Weekend Wrap Up!

What a week. It started off rough, but at least it went fast! Thankfully, I had a very relaxing weekend to make up for the craziness of the work week! Here's what we were up to...

By the time I got home from work on Friday, I was done. Paul understood. I spent the evening doing a puzzle, reading Mary Higgins Clark, and watching a ridiculous episode of Dr. Phil. I just really needed to veg and be by myself. It was the kind of Friday night I needed!

This puzzle was so fun and harder than it looks!

After a bowl of my new favorite cereal....

... I headed out for a race pace run. The plan was to warm up for 2 miles, run 6 miles at race pace (7:15), and then cool down with 2 miles. I was very nervous for the run, but told myself to relax. The anticipation of a race pace run is scarier than the actual run. Boy was I wrong. I hit most of my paces but it was not pretty! More on that on Thursday... Really, this run deserves a post of it's own!

That afternoon, I headed to Allenberry Playhouse to meet up with Meranda and Lacy from Fairytales and Fitness. They were staying there for the murder mystery weekend and invited me to hang out for a couple hours when they had free time. I had met Meranda a couple times before, but this was my first time meeting Lacy. 

We had so much fun just chatting and playing games. Meranda and Lacy are two very nice gals who are fun and easy to talk to. I was smiling the whole way home! I hope I get to hang out with them again sometime.

The weather was GORGEOUS on Sunday- in the 60s! I ran in shorts but was just plodding along. My body had definitely not recovered from my run the day before.

Sundays are usually full of boring activities like cleaning, doing wash, and getting ready for the work week ahead. All of that did happen, but luckily I got up early enough that by the time three o'clock rolled around, I was done with all my grown up responsibilities and got to enjoy the rest of the evening doing what I do best...

Reading!

Doing a puzzle...

...But then I quit it because Chrissy sat on it and messed up a whole section. Honestly, it was getting really hard and I was ready to call it a day on this one. Maybe when I get better at puzzles I will get back to it.

Making chicken noodle soup!

For some reason, I think this is the appropriate amount of soup to make for two people.

And that was my weekend! It went by really fast... but I had fun!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!
Did you get to run in shorts?

Weekly Workout Recap!

This was my first full week of purposeful training for the Capital 10-Miler. If you missed my goals and details of the plan I wrote myself, you can check it out here! Hopefully I am one week closer to an awesome race performance! I ran 36 miles this week. Next week I want to get closer to 40!

Saturday- I got to run my race pace run in shorts! The plan was to do 5 miles at my goal pace for the 10-miler, which is a 7:15. My last two miles were a little off but it all evened out in the wash. I was very scared for this run. Race pace runs always scare me! Even though my mile splits ended up okay, my actual pace was anywhere between a 6:40 and a 7:30. I was having a hard time just staying consistently even. Hopefully I will get better at that!

Sunday- 6 easy miles were on the calendar but I ran them a little too fast. I didn't look at my Garmin until the end of the run, I just tried to run "la la la". Maybe once my training gets more intense and I am wracking up more miles, I will be forced to slow down?

Monday- I lifted upper body at home and did some hip/glute exercises in between. This workout was hard and it took me about an hour and twenty minutes. Yikes! On Wednesday I am supposed to do this again and run 5 miles. I may have to rethink this...

Band Asst. Pull Ups- 5x6

Chest Press- 5x10x25lb

Bicycle Crunches- 4x40

Push Ups- 5x10

Band Asst. Neutral Grip Pull Ups- 1x8, 4x6 

Shoulder Press- 5x10x20lb

Stability Ball Knee Tuck- 4x15

Bicep Curls- 5x10x15lb

Tricep Dips- 3x15

Tuesday- Wow, that was a shitty run! I got my period the night before but still slogged through 8 miles. Boy did it feel good to walk and stretch afterwards.

Wednesday- 5 easy miles in my hood. I felt better than Tuesday, but not great. I was a little worried about my speed work the next day...

Thursday- Speed work! 800x6 for a total of 9 miles. It was rough. But don't worry, I'll tell ya all about it on Tuesday! But let's just say I ate a foot long Subway sub for lunch that day.

