Race Goals: Brookings Half Marathon

Leading up to the 605 Running Co. Half marathon, I had thought if everything went perfectly that day, I could maybe come in just under 1:55. I knew my training was there prior to my knee getting pissed off, and I wasn't sure how much my endurance had been effected by some significant time off, especially from the long run, which is typically my weakness.

It just so happens that a 1:55 also corresponds nicely with my Brookings half course PR of 1:55:07. So my absolute A goal for the day is to run my course PR, ideally sub 1:55.


If this doesn't happen, my B goal would be to run under a 9 minute pace. It would be a huge thing mentally for my average pace to be an 8:xx.
My C goal, would be to run faster than the 605 half.
I love this race, so I just want to enjoy it and work hard. 

Brookings Half Marathon Training Week

Monday Planned: GA+speed 6 miles 2 sets 6x100 strides
Monday Actual: 605 Strength + GA+speed 6 miles 2 sets 6x100 strides. So many strides. SO MUCH WIND. So much degrees (80, wtf).

Tuesday Planned: Recovery 4 miles
Tuesday Actual: Rest.

Wednesday Planned:  VO2 Max 9 miles 2x1200, 2x1000, 2x800 @ 3k-5k pace
Wednesday Actual: Recovery 4 miles with the 605 Group Run. I got to run with so many new friends! 

Thursday Planned:  rest 
Thursday Actual: VO2 Max 9 miles 2x1200, 2x1000, 2x800 @ 3k-5k pace. Round and round and round we went. So many laps at the track. 

Also I'm obsessed with my new watch face.

Friday Planned: Recovery 3 miles
Friday Actual: Recovery 3 miles at the coffee run, just 10 hours after our speed workout. Woof. 

Saturday Planned: Endurance 10 Miles
Saturday Actual: Endurance 10 Miles, followed by ALL OF THE BEVERAGES.

Then we spectated the Howard Wood Relays. And my legs felt so horrendous after running and then sitting on bleachers for hours called for legs up the wall before bed.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Rest and ALL THE YOGA CLASSES.  Vinyasa, myofascial release, and restorative teaching. Woop!

Total Mileage Planned: 32 Miles
Total Mileage Actual:  32.15 miles

Weekly Reads: Emergency Contact

I love a book set in that freshman year of college. Rebirth, rebranding, just a crazy time in your life. And this book sounded awesome. And the cover, is gorgeous. I was really head over heels for this book, and then it just seemed to drag on a bit in the middle. I think it'd be a 4 star review if it had kept up the momentum a little bit! Still worth picking up and deciding for yourself!

My rating: 3 stars

Summary from goodreads: For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him. 

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

April in Review

Total Miles:  64.64 down from 106.01 miles last month.  104.9 miles last April. I'm pretty bummed to have missed the 100 mile mark for this month, as that was a goal of mine for the year. But I do think that it was important to listen to my body and err on the side of caution and rest to make sure that I could still race my planned races, and not keeping pushing to require even more time off. Still stinks. :(

Total Time: 10:28:03 down from 17:24:01. 

Total Runs: 15 runs, average of 4.31 miles/run

Highest weekly mileage: 

4/16/2018 – 4/22/2018:	19.3 mi	3:00:59	9:24 / mi

Most hardcore run: I honestly haven't had any challenging runs this month. Once my knee flared up, I cut all the speed work from my schedule and scaled way back on the mileage. The hardcore part of training was probably not doing all the miles and fun track work because I wanted to!

Favorite run: All of the coffee runs. It seems like Toni and I spent a lot of time not running together this month, and I missed *us*. We seemed to re-connect on Fridays and do a monster life catch up during our 3-4 mile runs.

Favorite Race: 605 Half Marathon. So hard mentally. So happy with the outcome.

Favorite Jam: Tegan and Sara's Every Chance We Get We Run. Still. STILL. still. Does anyone have a new song to suggest to me??! :P

Recovery Boots Review

Normally I toss most things that end up in my race packets, but for the 605 Running Co. Half Marathon, I was super excited to see a coupon for a free 30 minute session in recovery boots at Active Spine in town. I constantly see elite athletes posting pics of using them at home, and I've wanted to try them for the last year. I was super excited to try them out without having to pay for a session first!

