Swim &Tempo Run - a.k.a "my bitches"

Guess what. I brought a swim workout to the pool - AND ACTUALLY FOLLOWED IT. Total: 1600 meters. Nothing fancy, just some good old fashioned freestyle and a little breaststroke thrown in for good measure. I really wish I could incorporate more drills, but I don't really know any. I did however meet a chick who does an adult swim instruction - focusing on technique. I would love that. I would also kill to learn how to butterfly. She does a class on MW and although I missed the sign-up date, she said she would take me under her wing if I showed up. How sweet. I think I will try to go next week and she whats up. I also did a tempo run. My major overriding goal was to run each tempo mile a little faster. Usually I go out all gung-ho like and shoot my wad on the first mile. I was much smarter this time. I held back a little. Interestingly, the first mile was the closest to the actual time I was supposed to be running. How bad is it if I'm not actually hitting my miles, but running faster? I know there must be some scientific reason for why I should stay at the designated time. The second mile was tough and the third mile I was talking myself up the entire time just to get through it. I feel pretty good about it, but if someone wants to give me some insight into the importance of staying on pace rather than speeding up - I'm all ears. Stats: mile 1: 8:54 (bpm 165) wtf? I knew it was fast, but I didn't know it was that fast plyometrics: about 15 minutes mile 3: 9:18 (bpm 178) mile 4: 9:03 (bpm 184) mile 5: 8:35 (bpm 186) Overall, I am very happy with this run. It was not easy especially after the plyo work. I actually forgot to do the core, which sucks - but whatev.

Weekly Goals

Some things I seriously need to start doing:

• Actually follow the swim workouts I bring to the pool. Seriously, whats the point in bringing them if I'm just going to blow them off 400 meters into it.
• Re-think the Friday morning spin. Last Friday my legs were exhausted.
• Plus, spin classes aren't shit compared to what it's like to actually ride a mtb on the road. It really sucks to get passed by people who you know shouldn't be passing you but they do by default because they have better more suitable equipment - like a road bike
• I need to actually get my arse out on the pavement and ride.

Monday: Bikram Yoga, Run - 5 miles

Tuesday: Interview

Wednesday: Swim, Run - 5 miles, 3 @ 9:20

Thursday: Run - 5 miles

Friday: Swim, Spin

Saturday: Run - 9 miles

Sunday: Tacoma City Marathon Volunteer

Weekly Recap

Monday: Swim, Easy Run - 5 miles @ 10:56 Swim - yes Run - 4.85 miles/9:39 pace/elevation gain: 1,107 ft. Tuesday: Speedwork -1.5 mile warm-up, 3 x 800 @ 4:11 w/ 400m jog recovery, 1.25 mile cool down See previous post Wednesday:Swim Swim - yes, I need to tighten up on keeping track of my swim workouts Thursday:Easy Run - 5 miles @ 10:56 5 miles/10:18 pace/elevation gain: 2,733 Friday:Swim, Spin Half-assed spin class. Tired legs. Swim-half-assed Saturday:Long run - 8 miles @ 10:56 hungover but survived 8.5 miles/10:29/elevation gain: 1,728 Sunday:OFF *total miles for the week: 23.5 *total elevation climbed: 6,396 ft.

Wine Bar & Long Run

First, the fun stuff. Remember that wine bar that my girlfriend and I tried to go to a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't open yet. Well, it's open and we went last night. First, I had the Washington Red wine flight only they were out of one of them (which was kind of ironic because it was a wine that they had the winery make exclusively for them) and so it was replaced with another which turned out to be my favorite of the night. Very smooth - highly recommended! This was the star of the show - Molly D00ker: Two Left Feet. It was awesome. Isn't the label cute. If you like big powerful reds this is the wine for you. I will definitely be finding this one again! I ordered a full glass after the wine flight.

After about two glasses of wine we left and took the party back to my house (after stopping at the store and getting a couple more bottles of wine of course). When it was all said and done, I think I ended up drinking over a full bottle by myself.

Which brings me to my long run this morning. Yikes. I was going to meet with my running group whom I haven't run with in months. meet up time was at 8am. Yeah, that didn't happen. I ended up doing the run on my own around 10ish.

Total miles: 8.5/10:59 av. pace

Here are the stats:

Mile 1: 9:18 (140 bpm) huge downhill that I will see again only going up at mile 8 Mile 2: 10:10 (160 bpm)

Mile 3: 12:54 (164 bpm) again huge uphill 381 ft in elevation and almost 1 mile long, I have never been able to run all the way up this bitch

Mile 4: 10:28 (164 bpm) Mile 5: 10:25 (162 bpm) took half a Mocha flavored Cliff gel that was way passed the expiration date. I could practically chew it. Gross. I don't think it helped anyways but at least the nastiness of the gel masked the nastiness of my wine hangover mouth.

