Monthly Recap: September 2010

I need to do a better job about keeping this post as a draft throughout the month rather than creating it as the month is ending! I can’t remember all the stuff that went on and what I was feeling as I was doing it! In which case I’m going to talk a bit about the month first and then give give the data as I can’t give anything more than that I’m afraid.

In general September went really well. Granted both my runs on the 1st and the 30th were nasty slow blahhh runs.  But that doesn’t diminish the fact that sandwiched in between there was some good stuff and liveliness.

September truly was a transition period in LIFE as I’d been moved for a couple weeks once the month started and it was more like real life than excitement.  AKA paying *real bills* for the first time. Scary. But I settled in pretty nicely and found the time to relax and catch up on the MASSIVE reading list that accumulated over the spring semester (gasp so long ago!) and  summer.

In terms of running my miles slowly increased and my desire to train for a marathon returned.  I injected a few speed workouts before my 5k and increased my long run to 15.3.  The semblance of a training plan starting to shape up.  Regardless of what marathon I run I don’t want to go into any training plan without having some type of re-introduction to speed / distance.   Training = training.  Full throttle.  But that’s a post for another day and September started laying the foundation for it.

Racing wise it was a smashing success (said in a faux British accent).  I’ve linked below to my race reports (duh) but I dominated both races I entered.  Which was a HUGE boost for me.  I’ve slowly started to warm up to the idea that I’m not a terrible runner and I need to give myself credit.

Here’s the raw data (and some calculated data too.  I’m a numbers nerd for sure:)

He may not be a math nerd but he is running. And hot. (courtesy of google images)

Week of August 30 – September 5

• 66.5 miles
• 9 hours 27 minutes 1 seconds
• 8:32 average pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

Swanzey Half with Lacey (click on the link if you want more than just the bare bones facts listed below)

• 1:33:57
• 7:10 pace
• PR by 7:59 minutes
• AG win and 4th overall female!

I know you've seen this picture countless times. But I still love it. A lot.

Week of September 6 – September 12

• 72.7 miles
• 10 hours 16 minutes 57 seconds
• 8:29 average pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

Week of September 13 – September 19

• 80.7 miles
• 11 hours 31 minutes 18 seconds
• 8:34 average pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

Providence 5k: (click on the link if you want more than just the bare bones facts)

• 19:59 minutes
• 6:26 pace
• Major pr by 93 seconds. Woot.
• 206/5977 overall (top 3.4%) and 23/1974 in my division (top 1.2%) (Women’s Open 34 and under)

And a picture because I just got the link from the photo company:

I'm pretty sure this is at the end when I wanted to vomit.

Week of September 20 – September 26

• 82.1 miles
• 11 hours 47 minutes 19 seconds
• 8:37 average pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

Week of September 27 – October 3

• 79.6
• 10 hours 31 minutes 32 seconds
• 8:49 average pace
• 1 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 1 rest day

A high mileage week but that was due to a double on one of the days because of a friend coming into town.  And I got two quality speed workouts, although the track intervals (which I’m happy to keep reading your advice on them, pacing, recovery between!) were in October.  And you might notice that I did one core session.  I’m hoping to keep them a more frequent occurrence than they have been as of late.

Month of September

• 328.6 miles
• 47 hours 4 minutes 31 seconds
• 8:36 average pace

And because I LOVED being a nerd last month and doing comparisons to last year and percent changes:

September 2010:

• 2010 : 328.6 miles
• 2009:  281.5 miles
• Perfect change: 16.7%

Year to date (as of 30 – September):

• 2010: 3111.8miles
• 2009: 2164.6 miles
• Percent change: 43.8%

Interesting to note that I am only 4.2 miles (as of 30-September 2010) short of hitting my yearly total last year. WOW.

Indeed a good month. Looking ahead a bit to October I’ve got the Tufts 10k coming up soon.  Not much more than that I’m afraid except for trying to decide what marathon I want to do. And then of course coming up with an appropriate training plan.

Monthly Recap: August 2010

Whoa there. This year has just been FLYING. I can’t believe yet another month is over and especially August.  Despite not being a student anymore (TEAR) the beginning of September is always bittersweet.  Sure we’ll get hot days (and are kind of having some this week), and likely could until October or November, but summer just feels over once I turn the page in my calendar to September.  Plus because it’s New England we could have snow in October or November.  Gahhh.  I need to move to a warmer climate! NOW.

Enough sadness. Because September means things like Labor Day Weekend, pretty foliage and APPLE PICKING.  I am anxiously awaiting for the first opportunity to do so. And I know that you’re sick of me talking about it by now muahaha!

