Roxymama's 5k to Marathon, Time to Collect Another Castle

[roxymama]

This weekend's run wasn't exactly how I planned it. It may have involved a stop 2/3 of the way through at our local sandwich shop to pick up lunch for my family before walk/run home with it (just a mile home.) We had to leave our house at 1pm-ish to get to the grandparents to drop off kiddo so we could see a hockey game. I may have dawdled too long before running and so I kind of crammed running & getting lunch and then eating into a short window. Things I learned though
A) 43 degrees seems warmer from inside the house than it does outside the house. 43 is not the same as 63.
B) Knowing a burger is at the end of the street is good incentive to run fast
C) Knowing you have to be home at a certain time is good incentive to run fast
D) It seems like a good idea to run to a lunch spot to get lunch until after you order and you become hyper aware that you may be kind of sweaty and possibly smelly and dressed like a pink neon crazy person and have no makeup on and did I mention maybe sweaty and smelly?
E) Walking after being sweaty while it's 43 and windy is not fun...so I ran with my burger bag under my arm which was odd but oh well
G) Maybe I should have gotten a grilled chicken sandwich instead of a greasy burger

Ok that's my story for the day. This week I'm hoping its all just business as usual and all the runs go normally since we do not have any major plans.

 

[Ariel484]

Well, thanks for making me want a burger.

 

[roxymama]

Well, thanks for making me want a burger.

Oh man I have been talking about food a bit too much for a wish journal, haha! Well tonight is round two of trying blue apron so maybe I'll need a spoiler bubble for any pics or reviews I post of that process!

You'd actually have enjoyed my outfit inside the burger place. Crazy pink and black tights, neon pink pullover, neon and snake print hat, lime green socks. It was like 10 year old me's dream outfit. I just wanted to be warm. Haha

 

[Ariel484]

Oh man I have been talking about food a bit too much for a wish journal, haha! Well tonight is round two of trying blue apron so maybe I'll need a spoiler bubble for any pics or reviews I post of that process!

You'd actually have enjoyed my outfit inside the burger place. Crazy pink and black tights, neon pink pullover, neon and snake print hat, lime green socks. It was like 10 year old me's dream outfit. I just wanted to be warm. Haha

I approve of the burger talk AND the outfit.

 

[SarahDisney]

I learned last year that there is no shame in going out in public after a run soaking wet and smelling disgusting.
And by that I mean ... you can't allow yourself to have shame. It's a dark, dark road that you do not want to go down.

Also ... burgers are always appropriate!

 

[roxymama]

I learned last year that there is no shame in going out in public after a run soaking wet and smelling disgusting.
And by that I mean ... you can't allow yourself to have shame. It's a dark, dark road that you do not want to go down.

Also ... burgers are always appropriate!

That's such a good point and something that I think I had to get over big time even starting this working out thing. And I'm not always 100% successful at it, but I'm getting better, but it's good to be reminded so thank you for that!
It's easier at a gym or a race looking all disheveled because everyone else is kind of in the same boat...but it was still a huge hurdle for me to get comfortable wearing no makeup and my skintight workout gear in those settings....especially going to post-race brunches etc with my still un-makeuped face. I think it helps that literally everyone wears workout clothes now as their regular weekend clothes so I don't feel as out of place in that regard.

Something I'm not sure I've talked about but I LOVE MAKEUP. It's a weird thing with me. My skin wasn't great growing up so I wore it cover what I was ashamed to show and I kind of hated makeup back then. But as I got older I started wearing it for the fun of it not to hide behind. I liked splurging on an "unreasonably" expensive item here and there throughout the year. Target clearance clothes with Chanel lipstick basically. And people started reacting overwhelmingly great about it. I'm super pale...fairest of the fair and irish...so I get red on top of it. I get so much positive comments when I've got my redness covered up and blush or bronzer on. And the comments when I don't "are you sick?", "are you feeling ok", "do you have a rash?"
NO I'M PALE AND IRISH AND BEAUTIFUL DARNIT!
So I have days when I get hyper sensitive about going bare faced in public and others where I don't give a crud and am totally fine....but running has helped me a lot with that. Funny how looking strong trumps looking purty for me when I'm running. It's the standing around waiting to run or standing around after I'm done when the self conscious stuff starts creeping in. BUT I've posted all my makeup free pictures here and shared them with all of you...so baby steps right? Although yay for tinted sunscreen and tinted spf lip balm on those days where I just need a little confidence boost (hey, I'm being honest here)

