I really didn't expect this week to go well, I was really losing hope and ready to give up. I wanted, NEEDED to reach 18 miles.... my first (and last) 18 miler was on December 20 - like 5 weeks ago.
I fought the desire to stay in bed, I was making excuses - telling myself I could get the 18 in later that day or something. I finally got my butt up 5:30 AM..... or something like that. I got out the door at like 6:12 AM, in shorts and a t-shirt, and the new pair of shoes to try them again. It was 57 degrees out, which felt amazing... except for the minor annoyance of wind ------ 15 mph SSW winds, yeah it sucked.
During the run, I was expecting a phone call from Cameron at any moment... and contemplating or far I could make it before his phone call, trying to figure out if I would have to beg my mom to watch him this evening and for how long it would have to be..... and worrying if she would even be able to...
My feet... or left foot had some minor issues but not awful... I had to mess with my shoe strings quite a bit and just kept messing with them during the first 5 miles, after around mile 7 or 8 the issues ceased.
Oh the anticipation, did I manage to get a good run in or not? This was a pretty screwed up route that I made, on the spot without any planning. At mile 8.2 I decided to take a road I'd never taken before which turned out to be really short and put me on a back road that was all rocks which is quite annoying to be honest. It was a flood zone, and although the rocks were annoying it was actually a pretty pleasant road.
I was happy when I reached mile 10, then I had to do some overlapping between miles 11 and 12... I freaking hate overlapping but sometimes it is a necessary monster.
I was happy when I reached the teens at mile 13, and ecstatic when I reached mile 15. I was expected some sort of pain or aching but the only soreness was my feet and that is to be expected after so many miles. By mile 15 I realized I was going to overshoot 18 miles.... but wasn't sure how much.
And so I ended up running 19 miles instead of 18, in 2:54:38 with an average pace of 9:11 min/mile. An elevation gain of 313 feet and a loss of 315 , with a lot of the hills during the first 5 miles (suckfest).
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:34
Mile 2 - 10:07
Mile 3 - 9:47
Mile 4 - 9:45
Mile 5 - 9:29
Mile 6 - 9:33
Mile 7 - 9:08
Mile 8 - 8:54
Mile 9 - 9:08
Mile 10 - 9:12
Mile 11 - 8:51
Mile 12 - 8:46
Mile 13 - 8:49
Mile 14 - 8:53
Mile 15 - 8:57
Mile 16 - 8:37
Mile 17 - 8:44
Mile 18 - 8:34
Mile 19 - 8:48
So there you have it, after what feels like an eternity (but really jut 3-4 weeks), I finally have finished out a great week.... and I can honestly say I feel I could've ran 26.2 miles this morning, I wanted to get to 20 but felt I was already pushing it (Cameron's patience). But I got home and they were in the recliner together and Dorian was actually starting to fall asleep.... until I got in the door.
A great week that brought me to 56.4 miles and 188.4 miles for January. Not the 200 miles I wanted but still a hell of a lot better than January 2015 (only 63 miles). Hopefully this is a good sign for 2016.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
2016 LBL Marathon Training Week 9 - Part Two
So far so good (okay, I've finished the week up but lets just act as if it is Saturday). I was going to take Thursday as a rest day but it was so beautiful out that I decided to take Dorian for a run after work. It was around 53 degrees but towards the end of the run it was 48 or so, as the sun was going down.
I ran 4.3 miles in like 42:22 (I accidentally hit save right at 3.1 miles so one run was 3.1 and the second was 1.2 miles) so I had to use my horrible math skills to figure it out. I was pretty dang tired, it had been like over a month since I've pushed Dorian in the stroller and I was freaking tired.
Friday morning, I didn't want to get up but got up anyways - it was 34 degrees with a feels like 29 degrees, winds were at 5 mph WNW. I ended up running 8 miles in 1:17:28 with an average pace of 9:41 min/mile, elevation gain of 135 feet and a loss of 124 feet.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:14
Mile 2 - 10:02
Mile 3 - 9:38
Mile 4 - 9:43
Mile 5 - 9:40
Mile 6 - 9:27
Mile 7 - 9:32
Mile 8 - 9:09
Saturday morning, I got up at 5:50 AM and decided to take the dogs on the trails. The aim was for 6.6 miles so that I could get my weekly total to 55 miles if I could get that mystical 18 mile run Sunday. It was 43 degrees with a feel like 39 degrees, 6 mph S winds but you couldn't feel it in the woods.
We ended up running 7 miles in 1:13:20 with an average pace of 10:28 min/mile, by the time the sun was up dozens of people were out on the trails ( a lot of them were runners).... I might have to get a muzzle for Jetta, just because her bark scares the $h*t out of people. We didn't have any incidents but it was rather aggravating.
So that brought my mileage up to like 37 miles......
I ran 4.3 miles in like 42:22 (I accidentally hit save right at 3.1 miles so one run was 3.1 and the second was 1.2 miles) so I had to use my horrible math skills to figure it out. I was pretty dang tired, it had been like over a month since I've pushed Dorian in the stroller and I was freaking tired.
