Lately

I know, I know, it's a massive photo overload, but here's a little bit of what we've been up to lately.

 

 

Back to School

Wow, running with the jogger is hard! It's no secret that I've had a long-term love affair with this thing, but as my work situation has become more flexible I'm able to complete so many more runs by myself - without it. Although I used it often last week, we were ocean side and there were zero hills. Makes a big difference.

This week has been a testament to maintaining my marathon schedule. Between coming back from vacay and therefor being crazy at work, Jack starting school, and Alice starting daycare (eek!), it's been busy to say the least.

I finally managed to get all my miles needed in for the week (minus long run on Sunday - 20 miles, no big deal haha) with some serious adjustments. It involved running four days in a row (not ideal), a two-a-days, three jogger runs, and eight miles tonight.

Tomorrow is all about stretching and some core work if I'm feeling ambitious. Bring on the rest day.

Marathon Training Weeks 11 & 12

Weeks 11 and 12 of marathon training have been a complete whirlwind! I pretty much stuck to the plan, aside from a few minor scheduling adjustments, I was able to stay on track. 

Week 11:

• Monday: 5 mile run with friends from work. I have an awesome running group at work and even though we all around the same pace, whenever we run together we pick it up. I'm so thankful to have them.

• Tuesday: 3 mile run in the morning, solo, then bodypump at lunch time.

• Wednesday: 3.6 miles. Our group headed out with the intention of doing 5 miles but a serious storm came through and we cute it short.

• Thursday: My best friend flew in unexpectedly on Wednesday night and we had a sleepover, just like old times. Needless to say, I was feeling the after-effects of too much wine today. I wanted to get some miles in because my 8 on Tuesday turning into 3 and a class, and 5 turned into 3.6, but oh well.

• Friday: 8 miles solo in the early morning before work.

• Saturday: Rest - day of travel to Kennebunkport.

• Sunday: Day 1 of vacation included an 8 mile run with Alice in the jogger along the ocean. Yes, please. My schedule called for a step-back week in terms of long run, with 13 on tap, but I'm pleased that I did 8.

Total: 27 miles

Week 12:
This week (minus Sunday) was spent on vacation, which can prove difficult to fit in runs. Getting up early (which was easy with Miss Alice as my alarm clock) and bringing the jogger proved a good choice in terms of marathon training.

• Monday: 9 mile run (no baby) with my sister-in-law. It was a tough run, and she ended up tacking on a couple extra miles but I just didn't have it in me.

• Tuesday: Rest - fried seafood and local beer, all day.

• Wednesday: 6 mile run with Alice and Jack

• Thursday: 5 mile run with Alice

• Friday: 5 mile run solo and I managed to average 9:29. I'll take it.

• Saturday: Rest - day of travel back to the real world.

• Sunday: 18 freakin miles!!! It was an awesome run and averaged 10:29. I felt really strong throughout the 3 hours and 8 minutes I was on my feet. I fueled with water and Gu, which worked out really well. Mentally, I was prepared for the run which made a huge difference. I didn't go into it thinking, ugh, I have to run 18 miles. I went in ready because I knew completion would mean I'm that much more ready for 26.2. Bring it.

Total: 43 miles (!!!)

Marathon Training Week 10

Here's a quick little update on last week's (almost two weeks ago now, oops) marathon training:

• Monday: I had the day off from work but was fighting a cold that came on after Saturday's long run so I took the day off from running. Much needed.
• Tuesday: Still not feeling so hot at all, took another needed rest day.
• Wednesday: Went back at it with a 4 mile run at lunch with work friends then did another 4 that night with Alice in the jogger.
• Thursday: Reformer Pilates
• Friday: 6.5 miles solo before work. It was POURING and I contemplated using the treadmill but when I got to work they were all in use so I was forced to go outside. I had 8 scheduled but got a late start so I needed to get back to the office. But then I was mad at myself for not at least just making it 7.
• Saturday: 17 miles!!! It was awesome and gave me a major confidence boost.
• Sunday: Rest

So there's week 10. The Highs: An awesome long run, successful two-a-day. The Lows: Getting sick (but feeling better by the end of the week was a high) and a lower mileage week than I would have liked. Here's to week 11!

New distance record.

17 miles with an average pace of 10:41 and pretty much even splits, except for a 11:30 first mile and 9:30 last mile.  Felt really strong during the run and helped mentally after a few days if struggling to get out the door to run. I was able to do 8 of the miles with my mom which was a great way to break up the run. I did 6 solo, 8 with Mama, and the rest on my own. 

Marathon Training Weeks 8 and 9

Hi friends! I need to fill you in on my marathon training. It's going, well... going! Nine weeks until the day is here and I'm starting to think I'm crazy to have signed up to run 26.2 miles. But, I'm so freakin' excited! Without further ado, here are weeks 8 and 9 of training:
Week 8

• Monday: "Rest." We actually moved this day so resting was replaced with hauling boxes and hoisting furniture.
• Tuesday: 7 miles. I don't remember if this was before or after work, but I'm going to say before :) *edited: It was not solo and not before work. It was with Melissa after work and was so hard! It was really hot by the time we headed out and pulled out a time of 1:11.
• Wednesday: 4 miles... Again, don't remember the time of day.
• Thursday: 4 miles... When? Who knows.
• Friday: 7 miles before work. I ran 4 with a coworker then finished the last 3 solo.
• Saturday: 14 miles. Long, slow, painful miles. I ran put the kiddos in the jogger and ran the mile to Melissa's, then did 6 with her and Julia, probably too fast for my legs that had already run 4 days in a row that week and with several still to go. After a break at the Peabody residence, I headed home to drop off Jack and Alice to finish the run solo. I had a really hard time getting back out the door and the last 6 miles were a run/walk. I had 15 scheduled but called it quits at 14.

This was a tough week, and the bad long run was draining mentally. But, as you can see, I made a lot of mistakes and it's not surprising the 36 miles total were tough.
Week 9:

• Monday: 4.25 miles with coworkers at lunch
• Tuesday: Bodypump at lunch and 4 miles at the end of the day solo.
• Wednesday: 5 miles at lunch with work friends
• Thursday: Reformer Pilates
• Friday: 7 miles in the morning with work friends. I'm calling this a pace run because we averaged 9:54 a mile, which I'm happy about.
• Saturday: 15 miles! 5 with Melissa, Chris, and Kim then M and I headed out for the rest. I felt strong and we had an overall average pace around 10:25. I read an article in Runners World about doing a 16 mile long run at marathon pace about halfway through training, and since I'm hoping to run 10:30, I'm calling this a win. That being said, I still don't want to set time goals, I just want to finish - under 5 hours :).
• Sunday: Rest.

So there's my 35 miles of Week 9. I veered a little off the plan because this week had more rest days built in to prep for a half marathon race, which clearly I didn't do. I guess it works because I've been sick this week and had extra unplanned rest days. Here's to finishing this week strong! With a little sneak peak... 17 miles on deck this weekend.