T-1 Week Until Mile Training/Nutrition "Training"...also, injured :(

Monday
Did: bootcamp
Man, it felt like vacation to ONLY do bootcamp today, instead of getting up to run. I had a weird sore/tight spot in my upper right hamstring that I tried to stretch out before the workout. Can't figure out what might've caused it, since I had 14 miles without any issues this past weekend. It got better as the workout went on, so maybe a massage later this week will help.

• KB pullovers with 26lb 
• KB jacknife crunches with 18lb once, and 26lb the latter two rounds
• found it difficult to go right into a run after the step downs
• pushed hard on the runs since I had a guy about my pace to keep up with (0:59, 0:59, 0:59, 1:01 for 0.15... then 1:23 for 0.2)

And, it was a decent day for nutrition as well. 

Breakfast: yogurt, blueberries and granola

Snack: cheese

Lunch: sweet potato, popcorn, squash/zucchini, cauliflower

Snack: crackers and PB

Dinner:

Dessert: had some birthday cake ice cream (not nutritious, but desired) 

Tuesday
Did: 6.32 @ 9:22/mi avg
Arms are so sore from yesterday :) 

Still had hamstring/glute issues on the run and kept my pace super easy. Well, at least I thought it was at the time. 97% humidity was disgusting, but we got it done, and at a much better pace than expected. 

Breakfast: cheerios w/milk, toast, cheese, attempted chocolate milk (hot chocolate packet in milk-- total fail) 

Snack: banana, coffee 

Lunch: cheesy broccoli, ham, cauliflower

Snack: carrots and peanut butter

Dinner: cucumber and corn salsa, cheese, black beans, spinach, and spiced ground turkey quesadilla

Wednesday
Did: 0.25mi @ 8:34/mi, massage, 30min weights
Work prevented me from working out this morning, but it's probably a good thing, since my glute is a literal PITA. Did a light run en route to massage therapy- no pain, but definite ball of something there. Massage went... went? It was not the most comfortable experience, but I trust Tony knows what he's doing and was able to work some of it out. I kind of like when the massage is a little painful; it makes me feel like it's productive. 

Worked late again, and hit up our building's gym for the first time for some weights. I've forgotten how much I love being in a weight room! 

3x10x15lb DBs: bicep curl into OH press, single-arm row
3x10x15lb DB: straight arm front raise, tricep extension
3x16x40lb KB swings
3x through:
10 cross sit-ups (ea side)
10 straight leg raises
10 penguin oblique crunches
45s forearm plank
10 mason twist/Russian twist (whichever one has your feet off the ground) with 8lb medicine ball

Was able to shower and return to work for another two hours afterwards. This having a gym thing is awesome!!! 

from work to workout!

Food was a HUGE victory today. Working late means I've gotta bring enough food for 13 hours. In the past (like, last week), I've been awful about it, and it usually means I resort to break room granola bars and cheesy crackers for snacks and spend $ on takeout for lunch and dinner. Not today! 

Breakfast: plain yogurt, granola, blueberries

Snacks/Lunch: banana, Kind bar, cantaloupe, asparagus, broccoli, yam, mexican mix, cauliflower, pistachios

loaded up!

Dinner: spinach/feta sausage on bread with spinach and cheese

Thursday
Did: 3.25 @ 9:19/mi avg
Had planned on an 8.5mi hill circuit with B, but opted out of that due to my nagging glute. "Such a BUMmer" - Brandi.

Instead, we met up for a ~5K loop of the flattest terrain we could find that still came with streetlights, a little traffic, and sidewalks at 4:45am. Within the first half mile, I seriously considered stopping and turning around. My glute didn't hurt, but there was something there. I decided to give it until mile 1 and re-evaluate. I'm glad I did. It warmed up, felt fine enough for the run. In the parking lot afterwards, I stretched it and, SHOCKER, the stretching actually did something. In the ~30s I held the pose, I felt something ripple through that muscle and then, when I got up, the knot was gone- like it released or something. This is the first time anything like that has ever happened to me, and I think it's the 86th coolest thing ever. 