Friday morning, I didn't want to get up but got up anyways - it was 34 degrees with a feels like 29 degrees, winds were at 5 mph WNW. I ended up running 8 miles in 1:17:28 with an average pace of 9:41 min/mile, elevation gain of 135 feet and a loss of 124 feet.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:14
Mile 2 - 10:02
Mile 3 - 9:38
Mile 4 - 9:43
Mile 5 - 9:40
Mile 6 - 9:27
Mile 7 - 9:32
Mile 8 - 9:09
Saturday morning, I got up at 5:50 AM and decided to take the dogs on the trails. The aim was for 6.6 miles so that I could get my weekly total to 55 miles if I could get that mystical 18 mile run Sunday. It was 43 degrees with a feel like 39 degrees, 6 mph S winds but you couldn't feel it in the woods.
We ended up running 7 miles in 1:13:20 with an average pace of 10:28 min/mile, by the time the sun was up dozens of people were out on the trails ( a lot of them were runners).... I might have to get a muzzle for Jetta, just because her bark scares the $h*t out of people. We didn't have any incidents but it was rather aggravating.
So that brought my mileage up to like 37 miles......
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
2016 LBLM Training Week 9 - Part One
So far, week nine is going pretty good but there is still 3 days of this week left so anything can happen. I have to say that I am going to look forward (and hope for good runs) to this weekend as the high is going to reach 60 degrees.... on both days.
Monday of course was a rest day, and I very much enjoyed it.
Tuesday I got up to 41 degrees but with a feels like 37 degrees, with 6 mph NW winds. I dressed.... appropriately. I felt sluggish and slow but it was a good run nonetheless, though a little chilly.
I ran 8 miles in 1:21:09 with an average pace of 10:08 min/miles, an elevation gain of 138 feet.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:38
Mile 2 - 10:16
Mile 3 - 9:57
Mile 4 - 10:19
Mile 5 - 10:11
Mile 6 - 9:59
Mile 7 - 10:08
Mile 8 - 9:40
I think my sciatic nerve is being a total pain in the butt (literally) and it's definitely causing my feet some irritation. My left foot was hurting, at the top of my foot in particular. I definitely need a massage, which I've already set an appointment for this Friday.
This morning I thought I was going to get screwed, Dorian woke up at like 3:20 but luckily fell back to sleep. I woke up at 4:30, and was able to sneak out pretty successfully. It was 34 degrees, with 4 mph NW winds... nothing unusual. I gave those darn GT-2000 4 shoes another chance, this time loosening the shoe strings some, my feet were still acting weird due to my sciatic nerve but the pain and burning/tingling sensation never really happened (thank goodness).
I ran 10.1 miles in 1:38:57 with an average pace of 9:48 min/mile, believe me it felt slow. Elevation gain of 210 and a loss of 209 feet.
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 10:21
Mile 2 - 10:07
Mile 3 - 9:56
Mile 4 - 9:55
Mile 5 - 9:46
Mile 6 - 9:49
Mile 7 - 9:48
Mile 8 - 9:34
Mile 9 - 9:38
Mile 10 - 9:10
Hopefully, just hopefully the rest of this week goes good.
Monday of course was a rest day, and I very much enjoyed it.
Tuesday I got up to 41 degrees but with a feels like 37 degrees, with 6 mph NW winds. I dressed.... appropriately. I felt sluggish and slow but it was a good run nonetheless, though a little chilly.
I ran 8 miles in 1:21:09 with an average pace of 10:08 min/miles, an elevation gain of 138 feet.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:38
Mile 2 - 10:16
Mile 3 - 9:57
Mile 4 - 10:19
Mile 5 - 10:11
Mile 6 - 9:59
Mile 7 - 10:08
Mile 8 - 9:40
I think my sciatic nerve is being a total pain in the butt (literally) and it's definitely causing my feet some irritation. My left foot was hurting, at the top of my foot in particular. I definitely need a massage, which I've already set an appointment for this Friday.
This morning I thought I was going to get screwed, Dorian woke up at like 3:20 but luckily fell back to sleep. I woke up at 4:30, and was able to sneak out pretty successfully. It was 34 degrees, with 4 mph NW winds... nothing unusual. I gave those darn GT-2000 4 shoes another chance, this time loosening the shoe strings some, my feet were still acting weird due to my sciatic nerve but the pain and burning/tingling sensation never really happened (thank goodness).
I ran 10.1 miles in 1:38:57 with an average pace of 9:48 min/mile, believe me it felt slow. Elevation gain of 210 and a loss of 209 feet.
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 10:21
Mile 2 - 10:07
Mile 3 - 9:56
Mile 4 - 9:55
Mile 5 - 9:46
Mile 6 - 9:49
Mile 7 - 9:48
Mile 8 - 9:34
Mile 9 - 9:38
Mile 10 - 9:10
Hopefully, just hopefully the rest of this week goes good.
