Training Summary 3/31 - 4/6

Well, this week was a bust.

This weeks plan: Run: 7 tempo, 4 easy, 5 easy, 19 long, 3 recovery. 2 gym classes.

What I actually did....not a whole lot.

Monday: 3 super easy with a group. We ran about 3/4 of a mile and stopped to do burpees, lunges, squats, etc. Repeated 3 times. Ended up with 3 @ 10:45 avg pace when it was all said and done. My legs were pretty sore from the long run the day before so I took it as easy as possible.

Tuesday: I had planned to do 4 on the treadmill but as soon as I got going I knew it wasn't a good idea. My right achilles/shin area is cranky and I don't want to push it so I did 3 @ 9:40 pace.

Wednesday/Thursday: Rested, hoping that the leg would recover and work itself out.

Friday: It didn't. 2 easy @ 9:39 pace and called it quits.

Saturday/Sunday: More rest.

I really hope that this is nothing major. Training for Bayshore has been going so well, I don't need this right now!

Total for the week: 8 junk miles and no classes. Boo.

Training Summary 3/24 - 3/30

Here I am again. We'll see how long I last blogging this time ;)

This weeks plan: Run: 7 tempo, 4 easy, 4 easy, 18 long, 3 recovery. 2 gym classes.

As usual I shuffled things around quite a bit.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 4 easy @ 9:28 pace, body sculpt class

(Lululemon black energy bra, baroque blue 105f singlet, 2013 Sea Wheeze speed shorts)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 3.8 easy @ 9:08 pace

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 7.5 easy @ 9:09 pace

(Lululemon bali breeze crb, gray 1/2 zip swiftly, MPG crops)

Sunday: 18.1 long @ 9:37 pace. This was a perfect run...outside, tank top, easy pace. I even got a little tan, which is pretty amazing for March in Michigan.

Totals: 33.4 miles, 1 class

I missed a 3-miler and switched my speedwork to an easy run but life was a little crazy this week. I need to be more diligent with this. This training season is actually flying by though, I can't believe I'm up to 18 miles already!

Summer 2013 Goals

Once Bayshore training is over, I'm looking forward to accomplishing a few other fitness goals.

Running:
-6:59 mile. My fastest mile split in a 5K is 7:54, so I think this is an attainable goal although I may puke right after it. ;) My kids all enjoy running so we are planning on spending some time at the track this summer. I'm looking forward to it.
-1:59:59 Half Marathon. I ran 2:02:43 in April as part of a training run. I really want to break the 2 hour barrier, and the Michigan Half Series has enough half marathons this year that I have plenty of chances to give it a go.
-23:59 5K. This one gives me nervous twitches. I've made huge improvements in my 5K time over the past few years, and every time I get a PR I think "this is it...this is the best you've got". But then I set another PR soooooo....let's see what I'm made of.

Hot Yoga:
I just bought a Group-on so I want to see what this is all about. I've never done any kind of yoga before but I've always wanted to.

Fitness:
Do 5 pull-ups. BIG goal, considering right now I can't even do half of ONE pullup. I need to figure out what strength workouts I need to do to help me out on this one.


Body Fat:
Right now (per the gym) I am at 23.0% bodyfat. I would like to get down to 21.0%. The problem with this is that I love food. Like alot. Like I just had a donut, just as I do every Wednesday morning.

You know the saying about how you can't out-exercise a bad diet? I try. I really really try. And actually this is my strategy. I would rather do 5 gym workouts and 30 miles a week than stick to 1200 calories a day.

Training summary 4/28-5/4

This weeks plan:
Run: 5 miles, 5 at marathon pace, 5 miles, and a 20 mile long run.
Gym: 5-8 classes

Sunday: REST DAY. I was supposed to run 12 miles for my long run from the previous week but I skipped it...oops.

Monday: Kickboxing class before work and a team workout for the body challenge at night.

Lululemon Run For Your Life Crops and Pow Pink Swiftly tank

Tuesday: Body sculpt class before work and a 5 mile run at a 9:30 pace in the evening. It was hot and I struggled to keep the pace. I think it's because I'm used to running in the cooler temps and all of a sudden it decided to be summer! I'm not complaining, I just hope that I adjust soon.

Xersion racerback tank, Lululemon Angel Blue Energy Bra and Inkwell Wagon Stripe speed shorts


Wednesday: It was even hotter today. I ran in the shaded park to try to keep cool but it was still hot. I ran for 35 minutes so I'm assuming that was about 3.5 miles.