 

[roxymama]

It was 72 degrees out yesterday! I know this weather cannot last but I was just in such a good mood all day because of it.
So when it came time to run and I was lacing on my shoes and collecting my stuff to drive to the gym my husband said "it's a shame you can't just run outside." I said "it's my 2.5 mile easy run today" and then we kind of both agreed that I should just maybe try running outside and stick to a close loop near my house where it is well lit. I changed into my glowey reflective shirt and left my music at home.
So long story short...I was safe...but instead of running my EA pace of 12:23 and it taking me 30+ minutes. I averaged 10:30 pace for 26 minutes. Oops. I didn't want to get attacked by vampires or murderers or rabid night beasts I guess so my pace quickened???
But it was literally fine...lots of kids playing late night basketball and street hockey and high school kids walking home from whatever was going on at the nearby school.
I think for sure though if it had been even a half hour-hour later I wouldn't have wanted to do that again. Sucks being a paranoid person sometimes, but I guess its good to be safe.
Guess sometimes the lovely weather just trumps my rational side

 

[DopeyBadger]

but instead of running my EA pace of 12:23 and it taking me 30+ minutes. I averaged 10:30 pace for 26 minutes. Oops. I didn't want to get attacked by vampires or murderers or rabid night beasts I guess so my pace quickened???

Here is the big question though, how did it feel? Did the effort necessary to complete the 2.5 mile run yesterday seem equivalent to the last time you ran an EA for 2.5 miles?

If the answer is yes the effort was the same, then this means you are getting stronger and improving at a rapid rate.
If the answer is no the effort was more difficult to do 10:30 than 12:23 for 2.5 miles, then you probably missed on the intent of the workout a bit.

Neither answer is inherently good or bad, but it gives us insight into how the training is going so far. Looks like we'll likely have some pace adjusting to do after your 8K on 4/9/16. Also, it looks like your first 5 miler is coming up this weekend. How have the long runs felt so far?

 

[roxymama]

Here is the big question though, how did it feel? Did the effort necessary to complete the 2.5 mile run yesterday seem equivalent to the last time you ran an EA for 2.5 miles?

If the answer is yes the effort was the same, then this means you are getting stronger and improving at a rapid rate.
If the answer is no the effort was more difficult to do 10:30 than 12:23 for 2.5 miles, then you probably missed on the intent of the workout a bit.

Neither answer is inherently good or bad, but it gives us insight into how the training is going so far. Looks like we'll likely have some pace adjusting to do after your 8K on 4/9/16. Also, it looks like your first 5 miler is coming up this weekend. How have the long runs felt so far?

Great questions! And ones I was actually thinking in my head as the run was going. (My garmin watch was out of battery so I was using my Nike+ app on my upper arm and it's just not as convenient to check pace throughout like my watch...which is why I love my watch!) So I felt like I was running more at my 11:14ish or above Long run pace physically and was a bit surprised that I was hovering in the 10:15 to 10:50 range throughout my run. I never dipped down into the 9's...I think I would have recognized and backed off as down in the 9's does still feel different for me (working harder.)
So I guess the 10:30 did not feel horrible or like I was full out racing. I was not out of breath...my steady in through the nose out through the mouth yoga breathing I so love was happening fine for me. It felt like I was exherting more than a 12:23 of course...I totally recognized that...12:23 is very very relaxed for me, but I was not especially out of breath or laboring or anything like that.
I think this is why I can't wait for warmer weather...it will be easier to stick to my pace plans when I can consistently just run outside all the time and feel different paces outside. I think my body went into "this is the pace I run outside mode" and just comfortably settled in at my LR weekend run pace.
With my treadmill I am obviously a metronome and can just punch in the exact pace (which is awesome for my tempo and speed type workouts.) I think running outside more and more will help me when I am eventually in a race because I have to be my own metronome and not rely on the treadmill. Wondering if any of that made any sense.
Thursday is back to the gym because its gonna be rainy anyways.

