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Monday, November 27, 2017

Maintenance Miles Week 4 Review

Another week, another 25 miles PLUS 2.63!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I was able to get in a lot of mid-day runs which I appreciate immensely.  Our weather has been mild lately too so it has been nice to take advantage of that.

I officially have surpassed my 2015 and 2016 November mileage totals, but am 3.57 miles away from my 100 mile/month goal.  I am hoping to check that off the list tonight!

Monday Nov 20
off

Tuesday Nov 21
4 miles, 7:36 pace
I left work late and the bus arrived as I was at 3.9 miles so I was the crazy lady running small circles at the end of our driveway until I got to 4.0.

Wednesday Nov 22
6.0 miles, 7:29 avg pace
This was my mid-day break from cooking Thanksgiving food and cleaning my house.

Thursday Nov 23
5 miles, 7:28 pace
Run all the miles, Eat all the Turkey.

Friday Nov 24
5.1 miles, 8:07 avg pace
My only morning run of the week and I could feel it.  I may have been half asleep for most of this.

Saturday Nov 25
6.51 miles, 7:31 avg pace

Sunday Nov 26
1 mile, 9:16 pace
I wasn't planning on running this day as I was using some time to do Christmas card envelope addressing (example of the time trade-offs one must do!) but then my 7 year old wanted to go for a run and I couldn't pass that opportunity up.

Weekly Total: 27.63 miles

Friday, November 24, 2017

Product Review: Boco Gear 360 Visor Part 1


Product Review: BibRave Boco Gear 360° Visor

Disclaimer:  I received a Boco Gear 360° Visor to review as part of being a BibRave Pro.  Learn more about becoming a BibRavePro (ambassador) and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews.

If you follow me on Instagram, you will notice that for the better part of the summer and fall I have been wearing the same thing on my head:  My BibRave Boco Gear 360° Visor.  I LOVE THIS THING.  

My favorite features of this:

1. Comfort:  I've blogged before about my large head.  The elastic part around the back of the visor makes for a very comfortable experience.  Visors are pretty fun too because I can wear my hair in a bun or higher ponytail than I can with a hat.

2.  SUN BLOCKAGE:  The visor does a great job of blocking sun, so much so that I don't always need to wear sunnies with it.  However, when I do wear sunglasses, I like that the brim can accommodate all of my sunglasses, even those that are a bit wider.




3.  Wicking internal sweatband:  The underside of the visor has a terrycloth wicking sweatband that works so well.   One thing I cannot STAND while running is when salty sweat runs into my eye, causing my contacts to revolt.  I never have that issue when I wear this visor.

Finally, let's be honest.  It looks pretty badass while racing to a half-marathon PR:



You can shop Boco Gear 360° Visors at this link.  If you ever are in need of custom work, they do that too!  Honestly I would much rather get one of these visors as race swag than another t-shirt.  

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Maintenance Week 3 Review

Another week, another 25 miles.   Last week was a doozy.  I am generally intentionally very careful not to over-schedule our weeks but last week could not be helped.  My SIL and I went to a sparkling wine tasting class on Tuesday night, play practice + costume making for church Christmas play Wednesday night, book club Thursday night, a going away party Friday night, a play with my daughter Saturday night.  Oh and...my daughter broke her arm at a birthday party Saturday afternoon. 

Wow.  Even typing that gave me a headache. 

Lucky for us a week like that is a total anomaly.  I was glad I still hit my 25 mile goal.  The weather is cold but I still haven't resorted to our treadmill.  I ended up squeezing in runs between other things so some lunch runs, some late afternoon runs, some mid-afternoon runs. 

I also haven't figured out my spring marathon yet even though I wanted to last week.  Ideally I would do a spring marathon in the April-June window that I would not have to travel far for.

