2020 Wrap-up

Let me start this entry out by saying I was absolutely shocked to click back on "last year's wrap-up" and see that was the year I ran a marathon pregnant. Has it really only been a year and a half since my pregnant Publix? It's been one baby, one maternity leave, one job change, one pandemic, a national council appointment, a new school for my kids (well, maybe two if you could the fact that we home-schooled this spring when the world turned upside-down)... All in less than 18 months. Whoa. 

ALL the stroller runs this year :) 

2020 Goals:

maintain the 1000mi/year streak (every year since 2014)

Um, crushed this. I actually hit a new total annual mileage high this year thanks to using running as my coping mechanism... heh

sub-6:30 mile at some point

Try sub 6:10. THREE of 'em.

find a way to balance training/running with my roles as a mom of two and wife

Well, COVID kind of made this easier? Maybe?

stretch after every run

That, um, didn't happen... at all. 

commit to 10 min of yoga/meditation/stretching a week

I don't know that I timed this, or was terribly intentional about it, but I can definitely say that I've given myself at least 10min of meditation/thinking/reflection time each week, and it's been good. 

^one of my fave memories of this year was the 10x10 Challenge I did with my teammate

(10mi each day for 10 consecutive days)

Other Accomplishments I'm Proud Of:

Committing to weight lifting! I signed up for a Beachbody-on-Demand subscription in March, and went through four different strength training/cross-training programs this year (LIIFT4, The Prep, 21 Day Fix Extreme, LIIFT4). This was particularly useful since COVID-19 had us hunkered down at home for the bulk of the year, and was a fun thing to share with my oldest (who asked for and received a set of 1lb dumbbells to "join Mommy in her workouts")
Running 10mi a day for 10 consecutive days this summer with my running bestie 
Executing two rounds of Miler Method training, culminating in PRs (6:08, then 6:06)
Organizing a team for a virtual relay race across the country
Earning a Top 1000 "mug" in the virtual Peachtree Road Race 
Volunteering with Atlanta Track Club when we hosted the Olympic Marathon Trials... on the last normal weekend of 2020

By the Numbers:

• 1650 miles run (new annual max)
• 260 hours, 41 minutes, and 17 seconds spent running
• 9:29/mi average pace for the year 
• 31 days were affected by injury or illness: (two super mild calf strains, two virus-y illnesses, one bit of Achilles soreness)
• 2 new PRs (22:18 5K, 6:06 Mile)

after my first mile PR of the year

Looking to Next Year, Goals:

• keep lifting on a regular basis
• complete at least one three-week Beachbody Program following nutrition to a T, just to see what happens ;) 
• break a 6:00 mile (I know I can)

Christmas Week

Week-beginning Thoughts:

There's a lot of bad stuff that my family has avoided this pandemic, and I'm truly grateful. Still, this week just feels kind of hollow without the promise of fun family gatherings thanks to COVID... 

The week started at 4am on Monday for me, when I was rudely awoken by the cats batting whiffle balls around our bathroom floor, attempted to get a head-start on work in the basement, and then, despite the fact that my husband got up, spent the next hour distracted by my baby crying. 

Monday

Did: 4.16mi @ 8:31/mi avg

Afternoon run to breakup a few work tasks. This was a lot faster than I thought it was... 

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:25/mi avg

I was dressed in a long-sleeve shirt, but brought along a short-sleeve and arm sleeves after looking at the weather report, which was supposed to be a bit warmer.

...and it turns out that I grabbed knee-high toe socks instead of arm sleeves.

Whoops. Still a fun run with teammates. 

Wednesday

Did: 4.0mi @ 8:58/mi avg

Had to run an errand to get more fasteners for a DIY garage project... so I ran there and back. 

Thursday

Did: 5.1mi @ 9:18/mi avg

Early morning run with a friend... in 51 degrees. Then settled in for a day home with the kids and husband... in the rain... inside... bleh.

Friday

Did: 3.11mi on treadmill @ 9:27/mi avg, 

Did a little lunch run on the 'mill over the babe's naptime since it's "feels like 18" outside. Just running was a little boring, even with my NYTimes podcast in the background, so I did a couple 400m repeats (@ 8mph). Those were fun. I felt like I could've kept going a lot longer at that pace, which was nice. 

Then the older one wanted to do a workout with me, so we lifted together :) 

Saturday

Did: 10.18mi @ 9:17/mi avg

What do you wear when it "feels like 12 degrees"? Everything... and ski gloves. 