Had some residual soreness/tightness in it the rest of the day, but I feel like that's from the killer massage yesterday. Sat in pigeon pose for about 10min and slept on ice. 

Breakfast: coffee, bagel, yogurt with blueberries and granola

Snack: cantaloupe, KIND bar

Lunch: leftover mexican mix

Snack: popcorn

Dinner: leftover mexican mix (black beans, ground turkey, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, with cauliflower) 

Snack: 3 graham crackers

Friday
Did: 3.2mi @ 9:24/mi avg, bootcamp, 1mi walk with kiddo in a backpack
Glute's feeling better every day. Still have a little residual soreness, but it felt good during the last mile of the run and I didn't even notice it through the workout. So relieved that it's getting better.

Bootcamp was a bit chaotic today. Due to clients' requests, Matthew was offering three DIFFERENT workouts, and, when B and I came in from our run, people had already started two of them. Kuh-razy. 

He recommended we do the kettlebell (KB) option, and I was pretty excited about it, especially since I was still a little sore from Wednesday's weight lifting.  

1/2. Single-arm floor press (18lb): round 1 was easy; by round two I was wondering if I'd used a lighter weight the previous time... 

3/4. Single-leg dead lift (18lb, 22lb): 18lb was too easy the first time around, so I upped it to 22 for rounds 2 and 3; wish I'd had a 35lb... but my next weight up was 44lb, and that was too much

5/6. Push press (18lb): had to resort to a little knee bend to gain momentum on the last round

8. Dead swing (44lb): awww yeah

9. Overhead tricep extension (18lb)

10. Frog jumps: the bane of my existence. Quads were ON FIRE. 45s of these is too long. (the other workout was a 45s work period, so we just went with that)

Fence runs were ~8:15/mi, and super hard after 45s of frog jumps. Deadman burpees, too, were tough. SOLID workout.

Sidenote: this was my last class at TrueFitness for a couple months :(  My mile plan has its own strength workouts and I really want to commit to it, so I'm taking a short hiatus from bootcamp. I realized today just how much I'm really going to miss it, though.

During the work day, I felt a bit of tightness come back into the top of my hamstring, and sat on a lacrosse ball to help it release. Seemed to help at the time, but, later that evening, the hamstring felt unhappy. Slept on ice and took some anti-inflammatory meds. 

Breakfast: KIND bar, 8 saltines, plain yogurt, granola, blueberries, coffee

Snack: banana

Lunch: spinach/tomato/cucumber salad with sunflower seeds

Snack: cheese stick, four pieces asparagus

Dinner: pork chops, sweet potato, beer 

Still going strong on this! I'm really proud. Changing my eating habits has been MUCH harder than anything I've done on the workout front for the past four years of this active lifestyle. 

Saturday
Did: nothing
Well, I'm definitely injured. Woke up this morning and had some issues with my right hamstring, about mid-way down. It's just sore and achy. I'm pretty bummed about this since I literally have NO idea what caused it. Like, you can't get a muscle strain from sitting on a lacrosse ball... 

I'm relatively fine to walk, but wore my hamstring wrap anyways. The "pain" (I hesitate to call it that, because it's not that severe) got worse throughout the day, and I've continued to ice, ibuprofen, and compress it. 

Food/nutrition today wasn't great, but I also wasn't really committed 'cause... weekend. Still, I could definitely stand to add at least ONE fruit or vegetable to my daily intake. Now that I look at what I did/didn't consume, I'm kind of ashamed of that. 

Breakfast: oatmeal
Snack: toast, cheese stick, java chip frap
Lunch: eggs, triscuits, cheese, ham  
Snack: graham crackers
Dinner: three tacos... included at least half a tomato? maaaaaaaaaybe? 
Dessert: two servings of birthday cake ice cream :/ 


Sunday
Did: ~2mi walk with stroller
Being injured sucks. I met up with my usual Running Mamas crew this morning, but decided to walk. It was really hard not to just go along with them and tell myself it was an easy pace and I'd "be fine". Considering I can't even been down and touch my toes without flinching, I'm not fine. I wore my Chicago Marathon shirt to help remind myself that, while I can't run right now, I'm still a marathoner. It's funny how little stuff like that can help so much. 

