I slept in a little this morning - both my parents had headed to work already - but I force-fed myself a glass of orange juice (woo hoo!) and fresh bagels from a little shop downtown were waiting for me. One of my favorite things about coming home - the local delicacies, i.e. bagels, AleHouse pizza, and the local grocer's frozen fruit punch concentrate. I watched some TV, then headed out for my cross training for the day - walking our dog, Riley, in the snow - we saw a single turkey on our walk, wandering up the middle of the road.and I also shoveled a path to the woodpile out back (and the walkway out front for good measure) after the walk.
Yesterday, I finished out my work week - yay for Super Friday! - got a quick 5 mile run done in 46 minutes, showered, finished packing and headed to my friend's house...so she could drive me to the airport (thanks, Kristin!). One three-hour flight later and I was in single digit weather. Yippee! It's always nice when my Dad remembers to bring my winter coat into the airport to warm it up, so I don't have to put on an I'm-an-icicle-from-sitting-in-the-car jacket, or lug one up from Florida. Do I even have a jacket there that would keep me warm enough? I can deal with the cold, because it's always nice to come home...to Ashburnham, Massachusetts, that is - where I've lived since I was one year old in a house my Dad built with his best friend. It is a small town and we live kind of out in the middle of the woods - it borders a state forest. I am a New Englander at heart, but I have the (thin) blood of a Floridian. "Cold" in Florida is just not comparable to this. I slept in a little this morning - both my parents had headed to work already - but I force-fed myself a glass of orange juice (woo hoo!) and fresh bagels from a little shop downtown were waiting for me. One of my favorite things about coming home - the local delicacies, i.e. bagels, AleHouse pizza, and the local grocer's frozen fruit punch concentrate. I watched some TV, then headed out for my cross training for the day - walking our dog, Riley, in the snow - we saw a single turkey on our walk, wandering up the middle of the road.and I also shoveled a path to the woodpile out back (and the walkway out front for good measure) after the walk. It kept snowing throughout the day, so after my parents got home, we made dinner and watched a few TV shows together, and then the snow finally stopped. I got my second "workout" of the day by re-shoveling the pathways while my Dad snow-blowed the driveway. I'm pretty sure we got at least 8 inches today. Good to be home. :)
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I felt a lot better this week - no major issues arose - and I ran at my typical pace. I ran Monday and Wednesday's workouts on a treadmill - the usual elliptical for cross training on Tuesday and Friday (I need to get more creative! Wish granted, I am travelling to Snow-ville tomorrow) - and ran outside on Thursday and Saturday. My endurance run was tough - 82 degrees but overcast - and hit a little hiccup when I experienced some inner thigh chaffing at about mile 4. I kept adjusting the leg of my UnderArmour trunks, when I finally realized that there was a hole in them...ugh. They were just over a year old...but I still love running in them. I finished the run and tried to ignore the (minor) pain and in the trash they went as soon as I was home. I was at about 10:42 minutes per mile. Excited for Week 4, which will occur in Massachusetts - going home for Christmas!
Week Two was kind of a beast. I did not feel super awesome during my short runs at all this week - I ran pretty much the same distance during all 40 minute workouts, at a pace less than more normal 10 minutes per mile. I'll chalk it up to being tired. I have taken an extra shift at work, so I only have one day off per week now. However, my distance run - 6 miles - went really well and it was refreshing. I did complete all my workouts and that's what counts.
The aforementioned "horny friends" are, of course, rhinoceros - the animals with which I spend most of my days.
I had a great first week. I hit all my workout goals. On day two, I biked at my work gym after my shift. The next day I ran the World Trail at the USF campus and I ran with the pitbulls, Stella and Sherman, again on Thursday. I hit the elliptical at the gym on Friday after work, and today, I ran 5.3 miles after taking care of my cats and Kristin's dogs. Overall, a busy week - but it's only going to get busier. I will post summaries of each week's workouts as I go - this week's is below. The second row (in black) is the prescribed workout; the third row is what I actually did (in green); and the bottom row is the mileage (when applicable) So, after work today I planned on driving home and walking the dogs - Stella (below left) and Sherman (below right), that is. Well, I had made a large, print-out of my marathon training schedule at work today and figured I would write the dates to correspond with the workouts on it. Luckily, I did...because I found out that TODAY was the first day of my marathon training! I had been chugging along since my last race on Labor Day weekend, thinking 'December 1st...December 1st.' To figure out when I needed to start training for my marathon, I had counted out 19 weeks back from April 13, 2014 - the day of the London Marathon - and got December 1st. I miscalculated. December 1st is in Week 1...but it is the last day! A la Rick Perry...oops. Like I said, I caught it before I headed out of the house, so a "walk" with the dogs became my latest step in my marathon quest, i.e. a 40 minute run. I ran one of my usual routes near my friend's house - I am dog-sitting for her. It is a 2 mile loop that I ran twice and to which I added an extra little doohickey (see above). Technically, it was 4.09 miles and I ran it in 43 minutes, but that's including a pit stop for Stella to take care of some paperwork, which I dutifully picked up (I do not like dog owners that do not clean up after their dog!). I did make her carry it back to the house on her collar. I have my limits. Hopefully, someone is reading this and if you are, welcome! This is where I track my training progress for the 2014 London Marathon. I am 16% of the way to my fundraising goal after only five donations. Those people rock! Please keep checking back here for updates and if you are feeling generous, donate to rhino conservation. I will hopefully have t-shirts available here soon.