Monday, January 25, 2016
2016 LBLM Training Week 8 - Part 3
There was one hiccup this week, Thursday became a 2nd no run day. I thought for sure Saturday would end up being the 3rd no run day, we had to head to the office so I could work on photographing our new rails individually and on the guns (I'll post pics sometime this week after our photo shop editor finishes with them). I have to admit that I was never really big with shooting inanimate objects, I started out loving wildlife and landscape photography (back in 2008) but have slowly moved towards people, architect and urban exploration (breaking into abandoned buildings/homes that are most likely going to be demolished if they don't collapse themselves). But I had a blast yesterday, it is definitely a different set of skills shooting objects, I had to use my head and figure out how to set my camera to blow out or overexpose the white background so that the rail or gun would look as if it was floating in air which was a lot of fun.
My mom came to the shop to watch Dorian so I could run, I got out of the shop just before 4 PM to find a place to run. I went to the beginning of the Greenway at the end of Heidlebach road (the trail head that isn't at the river) which basically was up hill and then down a steep hill into the parking lot..... which still had some snow and melting ice on it.... yet I ignored my instincts and went down anyways.
I aimed for 8.7 miles, snow and ice was melting while the sun was out, it was 34 degrees but the Feels like was 27, and 8 mph NW winds. But as soon as the sun went down, below the horizon... what was melting was quickly freezing. I ran an out and back, and all the way to the turn around point ice and snow as melting and I didn't have any issues but on the way back was a different story, I was slipping and sliding in a lot of spots, at that point I knew I wasn't going to get my Tahoe out. I ran 8.7 miles in 1:21:17 with an average pace of 9:21 min/miles. Elevation gain was 152 feet, with a loss of 152 feet. My husband had to come pick me up, we had to leave the Tahoe there (I grabbed the carseat) and my mom had to take me, Dorian and the dogs home. (I'll explain later how this screwed up my long run).
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 9:23
Mile 2 - 9:22
Mile 3 - 9:19
Mile 4 - 9:20
Mile 5 - 9:22
Mile 6 - 9:19
Mile 7 - 9:16
Mile 8 - 9:18
Mile .7 - 9:29
Dorian had a long nap Saturday, from 11:30 to like 4 PM but he was ready for bed by 10:30 PM (he fell asleep early Friday and was up at the crack of dawn which is why I couldn't run that morning). He was once again up at like 5 AM Sunday so I wasn't able to get up and run, I assumed that at one point of the day Cameron (husband) was going to take one of the boys with him to see about my Tahoe. I asked my sister if she could bring her kids out around 2 and watch Dorian so I could get my 18 miles in. She came out, and Cameron decided I would go with him to get my Tahoe out (since I got it stuck) which would've been fine if we didn't first stop at Rural King to look for 100' foot rope or chain, then at the shop to see if there was any there because he wasn't confident that the thin layer of snow and ice had melted enough, I kept telling him it was. We wasted an hour or more, got to the Tahoe and sure enough we were able to drive it up over the hill and head home.
I got out the door by 3:46, it was tough, these new shoes suck (GT-2000 4) or something sucks... none of my other shoes do this to me - the first 8 miles my feet are tingling, numb and on fire from my toes up into my heels. After about mile 8 or 9 it goes away but it just makes the run suck horribly and slows me down because I have to constantly stop and rest my feet, they feel like I am running on fire or in hot sand barefoot or on top of hot asphalt. I am not sure why, they don't look any different from the GT-2000 3, but they're killing me. I was finally feeling better by mile 10 and looking forward to the last 8 miles..... then by mile 11 I got a text from my sister - "we're freaking hungry!!!!" (I had promised to take everyone out to eat afterwards). Which meant she, her daughter, her son, our mom and Dorian were hungry and impatiently waiting. I had a choice, ignore her text and just keep chugging along selfishly which would inadvertently piss her, my mom and my husband off that once again chose my run over everyone else (after getting my Tahoe stuck inconvenienced two other people). I told her to just have someone pick me up (I would try to run as quickly as I could to get to at least 13 miles, but you know it sucks having to stop, pull a glove off and type out a text....
My husband, surprisingly made it to this road quite quickly, even in his stupid slow diesel truck. I only made it to 12.64 miles in 1:59:09 with an average pace of 9:26 min/mile. Elevation gain of 178 feet, and a loss of 188 feet. The temperature was 39 degrees with a feels like 34, 7 mph S winds.
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 9:39
Mile 2 - 9:30
Mile 3 - 9:14
Mile 4 - 9:10
Mile 5 - 9:04
Mile 6 - 9:10
Mile 7 - 9:11
Mile 8 - 9:16
Mile 9 - 9:26
Mile 10 - 9:36
Mile 11 - 10:32
Mile 12 - 9:32
.64 - 9:06
I was depressed, I could've gotten to 18 miles that evening.... but my poor choice Saturday with my Tahoe screwed it up for me, had I not drove down that hill and instead went to the riverfront where it is flat to each and every parking lot, I would've been able to leave at 2 PM when my sister had gotten there and would've been done by around 5 PM.
To be honest, I am half way to giving up.... it seems so obvious that I am not meant to train for marathons or anything longer, I want to blame my son and his sleeping habits, I want to blame my husband his current lack of support (he was more supportive between 2010 and 2014). But they all have very good reasons, and I would be a very selfish person if I did that.