I was glad that I was at least able to walk, and chase my little potato around the playground. 


Breakfast: cheerios and milk, iced coffee
Snack: graham crackers
Lunch: graham crackers, cauliflower with cheese, corn and peas (trying to make up for yesterday)
Snack: coffee, carrots and PB
Dinner: bbq and beer



Week-end Reflections

• Eating right isn't hard, but does require constant diligence and a lot of proactive planning and preparation 
• American society is TOTALLY set up to fail when it comes to snacking on healthy stuff. Almost all available "grab and go" snacks are carb-heavy, processed things that live in your pantry for an unnatural amount of time. 
• Injuries are weird. I have no idea where this one came from, and find it frustrating that I've had so many ups and downs over the week. 
• My Mile Bootcamp is supposed to start tomorrow. Fortunately, the program ends the week BEFORE my goal mile, so I've decided to just slide all the workouts by one week so that I end my training with my goal race instead of having a weird week of being off between the end of the training and the race. 
• I plan on taking the entire work week off from running (that'll make a solid seven days without it) as a preventative measure. I'm already dreading walking my 10KTuesday... 

T-2 Weeks Until Mile Training

Monday
Planned: 2mi easy + bootcamp
Did: 2.09 @ 9:31/mi avg + bootcamp
At bootcamp last week, I saw this exact workout board and remember commenting to Brandi "good thing we're not doing that one- SIX rounds?!?! Oof!".

... and then our instructor pulled it out and told us it was our workout for today. >_> 

I found the modified pull-ups immensely challenging. My arms are getting stronger, but my back hasn't. I needed a modification to the modification, but I did make it through all prescribed 45s work periods, so that's a win.

Finished off with a single fence run (0.2 in 1:35-- 8min-ish pace).

Tuesday
Planned: 1.5WU, 2x1mi/800m, 1.5CD
Did: 6.32 @ 8:59/mi avg
Decided to warm-up for about a mile, and then stick with the faster group on the way out. Auto-lap was turned off, so I don't have any splits, but it looks like I was easily under a 9:00. Slowed up on the return trip to wait for a friend, and then just kind of took it at whatever pace I could. Had a really uncomfortable side stitch during the last mile that slowed me down. First 10KTuesday with a sub-9 average in awhile :) 


Wednesday
Planned: yoga
Did: yoga
Stretching: such a nice way to start another stressful day


Thursday
Planned: 2mi easy + bootcamp
Did: 2.09 @ 9:21/mi avg + bootcamp
Yet another day I wouldn't have gotten up without knowing someone was waiting on me. Run was a nice and easy way to warm-up/wake-up before weight day.

1. Pull-ups: used the bar with bands; first time through only needed the strongest band and got through 6 good form pull-ups (!!!) before having to transition to using two bands; second and third times I struggled through two-banded assists and ended up doing at least half of them as a "reverse pull-ups" (where you kind of jump up to the top position and then try to gradually lower yourself down); fourth and fifth I was struggling throughout and used two bands with almost all reverse pull-ups. Still, I'm proud that I'm making progress on these.

2. KB Thrusters: found the 38lb easy, but didn't have big enough hands/strong enough fingers to hold the 44lb KB comfortably (LOL); 12 was a good number on these- almost failure

3. Wipers/Xsitups: thirty of these was a lot... 

4. Fence runs (0.2mi) were between 7:45-8:30/mi. The 250 jump rope hops took FOREVER. 

I didn't like that this workout wasn't timed, because it meant that I had to keep track of how many reps I'd done and which set I was on. I wouldn't have liked having a specific time limit to do something like pull-ups, though, so I understand the workout structure. Still, I'm glad untimed workouts aren't too common at this bootcamp. 

Friday
Planned: 4mi easy
Did: NADA
I hit 43 hours for the week on my timecard last night, got home around 9:15pm, and said "nope". 


