Finding my running groove (Comments Welcome)

[Jules76126]

It has definitely become warm here in MA. It was tough going from 40s to like 85 last week. But it seems to have become more Spring like this week with 60s, which is the perfect running weather. Plan last week was to run S,Su,M,T,W. Went pretty well overall.

Saturday - this was a beautiful day. It was perfect running weather. I did 2.5 miles at 10.55 pace. We then went up to the Portsmouth area to see my BIL and SIL. They are currently renting a house a stones throw from the beach. It was such a beautiful day to walk around and check out the area. We were glad we got to see it since they are moving at the end of this month to another rental not by the beach (they are looking for house, but haven't found anything they like).

Sunday - I had planned to run 2.5 (reason for 2.5 is that the is distance of the easy loop by our apartment - working on finding some longer routes). However, dinner did not sit well from Saturday and I was up sick most of the night. I was fine Sunday, but really tired so the couch won out over running.

Monday - 2.09 miles at 10.12 pace. This run was fine. I was glad to be back out there.

Tuesday - this was my best run all week. 3.10 miles at 11.22 pace. The pace overall is slower than I want, but I was happy to see that I can run a 5K outside. That was a huge confidence boost. So now I can focus on my pace.

Wednesday - was very humid here. I was really struggling and decided not to track my pace here as it was just a slog. I did a lot of run walk through the neighborhood. It is hard to adjust from winter weather to 80s overnight. Hoping that the temps build more gradually so I can be better prepared for the heat.

Thursday and Friday were rest days. Overall not a bad start to May. Hoping to get a solid week in this week. I do have to work Saturday, but I only have to work one more in June and then no more until October so I will take it. I also started the mcmillan core routine this week as I want to improve my core strength. Boy was that thing hard and I certainly felt it the next day. I plan to do this three days a week. And I have also lost 3 pounds since I started running outside. I would love to lose 10 pounds by the end of the summer (or at least tone up a little) so I was thrilled with this. On to another week.

 

[Jules76126]

This is has this week has been. Just life stuff some times gets in the way. Definitely planning to deal and move on, but it certainly affected my running this week. Some weeks are just harder than others.

Saturday - I had to work for the morning. I was planning to stop by my parents quick to say a a early happy mothers day to my mom and be home around 3. I was then planning to run. Unfortunately, this is what the weather was Saturday -

Plus the check tire light was on in our car. We couldn't see any leaks. We had added air to all the tires, but it still would not go off. DH was concerned since I drive 1.5 hours total a day to work so he wanted to get it checked out at the dealership. Turns out it was nothing. Apparently, if you add air we need to manually reset the sensor. Who knew?

Sunday - It was a great day to run and I actually made it out. 2.5 miles at 9.35 min/mil pace. I was very impressed with this. I tried to slow down as I thought i was going to fast, but everything felt great.

Monday - I wanted to do some speed work to see where I was at cardiovascular. But I also didn't have tons of time. I ended up doing a .50 mile WU and CD at 10.09 min/mil pace. I then did intervals of 1 min run/30 sec walk 8 times. My pace was 8.20 for all but the last two intervals. I was happy with that and definitely think I can eventually hit my goal pace.

Tuesday - Had plans to run instead we had this -

We do not get tornado really in MA so we weren't too worried. But it was thundering and lightening out so we decided to skip the run.

Wednesday - 2 hour commute home due to emergency road work
Thursday - working till 7 and won't get home till 8 so no go.
Hoping to have a better week next week. Good news is I do not work a Saturday until June so I have all weekend to run and can get back into a routine.

I also decided my goal race will be in the one in August. I know it is far away, especially for a 5K, but it works the best with my schedule. It will just motivate me to do the training to hit the results I want.

 

[Jules76126]

So I definitely plan to post an update this week. I am happy to say I have still been running consistently. But I do need to change my running goals for the year. Originally, I wanted to run a 5K, 10K, and a half this year, which I thought was totally doable since we have races year round in New England. Well sometimes things don't always work out as planned.

