Progress!

It's possible that I'm finally adjusting to the heat. That, or I'm just getting some of my fitness back.

I didn't feel like driving to the gym just to run four miles, so I waited until it cooled off a bit before I dragged myself out the door. It wasn't an amazing run. I didn't want to just keep running. I wanted to be back home in the air conditioning.

But when I got home and checked out my stats, my stride rate was almost back to my pre-injury rate, and my pace was completely reasonable. The last mile was even under 9:00 pace, which I haven't seen in a while.

It's nice to finally feel like I'm seeing some progress!

Scout helped me stretch after my run. And by helped, I mean he took over half of my yoga mat. That's the same thing, right?

Buddy has an amazing amount of patience with Scout.

A seriously amazing amount of patience.

Marathon Training Week 7

This week went really well, even though we've had some crazy hot weather lately. And actually, I didn't have any treadmill runs this week.

I'm still not running any paces that I'm terribly proud of, but I just keep reminding myself that it wasn't too long ago that I couldn't even run a half mile.

So here's what happened this week:

Monday - Cross training

I actually did some yoga on Monday, which is pretty impressive if you ask me. The front bedroom is currently empty, so I have been using it when I do yoga.

Tuesday - 4 miles

It was still plenty hot, but the humidity dropped off a bit, so I decided to run outside rather than heading to the gym.

4.06 miles @ 10:18 pace

Wednesday - 8 miles

I should have carried water on this run. I'm still ever so slowly adapting to the heat, and with my newfound slowness, I was out on the road for longer than I planned. It was about 80 degrees when I got home, but it definitely felt worse than that.

The boys didn't think it was too hot in the house!

8.03 miles @ 10:52 pace

Thursday - 4 miles

I made no notes about this run in my training log, which is funny, because it was one of the best runs I have had in a while. It was definitely a hot one, but I really enjoyed it. I hung out with the pooches in the yard for a bit when I got home.

4.03 miles @ 9:53 pace

Friday - Rest Day

I finally took my rest day on the right day! Mostly I think it was good to have a day off before my weekend runs.

Saturday - 8 miles

I met up with my running group, and holy cow it was a hot day! It was 80 degrees out when we set out at 8am, and it only got warmer. It was a brutal run, but it's always fun to run with friends. Everyone is starting marathon training now so we were all talking about who is running what. We have several people running the Marine Corps Marathon, and there are always at least a few running NYC.

I came up a little shy on my mileage because I only ran our usual trails and didn't feel like adding on. I stand by that decision - the heat was ridiculous.

7 miles @ 10:05 pace

Sunday - 16 miles

My alarm was set for 5am, all my gear was laid out on Saturday night, and I had several podcasts all ready to go. I actually managed to get out the door a little after 6, which is impressive for me. The humidity was ridiculous, but at least the temperatures dropped some.

I learned that my feet do not like running in my Brooks Launch shoes for more than 10 miles. The last 6 miles were a little painful. The side of my left big toe randomly started rubbing, but fortunately I didn't end up with a blister.

I wanted to stop this run pretty much the entire time. Well, except for mile 8, that felt pretty good, but it was also pretty much all downhill.

My legs were tired, and this run just felt off. But I stuck it out and made it home without calling Tom to come pick me up.

16.01 miles @ 11:52 pace

Weekly mileage - 39.13

And of course, bonus dog pictures!

Marathon Training Week 6

I'm not sure how I'm already on week 6 of my training plan, but here I am!

Monday - Cross Training

I have the best intentions, I really do. I have been really bad about getting any cross training in.

Scout has no shame

Tuesday - 3 miles

I was definitely still feeling my weekend long run. This run was slow, but other than tired legs it felt decent. I'm convinced this summer is infinitely hotter/more humid than last summer.

3.04 miles @ 10:16 pace

Wednesday - 7 miles

This was a gym run. It's too hot and I'm far too lazy to wake up earlier than I already do during the week.

7 miles @ 9:07 pace

Thursday - 3 miles

I'm thinking about officially changing my rest day to Thursday since I keep switching it anyway. I did actually do some yoga, so I wasn't a total slacker. It's amazing how much flexibility I've lost in the last couple months. As usual, I have great plans to get back in the habit of doing yoga more often. It definitely makes a difference!