Saturday
Planned: 8+
Did: 10.01 @ 9:25/mi
We took advantage of 1) no ATC run and 2) my training partner being busy to do our first family run in forever and it was pretty awesome. To help "equalize" our paces, Jerry pushed the stroller the entire way and I went a bit faster than I probably wanted to for an LSD. Still, pretty proud that we were able to: get our long runs in, give the potato a fun morning, catch up from not seeing much of each other at all this past week due to my work madness, and enjoy the great outdoor... all in the span of an hour an a half, before jetting off to my work's "summer picnic". 

Sunday
Planned: 4 stroller
Did: 4.00 stroller @ 9:15/mi
Baby boy, Brandi and I met up at the river for some easy mileage... which ended up being not quite so easy. I wasn't looking at my watch, but felt like a stick in the mud on the first mile. Not wanting to hold her back just because I'd had a long run (and long day in general) the day before, I picked up the pace. Turns out, I didn't need to. Our first mile was a 9:43. Our last mile? 8:54. 

sunrise over the river

Closing Thoughts

• Proper nutrition has been a struggle this past week. I've resolved that, once mile training hits (7/31), I will eat right throughout that cycle. To help myself out, I'm trying to start those good habits a week early. After the kiddo went to bed last night, J and I spent about an hour prepping food for the week. Our fridge is stocked with pre-chopped/pre-cooked veggies, thawed meats, and proportioned breakfasts and lunches for the first three days of the week. I'm ready to stop eating like crap and start feeling healthy.
• I'm starting to see workouts populated for my "Miler Method" training plan.  I like the workouts, but they're on the "wrong days" for me. I'm hoping to figure out a way to make them work for me, because "Track Saturday" isn't gonna fly. 

T-3 Weeks Until DIY Mile Training

I've got THREE legit shots at a one mile race coming up:
9/3 East Atlanta Village, 6:45pm 
9/17 West End Mile, 8am 
10/1 One Mile Perk, 9am 

West End is my main goal. It's the best start time, day, and course. With EAV being an evening race, I don't think it's a good goal for me, but want to go and get something out of it anyways. I plan on using EAV as a trial of sorts, going out at a 7:00 and trying to negative split it, since I've died on the back 800m of each of my past two attempts. We've got a lot of 10KT ladies doing the One Mile Perk race, so that'll be a nice fallback, should West End not turn out. It's close enough that any training I do for West End will carry over, but late enough that I'll have some recovery time between the two. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be figuring out a training plan. Until then, it's just running as usual.. 



Monday
Did: 2.07mi @ 9:44/mi avg plus bootcamp 
Wide awake at 3am. Almost bailed since I'd just gotten back to sleep when my 4:15am went off. Glad I didn't. Easy miles with B&B, then a solid core-intensive bootcamp. When everything else in life feels like it's out of control, at least I can take comfort in being able to control my workouts. 

50s/15s x 3
1. Suspended hamstring doubles: definitely felt the burn on these

2. Double DB curl to OH press: 15# the first time through felt too easy, so I switched to 20# for rounds 2 and 3; had to slow pace about 35s in, but felt so proud for using the largest weight Matthew'd laid out for an exercise!

3. Stability ball circles: oh, my core

4. KB dead swings: Rocked the 44-pounder today and felt so strong.

5. Heel touches (obliques)

6. Wavem toe touches: these were the hardest today

7. Kneeling bar tricep extensions: this felt like more of a core workout today than tricep workout-- probably because it was the THIRD exercise in a row that used my core

8. Jump rope: nice recovery

9. Box step up with hop: weee, glutes


Finisher x 2
25 touchdowns
10 chest-to-ground burpees
1 fence run (0.2m in 1:38 and 1:28)


Tuesday
Did: 6.36mi @ 9:14/mi avg
This was a slog of a run, but we kept a pretty good pace. I had some leg tight/soreness, esp in my left quad, that required a little modification of my stride at times. Sounds like tomorrow is a good day for a rest/yoga day. 


Wednesday
Did: yoga, stretching
My body woke up sans alarm at 5am on rest day and, for the second week in a row, I used the "bonus time" to get up and do some yoga! This has been an amazing way to start my day, get some stretching in, and re-focus myself. Huge fan of Yoga With Adriene. Today's videos: Energizing Morning Sequence and 6 Minute Abs. 

