Monday: 4 miles roads.

Tuesday: 6 miles roads. Another easy run before work. This run finally calmed me down about the race and took my mind off of it. Afterward, I felt relaxed and totally ready!

Wednesday: 4 miles roads. This was my last run before the big day! I ran watchless and just enjoyed being out there.

Thursday/Friday: Rest!

Saturday/Sunday: 100 miles! I finished my first 100 mile race at Mohican AND placed third overall female! I’ll have the full details soon!

Total: 114 miles!

Posted by Coriander. Check out more at Salty Running.

That was fantastic until I smacked my noggin on Memorial Day and got sidelined (yes, I am still a bit embarrassed about this by the way)…

Then my husband started approaching a 2 week trial and my own work started to blow up.  I love being busy, but we hit the perfect storm of crazy.  I won’t bore you with my personal details, but I will share my training (derailment) log:

Week ending 6.10.13 – this was supposed to be my first official week of training for the Columbus Marathon.  I was scheduled for 7 hours and 10 minutes with 3 hard workouts.  I did not come close.

Monday is my rest day.

Tuesday I ran 60 minutes easy – 6.6 miles (9:11 pace).  Still slow, but I was trying to go super easy with my sore noggin/headaches.

Wednesday I ran 45 minutes easy – 5 miles (9:05 pace).

Thursday and Friday I threw in the towel and decided I needed a few more rest days.  I was having dull headaches all day after my runs and I knew I had to run my season-end 5k with one 5th grader who had a specific goal.  I couldn’t let her down and I knew extra miles were not going to help, so I took a couple of days off.

Saturday was my season-end 5k for GOTR and is was FaBuLoUs.  My and my running partner ripped it up (26:15) and our whole team did awesome / had a blast.

Sunday was a rest day as my husband and I were both slammed and had to work.  The good news was that my headache seemed to be gone.

Total: 14.7 miles.   Yeah, not quite the 50ish miles I had scheduled….

Week ending 6.17.2013 I knew was going to be rough.  I had things scheduled almost every night of the week, my husband was gone with trial and it seemed like new fires were popping up daily at work.

Monday-Wednesday – off.

Thursday I got out for an hour and it was glorious to be back at it.  60 minutes / 6.8 miles (8:57 pace).

Friday I needed to rest to get work done, but was also wicked sore.  What?!  No clue why, but my hamstrings and calves were killing me.

Saturday I ran with 2 of my GOTR girls in a local race I help direct.  They were slower than usual, but it was super fun.  I believe I was 27:25 or thereabouts.  After the run, my feet, calves and hammies were killing me.  How is this possible after 3 weeks of almost no running?

Sunday was Father’s Day and a work day for both my husband and I.  The boys and I did manage some fun though.

Total: 10 miles

So there you have it. Complete derailment.  With my schedule, screaming calves and scheduled vacation set to commence on Friday (in National Parks with Grizzly bears), this girl is likely to stay off track for another 2 weeks.  See you on the other side and please send well wishes that my life and body cooperate a bit more after a much needed vacation.

Posted by Mint. Check out more at Salty Running.

We spent a happy Fathers Day at the beach! (Yes, my son is at the beach in Batman pj’s!)

The week that was had its good times and its bad. I returned to my group track workouts and ran with some good friends. However, I also felt frustrated at the track and in retrospect went about my return all wrong. I also struggled with back pain and came down with the crud.

As I told you in my last log, I went to the track on Tuesday and was torn between two workouts and groups. I started with the faster group, but ended up with the slower group. With the slower group I mostly stuck to the prescribed workout, but ended up pushing the last couple of 800s faster than I was supposed to. That’s all fin, maybe, but what bothers me more than the actual paces I ran, was that my attitude was all wrong. No matter how much I know better, I wanted to go back to the track and be the runner I was a year and a half ago. My expectations were off. I am planning to head back this week and when I get there my goal will be to enjoy the company of friends and get back into the swing of things. Period. No overdoing anything, no trying to prove to myself that I still “got it.” None of that. Go, have fun, do the workout and go home.

I ended up not running on the Wednesday after track because we had a busy day and my husband worked late on top of it. Normally, I’d insist on a post-track workout shakeout on the Wednesday after track, but such is life now. Also, besides the time crunch and general stress, I hurt my back lifting my older daughter in a weird way last week. It usually feels better after running, but it’s been up and down.

I also didn’t run yesterday because it was Father’s Day. I have a new firm, no running on family holiday rule.  Plus, I came down with a nasty cold which made the rule a lot easier to deal with. Family stress, back pain and sickness mean life is telling me to take it easy. I have no reason to push myself physically or mentally with running right now. I keep telling myself that doesn’t mean I’m not dedicated or that I’m a wuss. I am in this for the long haul and as hard as it is swallow, sometimes to reach our big dream goals we have to ease off the gas pedal.

Mon: 6 hurried miles on the treadmill at the Y and home before the A/C guy’s window of 10:00 – 2:00. Averaged 8:20′s.

Tue: 9 with track. 1 x 600 @ 2:15 (6:00 pace); 1 x 400 at 91 (~6:05 pace); 1 x 1200 @ 4:55 (~6:38 pace); 1 1600 @ 6:34; 1 x 800 @ 3:10 (6:20 pace) and 1 x 800 @ 2:59 (~5:58 pace).