Mile 6: 10:09 (164 bpm) Mile 7: 10:16 (166 bpm)

Mile 8: 14:27 (168 bpm)

another huge hill only about 300 feet in elevation but always tough at the end of a run, I have never been able to run all the way up this one either. I should turn that into a goal.

Mile .5: 10:29 (170 bpm) I had to run and extra half mile for good measure since I walked up part of those two hills

Tagged

Before my injury I signed up for an expensive (80$) half marathon. Once I realized I wasn't going to be able to do it I emailed whoever and asked them if they would defer it to next year, which as we all know they never do - at least the larger races. To my surprise they accepted my offer and told me to keep this email as proof for next year yada, yada, yada. So fast forward a couple of months later (now that it's two weeks out) I decided I should maybe volunteer for the half since a) they allowed me to defer and b) I have never actually volunteered for a race before but love to participate in them. So I emailed the volunteer coordinator and asked if he still have positions open for the half-marathon. In the meantime later that day, I officially signed up to volunteer. He finally emailed me back and said they are full for the half, but If I want to help with the full let him know. Oh yeah, and the volunteers are given windbreakers for volunteering (I'm assuming required to wear on the course, but keep them as well - I didn't know volunteers got loot) only they may be out of windbreakers. So, I don't really want to volunteer for the full unless I can do it for like the first half or something. Plus, if they are out of windbreakers doesn't that mean they are full for volunteers. Was he just trying to 'help me out' by allowing me to volunteer? Plus, now that I know there were windbreakers involved (that mind you, are probably going to be kind of ugly and I might not end up wearing it anyways) and I might not get one - I'm irritated. I'm selfish like that I guess. I suppose I'll wait to get my orders and see what they have in store for me. In the meantime - I was tagged by Jocelyn. The rules are: 1. Fill it out 2. Change one question with one of your own 3. Add an additional question 4. Tag 3 other people to do the same 1. What are your current obsessions? Running...and reading blogs 2. Which item from your closet are you wearing most often? Flip-flops 3. Last thing you bought for myself? These awesome running shorts - highly recommended. Spendy, but well worth it. I bought two pairs and am so glad I did. Quickly became my new favorite running gear. 4. What’s for dinner? New wine bar restaurant. review to come later. 5. Say something to the person who tagged you: I have loved following you on your marathon journey. I was there just last year. It will get easier and you will get faster with time - I promise. You are going to do great!! 6. What is one item you could not live without? Running shoes 7. Vacation spots you must visit before you die? Australia & Bora Bora 8. What is your most immediate short term goal: Write a paper today 9. What are you reading right now? Textbooks - gross 10. What is the last movie you saw and enjoyed? Baby Mama - funny 11. What’s your guilty pleasure? "Homemade" rocky road ice cream: Tillamook chocolate ice cream, cool whip, walnuts. put in bowl. Devour. 12. What’s your favorite smell? My husband 13. Best thing you ate or drank lately? Chicken sandwich for dinner last night 14. Favorite Quote? "Successful people do what unsuccessful people don't" 16. Whats one thing you can't go a day with out doing? Pooping 17. What do you have an addiction to? good black coffee (and by good I mean NOT Starbucks) 18. Whats your favorite holiday? 4th of July 19. How many pairs of shoes (not just running) do you have?? Around 50 20. Tell us one random thing about you. I use to smoke a pack a day until about four years ago. When I quit - I started running. Tagged these three awesome biatches: Missy Choloe Amy

'Finding my bearings' Speedwork

Today I did my first actual speed workout since last November. It was good, but I definitely lost some of my ability to throw down. On the schedule: 1.50 miles warm up 3x800 @ 4:11 w/400m jog recovery 1.50 miles cool down What actually transpired: Mile 1.48: 9:44 av.pace (163 bpm) plyometrics: 6:49min 800m: 4:02 (183 bpm) way too fast RI: 2:04* 800m: 4:17 (182bpm) obviously RI: 1:57 800m:4:16 (180bpm) RI: 1:12 Mile 1.5: 10:15 av. pace (179 bpm) * I did not pace myself correctly for the first interval therefore, jogging the 400 meters for recovery wasn't going to do it for me. I opted for a walking rest. Next time I will not be so kind to myself! Overall I felt out of shape, but am confident I'll be able to get it together for the next workout. The plyometrics were great. I miss doing those. I used to do these religiously once a week, sometimes twice. I need to work that back in. Also, I did some pushups, planks, and leg lifts for good mesaure. Again, used to do a good core routine after speedowork. Gotta get back into that.

