Hello there! How are things?
I’d say that things are a bit busy over here, and I’ve been slacking a bit on my blogging. But I’m happy to have these weekly recap posts to keep me accountable! I’m still settling in at my new job and the holidays are always busy. I’m sure things will slow down and I’ll be writing more here again soon.
Until then, I’ll still be linking up with Jess from Jess Runs ATL with my weekly recap of training. Just one week to go before the 3 Bridges Marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas!
(I am also linking up with HoHo Runs/Mississippi Piddlin, who host similar link-ups to Jess’s and mine. Check them out!)
Here’s how training went this week:
Monday: Crazy Minnesota weather: this day started at 50 degrees and then dropped to 20 degrees by the end of the day. I just had to get out in the morning, so I could run one last time in shorts before winter arrived. I did 6 easy miles (super easy, like a 9:40 pace). It was such a nice morning!
Tuesday: The first real winter storm in Minneapolis hit overnight. We woke up to slippery roads and terrible traffic. I thought that I was lucky to take the bus since that meant I didn’t have to drive in that mess, but even the bus took a lot longer than it normally would.
I opted for the treadmill after work, 7 miles at a 9 min/mile pace. (Our treadmill was the best investment ever for our household!)
Wednesday: The roads were still pretty bad, so again I opted for the treadmill. I had a few miles at marathon pace on the schedule: 1 mile warm-up, 3×1 mile at marathon pace with 2 minutes to recover, 1 mile cool down. 5 miles total (I cut the cool-down a bit short in the matter of time.)
More Netflix & Treadmill!
Thursday: Rest day! I had to be to work for a 7 am meeting, so I rode in with Dustin- a nice benefit of working in the same building!
After work, we met some friends at 112 Eatery for dinner/drinks before heading to the State Theater to see Nick Offerman (from Parks & Rec). His show was funny, but we didn’t get home afterwards until nearly midnight. Much too late for me to get up in the morning, so I knew Friday was unfortunately going to be an unplanned rest day. TWO rest days in a row.
Friday: Yup, couldn’t get up early as I expected and after work was my company’s holiday party at the Hewing Hotel. No time to run after work either…
Zero miles. A couple of s’mores 🙂
Saturday: I slept in on Saturday before deciding just to head down to the treadmill for my long run. 10 miles easy at a 9 min/mile pace. I zoned out to some Netflix and it wasn’t too boring.
We had a second holiday party that evening at a run club friend’s place. It was lovely!
Sunday: Guess what- I ran outside!
Dustin, Matilda (the vizsla) and I ran 7.4 miles at an 8:40 pace. It was in the upper 20’s and the paths were mostly clear; of course, it helped that it was light outside.
Summary: About 36 miles of running.
Later in the afternoon, I had a call with my coach to chat about my race plan for Arkansas. I had already re-adjusted my goal from a PR to something more attainable based on how I’ve been feeling since the NYC marathon. He is always super positive and optimistic though and still thinks I should go for it, but we agreed to aim for sub-3:40 as an “A goal” and something in the 3:40’s as a “B goal.”There’s no runner tracking or anything for a marathon this small. I’ll probably post to Instagram first, so follow me there!
Tell me- are you managing to fit in your runs around all the holiday celebrations? Share your tips please! 🙂
And please join Jess and me for our link-up, details below:
Its hard to believe one day you were wearing shorts and then the next it was snowing. My treadmill was the best invest I bought at as well. That and lasik…..haha.
oh YES, Lasik too 🙂 same here, though my eyes have regressed a little bit and I do wear glasses at the computer all day. Both great investments for sure!
That’s a beautiful red dress! I love red anything, and velvet is so festive 😉 We had similar weather in Iowa Monday…except for the snow in the overnight LOL We did have painfully cold (and windy) weather Tuesday morning, though.
Thanks Kimberly! There aren’t a lot of times that red velvet is the right fit 🙂 but holiday parties are definitely one of those times!
One of my sisters lives in Cedar Rapids- I didn’t know it was so cold there already! Brrr!
This week in weather has been so bizarre! We got our first snowfall and are in full on winter mode now. Your dress is super cute! I need to check it out.
Thanks Angela!
Bizarre weather all around it seems! Definitely makes planning your running gear a challenge, haha!
Tis the season for holiday parties! i love the dress that you wore 🙂
Yes, tis the season for parties and red velvet 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I am LOVING that dress! Way to get the miles in despite the weather and the holiday partying! We got some snow here in Boston on Saturday, but I had my long run done Friday, and my friends and I did a little self supported 5k in the morning before the inches accumulated. I always tell my coach when I have a party – like this Thursday – so he doesn’t give me anything too difficult on Friday. Or if I have a party on Saturday, then I ask to run long on Friday.
Oh, I probably should start telling my coach when I have parties…but sometimes I have all the best intentions to celebrate AND run, but it rarely works out that way 🙂
I saw that Boston got snow- so pretty there! Good for you for getting your long run done early.
1 week to go! That’s exciting! I hope your legs bounce back from NYC- the marathon takes a lot out of me too, so I am always impressed with people run them for fun. Enjoy the extra rest days and maybe your legs will be ready to fly on race day!
Even though I ran NYC for “fun” it took a lot more out of me and a lot more to recover than I expected…which is why I’m re-adjusting my goals for Arkansas. It will be a race day decision I think!
Cute dress! Hope you have a great time at this marathon!
No matter what happens the marathon is always something special 🙂
Oh and running in the 20s degree weather?! How do you do it?!?!?! Amazing!
But when you lived in Japan it got below freezing! You must have survived somehow 🙂
Good luck at 3 Bridges!! You’ll rock it girl! Way to stick to training with this busy season. I start ramping up my training after the first of the year.
Thanks Jen! Good luck with your training! 🙂
Dark Sky! That’s my weather app of choice, too (although WTForecast warms my heart as well). The killer app for me as a runner would be a weather app that has hour-by-hour “feels like” forecasts instead of just temperature or wind. That way I would know what the “feels like” temperature would be for the next morning and I can dress right the first time.
Dark Sky is amazing! I haven’t heard of WTForecast though, will download it now 🙂