First, have you entered my Scott James Sports Jewelry giveaway yet? If you haven't, you really really really should. Just sayin'. Ends tonight. I'm participating in some challenges to start getting into a healthy holiday mood. Why don't you join me? Instagram: I'm doing two Instagram challenges. (Do you follow me on instagram? You should! My feed is full of pictures of beer, cats, and poor fashion choices. C'mon, you know you want to!) Details here. Details here Mileage: I'm not doing so hot at my own challenge. My foot is just not on board. That's ok, though, I'm not eligible for prizes anyways LOL. And I'm doing a great job of cross training. Have you joined? Need to update your numbers? Go here. (Late comers, feel … [Read more...]
Do not try this at home
Apparently I've perfected the recipe for exhaustion. Ingredients: 1 part highest mileage week ever with 40 miles! (ok, I hit this number one time before during marathon training) 1 part paleo eating (I'm pretty sure my body is in shock from the lack of sugar) 1 part PMS Mix all together and what do you have? A really exhausted MCM Mama. Seriously, I actually considered going to the gas station in my pajamas because it was just too much effort to put on clothes... I've been struggling with my running all week. I'm hitting my goal mileage and my speed is not awful, it just seems like I'm working really hard and my body seems to be lacking in energy. I'm sure part of it is the increase in mileage after a recovery week. I … [Read more...]
HBBC Week 6 in review
This was a low mileage week and I was ok with that. I didn't build any recovery or fallback weeks into my plan, knowing that I'd take one when my body or life demanded. Coincidentally, my body demanded just before Christmas, so I finished out that week and took a recovery week. I only ran 20 miles this week. That just seems so low, but it's what worked with the time I had available to me for the four runs I chose to do. I did, however run them faster than I've been running: 7 miles at 9:55 average pace, 5.2 miles at 9:38, 4.3 miles at 9:33 and then an easy 3.5 yesterday to round out the week. Thankfully two of those runs were done outside with my dad which is always my favorite way to run. I've continued to eat all my fruits and … [Read more...]
HBBC Recap Week 5 + my life in numbers
Life threw me some challenges this week and I'm proud to say I rose to the occasion. My long run on Monday just sucked. I was mentally not into it and physically tired. Somehow, I managed to dig deep and get the entire planned run done. 10.6 miles is a really long way if you are ready to be done at the 1.5 mile point. Tuesday's 5.3 miles were better, but I still was DONE at the end of the run. 16 inches of snow ended any plans of running outside the rest of the week. 8 miles in 79ish minutes on the treadmill while watching nothing but the weather was its own kind of hell, but I did it. Even more amazing is that I got back on the mill the next day. I have one more run left to do today as I took an accidental rest day yesterday, but, … [Read more...]
Advice Needed: Recovery Week
My body is asking for a break. I'm hitting my miles and I'm hitting my paces, but between the running and the "cross training" (2+ hours of shoveling is the best.cross.training.EVER), I'm feeling tired and tweaky. Conveniently, next week is Christmas, so I'll be busier than normal. Perfect time to cut back on the running. (Not to mention that in the last two days I've run 15.5 miles on the 'mill and tomorrow's 6ish miles will also be on the treadmill and OMG I hate the treadmill!) So, how much should I run? My current mileage is 38 per week in 5 runs with a long run of 10.5 miles. Got an opinion? I'd love to hear it! Total HBBC points = 251.7 HBBC Week 5 - 45.2 Friday = 9.3 (7.3 mile run + freggies + FB) Thursday = 16 … [Read more...]
HBBC Recap Week 4
Last week was an interesting week on the running front. I ran 10.5 of the hilliest miles in the area. Part way through, I found I needed the bathroom. Unfortunately, I'd chosen to run in an area lacking in public bathrooms. After miles of discomfort, I hit the bathroom at the public library and was a much happier camper. The remaining miles this week were good. I had one awesome 5 miler with an average pace in the 9's and a 7 miler today that was fine even though my brain wanted me to quit. In addition, I hit my usual yoga class for an hour of hot yoga. Unfortunately for my legs, she opted to focus on the lower body that day. Between the 7 mile run and the class, I was afraid I was going to need someone to push the clutch on my car … [Read more...]
