Tuesday was warm enough to wear a skirt!  I did my run in the morning and it was 44 degrees.  Perfect!

Another great week of training for the Illinois Marathon!  I didn’t miss/skip any of my workouts.  Mother Nature cannot make up her mind about the weather.  It rains one day and then cold the next day.  Hopefully in March we’ll have decent weather.

Tuesday’s run was in the rain.  Well, maybe not exactly rain but more like a mist.  I was still cold but glad it was a 45 minute run.  Lola didn’t care that I was cold.  

It was cold again on Wednesday and honestly I did not want to run.  Sucked it up and did it anyway.

I was looking forward to and excited about my run on Thursday (2 mile warmup, 5 minutes @10:45, 5 minutes @10:02, 3 minute rest, repeat and then 1 mile cool down). Pretty cool huh? Well, during the first 5 minute session I was curious to see my pace so instead of pressing the light button, I pressed the lap button.  No! I almost wanted to cry. I know, stupid.🤦🏻‍♀️ It was a long day plus we had a practice lockdown so you can imagine how emotional that was during school.  Anyway, I quickly snapped out of it and continued with my run and it was AWESOME!  Moral of the story: Trust the process and don’t mess with your Garmin.

This week was awesome!!  At the beginning of the week I dealt with some snow on the sidewalk but we also got some warm weather and most of it did melt.

Monday is a rest day.  I went to a funeral for a dear friend’s dad.  It was so sad and I am always at loss at what to say to a grieving family.  As I got out of the car to go inside the funeral home, I saw a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday’s run was actually pretty good!  It was sunny with temperatures in the low 30s but I didn’t feel too cold.  The snow wasn’t helping so I went to the local park to run around a couple of times.

I was a bit nervous about Wednesday’s workout (1.5 mile warm up and cool down, 2×1 mile @10:02 and 4×1 minute @9:16 with 2 minutes recovery).  Mile repeats scare me.  It wasn’t easy and I kind of cheated.  I had planned to run each one nonstop but just couldn’t do it.  I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath.  I cannot remember how many times I stopped but at least I got it done.  I still did pretty good!  🙂

Thursday’s run was awesome!  I came home and took a quick nap.  Then I got cold and debated on whether to run or not.  I reminded myself that it was only 40 minutes and it was definitely doable.  After my run I came home to find Lola still napping.

Another 40 minutes of running for Saturday.  Most of the snow had melted already and that made me happy.  However, we got more snow later in the afternoon.  Not a lot like last week but enough for the roads to get slippery.  It did look kind of pretty.

I was excited about Sunday’s workout (5 mile warm up, 15 minutes @10:45, 8 minutes @11:58, 4×25 second strides @9:16 with 60 second recovery, 2 mile cool down).  I waited to run in the afternoon because I knew it was going to warm up (40 degrees) and I had no desire to run in cold weather (it was 19 when I woke up).  Plus, Lola was keeping me company while I watched TV and I just wanted to stay with her.  🙂  Isn’t she cute?

Once I was out running it was WINDY and I got cold.  I had headwind for about 4.5 miles and then I turned around and it was much better.   I was very surprised to hit almost of my paces.  I think my Garmin watch is broken.  🙂   I know, I know.  I need to believe more in myself.

I am very pleased with all of my workouts.  I was a bit nervous for doing them but I actually enjoyed them and am happy with my results.  It is another confidence booster and that is exactly what I need now.  I am freaking out because the Illinois Marathon is in 10 weeks.  I’ve run a marathon before but still get nervous when training for it.

Ugh!  What a week!  I won’t complain that it is too cold.  I will complain that all of this snow is ridiculous.

This was Monday evening.  Luckily it was a day off.

I had a little bit of trouble on Tuesday.  Still a lot of snow on the road.  I ran for a little over a mile and then just went to the local park where I ran a few loops to get in my 35 minutes of running.  

More snow Tuesday night/Wednesday so I knew I could not do my quality session (15 minutes warmup and cooldown, 4 x 4 minutes @ 10:45 with 400 m recovery, 3 x 3 minutes @ 10:02 with 400 m recovery) outside.  After school I went to the gym to get it done.

I love my gym! 

I skipped my run on Thursday because I wasn’t feeling good.  I have been coughing a lot lately and decided to rest and take it easy.  That evening I found out that school was closed on Friday because of – you guessed it – snow.

The top photo is at 7pm, middle at 11pm, and the bottom at 7:30 the next day.

My sister and I went to the laundry and then did a few errands.  This is my view from the laundromat around 1pm.  

I had every intention of going on Saturday for a “quick and easy” 30 minutes.  How hard could it be right?  Nope.  I woke up with a headache and had it pretty much all day.  I even took some pain medicine but that didn’t help.  I had plans that evening with a friend to see a film “Tales of Mexico” downtown.  I almost cancelled but decided to go.  It was a great film and it was great being outside even if it was cold.

Saturday night MORE SNOW!!!  I really dislike winter and snow.  Sunday morning I went to the gym to do my run but couldn’t do more than 2 miles.  I was frustrated with myself because I let the weather get to me.

I think this has been my WORST week of training.  Am I disappointed?  Absolutely.  But there’s nothing I can do about it.  Let’s hope this week is better.  Hopefully we are done with the snow too.  🙂

This week’s marathon training began on Monday with 3.89 miles.  It was windy and no matter which way I went, the wind was in my face.  I was very cold after my run.

Wednesday was the end of the month and I ended January with 86.50 miles.  Dang!  My goal is to run 1,200 miles this year and was hoping to do 100 each month.  I missed it by 14.50 miles.  

February began with a bang!  I was unsure on whether to run in the morning or after work.  I did get up to run and am glad I did.  It was about 10 degrees colder after work.  My workout was to run 1.5 mile warmup, 8×2 intervals at 10:02 pace with 1 minute recovery, then 1.5 cooldown.  Fun but tiring.  And I nailed each interval!  It was also so cool to be out there seeing the moon.

I knew snow was is the forecast for Sunday so I asked my coach to switch my long run from Sunday to Saturday.  I am so glad I did.  I did wait till 1pm for it to get warmer.  It was 39 degrees by the time I finished my run.  It was cloudy, dreary, and windy.  Somehow I found the energy and motivation to push through the wind.  I was rewarded with tailwind the last 4 miles and those were my fastest miles.

It started to snow Saturday night and by Sunday morning there was about 2-3 inches on the ground.  With my tired legs from yesterday and the snow, it was tough.  I was happy it was 35 minutes of easy running.  We are supposed to get more snow this week and I am not looking forward to it all.