M Rest T 3.23 W 2.92 TH7.24 F Rest SRan 4.00 SRan 15.34
Tuesday was a nice 40 minutes of running. I also cut off 3 inches from my hair (feels so much better) and bought card stock paper and pens at Michael’s. I went there to return some ribbon that I had purchased in December. The paper is pretty! Someone suggested I use it to make something for Mother’s Day.
A friend of mine had mentioned the Brooks Asteria as a good running shoe and I ordered a pair. Got mine on Wednesday in time for my 35 minutes run. I like the colors and the feel reminds me of the Pure Flow. That was my favorite shoe before I discovered the Launch.
I ran in them again for Thursday’s run. I also received a pair of the Oiselle Pocket Jogger Shorts. I’ve heard great things about it and am thinking that this might be the shorts I wear for the Illinois Marathon. The weather was decent and I didn’t know it was going to snow. It began when I was out there and I did not want to return home to change. I kept running. It wasn’t that bad and eventually it stopped. You can see my legs are red. 🙂
My run was 2 mile warm up, 2×15 minutes @10:43 pace, 2 mile cool down. I ran by feel and didn’t look at my watch but knew I was running those 15 minutes at a faster pace and it felt comfortable. I had no idea the second interval was faster. That was another confidence booster that I needed for my upcoming marathon.
Saturday morning I went out for 4 miles. It was cold (20 degrees) but very sunny which warmed me up. I also ran by feel and felt comfortable on my run. I had headwind the first 2 miles but knew it would be much better when I turned around for the last 2 miles. I didn’t mean to go faster than my easy pace (11:56-13:04) and I ended up with negative splits.
Less than 3 weeks till the Illinois Marathon! 🙂
Today’s run was a 3 hour run (45 minutes warm up, 3×30 minutes @10:55, 10:45, and 10:35, then 45 minutes cool down). I was hurting when I was done. The wind was just too much and no matter where I turned, it was there trying to push me back. I didn’t hit all of my paces but I am still proud because I ran for 3 hours. Plus, the average pace for the 3rd interval is 10:44 which is a big decrease from the 2nd interval average pace of 10:57. Pretty good!
I believe this is my longest run for this marathon training. No 20 miles for me. 🙂
Total mileage for the week: 32.73 Total mileage for this training cycle: 415.02 Total mileage for the year: 336.19
M Rest T 3.19 W 3.26 TH Rest F 7.35 SRan 11.68 SRan 4.00
I took it nice and slow on Tuesday. I was actually very tired and seriously questioned why I was out running. My splits were 12:08, 12:38, 12:32.
I almost bought these DD/Saucony Kinvara 4 shoes but they were sold out by the time I made up my mind to buy them.
Wednesday’s run actually felt better. I wore shorts and a new Oiselle top that was sold out but miraculously one became available for me to order.
My left knee is being a jerk and I’ve been using RockTape. I am a little worried because my marathon is in less than a month and I hope I can still run it.
Thursday afternoon was the start of Spring Break. I came home and stayed in bed for a bit. I was very tired. I did not want to run and I didn’t.
Lola was more than happy to cuddle with me.
Since I skipped my run on Thursday, I went on Friday morning. It was a gorgeous day for running! My workout was 1.5 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile @10:01 with 4 minutes recovery, and 1 mile cool down.
I did pretty good! It was hard. I didn’t look at my pace for the mile repeats (except for the last mile) and ran by feel. The last mile felt ever harder. My legs were tired and the wind was making me even more tired. I did stop about 3 times to catch my breath. I just wanted to finish. When I was done and checked my splits, I saw why I was tired at the end. I was running faster than I should have. But I can honestly say those paces felt hard but not enough for me to stop and walk (except the last mile). Overall, VERY PLEASED with how the run went.
I decided to switch and do my long run (150 minutes) on Saturday, so I could have all day to rest and recover. Mother Nature likes to mess with us. There was rain and lots of wind on the forecast. Sigh.
The original plan was to be out on the lakefront at 7am. I woke up at 7 but stayed in bed and didn’t get up till 9. Then I made pancakes and procrastinated. Then I got ready and by noon was hungry again so I ate a light lunch and watched TV. I was finally out the door st 2:30.
This run was HORRIBLE. It was windy and windy. No matter which direction I turned there was wind. I got tired early in my run and didn’t want to continue. My paces were all over the place. My fastest mile was 11:24 and my slowest was 13:53.
I wanted to quit but didn’t because thanks to Facebook I was reminded of my first ultramarathon 6 years ago. This run felt harder than the race. 🙂 I had to run the first 100 minutes at an easy pace and then the last 50 close to 11:00. Obviously that didn’t happen and I didn’t care. I was just so tired and wanted to be done.
Even if this run sucked, I am happy I didn’t quit. But I don’t know what it worse, quitting on a run or continuing but hating every minute of it. On a positive note, I was also happy because I ended March with 121.43 miles. Yay!!
To end the week I ran 4 miles today. It was cold but surprisingly didn’t feel too cold. I should have done my long run today but I really thought it was going to be very cold today.
Total mileage for the week: 29.48 Total mileage for this training cycle: 382.29 Total mileage for the year: 303.46
M Rest T 3.71 W 3.39 TH5.48 F Rest SRan 2.04 SRan 8.25
I had parent/teacher conferences on Tuesday. I didn’t have to be at school till 11 am but I still like to get there early. I did my run in the morning and then met my coworker for breakfast. Conferences went well. I have 24 students and 22 parents showed up so that is definitely a win!
