Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[Herding_Cats]

Wednesday: 4.5mi M tempo and HM tempo workout my sinuses unleashed and I was absolutely exhausted. Ended up falling asleep with DD at nap time and took a 2.5hr nap with her. Didn’t run. Avoided DS2 in hopes of not sharing my germs right before states.

Thursday: 4mi easy. Ended running 4.2 to cap it at 60min. Felt a lot better. Finished Mocking Jay Pt 2 and started Greatest Showman and I totally see why people love this movie. I was thoroughly distracted from my run for about 45min.

Friday: 4mi easy 0.75mi warmup, 3.5mi at M pace, 0.75mi cooldown. This was challenging because I kept overrunning my pace. I had a hard time finding 12:00avg pace; mile 1 of MT was 11:40, mile 2 was 12:04 and I had to go faster because a half mile through I was looking at 12:30pace, and mile 3 was 11:47. I was all over the place. And now it’s 3.5hr drive down to the hotel tonight and another hour drive in the morning to XC state finals. Fingers crossed for dry weather.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Saturday: XC state finals. Wet. Windy. Soooo windy. DS2 (a freshman) ran, finishing in 19:26 and boy was he upset about it. He really wants to break into the 18s this year, so we are headed to one more meet (not a team/school meet) next weekend. Looks like it should be dry all week, but possibly in the 20s that day for a high. According to my watch we walked somewhere between 5 and 6 miles at the meet.

Our boys team #1 runner set the D3 state meet course record, and also won Mr Cross Country for the state (the fastest senior at states gets that) running 14:46 (or 48? I can’t remember.) Our boys and girls teams both finished 7th, which was above their ranking/projection so that was great. We had several kids PR in really key positions to help with that. Then it was a 4.5hr drive to pick up DS3 and DD from my parents. Both of them got a stomach bug while we were gone.

Sunday: 9.5mi Easy + 1.5mi M tempo. The time change got me. All of the excitement, and the car riding, and the time change got me. I am exhausted today. Finally stopped procrastinating at around 1130 and ate a bowl of oatmeal in lieu of lunch and got out the door, assuming I would finish in the treadmill because we are still having 20+mph wind gusts. It ended up being better than I thought (I did go down into the section and of road that’s in a valley for about 4mi and there was almost no wind there) so I managed to get it all done outside. The wind was strong and at my back for the last full mile so I let the pace creep a bit, but it felt sooooo good. I’m glad I didn’t try to push this run off because there’s literally no other day this week for me to run it.

In other news I stepped on a scale last week and yikes. So it’s back to making some better food choices and making a conscious effort to hit the veggies.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Monday: 3mi easy. Nope. DD was up most of Sunday night sick. And then was sick more during the day Monday. Running did not happen. It was possibly the worst 1-2 punch of Daylight Savings time change I've ever experienced.

Tuesday: Rest. 3mi easy. Treadmill. Finished Greatest Showman. Nothing noteworthy. Voted, and then held my breath for results.

Wednesday: 4mi easy. Treadmill. Started Enola Holmes. I'll probably keep it on (yay for ipads!) while I made dinner and finish it because I feel like this isn't a great start-stop movie. In other news regarding training, I'm hitting that point where I'm talking myself into doing my workouts. At this point my biggest motivation is fear of the prospect of having a major physical meltdown during the marathon. Not the best thing, but it's what I've got at this point. Hopefully that changes in the near future. Today I did a partial costume test while I ran. My figment headband is completely unnoticeable, and doesn't move, which is great.

 

[GollyGadget]

There's nothing wrong with a little fear to keep you motivated!

 

[Herding_Cats]

You guys. It was 76 degrees here yesterday. In November. That's crazy. That's a new record high. The average is like 47. So OF COURSE I went for a run outside when DH got home from work! Yeah. I just needed some warmth to get back into the groove. Hopefully it lasts for more than a day because it's going to be in the mid-30s by tonight as the temperature falls all day long. And the s-word is in the forecast for tomorrow. Yay Michigan!

Thursday: 4mi easy. I was sooooo close to hitting my pace until that pesky (downhill-ish) last mile! Still, this run felt great, and my V02 max ticked back up a point (which is something that I wasn't counting on happening since basically all of my runs are slooowwwww and easy. Except for today's run. Fingers crossed that DD naps for long enough for me to crank it out on the treadmill.



