bills that need to be paid, or how I'm going to get all of my kids to the places they need to be.  I'm not thinking about all of the housework that I should be doing.  I'm not worried about all of the stupid little things that I shouldn't really worry about because I have no control over them.

All I'm thinking about is putting one foot in front of the other.

Or I'm imagining myself in a race.

Or running on a secluded trail.

(See why I like running in the dark?  It's easier to dissociate.)

In that moment… I felt that the one thing in my life right now that gives me peace was ripped away from me.

I eventually calmed down and came up with a plan for getting my runs in in the meantime, but man… what a day.

Day 57: 4.0 miles

4.0 miles. 39:29. 9:52 pace.

As I mentioned in Day 56, this week has been super stressful.  All day I've been just completely exhausted.  My brain was out to lunch. 

I was scheduled to do a 5 mile tempo today (plus warmup).

I was thinking... no way is that going to happen.  I'll just do my one mile and then try again tomorrow.

But obviously, I ran more than a mile.

A couple reasons for this...

I had just finished lubing up my treadmill that I thought was broken forever.

The other reason...

Brooks PureConnect 3

These shoes.

Those my friends, are the Brooks Pure Connect 3.

I was bored on Tuesday and ordered two pairs of shoes from Zappos, just to try on.  Every once in awhile... I do things like that; just order something from Zappos because it ships overnight for free so I can see what the hype is. Honestly, I had every intention on sending both pairs back.  I like buying running shoes from a running store that has a return policy if they end up not working out for you.  I likely would never send shoes back, but I like the comfort knowing that I can.

I ordered the PureConnect 3 as well as the Pure Flow 3.

The PureFlow was the shoe I was most excited about getting.  My Pure Flow 1's were my favorite shoe.  The 2's were kind of a let down so I was hoping that the 3's would be closer to the original.

I tried the Connects on first.

Oh. Em. Gee.

It was like when Cinderella tries on the glass slipper.  I even said, "ohhhhh.... yyyyeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh" once it was on my foot.  I didn't want to take it off.  I wanted to go run an ultra in those shoes right then and there.

But of course, I didn't.  You don't get the luxury of really testing out shoes that you order from Zappos because they have to be returned in new condition.

But I couldn't stop thinking about them for 24 hours.

I spent a good chunk of that time looking up reviews for the connect and trying to find pictures of them on Instagram as well as videos on YouTube.

I tried to remember how my foot felt inside of them. 

I had to have them.

I went on RoadRunnerSports.com to order them since they are having the VIP appreciation event right now so everything is 20% off.  Who wouldn't want to save about $20 on a pair of shoes AND have the luxury of sending them back after running in them for 90 days if they just don't work out? The problem was... they were suddenly missing from their website when they had been on Tuesday.  It was like the universe was laughing at me and saying I couldn't have those shoes!

Screw you universe.

I'm taking my chances and keeping the Zappos pair. 

I love you, Pure Connect 3

I already ran in them.

And it was amazing.

Well, the shoes were amazing... the run.... kinda wasn't.

As I mentioned before... I have had a stressful week.  I haven't been eating a whole lot.  I haven't been sleeping a lot.  I was supposed to do a 5 mile tempo run (plus warm up).  During the day I had pretty much decided that I was just going to do 1 mile.  After I lubed up the treadmill, however, I got to thinking.  What if I'm sleep deprived and stressed out on race day? 

So I ran. 

I did a 1 mile warm up at 5.5 mph (10:54 pace).  I did 2 miles at tempo (race pace) at 6.5 mph (9:10 pace). The lack of proper fuel and sleep did me in after those miles.  I would have tried harder to keep it up but I started to feel a little dizzy. I slowed it down then for .75 mile at 6.0 mph (10:00 pace) and the last .25 mile back at 5.5mph.

Even though a 5 mile tempo ended up being only a 2 mile tempo I still felt very accomplished. 

On tap for tonight (Friday, Day 58), I have 4 easy miles scheduled.  I'm really hoping I can squeeze this in right before bed.  It's my night to help with admission tickets to the varsity girls basketball game so I likely won't be home before 9.  I've already cut 5 miles out of this week's training plan and I really don't want to cut out any more if I don't have to.