DH and I would like to buy a house soon. However, MA is expensive so after crunching some numbers, we decided to wait till Spring 2020 to allow us time to save up a good down payment - our current apartment is cheap for where we live. We are pretty good savers as we did pay for our own wedding so we know we can do it. There was one thing we did not account for - student loans. So we both have student loans from graduate school. We have about 4 years left on DH. My loans were on the income based repayment plan as I couldn't pay the full amount originally. I then last Fall got a job at a university and now qualified for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Yay for that. I need to make 10 years worth of payments while working at a non-profit and the government will forgive the rest. We planned to keep me enrolled in the income based plan and just pay that amount for 10 years. Well we made one mistake this year and filed our taxes together. Last year, we did filing separately but married and my payment actually went down. I don't know what we were thinking, but by filing jointly, the payment increased by 4x Luckily, we can afford it and still save some money. And the payment gets recalculated every year so we will go back to filing separately next year.

So what does this have to do with running? Well fun money had to go to the house fund so I am cutting out all races. I know they are not that much but $20 dollars here and there adds up. We have a very limited amount of fun money each month and we would rather devote it to beer or a date night. We are heading to Ireland next month as the trip was already booked before we found out said loan amount, but this will be the last big trip for awhile. This week I want to come up with a list of ultimate running goals that I can complete over the next few years to keep me motivated. I may still run the 5K in August or another one this fall, but that is probably all for 2018 - although that could always change.

 

[jennamfeo]

Adulting can be such a life suck, but good for you for recognizing what can go and doing it. I am sure it will be worth it in the end!

 

[SarahDisney]

Adulting is tough, but saving up for a house is such a great goal! I hope you can find a way to stay motivated even without races.

 

[Jules76126]

So good news. I decided to commit to running the race in August. So the university I work at will reimburse me for mileage if I need to go to another campus or travel for any reason. So tomorrow I am going to our other campus. It is actually close to my house than my current office, but I still get reimbursed for mileage. So its only about $20, but that is enough to cover the race costs. And since it is $20 I never planned on having, I am fine to spend it on the race.

 

[Jules76126]

So remember that time that I said I was going to post some running goals? Well I am finally back to do that. It was really busy at work until this month. Admissions is so busy October through the end of May and then it is like the world stops. It is nice to get the break during the summer and I am sure we will be longing for these quiet days come October, but some times I don't know what to do with all this down time.

I came up with a list of goals that I would like to achieve during my running lifetime (however, long that is - hopefully long). I didn't want to focus on just 2018 or 2019 as I feel that there are a lot of goals that will take a while to achieve. Plus I like having one place where everything is written down so I can refer back to it as needed. These goals also include races I would like to run. So -

*Run a Sub-30 minute 5K
*Run a Sub-1 hour 10K
*Run a sub-2 hour half
*Run a sub-5 hour marathon
*Complete a Marathon
*Run an 8 minute mile
*Run 1,000 miles in a year
*Get an Age Group finish
*Run a WDW Marathon
*Run WDW Half Marathon
*Run a race a Month
*Run while pregnant to stay in shape and keep the routine going
*Run in as many states as possible (So far MA, ME, NH)
*Run as many different race distances as possible

