F^3 Lake Half Marathon Training Week 9

Week of January 15-21

Monday Planned: Race pace+speed 7 miles, 4x100 strides, 2 miles at HM pace
Monday Actual: It was -20 to -35 windchill throughout the day, so I went ice skating indoors with Emily. Somehow I forgot to take a picture. So this is one of me in my car, solo. Womp. I also got a massage. And did core work. Whoa.

Tuesday Planned: Recovery 5 mile
Tuesday Actual: See above -24 to -34 temps.

Wednesday Planned: Recovery 4 mile
Wednesday Actual: 4 Miles at the group run.

Thursday Planned: Recovery 3 miles 
Thursday Actual: Rest

Friday Planned: Recovery 3 miles 
Friday Actual: 3 mile recovery run with a couple of strides at the coffee run.

Saturday Planned:  F^3 Lake Half Marathon
Saturday Actual: Half marathon number 33!

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Rest and a long ass drive home.

Total Mileage Planned: 35 Miles
Total Mileage Actual: 16.2 miles

Weekly Reads: Sidetracked

Sidetracked made its way on to my TBR pile based on the cover alone. A track book? Sign me up! But it was even more than that,  for one it was about cross country, and for two it shows how great and terrible youth can be, but that good can usually always prevail. Quick great read.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

To Joseph Friedman, middle school might as well be the Running of the Bulls. He’s friendless and puny, with ADD to boot, so he spends most of his time avoiding class bully Charlie Kastner and hiding out in the Resource Room, a safe place for misfit kids like him. But then, on the first day of seventh grade, two important things happen. First, his Resource Room teacher Mrs. T encourages (i.e., practically forces) him to join the school track team, and second, he meets Heather, a tough, athletic new girl who isn’t going to be pushed around by Charlie Kastner—or anybody else.

At first, track is as much of a disaster as everything else in Joseph’s life. But slowly Joseph hits his stride, and instead of running from the bulls . . . he’s just running.

F^3 Lake Half Marathon Race Goals

Toni and I are making our way to Chicago today to take on the F3 Lake Half Marathon tomorrow morning. Lucky for us, the race is late morning, as it is January in the Midwest. When I finished my half in November, I knew that my goal for this race was sub 2. And I wanted to be in good enough shape that a sub 2 would be a guarantee, so I could just focus on how far below sub 2 I could be.

The last 10 weeks of training have gone really well, so instead of our original ORIGINAL goal of "hey let's do this half marathon to make sure we continue to train through the midwest winter because it'd be so much easier NOT TO" that sub 2 knock it out of the park is looking more and more feasible.

A goal: If I have a super de duper day, I think I can run a 1:57-1:58. The course is an out and back which should help keep me from running a 13.3 or further.

B goal: Sub 2, even by the skin of my teeth. 1:59:59? Cool. I'm game. (Although I really hope it doesn't come down to being that close!)

C goal: Faster than my November time... 2:04:17. This race was a 9:23 pace, on a course that I zig and zagged back and forth across the road to dodge traffic on ALL THE FREAKIN' HILLS.

Tomorrow I *will* run my fastest half marathon since 2012. Can't wait!

Reigning in the Focus

Over the last several weeks, there have been a ton of discussions about goals for the upcoming year. I love goals. They keep me on task, they keep me motivated, and hitting the goals helps keep me going toward the next big goal. While chatting with some running friends lately, I was reminded about the importance of looking at the big picture when setting goals.

It's so easy to just cast a big list of goals out there for the year. I want a marathon PR this year. I want a half marathon PR this year. I want to run all the miles. I want to be fast. I want to have fun. But I also know that the older I get, and the longer I'm a runner, the harder I have to work to run a personal best.

In 2017 I had a few time goals: sub 2:05 half and sub 25 5k time. My ultimate goal was to build back consistent mileage so I could tackle another marathon in 2018. Whoa. Who thinks about and prepares for a marathon almost two years in advance? Well, me I guess.

I know that my best years of running (time/performance wise) was in 2010 and 2011. My most consistent years of running were 2009, 2010, and 2011. So I've tried to put myself in a position to emulate my mileage with a smarter understanding of the sport of 2009. Check and check!

I PR'd my half marathon while training for a marathon in 2011. I have gone back and forth about running a half marathon in August leading up to Twin Cities Marathon. It's 6 or 7 weeks out from TCM and is a slightly downhill course, and a really great race time would give me all the confidence in the world toward my marathon. BUT, a downhill course could piss of my IT bands and cause me to not be able to train very hard the final 4-6 weeks. Looking back at my marathon in 2011, I may have sacrificed my chance for a PR because I focused on a half PR and 10k PR as well.

