Week in Review

60 Miles
12 Mile Long Run
8k Race in 29:32
7 runs
1 Lift session
1 Deep Stretch Class
1 Mobility Class

I hadn't planned on racing the CRC 8k, but after the gun went off and my legs felt good, I decided to.  I had contemplated running with Anna and holding hands as we crossed the finish line, but my competitive spirit got the best of me and I decided to take advantage of this situation to test my fitness.  I went through the first mile with Ben Hovis' high school star, Emma, on my right shoulder.  We came through in a relaxed 6:01.  I didn't want to run over 30:00 for this race, so I set my sights on the guys in the club that I normally beat and tried to catch them.  Mile 2: 5:57.  By the 2.5 mile marker, I had caught Matt Rich and John Fillette.  Up until that point, I had several men to set as targets to reach, but after that, it was somewhat lonely.  There was a pack of guys about 200m in front of me, so I kept driving my pace to pass them.  Mile 3:  5:54, Mile 4: 5:55.  I passed all the people who were within a reasonable distance of me and continued to pass more in the last mile.  I felt relaxed until the fifth mile and began to feel fatigued before crossing the finish line in 29:32.

While I would have liked this effort to feel a little bit easier than it actually did, I am quite happy with where my fitness stands right now.  Over the past three months, I've averaged under 40 miles a week and haven't done any real workouts.  This race effort only puts me 83 seconds from my 8k PR, which I hope to break this year.

Additionally, I was able to hit 60 miles and still put in a decent race effort.  I plan to stick between 60-70 miles for the next couple of months so that I can stay healthy and avoid overtraining.  I may perhaps do a Fall marathon, but we'll see how this spring training segment goes before making any decisions.

Week in Review

52 Miles
6 Runs
1 Day Off
90 Min of Deep Stretch
2 Weight Lifting Sessions
14 Mile Long Run 1/ 10 min @ 5:55 pace

This week was definitely a step in the right direction.  It was the first week of being back to "the real world" as a married woman.  I returned to 9 hour days at the office and began my lifting regimen again.  I'm feeling strong and getting fit.  With each week that I run over 50 miles, I'm building my confidence back to where it needs to be.  While I wanted to do a light workout of 12x45 seconds, that was thrown out the window after my Tuesday run, when the top of my foot was sore.  To be safe, I took Wednesday off and decided to do my workout on Thursday instead.  Fortunately, my foot felt fine on Thursday, but unfortunately a torrential downpour on the Colville loop prevented any workout from happening.  Maneuvering around the booty loop in the daylight is tough enough with all the traffic lights, let alone with deep puddles and dark streets.  Despite the rain, a handful of CRC folks still made their way to the Dowd back porch to enjoy a run in the rain.

On Saturday, I put on my big girl pants and decided to finally try to run sub-6:00 pace.  This is something that hasn't happened since November, or over 10 weeks.  I ran 10 miles with Danielle and Anna before picking it up to 5:55 pace for less than 10 minutes and then rounding back to add on some miles with Danielle.  Aerobically, I feel a bit out of shape, but I was really happy with the effort.  I want to include a sustained hard effort in my long runs for most of the spring to build my strength and endurance. 

I'm happy that I've committed to lifting twice a week and attending a deep stretch yoga class.  My mom got me a 10-pack of classes for my birthday at MOGA and it's been great not only for my muscles, but also for my relationship with Garrett because we go together.   I look forward to continuing this upward trend!

Additionally, I've set my race schedule for 2013 as follows:

02/09/13 - Cupid's Cup 5k (Rustbuster)
03/02/13 - Rumba on the Lumber 5k
03/17/13 - Tobacco Road Half (Tentative)
03/23/13 - Kinston 8000m
04/13/13 - Race Fest 10k
04/20/13 - Tar Heel 10 Miler (Tentative)
04/27/13 - Providence Heart & Sole 5 Miler
05/11/13 - Capital City Classic 10k
06/01/13 - Running of the Bulls 8k
06/22/13 - USA Half Champs (Tentative)
07/20/13 - Beat the Heat 5k

Since I'm a married woman now and have to consider Garrett when I make race decisions, expensive races may be out of the picture.  Garrett plans to attend Physical Therapy school in 2014 and I plan on pursing my MBA in the future, so we need to save money.  The USA Half Champs are tentative, based on my fitness level and cost of trip.  I had a lot of fun (outside of the race) last year with Meagan, so I'd like to go for that, but if it's too expensive and I don't feel fit, then the cost will outweigh the benefit.  Decisions will be made in March!

(Honeymoon) Week(s) in Review

Week of December 31
22 Miles
3 days off
2 Days of hiking
5 days in hawaii

Week of January 7
44 Miles (with 31 of those miles in CLT)
5 Days in Hawaii
1 Day off
1 Day of Hiking
1 Day of Kayaking

After the wedding, Jordan, Meagan, and Merry all stayed at our house through New Years.  All sorts of people were coming in and out of our house as Garrett and I packed for our honeymoon.  We still managed to go out with our friends for NYE before heading to the airport at 8AM to catch our flight.  We finally made it to Kauai at 9PM their time, and made it to our adorable cottage by 10PM.  Time is five hours behind CLT in Kauai, but we adjusted quickly to the schedule.  Running was beautiful, but sparse.  The summary?  I got married, went to Kauai, didn't run much, but did all sorts of other outdoor activities to make up for my laziness from running.  Time was spent with just Garrett and it was absolutely perfect.  I made up for the low mileage the second week by running 31 miles in Charlotte.

Now that I'm not planning a wedding in my spare time, I'm not sure what I'll do to make up for the extra time.  For now, I'll put my focus on my training, with the main goal to gain fitness and perhaps target a fall marathon.  I don't feel ready to begin training 100% yet, but I hope to start adding very light fartlek workouts beginning this week.  After a month of training, I will jump into a low key race to gauge my fitness level and make a decision about whether or not to run the BAA 5k.

Our adorable cottage

Thank God for Costco.  Saved us hundreds of dollars

Double rainbow

The hikes were always muddy