Weekly Goals

I've realized that my ambitious workout schedule I was committing to while my husband was gone is no longer going to fly. Between the last four weeks of the semester and my hubby being home my disposable time is seriously limited. No biggie - it really just gives me the opportunity to see which workouts I really value. Obviously the first priority is running. The second is swimming. If I can fit a spin class in once a week I'll be happy and hopefully twice a month I can commit to doing a Bikram class. Last week I didn't get one single swim in - so this week I need to do at least two, preferable three. I did no spin classes either, which is really no big deal, but if I think I am going to do a tri this summer I should at least be spinning or on the bike one a week don't you? So I have made some revisions to my workout schedule and changed some things around. I think the changes set me up for success rather than failure. Surprisingly I didn't get my panties in a bunch when I missed my first swim Monday morning last week, and I guess that just set the tone for the rest of the workout week since I didn't really do anything but run. That would be fine too if I were training for a marathon or even a half, but I only have my sights on a 12k in a couple of months so I really should at least be swimming. Monday: Swim, Easy Run - 5 miles @ 10:56 Tuesday: Speedwork - 1.5 mile warm-up 3 x 800 @ 4:11 w/ 400m jog recovery 1.25 mile cool down Wednesday: Swim Thursday: Easy Run - 5 miles @ 10:56 Friday: Swim, Spin Saturday: Long run - 8 miles @ 10:56 Sunday: OFF

Weekly Recap

Monday:4 miles @ 10:56 No workouts today. Major presentation at school and was too exausted to do any workouts that night. Tuesday:push-ups Moved my wed. tempo run to this day. I almost crapped my pants and hat to cut it short, but had a good run before the bathroom emegency. 3.9miles/35:35/9:08 ave pace elevation gain: 291 ft Mile 1: 9:37 (154 bpm) Mile 2: 8:57 (174 bpm) Mile 3: 9:11 (177 bpm) Mile 3.9: 8:44 (183 bpm) Wednesday:Swim, Tempo 5 mi - 3 @9:20 ** No swim. Run: 5 miles/52:36/10:34 elevation gain: 1700 ft. Thursday:4 mi @ 10:56 Run: 4 miles/39:38/9:54 elevation gain: 1,424 ft Friday:Swim, Spin No swim. No spin Saturday:8 miles @ 10:56 I was too nervious about running the full 8 since the longest I have run since December is 5 miles so I only did about 7. I think this was a smart decision because I have 8 on the schedule again for next week. My right upper hip was pretty sore last night and this morning. I foam rolled and iced - it feels much better. I have never had sore hips before? Run: 7.25 miles/1:17/10:38 elevation gain: 1,960 ft Sunday:off Total miles for the week: 20 I think I will have to move my schedule around until I get out of school because Wed. are my scheduled tempo/speedwork days, but they are also my long school days and I just don't seem to thave the energy at 6:30 when I get home.

"Crappy" Tempo run

No, seriously - I almost crapped my pants today on my tempo run. I had to cut it short to be safe. It was horrible. why? I didn't eat anything weird. The only thing I can think of is that my body hasn't done any 'speed' work in so long it kind of freaked out. The good news is that my legs felt awesome! I need to get my pace straightened out because it was too fast according to the schedule. I can't tell if that's good or bad? This is what was on the schedule: 5 miles including 3 @ 9:20 This is what I did: Mile 1 = 9:37 (154 HR) warm up Mile 2 = 8:57 (174 HR) 1st tempo mile Mile 3 = 9:11 (177 HR) 2nd tempo mile Mile .9 = 8:44 (183 HR) 3rd tempo mile I didn't make it to the last cool down mile. I'll have to work that in on my run tomorrow I guess.