This run was pretty fun. My teammate and I had three "arm" route that gave us "outs" at 4 and 6 miles if the weather was unhealthy for us, but we ended up enjoying the whole run. Hooray for dressing appropriately! 

I did feel super run down by mid-afternoon, though, and went to bed at 7pm.

Sunday

Did: 3mi stroller walk, 3mi stroller run @ 9:41/mi avg, family bike ride

Woke up at 6:22am, so I guess my body really needed the sleep (thanks, super husband!). Felt kind of sluggish at first, so I opted out of a morning tempo run, and walked the baby around the neighborhood instead. I woke up with a slightly sore right achilles, and taped it for my run later in the day (older one requested a stroller run, and I wasn't about to turn him down when I only had a dull, light ache). Definitely going to take a rest day tomorrow (well, from running, at least). 

sleepy squishy baby :) 

Total Weekly Mileage: 36.0

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Weeeee, hit a  new annual mileage high for the year... and counting :) 
• I'm not sure what the Achilles is from: treadmill speedwork, running in "feels like 12", or 8 consecutive days of running (haven't done that for awhile). Whatever the cause, sounds like a good time to have a bit of a light week to close out the year (and focus on lifting) before launching into another miler method attempt :) 

LIIFT4: Week 8/8

Week-beginning Thoughts: 

I'm struggling to feel productive on so many fronts. I feel like I'm busy all the time, but accomplishing nothing at work, with home life, and working out. Maybe this is COVID fatigue? I've just been going at this for so long and completely beat up to the point where I can't execute and plan. 

Monday

Did: 4mi treadmill desk walk, LIIFT4

Walked on my treadmill during a miserable conference call/meeting, then did my last chest/back day of LIIFT4 before the kiddos got home.  

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:13mi avg

Chilly 10KT, but I got to try out my new cheap-o running tights from Amazon-- fleece-lined and $20 = amazing. It's only been one run, so I don't have a feel for how durable they are or what their longevity is, but I'm still excited to have some reflective, non-black, warm tights to wear that didn't cost close to $100. 

Wednesday

Did: LIIFT4

First Wednesday in awhile me that I haven't run, but I just didn't feel like it. Worked out at lunch instead. Also did a fun walk through the neighborhood to look at holiday lights.

Thursday

Did: 5.04mi @ 9:42/mi avg, LIIFT4

It was hard to get up by myself this morning, but I got it done. Then I lifted over lunch.

Friday

Did: LIIFT4

One of my favorite things about working from home (besides not having to clean lunch/snack containers every day and being able to work without worrying about exposure to COVID) is lunchtime lifting. Finished out my 8 weeks of LIIFT4 today with Full Body HIIT. Definitely not the same awesome results as last time through, but that's alright. 

Saturday

Did: 10.1 @ 9:21/mi avg

Enjoyed a nice cool run with my teammate this morning :) 

Sunday

Did: 4.54mi with stroller @ 8:50/mi avg

I hate afternoon running. Due to the forecast, we decided to push our family greenway outing from the AM to the PM, which meant I couldn't "start" my day until 4pm. I spent the whole morning in pajamas, struggling to figure out what to eat, when, and thinking about the upcoming tempo run. Blergh. 

The whole run felt like a struggle, from the time I slammed the car trunk bike rack onto my head pre-run in the parking lot to when I returned to the parking lot and swapped my baby's stroller for the balance bike. 

Maybe it felt like so much of a struggle because my warm-up and cool-down were sub 9:20/mi? And the tempo was a pretty solid 7:41? 

Total Weekly Mileage: 26.0

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Spending 20min with my back arched as I "run" along with a balance bike is heck on my back... 
• It doesn't really feel like Christmas this year due to this stupid pandemic

LIIFT4: Week 7/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Irked by the number on the scale. Irked that I'm irked by a number on the scale. Generally moody and irritable. Mergh. 

Planning on strictly following my container nutrition for the next two weeks and seeing how that affects things... 

Monday

Did: LIIFT4, 2mi walk

Lifting in morning. Walking at lunch. 

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:22/mi avg, LIIFT4 in evening

Wednesday

Did: 3.15mi @ 9:22/mi avg

Wee, sunrise run.

