Maintenance Training Week 5

Week of June 19-25

Monday: My BRF was FINALLY back in town. So we met up for some warm up miles before the weekly Parks and Rec 5k race. We got in two miles, the 3.01 of the race (it's a short course) followed by the slowest one mile cool down in all of the land. It felt like a brick mile.

There was a large group of SFWR at the race. YAY!

Tuesday: I got to the group run early to get in a leisurely 3 mile shake out run. It was finally cooler temps and my body was loving it! I did two miles of walk/run with the group before a 30 minute yin yoga class. Yay stretching.

Wednesday: I did a sweltering 3 miles with Toni at the group run. I texted her earlier in the week that maybe we could do a speedier/tempo-like run on Wednesday. And then some storms rolled through and it was 93 degrees with a million percent humdity. So a slow slog it was. Followed by some yoga.

Thursday: I went back and forth about a trail run or a rest day, finally opting at the last minute for a rest day. I had run 4 days in a row, so I thought I'd be smart and treat my body to an epsom bath instead of a run.

Friday: 60 minutes of POWER. I had planned to do 3 miles afterward but I jacked up my back pretty severely during POWER. And it got worse and worse throughout the day. By far the worst back pain I've ever had. I took an epsom bath immediately after POWER, took ibuprofen, used my myofascial release balls on my low back to release some of the tension, and I was still dyyyyying. Luckily my friend was able to get me in for an emergency massage right after work, which helped. An any icy hot back patch immediately after I got home. Ahhhh.

Saturday: I was still in pretty rough shape Saturday morning but had to teach yoga, so I modified class a bit so that my body could demo most of it as necessary. The yoga helped loosen up my back, but I was still a ways from normal.

Sunday: My back was still pretty tight, so I took another day off from running. Womp. I took a 60 minute slow flow yoga class followed by a 75 minute restorative yoga class.

Total Mileage: 14 miles.

Base Building Week 8

Week of February 13-19


Monday Planned: General Aerobic 7 miles
Monday Actual: Still sick. Blech. Of course it was gorgeous out. I did get some foam rolling and sticking in during the evening when I was finally out of bed.

Tuesday Planned: Sanford Power
Tuesday Actual: Sanford Power. I had a really rough time at POWER and probably should've taken the day off. I could barely lift and definitely couldn't go up in weights at all. I was pouring sweat and felt like I was going to die. Oops.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic + Speed 8 Miles 8x100 m strides 
Wednesday Actual: It was the most beautiful day on the planet. My big plan was to run 5 miles before group run and the last 3 with them, but my gallbladder attack left me with major back pain. I taught a vinyasa class at the running store.

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 6 Miles
Thursday Actual: Still no run. I did do core work thinking that might help with my back pain. :( Kyle and I had our Valentine's Day date that we had to postpone from me being sick.

Friday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Friday Actual: More rest, including a 3.5 hour nap during the middle of the day. Good gracious.

Saturday Planned: Endurance 9 Miles
Saturday Actual: I had plans with a running friend to knock this run out and my stomach was too angry to even try.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: This week was a wash. Hey, I should be nice and fresh for week one of half training next week!

Total Mileage Planned: 31 miles

Total Mileage Actual:  

Base Building Week 7

Week of February 6-12

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 6 miles
Monday Actual: General Aerobic 6 miles with my girl J Park! The first two miles took forever and then the run flew by.

Tuesday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Tuesday Actual: 70 minute power strengthening class. I had wanted to do Wednesday's run in the morning but my low back was killing me.

Wednesday Planned: Lactate Threshold 7 miles with 20 minutes at tempo
Wednesday Actual: 3 Mile recovery run with Toni and a new friend. I was shocked at our pace for a recovery run. Wahoo!! It was also cold as balls outside.

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 6 Miles
Thursday Actual: REST. I was set to run but the forecast for Friday through Sunday looked so spectacular that I pushed all of my runs back a day. Gorgeous.

