Good afternoon!
I'm posting a bit earlier because I'm meeting my friend for dinner, then have to do a few things in the area afterward, so I won't be getting home until 'late' (ie like 9:30pm for me!). But in my defense, I have been up since 4:45am....
Today was all about the hills. I wanted a more 'chill' day milage and pace wise, and I needed time for a swim. Sooo, I parked by the Y, at the base of a series of hills that my elevation map told me were steeper and longer than Boston. The route was short, (only 5 miles), and I tried to keep the pace natural (ie not kill myself pushing it uphill, and not pound too hard/fast on the downhill.) Ended up being at about 7:55 pace overall, with uphills at 8:10ish and downhills at 7:40ish. Last mile = flat = 7:29. Yay! I'm really happy with my sporatic hill work for this training cycle. Although most of my routes contain some hills, the specific hill workouts are what I am going to draw upon mentally once I reach Newton in Boston. The idea of "you have done this already only steeper and further" is going to propel me up those hills! Plus, I've noticed that my swimming = more arm strength = helpful on the hills! Speaking of which, the swim afterward today felt great too! I couldn't believe it had been a week since I was in the pool- much too long. Glad to be all loostened up and good to have an easy day. Last year, I would have considered a day like today 'hard-ish' with a run + a swim. Now, I am doing doubles or triples more often than not and running high-ish milage, so it seems easy! Yay for progression!
My PSA for today (and another reason why I kept my hills not-too-hard) is this: do not eat cake immediately before running. Let me provide some background info by saying I have been eating EXTREMELY clean for the past 2 months or so. I haven't really talked about it on the blog but for this time I've eaten completely sugar-free and fairly natural. Well, today at work, my boss was sampling this new gluten free cake we are making. He got really excited because I can never try anything at the bakery and I'm the only gluten free employee. Right before I left, he gave me a nice sample to try. I'm not one to turn down cake, and I was hungry because I didn't get a lunch break. Yeah, not a good plan. My body was in shot/rebellion for awhile. Sugar free clean eating = much better for my body and my performance!
Tomorrow I'm FINALLY back teaching. The break has been nice. Too bad I fell asleep while doing prep work in my bed this afternoon (yeah, that was dumb.) Tomorrow is also a triple thursday - my favorite! I'm going to attempt a tempo run in the evening with my running boston bud (who is super speedy)! Wish me luck on that!
Peace!
T-mart
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
13- good runs and good times!
Today was just that: a day full of good runs and good times!
This morning, I did one of my fav runs- I drove with my mom to her work, then ran home! It is a lovely 10.5 mile run- all roads- and I got it done by 9am this morning. Great way to start the day. I tried to keep it a bit conservative so as not to mess with my SI joint too much. 7:47 pace. Felt just right.
I accomplished alot today before heading back to my place. We had crazy storm warnings so I took the opportunity to do what I've been wanting to do for awhile- take a lovely nap once I got home. My apartment was cool, my bed was comfy, and I just passed out! Felt. So. Good. Did sommore errands in the afternoon, including dropping off my Comcast stuff. I've decided to go TV-less at my new place for awhile. Comcast is a rip off, and I'd rather save money for races ;) Plus, I'm so busy I don't have much TV time anymore. For now it is very freeing!
Then, I met up with a couple of the guys from my Thursday night group. It was 80 degrees at 6pm and I loved it! We ran a relaxed 6 miles at 8:10 pace. Nice to chat with them. Nice day for running. 16+ mile day = not bad in my book!
Tomorrow, I'm back at the bakery, then Thursday I'm back teaching. After almost 2 weeks off from teaching, I'm ready to go back! I miss my students and my routine.
Ok, gotta run. Lots to pack for tomorrow, plus the alarm will be going off at 4:45am!
This morning, I did one of my fav runs- I drove with my mom to her work, then ran home! It is a lovely 10.5 mile run- all roads- and I got it done by 9am this morning. Great way to start the day. I tried to keep it a bit conservative so as not to mess with my SI joint too much. 7:47 pace. Felt just right.