Lululemon Heathered Flash CRB, Angel Blue Energy bra, and March WAFS speed shorts


Thursday: Body sculpt class before work, and kickboxing class after work.

These were a BIG step out of my comfort zone. I'm happiest in black pants, but Lulu has been coming out with so many fun colored crops that I decided to take a chance. The result... LOVE.
Lululemon Pinkelicious Pace Crops, Pinkelicious Energy bra, and a ribbed Xersion racerback tank


Friday: REST DAY

Saturday: Long run day - 20 miles @ 10:03 pace. The run went absolutely perfectly, other than being dehydrated at the end. I set out with 3 gels and had 2 planned water stops at mile 6 and 13. It was 50-65 degrees during the run but 40 oz. of water and 3 gels was nowhere near enough for me. I was very dehydrated when I got home - I weighed myself before the run, had 8 oz. of water before I left, 40 oz. on the run, and 16 oz. when I got home. When I weighed myself after that, I weighed 1 pound less than when I started! I need to drink drink drink on these long runs. I'm going to go buy a handheld to use during the marathon so I can always have water with me.

Oh and 4 miles into my run on a quiet country road, I was passed by a dog. What the....! It was a hunting dog and it must have gotten loose...it was bouncing from one side of the road to the other, hunting whatever it could find. In the 3/4 mile that it ran with me it chased out a rabbit and a woodpecker! It was entertaining but I was worried that she was going to follow me through my run and/or get hit by a car, so I stopped and called the number on her collar. I had to sit and wait for about 15 minutes for the owner to come and get her.

Lululemon Run a Marathon crops (pockets FTW!) and Menthol Tame Me Tank


Weekly totals: 28.5 miles (6.5 less than planned) and 5 classes at the gym
I am happy with it, it was a good week with no pain or injuries. (other than losing a toenail, RIP)

Resurrection

Lately during my runs, I've been thinking about going back to blogging. I read running blogs every day - they are a great source of motivation for me.

So here I am and who knows how often I will post, but I like looking back on my training posts and reflecting on them so I want to try again. I couldn't decide if I wanted to start a new blog or keep this one, since so much has changed since 2009. I struggled to come up with a name for a new blog and I realized this one still fits me. I still shop (too much), I still jog (not enough), though maybe now that could be categorized as actually running instead of jogging :D . And I still want to blog. Perfect.

My current status is that I am training for the Bayshore Marathon which is coming up in just a few weeks. Training has gone well, much better than Detroit. My runs are better quality and faster, and there are no noteworthy injuries this time around. I'll detail more on this later.

The tailbone's connected to the.....?

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now. Actually, about a month. But I didn't, thinking that by sticking my head in the blogging sand the problem would go away on it's own.

It didn't.

So here's the story. During the last half of the Detroit marathon on October 19th my hips and thighs really tightened up, causing me to walk/jog the rest of the race. For the two days after I still had pain in these areas, but by the Wednesday after I was pain free.

Fast forward to a week and a half later. We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night. I got pretty lit, but I know I didn't fall. I was wearing white, I would remember this. Anyway the next morning I woke up and could not put ANY weight or pressure on my tailbone. It was killing me! It even hurt to walk. My hips and thighs (and everything else) were pain free. It was just my tailbone.

W. T. F.

If I sit straight up it doesn't hurt, but the minute I lean back (like on a sofa) the pain is right there. And yes, I am still having this pain over a month later. It lessened in intensity after about a week but has maintained since then.

What gives? I googled, which is something you should never do with an injury...so now I think I'm dying of cancer. I also read that they can take tailbones out? Huh?

So what do you all think? Do I call the doctor? I really really don't care for rectal exams. And besides, what the hell do I say when I call? My tailbone hurts?

Weak.

Yaktrax

It has been a full MONTH since I have ran! I just really dread the darkness and the cold and especially the snow and ice, but I can't exactly quit running until March, right? I can feel my thighs jiggling as I type.

That is a problem. Here, my friends, is my hopeful ohmygoshthisbettermotivateme solution.
















The website claims that you can run normally and you don't slip. Super duper.

They are $29.95 on the website - not a bad price considering what they enable you to do. However, my frugal self just couldn't click that button without first doing some deal searching. And deals, did I find! =) Using my new favorite shopping search engine and the always-a-favorite Ebay, I managed to score a set of brand new Yaktrax for $23.54, including shipping. And if that deal wasn't good enough, I will be getting $6.26 of that back, thanks to the Microsoft Live Search.

Final cost = $17.28

Not too shabby! Now if only I can peel my lazy butt off the sofa when they get here...