Saturday (Day 59) I have 6 easy miles and Sunday (Day 60!!!!) I have 8.

Hopefully my kids and anxiety allow me to get enough sleep to nail my runs this weekend!!

Day 56: 1.0 mile

I can't really even give you the time for this mile.  Because I don't know.  I'm guessing it was 10:50.

This whole week has been super duper stressful.  This one mile run occurred on Wednesday.  I'm writing this on Friday.

Things have been topsy turvy at home lately... just a lot of stuff going on.

Running was the only thing I had that was constant.  That I could rely on.

Until this Wednesday, that is.

At mile .78, my treadmill just stopped. No warning.... I think it beeped a couple of times and a message was played across the screen but my phone was covering it up so I missed the first part.

Pretty sure the last word was "belt"

Since my week was already super stressful, and I was running on about 5-6 hours of sleep for the last 3 nights, I kinda freaked out a little.

As in, near tears, howamIgoingtocontinuethisstreakifIhavenotreadmill, freakout.

I turned the treadmill off (the display was frozen) and restarted it.  It worked fine then to finish the last .22 mile of my run so I wouldn't have to break the streak (and no... running outside was not an option as the windchill was well below zero).

My mom has the same treadmill we have.  She said hers did the same thing.  After she lubed the belt and adjusted it, it worked fine.

Ah... yes.... that "LUBE BELT" display that seems to flash across the display almost every day... the one that we'd just cancel by pressing 'stop' and the speed '^' button. 

I'm sorry treadmill.  I thought it was just an automatic message that popped up every so often.  I swore I had just lubed you up and that it was fine.

I'll never do that again.

My dad stopped at the sporting goods store and picked up some lubricant for me yesterday (Thursday).  He said the guy at the store recommended the "lube-n-walk" so that's what he picked up.

OMG that thing is amazing.  I'll post pictures sometime.  So easy. 

I lubed that baby up pretty well and adjusted the belt last night (Thursday).

And then... of course... I had to test it out with a tempo run... which was my Day 57 run.

Day 55: 5.0 miles

5.0 miles. 47:38. 9:32 avg pace.

Today was interval day.  For those of you unfamiliar with what intervals are, what you do is run really fast for the specified distance, and then run slow (the recovery) for a specified distance and then repeat the specified number of times. Today's workout (after a 1-3 mile warmup) was 12x400m intervals with 400m recovery. 400m is about a quarter mile. So in this case, after warming up, you would run a quarter mile super fast, then run a quarter mile super slow, and then repeat that eleven more times for 6 miles total. 3 at the speedy pace and 3 at the recovery pace.  I hope that makes sense. If not, let me know. 

I ran a one mile warmup at 11:00 then cranked it up to 8.0 mph (7:30 pace) for a quarter mile. I started my recovery quarter mile at 6mph (10:00 pace).  I lasted 3 intervals at those speeds. 8mph is too fast for me right now. I know this because I started to lose bladder control towards the end of the third interval. Awesome huh? Hahahahahaha. I've had 4 kids. A set of twins and then two ten pound monsters. I'm actually surprised I have any bladder control at all.

Anyway... After that third interval each one got prgressively slower, ending at 7 mph, which is still speedy at about an 8:30 pace.

I think had I started somewhere between 7 and 7.5 mph I would have been able to finish all twelve intervals instead of the 8 I completed. I was just instructed to do them at 5k pace. Since I haven't ever done a timed 5k I was just guessing what speed I should do.

Next Tuesday I'm supposed to do 8x600m intervals (about .375 miles) but I'm thinking I'm going to redo the one from today, the 12x400. I'm not even sure how I would do 600m intervals on my treadmill without changing the display screen to kilometers... And I'm not even sure how I would do that. 

I guess I could figure out at which times I need to be running fast and slow ahead of time and have it written down and taped to the display... But I like to run in the dark so I wouldn't see it anyway. ;)

This is the picture I sent to Karl afterwards (he is at work):

Max (my 5 year old son) came up to me and said, " Momma... You all sweaty like a pine corn."