Wed: off

Thu: 8 easy on the Y treadmill (8:40 pace)

Fri: 8 easy on the Y treadmill (8:26 pace)

Sat: 14 slow, sluggy, hot and sick miles averaging 8:05 (with good friends, so fun though!)

Sun: off

Total: 45.

Posted by Salty. Check out more at Salty Running.

New this week: the belly got serious. It was sort of showing before, but this week I felt like I could just about watch it get bigger. I’m guessing it’s because the baby finally popped up and over my pubic bone instead of hiding behind it, a theory confirmed by the fact that my pubic symphysis pain essentially disappeared overnight. Which I was completely overjoyed about.

17 weeks

Beyond that? I feel like there’s not much to say about it. My energy level took a bit of a dip this week and I rediscovered naps with a vengeance, but I’m waking up in the morning feeling pretty well-rested. I’m not having any crazy cravings, although I am still noticing a preference for salty, friend and/or processed foods. As far as food aversions go, seafood is completely off the menu. (Which is nice, as it makes the fact that I can’t have sushi right now a lot easier to deal with.) I’m also still stuck with Bell’s Palsy (which showed up last week), which continues to be a gigantic pain in the behind.

The log:

Monday: 3 mile walk – running just wasn’t happening today

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Prenatal yoga

Thursday: 2 mile run/walk

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 2 mile run/walk

Sunday: Rest

Total for the week: 7 miles

Posted by Licorice. Check out more at Salty Running.

After a sports massage Monday, and some cross-training, I was ready Thursday for a great run. Turned into an amazing training week, and I’m stretching my way to almost no pain. Great news.

The stats:

Sunday: 2 hours spinning (calculated as 20 miles) and weight training at night (arms).

Monday: 5 miles, hills (9:18 pace). This was my roughest run of the week. So hard, and couldn’t maintain my target pace at all. Definitely my low point of the week.

Tuesday: 5 miles, easy (8:54 pace). I ran to shake things out, and was pleasantly surprised by how I felt after.

Wednesday: Spinning (15 miles), swam 1900 yards. Felt good and recovered.

Thursday: 10 miles (9:00 pace). Felt really strong, almost no ankle pain. Hooray!

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Epic brick workout. Swam 2000 yards, biked 15 (spinning), ran 5 (8:36 pace). This took me around 3 hours with transitions. Loved this. Felt amazing after.

Totals:
Run: 26 miles
Bike: 50 miles
Swim: 2.5 miles

It’s a big week at work, but I’m hoping to get some good training in and some more yoga! I’ve got to focus on dynamic stretching to stay injury-free while I’m adjusting to my new form.

Posted by Cilantro. Check out more at Salty Running.

But first, I have two weeks of taper training logs to catch up on:

Monday: Rest!

Tuesday: 6 miles trails. I met up with my friend Kirsten to run our usual loop around North Chagrin after work. It was warm and stormed a little, but so nice to go watchless and run with a good friend.

Wednesday: 5 miles roads. I got up early to do a short road run and then spend the rest of the day with my boyfriend who left for Army training the next day.

Thursday: Rest! Boyfriend left in the morning before I went to work and I was just tired/emotionally drained after work. I’m tapering anyway!

Friday: 10 miles trails. I ran a nice, slow trail run at North Chagrin by myself in 2:07. Slower than I’d normally like, but my mind was everywhere.

Saturday: 11 miles roads. I closed at work so got up in the morning to run roads before it got too hot outside. It was a really interesting run too, I got hit on a few times by passing drivers, saw a kid being punished by his mom for stealing (she made him hold up a sign on a busy street corner that said, “I will not steal. Please honk to teach me a lesson.”) and almost got hit by a kid taking his driver’s test that didn’t use a turn signal.

Sunday: 3.1 miles roads. I ran the annual Race for the Place 5K that starts and ends at the mall where I work. I’ve always had to work that day, but this year, my manager let me run before my shift. I wasn’t expecting much, I just wanted to take it easy. Well, taking it easy meant I ran a 23:11 (one second slower than my PR!) and second place in my age group!

Total: 35 miles.

Monday: Rest!

Tuesday: 5 miles roads. Squeezed in a quick five miles before work and wished I had time for more.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles. I ran/hiked 7.5 miles of trails in the morning with a friend and made it back to my Wednesday night running group for a short 3.2 mile run that evening.

Thursday: 5.5 miles trails. I got up early and met my friend Sandra at North Chagrin to run before she went to work. It rained almost the entire time.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: 12 miles trails. It was my final double-digit run before the 100! I chose to run the trails alone so I could have some alone time and I really needed it. It felt great to be alone.

Sunday: 6 miles roads. I got up early and did my last Sunday run on my usual “before work” loop. I really wished I could have kept going at the end.

Total: 39 miles. I only have three more short runs left and a four more days of work until I leave for Mohican on Friday. I can’t wait to get through this week and on the trails this weekend!

Posted by Coriander. Check out more at Salty Running.

All thanks to Tropical Storm Andrea.