Cooler weather (theoretically) also means that exciting stuff can happen with my running too.  I have a half marathon Labor Day weekend which will be a good barometer of where I’m at.  And maybe I’ll really start contemplating a late fall marathon.  I keep saying it and I do want to do one but the timing is just off.  I’d love to do a winter race but New England is not conducive to that.  We’ll see.

But before I get ahead of myself, let’s look back at what was August shall we?

And in true MM style it’s long.  But there’s a picture at the end so don’t get mad. Mmmmmkay?

Week of August 2 –  August 8

• 49.5 Miles
• 6 Hours 56 Minutes 11 Seconds
• 8:25 Pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 1 rest day

If I had known how close I was to 50 miles I sooooooo would have run that extra half mile. And that likely would have gotten me to 7 hours even.  Oh well.  This was the week that I was on vacay so I can’t really complain.  I had a great time in Texas and the running was great too, especially as I got to run with Jess again.  Plus: look how fast I was this week 🙂

Week of August 9 –  August 15

• 65.5 Miles
• 9 Hours 10 Minutes 43 Seconds
• 8:25 Pace
• 1 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

I guess I can look at the previous week as a cut back week and once I got back from vacay my stress amped up with the MCAT and moving.  And I took it out on my running.  But looking back at this week in my log book all my runs have comments saying how fast and ON I was feeling.  I also got to run my first run at my new place on Sunday of this week which was exciting 🙂

I also started going core on that Sunday too.  Let’s just say my abs were not ready for their wake up after 5 weeks off!

Week of August 16 –  August 22

• 61.4 Miles
• 8 Hours 51 Minutes 51 Seconds
• 8:40 Pace
• 4X Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

My pace just shut down this week as I started running at 0530 in the morning.  And as my body adjusted to the path I was running on as opposed to the roads.  But it’s okay because I also started working this week which, being week one, was WAY stressful.  But great at the same time.  I think this was the week that I really was starting to feel life come together a bit.

Week of August 23 –  August 28

• 67.3 Miles
• 9 Hours 36 Minutes 4 Seconds
• 8:34 Pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT, 0 rest day

And then the core work stopped.  Oops.  I need to really make an effort to keep it up because, and I’ve said this before, I am such a vain person and love the way my abs look after consistent core work.  Not that my abs are terrible as is but I like having definition there.

My pace was at a good place this week and I remember having some “race” runs with some of the males on the running path this week.  If I recall correctly I won them 😉

The mileage was a bit higher than I’d like but I know that’s because I ran a long run this week that was much longer than what I’ve done since the spring and some of my weekday runs have had 1-2 miles tacked on because I was feeling good and fast.  I’m not worried about this becoming a trend.  I may stay low 60s but I don’t plan on increasing the miles anytime soon.  Unless I find a marathon in November/December/January to commit to.

Month of August

• 270.2 Miles
• 38 Hours 27 Minutes 32 Seconds
• 8:33 Pace

Definitely a good solid month for me.  The fastest overall monthly pace! Woot!

Not the biggest month ever (I don’ t think anything could top this past June) but a good month indeed.  I actually just checked and it’s the LOWEST monthly total this year.

I could be extra nerdy and go back to last year’s data to compare August 2010 vs 2009 (and I’m doing this kind of stuff for work so I’m in full nerd mode) but I think it’s accurate to

Eff it. I’m a nerd and these research reports are now my job. I’m loving that I get to work in MEDICINE and with NUMBERS.

August:

• 2010 : 270.2 miles
• 2009: 264.3 miles
• Perfect change: 2.2%

Year to date:

• 2010: 2771.0 miles
• 2009: 1883.1 miles
• Percent change: 47.1%

So clearly up in both.  Crazy how much more I’ve run so far in 2010 than this same time in 2009.

But back to August 2010.  This is a currently monthly recap after all.

The weekly miles are a tad high (by like maybe 5-8 each week) but I’m not worried about it.  I’m still down from July’s monthly total which I’m sure a lot of you guys enjoy seeing 😉

So the fast overall pace, despite having some slower times since my move, makes the upcoming fall, which I touched upon in my first paragraphs, really exciting to think about. I think my body would be primed for a marathon in the next 3-4 months.

I don’t really have any goals per se for this month.  Maybe try to fit in lifting.  Without access to a gym, however, my motivation to do so is very little.

And I want to try to find the funds to race more.  I have 3-4 5ks that I’d love to do, as well as the Tufts 10k that I’ve done the past 2 years.  Oh yeah and my upcoming half this weekend.

