Make it Count

      I'm in....

Week 8 in Review - 26 Days Until MI Half

A week on and then, inevitably, an off week. Was just getting that momentum back last week and the first few days of this week started strong. Then I got that crud again....the same one my kid has now had a couple times in the last month. Felt like I was going to die on Wed and Thurs...so forced myself to take another rest day Friday so I could hit it strong on Saturday.

Monday - Started off the week with a easy 5 miler. Nothing crazy. Felt good.
5.09; 50:57; 10:01 min/mile

Tuesday - Kept it going for an easy 3....
3.22; 32:17; 10:01 min/mile

Wednesday - Woke up feeling like death. Felt progressively worse the rest of the day and conked out early.
6 mile Tempo
Sick - Rest 

Thursday - Same. Bleech.
3 mile Easy
Sick - Rest

Friday - Really wanted to get some make-up miles in today but forced myself to take another rest day so hopefully, I'll kick this crud fo' sure.
Rest

Saturday - Long run day. Did my new route - backwards this time. Still very challenging (OMG- running up Madison sucked big time) but a little easier I think...Plus I was wearing my brand new shoes! Woot woot!
10.37; 1:53:13; 10:55

Sunday - Rest. Felt good. Was a little sore but less so than last week! 

Gonna do it this week. Hit every day without excuse and after today- doing it in the morning. Getting my ass up. 4 weeks till the half...gotta 'er done.

Make Yourself Monday

         This week's inspiration brought to you by the letter U....as in You.

 

 

Mama's Got Some Brand New Shoes.....

Funny how I thought my old ones still looked pretty clean...next to the new ones, not so much. The shoes on the right were officially retired last night with over 470 miles on them. This is kind of a big running milestone for me.

See, I've never really stuck with anything. I have a hard time finishing stuff. I can't tell you how many times I started running again over the last 5 years only to stop after a few weeks. Never could get over the 'ohmygod-Iamsosore' thing on my own. When I ran track and cross country when I was (much) younger, I always had a coach and teammates to push me over that edge. So when I started up again in July of last year, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. On my own. That I could push past the point where I always quit before and actually complete a half marathon. And a full after that.

I bought these shoes last August and they have been a huge part of making my feet happy enough to keep pounding the pavement since then. Happy enough to put over 470 miles on them. Damn. That is more than I've run in my whole life before now. It makes me incredibly proud and strangely, a little sentimental about the shoes that carried me over the finish line of that first half--that got me PR's for the 5 and 10K. Shoes that protected my feet and kept my legs moving and relatively injury free.

I was set on getting the another pair of the same. It was love at first wear with those but I did try on a pair of Saucony's that admittedly had me torn for about 10 minutes. I even ran on the treadmill in the store with one on each foot to be sure. In the end, I went with the Brooks again. For the money, they really last for me. I probably should have replaced them about 75 miles ago, but they still felt better than the Ghost 3's I tried out last week, even with over 400 miles on them. So I knew they'd hold up and get me through my series of half's this spring and I wasn't sure if the Saucony's would. Decision made.

So now, I am gonna get up and put them on. It's long run Saturday. Off I go. Doing my new route from last week but backwards this time. Gonna tackle the hills and stairs earlier - which means I'll be running up Madison. Good thing I've got some new shoes!

Make Yourself Monday

I really love this campaign from Nike....In honor of my goal of finishing a full marathon this fall, and because Mondays generally suck, I present to you some motivation.

 

The Grand Shoe Experiment....

....Total FAIL. I need new shoes. Badly. So I did some research and decided that the previous version of my current shoe might be a good bet. Especially enticing since the price was a lot less online. Couldn't really try them on since they aren't widely available in stores anymore...So took a leap of faith and ordered them.

They came Tuesday and I was so excited to take them on a test run. Went down to the running store a few blocks from my work and picked up a new pair of inserts and was ready to go. Changed quickly when I got home and headed out. Was just planning to do an easy 3 mile loop but by mile 1, the shoes were really hurting my feet.

Like one foot was numb and the other was just in pain. Ankles and knees were next. Sharp pains. They just didn't feel right. I kept telling myself that I just need to break them in and that I should continue on and finish the run. By the time I got home, I was pretty miserable. Had to ice the knees and my feet really hurt. No bueno.

So I spent a painstaking 30 minutes trying to remove all traces of said 3 mile run from the soles of the shoes and packed them back up. Sent them back the next day.

