This week felt pretty crazy, to be honest. I kicked things off with 20 miles, followed by my kids getting sick, all while the Incredible Mervus was out of town – it’s a bit of a blur. The weather is also all over the place with temperatures from 5 to 55 degrees. The second half of the week had two really solid runs and a great birthday party though, so at least things went out on a high note.
Monday, 1/8, Morning Crew – 20 “easy” miles (10:01)
With the Incredible Mervus out of town for work all week and super cold temps yesterday, I moved the long run to Monday this week. It was still pretty cold today but it got above 20 degrees so that counts as practically a heat wave. This was all at an “easy” pace though I am reluctant to use the word “easy” to describe anything about a 20 mile run! Rashi was able to join me for the first 10 miles and then I did a couple of loops from campus after she left. I’m not sure I have ever enjoyed the post-run lunch more than I did today. In a classic Mother Runner event, I had about twenty minutes of peace after I put the kids to bed before my son started vomiting, and continued with that All. Night. Long. I am counting that as the second workout of the day and I’m not completely kidding that it felt pretty equivalent to the last 6.2 miles of a marathon.
Tuesday, 1/9, Morning Crew – yoga DVD
I was supposed to swim today but both kids were home sick with the stomach bug. The 20 miler left me pretty sore but the yoga helped. Even pretty lackadaisical uninspired yoga is better than no yoga.
Wednesday, 1/10, Lunch Time Crew – 4 easy miles (9:22 pace), plus strength training
Rose was back in school today and Aidan was well enough to leave for a couple of hours. Thank goodness! It was also ABOVE FREEZING and sunny while I ran. A miracle!
This guy has saved my marathon dreams more times than I can count.
Thursday, 1/11, Morning Crew – 9 miles, tempo run, (9:05 pace, including WU and CD)
The goal here was 1 mile warm up, 7 miles working down from marathon pace to half marathon pace, 1 mile cool down. I ended up just running the 7 miles at somewhere just a tad slower than half marathon pace, but whatever. I’ve had some tightness in my right hip and quad that seemed worse on this run, so when I arrived home to a text from the Maestro, the best PT in the world, I decided that was fate. He could see me right away and was happy to do a little dry needling, which fixed me right up. The Maestro is a dear friend as well as an awesome PT so we had a great visit.
Friday, 1/12, Morning Crew – 8 miles at goal marathon pace, (9:04 pace)
SO SO incredibly happy with this run! With a goal marathon pace of around 9:00-9:10, my splits were: 9:11, 9:07, 9:04, 9:12, 8:58, 9:02, 9:04, 8:29. I was aiming for a little on the slower side for the first four miles for some practice not going too fast. Then I was able to pick it up just a teeny tiny bit for the last four, even though the weather took an absolute nosedive with the arrival of wind and lots of rain. This workout was a real confidence booster!
Saturday, 1/13, Morning Crew – yoga
The Incredible Mervus was supposed to arrive home last night, but a weather delay had him stuck in Louisville. With lots of miles in the past week and a birthday party on deck for tomorrow, I opted for Jasyoga. A little guidance from Chicory at Salty Running helped me find The Running Efficiency Boost on there, which I liked quite a lot.
Sunday, 1/14, Lunch Crew – 5 easy miles, (9:22 pace)
Rose turned 10 today! I pushed my long run off to Monday again because there is no way that was compatible with the preparation involved for an Epic Cookin’ Birthday Party (!!). The Incredible Mervus and I share party prep fairly equally (ok, he often does way more….) and this event went spectacularly well. I managed to sneak in five miles to help keep the mama-stress level within bounds. We all collapsed in the TV room once it was over for our continued family viewing of the Marvel movies. Super heroes to end a super day.
Very happy birthday girl!
Total: 46 miles
Happy birthday to Rose, and I’m glad the party went well! Nice job on that 8 mile run, too!