Friday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Friday Actual:

Saturday Planned: Endurance 9 Miles
Saturday Actual: After yoga at the brewery I did 3 easy recovery miles with Jordanne. I thought it was the beer we drank before the run that had me feeling like I was gasping for air. When we were done, I realized it was the 100% humidity. Barf.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: I had plans with two running friends and for once I was SUPER excited to do my long run and hit my highest weekly mileage in over a year (or two!). I woke up at 3am with a horrendous gall bladder attack. I texted the gals at 7am, thinking I would be able to make it later in the day. No chance. This was the sickest I've been in a really long time. Blech.

Total Mileage Planned: 28 miles
Total Mileage Actual:  19.1 miles :(

Base Building Week 5 and 6

Week of January 23-29

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 5 miles
Monday Actual: I went home sick from work at lunch, so I did zero miles.

Tuesday Planned: Rest/Cycling/Power
Tuesday Actual: Rest. Skipped power because I still wasn't feeling well.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 3 Miles
Wednesday Actual: I skipped the run for dinner with Emily. It was super cold and tons of snow and I regret nothing!

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 3 Miles
Thursday Actual: I recruited a treadmill accountability buddy for after work and hung on for 5 general aerobic miles.

Friday Planned: Rest
Friday Actual: Travel day, didn't feel like rest, but zero miles.

Saturday Planned: General Aerobic 3 Miles
Saturday Actual: Super early morning shakeout run with Dominique around her neighborhood. She took me on all the hills and my legs felt like death, so we did 2 miles. I think we walked 6-7 miles sightseeing so I was just fine cutting it short.

Sunday Planned: Too Cold to Hold Half Marathon Race 13.1 miles
Sunday Actual: Half Marathon with a long course 13.4 miles.

Total Mileage:  20.4 miles.

Week of January 30-February 5
Recovery Week

Monday Planned: Rest
Monday Actual: Rest. Tons of Walking. All the delicious food in Ft. Worth.

Tuesday Planned: Rest
Tuesday Actual: Rest and travel home. :(

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 5 Miles
Wednesday Actual:I had planned to run 2-3 at group run, but I didn't pack nearly warm enough stuff. So I spent the 30 minutes foam rolling and sticking before an hour of yin yoga.

Thursday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Thursday Actual: Rest.

Friday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Friday Actual: Beautiful three miles. No pain no brokenness. Seven whole minutes of running in the sunlight!

Saturday Planned: General Aerobic 5 Miles
Saturday Actual: I sat on the couch and watched Sherlock with the pug.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: I attempted my long run again and ended up with 3.76 miles. I was exhausted, cut it short, and took walk breaks. Oh well, that's what recovery week is for! 60 minutes of yin yoga. 

Total Mileage: 6.76 miles

Base Building Week 4

Week of January16-22

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 5 miles
Monday Actual: 5 General Aerobic Miles. This was the run I did where I was shocked how much quicker my pace is at my GA heart rate zone. Wahoo! After the run I id a 45 minute hot power yoga class.

Tuesday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Tuesday Actual: 70 Minutes of Sanford POWER.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 4 Miles
Wednesday Actual: 3 General Aerobic Miles. The bike trails were very slick so we were pretty pokey. I had wanted 3.5, but the trail was so slick that I turned around at 1.5 miles. I taught vinyasa yoga after so I got some good stretching in with the crew.

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 6 Miles with 6x100 meter strides
Thursday Actual: Rest. Still SO SORE from Power. Uff.

Friday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Friday Actual: Rest. Insanely foggy after work. Realized it'd be pretty dangerous to run in zero visibility as drivers don't typically see runners when the visibility is great. Bought an AWESOME reflective vest with a blinking light so I won't have this excuse in the future!

Saturday Planned: Endurance 8 Miles
Saturday Actual: Taught 2 back to back yoga classes. Planned to go out for 5-6 after yoga but it didn't happen.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Toni and I met up to do our long run. I was planning 8-9 with the last 3rd turned up to half marathon race pace. The bike trail was so slick we both decided it wasn't worth it to hurt ourselves before our upcoming halfs (she's racing next weekend too!). Got in 4.25 miles of ice skating.