Friday - Rest Day 

Drove my lazy butt to the gym for 3 treadmill miles with podcasts. Now that I'm back on the treadmill I have to save my good podcasts so I have something to keep me sane while I run. I don't know how I used to do my long runs on my treadmill.

3 miles @ 9:52 pace

The boys got a new bed this week

Saturday - 7 miles

I was up bright and early and almost talked myself out of meeting up with my running group. It was insanely humid and I somehow didn't start my watch until 4 miles into our run. Miles always go faster with friends though, even in the humidity.

7 miles @ 10:00 pace

Sunday - 10 miles

This was a day of excuses. I really didn't sleep well for some reason, and I've been having some outer hip pain (which I'm pretty sure is bursitis), so I opted to take an extra rest day. I've had the hip issue before and usually a little rest and some ice makes it go away.

Rather than run, I did some yoga, a bunch of dishes, and attempted to make summer rolls with peanut sauce. It was a pretty successful first attempt.

I also read an entire book. It was a YA book, but still.

Weekly Mileage - 20.04

Maybe one of these days I will actually get more than one post up a week. I'm not sure why, but I just haven't been in a blogging mindset lately.

Also, if you could convince Scout that he should sleep past 5am, that would be great. Thanks

Marathon Training Week 5

I mostly did really well this week!

Monday - Cross Training

This didn't happen. We were in the car for a lot of the day, and then we went out to dinner with Tom's sister and brother-in-law.

Tuesday - 3 miles

We got Scout on Tuesday, and I still managed to make it out for my run!

3.01 miles @ 9:43 pace

Wednesday - 7 miles

It's been really hot and humid this week. It is hard enough to get back into the swing of training without adding heat stroke to the equation. My treadmill is currently under boxes in the very much not air conditioned garage, so I did a little research and signed up for a gym. Now I can run inside again when the weather is less than ideal. Plus Planet Fitness has a $10/month option, which is tough to beat.

7 miles @ 9:09 pace

Thursday - 3 miles

I procrastinated for longer than I care to admit and decided to swap my rest day.

Friday - Rest Day

I took another trip to the gym for my run. I forgot that I tend to turn every treadmill run into a progression run to keep myself entertained. I actually remembered my headphones so I listened to podcasts while I ran rather than watching silent tv.

3 miles @ 8:43

Saturday - 7 miles

I managed to get myself up when my alarm went off and drove down to meet up with my running group. The humidity was out of control, so we were pretty slow, but it's always fun to hit the trails and catch up with friends.

7 miles @ 10:01 pace

Sunday - 14 miles

I really had no business running 14 miles today. I ran about 3 miles last week and I didn't run at all the week before. But I really needed to get back in the swing of my training plan, so I set out to see what I was up for.

I told Tom I might be calling from several miles away for a ride home.

I filled up my hydration pack and put on a podcast and was on my way - about an hour and a half after I planned on leaving.

Once I managed to shift into my long run mentality (where I don't care how slow I'm going and just focus on moving) the miles actually started to go by fairly quickly. I did some walking, especially up some of the more serious hills in the area, but I was more concerned with successfully hitting my mileage than anything else.

It was slow, really slow. And I forgot to put on sunscreen because it was cloudy when I left, but I hit my 14 miles!

14 miles @ 11:58 pace

Weekly mileage - 34.01

And here are some dog pictures, because I know that's what you're really here for:

Marathon Training Week 4

Umm, well...

In my defense, I haven't really been home much. I got home at 4am on Wednesday and played catch up on sleep in the afternoon. Thursday I actually made it out for a quick 3 miler and felt pretty good.

We drove for 3+ hours on Friday and then spent the afternoon/evening at a wedding.

On Saturday we drove up to the lake house (we were already halfway there) and even though I brought my running gear, I didn't run at all while we're there. We did get a stand up paddle board, which was a lot of fun to play around on!

We headed home on Monday and spent some time getting organized for the week. Tom's sister and brother-in-law stayed with us for the night and it was nice to get to visit with them for a bit.

Today was very busy because we got a puppy!

This is Scout:

He's about 12 weeks old.

Buddy isn't quite sure what to do with Scout, but they have successfully shared toys, played together a little bit, and napped quite close together.

Look at those big feet! We think he's going to end up being close to Buddy's size when he's full grown. He's already 25 pounds.

I'm going to be home (not traveling) for the foreseeable future, so I'm going to get back to my training plan this week.

Probably.