My work trip to Orlando was less tropical paradise and more storm chaser paradise, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it at least a little bit exciting. I must be some kind of adrenaline junkie.

I also got in some great workouts:

Sunday: Back-to-back spinning classes (counted as 30 miles); strength training at night

Monday: 5 miles, 8:33 pace

Tuesday: 5 miles, 8:34 pace; unplanned 20 mile bike ride to get Perfect Foods bars at an Orlando Fresh Market. I’m addicted to those bars.

Wednesday: 4 miles, 8:30 pace; 20 minute swim of unknown distance in the hotel pool.

Thursday: Off

Friday: 10 mile run, 8:40 pace

Saturday: 55 minute swim, 2000 yards; training with coach, speedwork and one mile at 7:57 pace (hot darn it hurt!)

Totals:
Runs: 25 miles
Bike: 50 miles
Swim: 2000 yards

Next week, training for the SoJo marathon begins in earnest! At least ice baths feel better in the summer…

Posted by Cilantro. Check out more at Salty Running.

Finally able to do more than this all day (Photo credit: stewickie)

Yeah, it’s slow. And I walk up anything that even resembles a hill, which in my neighborhood means I’m walking for about half of the time. But I was blessed with perfect weather last week and it just felt good to get out and do something, even if that something is at a 15-minute per mile pace.

Monday: Flew back from Rome. Ugh.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 30 minute run/walk (2 miles)

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 30 minute run/walk (2 miles)

Saturday: No running, and not much sleeping, either. Kind of a horrible day.

Sunday: Rest, including the sleep that I didn’t get on Saturday.

Total for the week: 60 minutes run/walk (4 miles)

Posted by Licorice. Check out more at Salty Running.

Heading out on our 25-mile adventure – and yes, I took the Salty Challenge in spite of some small discomfort with my current (non-racing) weight!

The weekend of “floating my boat” down in Lauderdale was such a wonderful, relaxing break – in spite of all the running.  It just felt so good to put it all down for a few days, with the exception of the ten minutes I spent preparing and doing my shots.  DB and I got to spend some quality running (and relaxing) time together, getting excited for Badwater, gearing up for this final cycle, and looking ahead to our plans if this one, too, is a bust.

That includes what comes next for my running.  We agreed that I would go ahead and write up a “quickie” training schedule for Burning River NOW, before the cycle ends, so that it’s ready to go if that’s the decision I make.  But that’s not a guarantee.  I may decide to take a month of high-mileage base-building instead, and run the Hallucination 100 in early September.  I’m not particularly of the course (or the cold drenching rains the past two years), but it’s a fast course and I have some unfinished business there.  We may do some additional treatments as I discussed in last week’s training log, and then gear up for Rocky Raccoon.  Oh, and don’t forget – there’s always the chance I could be pregnant, and all of this “what if” would be purely hypothetical.

Heh.

Saturday, May 25:  25 super-hot miles with DB in Lauderdale.  I floated that boat all over A1A, Las Olas Boulevard and some huge Florida bridges, and it felt AMAZING.  I know I’m still an ultrarunner, and I know I can still go the distance, but wow it felt so good to actually DO IT.  We unwound – literally – with popsicles on the floor of our hotel room, followed by slushy drinks and huge bowls of French fries at the pool.  Major headache, but I’m theorizing that had more to do with the heat than the Bravelle.  150 iu’s of Bravelle.

Running for hours feels really good. So does stopping.

And eating French fries for a post-run lunch.

Sunday, May 26:  11 miles with DB in Lauderdale.  I was originally to do eight, but I felt great and he was struggling on this, his third consecutive 25-mile run.  We were running about a 10-minute pace, so it was truly nothing taxing.  Got back from the run to the news that my wonderful friend and gym buddy Sara had had her baby girl the day before!  We celebrated the successful conclusion of the training weekend and the new baby with our final cocktails at the pool before heading home.  I went with a mudslide, since that seemed a more appropriate beverage before noon.  150 iu’s of Bravelle – we got home in the early evening, so no airplane shots!

75 miles in three days for DB, a baby girl for Sara and a final contraband mudslide for Clove. Cheers!

Monday, May 27:  OFF.  It was Memorial Day, so there were no classes at my gym.  I had put in a lot of miles over the past several days, so deliberately called a day completely off.  It felt right, and it felt good.  First bloodwork and scan of the cycle.  In spite of it being a holiday, I am psyched to find that Brad(!) is working, so my blood draw is uneventful.  I get the female doctor, but she’s actually quite kind today and FINALLY remembers me.  We’ve got a dominant follicle on the right at 10 mm, and three stragglers that haven’t decided what they’re up to yet.  I’ve definitely got several more days of shots; she tells me to stick with the 150 iu dose through Thursday night, and come in for the next scan on Friday.  150 iu’s of Bravelle.

Tuesday, May 28:  8 early morning miles with the neighborhood group, immediately followed by Pilates/core class.  Single spin class in the afternoon.  Biggest news of the workout day is that my Pilates/core instructor is back – he was out for the month of May.  I’m a routine kind of girl, so this is a really good thing.  150 iu’s of Bravelle – now that I’m used to the new drug, it’s really not a big deal.