Monday Nov 13
4.3 miles 7:39 avg pace

Tuesday Nov 14
off

Wednesday Nov 15
4.1 miles, 7:36 avg pace

Thursday Nov 16
off

Friday Nov 17
4.56 miles, 7:40 avg pace

Saturday Nov 18
6.5 miles, 7:25 avg pace

Sunday Nov 19
6.1 miles, 7:39 avg pace (solo)
0.2 miles, 11:45 avg pace (with my 3 year old)

Weekly Total: 25.76 miles

Monday, November 13, 2017

Maintenance Week 2 Review

Another week, another 25 miles.  Temperatures plummeted last week in Wisconsin.  One of the mornings I ran it was THIRTEEN-FEELS-LIKE-FOUR degrees.  I am wholly unprepared for the months of cold weather running ahead but one of these days I supposed I will feel used to it.

I was not going to be able to run on Saturday and Sunday so my goal was to get to 25 miles with 5 days during the week.  Mission accomplished!

In other news, I'm hoping to figure out my spring marathon plans this week!

Monday Nov 6
4 miles 7:55 avg pace

Tuesday Nov 7
5.25 miles, 8:25 avg pace

Wednesday Nov 8
6.01 miles, 7:58 avg pace

Thursday Nov 9
4 miles, 7:48 avg pace

Friday Nov 10
6.2 miles, 7:53 avg pace

Saturday Nov 11
off

Sunday Nov 12
off

Weekly Total: 25.46 miles

Monday, November 6, 2017

Maintenance Mode Week 1 Review

Alright alright alright!

I ran 6 days last week, the first week of my two-planned base building maintenance months.  My goal is to get to 100 miles in each of November and December which means I need to be around 25 miles/week.  Week 1 - CHECK! 

And then after watching clips of Shalane Flanagan winning NY Marathon yesterday, I wanted to immediately start marathon training.

"F*@% Yes!"

But, patience. 

Here is my week in review.  I had the luxury of traveling (again) for a long weekend with some grad school girlfriends so I had some people to run with at the end of the week.  It was so fun!  Friday and Saturday we woke up, had lots of coffee and chatting on the porch and then would go for a mid-day run.  Sunday morning, we had early flights but we still got in a few early miles.

Monday Oct 30
4.6 miles 7:52 avg pace

Tuesday Oct 31
3.1 miles, 7:40 avg pace

Wednesday Nov 1
off

Thursday Nov 2
5.45 miles, 8:05 avg pace

Friday Nov 3
4.21 miles, 8:09 avg pace

Saturday Nov 4
5.05 miles, 8:27 avg pace

Sunday Nov 5
2.87 miles, 9:40 avg pace

Weekly Total: 25.28 miles

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

October 2017 Mileage Update

So...it has been over two weeks since I last posted and not a lot has happened running-wise.  I have gone for five runs in that span of time.  My only post-race goal for October was to hit the 100 mile/month 2018 goal I have for myself and that is it.

My husband and I took our two kids on an amazing 9 day vacation to California.  I was excited to not to have to run like I have had to on vacations past; meaning, I am not currently training for any races so not adhering to any set plan.  I still brought a few running outfits and running shoes along though but I only ran one day and that is because I planned a meet-up with a fellow IG friend.  I wanted to run more on vacation, while at the same time not wanting to run more.  We did PLENTY of walking and other physical activities, way more than I do on a typical day, so it I wasn't craving movement beyond what we did.  Looking back, I feel like I should have taken advantage of the amazing scenery and went on more runs.  Hindsight tends to be 20/20 though.

I did cross the 100 mile mark in October, but not by much. 

105.65 miles was the official count.

To date that is the lowest month of 2017 and I am super okay with that because 1:28:35 half marathon.  (Yes.  Still riding high on that...starting to crest into the sadness that it is over.)

105.65 miles is slightly less than the October mileage accrued in 2016 (because my fall half marathon last year occurred in November); but it is higher than my 2015 mileage.  Overall, I am still continuing to widen the gap between my 2016 and 2017 annual mileage so that is fun.

Which brings us to today.  November 1.

I have no more races scheduled for 2017.  My only goals for the next two months are to hit the 100 mile mark in both months, which I feel will give me a fine base to begin spring marathon training in Jan/Feb.  (Spring marathon TBD.  I am still working on figuring that out.)   Finding motivation for the next two months will be a challenge, if history has shown me anything.  I always struggle this time of year because of so many other things going on and quite honestly, 2017 has been a rockstar year for me.  I could log 0 miles for the next two months and be SA-TIS-FIED.

Onward!