Planned Mileage: 25 miles
Total Mileage: 12.4 miles. Uff. Taper? Sure.

Base Building Week 3

Week of January 9-15

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 5 miles
Monday Actual: Rest. My stomach was pretty upset, so I just went home and got ready for the National Championship.

Tuesday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Tuesday Actual: I got up with every intention of doing my five mile run. The wind chill was above zero! What a treat! In the 20 minutes it took me to pry myself away from the pug and her sweet snuggles, the temp had dropped 20 degrees, with 36 mph winds, blowing snow. I watched reality TV before work instead.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 4 Miles
Wednesday Actual: General Aerobic 3.53 Miles. I didn't have quite enough time for 4 miles before I had to teach yoga, so I had to make due with 3.53. This is making me realize that 5-7 mile runs that I have on my training program on Wednesdays down the road will not happen. Hmmmm....

Thursday Planned: Lactate Threshold 6 miles, 16 minutes at tempo
Thursday Actual: General Aerobic 5 miles
Toni and I set out with this as the plan. It was -8 with wind chill, and the sidewalks were still covered in ice and snow covered ice. I decided around mile 2 that I'd be dropping the LT portion of the run because I knew we wouldn't get 1.5 miles without ice and both of us have the teeniest of left hamstring annoyances. When we turned into the wind, I thought I was going to die, so I asked Toni if we could cut it to 5 miles. She had gorgeous snowflake lashes. I had a gash on my neck from my gaiter freezing to me and then getting tore off. Also chafing in unmentionable places.

Friday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Friday Actual: Rest

Saturday Planned: Endurance 10 Miles
Saturday Actual: Endurance 10 Miles. Finally a run above 0 degrees! It was a beautiful day for a run, snowy bike path and icy in spots, bt I could feel my fac, feet, and fingers so that's a win. Since I didn't do the LT portion of my run earlier in the week, I did 3 minute pickups every 20 minutes. One of the best runs I've had in a long time. Reminded me why I love ten mile runs!

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Rest+recovery. I foam rolled, sticked, and did corework.

Planned mileage: 25 miles

Total Mileage: 18.3 miles

Base Building Week 2

Week of January 2-9

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 4 miles
Monday Actual: 4 Miles recovery. Since I did my long run on Sunday, I switched my four miles to recovery to save my body. It was super icy out so that helped keep the pace slow and my heart rate low. Avg HR 143.

Tuesday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Tuesday Actual: Sanford POWER session, 60 minutes.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 5 miles, 6x100 meter strides
Wednesday Actual: General Aerobic 4 miles. Stomach was really upset so I did Friday's workout. Treadmill miles so my HR was higher than I had hoped it'd be because it was hot in there!

Thursday Planned: Rest/Cycling
Thursday Actual: Rest. Sweet sweet rest. Red wine drinking. Is that considered cross training?

Friday Planned: General Aerobic 4 miles
Friday Actual: General Aerobic 5 miles, 6x100 meter strides. Really glad I swapped my Friday and Wednesday run because I was able to do this run outside. Even though there was ice and dark areas, I was still able to open up my stride for a little bit of speedwork. Despite running considerably faster than Wednesday (probably 40 seconds per mile), my heart rate was significantly lower. 

Saturday Planned: Rest
Saturday Actual: Rest

Sunday Planned: Endurance 9 Miles
Sunday Actual: Nothing. :( A bunch of my friends were running 36 miles for their birthdays. I wanted to run with them in the morning, but it was so cold. -20, no thank you. I had plans to run with two of my friends after the Packers game. I tweaked my back in the morning, and then my stomach was super upset during the game. All signs were pointing toward, no run. Sadsies.

GO PACK GO!

