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

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.

Race 1 of 12: January Race Review

Today I ran my first race of the year--the JFK 5K that was put on by the DC road runners. They put on about 20 races throughout the year that are open to anyone in addition to some races for members of the club. I definitely enjoyed this race--it was low-key but well run.

So how did the race go?

Considering I wasn't quite planning on really racing this race, it went okay. For the most part, I do pretty well pacing myself for longer races, but am terrible at pacing myself during 5Ks. I went out to fast and did positive splits. Ooops. It also doesn't help that the 2nd half of the race was slightly uphill and there was a headwind, but I definitely need to work on the pacing for future races.  Here is to February's race (still trying to pick one) and making some improvements throughout the year.