2019 Wrap-up

2019 Goals:

• Finish the Atlanta Marathon in 11 weeks, healthy and happy, with no concern for my finish time (as long as it's within the course limit, obv) Crushed this. Happily running a marathon at 5mo pregnant with one of my best friends will always be one of the highlights of my running life. 
• Continue the 1000mi/year streak Yep. Over 1400.
• Continue to use running as a positive force in my life, as I figure the rest of it out :P  Yep. Bonus: I think I might be on my way to figuring the rest of it out. 

Other Accomplishments I'm Proud Of:

Competing with the Atlanta Track Club Masters Track & Field team


Running happily and healthfully through another pregnancy
Teaching my kids about healthy habits by running SO MANY STROLLER miles
Winning my AG while pushing my oldest in a stroller the day before my due date with #2
Running a Thanksgiving half marathon with both of my babies
Cherishing maternity leave and using that time to get myself where I wanted to be mentally and physically
Non-running related, but I'm also incredibly proud of extracting myself from a place that made me a miserable and unhappy person on a daily basis and taking a chance somewhere new to better myself for my family 

Bump Running!

#winning

1257mi run in utero

keeping the family Thanksgiving race tradition alive

  

the FIt4Mom community 

By the Numbers:

• 1419.92 miles run 
• 239 hours, 4 minutes, and 4 seconds spent running
• 10:06/mi average pace for the year 
• 15 days were affected by injury or illness: (healthiest year to date!)
• 0 new PRs, but first time racing with the double stroller!
• a couple national age group championships 

Looking to Next Year, Goals:

• maintain the 1000mi/year streak (every year since 2014)
• sub-6:30 mile at some point
• find a way to balance training/running with my roles as a mom of two and wife
• stretch after every run
• commit to 10 min of yoga/meditation/stretching a week

5K Training: Week 3/12

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Totally gonna enjoy these last two weeks of maternity leave/family time. :)

Monday

Scheduled: rest
Did: XT= at-home bootcamp

Opted to swap Monday with Wednesday so that I could rest on Christmas. It was actually really fun to parent both kiddos solo this morning and try to get my workout in (no, for real, it was genuinely fun). My oldest enjoyed doing my workout alongside me for a bit, and then ran around doing laps while I finished. The youngest sat happily in the sit-me-up chair and laughed while I tickled toes and made silly faces. Win. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 6mi hills

Did: 6.29mi (1mi WU, 4mi PRO, 1mi CD) @ 9:22/mi avg, Big 2, ~1mi greenway walk

Looking ahead, next week looked a little more strenuous than this one, so I swapped my Tuesdays to better prepare myself for a fast 1mi on New Year's Day at Resolution Run. 

10:32, 9:40, 9:05, 8:49, 8:02, 9:52

Wednesday

Scheduled: XT rest

Did: 3.11mi easy on treadmill @ 9:19/mi avg, 1.5mi walk

Didn't plan on running, but was up early with a baby who didn't want to sleep... Hoped that being in the swing + listening to footfall would fix that problem, but nope. At least I got a nice 5K in? 

Thursday

Scheduled: 1mi WU, 4x800m(3:28)/400m, 1mi CD

Did: 1mi WU, 4x800 (3:27, 3:23, 3:27, 3:22), 1mi CD = 5.4mi @ 9:00/mi avg, Big 5

Ugh. Did NOT feel like getting up for this workout. Super glad I kept my first few weeks as "you only have to do four of these" for speedwork, and always super grateful for my teammate meeting me. 

Checked my watch every 100-200m for the first one, just to make sure I could latch onto the pace.

DIdn't check my watch at all for the first lap of 800 #2, and was 4s slow... had to fight to make that up on the second lap, and then ended up overshooting.

Watched my watch for 800 #3, and it showed. 

Let myself go a little faster on #4 and focused on engaging my core to stop twisting. 

Friday

Scheduled: 3mi easy rest

Did: 3.27mi stroller run @ 9:51/mi avg, Big 5

Couldn't help myself this morning... Took the littlest out for some calming miles. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 7mi PRO + 2mi

Did: as scheduled, 9.51mi @ 9:48/mi avg

For at least half of my Saturday long runs this year, we've met at the same place and run around the same streets. I decided I wanted something a little different today, and ended up making a route that took us up some of the largest hills we run. Fortunately, the hills were in the first few miles of the progression run, which made my overall pace a bit slower than last week, but gave our legs a different workout.

10:53
10:28
10:27 (barely made this progression, but it was also the largest elev gain)
10:12
9:38
9:08
8:38

Bonus: I was able to come home, shower, eat breakfast (made by my awesome husband), and then go nap for ~two hours. SUCH a treat.