Wednesday, May 29:  8 early morning miles with the neighborhood group, 80 minutes on my bike(!) in the afternoon.  That’s right, my BIKE!  I actually went riding on the path on my bike, and it was awesome.  150 iu’s of Bravelle – just rolling along here.

Thursday, May 30:  8 early morning miles with the neighborhood group, single spin class in the afternoon.  150 iu’s of Bravelle.  Had to pick up a new box today – the 20 vials they started me with weren’t enough.  That pinches the wallet, but when you’re this far in, there’s not much to be done for it.  Also, you would think I was a rookie with a syringe.  I somehow misfire, then slip, causing two surface punctures before I actually get the needle IN and do the injection.  And believe it or not, the surface puncture is the part that hurts the worst.  Plus I’ve given myself an awesome bruise.  Nice.

Friday, May 31:  OFF.  I’ve got solid miles in this week (60) and I’m getting close to the end of the shots in this cycle.  Definitely want to play it safe.  Second bloodwork and scan of the cycle, and there are no less than 20 women signed in ahead of me!  This is pretty common on Fridays and Mondays as they’re trying to get women booked in around the weekends.  I spend 45 minutes waiting at the lab, but once my blood is drawn and I’m checked in for my scan, the entire process takes less than 15 minutes.  I get my personal doctor, which is fantastic, but the follicles are just doing so-so.  We’ve got one that wants to be a 17mm, but that’s stretching it, and a couple 14′s and 15′s, which we could kind of use.  So, “we’re getting there,” but I’m also getting frustrated because I’m worried it’s going to be a never-ending cycle again.  I get the call from the nurses later in the day – I have two more nights of Bravelle at the same dose, trigger on Sunday and IUI on Tuesday.

At 5:17 pm, I wake up in a cold sweat from my nap with DB and the dog.  I realize that two more days at two vials per day equals FOUR vials – and I only have three.  Yeah, I was not a math major.  The specialty pharmacy is closed, so I get to make the embarrassing, pleading call to the on-call pharmacist and make arrangements to meet her on Sunday to get ANOTHER box of Bravelle, at the whopping price tag of $490, when I only need one of the five vials in the box.  Ugh.  The life of the infertility patient …

Weekly totals:  60 miles (weighted in the weekend, when I was allowed to go overboard.  I pulled it back to my normal running upon arriving home), 2 spin classes, 80 minutes cycling, 1,050 iu’s of Bravelle, one really stupid math error.

Posted by Clove. Check out more at Salty Running.

Was there running? Nope. Partially because our luggage wasn’t actually on our flight to Italy, and by the time we got it on Tuesday afternoon any motivation I might have had to work out had flown straight out the window. Instead, I enjoyed being lazy and did a fair amount of walking as we explored the various ports along the ship’s route.

Then yesterday we spent several hours wandering around the Vatican, and today we walked all over Rome seeing spectacularly cool and old stuff, and that was good for me.

Yes, the weather really was this nice the whole time.

I’ll see about getting into a better routine next week once I’m back home. For now, I’m just trying to wrap my brain around the 16 hours of airplane time it’s going to take us to get back home. Ugh.

Posted by Licorice. Check out more at Salty Running.

Boys at Race for the Cure

Well that didn’t go as planned.

This week was supposed to be another easy base-building week and I had approximately 45-47 miles on tap.  Unfortunately, a minor accident on my part threw most of my training out the window.

Monday is my rest day.  I almost ran since it was Memorial Day and I had so much extra time, but instead I decided to do a bunch of other things – like cleaning.  What a mistake that was.  I noticed the curtains above my kitchen sink were dusty, so I washed them.  Unfortunately when I went to put them back up, I slipped and fell. Hard.  And smacked the back of my head.  Hard.

Tuesday I woke up and my head hurt.  And my neck hurt.  I had a headache that was relatively dull, but it would not go away.  I had planned to run in the morning, but it was storming, so I decided I’d wait until after work.  But I felt crappy after work and decided I’d skip my run and make up the mileage / time in my other 5 runs.

Wednesday I got up bright and early for my run.  I still had a headache, but I powered through.  I ran 70 minutes / 9 miles / 8:52 pace.  Unfortunately after my run, my headache was worse.  Again, not terrible, but there.

Thursday I got up early again and logged 72 minutes / 8 miles / 9:04 pace.  Once again, my headache was worse.  Okay, clearly I have a mild concussion or something.  So I consulted the digital doctor (hello Google).  Yes, seems I have the symptoms of a concussion, so I better allow myself to rest.  This was a tough decision because I had been planning to run Race for the Cure on Saturday – a race I run every year.  BUT, my training for Columbus doesn’t start until next week and I need to be smart.  So I decide to spectate instead of run.

Friday-Sunday rest / yard work.  My headache subsided for the most part, but any time I did anything strenuous (such as planting trees), it would come back.  I am not so good at complete rest.

Total: 17.1 miles

Here is hoping I am back at it next week and my klutziness doesn’t botch my training any further.

Posted by Mint. Check out more at Salty Running.

Sunday:  1,800 swim; 35 on the bike

The start of the 2013 Bolder Boulder! Newton was the shoe sponsor!

