Marathon Training Part 2: Report 3

Monday:

5 miles in 53 minutes (10:35 pace)

Easy/recovery run. I forgot to look at my training schedule for today. Thought I would do some weights and then run 2 miles but opted for chatting with a friend while we both ran on the treadmills instead. Though I don't love treadmill running, I do love that it allows two people at different training levels to workout together.

Tuesday:

8 miles in 75:45 (9:28 pace)

Tempo run. 8 miles including 5 @ 8:57. Ipod died right at the beginning. I just charged it too! Wondering what happened with that. Watched Charlotte's Web with my sickie 7 year old after denying her first two picks of My Little Pony and Care Bears. With no Ipod to drown out the sound, I had to have something tolerable. I must be a mean mom. :) Fortuneately she was happy to change. The first two weren't favorites, they were just already out. I really had to talk myself through the last mile and change of the fast part. Felt tired and a bit sick to my stomach. I think the hard runs are more empowering than the easy ones because you really feel like you accomplished something when it is over.

Wednesday:

BIG day. Started with a morning spin class for an hour. Different instructor with a VERY different style. She was loud and in your face. Not bad, but very different. Dave came home early enough for me to go to the Boot Camp class again. Such a workout. Then:

2 miles in 19:40

Just a short run after Boot Camp. Felt strong while running which made me feel good as it was a long day, and I had already worked out for 2 hours. (Plus I carted five kids to Kohls for matching shirts with friends for Twin Day at school tomorrow. Shopping with five kids is a whole 'nother kind of tough workout!!) Thinking tomorrow will be a rest day.

Thursday:

REST!

Friday:

Boot Camp again.

2 easy miles in 21:17 (10:38 pace) to finish it up.

Saturday:

16 miles in 2:50:12 (10:38 pace)

Weeell. Tried a running club for the first time. They were way faster than I was. Went out way too fast the first three miles, and paid for it the last 13. It was horrid. Really horrid. Should have had a 10:11 pace overall. Good reminder to stay true to the pace I planned on. To be fair, it was rough terrain in places, but that was only a small contributing factor to my overall slowness.


Happy running!

Marathon Training Part 2: Report 2

Monday:

3 miles in 30:36

Recovery run. Awesome. I'm all for finishing goals, so I will run the IL Marathon on May 1st...but I'm just not a marathoner at heart. I LOVE a good 3-5 mile run. I enjoy a longer 10 miler. But to confess: I dread anything over 15 miles. I procrastinated this run and wish I hadn't. It was just the Monday pick-me-up I needed.

Seriously, this run was phenomenal. I didn't get up early enough and had to wait for the afternoon nap, but the endorphins were excellent without the workout being punishing. I think that's what I like most about the shorter runs.

Tuesday:

Should have been speedwork, but since I can't go to spin in the morning (something about not being able to leave five children home alone at 5:30 AM while Mr. Bloomers is in NY) I'll leave it for Wednesday. Since the weather was beautiful, I did take the kids out letterboxing in a local park district park. We had a good walk and a great time.

Wednesday:

7 miles in 65:21

Speedwork. 1 mile warm-up followed by 1 mile at 8:20x4 with half mile jogs. This was my best speed workout ever. Four miles at 8:20 is really fast for me, and I felt strong most of the way. Really nice de-stresser too.

Thursday:

Missed swimming AGAIN! Just couldn't get up early enough. Instead:

Easy run of 4 miles in 40:30

Probably ran faster than I should have, but it felt good. Broke it down into two 2 milers, with a break to get kids off to school in between.

Friday:

Nada. Super busy day with preschool, speech, playdates, driving for a GS field trip, etc. I thought a day off before a long run wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Saturday:

20 miles in 3:27:28 (10:22 pace)

Happy first day of spring. Feels like in the 20s and SNOW THE WHOLE TIME after having had sunny days with temps in the 60s most of the past week. WHAT?!? My target pace was 10:24, so I did well on that. I flip-flopped back and forth between feeling great and totally awful throughout the run. I was stiff in the beginning and wished I had run just a couple of miles yesterday rather than taking a full rest day, but live and learn!

Being pelted with snow continuously, which sometimes was like a gentle flurry but mostly was like being pelted with little pieces of ice in the face, eyes, etc. wore me out more quickly. A cab passed me around 15 miles in when I wasn't feeling so hot and I almost hailed it for a ride home. But I didn't wimp out. Six weeks till the IL Marathon, and I'll be ready.


Happy running!

Still here

The last few weeks have been hold-your-breath kind of crazy. In no particular order:

1. I spent the night at the Field Museum with the Actress and her GS troop in the Dozin' with the Dinos program. Hundreds of kids and chaperones with activities till 1 AM!! Slept on an air mattress in the Africa wing. Nice.

2. IL's came to visit on the way home from their mission in Boston. Cleaned house. Played hard. Took the lot to the city, pulling the older ones out of school.

3. Left kids with IL's. Went skiing with Mr. Bloomers in MI. Good fun.

4. Ran a bunch more miles, though not as many as I should have. Skiing is good exercise though, right?

5. Mr. Bloomers left for New York last week. Still single parenting here. Used to that during the week. Not so much on the weekend. Still managed to have kids all at church a half hour early for a music practice. (Which is one and a half hours early if you count the time change.)

6. Kelsie came to visit. I know God loves me because when Mr. Bloomers left he sent Kelsie to visit. She stayed with four of the kids whilst I took the fifth to urgent care Friday night. Then she stayed the night and made pancakes and homemade playdough with the kids while I finished a 16 miler on Saturday morning. I just wish her parents would let her live with us. Anyone want to hire a great accountant in the area? And pay him well? And give him a management position so he'll move the family back?!?