Also did two Jeopardy episodes' worth of stretching my legs (calves, quads, and hams). Really liking turning "rest day" into "stretch day". 



Thursday
Did: 2mi warm-up @ 10:15/mi, 1mi time trial @ 6:33, 2mi cool-down @ 10:03/mi
Mile Time Trial


Friday
Did: 3mi "easy" (of hills) @ 9:51/mi avg, bootcamp 
Met B&B for some easy miles before bootcamp. Br wanted hills, so we did a 230' climb 5K route that she planned. I took it as easy as I wanted to, and felt pretty proud when she reminded me that the hill training would help my mile time.

Weeee, climbing.

Bootcamp was great. I did NOT feel like going this morning, but I couldn't very well show up for the run and not go to class. The workout was enjoyable, and the variety of exercises helped stave off boredom. 

4x40s work/15s rest of:

1. straight leg raise with hip lift: started off SO strong on these, but was struggling the last half of the fourth round

2. speed pulse split-leg squats (right leg)

3. plank with hip drop (rounds 1 and 3)/tiger push-ups (round 2 and 4): had to constantly remember to keep my feet wide on the plank

4. speed pulse split-leg squats (left leg)

5. foot grabs (rounds 1 and 3), Kimura sit-ups (rounds 2 and 4): foot grabs are the death of me... so hard

6. deadman burpees: got in time with the music on this and felt like a TOTAL boss.

7. loop (0.15mi) run: 1:03, 1:08, 1:06, 1:05

Then 2x through:

• 25 frog jumps: so. hard. omg. 
• 10 hindu push-ups: the first two of these go by so quickly, and then I feel like I've done 20 by the time I get to #7
• 20 cross sit-ups
• fence run: skipped this because we'd already run so much

Saturday
Did: 2mi warm-up @9:34/mi, 4mi tempo @8:12/mi, 1.5mi cool-down @9:06/mi
ATC's 4 Miler was this morning. It's a hard, hilly course, so I decided that, instead of racing it, I'd make it a tempo run. I enjoyed a relatively flat warm-up, followed by catching up with some friends I haven't much at all since last fall (since Jerry's been the family's ATC rep this year). 

For the race itself, Brad had caught wind of my "8:15-8:30 tempo miles" goal, and ended up starting out with me. We never discussed it, but it was pretty much unspoken that he was going to run it with me and keep me motivated. I started in the back of B (7:31-8:30/mi), and was already cursing my fellow participants' inability to self-seed correctly within the first tenth of a mile (grrrr, prisoners' dilemma). 

My frustration was, apparently, quite evident, since I heard Brad over my shoulder saying, "8:30s, not 8:10s, are your goal. Take it easy"... or something to that effect. He made me smile, and definitely took the edge out of the run for me, though I'm pretty sure I muttered something about the surrounding participants not being anywhere near an 8:30 off the line. 

Mile 1, despite the hill, was good. I felt strong, and able to carry on a conversation, if I'd wanted to. Inspiration this mile: Brad's chiding me off the line. 

Mile 2 started to get rough, but I was encouraged by the fact that we passed a couple of my faster friends (who were doing the race as part of marathon LSDs). I enjoyed a brief downhill, knowing that the last two miles were going to have to recoup all of that elevation. Inspiration this mile: being able to take off down the hills doing my weird gallop thing. 

Mile 3 sucked. From 2.5 to 3.6 is one long hill, and it's a bear. I felt like I had slowed a ton, and the only thing keeping me going was the desire to keep with Brad. I was constantly reminding myself that I didn't need to stop or slow down, it was just an "I want to". Because it was hard. Inspiration this mile: Brad hitting the mile marker a little head of me and saying, "Angelina, you are going to LOVE this split!" 