Sunday

Scheduled: 4-5mi easy stroller run

Did: 4.01mi @ 9:36/mi avg with husband :)

Stayed up waaaaaaay too late (~1am) watching my Clemson Tigers advance to the natty = slept in and did an easy run with my husband mid-morning. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 31.61

Week-ending Thoughts:

Hrm. No rest day this week. Oops? 

5K Training: Week 2/12

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Uh, idk... 

Monday

Scheduled: rest
Did: rest

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2x1mi WU/1mi tempo (~8:00?)/1mi CD

Did: As scheduled (tempo @ 8:04, 7:54) = 6.23mi @ 9:28/mi avg, Stroller Strides, 3mi double stroller walk

Did NOT want to do this workout today. Then again, do I ever want to do ANY workouts? :P It wasn't cold, but it was rainy. Ended up pleasantly surprised by how the tempo miles shook out. I wasn't really expecting anywhere CLOSE to the 8min goal pace, but, hey, it happened. This, in conjunction with my progression and interval runs last week, has been believing that I could absolutely run a 25:00 5K right now, which means that can be my 90% goal for March. Pretty freaking awesome to have that be an "all-but-guaranteed" since, only a few years ago, my stretch goal was to break 25. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: XT

Did: Stroller Barre

 

Thursday

Scheduled: 1mi WU, 4x400 (1:41)/400, 1mi CD

Did: as scheduled, 4.28mi @ 9:20/mi avg

I love starting speedwork off so easy. It's really manageable to get to the track when I "only" have to do (4)x400. My goal pace was 1:41, and I'll be honest and say that sounded SUPER fast. I really didn't think I was going to hit it.

On my first lap, I just ran, and didn't look at my watch for any of it. No split-checking. No anything. I just ran hard to the finish... but felt like I could've continued.

1:33.

WUT.

Oh, alrighty then. I guess I'm in better shape than I thought.

I rattled off the next three a bit slower, but consistently: 1:38, 1:37, 1:36.

Very pleased.

Friday

Scheduled: 3 easy

Did: 3mi @ 9:42/mi on treadmill, Big 5, Stroller Strides
Another great run brought to me by Outlander before dawn... and then Stroller Strides with my Fit4Mom crew. <3 

Saturday

Scheduled: 6mi PRO, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled, 8.02mi total @ 9:43/mi avg
Wasn't super into the progression, but still managed to make a good one happen with my training partner. :)

10:45, 10:10, 10:03, 9:30, 9:17, 8:23

Sunday

Scheduled: 4-5mi easy with stroller

Did: 5.02mi @ 9:46/mi avg, Big 5
When the weather report for the day was 40 degrees with rain and a high wind advisory, my other running mama friend and I opted against bringing the kiddos out, and met for early miles instead. The rain wasn't as hard as forecast, and, especially after yesterday, it was nice to have some goal-less easy miles. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 27.18

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I'm so glad I'm not doing an actual half marathon training plan right now. What I've got going on is just the right balance of training and "time doing other things". 

5K Training:

Week-beginning Thoughts:
This is the week I will make a plan.
This is the week I will make a plan.
This is the week I will make a plan. 

Monday

Did: rest

Tuesday

Did: 6.3mi @ 9:51/mi avg, Stroller Strides
Good run. Good Strides class. Also: I MADE MY 5K TRAINING PLAN TODAY.

Wednesday

Did: Stroller Barre, Big 5
Strides is gettin' me these days... or maybe it was wearing 4" heels last night at the SOA holiday party. Definitely needed to stretch today! 

Thursday

Did: 1mi WU, 3K Indicator (13:36), 1mi CD= 4.23mi @ 8:46/mi avg, Big 5
Spent the past ~12 hours anxious about this workout. I always get that way before any sort of run that I have any sort of pace goals for... even though I really didn't have any pace goal in mind for this one, just a "go fast" guideline. 

Really freaking proud of what I ran, though--- my fastest indicator ever. Bonus: it was about 30s faster than what I ran at 4mo postpartum after my first pregnancy. 

Definite confidence-booster going into this cycle. :D

Also pretty cool to see what my predicted times are for various distances at this fitness level:

Friday

Did: 3.07mi treadmill run @ 9:51/mi avg
Life got in the way this morning and derailed my pre-dawn run plans. Fortunately, I know how to motivate myself. The only way I'd let myself start Season 3 of Outlander was to do it while running on my treadmill. Mission = accomplished.

Also, if you haven't watched Outlander, you're MISSING OUT BIG TIME. 

