Helvetia Week 2

This is techically week 2 of training for Helvetia...  but I didn't run at all week 1.  Instead, I coughed, laid on the couch and vomited.  So glad THAT week is behind me!  I took it pretty easy this week too and, sadly, didn't manage to get out on the bike once.  I haven't biked in a month!!  I like it when I do it but I'm not nearly as motivated to bike as I am to run.  I wish that I could find a biking partner...  but I drive a smart car so I have no way to transport my bike to meet somewhere.  I just need to find a way to be more self motivated. 

Monday - 3 miles (with D)
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 3 miles (with M)
Thursday - 2 miles (at Tryon!!)
Friday - rest
Saturday - 5 miles (with group)
Sunday - rest

I'm not sure I'll have any time to bike this week either.  I've got a super packed after work schedule with running dates, the KU game tonight and meetings for volunteering with the Obama campaign and a local NFP.  I'll be happy if I can get in a yoga day and one biking day... 

Week 7 Shamrock

Tuesday - 4 miles
Saturday - 6 miles
Sunday - hours of lifting chairs!

Last week was a horrible week for me on pretty much every front.  Obviously, I struggled with working out.  But that was mostly because I had a horrible week at work and on the personal front.  I'll keep the details to myself but, suffice to say, I've had my confidence swept out from under me and I'm now filled with all kinds of negative, self-doubting emotions.  It was the kind of week where you just want to say 'fuck it all', climb into bed and never come back out from under the covers.  Since that's not an option, I'm hoping for better training this week...  hopefully at least THAT will go well even if nothing else does! 

Week 6 Shamrock

Monday - REST
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wednesday - 2.5 miles, 1 hour skating
Thursday - 40 minute bike
Friday - 1 hour skate
Saturday - 5 miles
Sunday - 40 minute bike

I hadn't intended to rest on Monday.  I had a craptastic day at work and then I got home to a puppy who had pottied her crate.  She was covered in urine and so, so, so ashamed.  She'd just finished up a round of antibiotics for a UTI and it appeared to have come back.  She's on a 21 day round of very expensive antibiotics now so hopefully she'll feel better soon. 

On Wednesday, I got back to running with the ladies running group at the DePaul Treatment Centers. 

Week 5 Shamrock

Monday - bootcamp
Tuesday - bootcamp, 2 miles
Wednesday - 40 minute bike, 1 hour skating
Thursday - REST
Friday - 2 miles, 1 hour skating
Saturday - 2 miles, 1 hour yoga
Sunday - 30 minute bike, 1 1/2 hour skating

What's up with all the skating?  I don't really know.  I just thought it might be fun.  So I asked my derby friend to take me.  And I really, really sucked at it.  So I naturally asked her to take me again.  And, again, I really, really sucked at it...  but not quite as badly.  Then, I asked her to take me AGAIN.  And I warmed up with 50 laps.  I still really, really suck so it took me about an hour.  But I did it.  Then we worked on T stops and something kind of clicked. 

We're going again on Wednesday.  I'll warm up with 50 laps again.  Then I'm buying my own kneepads (reward for Sunday's 50 laps) and we are going to work on single and double knee stops as well as T stops.  Once I can do 50 laps in 45 minutes, I'm going to buy my own wrist guards.  Skating is a good, hard workout and it's fun.  Where this will go, I'm not sure yet.  But getting in good non-running workouts can only help my running, right? 

Week 4 Shamrock

Monday - bootcamp, 23 minute bike ride
Tuesday - 3.5 mile run
Wednesday - 35 minute bike ride
Thursday - bootcamp, 2 mile run
Friday - rest
Saturday - 4 miles
Sunday - 30 minute bike ride, hour yoga DVD

I had a great week of workouts and I'm feeling fabulous!  It's nice to feel back in the groove.  My legs were super dead on my run on Thursday so I took it incredibly slow and easy.  I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger, leaner and slimmer.  Week 1, I gained a quick 4 pounds and was up to 133...  but I've weighed 131 the last couple of days which I take as a sign that my body is adjusting in a positive way. 

I'm on vacation next week and I've signed up for 6am bootcamp on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (class isn't offered on Wednesday).  We'll see if I make them all... but, if I do, that would be SO AMAZING!  Also, I'm considering trying skating if my derby girlfriend is free to take me on Wednesday (update:  she is!!!).  Lastly, I'm working on getting a group of girls together for a weekly 'bootcamp'.  More on that in another post! 

Week 3 Shamrock

Monday - rest (supposed to be a snow day but that didn't happen!!)
Tuesday - 3.5 miles
Wednesday - rest (got home to a crate filled with puppy poop, lost all motivation to bike)
Thursday - bootcamp, 3.5 miles, 20 minute bike ride*
Friday - rest
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 3.5 miles

As can be seen above, I'm struggling with balance.  I'm skipping workouts and then trying to cram them in on other days.  My goal for the upcoming week is to do better with that... 

* - super leisurely as I was biking wtih Ty and Onya while they were running. 

