The final week of the BAA Plan and the #RWRUNSTREAK is still going!

The BAA Plan Week 4 has come to a close and once again I finished all four prescribed workouts, and did a better job of trying to run within the target paces.

Workout 1:  1-2 mi warm up, 4 x 1/2 mi at half marathon pace (7:00-7:15) with 2 minutes of jogging in between, 1-2 mi cool down

1 mi warm up @ 7:26
8 x 1/4 mi (6:51, 6:42, 6:42, 6:41 pace each, recovery jogs at 7:45-8:30 pace each)
1.2 mi cool down @ 7:37

Workout 2: 4-5 mi easy run (8:15 - 8:50)

4 mi @ 8:05

Workout 3: 4-5 mi aerobic run (7:50-8:10)

4.5 mi @ 7:35

Workout 4: Long Run: 10-11 mi easy (8:15-8:50)

9.3 mi @ 7:37 (*This was all over the place as I overdressed and stopped to remove a layer and forgot to start my watch again for almost a mile so time is inaccurate!)

Total Miles Last Week: 26.2

I continued the #RWRunStreak challenge by running 1.1 miles on the other 3 days of last week.

As I am writing this, I have completed 19 days of consecutive running...and I still don't like it, but I have surpassed the halfway mark!  I have been really lucky that we have experienced a VERY mild Wisconsin winter thus far.

In bigger news, I got the first few weeks of my custom marathon training plan from High Miles Running last night!  I will start this plan tonight (Tuesday) and so am done with my BAA Training Plan which served me well the past 4 weeks.

AND our flight to Boston is BOOKED!  We arrive late afternoon Thursday April 14!  We haven't gotten our return flight yet because they are still pretty expensive, but hoping to come home Tuesday or Wednesday.

BAA Plan Week 3 and continuing #RWRunStreak

The BAA Plan Week 3 has come to a close and once again I finished all four prescribed workouts, and did a better job of trying to run within the target paces.  I was on the low end of the mileage ranges because it was A WEEK.  My daughter had surgery to fix an umbilical hernia (everything went great!), my son turned 2 and we had a birthday party for him, presentation to CEO at work, book club meeting, volunteer event, there was a Santa breakfast at my daughter's school, and the usual appointments/schedule that already make for a busy week.  I truly was squeezing running in whenever possible!  On top of that, I did not get a ton of sleep because I was anxious about the surgery.

Workout 1:  1-2 mi warm up, 8 x 1/4 mi at half marathon pace (7:00-7:15) with 60 seconds of jogging in between, 1-2 mi cool down

1 mi warm up @ 8:07
8 x 1/4 mi (6:36-6:53 pace each, recovery jogs at 8:00-9:00 pace each)
1 mi cool down @ 7:46

Workout 2: 4-5 mi easy run (8:15 - 8:50)

4.1 mi @ 7:55

Workout 3: 4-5 mi aerobic run (7:50-8:10)

4.1 mi @ 7:24

Workout 4: Long Run: 8-10 mi aerobic (7:50-8:10)

8 mi @ 7:28

I continued the #RWRunStreak challenge by running 1.1 miles on the other 3 days of last week.  1.1 miles is the distance of one entire loop of my neighborhood.

As I am writing this, I have completed 12 days of consecutive running...and I don't like it.  It seems silly that I am stressing out to get out to run a mile just to say I ran that day and not break the streak.  It feels like I am running to do the streak, rather than really enjoying it.  I think it is also contributing to me feeling "meh" about gearing up for another marathon.  My book club unfortunately got an ear full of negativity and as I listed to myself whining to them, I was thinking, "Boy, I do not sound like someone who is in love with running right now."

On the positive side, the BAA plan has helped me log 3 great running weeks in a row (24.6 miles, 24.2 miles, 24.4 miles).

In bigger news, I had a great running conversation with a friend and running coach last night which made me excited about training.  He is serving up a running plan in the next couple of weeks and then I will officially stop this BAA plan and use his. His philosophy about running really resonated with me.  I was slightly nervous to talk to him because I REALLY do not want to be running more than 4 days a week...and let's be honest, with working full time outside the house and wanting to see my kids, I can't really commit to more than 4 days.  To my surprise and relief, he was down with it.  PHEW!  I am a little afraid of his "two big workouts" though after he promised that they would be hard.

Now I am off to try to find a half marathon in the next month or two!

BAA Plan Week 2 & #RWRunStreak

The BAA Plan Week 2 has come to a close and once again I finished all four prescribed workouts, albeit still too fast for my target paces.

Workout 1:  1-2 mi warm up, 8 x 1/4 mi at half marathon pace (7:00-7:15) with 90 seconds of jogging in between, 1-2 mi cool down

1 mi warm up @ 7:48
8 x 1/4 mi (5:58-6:40 each, recovery jogs at 7:30-8:20 each)
1.3 mi cool down @ 7:38

Workout 2: 3-4 mi easy run (8:15 - 8:50)

4 mi @ 7:31

Workout 3: 4-5 mi aerobic run (7:50-8:10)

5 mi @ 7:00

Workout 4: Long Run: 7-9 mi easy (8:15 - 8:50)

10 mi @ 7:46

Thanksgiving day also started the #RWRunStreak challenge.  RW stands for Runner's World (magazine) and the challenge is to run at least one mile every.single.day from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.  37 days of consecutive running.

This will be a challenge for me because I already feel that 4 days of running per week is a challenge to fit in so my plan is to do the BAA plan workouts on 4 of the days and run 1 mile the other 3 days of the week.  This will make it more doable for me mentally and physically.  Wish me luck!