Thursday

Did: 5.13mi @ 9:06/mi avg

Friday

Did: LIIFT4x2

Felt like doubling up on lifting today so that long run day didn't have any extra stressors. 

Saturday

Did: 10.7mi run @ 9:05/mi avg

Great pre-dawn run with a teammate- faster than expected, again. Odd to be running in 49 degrees after so many days with a "feels like" of 20-something. 

Also, nice to have sore triceps after yesterday's arms/shoulders and full body HIIT sessions. 

Sunday

Did: 4.72mi with stroller @ 9:09/mi avg

Got some tempo done (10min @ 7:58/mi) with the little one. After only about 5 hours of sleep last night (thanks to our decision to have a date night + annoying cats who decided meowing for food and playing in their litterbox for 30min at 3:30am was a great idea), this was harder than I expected, but I let myself think about effort-based tempo instead of pace-based. 

...and then, instead of taking a nap while the baby napped, like I'd planned, I ended up going on a cleaning spree and cleaning the entire garage. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 30.1

Week-ending Thoughts:

• It's been a stressful week, and I'm grateful for my health. This is a common theme of 2020, eh? 
• Still frustrating to see a higher number on the scale when I feel like I'm doing "the right stuff" 90% of the time, but reminding myself that it's "just a number". That said, I did not follow my "container nutrition" like I said I would earlier in the week. Sigh.
• LIIFT4 will end next week... just in time to have a little bit of a "down" week before beginning a post-holiday mile training plan where, yet again, I'll be trying to crack that 6min barrier
• 39.21mi left until I hit my all-time annual mileage high (from 2018) ;) 

LIIFT4: Week 6/8

Week-middle Thoughts:

Oh, it's Thursday... whoops. I had two days in-office this week before a four-day professional organization committee meeting, and my whole sense of time is totally thrown off. It's bliss. :) 

Monday

Did: LIIFT4

Legs felt super sore. Lifted in the evening

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:28/mi avg

"Feels like" 22 degrees. Brrrr! 

busted out the fleece-lined shoes for today's 10K

Wednesday

Did: 4.01mi @ 9:10/mi avg, LIIFT4

Enjoyed a suuuuuper brisk run after drop-off this morning, and lifted over lunch. 

Ooh, icicles! 

Thursday

Did: 5.11mi @ 9:05/mi avg, LIIFT4

Another brisk run in the 20s, and then some lunch time lifting... with my cat. 

Friday

Did: 3.38mi @ 9:16/mi avg, stretching, LIIFT4

Another nice morning run (cold temps = faster easy pace, weeee), followed by some serious stretching (I've been at a virtual committee meeting since Wednesday and have noticed my glutes are displeased with my posture/position), and lifting. 

Saturday

Did: 10.16mi @ 9:18/mi avg, stretching

Early morning double-digits with a friend, and more stretching. 

Sunday

Did: 6.74mi stroller run @ 9:03/mi avg

Family greenway excursion today, with the older one biking alongside my husband and me pushing the baby in the stroller. I planned on 15min WU, 10min tempo, cooldown, and then return to the car to get the littlest some time on his balance bike. 

...but he was asleep when we got back, so I just opted to keep running and meet up with the rest of the family. It was a good run. Tempo was around 7:44/mi, which made me happy. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 35.6

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Even hitting my calorie goals, I've up, like, five pounds on the scale. F you, carbs, monthly bloating, and everything else. :P Oh well. Clothes are still fitting relatively well, and I still feel like a BA with what my body can do. Still suuuuuuuuper frustrating to have to watch what I eat (not even just how much) this carefully. Like, I'm not eating processed crap- just more carbs (like oatmeal and whole-grain pasta) and a little more cheese this past week.
• I freaking love my professional committee work, and am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. 
• Less than 70mi to go before a new annual mileage high! 

Race Report: Virtual Peachtree Road Race

Previous PR: 47:53 (5/6/2017)

Goals: 55:00ish
Result: 49:37

Training:
Nope. None of that up in here. lol. I've been keeping 25-30mpw for awhile, with tempo Sundays, but no trackwork. I'm also halfway through an 8-week lifting program. My diet's been ho-hum, and I had a week of sickness less than two weeks ago. 

Pre-Race:
Kid birthday/Thanksgiving madness, and lots of wine the day before meant that I was just happy to be out running. My oldest had asked to accompany me for "Peachtree", so I knew I was going to be pushing about 80+ pounds of weight. Originally, I'd wanted to do the greenway, but the previous days' rain/storms meant there was a good chance I'd encounter down trees or flooding... so I opted for the river. 