The last 4 or 5 weeks have sucked and been tough, week 7 I only managed 29 miles, week 6 I only managed 34 miles, and week 5 I only managed around 23 miles. Week 4 is saying different, RA says I made 50 miles with an 8 miler, 12.3 miler, 7.1 miler, 10 miler and then a 12.6 miler (I wore these same shoes that run too and by the time I was feeling better I had lost so much time) which would add up to 50. But Dailymile says I only managed 27 miles... and I put in the same amount. Anyways, that week had given me up until the 3 weeks after that..... and the week before that was 24 miles.
I just feel like this is becoming a real struggle now, partially it's the cold weather, but it's also got Dorian's days and nights so screwed up and then I wake up tired and exhausted and ready to make excuses. I really thought this week was going to be a great week, but my luck ran out after Saturday's run and with my poor choice of parking....
I told Cameron that I have been training for a race, he asked which one and when - I said the Land Between the Lakes marathon in March, I told him I was hoping we could have a 4 day vacation and just relax, taking the dogs with us (he of course reminded me we would need to take Jetta's crate, which I bought 2 weeks ago after she almost tore the curtains down while I was gone for only 25 minutes) but he does like the idea of it so that feels better.
This coming week is week 9 and I am going to attempt to run 18 on Sunday, although I am giving up hope.
My mom came to the shop to watch Dorian so I could run, I got out of the shop just before 4 PM to find a place to run. I went to the beginning of the Greenway at the end of Heidlebach road (the trail head that isn't at the river) which basically was up hill and then down a steep hill into the parking lot..... which still had some snow and melting ice on it.... yet I ignored my instincts and went down anyways.
I aimed for 8.7 miles, snow and ice was melting while the sun was out, it was 34 degrees but the Feels like was 27, and 8 mph NW winds. But as soon as the sun went down, below the horizon... what was melting was quickly freezing. I ran an out and back, and all the way to the turn around point ice and snow as melting and I didn't have any issues but on the way back was a different story, I was slipping and sliding in a lot of spots, at that point I knew I wasn't going to get my Tahoe out. I ran 8.7 miles in 1:21:17 with an average pace of 9:21 min/miles. Elevation gain was 152 feet, with a loss of 152 feet. My husband had to come pick me up, we had to leave the Tahoe there (I grabbed the carseat) and my mom had to take me, Dorian and the dogs home. (I'll explain later how this screwed up my long run).
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 9:23
Mile 2 - 9:22
Mile 3 - 9:19
Mile 4 - 9:20
Mile 5 - 9:22
Mile 6 - 9:19
Mile 7 - 9:16
Mile 8 - 9:18
Mile .7 - 9:29
Dorian had a long nap Saturday, from 11:30 to like 4 PM but he was ready for bed by 10:30 PM (he fell asleep early Friday and was up at the crack of dawn which is why I couldn't run that morning). He was once again up at like 5 AM Sunday so I wasn't able to get up and run, I assumed that at one point of the day Cameron (husband) was going to take one of the boys with him to see about my Tahoe. I asked my sister if she could bring her kids out around 2 and watch Dorian so I could get my 18 miles in. She came out, and Cameron decided I would go with him to get my Tahoe out (since I got it stuck) which would've been fine if we didn't first stop at Rural King to look for 100' foot rope or chain, then at the shop to see if there was any there because he wasn't confident that the thin layer of snow and ice had melted enough, I kept telling him it was. We wasted an hour or more, got to the Tahoe and sure enough we were able to drive it up over the hill and head home.
I got out the door by 3:46, it was tough, these new shoes suck (GT-2000 4) or something sucks... none of my other shoes do this to me - the first 8 miles my feet are tingling, numb and on fire from my toes up into my heels. After about mile 8 or 9 it goes away but it just makes the run suck horribly and slows me down because I have to constantly stop and rest my feet, they feel like I am running on fire or in hot sand barefoot or on top of hot asphalt. I am not sure why, they don't look any different from the GT-2000 3, but they're killing me. I was finally feeling better by mile 10 and looking forward to the last 8 miles..... then by mile 11 I got a text from my sister - "we're freaking hungry!!!!" (I had promised to take everyone out to eat afterwards). Which meant she, her daughter, her son, our mom and Dorian were hungry and impatiently waiting. I had a choice, ignore her text and just keep chugging along selfishly which would inadvertently piss her, my mom and my husband off that once again chose my run over everyone else (after getting my Tahoe stuck inconvenienced two other people). I told her to just have someone pick me up (I would try to run as quickly as I could to get to at least 13 miles, but you know it sucks having to stop, pull a glove off and type out a text....
My husband, surprisingly made it to this road quite quickly, even in his stupid slow diesel truck. I only made it to 12.64 miles in 1:59:09 with an average pace of 9:26 min/mile. Elevation gain of 178 feet, and a loss of 188 feet. The temperature was 39 degrees with a feels like 34, 7 mph S winds.
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 9:39
Mile 2 - 9:30
Mile 3 - 9:14
Mile 4 - 9:10
Mile 5 - 9:04
Mile 6 - 9:10
Mile 7 - 9:11
Mile 8 - 9:16
Mile 9 - 9:26
Mile 10 - 9:36
Mile 11 - 10:32
Mile 12 - 9:32
.64 - 9:06
I was depressed, I could've gotten to 18 miles that evening.... but my poor choice Saturday with my Tahoe screwed it up for me, had I not drove down that hill and instead went to the riverfront where it is flat to each and every parking lot, I would've been able to leave at 2 PM when my sister had gotten there and would've been done by around 5 PM.
