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

[The Expert]

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

I love her! That whole series on testing shorts that her legs wouldn't eat was priceless.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I love her! That whole series on testing shorts that her legs wouldn't eat was priceless.

I stumbled across one of her "thigh gobbler" videos awhile back and it was seriously the most relatable thing EVER.


Thursday: It's still snowing. Seriously. It hasn't stopped snowing for like 3 days now. I know some people love snow and think it's magical and all, but I just don't love it the way I did when I was a kid. January cannot come soon enough, and I'm starting to realize that we do not have any spring break plans at this point and I'm very nervous about what that might mean for me come the end of February when we're going into our last 1/3 of winter and I have no warm sunny-place trip to look forward to.

Anyhow, 4mi easy? I think that's where I'm at. Did 75min easy, which came out to around 5.3mi. On the treadmill (that's just going to be a given at this point.) Gains are being made (and this may also be partially because I set the tread at a pace that forces me to hit my easy pace) in the HR metrics. My avg HR for this run was 135, and 133 would put me into Zone 2 (easy, not aerobic) according to my garmin. As it stands, this run shows as being 2/3 in zone 3 and 1/3 in zone 2, which is an improvement for sure. I've been doing these tread runs all at continuous pace, with a 30-45sec walk at the beginning of each mile and it feels really good.

 

[The Expert]

It hasn't stopped snowing for like 3 days now. I know some people love snow and think it's magical and all, but I just don't love it the way I did when I was a kid.

 

[Herding_Cats]

View attachment 719604

Yes. This is not me. I pull my shades closed and go workout in the basement to stay sane. Or at least that’s what I did when I could do that without a 3yo trying to get on the treadmill with me, or putting her finger in the belt while it’s running, or picking up weights and trying to bring them to me, or crawling on top of me every second.

 

[Herding_Cats]

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

Ahh yes. There was discussion about whether it was going to be 8in total BY Saturday or an additional 8in ON Saturday. Well now we know. We got somewhere between 8 and 12in overnight (and it’s still snowing.). My road is unlikely to get plowed this weekend (because our county only plows the main roads on the weekends) so it’s a good thing we drive trucks. But it’s supposed to be in the 40s next week and rain on Wednesday/Thursday so we can have a real mess.


Friday: didn’t run. Grocery shopped instead. DD also didn’t nap. Again. Which is not good news for getting weekday runs in unless I start getting up at 4am.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Saturday: intended to run (“making up” for the week) but went Christmas shopping instead. Bought a pair of Oofos (the arch is definitely not too high for me) and I’m liking the squish. And the rest of my UA order came (pics in the costume thread)

Sunday: 9.5mi easy+ 2.5mi M pace. Done. On the treadmill. For nearly 3 hours. In what will be my costume for the full. Fueled with: maple/brown sugar instant oatmeal 10min before the run, lemonade huma (good!), salty’s caramel stroopwaffle, and one package pink lemonade honey stinger gummies. Drank around 16oz of water. The last mile was definitely requiring more focus because I’d been asking my left calf/Achilles to give me 30 more minutes before they clenched up for awhile and they were becoming more insistent that I listen.

And then I helped DH set up our Christmas village. Costco has a big glittery Disney castle with a bunch of characters that I’ve been lobbying for us to get and when he was bringing in all of the stuff he says, “Hey, we already have a big Disney thing!” which was the big musical pine tree they had there last year. .

Compression socks are on. My feet are sore, but walkable.

 

[Herding_Cats]

6 weeks from waking up at Disney. I'm still battling my terror (probably too strong of a word, but it gets the point across) about finishing Dopey, but I'm also SO READY for a break from Mom mode.

I'm weighing the pros and cons of signing up for the Turkey Trot on Thursday. DS2&3 are running it, but I'm not sure if I really want to. On the one hand, it's not expensive ($25 but no shirt or anything) and the best time for me to fit a run in that day, but OTOH it's hilly and has a little bit of off-road that's sure to be a slushy mess.

Monday: 3mi easy. Treadmill. Feet were 100% ok this morning. DS1&2 had basketball practice/tryouts after school and got home at around 6:15, at which point I put dinner on the table and said "See you in 40min, I have a run to do, and your Dad should be home from reffing then and you can tell us about how it went." There's a good chance that's how weeknight training is going to go for the next 6 weeks. Unless I get up at 5am, which to be VERY clear, I do not want to do. Left quad was a little funky....like fatigued-sore but not sore-sore if that makes sense? I'll be juggling the rest of the week around a little bit so things go easier as far as baking and all of the extras that are scheduled for Friday already.

 

[The Expert]

6 weeks from waking up at Disney...

...but OTOH it's hilly and has a little bit of off-road that's sure to be a slushy mess.

This would give me pause. You don't want to slip or twist something and be fighting through an injury in the last six weeks leading up to Dopey. I think I'd play it safe and sit this one out.

 

[Herding_Cats]

This would give me pause. You don't want to slip or twist something and be fighting through an injury in the last six weeks leading up to Dopey. I think I'd play it safe and sit this one out.

This is my exact line of thinking. Unless we lose ALL of our snow today and tomorrow I think I'm not risking it. And it's in the low 40s today and tomorrow so it could happen.

 

[Livelovedance]

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

Omg team not so fast! I forgot about that and team “just”! If this ever becomes a reality in a few years and there’s room for another team member, I’m definitely in!

 

[Baloo in MI]

Ahh yes. There was discussion about whether it was going to be 8in total BY Saturday or an additional 8in ON Saturday. Well now we know. We got somewhere between 8 and 12in overnight (and it’s still snowing.). My road is unlikely to get plowed this weekend (because our county only plows the main roads on the weekends) so it’s a good thing we drive trucks. But it’s supposed to be in the 40s next week and rain on Wednesday/Thursday so we can have a real mess.
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Friday: didn’t run. Grocery shopped instead. DD also didn’t nap. Again. Which is not good news for getting weekday runs in unless I start getting up at 4am.