Mile 4 sucked too. We came across one of my other runner friends, who's relatively new to running, but totally kicking rhombus at it. The first thought in my head was "How the ____ is he ahead of me?!?!" We exchanged a few huffs and puffs, and I saw Brad start to leave my sight. I wanted to walk. SO BAD. I wanted the course to be a 5K. I wanted to be at the top of the hill already. I just wanted it to be over with. I kept on, trying to put on a good show, and was able to kick a little coming down the final stretch. Unfortunately, I had more in the tank, but the course changed from previous years, and I didn't realize that the line was literally just around the corner, instead of 0.1mi like it had been in past years. My kick was over as soon as it began. Inspiration this mile: Alex... and Brad "leaving me" (he knew that would get me to go faster :P )

I'm REALLY proud of myself. I finished with an 8:12/mi average with 220ft of elevation gain. My goal of 8:30s was obliterated, with splits of 8:21, 8:08, 7:56, and 8:20. More than that, though, I got the sort of workout I've been missing: running just uncomfortably enough for longer than I want. 

didn't get a pic with my "pacer", but did get one with these girls <3 

Sunday
Did: 3.2 with the stroller @ 9:25/mi avg
One of the best things about our Running Mamas group is that there are enough of us that we can almost always have at least a partial meet-up with one of our schedule's doesn't allow us to come. Halfway through our 5K, the intermittent drizzle turned to a steady light rain, which prompted us to push the pace a little on the way back (to get the munchkins out of the rain), but I still felt like it was an easy pace... especially after yesterday! 

check out our sweet "Mother Runner" shirts... lol

Mile Time Trial

On Tuesday, I'd found an online miler training plan (Miler Method) via FinalSurge. To sign up, the plan required a current time trial, so I opted to do that at this week's SpeedworkThursday. I'd had the foresight to TELL the SpeedworkThursday crew my plan on Tuesday and couldn't back out of it this morning. When we met up in the parking lot, C told me she was going to do my mile trial with me, which meant I definitely couldn't back out now. ;) 

Expected Time: 6:20ish
Goal: Anything under 6:30
Result: 6:33 (laps: 1:27, 1:38, 1:44, 1:44)

Reflections
I had a great first lap. I was just a bit behind C, and it was motivating to have her ahead of me, but not too far ahead. I felt good on this lap, like I could do another four at that pace. Mid-way through lap 2, I felt like I had to poop. I spent the next 2.5 laps mentally debating bailing out and finding a spot in the woods, wondering if it were possible to continue at this pace and just "horse it" if it came down to it, considering just stopping and making a lame excuse, and wondering if I could just hold a decently fast pace and push the last lap.

I ended up slowing myself out of fear of losing my sh-t. I focused on my breathing, which, by the 600m mark had gone from a comfortable 4-4 to a focused 2-2. I focused on my stride, lifting with my quad and getting some length instead of just increasing my cadence. I forgot about my arms, and barely used them at all. 

At 1000m, I wanted to stop. If I hadn't had my teammates on the track with me, I certainly would have. At 1200m, I felt re-energzied-- only one lap to go. At 1300m, I felt dead to the world. At 1400m, I felt hope. The end was near. It's funny to look at my pace graph and see the little spikes everytime I'd mentally "reset" at the 200 or 400m marks. 

spikes of optimism... lol

While I didn't come anywhere close to the time I wanted, I know the GI issues definitely factored in. I've run 6:3x miles pretty consistently for the past few months, and all of them I've felt (in the moment) that it was a bad race. 

Flying Pig: scared of injury, coming off injury, cold and rainy weather, had just eaten half a bag of tostitos, felt alone and unmotivated... 6:34

Braves: hilly course, defeated up the last hill, sunny, hot, long course... 6:31/mi 

Today: felt like crapping myself... 6:33

Soooo, I think my body's pretty well tuned into running a 6:3x mile on a "bad day". This means I should be able to run a good bit faster on a good day. Maybe not a 6:00, but certainly better than this. I had a really good experience this morning learning about what is and isn't "muscle memory" for me (like my arms :P), remembering what it feels like to push (physically and mentally), and reflecting on how bad I want it. ("it" meaning the fastest mile I can get out of myself) 

Answer: I want it badly enough. :) Looking forward to starting this miler bootcamp in a couple weeks and dedicating myself to some serious training. 