This weekend is my 5 miles!!! I have had it circled with bright highlighter on my calendar for a few weeks now. Definitely gonna take that one steady at my LR pace as planned. No desire to try to go to hard for that one...just complete it and then high five myself and then put a gold sticker on my chart or something.

 

[roxymama]

@DopeyBadger In my ramblings I forgot to answer your question about how my LR have been going. I am relieved that I like adding miles! And I am feeling stronger each week with them. And it has been fun to explore a little further out into my area since I have more ground to cover. When doing just 5ks (which is what I did a lot in my training when I was in the training rut last year) I'd not settle as into my running as I am doing now. Because I knew the run would be over after 3 miles...mile 2-3 was a slog for me because I was just like "get me to the finish line." But now I seriously have moments from mile 2.5 to 4 where I kind of forget how far I have gone a bit and just am enjoying the run and then I'm like "oh I have only x left." The first mile always feels like it takes forever...its been that way for me for forever...just mentally not even physically. But at least I'm getting the "zone out, settle in" feelings. It makes me excited for my upcoming longer races. HOWEVER since I'm comfortable in this pace I am not sure how I will feel when I push the pace and it could all fall apart BUT BUT BUT I am happy that I KNOW and am CONFIDENT that I can complete the distance and be VERY HAPPY at least at my LR pace and anything better than that I will be proud about. And I have all year...or many years...to get faster. These are all things I have just decided in my head right now and I'm ahppy you asked the question because I'm not sure I've thought much about it as I've just been trying to check off my training "to-do's"

Also since I'm rambling...
Physically for me, running in the morning on the weekend, I feel like I have so much more energy than when I'm slogging at 8:30pm or 9pm at night on the weekdays. And I like running outside so much...And I think both things generally helps my performance. I may start figuring out how to run in the mornings before work if the weather keeps improving. Just figure how to fit that into my schedule.

 

[DopeyBadger]

This is all good information and I'm glad it appears to be working quite well for you so far. It's exciting that you seem to be having a good time with the training because in the end like 99% of what running is - is more training. We do a few races here and there but the large majority of it is training, so you have to like it.

Since things seem to be going well with the pacing so let's try something.

Next week Thursday (3/17/16) you have a scheduled Tempo workout of 0.5 WU + 3mi @ TEMPO + 0.5 mi CD. The prescribed TEMPO is 9:37 min/mile. After your WU is complete start running what you believe to be the equivalent effort of a 9:37 min/mile (so this would need to be done outside). Don't look at your watch during any of the 3 miles you are running at Tempo. Turn the watch over, cover it, whatever you need to do to not look at it. Just run by effort. After the 3 mile Tempo is finished, do the CD for 0.5 miles but pay very close attention to whether you can maintain the CD prescribed pace. Afterwards, look at the history of the run to see what the pacing of those 3 miles at Tempo were. It will be interesting to see what you get and will gives us an indication of what we can plan for for your upcoming 8K in April. This effort based run is not a trial run, so we don't want to give it full effort. Just try and match the effort of your other TEMPO runs to this run but without the watches feedback. How does this sound?

Personally, runs are more difficult in the dark than they are during the light. The "difficulty", or increase in effort, comes from having to be more aware of my surroundings. As the days have gotten longer (lighter out), my runs have matched and become easier. I've done a few runs in the neighborhood at 3am in the past and those are the most difficult efforted runs I've done even though they ended up being about 2 minutes/mile slower than what I was suppose to be doing. I'm just focusing on so much other than just running when it's dark out.

