55 for the week

Easy 6 yesterday and 7 today give me 55 miles this week. Yesterday was tough mentally and physically.. I was tired after Wednesday's longer run and Thursday's faster effort and I just didn't feel like running. But I was glad that I stuck with it and got 6 miles. I felt much better today and actually enjoyed the run. I am happy that I reached 55 miles this week considering I had some faster stuff and I am still feel pretty solid.

7 miles

7 miles in 57:43 today. At 4.5 miles in I picked up the pace to 7:30 and brought it down to 7:00 pace over the next mile. It didn't feel like my legs wanted to go any faster than that so I held it at 7:00 pace for a mile. It felt harder today than I expected but that means it probably did me some good.

35 so far

Sunday - 14

Monday - 6 mile recovery run. My left knee was a little sore.. odd, but maybe from the harder Sunday run. I haven't had any IT band issues for a long time now so I wasn't too worried. The 14 on Sunday was all on pavement and I was outside for this run as well. I tried to run some on grass (golf course) but the frozen ground didn't make the best footing. I was going to go 7 but quit early because my knee actually hurt bad enough to make me think I should stop. Still managed 8:20 pace and had to work to slow myself down. Felt really good for a recovery day.

Tuesday - Should have iced after Monday's run! Ran on the treadmill and still felt some lingering knee pain. I was going to throw in a little faster stuff... build from a 7:30 mile down to 6:40 pace and try to maintain for a mile or so. I got down to 7:30 pace and managed that for a mile.. it felt like crap and I hung on thinking it might get better. It didn't and I realized going faster just wasn't happening for this run. I stopped at 5 because my knee was hurting and I knew I needed time to ice!!!

Wednesday- 10 miles at 8:45 pace. My legs felt great today and didn't notice my knee at all. Ran on the treadmill and struggled a little mentally to get 10.... it felt like I had already been running forever at 4 miles. I am not a big fan of treadmill running... especially after I get to run outside for a couple days in a row. At least I get to catch up on episodes of House =)

Merry Christmas!!

I haven't posted since Wednesday.. hmmm.... what has happened since then??

Thursday: easy 6

Friday: 7 miles with a 6:50 mile in the middle just to see how it would feel. I actually felt really good even on the treadmill. I thought 6:50 pace would feel like I was flying off the end of the treadmill but it was ok. I found that I was able to tick up the pace throughout the mile and could have continued for a little longer at that pace. It was encouraging but I can't imagine running even a couple of miles at that pace right now. I guess I will just build up slowly.

Saturday: Christmas with Eric's family... didn't take time to run. Ended the week with 45 miles on 6 days without a long run.


Sunday: I felt really good at the start of the run and decided to go with it. I ran the first few miles around 7:40 pace and was feeling fine. I had planned to run 15 or 16 but changed my mind and decided to go 14 but try to keep up the quicker pace. I finished the run in 1:48:19 (7:46 pace). I was definitely tired at the end and the last mile was a little tough but I maintained the pace. It seems like I am finding a different rhythm now that I have started incorporating some faster stuff.

The Plan?

7 miles yesterday with a few .5 mile pickups throughout the run. Nothing too crazy as the overall average pace was just under 8:30. Today was a nice 10 miler at 8:40 pace. I feel really good after (and usually during) these runs which makes me think I need to be running faster. Eric (Coach) and I were talking about the plan last night and he mentioned doing a long run (16-17), a longish run (10) and then spending the rest of the week running close to or at my goal 1/2 marathon pace for 30-40 minutes. I am not sure if I am going to be able to get in shape to run 6:30-6:40 pace for 13 miles but I am going to try. I think I will start next week by seeing how long I can last at 6:40 pace... even if it is only for a mile or so during a 40 minute run. Hopefully then I can just keep building on that until I am able to maintain for a couple of miles and eventually throughout a 40 minute effort. We'll see. If nothing else it will be a good test for me to see where I really am at right now.

11th week

This is the start of the 11th week since I have been running (seriously) again. I have been putting in a lot more miles than I have ever before but I have been doing so at a slower pace than I am used to. Yesterday I was crunched for time while at home for Christmas so I decided to give myself an hour to run rather than the 2+ hours it would have taken to do my usual long run. I wanted to see how a faster effort (7:30ish pace) would feel. I was hoping to get 8 miles in under 60 minutes. I ended up finishing in 58:39 with these splits: 7:26, 7:13, 7:21, 7:28, 7:27, 7:18, 7:09, 7:09. I really felt pretty good and probably could have hung on to that pace for another couple of miles. Considering how out of shape I was when I started this 11 weeks ago, I feel pretty good about this run. Even though it was a nice change from my usual pace, I sure missed my long run!

Today was an easy 7 on the treadmill. I was surprised that I wasn't tired at all from yesterday's run... my legs felt really fresh.