Total Mileage Planned: 22 miles
Total Mileage Actual: 13 miles

Base Building Week 1

Week of December 26-January 1

Monday Planned: General Aerobic 4 miles
Monday Actual: 5 miles of ice skating
It's my birthday so I'll ice skate if I want to!! And then drink beer during the daytime with friends.

Tuesday Planned: 1 Hour Sanford POWER
Tuesday Actual:  1 Hour Sanford POWER
I'm obsessed with the weekly POWER classes, I'm so stoked that they're going to continue this winter, AND that they'll fit my work schedule. I credit this class significantly for keeping me injury free the past couple of months.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 3 Miles
Wednesday Actual: General Aerobic 3 Miles
Group run at 605 Running Co. with a couple of gals. It was really icy in spots so there was a bit of walking and some walk breaks for my running friend. 

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 4 Miles
Thursday Actual: Rest
 I had planned to go to the gym and hit the treadmill after work, but my stomach was super upset, so I went home instead.

Friday Planned: Rest
Friday Actual: Rest
After skipping my Thursday run, I had actually planned to do it Friday after work, but see notes from Thursday, stomach was still super angry at me. More rest.

Saturday Planned: Endurance 8 Miles
Saturday Actual: General Aerobic 3.27 Miles
I was going to meet up with a bunch of my running friends for a MASSIVE group run at 605 Running Co. but I woke up and didn't want to do anything. So I ate fresh baked cookies in bed with the pug, and then ate ice cream for lunch. After the Alabama game (ROLL TIDE!), I laced up my shoes and headed out for an easy loop around town. I kept the pace easy and my HR in the GA zone. Before the run I did my clam shell exercises with my new resistance bands!

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Endurance 8 Miles
I recruited some lovely runner chicks to join me for the first run of 2017! It was a chilly morning for the first half into the wind, but I got really warm really fast once it was at our back. The miles just flyyyyy by when you have company and are chatting it up. I need to remember this when I want to bag a group run. 

Total Mileage Planned: 19 miles
Total Mileage Actual: 19.3 miles

Spring Race Plan

A few weeks ago, I had the insane idea that I would run a half marathon every month in 2017. After spending an entire Sunday plotting, pricing, and spread sheeting the hell out of the idea, I thought about my goals for 2017. In 2017, I'd really like to get faster. I looked at running a race every month in 2017... would that really help with my goal of getting faster? Maybe, maybe not. By spending money to travel for races during not great racing months (February, July, August) I was taking away from being able to double up on some months where it is beautiful to race around here--April, May, October.

I decided to scrap the plan for now, but I will do it someday when I have more of a focus on quantity over quality (and perhaps when my bank account has a lot more $$$ in it so I can travel to some really great locations!).

My plan for the spring is to travel to Dallas in January to see my family and Dominique. In March, I'll travel to San Antonio with Kyle for a work trip (that conveniently falls on the weekend of the Alamo 13.1!), and then my goal race for the spring will be the Brookings Half.

I recently learned that Pete Pfitzinger has a new book specifically for 5ks-half marathons, Faster Road Racing: 5K to Half Marathon. I have had a love affair with his book for marathoners, Advanced Marathoning, and ran my 10k and half marathon PRs during tune up races while training for a full on his plan in 2011.

This go around, I'm working through a 10 week base building program that will get me from my current mileage to 30 miles a week. I do have to modify it a bit, because during that first 10 weeks I'll be running the half in Dallas. More or less as a fun run slash reason to keep running during December/January when it is so much easier to stop running here!

The 12 week program will peak at 47 miles (eeps!) and has great progression through the different stages of training, similar to Advanced Marathoning. I'm also planning to continue with my weekly Sanford POWER sessions if they continue to offer them on a night or early morning that works with my schedule! Fingers crossed. 2017 might be a speedy year! Wait and see.

(yes I 100% asked for this new book for Christmas from my MIL. Danielle sent me the marathon one years ago on our mutual request to be speedy... spoiler, I never did, she REALLY did!)