Monday:  Bolder Boulder!  Since we live so close to the start, I jogged to the start; ran the race, and then jogged home, which was a total of 12 miles and a  little farther than planned.  I felt good about my race performance in 46:30–far from my peak days, but I didn’t go out too hard and die, nor did I feel uncomfortable.  It’s a tough 10K course with lots of hills, including an uphill finish into the University of Colorado stadium.  Spectators are crazy and have been known to give out bacon and beer along the course.  I did see one keg stand station set-up along mile 2, and there is a slip-n-slide to do before mile 3.  It’s a fun day in Boulder!  The pro race is later in the morning, and we followed the race on our bikes.

Tuesday:  Easy run at lunch and weights in the evening.

Wednesday:  Ran almost 7 miles, easy around lunch and lifted for an hour in the evening.

Thursday:  Timed swim ladder of 2 minutes, then 4,6,8,10.  I didn’t keep track of laps, other than the warm-up and cool down, which was only 500.  Ran 3 at lunch with a last mile in 6:56, then another 1.5 miles easy.

Friday:  6 miles with 10*1 min.  Trying to get over my fear of workouts, and just decided to do it.  I’m not going to lie, it hurt, but it felt good to hurt like that.  I took whatever rest I needed, and didn’t focus on the pace.  later that afternoon, I did some weights and core.

Saturday:  Long workout day!  Just over 50 on the bike, followed by an 8 mile run.  I told myself that I didn’t have to race this workout, but just needed to get it done.  I didn’t even wear my watch on the run.  I really enjoyed my 8 mile loop that takes me near the mountains.  Towards the end, all I wanted was a Coke!  One week til the Kansas 70.3 (half ironman)!

After over 4 continuous hours of a workout, this is my way of rehydrating and replenishing!

Weekly Totals:

Running:  41.85

Biking:   103.25

Swimming:  2,300 yards plus 30 minutes

Weight Training:  2 hours; 25 minutes

Posted by Vanilla. Check out more at Salty Running.

Which I do.

I was way overtrained after Windermere, and I needed and (and dare I say it) deserved a break. I also met with my new running coach for the first time, and spent a few hours watching myself run on a treadmill.

Now that’s a real blockbuster.

More about my new coach and etc. later. My workouts for the week:

Sunday: 1:22 bike, my first time on a real bike since I was 12 (or maybe 15). After re-figuring out how shifting works, I enjoyed 17 glorious miles. Seriously, I’m totally addicted to the rush that comes from cycling.

Monday: 6 miles (9:27 pace), outside and then an amazing Memorial Day yoga class at Centered City Yoga.

Tuesday: 45 minute swim. My first time in the pool for a real swim in probably 10 years. Felt amazing.

Wednesday: Spinning (first time using clips, took me a good 20 minutes to figure that out), follow by a two mile run, again outside (9:13 pace),First brick workout ever. Felt good except for the Laura vs clips #fail. Strength training with my personal trainer after work. Did legs, and I think he was shocked that I wasn’t sore the next day (or the next). I run marathons, okay? Sometimes non-running weight gurus are so naive…

Thursday: 7 miles, treadmill, (9:13 pace). I’m letting things come naturally for me regarding speed, and I seem to be getting faster. That feels pretty great. Yoga before bed.

Friday: 60 minute easy elliptical, 1.5 miles in the afternoon working on my running form with the new coach (let’s call him “the running guru”).

Saturday: My first ever Sprint Triathlon, swim was epic (400 meters, 8 minutes – pretty good for swimming once before the tri, more than 10 years since I’ve swam competitively), bike was awful (10.5 miles, 1:01 time – adventures with an old mountain bike with details coming in my race recap), and a 5k I was proud of (28 minutes, faster split was 8:11 – pretty good for post-bike and swim).

Total stats:
Run: 20 miles
Bike (with approximate spinning miles): 42 miles
Swim: 1400 meters

I heading into my last recovery week before I start training for my fall marathon. I’m feeling rested and stronger than ever – doing the bulk of my training *gasp* outside. Bring this next training cycle on!

*final note: I’ve been reading a lot about triathlons and cycling lately, and I’m seeing a disturbing trend. Women of all sizes talk about how much they eat pre- and post-training – almost like a guilty admittance that they have to say to prove that they struggle just like the rest of us. The men, in contrast, mostly talk about how they eat as it pertains to training, and that’s it. No guilt. I say we (women) put a stop to talking about food as a guilty indulgence. I’m guilty of it too, and I resolve to stop writing, thinking, and talking about food like that. You in?

Posted by Cilantro. Check out more at Salty Running.

We can’t even make it through a Botanical Gardens Tour without “resting” these days ;)

The past four weeks have been way too light on running hence the lack of training logs. Some of the lack of running was due to laziness, some to stomach illness, a lot due to heavy workload, and there was still a decent amount of cycling going on. But I think it is safe to say you can put me squarely in the weekend warrior column right now and my “training” is not real training at all but just an attempt at not losing all of the fitness I built on the bike this spring. Somebody find a me a race and maybe I will get motivated to do some real training :)

4/22-4/28

Monday- 1750 yard swim in the AM, PM 26 mile bike with the Bicycle Hub “B” group. Super sore legs from the duathlon.

