Weekly Check-In and Monthly Recap

Better late than never, so lets quickly recap January and then move on to the week's check in.

January miles: 78.31

Average pace: 9:03

Number of long runs: 2

Longest run: 8 miles

Overall, this month was very mediocre. I managed to stay consistent with getting my runs in but missed at least one long run and had to cut any speed work for a week. I'm not sure why I missed the first long run and was out of town/dealing with some back pain when I missed the second one. In the middle of the month, my energy level plummeted and I took two days off of work to really get myself back up to speed and feeling healthy. Also, the last thing I wanted to do was potentially pass anything flu-like to my lab mates. I do realize that I'm still over 12 weeks out from the Frederick half marathon (and 8 from the Cherry Blossom 10 miler) so I would much rather have an easier week occasionally than force myself to go hard and injure myself.

How I feel when my alarm goes off at 5am.

Weekly Check-In for 1/30/18-2/4/18

Miles: 22

Average pace: 9:05

Notes: Still dealing with a little bit of back/hip tightness so no speed work, long run went okay.

Garlic parmesan and honey sriracha lime wings so I can eat like I'm watching the super bowl.  

Anytime I miss even one long run, I question my ability to do the next one--even if the milage is less. It usually doesn't prevent me from running, but I will procrastinate getting out the door. While this morning's run wasn't as breezy as I would have liked, I was able to quickly get in a groove and squash the negative self talk. And that ties into my happiness demerit for this week. I let a lot of stress wear me down and made my mood worse by talking to myself in a demeaning way. Luckily, I got out of the funk I was in. And I made some tasty wings today.

Weekly Check-In

1/7-1/14

Miles: 16.6
Average Pace: 8:53
Notes: sort of an easy week, intervals, easy miles and race 1 of 12 for the year.

Sundays are for stretching.

This week was a little odd because I wasn't feeling well in the middle of the week which caused me to miss a run, and I decided to get my January race in on Saturday. I didn't get a long run in, but I'm glad that I made up some miles today even after racing yesterday (sort of). I also made sure to do my weekly body weight exercises. Even though it is only January 14th, the lack of light and weather forcing me to treadmill running is starting to drive me crazy.

Happiness demerit: I'm giving myself a happiness demerit for this week for not adjusting my schedule to get some runs in outside while it was in the 50s last week.

Weekly Check-In

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly to post and how often I want to post (besides this weekly check in). Things may be weird until I get a system down.

I really enjoy manually logging my miles. This lives on my fridge.

Weekly check in 12/31/17-1/6/18

Miles: 20.5

Average pace: 9:05 (ignore the writing on my log--I'm bad at math right after a run)

Other notes: interval work out, easy miles

I had to do my long run on a treadmill because of the #bombcyclone. I know many runners from farther north (and myself at one point) will scoff at my choice to run inside on a sunny, clear-weather day even if the feels like temperature is -3˚F. However, I realized yesterday that I didn't have the appropriate equipment to run with this combination of wind and temperature. A pair of windbreaker pants would have definitely been needed over top of tights, and I recently left my nice running gloves on the bus (womp-womp). I also have some skin issues that the cold would have irritated even if I slathered on vaseline. I may have lost my mind some (I know, I know--its not a far trip), but I finished my miles.

Treadmill crazies

The safer/healthier/less-frostbite-inducing choice gets the happiness gold star of the week. I have been listening to the "Happier" podcast recently, and every week the hosts give out happiness demerits and gold stars at the end of the episode. The goal of this exercise is to recognize things or actions you are doing to increase or compromise your happiness. I'm going to try to give myself (or something) one or the other every week. I am able to do both this week so my happiness demerit is being really hard on myself for going to the gym at night instead of in the morning--even though I still got in all of my workouts. I prefer to work out in the mornings so my evenings are free. I also feel more productive in lab. Between the cold and recovering from the holiday non-schedule, my sleep schedule took a hit and the 5 am wake-up was not happening.