It’s time to turn all these miles and wicked hardwork into PRs and hardcore bamfness 8)

I need to feel like this again

Providence Marathon 2009. Debut and BQ 🙂

Monthly Recap: July 2010

Wait, really? August already?! I honestly feel like I was just typing out June’s monthly recap.  I wish months like February would go this fast and it has less days to boot! Guess the nice weather makes time just flyyyyy.  It’s like that Einstein quote

Put your hand on a hot burner for a minute and it feels like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it feels like a minute

Anyway.

Before I get into my recap I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my stressed out post.  It was just one of those days where everything seemed to come crashing down.  I really hate how all or nothing things can be sometimes.  But I’m on the upswing and, while still very stressed out, there are some really amazing people in my real life ( as well as you guys in my blog life!) who really stepped up and took care of me when I needed it. 🙂

Since then I’ve taken *another* full length practice test.  I actually took it on Saturday and it officially marks the end of everything I have to do with my course.  Yippee.  Now that in no way means that I’m done.  I’m taking another practice test on Tuesday and still studying my butt off, but knowing that all the “have to”s are done is nice.  The results of this past test were…interesting.  Science scores are easy to keep boosting so I keep making great progress there but my Verbal score is pretty stagnant.

Not a bad thing per se (because I’m okay with the actual score if that’s what I get on test day) but it’s discouraging to not see tangible improvement.  That said, I do have new study tactics that, while they haven’t been around long enough to pay dividends yet, I’m already feeling good about.  After taking 5 practices I’m comfortable with the length of time it takes (aka I sit on my butt for 5.5 hours!) and the format (and hopefully the material too haha) but I need to work on my pacing in certain areas.  Wow another parallel with my running! I think I can make anything related to my running haha (Again, sorry to dedicate so much space to the MCAT but it’s the most pressing thing on my mind right now.)

And the literal physical running has been going GREAT.  Seriously seriously great.  My average daily run paces continue to get fast while maintaining the easy effort that I’ve always been putting in.  Some great stuff here.  Part of it might be the *amazing* weather here in New England (would you hate me if I said the highs the past few days have only been in the upper 70s? It felt cold! And the lows have been in the upper40s.  Ummmm I slept with a comforter to keep me warm) but I also know that the reduced mileage is a very large part of running fast and effortlessly too.

Speaking of….here is the month of July in review:

Week of June 28 –  July 4

• 130.8 Miles
• 18 Hours 43 Minutes 36 Seconds
• 8:36 Pace
• 4X Core, 1X Lifting, 0 XT

Soooo about that whole cutting back? In fairness I didn’t realize that cutting back needed to happen until the very end of June so this week is inflated by that.  This was also the week that I dominated that 5M.  Woot.  Way happy about that despite the mileage being so high. AKA the most miles I’ve run in a single week. Ever. Did I mention I’m not training for anything?

Week of July 5 – July 11

• 111.1 Miles
• 16 Hours 7 Minutes 25 Seconds
• 8:43 Pace
• 3X Core, 2X Lifting, 0 XT

Mmmmmhhhhmmmmm.  So clearly I was lying to myself when I said July was going to start with a cut back! In fairness I did cut back the first 2 days of the month.  Apparently, though, I picked right back up where I left off! While it was 20 miles less than the week before I don’t think it was nearly enough to really be considered cutting back.  I do like how I managed to get to the gym to lift twice though.

Week of July 12 – July 18

• 59.6 Miles
• 8 Hours 48 Minutes 20 Seconds
• 8:52 Pace
• 1 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT

Hello Philly! As expected my mileage took a hit.  Not that I’m complaining really: something needed to force me to stop running so darn much.  I got to run with Flo which was a highlight of the trip and do some Philly exploring in the early hours of the morning.  My pace was a bit slower than previous weeks but I’m okay with that because I was on vacay.  I also dropped doing core work and have yet to start up again.  Oops.

Week of July 19 – July 25

• 56.4 Miles
• 7 Hours 58 Minutes 59 Seconds
• 8:30 Pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT

Wowza to that pace.  Another week of treating my legs better and the runs became even more fluid and fast.  Unfortunately because all the runs looked the same (just easy going mid-distance stuff) I actually stopped writing down comments in my log book! So all I have is the raw numbers hahah.  But suffice it to say I was probably pretty stoked to have that pace and I do remember looking at my watch after several runs and shaking my head in awe.

Week of July 26-August 1

• 60.0 Miles
• 8 Hours 23 Minutes 7 Seconds
• 8:23 Pace
• 0 Core, 0 Lifting, 0 XT

So my average pace keeps dropping? Pretty effing sweet. Since this week was pretty crazy in terms of studying (this was the week that I was just flooded with every little thing that could go wrong doing so) I don’t really have much to say about the runs themselves.  Also goes back to what I’ve been saying all this week about my runs just being boring overall.  Exciting stuff to look at in terms of trends, just not very fascinating day to day.