I haven't raced with a stroller in... a very long time. I also hadn't, until this week, really thought about doing a real "race" Peachtree. Ultimately, I decided I wasn't going to race it, but just wanted to give it more effort than I would a normal run, to make it feel "more like a race". I figured somewhere around the 54-56min mark would be a good estimate, but definitely didn't have a goal in mind. 


Race:
I think this was the worst start to a race I've ever had. It was low 60s with 100% humidity, so I opted for a sports bra alone (well, and shorts, obv). Since I wanted my bib to be prominent, to feel a sense of camaraderie with any other virtual P-tree-ers we might see, this meant I was pretty darn cold to start. I got my stroller and kid ready, explaining "Mommy's racing today, so we're not stopping for snacks. You keep the snacks you brought in your stroller pocket and just feed yourself at our normal landmarks." 

Our normal parking spot didn't give me a good ONB route (it would've been about a mile short). I wanted an easy ONB, so I parked a little further down the path. I think I kind of thought about warming up for a mile, and then going into it... but then ended up just kind of taking off... from a dead, cold start. No stretching. No warm-up. No thought about drinking water, etc. Just GO. 

Then I realized within the first half mile that I was freaking flying. Sooo, guess we're racing right off the bat, eh? 

Mile 1: 7:55

Hot damn. I'm running sub-8s with a stroller. That'll be a great fast 5K, and then I can slow it down a bit.

Mile 2: 7:59

Oh, hey.. this is still feeling good? 

Mile 3: 8:05

Had to slow down a little along the boardwalk section, due to lots of people and lots of turns. Also, kid started talking to me here, so we had a bit of conversation.

5K mark: 24:59

Sooo, that's a sub-25 with the stroller. Do that again, and you've got yourself a sub-50 10K-- something you've only ever done twice, with some serious effort (Flying Pig, Sizzler). Guess that means I'm just close enough to not be able to give up...

Mile 4: 8:04

Had to open a pack of teething biscuits for the kid at the turn-around, but still felt pretty good. Thinking back, I actually feel like this race was really similar to my current 10K PR at Flying Pig. It was an effort to keep the pace, but not unsustainable.

Mile 5: 8:13

Things got a little harder here. I had to tell my kid "Mommy can't talk right now-- we'll discuss when I'm done with the race". Still, I knew in my head that I was just on the edge of a sub-50 with a stroller, and was not going to let that go gently.

Mile 6: 7:43

This entire mile was a mental game. If you can just keep yourself under 8, you've got it. Under 8:00? Of course I can do that. 

Kick: 6:53/mi

I finished in 49:37, and was SO freaking proud of myself. 

pace graph

Reflections:

• If I can do this with a stroller on a whim, what am I capable of with training and the right mindset? :D 
• Also, clearly, as multiple teammates have pointed out to me, I do best when I don't think about my race much ahead of time and don't psych myself out. Heh. 
• I did Peachtree with this munchkin in my belly several years ago, today in the stroller, and hope to do it again with him at my side when he ages in several years from now. That's really cool 

LIIFT4: Week 5/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:

OMG, it feels amazing to not be sick anymore!!! 

Monday

Did: LIIFT4 (W4D4 and W5D1), 3.3mi @ 9:34/mi avg

I never got around to doing the 4th day of Week 4 last night... so I doubled up this morning. It felt really good to be able to execute the workouts without any of the "blergh" feeling of being sick that I'd had last week. Hooray for finally being well again! Hooray, health!!! 

I upped my weights on a lot of the chest/triceps, and am really proud of myself for sticking with the heavier dumbbells when it gets hard. When I'm dying on rep 8 of 10, I try to remember that's exactly how I'm supposed to feel instead of thinking "oh, this is hard, guess I should lighten up". 

We had some workers at our house, so I took the kids to the greenway after school for a few miles. Gotta hit 31 for the week to stay on track to break my annual mileage from 2018! 

it's so empowering to be able to take both my potatoes out like this

(short commute = having time to do this, trusting older one to practice trail etiquette, being close enough to a facility like this, etc)

Life is GREAT.