I see this and immediately realize I need adjust my attitude about winter around here (I live in the Lansing area - we got about 6 inches of snow through the course of last week and I freaked out). I will be quiet now...

 

[HangWithMerida]

When you do a 3 hr treadmill run, what do you do with the incline? I might be on the treadmill more once I can start running because the concrete is so hard on your body. I never considered I might be on the treadmill for such a long run. Seems like some up and down would be important to give your legs some different angles but I also hate fidgeting with buttons once I am going.

 

[Herding_Cats]

When you do a 3 hr treadmill run, what do you do with the incline? I might be on the treadmill more once I can start running because the concrete is so hard on your body. I never considered I might be on the treadmill for such a long run. Seems like some up and down would be important to give your legs some different angles but I also hate fidgeting with buttons once I am going.

Nada. I don’t touch the incline. I know some people say you should put it on 1% or whatever but I’ve never done that and definitely felt prepared for goofy after ending my training cycle with 2 months of exclusively treadmill running

 

[HangWithMerida]

Nada. I don’t touch the incline. I know some people say you should put it on 1% or whatever but I’ve never done that and definitely felt prepared for goofy after ending my training cycle with 2 months of exclusively treadmill running

That’s very good to know. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Herding_Cats]

What the plan was:

Monday: 3mi EA
Tuesday: 3mi EA
Wednesday: off (switched with normal Tuesday rest day to accommodate baking for Thursday)
Thursday: 2mi EA+3mi M (pending conditions for the Turkey Trot)
Friday: 3mi EA (switched with Thursday because the 2mi would serve as a warmup)
Saturday: off 2mi EA+3mi M


DS2 and DS3 were the only ones that wanted to do the Turkey Trot, and DS3 had basically done no training, and he had agreed that if he didn't train he wouldn't get to race. So that left DS2 and myself (pending conditions since we got so much snow, but then it was in the 40s all week and we lost all of it except for shaded areas.)

And then DS2 came home from school/basketball practice on Wednesday and said he didn't think he should do the 5k because he was really sore. Basketball muscles are not the same as XC muscles. This was fine because I hadn't gotten around to registering anyone yet. $50 "saved."

I had planned to run before we went to BIL/SIL's house, but we ended up going over a lot earlier than I thought and I was basically in a food coma when we got home. And Friday completely slipped away from me and before I knew it, it was dinner time and I hadn't done a run.

That brings me to today, Saturday, where it is FIFTY DEGREES, sunny, and windy out. Yeah. 2 weeks ago it was almost 80. Last week we got around 2ft of snow, and today it's all gone and 50 out. Wore my leggings, my Goofy shirt, DS2's vest, and an orange hunting vest over that. Put my gloves in my pockets, and wore my fleece headband. I over-dressed. Never wore the glove and ditched the headband at around mile 3. Could have ditched the vests, but I didn't want someone to stop and pick them up from the side of the road, so I just got a little extra sweaty. Not too bad, but warmer than I needed to be. 2mi EA were 14:00 and 13:52 (some downhill) so right on target. And then started the marathon tempo miles. I haven't done these outside (aka not on a tread) in awhile. I thought I was doing ok and then I checked my watch and saw that at the half mile point I was at 12:45 pace when I needed to be more like 12:05. Oops. Time to catch up! Ran my 3 M pace miles at 12:07, 12:04, and 12:06. Once I figured out the run pacing that was pretty smooth.

Next week is supposed to cool back off and be rainy, so that may be my last outside run this year. It's dark at 5:30, and the older kids don't get home from basketball until around 6 usually, along with DH reffing nearly every night of the week.

Shhhhh...don't tell DH that I just ordered another pair of shoes because they were only $60!

 

[HangWithMerida]

$60 shoes almost don't count! That's a deal!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Is it too soon to start packing? How many shoes is too many?

Sunday: 8mi EA. Treadmill. Ran continuous for a mile and then walked somewhere between 45-60sec after completing each one. My pace definitely would have dropped off for the last mile or 2 if I hadn't been on the treadmill with it forcing me to keep pace as my legs were tired.


DH is heading to Tennessee for a hunting trip with his brother this week and won't be home until late Sunday night. I'm scheduled for 13mi on Sunday. This is when I'm thankful that I have responsible teenagers to put in charge of the toddler-tornado so I can still get that run completed. This week will also be a preview for peak week (which is in TWO WEEKS?!) since they are almost exactly the same, with the exception of a few miles at M pace on the long run this week.

 

[The Expert]

That brings me to today, Saturday, where it is FIFTY DEGREES, sunny, and windy out. Yeah. 2 weeks ago it was almost 80. Last week we got around 2ft of snow, and today it's all gone and 50 out. Wore my leggings, my Goofy shirt, DS2's vest, and an orange hunting vest over that. Put my gloves in my pockets, and wore my fleece headband. I over-dressed. Never wore the glove and ditched the headband at around mile 3. Could have ditched the vests, but I didn't want someone to stop and pick them up from the side of the road, so I just got a little extra sweaty. Not too bad, but warmer than I needed to be.

Just think of it as early heat acclimation training!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Just think of it as early heat acclimation training!

that's EXACTLY what I did!


Also, heat acclimation training will start the week of Christmas. Yay?

 

[sandam1]

Is it too soon to start packing? How many shoes is too many?

It definitely isn't too soon. I just started in earnest this weekend.

I don't understand the words "too many." Is that a thing? If pressed, I would probably say that it would be defined as more pairs of shoes than the number of days that you're going to be gone.