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. ;)

Marathon Training Week 14

I just realized I never posted this - oops!

I was less than faithful to my training plan this week. We were up to the lake house until the middle of the week and after getting my second 20 miler in, I was just not feeling very motivated.

Monday - Cross Training

I took a rest day after running 20 on Sunday. We went out on the boat and generally relaxed.

Tuesday - 5 miles 

I was really tired for some reason, so I finished a book rather than going for a run. I also did a little stand up paddle boarding in the afternoon.

I'm not sorry.

Wednesday - 6 miles

We were on the road home most of the day, and a run just didn't happen. The dogs were pretty excited to come home from the place we board them. Then they promptly passed out.

Thursday - 5 miles

I decided since I had missed a couple of runs that I would turn this run into a bit of a tempo run. It felt pretty good and I managed an 8:43 minute mile. I also did 30 minutes of yoga when I got home.

5.03 miles @ 9:32 pace

Friday - Rest day

Oh you know I have those down!

Saturday - 6 miles

The humidity was back full-force for my morning run with the Rivertown Runners. This whole run was just blah. One of the people I usually run with wasn't feeling it either, and we took the shorter way back to our cars. It was just one of those days.

5.28 miles @ 9:57 pace

Sunday - 12 miles

The humidity was a little better for this run, and I generally felt pretty good.

12.01 miles @ 11:07 pace

Weekly Mileage - 22.32

I don't feel too badly about this week of training. Yes, my mileage was a little lower than it was supposed to be, but it was a good mental break. This training plan is a long one, and I think I needed a little extra step back.

I have one more big week of running before I start tapering!

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

Feelin' Funky

I've been in a bit of a running funk lately. It actually started right around my half PR last month, but it's really been hanging around.

Every once in a while I hit this wall with running where I feel like I will never run fast again, and that I will never enjoy running again. It's nice to be able to take a break when I get in these moods, but I had already signed up for the Hook Half before I hit the slump.

Now that I have a bit of a break (my next half is in June), I'm trying to mix things up a bit. I am planning on doing more strength training (2x a week), running 4 days a week, and doing yoga most days. It is surprisingly easy for me to fit 15-20 minutes of yoga in when I put my mind to it.

I'm hoping the variety will help my running and help me get out of my funk.

I actually had a good run today. Ok, so I had three kind of blah miles and one mile that felt great at the end, but that more than makes up for the other three.

Buddy and Tom ran 5 miles today. Buddy has barely moved since they got home, but he is always so excited when he gets to go running. Soon he'll be up to enough miles that I will be able to bring him with me on some of my weekend runs.

Marathon News and Paint

So, I didn't get into the Marine Corps Marathon for this year. I'm not terribly sad about it though. I already registered for The Steamtown Marathon and have hotel rooms reserved.

Part of why I'm excited is that Steamtown will be during my mom's visit in October, and she's going to come with us! It will be fun to have here there, and then I won't be trying to train during the rest of her visit. We usually only get to see each other once a year, so I like to be able to make the most of her visits.

I have been taking it easy this week when it comes to running. In fact, I've only actually made it out the door twice this week. My calf/shin, which gave me a pass for the race over the weekend, tightened back up early in the week so I am trying to actually let it recover.

My next half is only a couple of weeks out at this point. There really isn't a lot of information out there on how to train in between races, but I found this website and have been loosely following the 3 week plan.

We started getting the living room ready for painting the other day. I swept the drywall (including the ceiling) to get the majority of the dust off and ended up looking a little grey.

Tom's mom came over and helped us get started painting today. It went pretty quickly with all three of us painting!

We have the primer up and will hopefully have the room fully painted by the end of the weekend. I took these pictures while the primer was still drying, so there are some patchy looking areas.

Buddy has been helping me with my yoga lately. He's not in the way at all.

Good thing he's cute.

Borderline Injured

I have been taking it easy on running the last few days. My run on Monday was supposed to be 4 easy miles, but I started feeling a more painful than should be ignored sensation in my lower leg. I walked a bit and ended up with just under 2.5 miles. 

I spent some time with the foam roller and stick roller and have been living in compression socks since then. Tuesday I took a rest day and did some yoga. 

Adriene (my YouTube yoga friend) just posted a new Runner's Yoga video yesterday, so it was perfect timing. It's so good!