Month of July

• 354.5 Miles
• 50 Hours 54 Minutes 49 Seconds
• 8:37 Pace

Obviously not June.  But that’s okay.  In fact I’m a little shocked that my miles are as high as they are given how “low” the past 3 weeks have been.  Guess everything is just relative.  I’m also shocked (and SO PUMPED) at that monthly average pace.  8:37?! That’s a solid 7.0 on a TM. Hollllllllerrrrrrrrr.

I’m also happy that I was able to break the cycle of doing more-more-more.  While I don’t think it was really hurting me, in hindsight I can definitely say that it wasn’t for the best.  Maybe if I was training for a big huge long event.  But I wasn’t.  I’m still in search of a marathon for the late fall/winter so it’s very good that I’m backing off now if I end up ramping it up in the future.

So what’s next?

I know lots of you set goals at the beginnings of the month and whatnot.  I’ve thought about that.   And while I don’t have any concrete goals that I’m going to make sure I hit ( at least for running.  Hello MCAT? Hello moving?)  I do want to try and make speed work happen this month.  I’ve lamented over and over how I’m not racing BUT there’s a race in NH (the half that I want to do with Lacey ) and then a 5k in Providence that I might want to do; I’ve been getting their emails since I ran it last year but haven’t seriously considered it yet ($$ being the issue).  Not to mention the Tufts 10k in October.  I want to smash some records this fall and planting the speed work rewards into my muscles now will likely pay off big.

Oh yeah.  And some core + lifting might be a good thing too.  Maybe today?

And I guess I do have a “wishy-washy” goal for this month too (aka a goal that’s not really concrete or tangible): chill the eff out.  I’ve been so stressed that it’s been way hard for me to find time for myself.  I’ve gotten better at it lately (reading, seeing friends) buttttt it’s something I’ll likely need to work on for the rest of my life.  This month I am taking a vacay…well I was going to say next week but I leave on Thursday. So I’m leaving soon.  That’ll be fun.  And once my test is over and I’m moved my life might be introduced to this concept called fun again. It’ll be a good thing to be at a job and not have to be “on” 24/7 like I was at school.  I’m definitely looking forward to that  🙂

Well this is getting long and I need to hit the books some more.  But in terms of what I mean by “chill the eff out” here’s my new most favoritest picture that was taken on the Philly trip with the girls 🙂

Drunk. Happy. Hott. ❤

Ooooooooooooh we’re halfway there

Bear with me as I wanted to get A LOT into this post: weekly totals, monthly total, year-to-date, New Year goals, what’s next….

I’m not quite sure how interested you guys are in week-by-week accounts of the month or if you want the whole story right away.  But I’m going to break it down weekly just because I think there are a couple of interesting trends that went on.

First off I want to make a big fat disclaimer that this month was obscene.  I had absolutely NO intentions of running as much as I did.  But May ended graduation and I flung myself full throttle into the process of studying for the MCAT as well as applying to medical schools.  This led to the rise of the double (and occasional triple).

I’m actually semi-embarrassed by my totals.  Sure, I do feel great physically with no true wear and tear buttttt….the fact that I was running so much and not keeping tabs on my mileage makes me feel a little bit silly.  I highly doubt I would have run so much if I had known how quickly those “just a few more minutes” or “just another mile” moments added up.

That said, no regrets. While the numbers may be blush-inducing I feel great.  I feel fast and strong. Ultimately I think that’s what matters.

Too bad I don’t have a marathon on the horizon and most fall marathons have already filled up.  Couple that with the fact that New England doesn’t have any December/January marathons and I’m feeling a bit bummed that I can’t *truly* capitalize on this fitness.  Ideally I’d want to take the rest of the summer and scale back and then NAIL a winter marathon.  Maybe Disney? Any other thoughts? In the interim, I do have the local 5 miler in July, a half planned for September and a 10k in October but my mileage is a bit overkill for that.  Hell, it’s a bit overkill for a marathon to be honest.

So here it is, with slight commentary because I was an idiot and didn’t write down lots of thoughts during the actual weeks themselves:

Week of May 31 – June 6

• 92.3 Miles
• 13 hours 23 minutes 32 seconds
• 8:43 pace
• 3X Core, 2X Lifting, 0 XT

First week where I really did doubles with regularity.  At first my double runs were slower, or at least felt slower, but overall very happy with the pace.