Tuesday- 7 mile lunch run

Friday-Easy 21 mile ride with the Cleveland Women’s cycling crew

Saturday- 10 miles pacing a friend to a new PR around 7:30 pace

4/29-5/5

Long busy work week followed by mini vacation where all exercise was of the golfing or hiking variety.

Saturday-Easy 15 mile bike ride in Bay Village some road, some bike path, some beach, some trail

Sunday-6.5 mile run in Michigan, felt terrible!

5/6-5/12

Back in the groove for the work week on the cycling front but then slacked off.

Monday- 31 mile ride with the Bicycle Hub A group

Tuesday-30 mile ride with CTC B group

Wednesday- Commute to and from work for a total of 25 miles ridden

Thursday-Commute to and from work with a hill workout in the middle helping a friend with gearing 41 miles for the day

Friday- 12.5 mile commute into work

Stomach bug made the rounds and did not pick back up on any sort of real training until the following weekend

5/13-5/19

Monday- Managed to get out and walk/golf 9 holes with the boyfriend but stomach was on the fritz.
Thursday- Mini vacation for one day with a golf day in Niagara and an evening of walking around Niagara on the Lake and the Falls. We did do a little “running” up and down the hill and along the falls, but nothing formal.

Saturday- On my feet all day selling the Stick at the Cleveland expo

Sunday-2.5 measly trail miles

5/20-5/26

Monday-3 mile errand ride and 31 mile TBH A group ride

Tuesday- 5 mile run testing the foot in minimal shoes. AKA I am a big dummy and want my muscles to be thrashed for the rest of the week. Good news is the foot was A ok, everything else just hurt.

Wednesday- 8 mile lunch run

Thursday-12.5 mile commute in

Friday-Mini commute in and out of work and a lunch ride totaling 14 or so for the day. Massage in PM confirms I am a big idiot and I am tortured for the next 75 minutes. Ouch ouch ouch.

Saturday-Rest day! Spent the day sleeping in, watching friends play softball, and walking around the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

Sunday- 53 mile bike with some serious climbing for 30 or so miles of the ride. Followed by a 4 mile run with 2 miles at tempo and 2 miles jogged. Legs are thrashed but hopeful that I won’t completely embarrass myself at next weekends duathlon.

Posted by Pepper. Check out more at Salty Running.

Monday: Rest day.

Tuesday: 5 miles roads. I didn’t have much time before work, so I got in what I could.

Wednesday: 3.25 miles roads. Lunchtime run! It was so hot and humid in the afternoon. I’ve had little heat training, so I’m happy I had the time to go out on my lunch break.

Thursday: 10 miles roads. It was still humid, but not nearly as hot as the day before.

Friday: Unplanned rest day. I knew I had a big weekend coming up and needed the rest and extra sleep.

Saturday: 24 miles, roads and trails. I ran to the park and ran 17 trail miles before heading home.

Sunday: 53 miles trails: 20 am/33 pm. Sunday was the big day — my last day of training before starting to taper! I tried to do as best I could to simulate race day, getting up early, running all morning and then most of the night and into the next day. I had about six hours between runs to rest and eat before the next, but after the night 33 miler (that ended around 2 am), I’m so happy it’s time to taper and run the race! I’m ready!

Total: 95.25 miles.

Posted by Coriander. Check out more at Salty Running.

I have a couple of weeks of general base-building (aka stop slacking off, Mint) before training for the 2013 Columbus Marathon officially begins, but it felt really good to get back out there this week and put some decent mileage in.  Despite a ridiculously busy week, I was able to cram in 50+ good miles.  This is up from 23 miles last week, 3 miles the week before, and 14 miles the week before that.  Progress.

Progress is good.

Monday is my rest day.  Good thing too as my abs and shoulders were pretty sore from the Mud Run on Sunday.

Tuesday I got up bright and early to log a 75 minute easy run.  8.3 miles / 9:06 pace.  This is a little slower than I should be (easy pace is generally between 8:45 and 9:00), but the name of the game was just to get back at it, so I let my body dictate the pace, not my Garmin.  I also threw in 4 strides at the end to wake my legs up a bit.

Wednesday was 60 minutes easy / 6.65 / 9:01 pace.

Thursday I had 90 minutes on tap, but had WAY too much going on at work.  So I capped it at 60 minutes easy / 6.7 miles / 9:00 pace.

Friday I had a little more time, so I did my 90 minute workout.  10.2 miles / 8:52 average pace (although it was somewhat of a progressive run as I started slow and ended at a solid pace).  I then watched the local middle school’s 5k.  So fun to watch my boy, several of his friends, and my GOTR girls rock the race.

Saturday I got up after 10 glorious (and much needed) hours of sleep and logged an easy 45 minute run / 5.1 miles / 8:54 pace.

Sunday I slept in as well.  Ran my scheduled 2 hours / 13.5 miles / 8:55 pace.  I felt great early on, but really started to fade the last 30 minutes.  Thankfully my oldest son agreed to run the last couple of miles with me.  His legs were fresh and he was fired up, so he pushed me pretty hard to keep up the pace, even though I wanted to slow down.  It was awesome to finish my first 50 mile week in a long time with my boy by my side.  :)

Total: 50.5 miles

Happy Memorial Day!