This afternoon I did a short yoga warm up before my run and managed 3 miles. I deliberately went slow and didn't go too far because at this point my goal is to keep things loose so hopefully I will be ready to run on Saturday. I even did a yoga cool down when I got home. 

I'm really nice to my body when I'm borderline injured. It's like when I think I'm getting sick I start eating really well and making sure I drink enough water.

Buddy says hi. Or at least he would if you were here and he wasn't sleeping.

An Early Morning Long Run

My alarm went off early this morning.

Like, 5am early.

After a quick coffee (there must always be coffee) and a bowl of oatmeal, I hit the road to meet up with my running friends to get a few miles in before the main Rivertown Runners meet up at 8.

We got a little over 4 miles in and then hit the trails with the big group. There was a really good turn out today for some reason, (maybe because people have races coming up?) and we had around 30 people for our chilly run. Maybe everyone was fooled by the sunny morning. It's that time of year when you expect the sun to be warm, but it's not quite there yet. Although, it's supposed to hit 70 on Wednesday, so spring is not far off!

I attempted to take a picture right as the trail turned, so instead of seeing all the people ahead of us, here's a few.

11 miles for the morning and other than being tired from my early morning wake up, I'm feeling good. Good thing too, because my first half of the year is only 3 weeks away!

This is my current favorite Yoga With Adriene video:

Ignore the "for weight loss" title - I do. I just really enjoy the flow and have done this video several times this week. I also want Adriene's tights.

Buddy has had a busy day of sleeping. It's impressive how exhausting all that sleeping is!

I have a feeling I won't be staying up very late tonight either.

Apparently, I'm Awesome

Speed work seems to be paying off!

I had a tempo run on the schedule for Tuesday, and I was not feeling it until over a mile in. Once I got going, I started to feel better, and ended up having a strong run.

Look what a warm up mile can do for you:

As a side note: my brief moment of tank top weather is over. It was snowing in my face on Tuesday and absolutely pouring this afternoon.

I had 3 easy miles on the plan for today, and it seemed like the rain was letting up, so I hit the road.

The rain did not let up. There were a couple of good downpours while I was running, but you can really only get soaking wet once, and then it doesn't matter so much.

You would think that drivers would use a bit of common sense (pouring rain = water on the road = maybe slow down as you drive by a runner), but only one car actually slowed down as they passed me.

Thanks neighbors.

We do have one nice neighbor who informed me that I'm awesome as I ran by her in the rain. I'll take it.

I hit up my yoga mat and reintroduced my legs to the foam roller after I got home.

I did not miss the foam roller, in case you were wondering. 

On a happier (than foam rolling) note: I have definitely noticed an increase in flexibility since I started doing yoga consistently at the beginning of the year. It's pretty cool. 

Procrastination, Yoga and Beer

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The school I teach at on Mondays is on their mid-winter break this week, so I had the day off. 

I actually planned ahead for tonight's dinner when I was at the store yesterday (which pretty much never happens). Pot roast and veggies were cooking away in the Instant Pot by 10am. That thing is seriously handy - especially with our limited kitchen and the sub-zero temperatures we've been having.

Negative wind chills just don't scream grilling weather.

Our weather is supposed to be all over the place this week. We were down to -10 this weekend (not counting the wind chill), and it's supposed to be around 53 tomorrow. It snowed this morning and is supposed to turn to rain sometime in the night.

I changed into my running gear this morning and then proceeded to sit around and play on my computer for a while. I can't just head straight out the door. That would be weird.

After about an hour of procrastination, I finally hit the road. It was not warm.

Running in the cold is tricky. I always manage to be too hot in some places, and too cold in others. I kept pulling my neck gaiter down because it would be too much, and then it would freeze, and my face would freeze, so I would pull it back up again.

I have been really good about rolling out my yoga mat lately, even after Yoga Camp ended. Seriously, I've done at least 10 minutes (usually more) of yoga every day this month. I'm convinced it is helping my running and recovery since it is a good combination of strength and stretching - two things I pretty much don't do otherwise.

I had to try this beer. I kept seeing it at the store, and I finally bought some yesterday.

This beer smells amazing, but sadly does not taste as good as it smells. It was ok, but not anything I would buy again. 

Weekend Things

Things are happening with the house again! We had the plumber and electrician out this weekend for a few little things. They needed to get finished because insulation work starts tomorrow!