I'm starting to think about finishing touches on costumes, and remembering how terrible I am at accessorizing and imagining the finished product without actually seeing it first. *sigh* And trying to not spend a ton of money on stuff that I'll only wear once and isn't easily washed to re-sell (like a sequined visor.)

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We put up Christmas trees at work this week, which is always fun, but it's hard to get in the spirit when it's pushing 90 degrees! Temperatures are supposed to plummet tonight (for Mississippi) and I'm honestly looking forward to it.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Thursday it was 76. Today I woke up to this

I'm not ready for this season.


Friday: 0.75mi warmup + 2(1mi M tempo + 90sec RI + 1mi HM tempo + 90sec RI) + 0.75mi cooldown
On the treadmill. I somehow either pushed the wrong activity or something but my garmin was very messed up about it (even the timer was wrong like I paused it when I meant to push lap or something.) I think I was a few minutes slow for what the workout called for, but that's not important. The tempo sections were only a little challenging, and that was mostly due to how slowly my tread transitions between speeds (something that makes for a really smooth continuous run, but not great for intervals.) I also remembered to lube the deck on it finally....something I should have done when we put it in the basement, but didn't manage to do until yesterday.

Saturday: Rest. Oooorrrrr......drive DS2 and 2 teammates across the state for one more XC race (not a team/school race) for the year. DS2 doesn't run until 3:10, but the one teammate runs at 1:00, so we will be there in the freezing temps extra long today. More time to cheer! YAY! Speaking of which, I need to go dig out all of my layers so I can survive standing around outdoors for 4 hours in 30 degrees.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Sunday: 7mi easy. I really did intend to do this run, but one thing led to another and suddenly it was 7pm and nearly time to put DD to bed, and I know from experience that if I run after 7ish in the evening that I have a verrrrry difficult time falling asleep, and I was gonna need it. Late Sunday afternoon my niece texted me asking if I could watch her friend's baby for her (who we are also friends/acquaintances with) because she was IN THE HOSPITAL. Apparently it took 3 trips to the ER and them trying to just tell her she was dehydrated, here's an IV, to figure out she had a blood clot in her brain. She's fine. Should be home Wednesday, but her husband still needed to work and they don't have daycare for the baby yet because mama is still on maternity leave. So YES! I would LOVE to cuddle a little tiny squishy baby!

Monday: 4mi easy. See above. If I thought getting things done with a busy 3 year old in the house was difficult, I just needed to add an infant into the mix. She didn't get picked up until after 5:30, and then I had to make dinner and oh look it's after 7pm again. Also found out that my brother slipped on a ladder at a deer stand and fell almost 20ft and broke some vertebrae in the T-section of his spine. They don't think he'll need surgery, and may be able to recover with just a brace. It could have turned out so, so, so much worse and he's really lucky.

Tuesday: rest 60min easy on the treadmill (4.31mi) Watching that cute lil baby again. DH took most of the day off from work to hunt, and after lunch when I got the baby down for a nap he wrangled DD so I could get a run in. I listened to the rest (I started it last Friday) of the Rise and Run W&D recap episode and it's just making me more excited about MW. Also, stupidly enough, I'm now NY/Chicago marathon-curious. Yes. In the midst of a training cycle that makes me want to never do another marathon, I'm jogging along thinking about how much fun it could be to do one of those with SIL (who may have mentioned that she's been stewing on working on her running and maybe trying to get to a point where she could *race* a full over the next couple of years.)

Costuming news: My UA order got stuck in Tennessee somewhere, but seems to be moving again. I ordered a hat that I'm hoping is close to matching one of my skirts and am considering sending it out to someone on etsy for embroidery. I need to give it a thorough test-wear first though because women's hats tend to be too tight.

 

[Naomeri]

That is a lot going on, even for you! I’m glad it seems like everyone’s going to be ok.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

That is a lot— your loved ones are so lucky to have you.

Also, stupidly enough, I'm now NY/Chicago marathon-curious.

That episode made me want to do NYC too haha.

 

[NYC_MW]

Also, stupidly enough, I'm now NY/Chicago marathon-curious. Yes. In the midst of a training cycle that makes me want to never do another marathon, I'm jogging along thinking about how much fun it could be to do one of those with SIL (who may have mentioned that she's been stewing on working on her running and maybe trying to get to a point where she could *race* a full over the next couple of years.)