Saturday

Did: 2mi hike + 7mi @ 9:21/mi avg
Woke up in the gorgeous North Georgia mountains thanks to my company's holiday retreat, and did a nice 2mi trek through the wilderness alone. #OptOutside

if I could handle tree roots, I miiiiiiiight consider doing more trail runs and signing up for an eventual ultra
('cause my running bestie just did her first and I found it super inspiring) 

...and then, when we got home, I made myself get out on the greenway and do what was on my training plan for the day: 5mi progression + 2mi cooldown. I did NOT want to run today, but I wanted to have run. To hold myself accountable, I told two of my teammates about the run before I went, knowing that they actually would Garmin-stalk me afterwards to make sure I did it. That helped.

I played mind games with myself to get through the progression miles. I let myself run the first mile at whatever my body wanted, and then started picking mini goals for the next. If I ran the first in 10, maybe I could do 9:30/9:00/8:30/8:00 for the last four?

Splits:
9:59
9:38
9:09
8:44
8:16

Not too shabby for a day when I didn't feel like running, and was solo. 

Sunday

Did: Stroller Strides, 4.02mi treadmill run @ 9:50/mi avg, Big 5, 4mi walk
I've only got one more week with my amazing Fit4Mom group before their holiday break, which precedes the end of my membership (since I go back to work full time in 2020). I opted to go to Strides today instead of my normal Sunday Runday so that I could say thank you and good-bye in-person to one of my favorite instructors, who was super welcoming on my first day. Both my kiddos enjoyed it too.

...of course, that meant I had to do my run solo later in the day. UGH. I am so over not running first thing in the morning. lol. Got it done, again, thanks only to the motivation of letting myself watch another episode of Outlander on the treadmill.

...and then, as a bonus, we took the family out on a walk to enjoy this almost-60 degree weather the week before Christmas. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 24.67mi

Week-ending Thoughts:

1. Proud to be "in training" again
2. Having to interrupt your day to run after the sun comes out sucks
3. Outlander is amazing
4. Fit4Mom is also amazing

The Last Plan-less Week

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Mmm, plan-less week. Gonna savor this one.

Monday

Did: rest
Let my legs rest from Thanksgiving and enjoyed a full day of work
 

Tuesday

Did: 6.33mi @ 9:49/mi avg, Stroller Strides

Had a good run with a teammate for 10KT, and then enjoyed an indoor Stroller Strides class at the mall. Little Squish sure did enjoy my planks and push-ups from down there on the mat. ;)

 

Wednesday

Did: rest

Considered getting up and out for a run, but was super exhausted after a night up with BOTH babies. Had to pass on Stroller Strides due to a conflicting doctor's appointment = nope, nada. 

Thursday

Did: rest

Another rough night with the babes + full day of work. Buuuuut, I can totally tell I've been more stressed without running. Definitely going to get out tomorrow. 

Friday

Did: 3.77mi @ 9:53/mi avg

Today was a rare no-obligations day. Except an 8:30 doc appointment, I was obligated to NOTHING until 4pm. I slept in (until 7:30!!!), went to the doc, ran errands, and then, because I felt like it, decided to have an impromptu mid-morning run along the greenway. 

I decided to explore the dirt/gravel trails (instead of my usual concrete/boardwalk greenway path,) on a whim. I hopped down a staircase, and enjoyed a beautiful few miles of just me in the middle of nature, dodging tree roots and mud, and reflecting on how grateful I am to be healthy, loved, and able to do things I enjoy. 

Saturday

Did: 9.06mi @ 9:39/mi avg

Another rough night with the kiddos= grateful to have a run with another mother runner friend and over an hour to talk about work, life, and our constant struggle to attempt to make it all seem like it might possibly be working... lol

Sunday

Did: 4.27mi double stroller run @ 9:52/mi avg

With how the first mile of this run felt, I don't know how I ever did a 2:06 HALF with the double just over a week ago... 

Total Weekly Mileage: 23.43

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I rescind most of what I said in my previous post about having a half marathon goal... There's just no way I can make that sort of training volume work. I'm barely getting by with ~25mpw. I think I'm going to train for a 5K instead, which still gets me the long runs I want, but without the extra mileage during my weekday workouts. I'll probably still "race" a half in the spring, too, but it'll be less a "go for a PR" effort and more of a "alright, you're kind of trained/fit again, so what can you do for 13.1 miles?" effort. 

Back at It: Goals

Motivation
After a 2:06 half marathon with the double stroller, I don't really have any lingering doubts about my physical readiness to resume training. I've always thought I'd run another marathon to "get back in shape" after this second baby, and, with three of my teammates already signed up for fall marathons, doing another full was a tempting thought.