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:34/mi avg, 2.5mi lunch walk

Brrr! It was brisk this morning, but felt great to get out and run :D 

Wednesday

Did: LIIFT4, 2.1mi lunch run @ 9:14/mi avg

Lifted in the AM, and then attempted to check out the AJC Peachtree Road Race app for tomorrow's virtual race. I did the suggested 2mi warm-up/shake-out run, but it was definitely a pain to track via phone... so I'll just use my watch tomorrow. 

Thursday

Did: (6.23mi @ 7:57/mi avg), 1.52mi walk, 1.86mi walk

Virtual Peachtree Road Race

Friday

Did: LIIFT4, 4.02mi run @ 9:32/mi avg, 8.58mi family bike ride

Lifting, early run with a friend, and then a nice family bike ride on the greenway in the afternoon. It's fun to be able to do the cycling thing all together now. :) 

Saturday

Did: LIIFT4, 7.29mi stroller run @ 9:34/mi avg, 2mi stroller walk, 1.04mi stroller run @ 10:04/mi avg, 0.57mi stroller walk

I made it through the lifting portion of my LIIFT4 workout this morning (whose structure was 20min lift/20min HIIT) before the baby woke up. Oh well. I never finished it out, but figured that doing a double digit run on the greenway, pushing a stroller, would be enough cardio to say "forget the HIIT" for the day.

Within the first three miles of my greenway run, I knew I shouldn't be running ten miles. Nothing hurt, but my quads were still sore from Thursday's virtual race, and I'd just done some leg day lifts. Still, I'd told my kid we were running ten miles, and that alone made me stubborn enough to stick it out. 

That was a terrible plan. Around the 7mi mark, my legs were beat, and I ended up walk/running the rest of the FOUR MILES back to the car... uggggh. This is the first run I can remember ever crapping out of, but I also know it was definitely for the best. After pushing through two previous runs this year where I shouldn't have been doing the distance I was, I paid for it big time with a week off afterwards. This one, I don't think, will put me in that situation, because I walked. 

Sunday

Did: 45min yoga, 2mi family walk

Enjoyed some stretchy, calming yoga... which culminated with my one year old falling onto me during the final savasana pose (i.e. laying on my back on the ground).... leaving three independent perfect tooth marks in my forehead. How's that for relaxation? :P 

Did a few miles of walking with my family, but took it really today after so much awesome effort earlier in the week. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 30.2

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Lesson learned: don't try to run long 1-2 days after a hard effort. It's dumb. 
• Over 1500mi for the year, and just over 100 to go before I hit a new total annual mileage high... weeeee 

LIIFT4: Week 4/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Blergh. Think I might be getting sick?

Monday

Did: LIIFT4

Felt blerghity this morning, but was alright enough to lift in the evening. Had a little helper with me, too. :)  Took zinc tablets and felt fine in the evening.

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:15/mi avg, lunch walk

Brr! First run in the 30s this season. Felt good, though. Ran out of Zinc tablets and didn't take them today.

Wednesday

Did: LIIFT4

Did my lifting, but started feeling blergh around 11am... 

Thursday

Did: nada

Took a sick day and laid on the couch all day feeling blergh. Bought more zinc and hope it helps me fight this off. 

Friday

Did: 10min yoga, lunch walk

Felt a little blergh in the morning, but took a friend's advice and did a little yoga stretching... then a walk at lunch. 

Saturday

Did: 5.05mi run @ 10:00/mi avg, LIIFT4, 3.71mi walk

Finally felt normal this morning. Met a friend for half of our usual 10mi run, went home, lifted with the munchkin, and then did a family walk.

...and then felt like I was losing my voice by 3pm. Uggggh

Sunday

Did: 4.34mi stroller run @ 9:58/mi avg, LIIFT4

Still don't have much voice, but lozenges are working their magic... 

Enjoyed an easy stroller run with my training partner, and plan on doing my 4th and final LIIFT4 session for the week sometime this evening. If I don't do it today, though, I'll knock it out tomorrow alongside the Week 5/Workout 1 one. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 15.7 (pitiful...)

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I eat like craaaaaaaaaaaap when I'm sick. :(
• Being sick is no fun, especially when you're just sick enough to be useless, but not sick enough that you're beyond doubting if you're actually sick
• I hate losing my voice after illness
• It's weird to be Thanksgiving week and not have a race on the horizon. 
• I realized this week that if I continue to average just over 30mpw for the remainder of the year (3.5mi a day), I can beat my total cumulative annual mileage (from 2018). New goal. ;)