Races-
*Snowflake Shuffle - 31:28 (1/13/19)
*Mardi Gras 5K
*Bradford Valentine's Road Race - run in the couple's division with DH
*Maria's Frozen Shamrock
*Claddagh Pub Classic Road Race
*Black Cat 10 Miler
*Hampton Half Marathon
*On the Run Half
*Wells2Kennebunk Beach 10 Miler
*Portland 10 miler
*Portsmouth Half Marathon
*Fool's Dual Half
*Merrimack River Trail run
*Ipswich Ale Half
*Newport Half
*Providence Road Race
*Step up for Colleen
*Martha's Vineyard Half
*Wallis Sands Half
*Pine Tree Marathon
*Shipyard Maine Coast Half
*Shipyard Old Port Half
*Covered Bridges Half
*Market Square 10K
*Twin Lobsters Half
*Newport 10 Miler
*Midnight Owl 15K
*Peak's Island 5 Miler
*Beach to Beacon 10K
*Breaker to Breaker
*Breakaway 5K
*Ocean Park 5K
*Cape Cod Canal 10K
*Wicked Half
*Half by the Sea
*Nantucket Half
*Newburyport Half
*Ocean View Half
*Feaster Five
*happy Holidays Half Marathon
*Seacoast Half
*White Mountains Half
*Falmouth Road Race
*Hollis Fast 5
*Smuttynose Rockfest Half
*Surftown Half
*Great Bay Half
*Middlebury Maple Run
*Bar Harbor Bank and Trust Half
*Fall Half
*Maine Marathon
*London Marathon
*Paris Maraton
*New York Marathon

So we shall see how many I can complete of these. I also like the fact that if I look back at the end of this year or next and none of these can be crossed off, it would be a good reality check to get it together. Although I live in MA, there is no Boston on here. I know I would never BQ so better to list realistic things as opposed to pie in the sky stuff. I am sure this may change as my running journey progresses.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I’m glad you decided to do the race in August. Saving for a house is great, but you have to keep some fun and fitness in your life, too. Moderation is the key to most everything!

 

[Jules76126]

I'm Back! It was a fabulous two weeks in Ireland. I actually got back on Sunday, but have been trying to catch up on real world things. The weather in Ireland was beautiful and I came back to 90+ and tons of humidity here so that was not great. I did get back into running this week as I did not run in Ireland. It was not as bad as I thought it would be with two weeks off. Clearly my base helped. I will come back and post a few pictures from the trip.

 

[SarahDisney]

Catching up on the real world after vacation ... I'm not excited for that.
I loved seeing all of your Ireland pics on Instagram - it looked so beautiful!

 

[Jules76126]

I wanted to post a few thoughts from my Ireland vacation -

*Premium Economy class on British Airways was not as nice as Virgin's, but still worth the money, especially for tall people. We also enjoyed having dedicated overhead bins for our carry-ons as well as free noise canceling headphones. The flights were fine. About 5:45 hours over and 7 coming back.
*Renting a car and driving was totally worth it. We were a little nervous about this, but it was fine. We did upgrade our car at the counter. The original car we booked was a smart car and that was way too small so we upgraded to a Jetta. Which was nice since we drive a VW at home, all the controls were in the same spot. The first full day driving was the worst as you have to get used to all the road signs and what they mean. My husband drove the whole time. My job was telling him if he leaned too much to the left as well as the speed. The GPS told you the speed and flashed green or red if you were over or under. I would also give a heads up on upcoming turns, roundabouts, etc. However, we loved the flexibility of driving and stopping whenever we wanted as opposed to a preplanned tour. We definitely drive again.
*Our favorite Irish town was Kinsale. It was less touristy than other seaside places and the locals were so friendly. One night in a pub, we talked to a guy with his dog for over an hour. He was from Dublin, but had a vacation home there. Very interesting. We also did two really cool walking tours.
*Ring of Kerry is a must do and not as scary as it is made out to be. Just leave early. We hit the road at 8:15 AM and it took about 7 hours to get to Dingle with stops.
*Cliffs of Moher were overrated after seeing the Kerry Cliffs. We also would not return to Galway.
*We brought snacks like Cliff bars and peanut butter crackers from home. This really worked out as all the hotels provided a full breakfast and snacks tided us over till dinner. We saved money on lunch. We were also to pick up a case of water the first day we were there. This was not helpful in Dublin as our hotel only provided a very basic continental breakfast.
*We enjoyed Dublin, but saw everything we needed and will not go back in the future, expect to fly in and out. We want to spend more time in the West and Northwest of the country next time.
*We loved the Guinness Connoisseur tour. Totally worth the money and one of the best things we did.
*We did a tour in Christ Church where you get to ring the bells. That was also super cool. We felt that going to Belfast via the train was worth it. The Titanic museum was very well done and it was neat to visit Northern Ireland.
*The Irish are very friendly. We felt that we got to talk to the locals more outside Dublin so we recommend going into the countryside. The west is definitely more of the real Ireland. They still speak Gaelic there. It also never rained the two weeks we were there.