To be honest, I am half way to giving up.... it seems so obvious that I am not meant to train for marathons or anything longer, I want to blame my son and his sleeping habits, I want to blame my husband his current lack of support (he was more supportive between 2010 and 2014). But they all have very good reasons, and I would be a very selfish person if I did that.
The last 4 or 5 weeks have sucked and been tough, week 7 I only managed 29 miles, week 6 I only managed 34 miles, and week 5 I only managed around 23 miles. Week 4 is saying different, RA says I made 50 miles with an 8 miler, 12.3 miler, 7.1 miler, 10 miler and then a 12.6 miler (I wore these same shoes that run too and by the time I was feeling better I had lost so much time) which would add up to 50. But Dailymile says I only managed 27 miles... and I put in the same amount. Anyways, that week had given me up until the 3 weeks after that..... and the week before that was 24 miles.
I just feel like this is becoming a real struggle now, partially it's the cold weather, but it's also got Dorian's days and nights so screwed up and then I wake up tired and exhausted and ready to make excuses. I really thought this week was going to be a great week, but my luck ran out after Saturday's run and with my poor choice of parking....
I told Cameron that I have been training for a race, he asked which one and when - I said the Land Between the Lakes marathon in March, I told him I was hoping we could have a 4 day vacation and just relax, taking the dogs with us (he of course reminded me we would need to take Jetta's crate, which I bought 2 weeks ago after she almost tore the curtains down while I was gone for only 25 minutes) but he does like the idea of it so that feels better.
This coming week is week 9 and I am going to attempt to run 18 on Sunday, although I am giving up hope.
Friday, January 22, 2016
2016 LBLM Training Week 8 - Part Two
So the stupid winter storm had reached us Tuesday night, by Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:30 and was trying to make excuses to stay in bed... I was trying to tell myself that losing another week wouldn't hurt.... I think I got up at 4:45 AM and got dressed.
It was 25 degrees out, there was already 3-5 inches of snow.... and it was still snowing. My first thought out there was "I'll be lucky if I can get 7 miles out of my legs in this weather".....this wasn't road running!!!! This wasn't even like running on trails! If it wasn't 3-5 inches of snow, it was tire tracks that were really slick, at some points I literally felt like those cartoon characters who are running really fast and then hit ice and they're instantly running in place.
It was a tough, slow run for me. But I got it done, and I did manage to run 10 miles in 1:43:10 with an average pace of 10:21 min/mile
Laps/Splits were
Mile 1 - 10:42
Mile 2 - 10:52
Mile 3 - 10:19
Mile 4 - 10:15
Mile 5 - 10:23
Mile 6 - 10:09
Mile 8 - 10:14
Mile 9 - 9:54
Mile 10 - 9:40
Thursday would've been another winter run, but Dorian was restless and I lost track of time and was tired myself. Sadly DH didn't make it home early enough last night so I could run so hopefully that is only 2 no run days this week.
This morning I fought the urge to stay in bed hard, there was more now and it was snowing. Eventually I did get up and get moving, and stepping outside I soon realized that it wasn't just snow, it felt like hail pelting my eyes. The winds were at 12 mph NNE, and even though the temperature was 28 it felt like 18 degrees. I was pretty comfortable except for my eyes, they were hurting and I was really wishing I had glasses of some kind on. It was easier when I was facing the south rather than the north but it still sucked.
I managed to get in 8.1 miles this morning, in 1:21:48 with an average pace of 10:06 min/mile.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 9:44
Mile 2 - 10:46
Mile 3 - 10:09
Mile 4 - 10:06
Mile 5 - 10:06
Mile 6 - 10:14
Mile 7 - 9:50
Mile 8 - 9:54
.1 - 10:21
I've got an 8 mile run tomorrow morning, but the real uncertainty will be Sunday and the 18 mile run I've got planned.
It was 25 degrees out, there was already 3-5 inches of snow.... and it was still snowing. My first thought out there was "I'll be lucky if I can get 7 miles out of my legs in this weather".....this wasn't road running!!!! This wasn't even like running on trails! If it wasn't 3-5 inches of snow, it was tire tracks that were really slick, at some points I literally felt like those cartoon characters who are running really fast and then hit ice and they're instantly running in place.
It was a tough, slow run for me. But I got it done, and I did manage to run 10 miles in 1:43:10 with an average pace of 10:21 min/mile
Laps/Splits were
Mile 1 - 10:42
Mile 2 - 10:52
Mile 3 - 10:19
Mile 4 - 10:15
Mile 5 - 10:23
Mile 6 - 10:09
Mile 8 - 10:14
Mile 9 - 9:54
Mile 10 - 9:40
Thursday would've been another winter run, but Dorian was restless and I lost track of time and was tired myself. Sadly DH didn't make it home early enough last night so I could run so hopefully that is only 2 no run days this week.
