Emily's training blog

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.”

I met with a fun group of ladies for a run through Murray this morning.  It is always so much fun having running partners . . . even at 8:00 on New Year's morning.  We're going to try to make this a monthly event, entitled The Big Girls' Run.  We plan on holding it the first Saturday of every month.  We also thought it would be good to change the venue for variety and so that we can include more runners.  

11 miles  7:30 pace.  (I originally planned on 8.  That's what happens when you have a great running group!)

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I think I bit off a little more than I can chew this week.  Running with friends and blogging again has motivated me, but I jumped up a little higher than I meant to this week.  Today it caught up with me.  I love the blog, but sometimes I feel like I need to keep up with everyone in terms of mileage or paces.  I get too excited.

I warmed up 3 miles, and then proceeded to run a tempo run.  I had planned a 5 mile tempo, but my stomach was hurting after three miles and I needed a pit stop.  So, I changed the workout to 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile, with half a mile recovery inbetween.  

3 mile:  18:23

2 mile:  11:42

1 mile:  5:42 (I'm not gonna lie.  I was hanging on for dear life on this mile.)

I cooled down for about 5 minutes and called it good.  I am most definitely going to feel this tomorrow.  It will be a short, easy run followed by some zumba.  

By the way, does anyone else ransack the kitchen and eat everything in sight after their runs . . . or is it just me?

Easy early morning run, and now I'm on to Zumba.  I am super sore from yesterday!   It took a while to get going.  7:33 average . . . easy recovery.

It was pretty snowy and icy in my neighborhood this morning.  I decided to play it safe and head to the gym for a treadmill run.  I kind of wish I had sucked it up and braved the streets.  It's so boring doing long stuff on the treadmill.  I couldn't even bring myself to run one more mile to hit 60 this week instead of 59.  

I decided that a workout would get me through the run a lot faster.  I warmed up 2 miles and then ran 20 x 90 seconds on/off.  I started at 10.0 mph and increased every two intervals.  The recovery was at 8.0 mph.  I finished the last one at 11.0 mph.  It wasn't designed to be extremely difficult, just to get me through the run without going crazy from boredom.  The last 4-5 started to get tougher.  I cooled down until I hit 12, and called it good.  1:20:17 for 12 miles.  About 6:41 pace.  

I'm pretty happy with this week.  I feel like I'm actually starting to train again.  Jumping up 16 miles in one week is not how I usually increase mileage.  However, I had more opportunities to run outside with friends during the nice part of the day, so it just kind of happened.  Now to set some racing goals . . . I know I want to run a sea level fall marathon, but which one?