BAA Plan Week 1

In order to increase the consistency of my running, one of the tactics I am trying is following a plan.  The Boston Athletic Association has a number of training plans for the marathon.  I picked the level one plan as it is built around 4 days of running/week, an optimal amount for me.  Week 1 kicked off 11/16 and I am proud to say that I nailed all four of the workouts.

One thing I really like about this plan is that it features fairly specific paces for each workout based on what your goal marathon finish time is.  I picked a marathon finish goal time of 3:15.  Yes that's pretty fast - and would be a big PR for me, but it is my "conditions are ideal, training was ideal" goal.  Based on that, here are my goal pace times:

Easy Run: 8:15 - 8:50
Aerobic Runs: 7:50-8:10
Marathon Pace Runs/Intervals; 7:25-7:35
Half Marathon Pace Runs/Intervals: 7:00-7:15
10K Pace Intervals: 6:40 - 6:55
5K Pace Intervals: 6:20-6:30

On that note, the paces seem so SLOW.  I'm sure I won't be saying that once the workouts ramp up, but the most difficult piece of week 1 was running much slower than I am used to, even for "fast" workouts.

Workout 1:  1-2 mi warm up, 8 x 1/4 mi at half marathon pace (7:00-7:15) with 90 seconds of jogging in between, 1-2 mi cool down

1.43 mi warm up @ 7:42
8 x 1/4 mi (6:12-6:29 each, recovery jogs at 7:50-8:05 each)
1.44 mi cool down @ 7:52

Workout 2: 3-4 mi easy run (8:15 - 8:50)

4 mi @ 7:49

Workout 3: 4-5 mi aerobic run (7:50-8:10)

5 mi @ 7:12

Workout 4: Long Run: 7-9 mi easy (8:15 - 8:50)

10 mi @ 7:44

Struggles

I haven't blogged much and as my last post indicated, my running has been a little all over the place.

1. I was/am trying hard to become a "morning runner".  Unfortunately, I seem to forgot that becoming a morning runner requires me to be a nighttime sleeper.  What does it mean to be a nighttime sleeper? First, I would have to go to bed earlier.  Most nights I am trying to get to bed between 9:30 and 10:00.  Even if I wasn't trying to get up by 5 to run, I am still really tired when my non-morning-run alarm goes off at 5:30.  SO.  I should be trying to go to bed earlier.  Given that the end of the day is the only time I have for myself, I have a hard time giving it up.

Second, I haven't really slept through the night in a while.  Sometimes it is one of my children that is waking me up.  Sometimes it is the mouse that lives in our attic, evading the trap we have sent.  Sometimes I have to pee.  Regardless of what wakes me up, I have tremendous difficulty getting back to sleep because my thoughts start wandering.  If I manage to fall back asleep, the alarm at 5:30 often gets snoozed until 6:15.  And then boy am I really late. 

Third, running in the morning just doesn't FEEL the same as running at the end of the day.  Yes, it's nice to be done and have the full evening free.  But at the end of the day, when my body is tense as all hell, the run helps loosen that up.  And running in the morning isn't really preventing that from occurring in the first place.  Maybe I haven't given it enough data points to really make a sound judgment on that one, though.

I'm still going to attempt getting a morning run in.

2. I was in no man's land.  I don't have a training plan for right now and my next race isn't until January.  I have found that I do well when I have a plan to follow.  SO, i remedied that in a two pronged approach.  1) The training plans created for the Boston marathon start today! 2) I have asked a friend's coach husband for help with my marathon training plan, which likely will start post-Christmas.  My weeks from now until 4/18 will be more regimented!

Short and Sweet, Trick or Treat

It's October 30 already?

Where the hell did this month go?

Running has been absymal lately in terms of it hasn't been happening.

The End.

Getting PUMPED for the marathon

Deena Kastor broke the US Masters Marathon record today at the Chicago Marathon! Woot woot!

Having access to Oiselle team pages on Facebook and thus having marathon posts throughout my Facebook feed has really gotten me pumped to run another marathon...on an emotional level.  If I start to think about all those training workouts and miles I start to get less excited, I'll admit :)

This is very evident in my training log for the last week:  26.1 miles.  Holy Schnikey!  (Here is the part where I clue you into the fact that this is a lot for me.)  I EVEN GOT MY BUTT OUT OF BED ON TWO mornings to get workouts in before work!  I am going to make an effort to do this at least two days during the work week.  It does make me really tired (more so than if I ran at night), but it is nice not to feel rushed at night thinking "Hurry up - get kids to bed".   And while it is dark now in the mornings, it is dark at night when I run too - at least the mornings will lighten up with daylight savings time.

If I run before work, I have a short run - 30 minutes and some change.  I get up at 5, throw clothes on, get the run in and dive into the morning routine to get out the door by 6:45 so I can be to work by 7.  It's somewhat of a challenge but doable.  Once I have to stretch those runs out longer, I don't know if I can get up any earlier than 5.

I finished a yoga for runners seminar at our local yoga studio.  It was Ah-Maze-ING.  I am really sad that the instructor doesn't do regular classes.  She gave us some handouts to do a routine at home - but we all know how yoga at my house goes (pssst.  It doesn't).

Marathon training starts 12/28/15.  I don't have a plan selected yet...thinking about hiring out for that.  I may just use the same plan I used for the Wisconsin Marathon last May too.  I have 78 days to decide.

In the next 78 days...I have nothing.  I have not signed up for any races before 4/18/16.  I still am hoping to find a good 5K to give the sub 19 one more try.