This morning I fought the urge to stay in bed hard, there was more now and it was snowing. Eventually I did get up and get moving, and stepping outside I soon realized that it wasn't just snow, it felt like hail pelting my eyes. The winds were at 12 mph NNE, and even though the temperature was 28 it felt like 18 degrees. I was pretty comfortable except for my eyes, they were hurting and I was really wishing I had glasses of some kind on. It was easier when I was facing the south rather than the north but it still sucked.
I managed to get in 8.1 miles this morning, in 1:21:48 with an average pace of 10:06 min/mile.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 9:44
Mile 2 - 10:46
Mile 3 - 10:09
Mile 4 - 10:06
Mile 5 - 10:06
Mile 6 - 10:14
Mile 7 - 9:50
Mile 8 - 9:54
.1 - 10:21
I've got an 8 mile run tomorrow morning, but the real uncertainty will be Sunday and the 18 mile run I've got planned.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Only 8 More Weeks to Go.... and the last 3 Weeks have Been Tough
The last 3 weeks or so have been tough, mentally and emotionally..... being part of a family owned business during these last 8 years has been extremely draining and I've had a hard time finding motivation to get out of bed or move away from my son. He is the light of my life, and the only constant joy that gives me hope and peace when I feel like nothing but darkness and uncertainty surrounds me. Even when I am able to wake up in the mornings, sometimes I just don't want to leave him as the negative voices in my head tell me this might be ripped away from me at any point this year.
I don't want to go into detail about my life, but I've dug myself in a hole lying to my husband about our finances for the past year because I feared it would put more stress on him, possibly causing a severe panic attack or worse... a heart attack that would land him in the hospital. I've done this since he brought me into the office part... don't ask why but I've always hated being the bearer of bad news, I never have a problem telling him happy news when we're making lots of money and doing good and up on top of our bills but sometimes he has this idea that even though we're spending and spending (like last year with the new property/building he purchased for the business, and all the work he's had to put into making it look like a proper shop) while not hardly selling any of our products during severe slow times, we're still staying at a certain mark or even going above it... so then I fear that if I tell him the bad/realistic news, I'll be blamed and suffer.. so I sugar coat things.... doesn't help that I am the only one with the bank account info. For the last 6-7 years before last, it has pretty much worked itself out.... so I fell into the habit of sugar coating things, but last year we suffered horribly. Sales were slower than they've ever been, I mean in the gun business there are always slow periods during the year, usually Fall and Spring but last year things slowed to a standstill in March/April and just stayed almost dead up until now when things seem to be picking up. I keep telling myself that once things really start to pick up, I'll tell my husband the whole truth and then also give him the account info so that he can stay on top of this and not always expect me to
Anyways, enough about my uncertain life. As I said, the last 2-3 weeks have been tough. I am not sure if LBLM will happen, at least I don't think we'll be going down and staying in a cottage/condo thing as with finances and production at the shop. If I had to, the nearly 2 hour drive down there wouldn't be awful to do in the morning, though the race starts at 6:30 AM so I would have to leave at 4 AM to make sure I got down there in time to get my race packet. The drive back home, after the race is the one that worries me.... at running 26.2 miles.... having to drive 2 hours back home..... blah... :( The only good part is that Grand Rivers is on our time unlike Indy or Berryman, MO.
The other negative is being away from my little boy for pretty much half a day, and I'd have to have my mom come out to the house around 10 AM to watch him as I am sure Cameron would have to go to work that morning. I won't make any decisions yet as we're still 8 weeks away so anything can happen, hopefully for the better.
My running has suffered during the last 3 weeks, since my 18 miler (I am seeing a curse here.... last year my training was going well and nonstop until my 18 miler, then emotional ups and downs happened, an irritated overuse/stretched problem). Either it's raining like cats and dogs, or freaking cold and windy... and then there's my little boy who hasn't been as bad lately about mornings but still has his moments waking up throughout the night or waking up around the same time I need to get up. Normally that wouldn't be a problem if I could take him for a run after work, but the wind has been awful lately, or it's raining.
The week after my 18 miler week was a cutback week that ended up being 24.2 miles (I would've rather it had been above 30 but Christmas week had a lot of family get-togethers). Then the week after was supposed to have a 16 miler but I ran a 12 miler that Wednesday, and then another double (10) on Friday... I did manage to start going back to the gym on Saturday though.. but by Sunday my legs were so drained that the first 8 miles sucked so bad I had lost almost an hour of precious time. By the time my legs started to feel good, I had to get back home :( I did manage 12.6 miles and in that I managed 50 miles for the week. Last week wasn't any better, I only managed 33.6 miles :( it started off a good week, an 8 miler on Tuesday, a 10.2 miler on Wednesday, a nice 7.2 miler on Thursday, then I missed Friday(can't remember why, either Cameron or Dorian or myself), Saturday I managed 8.2 miles but then Sunday nothing. For some reason I woke up tired, I can't remember if it was raining or not but I made the excuse that I could run later that day, it didn't happen.