Peachtree Week

Monday
Did: rest

Tuesday
Did: warm-up + Peachtree Road Race = 6.81 @ 8:25/mi avg

Wednesday
Planned: 2mi + bootcamp
Did: 35min yoga
Logged about 12mi yesterday and didn't feel like getting up and back at it right away. Instead, I got up sans alarm at 4:30am and took advantage of the free time to do some yoga at home: Yoga 1, and Yoga 2. It felt really good to take it easy and spend time relaxing and stretching. 


Thursday
Planned: bootcamp
Did: 3mi easy @ 9:36/mi avg + bootcamp
Run was nice. :) It's been awhile since I've had a relaxing three miler before bootcamp.

I was excited about finally being at bootcamp on "weight day". As always, it was a struggle to get through the untimed portion of the workout. I lose count and get distracted easily. :/  

Elevated Modified Pull-ups: I did two, and they were SO HARD. Couldn't lift my body up again, so I modified them to only one foot down. 

 

Wipers: 30 of these took FOREVER

Loop Run: skipped, since we'd already run a 5K

KB Swings: Used 35lb. Felt good. 

"Finisher" was a misnomer for this. It was more like "Workout, Part 2". :P

KB Squat with Press: I can squat with the heaviest KB all day long, but, when I had to extend my arms with the weight in them, I couldn't handle more than an 18lb :(  

KB Toe-Taps: no commentary

KB Rows: used 20# weight instead of a bulky KB

Mountain Climbers: I'm starting to like these. 

Any day you knock out a 5K and a strength workout before 6am is an awesome day. 


Friday
Planned: rest
Did: 4.11mi @ 9:26/mi
Didn't think I'd be able to workout with some family stuff going on this morning, but ended up having a last-minute opportunity to run with Birgit before 5am. She said she had "4 easy', but we ended up going a lot faster. I was so glad when she decided to slow down around mile 3. Another wonderful start to another hectic day. 

What do people do who don't run? :P 


Saturday
Planned: 3mi stroller
Did: 5.06mi @ 9:25/mi avg with stroller
Truth be told, I was glad to run 5 after such a stressful week, though. I was a little nervous to run with Courtney while pushing the stroller since she's normally faster than me, but I was able to hold her easy pace without too much trouble (just a little focus). Proud of myself for still finishing with a run at that pace feeling easy. 


Sunday
Planned: 4+4mi stroller
Did: 10.46mi @ 9:39/mi with the stroller
Sometimes, you just feel like running long. :)

B and I started at 7am with a six mile loop. While I my mind was excited for double digits, my body wasn't. The first mile was a 10:24, and it felt blergh. I was trying to run, but I wasn't going anywhere near the pace I thought I should be. Fortunately, that only lasted about a mile. I settled in for the middle four, and then struggled again just wanting to be done on the final one. 

after the first six 

I was glad to have a little break to "swap running partners", with B transitioning out and Running Mama Shelly and her little one transitioning in. The next four were at a slower pace, which was great. They felt easy and comfortable. I had a little under a half mile to go when we hit the playground, so I passed the stroller off to Jerry and his mom, and finished up the last bit on my own (around an 8:00). 

back half 

End-of-Week Commentary

Feeling pretty good about this week. I'm not in training for anything, and yet I still tallied 30 miles, with an average pace in the low 9s, and half those miles with a stroller. This is a testament to why I run: stress relief, relaxation, and time with friends.

Race Report: Peachtree Road Race

Previous PR: 47:53 (Flying Pig's Toyota 10K)
Original Goal: 49:59.9
Revised Goal: Run hard. Not "leave it all out there" hard, but tempo pace hard. 
Result: 53:00 

Goals (written pre-race)
At the beginning of the year, I'd planned on trying to break 50 at Peachtree. Hitting that goal (totally unexpectedly) at Flying Pig, lightened the burden. Instead, my focus shifted to running with friends and helping them hit the sub-50. I haven't been seriously training for a sub-50 Peachtree because I feel like my general training and fitness will enable me to hit that time... barring any crazy weather. 