I accomplished alot today before heading back to my place. We had crazy storm warnings so I took the opportunity to do what I've been wanting to do for awhile- take a lovely nap once I got home. My apartment was cool, my bed was comfy, and I just passed out! Felt. So. Good. Did sommore errands in the afternoon, including dropping off my Comcast stuff. I've decided to go TV-less at my new place for awhile. Comcast is a rip off, and I'd rather save money for races ;) Plus, I'm so busy I don't have much TV time anymore. For now it is very freeing!
Then, I met up with a couple of the guys from my Thursday night group. It was 80 degrees at 6pm and I loved it! We ran a relaxed 6 miles at 8:10 pace. Nice to chat with them. Nice day for running. 16+ mile day = not bad in my book!
Tomorrow, I'm back at the bakery, then Thursday I'm back teaching. After almost 2 weeks off from teaching, I'm ready to go back! I miss my students and my routine.
Ok, gotta run. Lots to pack for tomorrow, plus the alarm will be going off at 4:45am!
Monday, April 5, 2010
14- loving the weather. and life.
Quicky again tonite. Here's the scoop.
Today was a lovely day in my neck of the woods. Began the day with a 10 miler. 7 miles up to the gym @7:47 pace, then 3 miles with my mom (8:50ish). Strength training afterward. I'm alittle worried cuz my SI joint (my injury from the start of this training cycle) is acting up tonite and I think its from the strength moves that I did. I will stick with swimming from here on out!
Got lots done today, all in beautious weather! Got to do my prep work on the deck, get some groceries and I met my mom for an amazing dinner at this hippy place that uses all local ingredients and such. Perfect.
I'm alittle nervous about my SI joint, other than that, life is GOOD. 2 weeks till Boston! I'm getting EXCITED! :)
Today was a lovely day in my neck of the woods. Began the day with a 10 miler. 7 miles up to the gym @7:47 pace, then 3 miles with my mom (8:50ish). Strength training afterward. I'm alittle worried cuz my SI joint (my injury from the start of this training cycle) is acting up tonite and I think its from the strength moves that I did. I will stick with swimming from here on out!
Got lots done today, all in beautious weather! Got to do my prep work on the deck, get some groceries and I met my mom for an amazing dinner at this hippy place that uses all local ingredients and such. Perfect.
I'm alittle nervous about my SI joint, other than that, life is GOOD. 2 weeks till Boston! I'm getting EXCITED! :)
Sunday, April 4, 2010
15- Happy Easter! And long-ish run fun!
Happy Easter everyone!
Today has been a great day- busy, but chilled-busy. My parents are on a cleaning warpath that I am caught up in whenever I come home. I'm happy to help, but it is hard because I am still trying/spending so much time getting my own new apartment unpacked/organized that it is the last thing I want to do when I come to their house! Plus, I now have my crappy twin bed here (and my lovely plush queen at my own place), so coming to their house loses alittle appeal! Andd, I've done zero prep work on this 'break' so I gotta get on that! Need to teach those kiddos something!
I must say though, today was a good, enjoyable, went-by-really-quick long run! Unfortunatly, I couldn't get my 12 hours of sleep in because of needing to run before church. Anddd, I didn't give myself enough time as it was so it was a 15 miler today (hense the long'ish' run). But, it was a nice one! Here's the breakdown:
8 miles in 1:00:04 (7:30.5 pace)
3 miles w/ my mom (8:50 pace)
4 more miles: 7:46, 7:36, 7:26, 7:26
TOTAL: 15 miles @ 7:46 pace
I was pleased with this because if I would have taken out the miles I ran with my mom, it would have been closer to 7:35 pace (just a hair over my MP). But, to me it is WAYYY more important to get the chance to run with my mom than worry over pacing too much. I'm fairly confident that I could have maintained the same pace throughout though, and even with the slower 3 miles, it was still my fastest long run. The other good point was the fact that I picked the pace back up after dropping off my mom. I am so bad at speeding up, ususally once I slow down I never get my pace back. Today showed me that I could and my body actually did so fairly naturally. Recovery was non existant too, as in I wish I could have run more later today because my legs felt so un-tired. But, I was too busy cleaning and eating! No regrets there though.