We had a fabulous time and cannot wait to go back. We have a traveling addiction so always sad when we do not have another trip planned.

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds like a really great trip! It's awesome that you found so many things you loved. I hope you get to go back and experience more of the Irish countryside soon!

 

[Jules76126]

Sounds like a really great trip! It's awesome that you found so many things you loved. I hope you get to go back and experience more of the Irish countryside soon!

Thanks! Disney is of course my first love. But my husband Peter is not into the Disney magic yet. We both love Europe so that has been our go to vacation. But I think I can get him to
Come around to Disney. That will probably be our next vacation for the 50th celebrations

 

[Jules76126]

Hey, so I am actually back with a running update. Yes, I do still run. I had definitely taken some time off between packing for the trip and the trip itself, but after spending two weeks eating and drinking, I definitely needed to get back on the wagon. I actually ran a few times the week of the 4th to get the kinks out, but nothing worth noting. We also went on an alcohol detox as after drinking every day for 15 days straight, we needed a break.

Saturday, July 7 -
I did not run here. However, I did have time to do the Mcmillan Running Core Workout.

Sunday, July 8 -
Off. We went to my parents on the 7th since we haven't seen them since early June and they have a pool which is so nice in this hot weather. We spent the night and on Sunday, we had a cookout for my Dad, Sister, and Nana b-days. Their birthdays are like 2 weeks apart so easier to celebrate all together. I am lucky to have 3 out of 4 grandparents still alive, so we try and see them as much as we can since you never know how long you have.

Monday, July 9 -
2.52 miles at 10:50 min/mil
I did these miles on the treadmill as it was very humid outside and I wasn't ready to deal with that yet.

Tuesday, July 10 -
3.01 miles at 10:52 min/mil
Any run at the gym. This one felt really good and I probably could have gone farther if I did not need to pick up Peter from the train. I also did my new legs/glutes workout.

Wednesday, July 11 -
2.01 miles at 10:50 min/mil
This one was not great. I could feel the tiredness setting in after three days in a row of running. Still glad I got out there.

Thursday, July 12 -
Off. I had to work 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM this day. My commute is 50 minutes with on traffic so I got home around 8:00 PM. After this long of a day, I was not feeling like a run.

Friday, July 13 -
I got to leave work at 2:00 PM so I had every intention of running. But then I did not get home till 4:00. Fridays in the summer are the worst. Typically, if I leave at 2, I hit no traffic, but because my route home is the same one you take to get to NH/VT/ME, it is brutal on Friday afternoons and Saturdays in the summer. I was really tired and not feeling it after 2 hours in the car. Plus Peter worked late so I had to go grocery shopping. We broke our alcohol detox this night and had a glass of white wine. It was very refreshing for a hot summer night.

Overall a good week. I can also say, I had a great start to this week. I looking forward to hoping getting back outside soon if the humidity ever breaks here. Although I am heading to Maine this weekend and it is generally cooler up there so I will probably try and get an early morning run in before beach time.

 

[Jules76126]

So I have been lazy this summer. Like sit on my couch lazy. I just have not felt like getting into the running groove. It's been very hot and humid this summer, which is not helping my motivation. So finally last week I decided, I needed to go back to the basics. It was the only way I would ever get in a routine. So I found a training plan on Women's Running that looked very attainable to me. It starts off with run/walk intervals, which I have not done in a long time. But I feel like it may be helpful to get me to actually slow down and get in tune with what easy should feel like, etc. I also wrote out the first six weeks of the plan and stuck it to our fridge. This way I can hold myself accountable and also check off days as I complete them.