I'm not sure what a pine corn is but I'm thinking it's gotta be some sort of crazy awesome super hero/warrior that even Chuck Norris bows down to.

Yup. That's totally it.

I'm an awesome pine corn.

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Day 54: 3.0 miles

3.0 miles. 33:20. 11:07 pace.

Bahahahahahahahahahaha. I know I know. I was supposed to do 4 miles and usually when I say I'm going to do 4, I do 5. And I do them fast.

I did this run at 6:45 AM.

On something like 5 hours of sleep.

SO, all things considered.... I absolutely ROCKED this run.

I even matched my outfit.

I really do hate running in shorts. I'm not sure why I set these out last night. They are probably going to go into the sell pile. 

Cause I mean really.... I've got 4 kids. I've got no business wearing shorts that short.

I'm still nervous for tomorrow. I hope I make it through at least 6 of the scheduled twelve intervals.

My legs are still tired from yesterday.

Fingers crossed I survive....

Day 53: 6.0 miles

6.0 miles. 1:05:27. 10:54 pace.

Oof. Beautiful positive splits again. I did try to run slower after awhile to keep my heart rate down, but after about the third mile, I didn't have any trouble keeping a slow pace. 

My entire body was a little sore from doing Ballet Beautiful yesterday. 

But that was ok because I love being sore.

My legs just felt really tired today.

PLUS I could feel it getting colder in the hour I was running.

Brrrrrrr...... It took me a couple hours to warm up. 

I almost took a nap too.

Tomorrow morning I get to run 4 miles.  I have something going on in the evening so it's either got to be at 6am or 9pm. I don't want to be staying up late tomorrow because I have my very first speed workout on Tuesday. 

I. Am. Nervous. For. Tuesday. 

But in an excited kind of way ;)

I officially registered for the Get Lucky half Marathon in St Paul on March 15.

Can't wait!!!!!

I have to start collecting green gear!

Day 52: 4.28 miles

4.28 miles. 44:17. 10:21 pace.

Positive splits. To be fair though, I purposely slowed down. Since the entire world was running miles for Meg Menzies, I wanted to take in the scenery of the neighborhood.

I'm surprised I was able to run this without issue. Shortly before this run I did 50 minutes of strength training a la Ballet Beautiful.

My fave workout buddy, Mercedes, joined me.

She lasted about 2 minutes.

My legs felt like jello afterwards.

Oh! I finally got my VO2 max thingy to work on my Garmin so I was able to see the race predictor.

Oh Garmin... You have so much faith in me. I laughed when I saw what you thought me capable of. The few reviews I've seen on the race predictor feature always had at least one time that was spot on or pretty close.

I can't let the Garmin down. He believes in me.  So I made the race predictor time pic my lock screen on my phone.

I'll work hard for you, oh little Garmin. Either to prove you right or prove you wrong.

Day 51: 5.0 miles.

5.0 miles. 53:02. 10:36 pace.

I was looking forward to this run all day. This morning when I got to the office (finally... Mercedes was stubborn and wouldn't pick out what big girl undies she wanted... And the dog was a little... Constipated outside. Took him forever to poop. The roads are still icy... Crazy morning) I booked a hotel near the start/finish of the Get Lucky Half Marathon. I may have accidentally also booke one near the start of the 7k race in Minneapolis. I clicked the wrong link. I had clicked on the info for the 7k. Even as I was booking it I was wondering why they were saying the half was run in St. Paul when the start and finish was in Minneapolis. 

Derrrrrr.... 

I still have to cancel it.

I spent a lot of the afternoon checking the Get Lucky Facebook page for race updates. They still hadn't posted the routes or start times. 

They finally announced start times. The half is starting at 8:30 and the 7k will start at 9:00.

Karl also announced that he'd like to do the 7k.

Ok fine. 

But we are staying in St. Paul near MY race start and you, my love, can drive yourself over to Minneapolis. 

Or you can carry my crap so I don't have to check a bag and be my cheerleader. ;)

Anyway... I was all excited to run since I'm now "officially" training.

It was kind of an epic let down

I really dislike running on the treadmill when it's light out. Karl had already claimed the mill for when he was off of work (at 6pm) so I left the office early to get it done before he got home.