Ok, I'm rambling. I'm off to enjoy some family time and maybe do some work!?!?! Yeah, that's a nice though! I do think some chocolate pudding is in my future though......
Have a lovely evening everyone! Happy Easter!
Today has been a great day- busy, but chilled-busy. My parents are on a cleaning warpath that I am caught up in whenever I come home. I'm happy to help, but it is hard because I am still trying/spending so much time getting my own new apartment unpacked/organized that it is the last thing I want to do when I come to their house! Plus, I now have my crappy twin bed here (and my lovely plush queen at my own place), so coming to their house loses alittle appeal! Andd, I've done zero prep work on this 'break' so I gotta get on that! Need to teach those kiddos something!
I must say though, today was a good, enjoyable, went-by-really-quick long run! Unfortunatly, I couldn't get my 12 hours of sleep in because of needing to run before church. Anddd, I didn't give myself enough time as it was so it was a 15 miler today (hense the long'ish' run). But, it was a nice one! Here's the breakdown:
8 miles in 1:00:04 (7:30.5 pace)
3 miles w/ my mom (8:50 pace)
4 more miles: 7:46, 7:36, 7:26, 7:26
TOTAL: 15 miles @ 7:46 pace
I was pleased with this because if I would have taken out the miles I ran with my mom, it would have been closer to 7:35 pace (just a hair over my MP). But, to me it is WAYYY more important to get the chance to run with my mom than worry over pacing too much. I'm fairly confident that I could have maintained the same pace throughout though, and even with the slower 3 miles, it was still my fastest long run. The other good point was the fact that I picked the pace back up after dropping off my mom. I am so bad at speeding up, ususally once I slow down I never get my pace back. Today showed me that I could and my body actually did so fairly naturally. Recovery was non existant too, as in I wish I could have run more later today because my legs felt so un-tired. But, I was too busy cleaning and eating! No regrets there though.
Ok, I'm rambling. I'm off to enjoy some family time and maybe do some work!?!?! Yeah, that's a nice though! I do think some chocolate pudding is in my future though......
Have a lovely evening everyone! Happy Easter!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
16- every three weeks....
Well, as anticipated, today was a REST DAY. Once every three weeks, like clockwork. Luckily, by the time I got off work, the winds had reached hurricane levels and it had started to rain and it was even worse once I got home to my parents' house. Sooo, its a sign. I'm not sure what to do about my long run for this weekend. I'm training through Boston, and ran 19 last week, so I'm thinking something in the 15-17 mile range for tomorrow. I'm hoping the rest will do my leggies good, because this week working + working out seemed to tucker them out!
Work today was really fun. We brought our product down to Eastern Market in Detroit, which is basically a huge farmers' market. Myself and the assistant manager worked the booth and time flew by! It was really cool too because Detroit actually seemed cool and alive vs. ghetto and lame. Other than waking up at 4am it was a good day, and now I have a few precious days off before going back to my normal teaching + bakery life. At the market too, I bought a bunch of local produce and stuff. I joked to my boss that I spent about 2 hours worth of my paycheck at the market! Funny....but probably true.....
And now I'm home at my parents to celebrate Easter. They are currently screaming at the TV about the MSU game. Ha, good times.
Happy Easter everyone! :)
Work today was really fun. We brought our product down to Eastern Market in Detroit, which is basically a huge farmers' market. Myself and the assistant manager worked the booth and time flew by! It was really cool too because Detroit actually seemed cool and alive vs. ghetto and lame. Other than waking up at 4am it was a good day, and now I have a few precious days off before going back to my normal teaching + bakery life. At the market too, I bought a bunch of local produce and stuff. I joked to my boss that I spent about 2 hours worth of my paycheck at the market! Funny....but probably true.....