58 miles

Easy 7 yesterday and 6 today give me my highest week of mileage yet. I am feeling really good and the pace on the treadmill seems to be coming around for me now. I am able to run comfortably right around 8:30 pace. I will probably stick with that for now and gradually try to bring it down more as I make sure that I am still holding up well to the miles. We are off to see my family for Christmas which means the long run tomorrow will be at my parents' house. Hopefully I am still able to get out for 2 hours or so.

7 miles

Easy 7 for the day. Felt really good this morning after yesterday's 10 miler. I actually was able to run comfortably under 8:30 pace on the treadmill. I hope I am getting used to it now so that my runs can be at a more reasonable pace. 9:00 pace is just too slow for what I want to be doing.

Update

Monday- Easy 5 mile recovery run

Tuesday- Still trying to feel comfortable going a bit faster on the treadmill.. managed just under 8:30 pace for 7 miles. Felt pretty good.

Wednesday- 10 miles at 8:45 pace. Once I settled in the pace felt fine. Still slower than what I would run outside but maybe that's ok for now as I try to bump my mileage up a little.

38 miles for the week so far. 20 planned over the next 3 days.

Good run

I finished last week with 5 miles yesterday for 45 total. Today was a solid 16 miles (2:08:10). I felt pretty strong and finished with the last 6 all under 8:00 minute pace. I don't feel as destroyed today as I usually have been feeling after my long runs. I actually feel like I have quite a bit of energy left. It's a nice feeling for a change...

Late!

Yesterday morning the alarm didn't sound... Elle and Owen both like playing with the alarm clock and I didn't check to make sure everything was set back to normal the night before. I think it probably was a sign that I needed to take a day off. It was -9 with a wind chill of -23 and Eric was planning to run on the treadmill. I would have run outside but by the time I would have gotten all of my clothes on and out the door it would have left about 20 minutes for running. I usually am cutting it pretty close in the morning to get my run done and be ready for work at 5:30 so waking up 35 minutes late didn't work too well for me. Eric convinced me that I needed to take the day off anyway and even though I felt guilty most of the day it was probably a good thing. Today was an easy 6 on the treadmill.

Overwhelmingly overwhelmed

Easy 8 miles outside today (1:06:00). I felt really good but have been struggling the last few days with feeling overwhelmed about how much time I am putting in to my running. With taking care of Elle and Owen full-time, working half-time and running this much, I don't have many spare minutes in my day. I stopped feeling sorry for myself around mile 4 and decided to remember how lucky I am that I get to take care of my babies instead of having to send them off to daycare =) Running is my away time.. my time to relax and not think about the kids and everything that needs to get taken care of at home, work, etc... When I forget to really enjoy it and start thinking about what needs to be done, I get overwhelmed and feel like I need to be doing something else. Hmmm... I guess I just need to stop thinking while I am running.

Feeling better

Yesterday was an easy 5 on the treadmill.. I actually felt pretty good after a mile or so and would have gone 6 but I got kicked off the treadmill again =) Today was 7 at a slightly faster pace than normal (which on the treadmill meant 8:30 average). I still am having trouble feeling comfortable on the treadmill running much below 9:00 pace. I have been working my pace down from 9:30 to just under 9:00 pace for a recovery type run. Today, I started out just under 9:00 pace and settled in to 8:30 pace after a mile or so. I gradually worked my way up to under 8:00 pace for the last mile and a half. I feel fine after the run so I know I really wasn't working very hard but for some reason it still feels much faster while I am doing it. Irritating.

Not today

14 today in 1:54:20. It just didn't feel very good today... I had a tough time mentally and was ready to give up at 12. I had decided before I went out that I was running 14 so I am happy that I stuck with it considering how I felt. I tried to throw some faster miles in the middle of the run to see if I could get things rolling a little. Miles 1-4 were around 8:20 so I dropped down to 7:46 for 5 and 6. It felt ok and I came back with 8:16, 8:15, 8:06 and then decided to throw in another 2 at a faster pace. 7:54 was all I could come up with for mile 10 and mile 11 beat me mentally and I ended up backing off. I was surprised to see that I still ran 8:03. I was still feeling rough mentally during mile 12 and felt myself slowing down as I thought about turning back and heading for home. I decided to suck it up and get 14 even if I had to slow down.. somehow making that decision was enough for my legs to feel a little better and I finished with 8:03 and 8:12. I realized after I ran that I really hadn't eaten much before I went out and it was alreay 10:00 by the time I got out the door. I was pretty preoccupied with the kids this morning and only had time for a piece of toast and a cup of cocoa pretty early. I also didn't finish my gatorade during the run because it turned to slush after about 30 minutes and I was too cold to take it in. I feel pretty beat...

Good week

Overall, this has been a pretty good week. I have been feeling good, and with the exception of a few weather-related issues have been able to get in as many miles as I was hoping. 7 today gave me 54 for week. As Elle would say.. not too shabby.

Stinkin snow

There is a nice layer of ice outside right now and a light snow on top this morning made it too slippery for Eric to get out and run outside. That means shared time on the treadmill again so I quit at 5 to give him plenty of time. My legs felt good today and 7 would have been easy enough.. oh well, I'd rather see him get his time in =)