Fitness Infusion

I stepped out of my comfort zone today and took a class called Fitness Infusion. It was a combination of intervals, like Tabata, and strengthening moves. It was really fun and I hope to incorporate it into my regular routine.

Back at home, we've been struck with the stomach bug twice already and then this weekend came through again for Adam and Jack. I'm hopeful we are over the hump and everyone can get healthy again. And that Alice and I stay clear - we  had it the first round a couple weeks ago. Sick nights means cartoons in bed. 

Training Cycle Day One

Today marks the first official day of training for my second marathon! It was pretty uneventful with a chilly and snowy 3 mile run around town at lunch time. I switched today's and tomorrow's plans since tomorrow's high temp is supposed to be 4 and I'm trying to avoid the treadmill as much as possible. 

I surprised myself and actually did 90 minutes of vinyasa yoga at home with the lights low and my favorite music on. It was incredibly relaxing and nice to spend as much time working on Astra Bakasana as I wanted. Here's to 18 weeks of healthy marathon training!

Weekends

Whenever the weekend rolls around, I have a hard time finding the right balance between being lazy and productive. The "getting stuff done" includes the ambition to actually leave the house.

With several activities planned this weekend I knew I would need to pace myself so I wouldn't be tempted to skip and stay home in yoga pants. The weekend started off right yesterday with a seven mile run with Jack and Alice. Thanks to a great run the entire day felt so much more calm and manageable. It's amazing the power of a run. But the day still ended with yoga pants.

First Run Post Daylight

Last year for Christmas, my mom gave me a headlamp for early morning and evening runs. It's actually a surprising gift since the thought of me running alone in the dark makes her very nervous. Up until today, I had never used it! I decided to test it out today on a late afternoon run. Because it gets dark so early, it was perfect. I had daylight for the first half and by the time I was finished it was pitch black. I ran 6 miles with an average pace of 9:40. Miles in the 9s have become the norm which makes me very happy! (Did I tell you I PRd in the half a few weeks ago?!? 2:04!) I have actually gained ten pounds, and no it's not muscle, since the marathon. I know once that comes off I will see more progress.

The kiddos are doing great! We're on Day 3 of putting them both to bed at the same time, which is amazing (they share a room). I miss the one-on-one time with Jack that we'd have after Alice goes to bed, but we'll save that for the weekends now.

They are so damn cute. And I can't stop buying Alice clothes. The choices at babyGap are unbelievable! Better than the women's selection.

Staycation Week

Core Barre

I tried a new-to-me class at work today, Core Barre. I've really been wanting to try this style class since they've become popular but haven't wanted to shell out the dough. They added it to our schedule at work and I finally got in! There's a 6 participant per class so it often has a waitlist. It was a ton of leg and core work with tiny pulses that really burned. The classes at work are 50 minutes instead of an hour so I wished the teacher went a little quicker without so much downtime between exercises to get the most out of the shortened time. It was a really fun class and definitely want to do another one. But maybe not with this same instructor. At the end of class she asked me when I was due. I was like, huh? Me? Then I got teary and stormed out. I was actually really offended especially after just admiring myself in the mirror thinking that things were looking like they were getting back to normal ha. I'm excited to keep experimenting with different classes during this downtime between official race training. Spoiler alert, I have a spring full marathon on my mind!

Fall Shelburne Half Marathon

It's been really hard to try and find the time to sit down and write when I stare at the computer all day for work. But, when I do, it feels really good and I love having this little space for dialogue.
Alice is doing really well and heads to meet with her cardiologist next week which will give us a better picture of what we can expect going forward. Fingers crossed all goes well.

A few weeks ago, while I was riding high on my 4:34 marathon finish, I registered for the Shelburne Half Marathon. I have run this race twice before and the 2011 one held my half marathon PR of 2:07:15. You might remember that I narrowly missed beating this number last spring at Unplugged (don't mind my overly dramatic non-recap) with a time of 2:07:50.

So, I registered for the race this year with every intention to PR but then life got in the way. I ran a total of about 15 miles between the October 6 marathon and November 3, with one 5 mile run and the rest 3-4. I knew I could cover the distance but didn't know how fast. I made a plan for the race to listen to music the entire time, run as fast as felt comfortable and if I bonked at mile 10, oh well, I could walk.

The gun went off and I began my plan. The course was hilly and the wind at times was really strong.
Mile 1: 9:31
Mile 2: 9:30
Mile 3: 10:00
Mile 4: 9:28
Mile 5: 9:14
Mile 6: 10:00
Mile 7: 9:19
Mile 8: 9:31
Mile 9: 9:35
Mile 10: 10:00
Mile 11: 9:52
Mile 12: 9:33
Mile 13: 9:37

Giving me a new PR of 2:04:10!!! My Garmin actually measured the distance short giving me a total of 12.91 miles, but I figure if I had run the same pace for .2 more miles I would still PR, so it counts :) It was such an awesome day with my amazing running friends racing and cheering as well. Now I really want to break 2:00:00!