And now I'm home at my parents to celebrate Easter. They are currently screaming at the TV about the MSU game. Ha, good times.
Happy Easter everyone! :)
Friday, April 2, 2010
17- Good, Good Friday
Good evening!
Going to make this quick because I'm on a role cleaning my apartment and don't want to interrupt it!
Let me tell you- 4:45am felt SO EARLY this morning. I promised myself I would nap post-work and probably take a rest day. My quads were tired from hills yesterday and overall I just felt wiped from the week.
Work was busy of course, but not too bad. The shift really drug on though and I was so ready to leave by the time 2pm rolled around. I knew I had a million and one things to do tonite to get ready to go home to my parents' after work tomorrow and I've hardly touched my to-do list for the week because of all of my working + working out. Buttt, the only thing on my mind was a nap. I ended up talking to my mom on the way home + about 4 more time after so I only laid down for 30 minutes or so. That is when I decided to go in the opposite direction- if a nap wasn't resting me, a run would! I knew that I would still be fighting gail force 4:30pm winds, but I just decided to head out on a new route and take it as easy as I could, as my legs were feeling fatigued still (don't know if it is work, running, or I'm just being a wimp!) Anyway, I love running in 80 degree weather in a tank top and shorts- the hotter the better! I ended up on a new loop that was really nice (except for the 2.5 miles straight into the wind!) Funny story: I was running through this farm/industrial place/pizza headquarters at this point and for some reason they have 23 American flags (yes, I counted) really high up. I could see them all from really far away, blowing right in my face- mocking me! Ha, it was intense! Long story short, the run was good, short, sweet and relaxed, and really energized me! I got 7 miles in at 7:31 pace. Chatted with my sis on my porch (I love my new apartment!) and got cracking on cleaning. All good.
Tomorrow is crazy because I got an 'offer' from my boss to work a farmers' market with him in Detroit (we sell the stuff from the bakery). Soooo, we are meeting at 5am at the shop, and it will be a 5am-5pm day. Good news = overtime. Bad news = 3:45am alarm. Probably will take a rest day tomorrow as it has been exactly 3 weeks, which I like.
Alrighty, I'm off to pack and finish up cleaning! Happy Friday!
Going to make this quick because I'm on a role cleaning my apartment and don't want to interrupt it!
Let me tell you- 4:45am felt SO EARLY this morning. I promised myself I would nap post-work and probably take a rest day. My quads were tired from hills yesterday and overall I just felt wiped from the week.
Work was busy of course, but not too bad. The shift really drug on though and I was so ready to leave by the time 2pm rolled around. I knew I had a million and one things to do tonite to get ready to go home to my parents' after work tomorrow and I've hardly touched my to-do list for the week because of all of my working + working out. Buttt, the only thing on my mind was a nap. I ended up talking to my mom on the way home + about 4 more time after so I only laid down for 30 minutes or so. That is when I decided to go in the opposite direction- if a nap wasn't resting me, a run would! I knew that I would still be fighting gail force 4:30pm winds, but I just decided to head out on a new route and take it as easy as I could, as my legs were feeling fatigued still (don't know if it is work, running, or I'm just being a wimp!) Anyway, I love running in 80 degree weather in a tank top and shorts- the hotter the better! I ended up on a new loop that was really nice (except for the 2.5 miles straight into the wind!) Funny story: I was running through this farm/industrial place/pizza headquarters at this point and for some reason they have 23 American flags (yes, I counted) really high up. I could see them all from really far away, blowing right in my face- mocking me! Ha, it was intense! Long story short, the run was good, short, sweet and relaxed, and really energized me! I got 7 miles in at 7:31 pace. Chatted with my sis on my porch (I love my new apartment!) and got cracking on cleaning. All good.