That was problem number 1.

Problem number two involved receiving FOUR phone calls in a 15 minute time span. Declined them all. I was busy. 

Problem number 3 involved an annoying political YouTube ad that I was forced to watch (no "skip ad" button ever appeared) that was THIRTY SECONDS LONG!!!! I was forced to watch that garbage 5 times!!!! I despise political ads. I can tolerate the "vote for me because I believe in this this and this" ads. I absolutely LOATHE with every ounce of my being the "don't vote for this guy because he's dirty and stinky and poops his pants" lie filled garbage ads. 

Jerks. I'll be listening to pandora or iTunes Radio or maybe even my own music for awhile.  

Still mad about it. 

Where's the wine...

Day 50: 4.0 miles

4.0 miles. 40:57. 10:14 pace.

I made a decision today. Well, a tentative one anyway. I'm going to start training for the Get Lucky half marathon on March 15. I have 8 weeks. I should be able to run this one faster than my current PR of 2:12:13 (from last June... Kinda only did about 1/2 to 3/4 of the training and ran the race at a conservative pace) but I think my main goal of breaking 2 hours this year would be just slightly out of reach for this race. 

I think it'd be possible if all conditions were perfect.

Karl and I were thinking 2:05 would be a more realistic goal.

I wrote out the training plan including speed workouts and tempo runs onto the paper copy of my training log (I have my runs recorded in three places: here on the blog, my runmeter app, and a blank calendar). I will start serious speed work next Tuesday.

Upcoming run schedule: 

Today (Thursday): 4 miles easy pace (10:00-11:00)

Friday: 5 miles easy pace

Saturday: 4 miles easy pace

Sunday: 6 miles easy pace

I have until a few days before the race to register, so I'm going to see how the next couple of weeks go with a major increase in mileage, as well as a busier workload at the office. 

Looking ahead to the next week... I've got a seven mile run on Tuesday for my speed work day. One mile warm up and then 12x400 with a 400m recovery. Unless my math is wrong, that's 7 miles...not including a cool down. Yikes. I've never done intervals like this before. I'm going to try to do my speed work at 8 mph (7:30 pace). 

When the workout is complete I'll have run a total of 3 miles (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) at the super speedy pace. 

Then, on Thursday (as in, a week from today....yikes), there is a tempo run (race pace) of five miles (plus warm up). Holy shiz. 5 miles at a 9:00-9:09 pace!? (Since my "A" goal is sub-2:00, I'm going to set my paces for that. I may drop down to my "B" goal (2:05) with something like a 9:30 pace if I find the "A" goal too lofty for me at this point.)

Better eat my Wheaties that day.

Knowing what I know about the mind/body connection, I'm trying not to psych myself out due to fear. I'm confident in my ability and I'm ready to work.

Day 49: 1.0 mile

1.0 mile. 10:42.

I lied. I didn't use a different camera. And this is being typed up on the iPhone blogger app while I wait for Callie to be done with basketball practice. 

Truth is the batteries were stolen outta the camera because someone wanted to play xbox.

So you get another crappy iPhone pic.

I need to start looking at registering for some races. There just aren't any local ones that are more than a 5k.

I guess I better start liking 5ks then huh?

Day 48: 5.0 miles

5.0 miles. 50:10. 10:02 pace

Ps... I sometimes wear a jacket on the treadmill until I warm up. It's typically off before the first mile is up. It's just so dern cold in the basement.

I really need to stop skipping on the blog write up before bed. I thought that if I waited until the next day I'd be "wordier" and my post would be more interesting to read.

Who really actually reads running log posts anyway? 

We just want to see the stats and maybe a few creative/interesting pictures from their run (if it was outside).

Sometimes we like seeing the gear worn or used on the run via a picture of the runner or more likely, a selfie. 

Well, I kinda suck at taking pictures with my iPhone.

I did locate a nice kodak 14 megapixel camera that my daughter got for Christmas a few years ago. I'll try using that for the next post.