On Friday, I did a nice easy 4 mile at the coffee run, and then 4 hours later had my session. I wore comfy Lululemon yoga pants, and brought a book to read. On my drive in, I had wished that I had brought earbuds because I was listening to a really interesting podcast about hill training (mental note: don't forget to train for the hills of TC this year). When I checked in, they led me downstairs to the chair, got me set up and then let me sit for the 30 minutes.

I pulled the boots up, velcroed them at the top, and was on my way to recovery bliss. The gal who helped me showed me how to adjust the intensity of the squeeze if it was too much. I had thought that the boots would just inflate and then stay for 30 minutes, so I was pleasantly surprised when they seemed to toggle through. Starting at the feet, to calves, through the thighs, and then the tops of the thighs it would inflate, and inflate, and inflate and inflate, and then just about the point where you started to feel some uncomfortable tingling in your feet, they'd release out and start over.

The 30 minutes flew by. My legs felt awesome when I was done. They charge $10 per 30 minute session, and I plan to make it at least a monthly occurrence. I try to get a massage monthly, so I'm hoping I can book a session in the boots two weeks after my massage so every other week I'm getting some sort of recovery TLC. Honestly, once marathon training starts ramping up, I could even justify being there more frequently. My only wish is that they had more than one set, so I could go with a buddy (ie: BRF Toni).

**I am in no way being paid or compensated for this post. I received a free session for my participation in the race, just like every one else, but was very satisfied with the experience and wanted to share for other local runners!

Thanks Active Spine and 605 Running Co.!

Race Hard, Recover Harder--Recovery Week

Monday Planned: Rest
Monday Actual: Rest. Foam rolling and stick!

Tuesday Planned: Recovery 4 miles
Tuesday Actual: Another rest day. My quads were still really really tight and yucky feeling. More foam rolling and sticking, morning and evening.

Wednesday Planned:  Recovery 4 miles
Wednesday Actual: 90 minute massage and 3 mile run at the group run. Foam rolling after the run. Legs (quads) were super duper tight and fatigued still.

Thursday Planned:  rest 
Thursday Actual: 4 Miles with Toni!! Legs felt better, but still not 100%.

Friday Planned: Recovery 3 miles
Friday Actual: Recovery 4 miles. My legs FINALLY feel better. Phew. Followed by 30 minutes in recovery boots later in the morning. Review to come!

Saturday Planned: Recovery 5 miles
Saturday Actual: 

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: 6 miles with Toni followed by a very necessary epsom bath. It was so insanely windy for the run, I was so thankful that I didn't have a legit long run today. Uff da.

Total Mileage Planned: 16 Miles
Total Mileage Actual:  17.2 miles

Weekly Reads: The Ever After

The Ever After is the newest title by Sarah Pekkanen, out on June 5th. I received an e-ARC of it to read and review honestly. I always enjoy Sarah Pekkanen's books, so I didn't hesitate to read this one on my recent trip home from Boston. I honestly hadn't even read the description, so it wasn't subject matter that I would've necessarily been drawn to. I do think it an interesting portrayal of life after infidelity. I have no clue if it's an accurate depiction of it, and hope to never find out, but it did feel very honest and raw to me. Definitely worth a read, and I think a new foray for the author.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

In this intricate and enthralling domestic drama the author of the “gossipy page-turner” (Glamour) The Perfect Neighbors goes deep into a marriage in crisis, peeling back layers of secrets to discover where the relationship veered off course—and whether it is worth saving.

Josie and Frank Moore are happy… at least Josie thinks they are. As parents of two young girls in the Chicago suburbs, their days can be both busy and monotonous, and sometimes Josie wonders how she became a harried fortysomething mother rather than the driven career woman she once was. But Frank is a phenomenal father, he’s handsome and charismatic, and he still looks at his wife like she’s the beautiful woman he married more than a decade ago. Josie isn’t just happy—she’s lucky.

Until one Saturday morning when Josie borrows her husband’s phone to make a quick call—and sees nine words that shatter her world.

Now Josie feels as if she is standing at the edge of a sharp precipice. As she looks back at pivotal moments in the relationship she believed would last forever, she is also plunging ahead, surprising everyone (especially herself) with how far she will go to uncover the extent of her husband’s devastating secret.