So now for this week, just not good at all. Tuesday started okay, a 7.2 miler, but then Wednesday morning Dorian interrupted things, and I couldn't run that evening as Cameron was hit with food poisoning and suffered horribly from Wednesday night to Thursday night. Thursday night I was able to take the dogs for a run on the trails - their first run in 3 weeks, it was muddy, icy/slippery and some of the trails were more like rivers but we managed 7 miles. Friday, nope... Dorian was dealing with painful gas from 2 AM to 5 AM but I had fallen back to sleep and missed my 6 AM alarm. I wanted to run Friday evening but Cameron's truck wouldn't start (an old diesel which hates the cold) so he had to wait on his sons, he didn't get home until 9. I chose the gym this morning over a run first, figured that if I got home and Dorian was still asleep I would head out for a 10 miler. But he was awake, so hopefully my mom can watch him later this afternoon. I am hoping for a 16 miler tomorrow but to be honest I just don't know anymore. It's becoming obvious that I should just stop signing up for races, at least big races like these in advance and just stick to half marathons until things smooth out. Unfortunately I really don't see things smoothing out at all, and I feel frantically rushed to experience an Ultra before my world falls apart.
With warmer weather, it'll be easy to sneak in extra miles with my son in the stroller (if he hasn't outgrown it by then), so maybe I'll be able to keep up my mileage or increase it for the 50 miler in September, but I am not going to get my hopes up.
I don't want to go into detail about my life, but I've dug myself in a hole lying to my husband about our finances for the past year because I feared it would put more stress on him, possibly causing a severe panic attack or worse... a heart attack that would land him in the hospital. I've done this since he brought me into the office part... don't ask why but I've always hated being the bearer of bad news, I never have a problem telling him happy news when we're making lots of money and doing good and up on top of our bills but sometimes he has this idea that even though we're spending and spending (like last year with the new property/building he purchased for the business, and all the work he's had to put into making it look like a proper shop) while not hardly selling any of our products during severe slow times, we're still staying at a certain mark or even going above it... so then I fear that if I tell him the bad/realistic news, I'll be blamed and suffer.. so I sugar coat things.... doesn't help that I am the only one with the bank account info. For the last 6-7 years before last, it has pretty much worked itself out.... so I fell into the habit of sugar coating things, but last year we suffered horribly. Sales were slower than they've ever been, I mean in the gun business there are always slow periods during the year, usually Fall and Spring but last year things slowed to a standstill in March/April and just stayed almost dead up until now when things seem to be picking up. I keep telling myself that once things really start to pick up, I'll tell my husband the whole truth and then also give him the account info so that he can stay on top of this and not always expect me to
Anyways, enough about my uncertain life. As I said, the last 2-3 weeks have been tough. I am not sure if LBLM will happen, at least I don't think we'll be going down and staying in a cottage/condo thing as with finances and production at the shop. If I had to, the nearly 2 hour drive down there wouldn't be awful to do in the morning, though the race starts at 6:30 AM so I would have to leave at 4 AM to make sure I got down there in time to get my race packet. The drive back home, after the race is the one that worries me.... at running 26.2 miles.... having to drive 2 hours back home..... blah... :( The only good part is that Grand Rivers is on our time unlike Indy or Berryman, MO.
The other negative is being away from my little boy for pretty much half a day, and I'd have to have my mom come out to the house around 10 AM to watch him as I am sure Cameron would have to go to work that morning. I won't make any decisions yet as we're still 8 weeks away so anything can happen, hopefully for the better.
My running has suffered during the last 3 weeks, since my 18 miler (I am seeing a curse here.... last year my training was going well and nonstop until my 18 miler, then emotional ups and downs happened, an irritated overuse/stretched problem). Either it's raining like cats and dogs, or freaking cold and windy... and then there's my little boy who hasn't been as bad lately about mornings but still has his moments waking up throughout the night or waking up around the same time I need to get up. Normally that wouldn't be a problem if I could take him for a run after work, but the wind has been awful lately, or it's raining.
The week after my 18 miler week was a cutback week that ended up being 24.2 miles (I would've rather it had been above 30 but Christmas week had a lot of family get-togethers). Then the week after was supposed to have a 16 miler but I ran a 12 miler that Wednesday, and then another double (10) on Friday... I did manage to start going back to the gym on Saturday though.. but by Sunday my legs were so drained that the first 8 miles sucked so bad I had lost almost an hour of precious time. By the time my legs started to feel good, I had to get back home :( I did manage 12.6 miles and in that I managed 50 miles for the week. Last week wasn't any better, I only managed 33.6 miles :( it started off a good week, an 8 miler on Tuesday, a 10.2 miler on Wednesday, a nice 7.2 miler on Thursday, then I missed Friday(can't remember why, either Cameron or Dorian or myself), Saturday I managed 8.2 miles but then Sunday nothing. For some reason I woke up tired, I can't remember if it was raining or not but I made the excuse that I could run later that day, it didn't happen.