I suck at using my Canon Rebel DSLR. What the crap does ISO and aperture mean anyway? RAW?? Pffffft. I can't take selfies with this beast without feeling like even more of a tard than I already do. Evidence that I did try it once:

As I see that pic (from about a week ago) uploaded... I really should just delete the blogger app on the iPhone. It makes even my decent pictures look blurry and crappy. 

So yea anyway... My five miler. Was pretty uneventful. About a minute after I hit stop I was pretty tempted to go for another mile. But I didn't. I restrained myself. Go me.

Today (Weds), is supposed to be a "rest" day. I do feel pretty good and would like to run longer than 1 mile but I have to keep from running myself into the ground. 

I know you are sitting at the edge of your seat waiting to see what I'm going to do...

Day 47: 1.0 mile

1.0 mile. 10:20

Wow what a day.  It was one of those go-go-go kind of days. 

After work I ate supper quick and then had to head to the high school for the girls basketball game.  It was my night to help in the concession stand.

I did get there early enough to watch the end of Callie's game (she plays on the 7th and 8th grade team).  She got clawed in the eye and on her chest.  She's tough like her momma.

We got home at about 9:15.  I was on the treadmill by about 9:45.

I had originally planned on also doing a Ballet Beautiful workout but my legs were still toast from the 6 mile run the previous day (I'm typing this on Tuesday) and then from being on my feet for three hours at the school.

I was just too tired.

I'm still tired.  Not really too bad physically... but mentally... I'm asleep.  Not a fan of busy days like that.  I crave quiet and routine during the week.

I'm going to start following the Hansons Marathon Method schedule so that I get used to it.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are faster or harder runs.  Wednesdays are their "rest" days, which for me will be 1 slow mile.  Longer runs on Saturdays and Sundays at easy pace.  Monday and Friday are also easy paced, shorter runs.  I haven't decided yet what my speed or mileage will be tonight.

Day 46: 6.0 miles

6.0 miles. 1:03:48. 10:38 pace.

Take my word on the time. It only shows time when the belt is moving.

I had hoped for 5 miles today. Obviously I ran 6. Secretly I was kinda hoping for 7, but my legs were toast. I seem to have issues doing the "bare minimum." I always want to do more miles... Or go faster than I should. It's like I think I'm some sort of failure if I don't give 110% all of the time. 

Last April or May, I was scheduled for 7 miles (training for a half). It was one of the first really warm days of the spring, and I went out for my run at about 2pm. The sun was bright! There was still snow alongside the paved trail I was running (the city had plowed the snow off of the trail) so the sun was reflecting off of it. I didn't bring any water (in the winter I wouldn't need it) so I quit early at 5 miles.  

I was so mad at myself that as "punishment" I went back out that evening and ran 3 more miles. For a total of 8 for the day.

I'm a pretty tough cookie.

Last night, right before bed, I decided to FINALLY start building up some strength in my backside.  I did the 15 minute bridge series, and then since abs is right after that, I did that too. I fully expected to be sore today but I really wasn't. After not doing this workout for a few months I should have been sore. 

Obviously I didn't work hard enough!! (Are you seeing a pattern here... Glutton for punishment)

After this afternoon's 6 miles, though, I can feel the soreness start to creep in. 

I must be a frickin weirdo because I love DOMS. Makes me feel alive. 

Day 45: 3.0 miles

3.0 miles. 32:11. 10:42pace.

Today's run was fantastically good for my soul. It was slow, which was needed, and outside. I forget just how hard it is to run over loose snow. My ankles were a little tired towards the end.

I bet my run being awesome had something to do with this: 

That is my breakfast of champions. Three scrambled eggs with about a handful I chopped ham and a handful of chopped peppers that were sautéed a bit in olive oil.  Usually I put spinach in the pan to wilt (a handful or two) but I'm out so I added ham.  I always top my eggs with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

The sauce of the gods... It didn't want to be photographed.

I ended up being spontaneously alone today.

So I finally got to watch the season premiere of Downton Abbey! I hope they sack Barrow this season.... I have never liked him!!!

Day 44: 4.0 miles

4.0 miles. 39:47. 9:57 pace.

Haha another numerical coincidence. 4 miles on day 44. Awesome sauce.