Friday- I lifted upper body at home while I watched the Republican Presidential Debate. The audience was seriously acting like it was a sporting event.

Chest Press- 5x10x25lb

Bicycle Crunches- 4x40

Asst. Pull Ups- 1x6 (band), 4x20 (chair) 5x6 (band/neutral grip)

Push Ups- 5x10

Shoulder Press- 5x10x20lb

Stability Ball Knee Tuck- 4x15

Tricep Dips- 3x15

Bicep Curls- 3x10x15lb

Plank w/ Row- 3x1x10lb

I also did hip/glute stuff.

Can you eat a whole Subway sub?

Tell me about your best workout this week!

My 1000th Post!!!

Last weekend, my little Chevy Cobalt hit a huge milestone! Somewhere on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, my odometer clicked past 100,000 miles!!!

Well, today is a huge milestone for my blog...

Readers, today is my 1000th post!!!

I can't even remember what my hopes and dreams for my blog were when I started this journey 1000 posts ago. The thought of hitting "publish" that many times never crossed my mind. Thanks to all the readers who visit this tiny little space on the Internet that I call my own!

Here's to 1000 more!

Runfessions!

Today I am participating in Marcia's Runfession's link up! Be sure to visit her blog and check out some of the other bloggers who are Runfessing today!

Runfession #1: I signed up for the Capital 10-Miler on April 2nd but I was afraid to set a goal for it. The last time I ran a 10 miler I did not accomplish what I set out to do. Well, I did set a goal and I did put it out there in the universe. It's a scary thing to do!

Runfession #2: There are two long sleeves I wear when it's bitter cold out. One of them is this pink one I got at Marshall's or something. It still works really well but there is one problem. It STINKS! And I cannot get the smell out of it! I wear it anyway... but only when I run alone!

Runfession #3: Speaking of stinky running clothes, I only have one pair of really thick running tights to wear in the winter. This means I wear them about 3 times in a row before I throw them in the wash.

Do you have something you want to Runfess?

A really shitty run...

On Tuesday, I had a really shitty run. Even though it was a warm 29 degrees, I was fairly well rested, and I had an excellent podcast to listen to, my run was CRAP!

The one and only factor that contributed to this run being shitty? I got my period the night before.

I know what you are thinking... "Wah wah wah, women's troubles boo hoo, you should be used to it by now, suck it up like the rest of us."

Well, I did suck it up and I did bang out the 8 miles on my schedule. But not one single step felt good. My whole body was creaky. My lower back ached. My glutes felt like they were all knotted up. It felt like my legs were tree trunks. Every single step was an effort. Tomorrow I will be fine, but on Day #1 of my cycle, runs are never good.

As I was completing my last mile, it truly felt like I had run twenty, not eight.

I walked for 8 minutes after my run and it felt so good. Then I turned on the Today Show and stretched. Boy did it feel good to just bend over and touch my toes. After a couple rounds of pigeon pose and couch stretch, my body was feeling a lot better.

Hopefully tomorrow's run will be better! Thanks for listening to me complain today!

Does your period affect your runs?

ANOTHER RACE!

They say if your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough. I guess that is why I had to go and sign up for another race. I am running the Movie Madness Half Marathon in Harrisburg on April 23. It's a couple weeks after the Capital 10-miler, so I am hoping to cash in on some of that training!

The course starts on City Island and is FLAT, which means this may be my half marathon redemption run! (Remember, BDR did not go that well for me!)

I have no idea what "Movie Madness" has to do with this race. Are people going to be in costumes? The website is a little weird and so was the sign up process. I wasn't even able to discern whether this is the first year for the race or what.

Hey Central PA friends who want a flat spring half marathon... sign up for this one!

And now for something COMPLETELY RANDOM...

Use this nifty chart to figure out your running name! 

I am Fartleki Hydrator!

What's your running name according to the chart?

According to YOU?

My new training plan!

