Plan for the Week - 5 weeks to SFM

Going into Eugene, I clearly had some training exhaustion going on. Not that I was over-trained, just that I was.... over it. All of it.

Truth be told, I wasn't really excited about running, and slacked on my training, which made running harder, which made me unexcited to run.... in a circle.

I get a wicked case of race-envy, and ended up running 5 marathons in the last 11 months. Maybe that was too much for me.

So, in an effort to enjoy running and training again, I decided to actively recover/rebuild my base after Eugene. I don't have a goal for SFM, but it would be nice to not feel like I'm dying. I've pretty much jumped back into training after every race for the last year, so - as an experiment - I took one week totally off, and am building back in very slowly.

Good news, I feel great?

Last week....
Monday: nothing

Tuesday: 4 miles easy, strength
This was actually harder on me than I thought, which is LAME because my "strength" was just a 15 minute circuit. I felt it for days. What.

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: 4 miles easy

Friday: rest

Saturday: accidental rest
I intended to do 3 miles easy, but a quick 2 hour car repair turned into a 9 hour death march through the mall while a billion expensive things had to get done to our car. No running, plenty of mall wandering.

Sunday: "long" run
5 miles, easy easy easy pace.

Lessons from the week: ummm I didn't hate it? That's pretty promising. While I do miss all of the eating I could do when running 18 miles in one shot, I am kind of digging the shorter mileage and all the freeeeee time. Also of note, in my current state, 10:45ish seems to be my current "easy" pace. So... there's that? I know no one cares about your pace, but maybe I'll want to know this information some day? Eh.

This week:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 easy
Wednesday: strength - arms, yoga?
Thursday: 5 miles, hills
Friday: strength
Saturday: 3 miles and/or yoga
Sunday: 7-8 easy


Happy mother's day?

So... That's over. What's coming up?

First thing on my schedule, is Gabby's port removal. FINALLY. Her surgery went fine, and she's still knocked out in recovery right now. I hope she's prepared for some boredom, because no school for the week, and no activity AT ALL for 2 weeks. Zoinks.

Oh well. LATER, Port.

Switching gears... I took all of last week off as a recovery week. It was kind of nice. The most I did was some stretching and foam rolling, and I'm feeling pretty good - as in, the IT band/quad are quiet.

I dropped down to the 5k at PCRF yesterday (I'll recap that separately), and had a TON of fun. I went out without my garmin, just intending to run on feel, and... luckily, I felt pretty great. I had one tiny twinge running up a hill, but I walked for a few seconds and then it was fine. I'm super excited that there happened to be a photographer RIGHT THERE to capture that, too. Awesome timing.

I ended up coming in faster than I thought I would, which was kind of nice. Certainly wasn't FAST, but it was better than I anticipated for an easy effort.

I'll get back to running this week, I think, but everything at easy pace. I am not really interested in aggrivating the right leg, so I'll see how it goes, and maybe add in some hills/intervals something interesting next week.

So, what's next?

Corona del Mar Scenic 5k, the land of the creme brulee, is June 1st. I PR'ed there last year, and that was fun, but I think this year, I'm just going to go in for a speedy tempo run, and try to kill the hills. I'm certainly not in shape to PR a 5k (ouch), and I don't anticipate being ready in 4 weeks, either.

Speaking of hills.... after CDM5k, I have San Francisco Marathon!!! I'm running the first half this year, which... it's hilly.

I haven't run a half marathon for realsies since PCRF last year (so my 2:11:20 PR stands...). I don't think I'll be trying to PR here, but I'd like to at least run a good, hard effort.

So hills hills hills are in my future.

And after that, I'm empty until Dumbo Double Dare!

I spent last night furiously searching the internet machine for any half marathons in close proximity in the next 4 months, but was unsuccessful. What is that about, SoCal???

So now I'm on a fall/winter race hunt. I'd like to pull out a half and full PR by year's end, so.... CIM is a contender, but we'll see.

Any race suggestions? Only demand is that it has plenty of oxygen. And preferably close by.


PFTW:
Monday: Strength (WHAT?)
Tuesday: Run - 4 miles
Wednesday: Strength again (for real!)
Thursday: Run - 4-5
Friday: Rest
Saturday: hike?
Sunday: 6-8

Uno, Dos, Tres

It's Thusrday!


1. I'm excited to have been selected as a San Francisco Marathon Ambassador for 2013. Back in July, I ran SFM as my second marathon, hoping for redemption after a shit-fest in Seattle. And man, it was GLORIOUS. You can read my recap HERE. I'm telling you, glorious.

I'm planning on coming back to San Francisco on June 16, 2013, to run the 1st half - the first step in the Half it All Challenge, and in joining the 52 club.

Registration is open now, and at the lowest prices you'll see. Check out the race here - I'd love to see you there!

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2. We are 20 days into the school year for the kidlets, and Gabby has missed 3 days so far - 1 for a routine oncology clinic visit, 2 for a cough. Oh, leukemia. That's not cute.

On Tuesday night, her BFF came by and dropped off a get well soon card for her...

Adorable. Except I was not, in fact, cooking good soup for her. But she did stop feeling blue.

Speaking of Gabby... We will be attending a super special, super secret event Saturday (after Chapman 5k....), and I'm really, really, really excited. REALLY excited. Did I mention excited?

Hint: It's Make-a-Wish related.

And speaking of MaW, please don't forget to check out the Straight Talk Wireless demos every Saturday - click HERE to visit their website {note: this is NOT an affiliate link, I'm not paid or compensated in any way - but Make a Wish provided us with something amazing, and every critically ill child should have the same opportunity}.

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3. I had an okay-ish run on Monday - 6 miles, .75 easy, .25 fast. The fast was... fast (duh), but not terrible. Except for the heat. Hells bells, the heat.

But last night, man. Last night, I did 14 miles after work. That was the the longest thing ever in the universe ever. I mean, I guess it will be worth it in 10 days when I'm NOT running 16 miles at 8,000' elevation surrounded by bears, but last night it felt like it would NEVER END.

And today I'm starving. #eatallthethings

Wordless Wednesday