Week of June 7 – June 13

• 112.6 Miles
• 16 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds
• 8:48 pace
• 3X Core, 1X Lifting,0 XT

More miles.  And a slightly slower average pace.  Still a wayyyyy faster pace than during Boston training.  There seems to be an interesting line between a slower average pace but with speedwork (Boston) or just easier runs everyday and a faster average pace.

Week of June 14 -June 20

• 128.1 Miles
• 18 hours 39 minutes 12 seconds
• 8:45 pace
• 2X Core, 2X Lifting, 0 XT

Bam.  Definitely a weekly PR.  Included the triple where I amassed 21 miles in a day (which I went on to repeat later this month) AND I got to run with Jess.  Which I think was a turning point because my runs have just gotten speedier since then.  I also got in an actual long run this week, not a split one, after going out drinking the night before.  So a very interesting, but awesome, week to say the least.

Week of June 21 – June 27

• 125.5 Miles
• 18 hours 2 minutes 2 seconds
• 8:38 pace
• 4X Core, 1X Lifting, 0 XT

Boom.  Pace dropped.  The miles were “scaled back”.  Not intentionally and obviously 3 miles isn’t a lot when the total is so high. I’m just very impressed with the pace for this particular week.

Month of June

• 500.5 miles
• 72 hours 38 minutes 12 seconds
• 8:42 pace

Well these miles are ridiculous and definitely a new monthly PR.  The pace is just mind-blowing to me.  How could I run an average of 8:42 for 500.5 miles?!  I mentioned earlier in the post that there was that interesting trade off when I have speedwork in my week and that generated a slower overall pace.  I think that not needing the shuffle runs this month helped; everything was even keeled.  Well I also think the key is the double.  I was able to sufficiently recover from 2 X 6 miles (or even a 7-9-5 day!) because my ass was glued to a chair and I got to eat between.

Year to Date

• 2169.1 miles
• Too lazy to calculate time or pace hahah

Well if I remember correctly from my New Year’s goals post way back when….well actually I just looked back and I never had a mileage goal for 2010.  I know that 2009’s total was 3116.0 so I’m well on my way to smashing that.  Not sure if I want to though.

In light of the New Year’s goals I figured now would also be a good time to re-evaluate the concrete goals as well as the ways I wanted to reach them (and I just pasted the actual goals here with my current thoughts, although anything in red or bolded is from the original.  If you want to see the original thoughts you can click the link above):

Goals for 2010:

• PR (duh who doesn’t?).  I don’t know how obvious it is or how clearly it comes across in my blogging but I race to race.  I don’t sign up to “have fun”.  I sign up so I can run hard enough to want to puke my guts out when I cross the finish line. I think that by incorporating new strength moves and speed workouts will help that.  Mixing things up and see what happens.  Specifically (and yes they are lofty but I think that with some real focus I can come real close to most if  not all of ‘em): I really wish I had been able to race more!
  

1. sub 20:00 5k Haven’t raced one yet!
2. sub 43:00 10k Haven’t raced one yet! (But definitely have one for October)
3. sub 1:40:00 half Haven’t raced one yet! (But will in September)
4. 3:35:00 marathon — I was going to write sub 3:30 but that’s an 8 minute pr and I’m not sure how realistic that would be.  Actually to hell with it: the goal is sub 3:30.  I left the last marathon feeling like I had plenty of gas in the tank so we’ll see if I can capitalize on that in 2010. The red is what I wrote back in December/January.  Came close with Boston with 3:35:53.  Unfinished business.
   

• Do an ultra. I had one in mind right for right after graduation but all those toe infections, shin problems put that one one hold
• Dare I say it? Requalify for Boston. Check 🙂
• Not sure how realistic this one is as I have no idea where I’ll be in the fall but I want to run MCM.
  
• And super long term I want to run the Big 5: New York, Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago.  Maybe I could get lucky and find myself in Europe this fall / next year. I can dream right? Well no plans right now to make good on this one
• Have fun. I am.  Yes I tend to stress out really easy but running really has been fun.  Especially post Boston where I’m just running for the hell of it.

And the ways I wanted to get there:

• Drink more water. Yes. I am definitely drinking more water than I did last year.  But not nearly enough.  One 16 oz bottle isn’t going to cut it.  I know I drink other stuff during the day but I need more H2O
• Get faster. Well by looking at my marathon PR and this past months weekly totals I’d say YES.  But I originally wrote that I wanted to do this via speedwork and the funny thing is that lack of speedwork dropped my overall pace.  But I did go fast in Boston using speedwork so different tactics with different logic behind doing it.
• Get stronger. AKA strength train more. Yeah.  I’ve been dreading going to the gym lately but I have been going regularly.
• XT more in general too. Not so much.
• Stretch more. Ditto above.
• Respect the rest day. Nope.
• Listen to my body. Yes and No.  I’m very stubborn but when I was FORCED to listen to my body (back in March/April) I got better at it.  Let’s keep this trend going.
• Wear sunscreen. Meh.  Definitely room for improvement here too.