I planned to do 3 today, 4 tomorrow, and if I'm not dead, 5 on Sunday. Well, when it was almost at the 3 mile mark, Eminem came up on the playlist. You can't stop running when Mr. Slim Shady is rapping directly to you. So I ran another mile. 

I'll do 3 tomorrow.

Supper was waiting for me on the stove when I was done so I forgot to take some sort of pic for today.

Everyone will be home this weekend so the chances are pretty high that I might log some longer runs than planned. I love my kids and man but holy crap they drive me nuts too. Running is my chance to recharge from the craziness of my household!

Day 43: 4.0 miles

4.0 miles. 43:09. 10:47 pace.

Oh. My. God. I am completely spent after today's run. I watched nearly an entire Dexter episode and while it held my attention better than last time, I have such a hard time running on the treadmill at these slower paces. My form is different. Plus, I was tired and hungry before I even hit start. I kept the pace pretty consistent, so I guess I can still consider this run a success.

That there is me... No filter. My face is on fire from the sweat irritating my dry skin. Sometimes it's good to go filter less I suppose ;)

I was so bored at work today I spent the majority of the afternoon working on a training plan. I've got to start getting more miles on my feet. My next big race will be in June. I have officially decided that if I am not selected for the Bjorklund half marathon (it's a lottery selection process) that I will just go ahead and register for Grandma's Marathon. (The Bjorklund is also known as Grandma's half. It's run on the second half of the marathon course). This would be my first FULL MARATHON. I've wanted to run a full since I started running two years ago. Mentally, I'm ready. (My dream race is actually Western States 100. Go big or go home, right? Haha) Physically.... I'm not sure. I have several months to figure it out. 

If it weren't for the lottery selection for the half... I'd probably be more inclined to just go ahead and sign up for the full. But I'm a strong believer in fate and that things happen for a reason. So my silly little brain figures that if I'm not meant to run the full in June, I'll be selected for the half. If Grandma's is supposed to be my first full, then I'll get rejected for the half. 

I already have the training plans ready to go. I'll be doing the Hanson's Marathon Method. Their website has a half plan that is exactly the same as the full during the weekdays, the only difference is the amount of easy miles run on Saturday and Sunday. I also figured out the differences in mileage each week between the two and the week that has the largest difference is only more by 9 miles. 

So, we'll see what fate decides for me when the lottery occurs at the end of February!

Edit: added links :)

Day 42: 3.0 miles

3.0 miles. 27:59. 9:20 pace

So um.... My plans for today were to run 1 slow mile and then do 15 minutes or so of Ballet Beautiful. Once I got on the treadmill though, I decided that I'd rather just run tonight. I had quite an eventful morning and wanted to work some of the tension out.

It's been super cold here. I'm pretty sure that wherever you are, too, it's been obnoxiously cold. The last few days we've seen windchills between -30 and -50f. So naturally, my van refuses to start when it's that cold. Karl had just been taking the battery out to warm up in the house and then replacing it. Or, I would just take his car, which doesn't seem to mind the cold as much as mine does.

Well, we both needed to go somewhere today at the same time so he put my battery back in so I could take Max to Nursery School on my way to work. It took him twice as long as normal. It was also -35 windchill. So... Karl was not a happy dude this morning.

It started up fine, but the sliding passenger doors were frozen shut. Ugh. This happens so often and it seriously puts me into a rage.  Max crawled in through the driver door and we pulled out into the alley. For some reason, though, it was like we were driving on a hockey rink. I just could not get good traction. I finally got to the main road (it really didn't take that long) and the tire pressure gauges finally showed their readings. My driver side rear tire had a mere 1 pound of pressure. ONE. Fudge nugget. 

