Weekly Check-In

2/5/18-2/11/18

Miles: 24.97
Average Pace: 9:04
Notes: No speed work, race and a solid long run on tired legs.

The Washington Monument through the fog.

Definitely a little late on the update this week--life has been a little busy recently. I ran my February race and will have a separate recap post for it soon. I felt really good about the runs and workouts I got in this week. Thursday morning, I woke up groggy and sort of achy and my biggest concern was that I had caught the nasty flu that is making it's rounds. Luckily, some matzo ball soup and a night of rest helped to recharge me. I wasn't sure how far my long run would be or if I would be motivated enough to complete it this morning between the rain and possibly sore legs. I was able to finish the full 10 miles even with some occasional downpours and the last mile being an uphill battle. I also got some great pictures of some of the monuments in the fog.

Fog sits over the Tidal Basin with the Jefferson Memorial in the distance.

This week I am giving a gold star to my parents--specifically my mom. Both of them came down to visit this weekend and my mom bleached and cut my hair. It looks really great--not that it doesn't normally look good. I definitely needed a couple of inches cut off and my mom blended it really well with the hair I really damaged last summer. We went out for dinner on Saturday to Raku and it was a pleasant experience. Sometimes (really most of the time) my family has a hard time picking a place to eat which makes the entire experience...challenging. So anytime we can have a relatively stress/conflict free dinner, its a plus.

There will be another post coming soon recapping the Langley 8K!

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

1/15/18-1/21/18

Miles: 21.19
Average Pace: 9:09
Notes: Did a tough interval workout on the treadmill, getting better at making my easy runs actually easy and a long run success.

I want to briefly talk about my long run this week. I ran a little over 8 miles at a 9:14 min/mile. Before the run, I wasn't sure if how I would feel during the 8 miles and had sort of decided to just get the miles in even if I had to slow down. I did my best not to pay too much attention to my watch for most of the run, worrying that seeing my pace would discourage me. I really ran by feel. Around 50 minutes into the run, I decided to push myself harder for a minute every 8 minutes. I completed the first repeat of this and felt good. The boost of energy allowed me to pick up the pace for the last 1.2 miles even though it was primarily uphill. My last 1.2ish miles was ran at an 8:50 pace. I have no idea where this little kick came from but I'm not going to complain about it. This also drives home the lesson (at least for me) that getting out the door and running is one of the biggest hurdles.

Pizza from Comet Ping Pong

And now for a happiness gold star: allowing myself to relax and enjoy the weekend but still keeping on top of my running. Tim and I went out Friday night and I knew I wasn't going to have the energy to do a long run Saturday morning. We lounged around in the following morning and then went to get lunch (Comet Ping Pong pizza is delicious) and browse a book store. I treated myself to a new book and when we got back, we eventually got a short run in before the sun went down. I sometimes struggle with relaxing and feeling like I constantly need to be doing something productive. Leaving go of that for a few hour was quite pleasant.

Also, I am technically a government employee. I have no idea if I will have work tomorrow or not at this moment. If I don't have work, maybe I will work on a bonus blog post for this week.