...but my head just isn't in "full mode" right now for a variety of reasons:

1. It feels like I "just" did a marathon. Even though I wasn't training all-out, I did train pretty well for Publix less than a year ago.
2. New baby = still getting used to everything... oh, and I'm not sleeping. 
3. New job + new baby = still figuring out our new schedules, and I'm not sure how training is going to go with all the new stuff in my life.
4. When I trained for Chicago, I was also preparing for the Sweet Adelines International contest, and that was SUPER stressful. This year, my chorus is, again, slated to compete at the international contest in October. Doing a marathon that will interfere with bringing my A game to that endeavor is a no-go. 

So, I've decided to try for a spring half instead. I've looked a ton of races, and decided that the one that fits our calendar (and my other requirements) best is the Berry Half in Rome, Georgia. 

• Race date between February and early May? March 7
• PR-friendly Comes well-recommended by friends, and the elevation map is agreeable
• within 7hr drive or 2hr flight within 2hr drive
• ability to stay within walking or mass transit distance of the start/finish and restaurants maaaaaaaaybe not, but the town is super small, which means I don't mind dealing with parking/driving around
• race temps between 25 and 50 degrees check
• $100 or less registration check

And the bonus criteria:

• cool theme/name/shirts Nope, but that's alright.
• around 1000 finishers Nope, only 400ish, but that's alright too. 
• kids race and/or 5K for my husband Kids race at 10:30 (2.5hr after half start)
• state I haven't raced in Nope, but that's also alright. The nearest states meeting this criteria are IN, WV, and AR... which all involve $$$ travel.

Goals
My current half PR is 1:47:02, set the day I found out I was pregnant. The idea of running any kind of distance in the low 8:XX/mi range still boogles my mind, but I figure setting a 1:45 tentative goal (but knowing I'll be totally pleased with whatever hard effort my body can execute at ~8mo postpartum) is a good plan.

According to Google, I should be able to do around a 47min 10K and a 22:30min 5K if I want a shot at 1:45. Those happen to be my respective PRs at those distances. I don't think I'm in PR shape right now, but it's worth going for it. Worst case, I figure out what I'm capable of right now and get a good twelve-ish weeks of training in the meantime. 


Plans
This was is the hard part. When I'm training, I'm running 5-6 days a week, with workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These days, I'm running 3 days a week, with zero workouts, and some light xtraining in the form of Fit4Mom classes. 

I looked at the Women's Running plan, my past half plans, and some Hansons plans. All of them seemed like more work than I want to put in. lol. 40+ miles a week? 12x repeats? Tempo miles? 




I took a look at my schedule (both current and what it will be in January), and decided I could commit to:

• Mon rest day
• Tues 6-8mi of easy, tempo, or other speedwork-esque miles that can be done as part of 10KTuesday
• Wed easy mileage, up to 5
• Thurs track workouts
• Fri easy mileage, up to 5
• Sat long runs, whatever it takes
• Sun easy mileage, up to 8

That's a max weekly of ~45, which fits nicely with what I'd need for a half. 

In addition, I know that I want the following elements in my plan:

• tempo miles: I hate these, but I need them for mental stamina building
• more than just repeats for track workouts, but no more than 7mi total 
• flexibility for the easy run mileage
• ability to take a second rest day during the week

So, I haven't crafted/found the right plan yet, but I'm hoping to nail that down this weekend, because there's only 95 days until RACE DAY! 

Thanksgiving Week

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Ugh. I think I might be getting sick. Not full-out sick, but just enough... Either that or I'm just not getting enough down time/rest time/sleep... 

Monday

Did: Stroller Strides with my potato (0.89mi @ 8:40/mi)

Tuesday

Did: 6.33mi @ 9:46/mi avg, Stroller Strides (0.68mi @ 9:16/mi avg), 2.27mi greenway walk

Enjoyable 10KTuesday with the girls, followed by celebrating my big kid at Stroller Strides, and a greenway walk with the visiting fam.

Wednesday

Did: Stroller Barre (0.56mi @ 10:16/mi avg)

It's been amazing to have this Fit4Mom community for the past four months. Man, am I gonna miss them when I go back to work full-time in January.

Thursday

Did: 13.11mi double stroller race @ 9:48/mi avg

Race Report

Friday

Did: rest

I'm not nearly as sore as I thought I'd be. :)

Saturday

Did: 4.28mi @ 10:18/mi avg

Early morning with teammates. <3

Sunday

Did: 4.28mi double stroller run @ 10:32/mi avg

Awesome morning with THREE double strollers at the river. <3 

Total Weekly Mileage: 29.84mi

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Over 1300mi for the year = :D
• Getting excited about starting a training program for a spring half
• I'm over "vacation" and super ready to go back to work tomorrow... lol. What?