If not, it at least gives the illusion of being harder. There is a small lake near his house and we run laps around it. This is another refreshing aspect that reminds me of high school track - the laps, that is...not the small lake. It does not look refreshing.
On Wednesday, I ran with my two friends with whom I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. We ran-walked 8 miles, which involved Victoria keeping the pace - 1 minute running , 4 minutes walking. It was a different workout for me - I usually just run - and it was pretty challenging in terms of my body not being used to that kind of movement. Aerobically, I was in great shape. My other running friend, Morgan, is running a marathon in about a week, so this method is how she is tackling the second half. She plans to run the first half. At our pace, with this method, I would finish a marathon in 6 hours, which isn't bad considering my tertiary goal for London is under 5 hours - the first two goals being finish, and have fun. Yesterday was my first day of dog-sitting for a friend and co-worker. When I got to her house, I leashed up Sherman and Stella - her two pitbulls - and headed out. This was my second run with Stella and Sherman. She just adopted Stella from a rescue a few months ago, so I had taken her out for a test run by herself that month. I run with a leash in each hand, with one dog on each side. I ran past a school where kids were walking around a track and the dogs got lots of catcalls. Sherman especially always gets the compliments. Overall, a nice, diverse week of running. 5.4 miles in 53:34 What a beautiful morning! The high today is supposed to be 66 degrees! I headed out at about 8 am and it was just under 60 degrees. There was a definite chill in the air and I was glad to start running and warm up a bit. I haven't run at this time in a while - everyone was driving to work. In case you didn't remember, I run around an industrial park. For me, the first mile is always the hardest. My body is asleep and needs to adjust to "running mode." I imagine it saying, "Oh yeah, this is what you want me to do? Okay, give me a few minutes." I felt pretty good after about 8/10 of a mile and pushed through the last mile. I haven't been running regularly since September, but my first week of marathon training (the first week of December) has me running about 17 miles, so I've been trying to run more. I've run about eight times in the last three weeks. Not bad...but not great either. I think it's because I know once I start training, it will be pretty grueling and so I'm giving myself a slight break. The three months before my last race were pretty busy with training and life in general, and with the holidays coming up, it won't be any easier. Wish me luck! I know...it's been a while. I took a few weeks off after my race. But, I'm getting back into the swing of things. Three running sessions a week and two cross-training sessions each week - for the last two weeks. I've run between 3 and 3.6 miles at least three times each of the last two weeks. So, I'm pretty much starting at the beginning of my training for the half marathon (again) - with a goal of working up to about 8-9 miles around the first week of December, when my marathon training officially starts. I'll try to post more often, but life has been pretty busy lately. :)
Well, I completed my second half marathon about three weeks ago and I've had a great time decompressing. You can read about my experience at the Disneyland Half Marathon here. I did not "rest" the day after my race as prescribed by Marathoning for Mortals. Instead, I opted to enjoy the wonders of Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Rest versus 14 hours walking around a theme park in 90 degree weather. No question - theme park!!! I had a great time there for a few days, and took a week or so off when I got back to Florida. I just received the link to my finisher's certificate. My official time was 2:44:45. My time in February was 3:28:22, so I was about 43 minutes faster this time - thanks to more training, a little less weight and less stops along the race route - not as many characters this time. I've started a new running routine at USF - they have a sandy trail (called the WorldTrail) that has activity stations for push-ups, pull-ups, leg lifts, ladders, balance beams, etc. along the way. One loop on the trail is about a mile, so I've run a few loops each time I've been there. I've also done some elliptical and treadmill work and some lean muscle-building weight-lifting. I'm pretty sure I took a little too much time off to hit the treadmill at 6.6 mph, but I'll work up to it again, keeping my endurance and speed, until my marathon training starts on December 1st.
I'm getting excited to dress as Hercules again! Easy week this week - Marathoning for Mortals does not want me to hurt myself leading up to the race. I ran 30 minutes on the treadmill Tuesday and did 30 minutes on the elliptical Wednesday. I had today off per usual. Started packing for Disneyland today...I can't wait!!! |
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