I love making training plans. It's like a puzzle! (And you know how much I love puzzles...) How does one fit it all in? This is the plan I made myself for the Capital Area 10-miler on April 2nd. A few things to note...

1. My weeks are actual weeks this time. (Sometimes I make them longer.)

2. There's one speed workout each week- either 400s or 800s. I will most likely do these on the treadmill. I was a little conservative for the number of intervals I do. I may do more each session if my body is holding up!

4. Saturdays are tempo runs where I will do a portion at race pace.

5. I'm running 6 days, lifting upper body 2 days, and resting 1 day.

6. I'm gradually working my mileage up to 40 miles per week. (If you look at my plan and wonder why the numbers don't add up to much, it's because I'm adding a 1.5 mile w/u and c/d to my speed work and tempo runs.)

7. I want to keep my easy runs truly easy. Tuesdays I put "moderate" to allow myself to run a little faster if I feel like it. It won't be a speed session or anything like that, I just mean on those runs I will give myself a little wiggle room.

8. My goal is to run a 1:12:30 or faster.

One snafu I already noticed... When I lift, it takes me over an hour, and on Wednesdays I have myself lifting and running 5 miles. That's a lot! I was liking the idea of Friday being a complete rest day, but I may move my lifting to that day. Oy. I just don't want to get up at 4:45am to fit in lifting and running!

Do you like designing training plans?

Weekend Wrap Up!

Good Monday Morning, Dear Readers!

Today's Weekend Wrap Up will be brought to you in LIST FORM because it's my blog and I'll do what I want! Here is what we were up to this weekend...

On Friday night, my parents came over for a taco dinner! We had so much fun chatting and dressing up for the fiesta...

I finished my book about the Jodi Arias Trial- Conviction, by the prosecutor of the case, Juan Martinez. I enjoyed the book a lot, but since I followed the case so closely and watched the trial on Youtube more than once (I know, it's weird) there wasn't much new information I could gleam from this book. There was one fascinating detail, but I won't go into it because you probably don't care!

I broke out a new pair of running shoes. They were on super sale so I bought 3 pairs... which means I will be stuck wearing this exact design for the next year or so!

On Saturday night we traveled to Philly to hang out with Cheetah and Maggie! They made us a taco dinner (DE JA VU!) and we played a fun game called Ace of Hates. We spent the night and came home Sunday morning. But for some reason when I got on the turnpike, there was no toll booth for me to get a ticket from, so when we got off the turnpike we were charged $26 for the ENTIRE TURNPIKE! I understand that rule because they don't want people lying, but what I don't understand is why there was no toll booth when we got on the turnpike in the first place. The only thing I can think of is maybe we got on at a spot where you were only allowed on if you had EZ Pass. There were absolutely no booths to grab a ticket from... it's not like we were in the wrong lane or something. But if that's the case, I wish the signage was better. Between Paul and I, we didn't see any signs saying, "Beware, only get on this ramp for 276 if you have EZ Pass." Rant over!

PennDOT = Ace of Hates.

I started and completed this Charles Wysocki puzzle called Sunny Side Up. Wysocki puzzles are my current favorite!

I went on two runs this weekend. Saturday was a tempo run. I warmed up with 1.5 miles, did 5 miles @ tempo pace, then cooled down with 1.5 miles. My first three miles were right around a 7:14 pace. My fourth mile was a 7:20 and my fifth was 7:09, so I was a little off track at the end. It's hard to be exactly consistent.

This run was done in SHORTS! It was nearly 60 degrees!

I did not feel like running on Sunday, but once I was out there, I was glad I did. This was supposed to be an easy run, and I swear I wasn't trying to push myself. I need to be better at keeping easy runs easy. I blame it on listening to the Donald Trump town hall from the other night. He makes me so angry, so I am sure that put a little pep in my step.

And that was my weekend. We did so much! Two taco nights, 14 miles, traveling the entire length of the PA Turnpike... Now it's off to tackle another week. I'll talk to yas tomorrow!

Did you wear shorts on your run this weekend?

Any annoying PennDOT stories you want to share to make me feel better?

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!