Batman!

So, we might have gotten another dog.

This is Batman.

Buddy, Scout, and Batman are still getting used to each other, but it's only been a couple of days.

Road trip to meet/pick up Batman

Batman is a good runner, and is very well trained. He already joined me for an easy 4 miles, and was completely unfazed.

I gave Scout and Buddy peanut butter jars to clean out while Batman went to the vet yesterday, Scout is a brat and stole Buddy's jar.

One of my girls decided to decorate me during Girls on the Run today. They were keeping track of their laps by putting tally marks on their hands, and somehow it turned into a game to decorate me after each lap.

I went to the grocery store like this. Fortunately, almost all of it washed off in the shower.

Random Thursday Thoughts

If I blogged half as often as I think about sitting down to write a post, you would be so sick of me.

We're having a freak week of summer this week. My car said it was 94 this afternoon, which I am definitely not ready for. Fortunately it is only supposed to be in the upper 70s tomorrow, so at least it isn't sticking around.

I signed up for Jay Johnson's semi-personal coaching for my fall marathon. I'm so determined to feel good about my race this year.

Unless I can't count (which is entirely possible), marathon training starts up next week! It feels really early to be starting, but my training plan is 20 weeks long, so it makes sense.

The pooches have been joining me for some long walks lately. They love it. Scout doesn't know what to do if I stop to let them take a break and I end up tangled in leashes.

He's also super helpful when I try to stretch.

This is the floor of what will eventually be the hall/guest bathroom. We've kind of been ignoring it for a while.

I decided to pretend I know what I'm doing and made a little progress last weekend.

I ran out of thinset, and needed a break, so I didn't get it finished. Once we get all the little squares filled in it will be ready for tile!

Let's not talk about the fact that we also have the area around the tub/shower to tile, or the fact that we haven't even started on the master bathroom floor...

Have you used Thredup? I have bought a few things from them, and today I sent in my first "cleanup bag." It's basically an online consignment store. It got a bunch of clothes out of the house and may bring in a few dollars. Feels like winning to me!

Baby Trees!

You can't really see anything in this picture, but we got some new plants for the yard!

Our county had a seedling sale with native plants, so we decided to order some. Then we let them sit in the garage for a week after Tom picked them up...oops!

To add to the apple trees we planted last year (we have a honeycrisp, a red delicious and a granny smith) we added two baby pear trees today. 

Tom put tomato cages around the baby trees to keep Scout from playing with and/or destroying them.  Sticks are Scout's favorite thing in the yard.

The apple trees survived the winter and losing several limbs to Scout. They even have blossoms!

There are also baby eastern white pine trees which will one day form a wind break for the yard.

It's going to be a few years though, they're pretty tiny!

The dogs were sad they couldn't be outside while Tom mowed the lawn this afternoon, so they found the sunniest spot in the house to nap. Please ignore the piles of Scout hair on the floor. The second I vacuum it up it just comes right back. He's been shedding like crazy and I can't figure out how he's not completely hairless at this point. 

Marathon Musings and Pooch Pictures

I'm using a new training plan for my marathon this year. It is going to take some getting used to. Easy run days are all time (not distance) based, and only long runs and some workout days actually have mileage attached to them.  It's also a 20 week plan and has four 18 milers, two 20s and a 22 mile long run. And there's walking. A brisk walk every week the day after the long run.

I have been getting newsletters from Coach Jay Johnson for a while now, and was excited when he announced the release of his book Simple Marathon Training last fall. I have read the book cover to cover and have already added some of his techniques to my running.

I started doing the lunge matrix and leg swings before every run since the new year, and have been doing SAM (strength and mobility) work afterwards. I just made the switch up to phase 2 of SAM work last week.

After last year's disappointing finish at Steamtown, I decided I needed to do something different. Coach Jay's plan really emphasizes staying injury free and running your best race.

It has been a bit of a challenge to alter my mindset on easy days to not worry about my pace. I am fine during my runs (I don't look at my watch), and have been feeling pretty good, but when I upload my watch data I find I am disappointed by my pace. I keep telling myself I am rebuilding, and the fact that I am running pain-free is the most important thing, but there's still that little part of me that hates to see those slower splits.