It was just as far to the gas station as it was home so I went to go put some air into it. When I pulled up to the air thing I tried calling Karl... several times. He wouldn't answer. I'm starting to mildly freak out here. Then... I notice that the air thing requires you to put quarters in it. Wtf? I've never seen anything like that before and I swear it wasn't like that this summer. I called my boss to ask his opinion if it's even worth putting air in it because it's flat or if I should just walk home. He told me to give it a go. I grabbed a couple of quarters and was just about to pop them in when I dug the nozzle outta the snow and it was nothing like I'd seen before (it had like a handle on it and I wasn't sure what was supposed to go where) plus it was caked up with snow. Just as my anxiety is about to go over the top into full on panic mode, I noticed that there was an auto repair place next door. And suddenly I remembered Karl saying that the guy that lives two doors down from us (he's also in the fire dept with Karl) just bought it with a buddy of his. Max and I walked over there and they filled up my tire enough to drive it into the garage and then they finished filling it up and the rest of the tires. While I was there , I figured I might as well get a new battery so Karl didn't have to go out and buy one and then install it when he'd much rather blow the van up and use it as target practice.

Shortly after we left, though.... My tire started losing air AGAIN. I took it straight to the tire shop in the next town and told them I needed a new tire (they didn't have tires at the repair shop). I was so frustrated with my stupid van. 

Turns out, my tire was fine. I guess sometimes the tire separates from the rim a bit when it's super cold out and then starts leaking air. Dirt and gunk can then get in there and make it worse. (I think that's what tire dude told me) The tire dude cleaned it out, filled it back up, and only charged me $21. He said he's had at least 15 per month this winter or something like that. 

He totally could have sold me a new tire. I was ready to write out the check. 

There were lots of heroes today helping out a damsel in distress.

Only sucky part is that my anxiety was on overdrive all day. When I get super anxious like that, I have a hard time forming sentences. I forget words, mix words around, and sometimes say whole sentences out of order. It's frustrating and just makes everything worse. It's not like I'm speaking gibberish all day, it'd just be a word or two out of order, or I'll stumble on words. It's a little hard to explain I guess. 

I feel better now after the run. Not totally 100% but after sleeping I should be back to normal.

Well, normal for me... ;)

Ok this is random: After I run sometimes I do laundry since I'm in the basement. (I threw in towels tonight in case you're curious)

It's so dry in my house and at the office because the furnaces are running almost constantly. My face must have dried out really bad today because the sweat was making it burn. Nothing a little coconut oil couldn't fix!

See ya tomorrow!

Edit: I forgot to mention how I did adding veggies to my diet today. I did ok. I didn't have time to make eggs with spinach and peppers so I grabbed a Lara Bar before I left so I wouldn't just buy a Snickers out of the vending machine. For lunch I had steamer veggies and tuna. Karl made hamburger steaks with onions gravy and potatoes. Not the healthiest, I'm sure but it was yummy and I didn't have to cook it!

Day 41: 3.0 miles

3.0 miles. 30:33. 10:11 pace.

I finished watching episode 1 (Season 6, I think) of Dexter today. It definitely held my interest more than yesterday, but it made me jump at least twice and I nearly lost my balance!  And then… I went to pull out the iPod speaker cord so I could move the iPad over more and I got a little bit of a shock… and the motor paused a bit.  I don't have an expensive treadmill, but it does the job.  Even with all of its quirks.

I didn't really enjoy this run.  I just felt… off.  I kept kicking the front part of the treadmill (the plastic hunk that houses the motor), which is something I almost never do.

I haven't had a "good" run the last couple of days.  I've felt clumsy.  I keep taking these selflies simply to have a pic to post that isn't my shoes and I haven't been liking them at. all.  I don't really care for the full body selfies.  Because I don't really care for how my body is looking lately.  There's only so much that camera angles and shadows can hide, and then that feels fake to me. I feel that I'm starting to look more and more puffy lately (and its not related to my woman time).

It's my diet.

My eat whatever I want, whenever I want diet.

When it's REALLY cold out… like it has been here in Minnesota the past week or so (there hasn't been school today or yesterday because the windchill was -50F), I crave fat.  I've eaten so much cheese lately  I'm sure I've single-handedly kept the dairy farmers in business.

I eat candy and/or cookies for breakfast.

We STILL have Christmas treats around the house (when your children put junk food on their wish lists because it's not something I typically buy my family is only happy to oblige).

I'm NOT throwing myself a pity party.  I'm not.

I'm throwing myself a sh*t's gonna change party.