Since Miss Zippy asked…
This week Miss Zippy, one of my favorite running bloggers, asked us to tell her about our year. I couldn't resist answering and I hope to read lots more responses over the next few days! Best Race Experience Harvest Days 8k in Battleground, Washington. This race was one of the few races in a long time where I felt like all the pieces fell into place. The weather was perfect for running, the course was nice, the race was organized, and I ran it smart. It wasn't the fastest race I've ever run, but I ran it pretty fast for my recent times. More importantly, I got to meet up with Kim from Just Trying is for Little Girls. If she and I lived on the same coast, I just know we'd be causing all kinds of trouble together. And I admit … [Read more...]
Quirky Monday
It's another cloudy, misty day here again today. It's perfect running weather temperature-wise, but the grey just makes me want to go back to bed. I'm feeling horribly unmotivated to do anything, including write any of the backlog of reviews that I need to write. I promise I'll be more productive tomorrow. Instead, today you get some random quirky things I do... I can't stand having my long hair on my neck at night, so I put my hair up in a bun on top of my head before bed. If I forget, I can guarantee you I'll wake up in the middle of the night and do it. I need at least an hour in the morning before I can run. I am not one of those people who can roll out of bed and go. No matter what time I go to bed, I have trouble … [Read more...]
HBBC Recap Week 3
So far, so good. I think I managed to hit my "freggie" goal every.single.day. I've had to do a midweek grocery shop every week, though, to get extras as I am apparently unable to believe just how "7 fruits/veggies a day" translates to actual amounts of food LOL. On the training front, I had a break through this week on my "5 in 5" training. I finally had a good long run and I broke into the double digits. From here on out, I'll be averaging 5% increases each week. (I'm mentally prepared to have a drop back week followed by a 10% increase week when my body needs it or my schedule shortens a run.) Today's 7 miler felt surprisingly short. I think I've finally reached the point where running for an hour is the "norm". Stats for the … [Read more...]
Choices
We all make choices. Some would say that pretty much everything you do is a choice. You choose to get up when the alarm goes off or you choose to hit the snooze. You choose to eat that donut... or not. You choose to make fitness a priority or to find other ways to spend your time. Today we are having an important package delivered that requires a signature. I'm not willing to miss the delivery, so I will be at my house until it arrives. While I could run on my treadmill, I'm having an issue with my quad that the treadmill seems to make worse, so I'm at the mercy of the UPS guy. (Is this the place where I admit that the important package is beer?) Since I've made the choice to stay home today, I'm going to make the most of … [Read more...]
HBBC Recap Week 2
This week went pretty well for me. I ramped up the veggies, so most days I way surpassed the 7 per day. Assuming I go run in a bit (which I fully expect to do), I will have hit every single run in my training plan, for a total of 31 miles this week. In fact, I definitively passed 100 miles for the month of November by hitting 127 miles for the month! (I'm trying really hard not to look too far ahead, because I see weeks with 50+ miles and that just scares me. LOL) So far, the scale is refusing to budge, but my jeans don't feel tighter than normal, so I'm beginning to think that I'm actually building some muscle. Guess we'll see. My goal for this week is to continue what I've been doing: hit all my training miles, do one yoga class, … [Read more...]
HBBC Week One Recap
So far, I'm doing really well with HBBC this year. It doesn't hurt that I'm in "ramp up the miles" mode for my 5 halves in 5 days training. This week so far, I've run 23.9 miles, walked 5 miles, done a one hour yoga class, done a tad bit of weight work, and eaten 7 veggies and fruits most days. I plan to run around 5 miles today as well. Here are my stats: HBBC today - Planning to run 5+ miles, do an upper body workout, and eat my 7 "freggies" HBBC so far this week - 43.3 Saturday = 6.3 (4.3 miles on the treadmill + veggies + comment on FB) Friday = 2.5 ( This was a rest day so I only did a 1.5 mile walk + veggies) Thursday = 6 (4 mile walk at the Turkey Trot + 2 for my family doing it with me) Wednesday = 5.5 (4.5 mile … [Read more...]