7. Computer issues are making me crazy. I can't print. Or access my pictures. Or download new ones. Thanks for that Princess.

8. My name is Kristin, and I am a chocoholic. I have seriously fallen off the treats-in-moderation wagon.

9. Took the kids to an inflatables place, a rides place with Kelsie, and out to dinner at Ikea. All on different days. Planned to letterbox but it rained. Kids also got to visit Kelsie's grandparent's animal shelter. They have been pleading for a dog non-stop ever since.

10. Watched my little brother's son (with great help from the IL's).

11. Tended a friend's son for two days while they house hunted. Took said son (almost 2) and the Actress's friend, and my five to the aforementioned inflatables house. By myself. And didn't think about how crazy that might be until I looked back into the Suburban and realized that every spot was filled with a carseat or booster.

12. Cleaned under my sofa, and then had a movie party on the sofabed with the kids.

And now I must go tend to a screaming child who should be asleep. Fun never ends...even at bedtime.

Marathon Training Part 2: Report 1

Eight weeks down and eight to go. Look forward to weekly reports from here on out. Really, did you want to read another 24 posts?!?

Monday:

Four more hours of skiing. Great workout for my legs, core, and tri's everytime I bailed and propped myself up by digging my poles in behind me. I got better and more confident, taking bigger risks (and falling harder and more often) today. Mr. Bloomers and I had so much fun that we want to bring the kids back next spring.

Tuesday:

Rest and recover, sortive. Dove back into real life with kids and housework.

Wednesday:

5:45 AM spin class. EARLY after a vacation! But great nonetheless.

Also, gym treadmill run of 7 miles in 67:23. From dailymile:

Wannabe tempo run. The plan was 1 mile warm-up at 10:56, 5 miles at 9:01 pace, and then 1 mile cool-down at 10:56. However, this run was conveniently rescheduled from yesterday morning to today at 8:30 AM, after a 5:45 AM spin class, and getting the three oldest kids off to school.

I knew I would need more food than the banana I ate before spin, so I opted for a Clif bar en route to the gym. Not a good choice. About 2.5 miles in I thought I might throw up. I kept pace for another .8 miles and then had to stop for a minute. I took the pace down to 9:15, and then later to 9:31 to keep from losing the Clif bar in a terribly embarrassing manner. The gym is SO HOT that it made the nausea even worse. I didn't hold the planned pace, but all things considered, this was a successful run. It increased my self-confidence to know that when it's hard I might have to slow down, but I won't quit.

Thursday:

Swimming day. Missed workout AGAIN! Real life sometimes gets in the way of my pretending to be an athlete. :)

Friday:

The easy run that didn't happen. Kids out of school yesterday and today with Mr. Bloomers in New York. Lots going on and I am so exhausted. Next week will be better.

Saturday:

16 miles on the treadmill in 2:47:30. Crazy.

Watched Everything's Fine, then listened to the Ipod. Started late due to a last minute urgent care visit with one of the kids late last night, but I was saved by our old baby-sitter being back in town to visit. She is the BEST EVER. She spent the night so I could make said urgent care visit and then got up and made chocolate chip pancakes for the kids for breakfast while I finished the run. Awesome. As for the run, it was pretty good. Considered venturing outside since I ended up with help, but it was very rainy and I just didn't feel like being soaked for that long.

I feel bad about the runs I missed in the last week. I don't think it will adversely affect my training overall, but it does make me anxious to get back on track before I lose momentum.

Also, I must stop eating treats out of control and make better food choices. I know that would make the training easier. I just tend to turn to chocolate in times of stress, fatigue, depression, celebration, accomplishment...you get the picture. :)


Happy running!

Marathon Training: Report 24

Friday:

Rest again. Just not enough time to fit in a run. I did drive the crew into the city for lunch with Mr. Bloomers. Such excursions always involve a great deal of walking so I did keep the legs moving.

Saturday:

Four hours of skiing with Mr. Bloomers in Michigan! Thanks to my in-laws we were able to go kid-free. Thanks to decent temps and my strong legs I was able to have a great time. Poor Mr. Bloomers hadn't been skiing since the day we met. That's what happens when a boy from UT marries a girl from CA who doesn't like to be cold.

Hope this break from running proves restful, rather than regressing my marathon progress.


Happy running!

Marathon Training: Report 23

Wednesday:

5:45 AM spin class. Really getting the hang of it now.

Evening meeting with a trainer to work legs and core for 45 minutes followed by 4 miles in 43:39 on the treadmill. Not used to double workouts, but it was good. Knowing how busy the next couple of days will be I'm glad to have gotten some good training sessions in early in the week.

Thursday:

Rest. At least as much as can be done with five kids and visiting in-laws!


Happy running!

Marathon Training: Report 22

Monday:

Recover run of 3.5 miles in 36:27 (10:24 pace).

Feeling sore after the 20 miler. My legs ached SO badly this weekend. Asked for tips from the "pros" at dailymile and the most popular bit of advice was to take an ice bath after a long run. Seriously? I really despise being cold.

Tuesday:

30 minutes of weights, upper body and core followed by 3 miles in 28:43 at the gym.

Mostly kept a 10 minute pace. Threw in a half mile in 4:00, and sprinted the last tenth. This was a mental health run. Now to finish cleaning the house for the IL's visit. It is NOT easy to train for a marathon and keep a clean house.


Happy running!