Emily's training blog

So-o-o-o warm this morning.  I'm going to miss the beautiful fall weather.  Winter comes tomorrow!  7:12 pace. 

Treadmill Tempo.  3 mile warm-up followed by a 5 mile tempo.  30:03.  6:00-6:01 pace.  Running in the afternoon is so much easier on the body than first thing in the morning.  No cool down.  I had to get home to the babysitter.  I'll probably regret that decision tomorrow!  

I cross trained by shoveling snow.  I didn't love it.

Treadmill day #2.  I was making use of that monthly childcare payment.  Myles did great!  I got an entire hour of running before he hit his meltdown.  Progressively faster run with 5  2 minute hills thrown in.  I'm a little sore from yesterday.  I'm hoping to hit the great outdoors tomorrow!  

I don't get along well with the cold.  So, after two lazy days where I mentally berated myself for not going running, but somehow couldn't find the gumption to get out there, I thought I should probably run.  It helped that I had a partner to run with.

Expecting the worst, I layered up.  Happily, it wasn't too bad out this morning.  Jenny and I just kept a leisurly talking pace through the run.  At nine miles it started to snow, but we were almost done, so it wasn't too bad.  Sometimes it's really nice being the only crazy ones out running in the cold.    So, even though I was dreading it, it was a very enjoyable morning!

Slip-slid my van up to the Olympic Oval for a workout on this balmy 8 degree morning.  I warmed up 15 minutes and then ran a fartlek workout.  1-2-3-2-1 minutes with 1-1-2-1-1 recovery.  2 sets.  I timed parts of it to see how fast I was running.  It was usually 83-4 pace on the fast parts.  1 mile cooldown.  Then I slip-slid down 5400 back to my house.  

On the treddy this morning.  Progression run.  It gets it done faster.  9 miles in 61:19.  Now, I'm tired.  I will need a nice easy run, tomorrow.

Getting back on the horse . . . again.   30 minutes on treadmill.  

I got out for a rare afternoon run today.  It was beautiful out.  I thought that the river trail would be cleared off. I thought wrong.  It was like running on sheets of ice down there.  My average pace was 7:38, but mile 3 was 7:57 and mile 4 was 8:31.  I managed to make up a little time in the non-slippery parts of the run.  Still, I'm glad I got out to run.  It was nice just being by myself, even if it was really slick.  

I love Christmas runs.  I wanted to get up early and run, but I wasn't sure what time the kids would make their appearance.  So, I went after all the fun was over.  It is a beautiful day outside.  I ran the Costco loop and extended to hit 7 miles.  The roads were pretty clear.  There were a couple of sketchy spots where someone didn't shovel their sidewalk.  Overall,  I really enjoyed running this morning.  It's a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday.

7:08 average

Since I don't plan on starting any speedwork for another week, I decided to push this run a little more.  I got a couple miles in the tempo-ish range.  I wanted to keep the overall pace under 7:00 per mile.  When I got back to my house, I was almost at an hour of running, so I decided to finish out the hour.  I made 8.78 miles in an hour of running.  6:50 pace.  I felt really good today.  I was glad that I was wearing bright pink.  People do not watch when they drive.  Even when it is bright daylight.  

Easy treadmill run + Zumba.  Fun morning!

Gray, cold, and smoggy.  The worst kind of winter running day.  I ran down to the south end of the river trail to assess the run-ability.  Guess where the icy spots were.  7:18, 7:01, 6:55, 6:59, 6:47, 7:47, 8:13, 7:09, 7:08, 7:21, 3:35.  About 2 miles of the trail are clear.  We may need to re-assess where we run on our New Year's Day run.  Average pace, 7:14.  My hands hurt.

I decided to get a little workout in today.  I warmed up 20 minutes, and then ran 10 x 2 minutes on/off, just trying to pick up my paces.  I cooled down until I hit 10 miles.  10 miles 67:38 total time.  

I will not hit 2000 miles this year because I've slacked off the last few weeks.  Looks like I have a resolution for next year!  Consistency is key.

Last run of the year!  I was a little stiff from yesterday's workout.  It took a couple of miles to get going.  It was a very nice morning and I was happy to be running.  8.17 miles in 7:14 pace.

I stumbled on this quote from Janet Cherobon-Bawcom and I love it.  Goals are important, but when you are so focused on outcomes, sometimes you forget to enjoy the journey.  My running has improved since I have adopted this outlook: to enjoy running and give my best every day.  Happy New Year!  I can't wait to run with all the girls tomorrow!

“These days, when I’m asked about goal setting, my response is simple – I avoid it. When we set goals, we do so based on the potential we believe we have, and we tend to be very poor at knowing what that really is – we either set goals so high that we live lives of frustration, or we set goals too low and never realize our full potential because we’ve defined success in terms of accomplishments instead of excellence. So many of our goals also seem rooted in how we compare to others – wanting to win, needed to be All-American, etc. That just seems artificial and empty – are we happy to win if others have a bad day? Have we failed if we run a PR but place lower because others have good days too?

Instead of picking events on the horizon or comparing myself to others to define success, I’ve decided that success for me involves waking up each morning, putting my best effort into that day, and then knowing that I’ll wake up the next day ready for whatever comes my way.”