Now, I don't need to lose weight.

I want to tone up.

I want to lose fat.

Herein lies the problem… It's easier for me to focus on exercise because of my past history with disordered eating.

Everytime I focus on my diet, I get too obsessive about it.  I've spent way too many years of my life focused on what is (and isn't) going into my body that I refuse to go down that path ever again. Or, I get too overwhelmed with doing it perfectly that it's just way too stressful for me to continue.

Basically… I don't totally know what I'm going to do about this yet.

But I'm going to start with adding veggies into my daily diet.  That's it.  My goal will be 2 meals per day with some sort of veg in it.  Steamer or raw… doesn't matter.

Now that I've posted this… I have to do it.

Day 40: 2.25 miles

2.25 miles. 24:19. 10:48 pace.

(Edit: this is not the original picture that was in this post. I didn't like how the first one appeared once the post was live so I swapped it for a different one when I couldn't fix it. The original was tiny and became poor quality when uploaded to blogger. I do have confidence issues posting "selfies" of myself, but it had nothin to do with that :) Carry on...)

I slowed it way down today but I got sooooo bored. I'm kind of sick of the songs on my running playlist so I thought I could get caught up on Dexter. Because it's the first episode of the season they are setting up the plot and it wasn't holding my attention that well. PLUS, I can add another bra that no longer fits right to the pile for everyday wear. Ugh.... Jiggly bitties is uncomfortable at any pace. So that's the main reason I cut my run a little short. 

So now, I'm down to ONE bra (Moving Comfort Juno) that works most of the time. It's even slightly too big in the band I think. I'm going to buy another one or two before the bra sale is over at Road Runner Sports, though. 

My heart rate was still crazy high today for what I felt it should have been. I only decreased my caffeine intake a little and I could use a little more sleep.

On a happier note... I think my shin is finally starting to feel better!!

Day 39: 1.0 mile

1.0 mile. 10:56. 

I kinda dislike running in shorts. I hate how my arse feels all jiggle jaggley when I run. These lululemon speed shorts are slightly too big so that may have something to do with it.  After about a half mile though it stopped doing the Jello Jiggler dance so that was nice. 

Speaking of lululemon...My pacesetter skirts haven't been fitting me right lately. I think I stretched out the sticky hems in my two fave pairs. The undershorts just will not stay down at all. Sad puppy. My measurements haven't changed so it's not that I lost any weight, but NOTHING is fitting right anymore. Not even my sports bras. It's like little clothing fairies fly into my closet at night and stretch out all of my clothes. Naughty little buggers.

Anyway, back to my run...If it weren't for the fact that I wore my Vibrams I probably would have thrown my plans for an easy 1 miler out the window and kept going. But my feet started to feel tired so I didn't want to overdo it.

So, I've been wearing my heart rate monitor on the last couple of runs. Interestingly... I noticed that my heart rate while running is high. Like... 180+ for 15-20 minutes high. Perceived exertion does NOT match that heart rate. I mean, I know I am running hard, but I always feel like I could just go a little bit faster... For just a little hit longer. I'm never gasping for air or feeling like I'm dying. Are you supposed to be able to run at 185 bpm for 20 minutes? Doesn't sound normal. At. All.  

Today was supposed to be an experiment to see what my heart rate chart looks like at a slower pace. Even at almost 2 minutes per mile slower per mile than I had been running my heart rate still got as high as 174. I think my average was 163. At absolute rest, my heart rate is in the low 50s. 

I left the monitor running for awhile after my run tonight to see what my heart is at during my normal evening activities. A slow walk will put it up to 100 almost instantly. Slowly walking up the stairs and I'm at 120. The monitor is not off, because I also tested it by hand a few times. 

I don't feel like I'm overtraining, so could this be just a warning sign that shortly I will feel that way? Am I consuming too much caffeine during the day (I think I had two cups of coffee)? I'm really interested to experiment and try different things to see how my heart rate is affected. I really want to run a mile or two one morning before coffee to test the caffeine theory. This is probably the only way that I can force myself to slow down on runs... Just to see what the numbers on the heart rate chart will look like. Dork, I am. I know.