Having some fun with my boys after a few crazy, busy weeks

Posted by Mint. Check out more at Salty Running.

I tried to run a few times, I really did. Unfortunately, it seems that I have been blessed with a condition called symphysis pubis dysfunction, and running even a step or two just flat out hurt. So I didn’t do it.

Symphysis pubis, right in the middle. That’s what hurts.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I put an order in for a maternity SI support belt, which should, quite literally, help hold things (such as my pelvis) together for me, but while it came in time for me to take it on vacation with me, I didn’t get a chance to try it out before we left.

And, yes, you read that right. Vacation. We left on Friday, and as you read this I am either lounging on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean or wandering around Italy somewhere. (It’s OK, I’d hate me, too.)

Posted by Licorice. Check out more at Salty Running.

Yes, it’s possible for superfanmanship to be a sport, especially when you take it as seriously as I do. I even added the sports package to cable and finally entered the 21st century by upgrading to a DVR so I wouldn’t miss a single televised track & field event. In the fall, my life revolves around Redskins football and when March Madness comes around, I take vacation time from work (especially if Gonzaga’s looking good).

But you don’t care about that, onto the stats!

Sunday: Windermere Marathon, 26.2 miles and not a step more

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 60 mn light elliptical, yoga for stiffer bodies that night (felt amazing)

Wednesday: Spinning in the AM, PT at night

Thursday: 5 easy miles (and these babies were tough!)

Friday: 60 mn elliptical, light yoga at night

Saturday: 6 easy miles, restorative yoga AKA adult nap time after

Total: 11 miles (not counting the marathon, of course)

I’ve also found a running coach, and sent him my running stats. I thought y’all might find these interesting as well!

Marathon times:
*SLC (April 2012): 3:47 (Splits not available, but I’m pretty sure I ran pretty equal splits)
Seattle (November 2012): 4:05 (Splits: 1:53, 2:12)
Windermere (May 2013): 4:46 This was so bad. I was over trained, overweight (still am), and this was just a bad race.
I’ve done three other marathons as long-runs and those have averaged around 4:20, which was my goal pace.

Half-marathon:
Hurricane (April 2011): 2:25
Syracuse (May 2011): 2:03 (approx.)
*Hurricane (April 2013): 1:56 (This was mid-training cycle. I think I have a much faster half in me).

*PRs

Another recovery week ahead!

Posted by Cilantro. Check out more at Salty Running.

Monday – rest day

Tuesday - 75 minutes with 4 strides / 8.5 miles / 8:54 pace.  Beautiful morning for a run and it felt great to get out there.

Wednesday – 62 minutes easy / 7 miles / 8:55 pace.

Thursday & Friday – off

Saturday - Our local Girls on the Run teams combined to do our “practice” 5k.  But don’t be fooled, it is a full 5k and we do it up big.  My running buddy rocked the course and met her goal of coming in between 25 and 27 minutes.  25:27 / 8:13 pace.

Rock star!

Sunday - my family participated in the local mud run.  We run on a police team and rather than racing it, run at the pace of the slowest person and stick together.  It was awesome and we had a blast.

Mud Run

Total: 23 miles and change.

Next week (this week), I’ll be back at it.  Really.

Posted by Mint. Check out more at Salty Running.

Monday – A chilly 39 degree 4 miler (9:40 pace). I had to dig out some of those cooler weather clothes that I’d (maybe too optimistically) put away.

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – Another attempt at a double workout day, but this one didn’t go as planned. I ran 4 miles at 9:38 pace in the morning. In the afternoon, yoga fail = rest. I had everything I needed to go straight from work to yoga class… except my change of clothes.

Thursday – You know when you can just tell it’s going to be a bad run, right from the get go? The wild weather swings this week were giving me headaches, and I woke up with a splitting one Thursday morning. I hoped that the run would help it go away, but the headache just got worse and the resulting run (3 miles at 10:21 pace) was just all I had. I also paid a visit to my LRS, where I got some new shoes and learned that the orthotics I’ve been wearing are all wrong.

Friday – Rest

Saturday – What a fun day full of being active and enjoying life! First I ran 9 miles at 9:01 pace. Even though it was a little drizzly, this was a great run with one of my running buddies who’s moved away and was back in town for a wedding. Then I did about 10 miles on my bike. The first 8 miles or so of that was part of a big annual fun ride where they close off the roads to vehicle traffic. Afterwards I got in some more miles as my friends and I rode our bikes around downtown. The Mr. and I also celebrated our wedding anniversary Saturday, which translated to some delicious cupcakes. All in all, a very wonderful day!

Sunday  - Rest

Total – 20 miles running, 10 miles cycling

Posted by Sassafras. Check out more at Salty Running.

Sunday:  Westminster Women’s 5K.  Fourth place overall in 22:36, my slowest 5K in about 10 years, but my fastest 3 miles in nearly two months.  Lost about 30 seconds due to having to walk/jog through a flooded tunnel under the road.  Overall, I was happy with my performance running a negative with a 6:59 last mile.  I relaxed the rest of the day, but fit in some weights and core exercises later in the afternoon.