So what’s next?

Well I’m thinking that the miles are going to have to come down.  I know I’m not feeling anything terrible right now but it’s only a matter of time before my body can’t withstand the impact.  I know I’m a high mileage runner in general but I’m hoping that July and August is reduced and I find a marathon to do over the winter, or even late fall although I think any around me have filled up.

I also have some unfinished business with my goals so I’m printing out that old post just to keep them in my line of sight and they don’t keep falling by the wayside. I think that I just posted them and then out of sight out of mind.  I need to make a bulletin board or something like that.

And since you made it this far with the post here’s a picture that my friend uncovered from Boston on her camera.  Her caption when she put in on FB was “After she finished. She could have prob. kept running” hahahah.  My response? “So NOT true. but I love this picture anyway” 8)

Monthly Recap: February

I officially like doing these monthly recaps much better than weekly! It’s really nice to see how my training varies (or not ha) on one page. And oops for putting this up 3 days into March but hey, I was lazy in February and didn’t keep a running tally in my (handwritten) logbook haha.

But before I get into it I had the most demoralizing run this morning.  You know how I said the weather was going to stay nice and spring like so it was okay that I was on the tm yesterday? Well the weather gods decided to smite me and I got basically a blizzard.  I still stuck it out outside but man was it tough and I felt like it was a total test of my character. Snow, a bit of hail and a helluva lot of sleet.  Ugh.

That plus the intense intervals from yesterday made the pace sooooooooo slow. Obviously what my body needed but still very tough to handle looking at such a slow pace.  Add that to the clutter in my brain from some heavy life stuff and well…hopefully this doesn’t turn into a funk!

I do have some tempo miles on tap for Thursday (tomorrow) so I’m hoping that perks me up a bit 😀

Although again: weather gods WTF?!  When I last checked it was suppose to be nice butttt now it’s looking like snow/rain mix. Blahhhh.

Now onto looking back at February (although  Mel’s having a pretty cool giveaway):

Week of 1-February to 7-February

• 97.8 miles
• 14 hours 32 minutes 43 seconds
• 8:56 average pace
• Core 2x, Full Body Lifting 3x, XT 1X

This was a tough week.  I nixed the hills in my intervals session because I was feeling burnt out on them which I think helped my tempo later that week and I nailed my paces.  But the LR was mentally tough. I guess this was a character building week as everything seemed a bit tougher than it should have.  I was having a tough time sleep and stress wise so I’m sure that was a factor too.

Week of 8-February to 14-February

• 100.4 miles
• 15 hours 13 minutes 1 second
• 9:06 average pace
• Core 2x, Full Body Lifting 3x, XT 2X

Hollllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  100 mile week. BAM.  So proud of this week because I pulled off 2 stellar quality runs and one (the tempo) that was totally acceptable, just not outstanding.  The pace is over 9:00 for the first time this cycle and I think that it’s a combo of an overall slower tempo but also because I’ve been taking recovery runs VERY seriously.  If I’m going to be attacking as hard as I have been (both in intensity and mileage) then I need to keep being smart. Goal for next week: back off a bit as my run on Sunday was a bit sketch but I was determined to get that 100 🙂

Week of 15-February to 21-February

• 95.2 miles
• 14 hours 28 minutes 34 seconds
• 9:08 average pace
• Core 2x, Full Body Lifting 3x, XT 2x

Okay so I guess I was semi-successful in cutting back.  I meant to cut back more but I got carried away with my interval session and LR.  Not the biggest deal ever and I think it’s pretty significant that I was able to have a week that didn’t top the previous one.  Very good sign mentally, even if it was only 5.2 miles. I also was slightly slower than last week (which I attribute to a less than stellar tempo that I ended up calling a steady state run) but I think, in hindsight of course, that it was a positive to the week, especailly coming off a 100 mile week.  This was also the week that my shin starting bugging out a little (after the long run) so I switched completely to newer shoes. So hard for me to do but a potential injury is NOT worth it.

Week of 22-February to 28-February

• 97.1 miles
• 14 hours 38 minutes 16 seconds
• 9:03 average pace
• Core 2x, Full Body Lifting 3x, XT 2x

Okay so another great week.  I was really hoping for a sub-9 average pace given how awesome my tempo and intervals were but I guess I didn’t account for the fact that it would impact my recovery runs.  Couple that with an “eh” average pace for the LR (which I’m not disappointed with the run itself as a whole, but rather the first 12 miles or so) and I guess that 9:03 is what I should have expected.  I kind of wish I had run just a bit faster one of the days to get rid of those pesky 3 seconds.  What can I say: I’m a numbers chica.  But other that that I am THRILLED with how this week went.  Maybe the numbers don’t tell the whole story but it was definitely one of the most solid weeks I’ve had throughout this cycle.