That episode made me want to do NYC too haha.

Happy to be a marathon enabler (my friends already blamed me for their running NYC this year )--Chicago lottery closes tomorrow (Berlin as well)

 

[azrivest]

I listened to the rest (I started it last Friday) of the Rise and Run W&D recap episode and it's just making me more excited about MW. Also, stupidly enough, I'm now NY/Chicago marathon-curious

Same. She finished in over 8 hours and I was so positively impressed that NYC would have the course open for so long

 

[Herding_Cats]

Happy to be a marathon enabler (my friends already blamed me for their running NYC this year )--Chicago lottery closes tomorrow (Berlin as well)

Neither of these can be put in the schedule for at least 3 more years because they're during my kids' cross country season. Kind of like I can never do a W&D weekend until at least DS2 is graduated because it's the same weekend as State Finals.

 

[Naomeri]

Neither of these can be put in the schedule for at least 3 more years because they're during my kids' cross country season. Kind of like I can never do a W&D weekend until at least DS2 is graduated because it's the same weekend as State Finals.

But think of how well-trained you’ll be by then!

 

[Herding_Cats]

But think of how well-trained you’ll be by then!

We'll see if my attention span lasts that long. I'm already (probably) planning a running break and lifting instead after MW because it seems like every marathon cycle I gain 10 pounds. And I get waaaaaay too hungry during marathon training to eat at a calorie deficit and still be a rational human being around my family. We'll see if my brain can make the switch from cardio to resistance training in January and still keep all of the mental health stuff (that runs in my family) at-bay.

 

[The Expert]

Same. She finished in over 8 hours and I was so positively impressed that NYC would have the course open for so long

The race director famously stays for the last finisher, and a group called Project Finish recruits people to go back out to the finish chute as it's torn down to wait for every last racer to cross (projectfinishnyc on IG). I've started doing this for my local marathon and it's super fulfilling!

This is part of what appeals to me for NYC, but then I was reading that the slowest runners don't start until NOON! And this is after still having to get out to Staten Island at like 6am. And we thought waiting at Disney was bad!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Remember a week ago when it was in the 70s? I do.

They’re saying we are going to have at least 8 inches of this stuff by Saturday morning thanks to the lake effect we get. So much for running outside any more this year. No shoulder, slippery roads, and distracted drivers just don’t make it worth the risk.

Wednesday: 4mi? Idk. Didn’t do it. Watched a baby for one more day.

This week has really gone off the rails from a training standpoint, but I’m just going to resume the schedule where I’m supposed to be today and not worry about making anything up. The ironic thing is that about a week ago I was mentally congratulating myself on sticking to my training plan so well. I think I've missed at least 15mi in the past couple of weeks at this point.

I’m also trying to decide if I want to run the turkey trot with the kids next week. It looks like I have a 3mi run scheduled for that day, but I’m also considering flipping it with Friday’s run (2mi easy + 3mi M tempo) and doing the 2 miles as a warmup. There’s 0 swag for this race, no shirts, no medals, and I won’t win any age group stuff, so I’m debating if I even want to bother. It supports our local raptor sanctuary/rehab facility.

 

[Herding_Cats]

That episode made me want to do NYC too haha.

Same. She finished in over 8 hours and I was so positively impressed that NYC would have the course open for so long

The race director famously stays for the last finisher, and a group called Project Finish recruits people to go back out to the finish chute as it's torn down to wait for every last racer to cross (projectfinishnyc on IG). I've started doing this for my local marathon and it's super fulfilling!

This is part of what appeals to me for NYC, but then I was reading that the slowest runners don't start until NOON! And this is after still having to get out to Staten Island at like 6am. And we thought waiting at Disney was bad!

This just sounds like we need to do NY together as Team "Not So Fast."

 

[lookingforsunshine]

This just sounds like we need to do NY together as Team "Not So Fast."

Honestly following people on Instagram makes me think that it’s not a terrible experience for back of the backers. Latoya (an influencer type) finished in like over 9 hours and seemed to have people rallying her in at the end.

I really hope a marathon never takes me 9 hours but also this sounds fun. The DIS takes NYC!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Would also recommend Erin Azar aka Mrs. Space Cadet as a not-so-fast runner who does some big marathons. Her videos are hilarious.