So now for this week, just not good at all. Tuesday started okay, a 7.2 miler, but then Wednesday morning Dorian interrupted things, and I couldn't run that evening as Cameron was hit with food poisoning and suffered horribly from Wednesday night to Thursday night. Thursday night I was able to take the dogs for a run on the trails - their first run in 3 weeks, it was muddy, icy/slippery and some of the trails were more like rivers but we managed 7 miles. Friday, nope... Dorian was dealing with painful gas from 2 AM to 5 AM but I had fallen back to sleep and missed my 6 AM alarm. I wanted to run Friday evening but Cameron's truck wouldn't start (an old diesel which hates the cold) so he had to wait on his sons, he didn't get home until 9. I chose the gym this morning over a run first, figured that if I got home and Dorian was still asleep I would head out for a 10 miler. But he was awake, so hopefully my mom can watch him later this afternoon. I am hoping for a 16 miler tomorrow but to be honest I just don't know anymore. It's becoming obvious that I should just stop signing up for races, at least big races like these in advance and just stick to half marathons until things smooth out. Unfortunately I really don't see things smoothing out at all, and I feel frantically rushed to experience an Ultra before my world falls apart.
With warmer weather, it'll be easy to sneak in extra miles with my son in the stroller (if he hasn't outgrown it by then), so maybe I'll be able to keep up my mileage or increase it for the 50 miler in September, but I am not going to get my hopes up.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Happy New Year!! 2016 LBLM Training Week 5 - Part 2
It is officially a new year today!!! A whole blank page, although the stress is still there if not higher. I am going to try not and think about that right now.
Yesterday afternoon I ran 7.1 miles for the final day of December AND 2015, giving me a total of 201 miles for December and a total of 1,683.4 miles for the year 2015. 2015 started off slow and dark - January 2015 saw 63 miles, February saw 86 miles before things slowly started to pick up:
March - 115 / April - 140 / May - 114 / June - 135 / July 132 / August - 170 / September - 131 / October - 200 / November - 188 / December 201
But 2016 is going to be different... at least I hope so. Starting the year off, I ran 10 miles this afternoon. I actually only had 7-8 miles planned but ended up running 10 and they were sore, along with some strong head wind for the first 6 miles. Strangely though, this was my fastest 10 miler yet, according to Strava as it keeps track of your fastest (lucky for my competitive side).
It was 43 degrees with a feels like 38, wind felt like 15 mph but my garmin says 9 mph W winds. I was sore and quite a bit tired, I retired my road racing shoes to training as I think my oldest pair of training shoes are done but these felt odd for the first 2 miles... things eased up after 25 minutes but I was still pretty tired already.
I ran 10 miles in 1:29:41 with an average pace of 8:58 min/mile, according to strava my first recorded 10 miler on the same route was 1:41:37 just last March. Today's 10 miler I knocked 23 seconds/mile off, and I thought my run back in August was fast (1:32:23). Out of all the 10 mile runs I've had, I truly think this one is my fastest... 2014's Evansville Half Marathon might have had the fastest 10 miler in that mix but this is my fastest training 10 miler.
Laps/splits
Mile 1 - 9:33
Mile 2 - 9:12
Mile 3 - 8:55
Mile 4 - 8:59
Mile 5 - 8:57
Mile 6 - 8:53
Mile 7 - 8:44
Mile 8 - 8:43
Mile 9 - 8:55
Mile 10 - 8:49
So far I've got 37 miles for the week, I've got 5 miles planned tomorrow (god willing my legs don't want to kill me) and then 16 miles planned Sunday.
So Happy New Year to everyone, I truly hope that 2016 is an amazing year for all of us :)
Yesterday afternoon I ran 7.1 miles for the final day of December AND 2015, giving me a total of 201 miles for December and a total of 1,683.4 miles for the year 2015. 2015 started off slow and dark - January 2015 saw 63 miles, February saw 86 miles before things slowly started to pick up:
March - 115 / April - 140 / May - 114 / June - 135 / July 132 / August - 170 / September - 131 / October - 200 / November - 188 / December 201
But 2016 is going to be different... at least I hope so. Starting the year off, I ran 10 miles this afternoon. I actually only had 7-8 miles planned but ended up running 10 and they were sore, along with some strong head wind for the first 6 miles. Strangely though, this was my fastest 10 miler yet, according to Strava as it keeps track of your fastest (lucky for my competitive side).
It was 43 degrees with a feels like 38, wind felt like 15 mph but my garmin says 9 mph W winds. I was sore and quite a bit tired, I retired my road racing shoes to training as I think my oldest pair of training shoes are done but these felt odd for the first 2 miles... things eased up after 25 minutes but I was still pretty tired already.
I ran 10 miles in 1:29:41 with an average pace of 8:58 min/mile, according to strava my first recorded 10 miler on the same route was 1:41:37 just last March. Today's 10 miler I knocked 23 seconds/mile off, and I thought my run back in August was fast (1:32:23). Out of all the 10 mile runs I've had, I truly think this one is my fastest... 2014's Evansville Half Marathon might have had the fastest 10 miler in that mix but this is my fastest training 10 miler.
Laps/splits
Mile 1 - 9:33
Mile 2 - 9:12
Mile 3 - 8:55
Mile 4 - 8:59
Mile 5 - 8:57
Mile 6 - 8:53
Mile 7 - 8:44
Mile 8 - 8:43
Mile 9 - 8:55
Mile 10 - 8:49
So far I've got 37 miles for the week, I've got 5 miles planned tomorrow (god willing my legs don't want to kill me) and then 16 miles planned Sunday.
So Happy New Year to everyone, I truly hope that 2016 is an amazing year for all of us :)
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