Well, Code Red was issued the day before the race. Temps at the start were forecast at mid-to-high 70s, 98% humidity, and FULL sunshine. By 9am, we'll be in the high 80s. Not exactly the crisp 40s/50s I had at the Pig, or the high 60s/low 70s I was hoping for. I've decided that sub-50 isn't going to happen for me, and just want to have a comfortable push the whole way, knowing that I might need to do some serious slowing down since I haven't run in the heat at all this cycle.


Pre-Race
This was a special race for me, and the whole 10KTuesday group. Why? Because Peachtree happened on a Tuesday, and it's a 10K road race. It's basically the ULTIMATE #10KTuesday :D We had shirts made to share the love of the hashtag, and, bonus, my friend Beth, who comprises the South Carolina contingent of 10KT, came into to town to run too. 

I made sure to hydrate and eat well the day before the race, doing whatever I could to prepare help myself have a good race day. 

After our 10KTuesday picture, Brandi, Beth and I headed out for a short warm-up. It wasn't very hot yet, but I could already tell today wasn't going to be a good run day for me. Still, I lined myself up in Corral B (weee, first time I've ever started beyond Lenox Rd!!!) with Beth, Brandi, and Brad. Brad was pacing Brandi, and Beth and I had an understanding that we'd start together and just see what happened. 

Race
I've never started in the middle of a corral before, and it was NOT fun. For the first mile, we were all trapped behind slower runners, desperately trying to make breaks for it and slide between people to get ahead and into more open territory. Beth and I lost Brad and Brandi somewhere in there, but stuck together for about the first two miles. I felt like I was running very comfortably, but when Beth started to push the pace below a 7:50, I said I'd see her at the finish. 

First 5K was a pretty solid 7:51/mi. I knew I wouldn't get faster, but thought I might be able to finish only a minute or two over the 50:00 mark.

...and then Cardiac Started. As I made the first climb, I started feeling the heat, and feeling bad. It wasn't a 'hard effort" bad, it was a "this isn't right" bad. So, I walked a hundred paces (something Jerry does with success) and then resumed running again... and then did that again. When I was in the shade, I had moments of "okay, if it's like this, I can run to the finish", but those moments always ended too quickly. 

I walked somewhere between 4-6 times over miles 4 and 5. As much as I hated to "just walk" by all the spectators, it was definitely the right call. I hadn't trained for this weather, and I knew it. I figured I could let myself recover for miles 4 and 5, and then try to push the last mile again... if I felt better. 

Hello, "Kick"

When I hit the Mile 5 sign, I had planned on running until the line... but took another walk break before turning onto tenth. I knew I wanted to finish strong, and that I couldn't do that even just "jogging" (ooh, that word makes me shudder) the entire way. 

Even turning onto tenth, I knew I still had such a long way to go. It's about 1200m to the finish line, with so many "looks like the finish line should be here" places. I ran into a runner friend and let him pull me along for the last 800m, thinking the entire time how great it would be to just be done already. 

Despite my many walk breaks, I didn't have a single mile approaching 10:00, which I find amazing: 7:51, 7:40, 7:43, 9:37, 9:24, 9:01

...and the last 0.22? 6:47/mi pace. It didn't feel like I was running that fast. 

Post-Race Reflections

This was the worst race I've ever had. I'm not conditioned for hot running, and even less so for hot, FAST running. I'm grateful that this wasn't a goal race for me, because it's another reminder that, just like marathons, you can train all you want, but race day conditions are something you have NO control over. 

#10KTuesday girls, including Beth! 

 That said, I still feel awesome about what I accomplished. I had a great first 5K, much faster than I thought I'd be able to pull off when we started. I shared my city's premiere race with a good friend. Birgit and I passed the "Pregnant at Peachtree" torch onto our friend, Shelly. Plus, we just had 55,000 people participate in #10KTuesday (albeit most of them unknowingly... but it still counts)! 

"Baby on Board"

Roswell Riverside Runners/half of our Bourbon Chase team

#10KTuesday Founders
We made it a THING! :D