 

[roxymama]

This is all good information and I'm glad it appears to be working quite well for you so far. It's exciting that you seem to be having a good time with the training because in the end like 99% of what running is - is more training. We do a few races here and there but the large majority of it is training, so you have to like it.

Since things seem to be going well with the pacing so let's try something.

Next week Thursday (3/17/16) you have a scheduled Tempo workout of 0.5 WU + 3mi @ TEMPO + 0.5 mi CD. The prescribed TEMPO is 9:37 min/mile. After your WU is complete start running what you believe to be the equivalent effort of a 9:37 min/mile (so this would need to be done outside). Don't look at your watch during any of the 3 miles you are running at Tempo. Turn the watch over, cover it, whatever you need to do to not look at it. Just run by effort. After the 3 mile Tempo is finished, do the CD for 0.5 miles but pay very close attention to whether you can maintain the CD prescribed pace. Afterwards, look at the history of the run to see what the pacing of those 3 miles at Tempo were. It will be interesting to see what you get and will gives us an indication of what we can plan for for your upcoming 8K in April. This effort based run is not a trial run, so we don't want to give it full effort. Just try and match the effort of your other TEMPO runs to this run but without the watches feedback. How does this sound?

Personally, runs are more difficult in the dark than they are during the light. The "difficulty", or increase in effort, comes from having to be more aware of my surroundings. As the days have gotten longer (lighter out), my runs have matched and become easier. I've done a few runs in the neighborhood at 3am in the past and those are the most difficult efforted runs I've done even though they ended up being about 2 minutes/mile slower than what I was suppose to be doing. I'm just focusing on so much other than just running when it's dark out.

Yeah, I think that sounds like a good idea on the tempo run for next week. This week I will be extra mindful of what my tempo run feels like when I can look at the pace so I can kind of log that in my brain for next week. It will be interesting to see what happens. See if I get slower or if I stay consistent or if I'm all over the place?
It's funny that I was the opposite of you with my night run...I think I unknowingly ran faster because I was hyper aware of my surroundings and was like "get this over with, get me home." Maybe the added adrenaline kicked in. Where when its a nice day I'm just fine taking my time! Thanks for the tips!

 

[roxymama]

Been a little while since I posted so I'll just write about a bunch of things. Running, then food, and then leggings. Something for everyone.

Running
I had my five mile long run on the to do list for Sunday. And it was raining. I put on my running pants and was literally at the ready for any second the weather would break...and it never did. So once it got dark I said "you can't stop me weather, I'm running these 5 miles" and I drove to the gym and did my worst nightmare...all 5 on a treadmill. I just didn't want to skip it, not knowing when I'd be able to work it in my schedule so I just sucked it up. The gym was fairly empty and only "boring" shows (to me) were on the tvs. So I just set my treadmill for 11:15 pace and read the subtitles to a few police procedural shows that I literally knew nothing about and listened to techno pop music. And I survived and it wasn't torture and it was a tad boring but I did it. Did I mention I did it?
Also tonight is the bachelor finale and I'm only allowed to watch the bachelor on Mondays if I do my long runs and can you imagine the horror of missing that live??? Yeah, ok, maybe not.
Also now that I've run 5, I know I can run it for my race bc road is always better than treadmill for me. So yay! But it seriously better not rain next week like that. I'll go out in a light shower but that's it.

Food...
So I mentioned earlier that I am trying out Blue Apron which is a weekly meal box service. We went ahead and got week #2 and I think we are going to continue with it for awhile. In case anyone is interested I've listed some pros and cons and then put a bunch of food pics in case you just like to look at food.
Pros:
Learning new cooking techniques
Getting new recipes and really detailed pics on how to make them
Less trips and shorter trips to grocery store
More veggies and smaller portions (less leftovers going to waste)
It's all been yummy

Cons
A little pricey at $60 per week for three two portion meals although we have gotten leftovers out of a few of the stew or noodle dishes
Lots of waste (but we recycle so that helps)
Lots of chopping and prep work which is tough with a toddler up in my business
Still have to make a separate kid friendly dinner for the Rugrat

So I like it so far. I spend a couple nights a week cooking these and then I make the more family friendly normal meals I always make rest of week.