New Training Plan

So this week marks a big training week. I am officially done with the ITB Rehab training and moving onto a new training plan. I have never used this feature before, but I thought I would give it a shot since it is only for a 12k. The elevation chart isn't very favorable, but it is what it is. I often wonder what I could do on a stretch of flat road.....Someday. It will be fun training for a deadline regardless. I have been super busy now that I have a husband home so I have not had much time to do my workouts, but I have done all my runs. Just the cross training that is fallen by the wayside. This is on the running agenda for the week: Monday: 4 miles @ 10:56* Tuesday: push-ups Wednesday: Swim, Tempo 5 mi - 3 @9:20 Thursday: 4 mi @ 10:56 Friday: Swim, Spin Saturday: 8 miles @ 10:56 Sunday: off *10:56 sounds painfully slow so I will try to incorporate some steeper hills. I hope everybody had a great Easter. Mine was wonderful (and am NOT doing the weigh-in today! ;)

Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the lack of posts, but -- MY HUBBY FINALLY CAME HOME!! Life doesn't get any better than this. My house finally feels like a home again! I usually remove myself from all of humanity for the first week after he gets home, and this week was no exception. He got home Monday evening so of course I skipped school on Tuesday and it was an awesomely gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest. We spent the day holding hands and kissing each other all over Gig Harbor. We ran some errands, went for a walk downtown and then went to the beach for a picnic.

Downtown Gig Harbor:

He is not usually this grumpy - but sometimes it's like pulling teeth getting a man to smile in a pic you know.

On our way to the beach for a picnic:

It was the perfect day. Just me and the hubbs!!

Life is returning back to normal and I will be posting more regularly again.

Weekly Goals (April 6 - 12) last week of ITB Rehab

I am excited for all of you that were racing this weekend. I know there are a lot of you. (How lucky Pacific Northwesterners were with the weather this weekend. Awesome. I hope it helped get some serious PR's and I can't wait to hear all the race reports.) And for those of you racing in other parts of the country I know you all rocked your shiz. Can't wait to hear all about it. This week is the last week I will be running off my ITB Rehab schedule. WooHoo. I've been running for time rather than miles which is really different. In a way, its freeing, but It's also little annoying because no matter how fast you run -you can't be done any sooner. The hubbs is STILL not home yet. Grrr. Friday was pushed back to Saturday. Saturday was pushed back to Sunday. Then Sunday got pushed back to tomorrow. Grrr. My workout schedule will be pretty low key. I'll get all my runs in (hopefully), but I will not worry too much about the cross training. If it works out great - if not, no biggie. The hubbs loves swimming so maybe we can do that this week together. Yay for workouts together. He even mentioned going on some runs with me. That would be awesome. Here is the schedule (and I say schedule loosely): Monday: Love on my husband Tuesday: Push - up Challenge*, Run 35 min Wednesday: Swim, Spin, Temp run Thursday: Push-up Challenge, Run 35 min, Yoga Friday: Swim, Spin Saturday: Push-up challenge, Run 40 min w/strides Sunday: Run 55 min *I have been really sucking it up on the push-up challenge gig. I don't know what happened to me. I just lost interest or something. I was up to week three. I am going to try again this week.

Weekly Recap (March 30 - April 5)

Monday: Bikram Yoga, Run 30 min (w/ 15 min tempo) Bikram was awesome. No run today, executive decision - move to Tuesday Tuesday: Push – up challenge This is the second week I have skipped the push-up challenge. Why am I being such a loser? Wednesday: Swim, Spin, Run 45 min yes, yes, yes Thursday: Yoga, Core, Push-up challenge yes, no, no - I really needed Yoga today. My hammies were super tight all week. I think it's from the added mileage* I'm finally getting to do. Friday: Swim, Spin, Run 40 min w/6 x 100 strides Friday I had a horrible day. I did all my workouts and I needed them all! Saturday: Lots of lovin’ with the hubby (TMI – sorry) FAIL - hubby does not come home until tomorow. Ended up doing a 30 min run instead. The outside of my hamstrings were super duper tight. I think the run helped work them out. Sunday: Run 50 min yes *total mileage for the week = 19.86

Sunday run start photo op

Grrr....agression run

I hate school. That's all I'm going to say about that. I went for a run immediately after a not so great day. I had 40 min + 6 x100 m strides on the agenda. I stopped at Trader Joe's' on the way to school knowing full well that I was going to need to drink myself to an oblivion (OK, oblivion is an exaggeration - but you all know what I mean). After a very counter-productive waste of three hours of my life I went for a well deserved run. My husband was supposed to be here by now, but turns out the schedule changed and he wont be off the ship until Sunday afternoon. First it was Friday, then Saturday, now Sunday. This is normal and happens EVERY TIME, but knowing his arrival is going to be postponed never really makes it any easier. It's so hard to live without your partner and your support team. At least I don't have children. My hearts and prayers go out to military wives who live like this for way longer than three months at a time. I don't know how they do it. They are truly unspoken heroes. Cliche, but so true. I am half loaded so I will stop here before I make a total fool out of myself. It is what it is - and I am who I am.