We actually started talking about paint colors today - it's happening! We aren't going to live in a construction zone forever!  :)

The plumber was going to be here early on Saturday morning, so I didn't think I would be able to meet up with my running group. He ended up having a schedule change which worked out nicely for me.

I was up and out the door early on Saturday and ran just shy of 7 miles on the trails with my group. Some of our normal trails still had snow/ice on them from last weekend's storm, so we were a little limited in our route.

I came home and lounged around with the pooch and some coffee.

My post-run clashing game is only growing stronger.

I got my race packet for the Nuun Year Dash, a virtual race that's being held next weekend. I'm not usually big on virtual races, but when it's hosted by Nuun, you know I can't say no!

There's a new flavor of Nuun coming out next week - I've heard a rumor that it's orange mango. I'm not usually big on all things mango, but I'll definitely give it a try!

Today was mostly errands and chores. I took our recycling in, which we only do about once every 6 months or when it threatens to take over the kitchen. Today's haul was 215 bottles and cans, which may be a record for us. The afternoon was spent moving firewood from the wood pile to the front porch, necessary, but no fun.

Today was also the last day of Yoga Camp. I have really enjoyed yoga camp, and I'm really impressed that I did every single day. It showed me that I can always find/make time to get a little yoga/stretching in. I'm really good about getting my runs in, but I'm also really good at convincing myself I don't have time for the other stuff.

So, what's next? Well, I'm almost definitely signing up for a free trial week of Adriene's subscription site, and we'll see how things go from there.

I may have started looking at fall marathons this weekend. Maybe.

Clashing and Running

Some randomness from my day:

My car has a little spot that is just right for a container of Nuun. 

I'm not sure I could clash any more if I tried. In my defense, I don't go out looking like this.

You can't tell, but it was snowing really hard when I took this picture.

So I quite naturally changed really quickly to go for a run in the snow. It was snowing harder than I thought it was and I had snow flying in my eyes for the first half mile. It was fun though!

I can't believe that Yoga Camp is almost over! There are only two days left, and I'm very seriously considering signing up for Adriene's streaming subscription. She has tons of videos on YouTube, but there are a lot more (and longer ones) on her member site.

I haven't done any headstands in a while. I got a little in my own head after I fell out of one last year and tweaked my neck. I decided it was time to start working on them again, because I really do like doing them. After yoga camp today I managed to kick up (near a wall, but without using the wall) into a headstand. Hopefully soon I'll get back to doing them in the middle of the room.

Buddy's ready for the weekend. He's been running with Tom a lot lately, so he's even sleepier than usual. I'm sleepier than usual too, but that's mostly my own fault since I can't seem to get to bed at a reasonable hour lately.

More Snow

We ended up getting around 8 inches of snow yesterday, which is much nicer than the 18 inches they thought we were going to get. 

I threw on some trail running shoes (for added traction) and hit the road for four miles this morning.

The roads were clear for the most part. There were just a few areas of slush and snow. The real danger was the people driving like maniacs through the neighborhood. One car flew by way too fast and way too close and ended up kicking a (small) rock up into my face.

Thanks.

On the bright side, it didn't leave a mark, but it definitely stung.

It was really pretty out though!

I took Buddy out to run around the yard when I got home. It doesn't take much to wipe him out for the rest of the day.

I can't believe how fast this month has gone. There is only a week left, which means only a week of yoga camp left! I'm already trying to decide what I'm going to do when yoga camp is over. I want to keep doing yoga, and it's been proven that I'm more likely to stick to something if I have a plan.

Snow Day

My training plan called for 5k at race pace today. That didn't end up happening. Barely anything ended up happening. 

The snow started at 8am and pretty much hasn't stopped. If it were just snow, I probably would have gone out for a run, but the wind made that a little lot less appealing. 

Buddy and I ran around the yard this afternoon - we've gotten a lot more snow since I took these pictures. 

It seemed like a good day to try out one of the hot chocolates that Tom's parents gave us for Christmas.

We only had jumbo marshmallows from making s'mores this summer, so I tore one up to add to my mug.

I did today's yoga camp video and 3 minutes of planks (not all at once), but otherwise spent a lot of time playing on my computer and watching Harry Potter.

There are worse ways to spend a day.