Gnocchi with Brussels sprouts and lemon


Alsatian chicken with mash potatoes and red cabbage

Sausage and bacon ramen with pea shoots



Leggings

 

[roxymama]

Sorry for the cliffhanger, my phone was being fussy. Now on to the important topic...leggings. And not even running leggings! So really off topic!

I was invited to a Facebook party for buying LuLaRoe which I had never heard of. So I googled it and that was a mistake because I read they have butter soft leggings in fun prints and versions for tall and curvy girls. I was bracing myself for a hefty price tag but they were $25 which is about what I'd pay at Target when not on clearance. So I gave it a try.

The party started and pics were posted of the inventory and when you wanted something you commented "sold" or "next" if someone already put sold. So it was a bit of a frenzy and I could see how people get caught up in it. I lucked out and got a plain black pair (I need a non run material black pair badly) and a crazy teal pair with red birds on it. Then a long black and grey striped shirt as well. I passed on a lot of truly crazy prints that looked so fun though because I need to not go broke this month. So now I wait to see how I like them (not for running, just for wearing around.)

Anyways here's the pic of ths bird leggings.


I hope they look good on. I promise my next post will be running related again

 

[roxymama]

Ok I lied. Next post is to brag that I'm down one more size in pants. I forgot to share this weekend. Skinny jeans brag photo time! Turns out eating better and running longer minutes = smaller pants.



And now caught up with my ramblings.

 

[SarahDisney]

5 miles on the treadmill ... yuck. But awesome job getting through it!

The Blue Apron meals look great, and it's awesome that it's working out well for you.

And yay for being down another pant size!

 

[Ariel484]

Those meals look soooooo good! And you know I'm loving those bird leggings that you bought! I totally know what you mean about getting caught up in the frenzy, I've had that happen before with online sales. But it sounds like you restrained yourself well.

That's awesome about the pant size, and I am soooo jealous of your skinny jean photo! You look awesome!

 

[roxymama]

5 miles on the treadmill ... yuck. But awesome job getting through it!

The Blue Apron meals look great, and it's awesome that it's working out well for you.

And yay for being down another pant size!

5 miles on the treadmill was not my favorite thing for sure. But wasn't as horribly tragic as I feared it would be. I just swear time moves slower. It's not like I'm physically more tired...it's just that the boredom sets in so quickly.
And yay indeed!

Those meals look soooooo good! And you know I'm loving those bird leggings that you bought! I totally know what you mean about getting caught up in the frenzy, I've had that happen before with online sales. But it sounds like you restrained yourself well.

That's awesome about the pant size, and I am soooo jealous of your skinny jean photo! You look awesome!

Restraint comes and goes with me. I can be so good about not impulse buying for months at a time and then the right thing hits and that goes out the window. But I decided I wanted to jump on a plain pair and a really bold pair and my trigger finger was fast enough. It took a lot of control not to just keep adding one more thing.

And for the pants... The true test is I wore a pair of my new "skinny style" buttoned dress pants to work today and so far I've not needed to like unclasp them or gasp for air...so far so good. Why can't spandex be work appropriate? I have a lunch meeting today so let's see how they fare through a big meal


Oh and tonight is Adobo chicken with bok choy and rice. Can't tell you that I'd ever reach for the Bok Choy at the super market so maybe while I cook tonight I'll sing to my self "A Whole New World"
Tomorrow will be back to the normal frozen nuggets and frozen veggies again I'm sure.