I almost didn’t run on Wednesday. I was tired. I came and stayed in bed for a few minutes. I did feel a little better so I went out for my run. I am glad I did. It felt great being out there!
I had another great quality workout on Thursday (15 minute warm up, 8×2 minute @9:45 with 3 minute recovery, and 10 minute cool down). Runs like these intimidate me but also leave me leaving feeling much more confident about my training. I felt strong and the pace didn’t feel too hard.
Saturday morning I ran for 25 minutes before going to the Shamrock Shuffle 8K Expo. I wasn’t impressed with it. I was there for about 20 minutes and I bought two Sparkly Soul headbands. I almost bought a tiara headband but my friend told me I didn’t need it. 🙂
On Sunday I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8K – my first race of the year! Total mileage for it was 8.25 miles. I did 19 minutes of warm up (I had to do 20 minutes but had to be at the corral entrance by 8:20 am). Then ran for 5.11 miles and then ran a 20 minute cool down. I was cold when I wasn’t running even with 3 layers. Today wasn’t a PR but I did better my time from last year by more than 6 minutes.
Total mileage for the week: 22.88 Total mileage for this training cycle: 352.81 Total mileage for the year: 273.98
M Rest T 3.77 W 2.51 TH5.83 F Rest SRan 3.78 SRan 13.00
I spent all day Tuesday in a meeting. It was a long day and the last thing I wanted to do after school was run. We also got more snow. Not a lot but seriously crazy weather. Oh but at least it isn’t as bad as on the east coast.
I currently have 4 pairs of shoes in rotation. They’re all Brooks Launch 4, except the green shoes on the lower right, those are the Launch 5.
On Wednesday it was warm enough to wear shorts. Spring is so close!
Thursday’s run was fun but also hard! I had to do 15 minute warm up, 5×5 minute @10:02 pace with 400m recovery, and 10 minute cool down. I was nervous but knew I could do it. The first three 5 minute reps felt comfortable. The last two felt hard because of the wind. I tried to keep going but just couldn’t take it anymore. When I saw my splits I realized that I was also running too fast.
I wanted to do these without stopping but with the last two I did stop for a few seconds to catch my breath. I feel like I cheated. 🙂 Overall, I am very pleased with my negative splits!!
I thought Saturday’s run was 45 minutes but instead it was supposed to be 40 minutes. Oh well. It was in the high 30s and I felt great out there. I didn’t realize how tired I was and ended up taking a nap from 3-4pm. Lola was very tired too from running around all day.
I have mixed feelings about today’s long run (13 miles-4 warm up, 6 @10:45 pace, 3 cool down). I understand the benefits of tempo runs but I still dislike them. I always have a hard time holding the pace. Today’s run felt hard.
Hanging out with Lola before making myself go out for my run. It was a beautiful and warm afternoon.
I took one Huma Gel (affiliate link) before my run. They’re my new favorite gels. The originals are tasty but I also love the plus which have a natural electrolyte. I took 3 extra ones and ended up taking one at mile 4 and then another one at mile 8.
I was smiling at the end of my run because I was done with it. But deep down I was sore and tired. And full of doubt. As you can see, I did hit my target pace but tempo runs are supposed to be run without stopping and I didn’t do that here. There were a few times that the pace felt comfortable, which was surprising, but there were times in which I was barely hanging on and had to stop. A few times I wanted to quit too. The reason I didn’t is because it was a very nice day for a run. I’ve been complaining about how cold it has been and today it was just perfect. So of course I couldn’t stop!
Total mileage for the week: 28.89 Total mileage for this training cycle: 329.93 Total mileage for the year: 251.11
M Rest T 3.36 W 5.21 TH3.35 F Rest SRan 3.00 SRan 12.01
Tuesday’s run was fantastic! I received a new pair of the Brooks Launch 5 and ran 40 minutes in them. I know I’ve raved about the Launch 4 but these new ones are so beautiful and makes me want to keep on running.
On Wednesday I had to do 20 minutes warm up, 20 minutes @11:58, and 20 minutes cool down. Not very exciting but did it anyway. It was cold/chilly and windy. I didn’t do my run exactly like I was supposed to.
By Thursday I was tired. I didn’t want to run. I got home and stayed in bed for a little bit. I think I just needed a quick break because a few minutes later I got up to run 40 minutes. Cold and windy again. I did see a gorgeous sunset!
Saturday morning I got a massage. The last time I got one was about 5 months ago. It felt so great! I could literally feel the tingling from my toes to my fingertips. I made another appointment for the 24th and cannot wait.
After my massage I ran 3 miles. I was supposed to run 35 minutes. At 35 minutes my watch was showing about 2.97 miles or something like that. I knew it would drive me crazy if I stopped at that number so I kept running and finished 3 miles at 35:16. 🙂
Congrats to my coaches, Mary and Rochelle! Mary placed 2nd in the RnR DC 5k and Rochelle placed 1st in the marathon.
Sunday’s run was 12 miles. I procrastinated as long as I could and finally went out running around 3:30pm. The plan was to run them at an easy pace (11:58-13:06). Usually when I do easy runs I am TIRED and am grateful that it is “just” 30, 40, or 45 minutes. I was nervous about 12 miles. But I can say that I felt GREAT during my run. The sun made it warm and there was a little wind which helped cool me down a bit. Only 2 miles were done over 12:00 and that made me very happy!
Total mileage for the week: 26.93 Total mileage for this training cycle: 301.04 Total mileage for the year: 222.22