February:

• 390.5 miles
• 58 hours 52 minutes 34 seconds
• 9:03 average pace

Again with those pesky 3 seconds! Overall I’m very pleased with the month.  I got some really hard workouts in, stuck to keeping a weight routine AND hit my first ever 100 mile week.  I secretly wish I had run a bit extra to hit 400 miles buttttt that would have required an average of 100 miles per week and I don’t think I had that in me.  Came close though and I’m happy with how it all went down.  And WOWZA I spent a lot of time running.  Guess I don’t really think about how much it really adds up.  Craaaaaazy.

Heading into March, and the Monster Month, I’m looking forward to having more intensity and, likely, more miles. And I say: BRING IT.

Monthy Recap: January 2010

So I kind of liked not having weekly recaps last month.  Makes me feel like the posts are “meatier” AND it’s easier to see week-to-week trends when there are 4 weeks laid out.  Granted the weeks listed here are Monday to Sunday so there are a few days of December but whatever. I like it this way 🙂

But before I get into the first month of the year I was talking to my Spanish profesora after class just to let her know that I’ll be missing class for the Boston Marathon.  Normally I wouldn’t have bothered (we get 3 free misses already) but there’s a composition due that day so I wanted to make sure (in advance because I am like that) that it would be ok to email it to her.  And she goes “Oh don’t even worry about it.  You have the best reason ever for missing class. How exciting”.  She’s not a runner but it was way cool to have a professor be so interested and supportive in my running rather than looking at me like I have three or four heads.

So here’s January / the first 5 weeks of Boston training. Just to note, I wrote these as the weeks passed so the tone might shift from week to week and whatnot.

Week of 28-December to 3-January

• 90.0 miles
• 13 hours 3 minutes 38 seconds
• 8:44 average pace
• Core 3x, Full Body Lifting 2x

Woooooot another weekly mileage pr (as the last week in December was one too).  I wasn’t even shooting for it, but it just happened and I was *shocked* that I ran 90 miles.  This was also the unofficial first week of Boston training, I was just loosely following a schedule.  The overall pace was *much* faster than it’s recently been (I had 2 speed sessions and 2 tm sessions which go much faster than outdoors for me). I’m actually both excited and nervous about the mileage / training this week. Excited because I know that during “monster month” I will be able to do what I need to but nervous because it’s only week 1 (or week 16 depending on how you count) and I don’t need to be anywhere near this point right now.

Week of 4-January to 10-January

• 85.2 miles
• 12 hours 47 minutes 32 seconds
• 9:00 average pace
• Core 3x, Full Body Lifting 2x

Week 2 (or Week 15 according to my plan) of Boston training down — I decided to make it official after all.  Still on the high side of mileage but that’s due to one overzealous run at the beginning of the week, the rest were where they needed to be.  Average pace looking good too, I think 9:00 is a good balance between my recovery days (which tend to be slooow) and speed days (obv fast).  Happy with the 2x of lifting and 3x of core; hopefully that can continue longer in the training cycle.

Week of 11-January to 17-January

• 87.2 miles
• 13 hours 5 minutes 40 seconds
• 9:02 average pace
• Core 2x, Lifting 3x, XT 1x

Another great training week.  I still continue to be amazed by how my body is reacting to the training.  The average pace is right where I want it (well maybe 2 seconds too slow haha) which is nice because my recovery runs have been really slow (which they need to be) so it means that I’m hauling butt in my quality workouts.  Definitely good.  I’m also very happy with the fact that I was able to hit the gym THREE times for lifting.  So far the response has been positive.  I also added in an elliptical session, it was after my tempo run so it was nice to be able to stretch the muscles and circulate my blood without the impact of running.

Week of 18-January to 24-January

• 89.4 miles
• 13 hours 13 minutes 4 seconds
• 8:52 average pace
• Core 2x, Full Body Lifting 3x, XT 1x

So my favorite part of those numbers? The 8:52 average pace!! I guess with a kick ass interval, tempo AND long run I should have expected it.  Woot.  I also like all the lifting I’ve been doing: powerful and strong chica here.  My least favorite part? The eighty-nine point FOUR.  Makes me wish for an extra .6 to round up to 90.  But I know that’s not what I needed.  I mean this was supposed to be a cutback of 5-10 miles.  Oops heh. And I don’t like the XT.  I think that I don’t like XT in general. But I’m happy I got that in as my shake-the-legs-out workout post-tempo rather than another run.