Lesson learned. Try shoes on in person. And also, good shoes feel good right away. When I got the Brooks Ghost 4's, I fell in love at first step. They felt dreamy from the get go and I didn't want to take them off.  No amount of breaking in was going to make the Ghost 3's wearable. Will be getting another pair of 4's this week sometime. Not a moment too soon. Just updated the tracker and these puppies have 463 miles on them.

Week 7 in Review - 35 Days Until MI Half

                                  Much better week..

This week was...normal. The most normal in a few weeks it felt like. Got that mileage back up and did a long run in the double digits. First one since the half and I was pretty nervous. Especially after the shoe debacle of this week. But I plotted out a new route and had a pretty great run.

Monday - Nice easy run to start off the week. 4 easy miles.
4.09 mi; 40:32; 9:54

Tuesday - This is the week that I added a short easy run on Tuesdays...Did it after work since I thought my new shoes might arrive and they did. So I most definitely had to take them on a test run. Thought about turning back after 1 mile or so but kept telling myself the shoes didn't hurt that bad. So I did the full loop but paid for it later. More on that later....
3.18 mi; 32:26; 10:12

Wednesday - Really didn't want to miss the tempo run this week and I was really looking forward to running in comfy shoes again. Pretty good one. Stayed within range for most of it.
5.9 mi; 57:01; 9:40

Thursday - Planned to get in the short 3 miler today but didn't end up doing it. Just wasn't feeling it and my knees were still sore from the bad shoe run.
3 miles
Rest

Friday - Was thinking about trying to get in the missed run from yesterday but it Rained. All.Day.Long.
Rest

Saturday - Long run! Was feeling a little nervous for this one. 10 miles on the plan. Decided I really  needed to do a new route. Kind of sick of doing out and backs on my long runs anyway so I created a new loop...ended up being a little longer than 10 and there were some killer hills and stairs. So was very sore the rest of the day....but it felt good.
10.79 mi; 1:58:29; 10:59

Sunday - Rest. Felt good today too....very little soreness. Ready to tackle next week. Supposed to be a light week keeping it regular since last week ended up being really light.

Long Run Saturday - New Route

Tried something new today. Instead of the out and backs I typically do, I did a big loop. Mapped out a nice 10 mile loop from my house to Capitol Hill, down Madison to the Lake all the way to I-90 and back to the house. Turned out to be closer to 11 but that could have been because I got a tiny bit lost  in one part...

                                         Mile 1- Downtown Seattle

                                   Mile 5- Madison Park on the lake

                        Really windy today...whitecaps on Lake Washington

                                             Almost home....Mile 8.5


A pretty good run. I really need new shoes.....hopefully later this week. So I was definitely feeling it in the ankle and knee by the end, even with new inserts to hold me over. Pretty sore still and fixing to ice both knees now. I definitely need to do a better job of switching up the routine and do new routes. I think I'm definitely feeling a little burned out and bored. Good splits on this route, especially since it included both killer hills and a bunch of a$$ kicking stairs.

10.79 miles; 1:58:29; 10:59

Splits
1 - 10:01
2 - 10:38
3 - 10:12
4 -11:16
5 - 10:16
6 - 10:13
7 - 10:23
8 -10:31
9 - 14:41
10 - 11:33
Last .79 - 11:07

Race Recap: Love Em or Leave Em Valentines Day Dash - 5k

Had a pretty good time at this race. My racing buddy was still feeling the funk in his foot so was taking it easy and didn't end up running. But he and his super awesome wife still came out to the course to cheer me on. What great friends!

For a race that I figured would have a lot of costumes....there weren't that many. Only saw a few cupids and nothing too outlandish. Boring.

I've never run around Greenlake before and certainly not with 3,000 other people. For that amount of people, it really felt good and not too crowded. The course alternated between the streets around the lake and the paved path. Since it was a loop, it started and ended in the same place....which meant there was a nice little mini-expo and things were easy to find. There was plenty of refreshments and food post race and a very cute kids dash.

ProMotion races are always well run in my opinion and I wasn't disappointed with this one. My only complaint is the t-shirt. I really hate when they are white and long sleeve. At least pick a color for the love of pete....I didn't PR but that is totally fine after the week of non-running I had.

Yes

                                                    Even yesser.....

Week 6 in Review - 41 Days Until MI Half

                                                                       Sad, right?