 

[roxymama]

My weekly plan:
Can't believe I'm in the home stretch. Only a few more weeks until my race! I feel ready to complete the miles, but now it's up to me to make sure I am working hard to keep completing my workouts so I can run the miles while feeling good.

Tuesday 3/15 EA pace 12:23 2.5 miles - DONE!
- I ran at the gym last night. Felt like I had a wonder woman day since after working all day I took my kiddo to the park for almost a whole hour. Then we stopped to pick up some grocery items. Then I cooked her dinner, then I cooked my hubby and I a full Blue Apron meal (Adobo chicken with roasted bok choy and jasmine rice), then gave the kiddo a bath, told her stories and hit the gym. Whew and Phew. And cofee today!!
Also (possibly TMI gross warning) my whole house smelled like garlic because of the meal I cooked and I'm pretty sure I smelled like garlic at the gym and I could be wrong but I think I was sweating garlic. I hope I did not offend anyone or make anyone hungry for garlic bread :/

Thur 3/17 .5 mi WU 13:09, 3 mi @ TEMPO 9:37, .5 mi CD 13:09
- Gonna TRY TRY TRY to run this one outside. I am telling hubby in case he can get home not late and hang with the kiddo while I lace em up before it gets dark. Reason is I'd like to try Dopeybadger's advise about covering my garmin with tape and trying to run the Tempo part by feel and see what happens. Scared that I'll be way off in one direction or the other but intrigued to see what happens. It's not like I'll be wrong....it'll just be enlightening one way or the other. I like experiments.

Weekend LR 5 mi 11:14 pace
SO BADLY WANT TO RUN IT OUTSIDE, PLEASE DON'T RAIN OR SNOW!


I saw notes that there was various drama this weekend and I totally missed most of it so I feel a little out of the loop. But I will say that I can understand why drama happens, because for a lot of us running and disney vacations are two things in our lives that are "finally time for ourselves or our family" in the midst of all the daily drudgery of things we have to do like work and housework and parenting (both human and fur-kids) and paying bills and all the other crud. So it's easy to get upset when things "mess" with our running or our vacation plans. I GET IT! So I just wanted to be supportive of people with amplified emotions about these situations on either sides of these arguments. I completely freaked out the day before marathon weekend reg. opened because there was a link working for some people to sign up early and I had a fit that it may sell out before I could have a chance. And people were debating if they should use it or not for fear of them cancelling those registrations. I really freaked out...and slightly on this board. So I am not sure if I have a point here or if I'm just rambling again. But I guess my point is that people have heightened emotions about this stuff because of how important this stuff is to them. And it may seem like #firstworldproblems but we are all human and emotions are real and I'm glad I can come on here and share how I feel about all the stuff that seems like it shouldn't matter and all the stuff that seems like it should.
And end rambling...

 

[Ariel484]

And for the pants... The true test is I wore a pair of my new "skinny style" buttoned dress pants to work today and so far I've not needed to like unclasp them or gasp for air...so far so good. Why can't spandex be work appropriate? I have a lunch meeting today so let's see how they fare through a big meal

Hahahaha...I love that you said this. I know EXACTLY what you're talking about!

Oh and tonight is Adobo chicken with bok choy and rice. Can't tell you that I'd ever reach for the Bok Choy at the super market so maybe while I cook tonight I'll sing to my self "A Whole New World"
Tomorrow will be back to the normal frozen nuggets and frozen veggies again I'm sure.

Ooooh...that sounds good. I had bok choy for the first time at a local restaurant a few years back and it was sooo good. I'm not sure what they did to it, but it was delicious. For some reason I thought I could recreate something similar at home - I could not. Curious to hear how yours turned out!

But I guess my point is that people have heightened emotions about this stuff because of how important this stuff is to them. And it may seem like #firstworldproblems but we are all human and emotions are real and I'm glad I can come on here and share how I feel about all the stuff that seems like it shouldn't matter and all the stuff that seems like it should.
And end rambling...

THANK YOU!! (Not to be all "me me me!") but I appreciate your saying that.