Week of 25-January to 31-January

• 93.8 miles
• 13 hours 50 minutes 17 seconds
• 8:51 average pace
• Core 2x, Full Body Lifting 3x, XT 1x

Weekly PR.  I think this will likely be the last one of those for a while.  I definitely let my mind run wild this week and I think I felt the touches of the drain with my speed sessions, while stellar, just felt blah.  Amazing considering that I broke the double digit streak this week that my miles could get so high.  Plus my average pace for the week was a killer. I think that was mostly due to faster-than-normal recovery runs because I didn’t think my speed work sessions were anything extra spectacular compared to previous weeks. SO I’m very proud of this week and it’ll definitely go in my books as a stupendous week.

Month of January totals:

• 397.1 miles
• 58 hours 58 minutes 17 seconds
• 8:54 avg pace

Definitely a monthly PR for sure. So many great things happened. Hit 2 weekly mileage PRs (and all the weeks have been the highest they’ve ever been for me!). Boston training really took hold.  I was in the midst of an amazing double digit streak.  I incorporated lifting and stretching and XT-ing into my routine. The thing I’m most impressed with is my average pace being UNDER 9 min/mi.  I know for some of you that is no biggie but that’s huge for me.  It definitely shows that I’ve been diligent and hardcore with my speed work.  I know that I’ll won’t likely get another month like this but it sure sets the bar high for what is to follow.  I’m hoping that I can take what I’ve done (lifting, stretching, XT, speed work) and keep it all up for February.

What a way to start of 2010!

Weekly Recap: November 23 – 29 2009

Miles: 73.9

Time: 11 hours 25 minutes 36 seconds

Strength: Big Fat GooseEgg

Core: 5x

XT / Rest: Zero

This week epitomized “Go Big or Go Home” in a huuuuuuuuuuge way.  Since I was at home for the majority of the week I ramped up my running in proportion to the stress being home brings.  The POTM challenge also was a factor as I was in the final push for that too.  Lack of rest didn’t hurt either in this monster week.  Miraculously (?) my average pace didn’t suffer toooooo much.  Makes me really think that I’m perfectly suited for this long distance stuff.  And don’t anyone worry: I’m definitely going to NOT keep this up! Heh.

Also to note: November mileage = 293.6.  Great month to be sure but slightly disappointed that it’s not a monthly pr like October was.  Seems a bit improbable given this past week but hey, not going to snub my nose at it 🙂

P.S. Check out the giveaway that Lizzy’s having, although I’m going to say don’t  (like always) because I want a better shot at winning haha

Weekly Recap: November 16 – 22 2009

Miles: 68.7

Time: 10 hours 29 minutes 54 seconds

Strength: 0

Core: 5x

XT: 0 (including  0 rest days)

Wow so this week my running skyrocketed. And that’s soooo evident with the total time spent running, although it does even out to a pace that’s desirable right now (re: eaaaaasy).  So much for taking a mini-taper before Thanksgiving? Overall I’m feeling really good: my pace was spot on for 4/7 runs, a wee bit over for 2/7 and under for 1/7.   I’m happy with that and that my legs felt amazing until Sunday’s run where there was a bit of soreness.  But I chalk that up to going at it after a really good 14 mile long run the day before.

Weekly Recap: November 9 – 15 2009

Miles: 55.3

Time: 8 hours 32 minutes 38 seconds

Lifting: Zero

Core: 5x

XT/Rest: Once rest day

Another high week although down slightly from last week.  A bit on the slow side too.  By the end of Sunday’s run I was totally feeling all the miles that I had just put in so it may be time to cut back this week slightly and give my muscles a chance to recuperate.  The weekend pushed ’em over the edge with the birthday stuff. I know that the following week (Thanksgiving break) I’ll be running with a friend and we like to “go big or go home” haha so I need to, like, taper for it this week. 🙂

Weekly Recap: November 2 – 8 2009

Miles: 60

Time: 8 hours 35 minutes 12 seconds

Strength: 0

Core: 5x

First off, sorry this is a day or so late, although I’m mostly apologizing to myself as I like to get these suckers up on Sunday night / early Monday morning. But I’ve been swamped with life things lately!

Well golly! Freaking huge mileage week, definitely let the beast out of the cage.  And the overall time corresponds to a 840 overall pace? Maybe? Jeez.  I think my mental state was a huge booster: as much fun as angry runs are, the BEST runs obv come when your mind and body are happy and content.  The gears just clicked and I went for it.