This week sucked. Big time. I finally got the sick I was fighting off and ended up being off work for two days. Was so tired and just had no energy. Very lackluster week with a whopping 8.5 miles. Total. For the whole week.

Monday - Ran! Woot woot. I actually got up early even.
4.11 mi; 41:58; 10:12

Tuesday - Rest day...started to feel the crud getting worse. Plus my kid stayed home sick. Awesome. Foreshadowing? Probably.

Wednesday - Felt cruddy when I woke up. I was supposed to do 7 miles of speedwork. And was seriously nervous about it. The longer weekday runs really kill me. And they are always hard workouts. Was going to do it when I got home but ended up leaving work before lunch.
7 Mile Speed workout (3x1600 with 800 jogs in between; warm & cool)

Thursday - Still sick.
4 mi easy

Friday - Rest day. Really wanted to run today but decided one more day of rest was in order.

Saturday - 5K- Valentines Day Dash. Really planned to run the full mileage today...but after the race I was just not feeling it. So I took a nap instead.
10 mi long - 5K plus 7
1.27 mi; 12:10; 9:34 Warm Up
3.12 mi; 28:18; 9:05 Race

Sunday - Rest.

That was a rough one. This week I start adding Tuesday runs until tapering in race week. I feel better and ready to take it on. Got my new shoes coming this week too so I am getting excited!

Week 5 in Review - 49 Days Until MI Half

Still slogging through. Looking forward to getting my groove back. I've decided instead of waiting for it, I just need to do it. It reminds me of this quote...."You are more likely to act your way into feeling, than feel your way into action. Whatever you know you should do, do it."

Monday - This week, I was really tired. Maybe it was my body going into overdrive to avoid the nasty cold germs I've been around all week but I ended up sleeping in a few mornings and doing my runs after work. It's not my favorite, but it's not that bad. Doing it in the 6pm hour is similar to doing it in the 6am hour, except for more traffic.
5.01 mi; 49:47; 9:56

Tuesday - Rest. Having a hard time getting the yoga in. Maybe I really do need this to be a rest day. Although, week after next, I start doing a slow easy 3 miles on Tuesdays....so I need to suck it up!
Rest

Wednesday - Again, slept in....Did my 6 mile Tempo run at night and it was somewhat pleasant but tough -- I've never done a tempo run for that far- 1 mile each warm up/cool down pace and 4 solid miles at a fast clip. I was sore the next day for sure but am pretty proud of my splits, even though they weren't as low as I'd hoped.
6.18 mi; 1:02:16; 10:05

Thursday - Woke up not feeling well. Decided to try to run after work, but as the day progressed, a full blown migraine developed. So I came home early from work and slept all afternoon. Felt better by that evening so planned a makeup run for the morning.
Rest

Friday - Actually got up in the morning and ran! Boo ya. Forced myself to get up and do it. Really need to do that everyday. Fake it till I make it, right?
4.3 mi; 42:51; 9:58

Saturday - Long run day and it was perfect! Actually super sunny, warm (had to take off my jacket after a few miles) and the view....Damn it was amazing. The downside of warm sunny weather means more bikes on the bridge. More than a couple passed way too close to me, jackholes. But I didn't get hit, so that's good!
8.55 mi; 1:35:13; 11:08

Pretty good week. Looking forward to putting in a more consistent performance next week. And next Saturday, I will be meeting up with my race buddy for the Valentine's Day Love 'Em or Leave 'Em 5k at Greenlake. Which also happens to be the same day as the Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold. More info can be found at Shut Up and Run's blog, complete with a bib that can be printed out to wear...I'll be wearing mine!

Happy Running this week...

January 2012: In which there is snow, ice, and more snow.

It was tough to get back into it after the holidays. Was finally starting to get my groove back and then this happened:

 

That week really screwed with my momentum and I've been feeling it ever since. This week has been...blah. I've been having a hard time waking up in the morning and have been forgoing my morning runs in favor of sleep. Doing them at night isn't my favorite thing but I guess for safety's sake, it's good to change up the routine. Don't want to get too predictable.

It's groundhog day today and apparently we are in for 6 more weeks of winter...hopefully we won't be getting any more of this...

 

Month officially concluded with a total of 84.42 miles. Not a bad way to start off the year....Not SkinnyRunners 220 miles....but not bad. Not bad at all.