It is also a bit of an adjustment to get used to doing SAM work after every run. I have to plan that extra time into my workout.

I don't officially start marathon training for another 3 weeks or so, but at least I am starting healthy this year!

And for those of you who don't care about marathon training - here are some recent dog pictures ;)

Indoor Cooking!

I haven't really been running the last week. Getting sick really wiped me out, and after teaching my classes in the mornings, I haven't had a lot of energy left for anything else.

I did get a decent run in on Saturday, and am planning on jumping back into my half marathon training this week. It's easy to say that on a Monday - those are cross training days.

I did yoga.

Scout looks enormous in every picture I take these days.

He and Buddy have been enjoying the freakishly warm weather we've been having lately. They love the sun!

And in house news, we can finally cook inside!

That's right, we're civilized now. ;)

Long Time No Post

Hi!

Well, I definitely did not plan on taking quite such a long break from blogging, but here we are.

Some things that have happened since we last talked:

I ran the Sleepy Hollow 10k right before Halloween. It was raining, but it was actually a lot of fun. Mostly I just wanted to share my costume. Laziest costume ever, and I have to say, it's pretty fun to run with a cape!

Tom built a new wood shed. It's pretty fancy. 

Tom convinced me to try some cycling. I started in running shoes and my old roller derby helmet, and now have an actual bike helmet and fancy cycling shoes. I just started liking it when winter hit, so I haven't ridden in a while. I will definitely be picking it up again this spring!

I can use my treadmill again! Tom got an indoor trainer for his bike, so we have a little workout area out in the garage now. It's not exactly climate controlled, so there are days I'm out there in a jacket and gloves, but I love having it as an option. Plus I really do enjoy a little Netflix and treadmill time.

Tom also convinced me to try skiing! I have taken a few lessons, and have moved from the "carpets" to actually taking the chairlifts and ever so slowly making my way down the green (easy) runs.

Aaaaand Scout has gotten huge. The last time we weighed him he was about 70lbs. He's lighter, but taller than Buddy now. He will be a year old next month, so he's probably not going to get much bigger.

I'm not making any promises about how consistently I am going to be posting, but I am going to make an effort to post more often than once every 3 months ;) 

Probably...

Marathon Training Week 13

I was going to say I'm sorry for how late in the week I'm getting this posted, but since I've gotten lazy to the point of one post per week, I'm just going to roll with it.

We spent the long weekend at Tom's family's lake house up in Canada and just got home this afternoon. I wasn't sure I was actually going to get any of my runs in, but I somehow actually stayed motivated through the weekend.

Monday - Cross Training

I should really just re-name all of these as rest days.

Tuesday - 5 miles

I actually felt a little bit of speed on this run. The humidity was a little lower and I managed negative splits.

5.01 miles @ 9:33 pace

Look how big Scout is!

Wednesday - 10 miles

As good as Tuesday was, this was terrible. The humidity was back and I had super random achilles and quad pain. The longer I ran, the worse it hurt, so I decided it was better to cut my run short than to push it.

4.06 miles @ 10:40 pace

Thursday - 5 miles

I took it ridiculously easy, but made up for most of my missing miles from Wednesday.

10.01 miles @ 11:38 pace

Friday - Rest day

We spent most of the day dropping the dogs off and driving up to the lake house.

Saturday - 10 miles

I'm really proud of myself for  actually running while we were at the lake house. I felt much better than I did the rest of the week and had fun running in a different area. Plus it's a lot less hilly than around our house.

10.07 miles @ 10:23 pace

The best place to sit after a long run.

Sunday - 20 miles

I almost talked myself out of this run. I shortened it several times over in my mind, but once I was out the door, I just enjoyed the scenery and somehow managed to hit that 20 mile mark. One of my blisters from my last 20 miler was a little less healed than I thought it was and it started giving me a hard time around mile 16, but otherwise I felt as good as you can expect to feel after 20 miles.

20.11 miles @ 11:17 pace

Weekly Mileage - 49.26