Monday:  Easy swim of 1,300 yards.  Biked to the pool, work and around Boulder.  Visited a new gym at lunch to lift.

Tuesday:  5*90″ with 75″ rest, and did an easy shakeout run of 30 minutes at lunch.  Biked to and from work again!

Wednesday:  1,800 swim; weights, and 30 minutes on the treadmill in the evening.  Major thunderstorms forced me on the mill.  Ran easy with the last 5 minutes under 7:00.  Biked to/from work.

Relaxing after the mile race!

Thursday:  Planned tempo run of 12′, but I felt awful after 2 minutes into it.  Cut it to 10″ and stopped after a total of 4 miles.  Walked for another 30 minutes.  Later that evening, watched my hubby blast through a mile race, and then ran the mile fun run with Lucy.  She finished in 10:10, even with a potty stop!

Friday:  Biked to/from work.  Easy run after work.

Saturday:  Double brick day!  14 mile ride followed by a 30 minute run, then 28 miles on the bike, followed by a 4 mile run.  My legs felt a little flat on the second bike, but felt fine on the run.

Weekly Totals:

Running:  34.2 miles

Biking:  86 miles

Swimming:  3,100 yards (1.76 miles)

Weight Training:  2 hours

Posted by Vanilla. Check out more at Salty Running.

We’re having a baby in November.

This is basically why my running has gone down to zero lately. For the first couple of months, I was so exhausted that all I did was sleep and work. Seriously. I’d get up in the morning, head down to my internship (an hour-long drive each way), play with kids all day, come home, take a nap, have dinner, go to bed, and do it all again the next day. I’ll be writing a post in the near(ish) future about my first trimester running experience (as it was very different from Salty’s), so I’ll save the details for that.

14 weeks in, and already getting bumpy

I do still plan on reconstructing my running routine now that I’m done with the daily 9-to-5 for a while, but it’s going to be a very, very toned down schedule: 30 minutes 2-3 times during the week, with a weekly “long run” of 3-4 miles. I’ll still be showing up to races, but I’ll be “participating” rather than “racing,” and they’ll be more of a social outing than anything else (so that I can hang out with my teammates and other runner friends). I’m going to try and keep that up as long as my body will let me, but I’ll also be taking it one day at a time as this is completely uncharted territory for me.

So, in my first week off, what did I do?

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 3.6 mile hike

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Girls on the Run 5k – I was slated to be a running buddy, but wound up running alone as my girl buddy didn’t make it to the race.

Sunday: Graduation day!

Total for the week: 3.6 miles hiking, 3.1 miles running

Posted by Licorice. Check out more at Salty Running.

Not sure what that says about me and tapering, but that’s a post for another day.

The stats:

Sunday: 6 miles, easy

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: 7 miles, easy with 6 x 100 speed intervals

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: 3 glorious miles, run with my uncle.

Total: 16 miles

Both of my taper runs were awesome, and all signs pointed to a great race. But if you don’t have it mentally, you just don’t have it. Period.

Posted by Cilantro. Check out more at Salty Running.

Monday - 3 miles at 9:26 pace

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – Double workout day! 3 miles at 9:03 pace in the a.m., 1 hour yoga in the p.m. This is a free class that I have been wanting to try for so long… not just because I have heard the instructor is amazing (she was!), but because how often do you have the chance to go to yoga in a brewery? So fun. I definitely plan to make this a fixture of my summer workout routine.

Thursday – Rest

Friday – 2 miles at 9:42 pace. I felt kinda silly going to meet my friend for “just” two miles, but I was trying to be good and keep my overall mileage for the week from jumping up too quickly.

Saturday – My longest long run yet since 26.2… 7 miles at 8:45 pace. I have been considering various options for run commuting, but hadn’t yet made the plunge. I stuck my toe in the shallow end on this run, as my friend who drove me to the group run wasn’t feeling it… so I just ran home the extra 2.5 miles. I was really happy with the pace on this run, especially considering that I’d gone out for a Mexican food feast the night before!

Sunday – Rest

Total – 15 miles running, 1 hour yoga

Posted by Sassafras. Check out more at Salty Running.

So, onto the week:

Monday: Planned rest day!

Tuesday: 6 road miles.

Wednesday: 5 road miles. I finally went back to my Wednesday night Second Sole group! It was nice to run with my friends again, even though everyone has somehow gotten way faster than I am!

Thursday: 7 road miles.

Friday: Unplanned rest day. I had every intention to do 20 or so road miles so that I could feel confident about having one long road run in before the Cleveland Marathon. But of course, I felt so crappy that I went back to bed.

Saturday: 19 trail miles. I wish I could’ve stayed out for more! Boo work.

Sunday: 32 trail miles. I met up with a friend and we ran a local 50K course. I had my first bonk of this training cycle and thank God my friend had enough food in his pockets for a whole family. His peanut butter and jelly definitely saved my butt.

Total: 69 miles.

Only two more hard weeks of training before I taper! This weekend, I’m running a 50K near Columbus on Saturday and the Cleveland Marathon on Sunday. I can’t wait!

Posted by Coriander. Check out more at Salty Running.