Week 2 Shamrock

Another week of good workouts in the bag!

Monday - yoga (on demand)
Tuesday - 2 miles
Wednesday - 30 minute bike
Thursday - bootcamp and 2 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 2.5 miles
Sunday - rest

Let me just start by saying the bootcamp KICKED MY ASS.  Seriously.  I couldn't walk right until SUNDAY.  So, I ended up skipping it on Saturday and then I took that extra rest day on Sunday instead of my 30 minute bike ride.  I was supposed to go to bootcamp this morning but, with all the snow predictions, it was too cold.  And, I wanted to sleep longer.  But I do plan on going back on Thursday and, unless it kills me again, go back on Saturday.  This week, the milage finally starts going up just a smidge and I'll be incorporating 3 mile runs - which works perfectly since I'm checking in on a friend's cat all week and her apartment is just over 3 miles from my work! 

Week 3

This is the last week before Shamrock training officially begins...  and I have to admit that I only ran twice...  and just three miles each time.  But, that's okay.  It's a taper for training, right?  Okay, not really, but I'm totally not going to beat myself up over it. 

In somewhat related news, I just bought a Sharing Spree for $20 for a month of unlimited bootcamp!  I'm planning to start a week from tomorrow.  I think I'll try to go three times a week.  I'll take Monday yoga off the calendar since I still haven't figured out a good place to go for that. I'll leave all the scheduled biking and running on though.  Good luck to me and happy new year to y'all! 

Week 2

Another week of very slowly easing back into running...  otherwise known as still struggling with motivation and discipline:

Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 3.5 miles

This morning's run was particularly enjoyable.  We ran the two park route which is so named because it goes through two parks and we let the pup go off leash in both of them.  There were so few people out and she was being so good that she actually got to be off leash for nearly the entire way home!!  We just leashed her up twice when passing other dogs.  The air was cool and crisp...  there was little traffic on the roads and paths.  For whatever reason, we didn't really talk.  

Since my backpack was stolen over the summer, I still haven't replaced my iPod.  It was just a beautiful, peaceful and introspective run.  My thoughts turned to the things I love about running and how strong I feel when I'm having a good run.  I thought about how nice it is to have good running equipment.  I thought about how lucky I am that I can just head out and RUN whenever I feel like it.  I thought about how great it is to have the most perfect, mellow, loving puppy in the world as a running companion.  I thought about how great a cup of coffee and hash with asparagus and red peppers was going to taste once I was home and showered.  I probably thought about lots of other things too that I can't recall now but the point is that it was a perfect little run and I'm slowly finding the joy in running again...  which is really all I wanted for Christmas anyway;). 

Week 1

If last week was Week 1 in getting back into a regular-ish running routine, then this must be Week 2, right?  Yesterday, Ty and Onya meet me at the end of my work day and we did one of my regular and beloved routes...  I not sure how or why but I never get tired of my tried and true Waterfront routes.  We ran an easy 3 miles and it felt great!  Here's last week's results:

Monday - 2 miles, 20 minutes yoga
Tuesday - 2 miles, 20 minutes yoga
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - rest
Friday - 2 miles, 20 minutes yoga
Saturday - rest
Sunday - rest

As you can see, I definitely did NOT overdue it;).  Better to ease back into the routine... 

Weekly Update

Monday - rest (ran in Iris Festival Half on Sunday)
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 12 miles
Sunday - rest

I have tried both a soft and hard reset and can't seem to get my Garmin to turn on unless it is sitting in the cradle.  Although this is very frustrating, it is also kind of fun to just run without an concern about the time...  especially since I'm not actively training for anything right now.  My shuffle headphone broke (again) right after Austin and I haven't gotten around to replacing them either yet so I'm running totally free of gadgets!  I'm sure this won't last long - I'm already getting itchy to figure out how to fix my Garmin and get new headphones... 

Weekly Summary

Monday - rest
Tuesday - travel home from Bahamas
Wednesday - 3 miles @ 10:39
Thursday - 3 miles @ 10:10.34
Friday - rest
Saturday - 8.25 miles @ 10:46
Sunday - rest

It's been two months since Austin and I'm just finally starting to get back into a good, regular schedule.  Let's hope I can keep it up this month!  I have two races coming up in May - the Hippie Chick Half and the Iris Festival Half.  The good news is that I have someone else to run each with...  which is going to be a life saver since I'm undertrained, undermotivated and not likely to PR.  I can take them both at a slow, comfortable pace and just hope to get through them:).

Weekly Summary

Here's the update for last week:

Monday - 4 @ 9:46
Tuesday - 6 @ 9:49, Ab Lab class, 3.5 miles at Fit Training class (no idea on pace)
Wednesday - rest day (CPE)
Thursday - Vinyasa Yoga class
Friday - 14 @ 10:13
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 9.5 @ 9:30 SHAMROCK RUN!!