One thing I did need to realize was that I cannot get upset if I miss a day. Life happens - there is traffic days, thunderstorms, and some times I just would rather go to the beach. However, if I do miss a day, I am also not going to let it derail my whole week like I have done in the past. So this was my first week's plan -

Monday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Tuesday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Wednesday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Thursday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 3 miles
Sunday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins

Lets see if I can stick with it this time. In other news, my eating is right on point. I have actually lost 5 pounds without even trying so that is nice. I think it is detoxing from all the terrible things I ate on vacation.

 

[Jules76126]

So Below was my original plan for last week and getting back on track. Was I able to stick with it? Mostly-

Planned
Monday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Tuesday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Wednesday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Thursday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 3 miles
Sunday - Run 1:30 min/Walk 1:00 min for 30 mins


Monday -
Started the week off strong. 2.5 miles at 11:37 min/mile. I did have a slight issue with my watch and getting the run/walk intervals to work, but I have it figured out now.

Tuesday -
2.5 miles at 12:06 min/mile. This day was hotter than Monday and I definitely felt it more.

Wednesday -
It was hot, I was tired, and I really needed to clean my apartment. So I did that. Can we count that as cross training?

Thursday -
This is where my week decided to fall apart. Peter had been working every night until 8:30 PM and going in super early which had disrupted my schedule as well. We were eating dinner after 9:00 PM and getting up before 6:00 AM and i was just exhausted and did not make it out.

Friday -
Off

Saturday -
I was determined to make this run happen after my lackluster week. 3.01 miles at 11:37 min/mile. I was very happy with this run and glad I went out early to get it over with.

Sunday -
I had planned to run in the morning. However, Peter woke me up before 5:00 AM as he was having really bad back pains. He fell down the stairs last weekend and had been sore all week, but he was concerned this was something more. He felt better once he was up and moving so I think he was just stiff from sleeping on it. By this point, we were getting ready to go to the beach for the day so my run was not happening. You had to get to the beach early so you can park in a metered spot as opposed to a lot. The lots this past weekend cost anywhere from $30 to $50 dollars for the day - crazy.

All and all not the strongest start, but at least I got out there so that is better than nothing.

Although the weather this week is currently making me feel like this -

I see some treadmill runs in my future. Although I do not want summer to end, I am looking forward to the cooler Fall temps.

 

[SarahDisney]

This weather has not been great for running
But some runs are better than no runs, so great job getting out there for a some awesome runs last week!

 

[Jules76126]

So I bought new shoes yesterday. I knew that I would need them soon so I started looking. I only wear Nike Pegasus as they work really well for me so why change. I know a lot of people find Nike narrow, but I don't currently have any issues. My current shoes are the 34s and I knew the 35s just came out so I was hoping to find a deal on 34s. And I did. Found these ones for 60.99. Such a great deal so I had to buy them.

I also love the color, but I would have bought them in plain old grey or black if that is all they had as the deal was too good to pass up. I am counting it as an early B-day present to me since my B-day in next week.

I also had my annual review today at work. I was nervous about it since I started this job back in October and it is very different than what I was previously been doing. But all was well and I got the highest score possible so a great start to the weekend.

 

[SarahDisney]

Pretty new shoes and a good review at work ... sounds like the perfect way to start the weekend!

 

[Jules76126]

Yes I am here. I have been MIA as we were on vacation in Maine 8/17 - 8/26. The weather was amazing and only rained one day. We got to have a nice relaxing break. It was fun to spend some time with my In Laws and it was cheap vacation since we had a free place to stay. We celebrated DH and my birthdays which was also fun. And I ran 5 days which is pretty good. I love running in Maine. It is must flatter than home and generally cooler.

This work this week was crazy. We had move in/orientation so lots of long days. And tonight we head back to Maine till Tuesday for the last weekend of Summer. I did run a few times this week and plan to get a few runs in over the weekend. I am up to 4 miles, which is my longest runs ever. I swear I will update more once we are in September.