Race 2 of 12: February Race Review

For my second run of the year, I decided to stick with a DCRR race--the Langley 8K. Again, they put on a nice, low key race. They had volunteers directing people on the course and some post race snacks. The course was a mix of residential roads and a running path and was mostly rolling hills. It has been a while since I've had a run with continuous climbs and descents so the race was a nice challenge. I honestly wasn't quite sure how I was going to pace an 8K. I've run a ton of 5K and half marathons but not many, if any, distances between the two (well, besides one 6.6K about 5 years ago). I initially thought a 9 min/mile pace would be doable and moderately challenging.

As the race started, I managed to keep my pace in check but I was feeling pretty comfortable at an 8:30 pace. Even with the rolling hills, I was able to push myself and maintain my pace. The only things I struggled with and want to continue working on was the decrease in my pace going up the last hill and my lack of "kick."

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

1/22/18-1/29/18

Miles: 13
Average Pace: 9:09
Notes: did mile repeats on the treadmill and some biking, no long run

This week unexpectedly needed to be an easy week for two reasons. First, the sort of bullshit reason is that I was out of town from Friday night to Sunday and didn't really have a place to do my long run. Second, and the more legitimate reason, I did something to my back at some point of the past 10 days and didn't want to injure myself. I really like what Monica from "Run Eat Repeat" says about injuries and lingering pain--if you listen to your body when it whispers, you won't have to hear it scream. I'm far enough out from the 10 miler and half marathon that missing a long run and having a lower milage week isn't going to ruin my training or racing plans. Also, I was able to comfortably do an 8 mile long run last week so I don't feel like I'm fighting for distance. Luckily, I ran into a friend from college who happens to be a physical therapist and she gave me some stretches to try that should loosen up my back/glutes.

The Six and the reason I was out of town for the weekend. From left to right, Dan Murphy, Dave Antolik, Greg Joseph, Jim Donovan, Chuck Olson and Rob Hertweck.

This week I'm giving a gold star to The Six. The Six is a group of friends who are musicians (three of whom were my professors in undergrad) and play some amazing covers together a couple of times a year. They have been having these shows for about 7 years and it's aways a blast to hear them play together. I was really unsure of if I wanted to make the trip to Indiana, PA just for this show, but it was definitely worth the drive.

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.

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.