So to reign in my focus for 2018, I'm excited to focus on a speedy half marathon this spring. Higher mileage, 3 races 3-4 weeks apart from April to June. I don't think I'll snag a PR this spring, although never say never, but I do think I can run a really strong fast half. So that's my goal for the first half of the year. After the half in Duluth, the focus shifts 100% to a marathon PR. Because that is *the* goal for 2018. I hope to be able to ask myself the question "does this help or hurt your chances for a marathon PR?" and answer it honestly anytime I get a hair brained idea about a new race/adventure throughout the year (as I'm apt to do).

What's your focus for 2018??

F^3 Lake Half Marathon Training Week 8

Week of January 8-14

Monday Planned: GA + Speed 6 miles 6x100
Monday Actual: 6 recovery miles. My legs felt like garbage all day so I told Toni I really wanted to skip the run but wouldn't because it was nice out. I did tell her that I needed to go slow. Luckily after the first 1.25 miles my legs loosened up and it felt great. My heart rate was super low, so that was exactly what I needed.

Tuesday Planned: Recovery 4 mile
Tuesday Actual: Rest. Grumble grumble. It was beautiful out, and I couldn't get myself outside for a run. I'm still annoyed at myself.

Wednesday Planned: VO2 Max 9 miles 2x1200, 2x1000, 2x800 @ 3k-5k pace
Wednesday Actual: Toni and I did 4 miles before the group run, planning to go to the track after yoga, but Toni had to leave unexpectedly and I was too scared to run on the track solo that late at night. Also we didn't get a picture. It was a weird night.

Thursday Planned: Rest
Thursday Actual: One hour of POWER. I would've made up some miles but it was cold as hell out. No thanks.

Friday Planned: Recovery 3 miles 
Friday Actual: We had planned 4 miles at the coffee run but the -24 degrees convinced us otherwise. I'm sick of winter.

Saturday Planned: Endurance 10 miles
Saturday Actual: After I taught yoga, we went out for 5 miles, opting to push our long run to Sunday since it was going to be almost double digits. HEAT WAVE YOU GUYS!!

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: 10 mile long run with Toni.

Total Mileage Planned: 32 Miles
Total Mileage Actual: 25.17 miles

Weekly Reads: Little and Lion

Little & Lion is another book that has popped up on my Printz radar and was one that sounded really interesting. I've never read anything by Brandy Colbert, so I was excited to dive into this one. The story itself was really fast paced and had serious moments of sweetness, and I really appreciated a main character who is bisexual. I love that more and more books are featuring lesbian and gay characters; that did not exist when I was a teen, but I love even more when different populations are represented, in this case bisexual/questioning. I just know that the more teens who can get their hands on books that make them feel like weird/strange, and more okay, the better off we'll be. That's the librarian in me talking, obvs. Anyway, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. 

My rating 4.5 stars

summary from goodreads:  

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse. 

New Years Eve Celebration

Early in December, one of my favorite local wineries posted an event on Facebook for a New Years Eve celebration called "but first... Champagne". Excuse me, where do I sign up?? It took some convincing to get Kyle on board, but it happened! He didn't want to enjoy any of the champagne (and technically it's not since the grapes are made here, but close enough, sparkling wine doesn't sound as fun, right?) but I made the executive decision to get him the champagne ticket as well because if he didn't like it I could think of someone who would drink it for him. ME.

There were six sparkling wines/champagnes that they paired with individual tastings. Roughly at the top of every half hour a new drink was poured and more food served.

Somewhere along the way, Kyle and I learned to take a picture with his head a ways away from the camera and mine closer so it doesn't look like his head is 3x larger than mine (it is). Photo win!

The decor in the winery for the event is probably what it'll look like in heaven: chandeliers, glittery signs and cutouts, all the sparkle.

The winery owner also demonstrated his sabering skills throughout the night. At one point a couple of guests tried their hand at it, and I actually thought they were going to leave in an ambulance with a thumb on ice. Don't drink and saber you guys.

There's some blueberry cheese on this plate below and if you haven't had any before, what are you waiting for?! My new favorite thing.

Kyle and I purchased two bottles of the champagne at the end of the evening and this is one of them. It tasted like summer in a flute. 

This is the second one we purchased. yum yum.

Fun night with a fun guy. And the best part is that it went from 4-8pm, we counted down to the new year in France as well as Ireland, and I very well could've gone to bed when it was all said and done, but instead I was a trooper and we went out to one of Kyle's friends after. When I say I was a trooper, I mean, I drank more Champagne and we were still in bed by 11:30pm. Whatever, we're adults. We can do what we want.