My schedule got pretty screwy with my work and social committments plus a race on Sunday.  That said, it was a good week.  I was really, really sore all week from getting back into some crosstraining.  That is finally starting to ease up and hopefully my body gets more used to the extra work because I have four yoga and one pilates class pencilled in for this week plus runs of 4, 6, 4, 6 and 16 miles.  Once again, I'll be doing my long run early on Friday morning to accomodate a birthday party and a wedding this weekend. 

Weekly Summary

It was a challenging week as I felt like I was still recovering from Austin.  On my first two runs, I was incredibly unmotivated but that definitely changed on Friday.  I'm glad I made myself do those runs that I didn't want to - having a great run is definitely a good payoff for slogging through those tough days.  Saturday, I was supposed to run 12 miles but the Waterfront Loop is actually on 10.35 (I was thinking it was 11.5) and we were in a hurry to start Ty's birthday festivities so I called it close enough.  Plus, my legs were really tired...

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 6 @ 9:52
Wednesday - 3 @ 9:16
Thursday - rest
Friday - 6 @ 9:43
Saturday - 10.35 @ 10:05

For this week, my training plan calls for runs of 4, 6, 4, 6 and 14 miles.  We have the Shamrock run on Sunday so I'm going to have to adjust everything around that.  I'm running the 15k which, at 9 miles, will take the place of one of my 6 milers.  I have CPE on Wednesday so I think I'll have a family run around the lake that night which will cover the other 6 miler.  On Friday, I'll take a very long lunch and run the 14 miler which leaves me with today and tomorrow to get in the 4 milers.  Sounds like a plan!! 

Week 17

Taper feels so lazy and luxurious!!  I know that there are runners out there who really struggle with the decreased activity level but I am so not one of them!  I love getting the extra rest and spending so little, comparatively, time running.  I couldn't do it for long but I do really cherish these respites.  I know the lower activity level will not only give me the bounce I need for the upcoming race but that it also serves to give my body and mind time to heal so that they can be that much more ready for the next big task I have planned for them:). 

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 5 @ 10:12
Wednesday - 4 @ 10:14
Thursday - 3 @ 10:07
Friday - rest
Saturday - 8 @ 9:59
Sunday - rest

My flight to Austin leaves on Friday and, other than the actual marathon, I only have three runs totalling 9 miles this week.  I need to start my packing list and focus on eating good, high quality carbs at every meal while limiting the junk food and snacking.  This is also a good time for me to pay attention to being well hydrated all day, every day.  Which doesn't mean that I'll cut beer - oh, no, no, no - just that I'll limit myself to two while watching tonight's basketball game (KU v. K-State - ROCK CHALK) and one or two each night Friday and Saturday nights.  I think the carbs outweigh any dehydrating factor as long as I'm keeping my consumption low and it might even help the tendency to over hydrate and the associated issues that one can have with that. 

I'm getting nervous but also very excited!! 

Week 16

I ended up missing my planned six miler on Tuesday because I just wasn't feeling great and was worried that I might be coming down with a cold or something.  As it turned out, I wasn't...  but I sure don't feel bad about getting some extra rest!

Monday - 5 @ 10:15
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 5 @ 10:12
Thursday - 4 @ 10:19
Friday - rest
Saturday - 12 @ 9:37
Sunday - rest

On Thursday, I was supposed to have a tempo run but that didn't end up happening because I ran with Onya the Anchor.  I had CPE that day and dinner with friends that evening so I had to squeeze my run in first thing in the morning.  Since I was running at home for a change, I took the mutt along and she reminded me why I can get so inpatient with her sometimes!!

On Saturday, I ran around Mercer Island with Ty.  We took a short cut to make the run 12 miles - it would have been 14 if we hadn't but I tend to prefer to stay as close to possible to my training plan.  The run itself wasn't anything special and the road around the island can be pretty dangerous as evidenced by a ridiculous number of signs telling the drivers to share the road (I have to wonder how many runners and bikers have actually been hit to necessitate that many signs!).  The final mile was primarily downhill so I turned it on and ended up running that last mile in 7:35!!  I think that might be my first sub-8 mile ever.  I nearly puked as soon as I stopped moving but it sure was fun...  and the unplanned 12 mile tempo run gave me a good confidence boost. 

Less than two weeks to go... 

Week 15

Did I already mention that I'm officially on taper?!?!??!

Monday - 5 @ 9:51
Tuesday - 5 @ 10:17
Wednesday - 8 @ 9:43
Thursday - 5 @ 10:08
Friday - rest
Saturday - 22 @ 10:12
Sunday - rest

I ran a grand total of 45 miles last week which is a record high mileage for me.  I was tired, for sure, but it wasn't unreasonable and I was still able to manage my extracurriculars.  I found that my hunger level did go up quite a bit - luckily, I didn't feel badly at all at indulging:).  I'll obviously need to watch that during the next three weeks because I'd rather not add pounds to lug all over Austin!  I'm going to try to really enjoy this taper by getting lots of rest and being ready to put my best race together.  I'm going to need the rest since I'm planning to run another marathon just seven weeks later!!