Tomorrow is crazy because I got an 'offer' from my boss to work a farmers' market with him in Detroit (we sell the stuff from the bakery). Soooo, we are meeting at 5am at the shop, and it will be a 5am-5pm day. Good news = overtime. Bad news = 3:45am alarm. Probably will take a rest day tomorrow as it has been exactly 3 weeks, which I like.
Alrighty, I'm off to pack and finish up cleaning! Happy Friday!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
18- You never regret a run
Oh man, long day today! Passover + Easter + 80 degree weather = busy day at the bakery! Special sandwich orders, pasties, and the usual prep, plus constantly being called to work up front. Annd, I had to stay late so I was there 5am-2:30pm. Needless to say I was SO READY to get out into the beautiful day!
The problem being, it was almost 3pm and I meet my running group at 6pm. Butt, I wanted to get in some "Heartbreak Hill" repeats as I usually do on Thursdays. Let me tell you- I was SO not feeling it. I debated as I was driving about just not, and running easy in the evening. That's the point when I always remind myself that you never regret a run, but will almost always regret not running. Sooo, I pulled into downtown about a mile from the hill, did a quick change (into a tanktop and shorts!!! 80 degrees!!!) and started off. It was a quicky, because I needed a few minutes between runs, so it went something like this:
1 mile wu @ 7:20
3/4 mile hill @ 8:08
downhill rest @7:25
3/4 mile hill @ 8:10
downhill rest @ 7:26
1 mile cooldown @ 8ish I think
I only had 40 minutes on the meter, so that was my time limit! Overall, the 5 miles were 7:54 pace which I am pleased with. It was super hot- I loved it! And, I did the repeats almost 30 seconds per mile faster than 2 weeks ago! Yay! I was happy afterall that I did this workout.
Came home, changed into non-sweaty clothes, pounded a smoothie and was back on my way to meet my running group. Super-easy run tonite. My legs/quads were dead though, from the hills! Then, we stuffed packets for an upcoming race. Nice evening just chilling out talking running with good people.
And suddenly it is 9pm and I'm wondering where the day went! I need to pack and get ready to do it all over again. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty beat- in my body and just fatigue from early mornings. So much for a 'break!' Ha, isn't that how it always works?
Running wise- tomorrow will be EASY. One run. And I'm going to make it slow. I need some recovery after doing doubles and triples everyday this week!
Did I mention that I LOVE this weather!?!?!
The problem being, it was almost 3pm and I meet my running group at 6pm. Butt, I wanted to get in some "Heartbreak Hill" repeats as I usually do on Thursdays. Let me tell you- I was SO not feeling it. I debated as I was driving about just not, and running easy in the evening. That's the point when I always remind myself that you never regret a run, but will almost always regret not running. Sooo, I pulled into downtown about a mile from the hill, did a quick change (into a tanktop and shorts!!! 80 degrees!!!) and started off. It was a quicky, because I needed a few minutes between runs, so it went something like this:
1 mile wu @ 7:20
3/4 mile hill @ 8:08
downhill rest @7:25
3/4 mile hill @ 8:10
downhill rest @ 7:26
1 mile cooldown @ 8ish I think
I only had 40 minutes on the meter, so that was my time limit! Overall, the 5 miles were 7:54 pace which I am pleased with. It was super hot- I loved it! And, I did the repeats almost 30 seconds per mile faster than 2 weeks ago! Yay! I was happy afterall that I did this workout.
Came home, changed into non-sweaty clothes, pounded a smoothie and was back on my way to meet my running group. Super-easy run tonite. My legs/quads were dead though, from the hills! Then, we stuffed packets for an upcoming race. Nice evening just chilling out talking running with good people.
And suddenly it is 9pm and I'm wondering where the day went! I need to pack and get ready to do it all over again. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty beat- in my body and just fatigue from early mornings. So much for a 'break!' Ha, isn't that how it always works?
Running wise- tomorrow will be EASY. One run. And I'm going to make it slow. I need some recovery after doing doubles and triples everyday this week!
Did I mention that I LOVE this weather!?!?!
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