Two Races in 24 hours!

This weekend I officially lost my mind and ran 2 races in one weekend! The even crazier part is that I run the Pittsburgh half on Sunday!

At this point in my training cycle I knew I wasn't motivated to get in quality runs (just burned out, tired, ready for race day) and so I figured I might as well get a good tempo run in and then a nice hill/speed workout the next day.

Saturday morning I got up reasonably early and got a nice breakfast and a shower to help wake myself up. The race was only 25 mins away (probably the closest I'll run all year since I don't live in a great place for running!) and it was a memorial run for a State Trooper killed by a drunk driver. It was at a local Catholic College and was such a great event put on for an awesome cause and I LOVED that they prayed before the race! They had children's races (a 100m and a half mile--it was so cute!) because the trooper who died LOVED kids. His family put on an awesome event to honor their son! All along the course they had signs with different stats about drunk driving and all the proceeds from the race bought breathalyzers for the troopers.

Anyway, on to the race! It was a 5k and 10k and I ran the 10, so I did the loop twice. It was really hilly but my goal was just to treat it as a nice HMP tempo and I ended up getting a race PR of 55:48 (I have run a 53 workout)

Mi 1: 8:16 Felt good-stayed with the crowd and I figured I'd do two miles hard, back off for 2, and finish strong--then I saw the hills and figured I'd cruise downhill but stay consistent uphill

Mi 2: 9:28 Bit of an uphill here but I stayed strong. Was sad when I saw how slow this was but I had to back off in order to race 4 more miles

Mi 3: 8:43 Finished up the first loop with a solid mile, passing people on the downhills.

Mi 4: 8:54

Mi 5: 9:49 Same hill--this time I allowed myself to walk a bit

Mi 6: 9:05 Kept looking at my pace for my goal of 9' miles--I JUST made it!

.2 Mi: 1:33 Finished strong!

1.8 cool down miles for 8 total and I did some serious stretching followed by using a massage chair at babysitting that night! haha

Sun I woke up a bit earlier as this race was 40 mins away. This was the Mt. Summit 3.5 Mi challenge and was, quite simply, running up a mountain! At the top there was an after party and most people had rides down but I chose to run downhill (I earned it after that 1700ft climb and enjoyed the fast running!) for 7.25 miles total.

Mi 1: The first .6 were barely uphill and was just about getting into a groove. I had decided I was going to run the first mile straight no matter what and then would alternate walking and running as needed. 9:55 first mile after the last .4 started getting really tough!

Mi 2: 13:46. Ran 5 minutes, trudged 1 minute, etc.

Mi 3: 15:37..  At this point I was trying to run for 2 cones and walked the rest of the way...7:11 for the last .53. I got a little inspired to run more when I got closer to the finish!

Run down: 3.72 miles in 31:14 (8:24/mi pace) 8:30, 8:13, 7:56, 6:35 for the last .72. It was kind of scary to run all-out downhill so I gradually got more fearless with it. I also didn't want to destroy my knees!

Training Week of 4/11-17

Mon: Off (Phillies opening day!/Travel)

Tues: 5 miles (47:07) and 20 min lower body lift

Wed: 25 min upper body lift

Thurs: 2 am miles, 4.25 pm miles SOLID TRAINING DAY!

Fri: Off (never needed to run more--no alone time in 2 weeks and we had friends coming for the weekend when I got home from work but work calls! I need to become a morning runner so I can "run the day before the day runs me!")

Sat: 3.1 am miles (solid) then we went for an awesome hike with 1200+ ft elevation! 3.2 miles but it took us over an hour. I could drop a lot of weight doing that hike every day ;)

Sun: Off. It's so unlike me to take 3 days off a week but after our friends left I just had no energy--physically or emotionally. I spent the day relaxing with hubby and doing meal prep for my week. My reasoning is that 7 solid days of eating well in this case is better than a single workout. Pittsburgh marathon is coming up quickly so we will see how that goes! I am vowing to myself to never do another marathon or half without a proper training cycle. I owe it to myself to get myself together and work for what I want or else I will never improve! I know I can run sub 1:50 but I just need to put in the miles/work.

Overall a decent week--14 miles of running, 2 lifting sessions, and 3 miles of hiking/cross-training.

Three weeks to go!

This training week was a step in the right direction! I am finally feeling strong and BALANCED which is my #1 goal in all of life besides running for the glory of God :)

Monday: 5 solid miles after work! I almost ran a 5k PR (25:40 and mine is 25:16) and got 5 miles in 42:10 (8:26/mi). My sinuses are no longer an excuse! I got a good 20 min lower body lift in when I got home.

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: 20 min upper body in the morning. Still having sinus issues/cold and I just wanted to nip it in the bud. Upper body felt good though!

Thursday: 2.08 AM miles (9:12 pace) and 3.25 PM miles (9:05 pace) for a solid 5.3 mile day.

Friday: Couldn't sneak out of work early enough to run before leaving for an awesome friends/family weekend! Friday I ate a bit more than usual and enjoyed a bonfire and drinks with friends :) #noregrets

Saturday: 3.5 miles in 30:36 (treadmill miles on a busy, exhausting day!)

Sunday: 5 treadmill AM miles in 45:12 (9:02 pace) and then an awesome outdoor/trail 7.02 miles in 1:05:32 (9:20 pace) for a solid 12 miles! I felt awesome that I was able to get my long run in and could still make family a priority. I'm not worried that it was split up because I'll have time for a long run next weekend and also I still ran on tired legs and was less sore the next day since it was split up.

Solid 25+ miles this week and next week I'm hoping for 30 before I taper :D

Last week's training!

I've been slacking with my blogging and my training! I'm on weekend 4/4 of travel coming up here on Friday, and I'm hoping to get in a couple workouts while I'm there but my hubby wants to spend Sat looking for a new car (he's pretty sure he knows the one he wants; just has to test drive it and sign the papers) and then lots of friend and family time while we are there as well! I'd like to get a moderate and long run in while I'm there, however, before Phillies opening day on Sunday.

Here's my last week in "training." Easter weekend I was feverish and had a severe cold. I still can't really breathe out of my nose but had a tremendous workout yesterday despite it so I can no longer use it as an excuse!

Monday, March 28th: Off/12-hour workday after a day of travel!

Tuesday: 3.5 mi run/hike--wanted to just RUN but it was a crazy day for me with phone calls and needing to do a couple things for people so i just took the calls and kept moving! haha

Wednesday: 4.02 mi on the trail on the way home (beautiful, 70 degree day!) then I got home and my new Altra's were there so I ran 2.6 more! 6.62 mi total for the day in 1:03:34.

Thursday: 3.1 AM miles in 28:20 before a crazy weekend!

Friday: Travelled/worked all day and had to finish a quilt in the a.m. Already got up at 5 but if i wanted a workout too I would've had to get up at 4! #nothankyou

Saturday: Hosted my beautiful friend's bridal shower all day then spent time with her and helped her stuff invitations. Can't get those memories back so I'm fine with skipping a workout that day.

Sunday: 5.1 in 48:56. Bonus for it being on a brand-new trail in Pittsburgh on my way home from the airport!

18.3 Mi for the week in 4 days. Next week I want to get in at least 25 miles!