Fuel SMART,Train HARD, Run FAST.

1.5 wu

5k @20:40, alternating pace every two minutes from MP/5k

.5 cd

Weights- shoulders, arms, hips

Today I was notified that I have been selected to be on the Pearl Izumi Run Champions team for 2015. I specifically chose this brand becuase I love thier products. Mostly becuase thier gear fits my tush.

Icy cold run with Kam and Andy. Ran a loop down Main to Farmington, then connected on LPT. The conversations were...well, we were cold. ~8:32ap. Came home and ran a bit more with my dog. 

5:30- BST/Partial Twins with Scott and Craig.

I love running on the trails, but now I'm starting to wonder how a 10 miler that takes 2 hours, translates to the equivalent of a long run (effort?), or if it does. Hummmm. More road running to come.

PM: 2 mi on elliptical and 5mi spin at PF. 

6:00AM- 8 miles on LPT with Andy. Ice and snow pached the trail. The weather has been strange, It was a bit warmer today than usual (30's) and the last two days have been very humid! Today was 86% and I came home drenched! 8:10ap

1.5 wu

Epic zombi march attempt 8X600 @6:00. I did two, barely.

I am extremly sleep deprived this week its not even funny. I'm going to bag speed altogether this week and focus on the next tempo workout.

5:30AM-Woke up and went to the gym with Steve. 45 mins on the Arc Glider, 10 mins TM and 30 mins of weights-upper body and hips.

10:45AM- 8 mi up City Creek with Scott. We tried to escape the inversion and did for most of the run. Came back down and ran into it like hitting a wall! It needs to go away.

I was so grateful my friend offered to watch my son today so I could go to the gym today. I was begninng to wonder if I would get it in today, otherwise.

11:00PM- Marathon pace tempo 10k on TM

1.5 mi wu

6.2 @ 42:53 (6:55ap) 21:44/21:09

1.5 cd

Felt great today. I tried to spend the last miles visualizing the end of the race and how I would feel. Obviously this was hard to tap into since I was only doing 6 miles, but It helps me to tune into this during any paced runs. I resisted the urge to go any faster or add on any mileage today than what was recommended. It's mentally strange to train for an unaided marathon. Paces start to not make sense and I get worried I'm going to slow or too fast. Chill out and follow the plan, slugger. 

PM- 10 mins core work

AM-Twin Peaks with Karen. We got a little lost a few times but easily scrambled our way back to the start.

PM- Full body weights, spin, and some messing around on the treadmill.

3 mi wu/cd  

8x2 mins on/off @6:00, first two a bit slower. Felt hard, wish it didn't.

AM- 8 dark-puddle-jumping miles with Andy on LPT. 8:11ap

Two words: cumulative fatigue- a new concept I am trying with a new plan. It's kicking my rear end. Running 6 days a week is making me extra hungry, tired, and moody. I don't know why. 

A look back In history, if I may....

I remember transitioning from running three days a week to four back in 2011. That was pushing my comfort zone. In 2013 I began averaging four days a week, that made me feel more invested. In 2014 I started doing five days a week, it was definitely a transition. Now going 6 days a week for this cycle is well, hard. No doubt I will transition just like I have before. Cumulative fatigue.

.8 wu

10k @ 6:52ap (42:35) .05% for half

1mi cd

The idea of this workout was to run at marathon pace.  I'm really not supposed to run any faster than my goal pace which is really closer to 7:03 but sometimes I battle in my head thinking I'm not reaching for a high enough goal. At the end of the day, I would be saisfied running Boston at that pace. I'm making small steps into my goals this year rather than jumping to where I think I should be. I think that will make the year more enjoyable and successful, as a result. Eventually I will get there.

Overall the workout wasn't too bad!:)

AM- 5 mi easy on TM with weights- 2hrs

PM- Found 30 mins extra to get in a few spin miles while Steve was putting in his time at the gym. It's all about being supportive of my his running goals for himself.

Mueller Park with Scott. 9.1 miles in 2:02:09. The first two miles was hard for me. Tired lungs and legs, which I actually expected today due to this weeks' workouts. There is still a lot of snow up there, but little ice. Past Elephant Rock, it wasn't tracked out to Rudy's like we had hoped,  so we turned around and found another trail elsewhere to get the rest of the miles. Upon leaving,  my car got stuck in the parking lot. Good thing I had some stuff in the trunk to hook up to Scott's awesome car that pulled me out. Teamwork! And my legs are tired. Totally unrelated, but I wanted you to remember that.

Dear Diary,

My "long run" is 10 miles this week. I still can't wrap my head around 10 miles being long. I think I basically did a long run today so...do I do another one tomorrow? Guess so. I keep thinking I need a longer run soon! Most people who are training for Boston are doing 17 milers now so my head is going bonkers.  I recently purchased a personalized plan that I start at the end of this month. While waiting, I have just been doing the Advanced plan in their book. I wonder if it will vary much. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing enough to cover the distance by April. The speed work has been the hardest for me, which is usually easier than the other stuff. Plus it looks so doable on paper so it's throwing me off. As soon as I see the plan, I'm going to just trust it and go with it. 

Thanks for listening diary, I'm done whining now...for today.

Slow build up for 2 miles then gradually dropped the pace around 40- 45 seconds above mp. Picked up the last half mile or so. Legs were tired as expected and felt a little bored, but overall felt fine.  

12.2 @ 1:33:38, 7:40ap

HR@  70-75%

Sweaty mess.

Have you ever been too stressed to run? But then you're stressed because you didn't run? A losing battle here. 

***Que background music****

In one day I had the following lost/stolen: wallet, keys, Bluetooth earbuds, mind.

The most devastating part of all? Having to go to the DMV. buh-bye.

Okay, I'm over it all. Cancelled everything and slowly building up my wallet contents again. On the bright side, I get a new wallet:) Maybe this time I will consider not hooking my keys and phone into my wallet.

Nice run this morning on Main. If I had any doubts before, they have vanished. The last few weeks I have felt incredibly tired and could not imagine running a marathon the way I felt. I took the last three days off, unplanned and knew this was totally against my schedule, but it happened. Today's easy run gave me a glimpse into my fitness this far- on rested legs. My legs felt awesome and I had to focus on holding back. Even stepping out the door, I felt like I could have ran a tempo without a warm-up. The hills felt effortless and my lungs felt great. My pace was no different than usual for this run, but the way I felt was night and day. I'm excited and hope it lasts. Back to the grind with weeks of tired legs, but at least I now know it's working! 8:16ap

4mi wu/cd

10k @43:03 (6:56ap),  0.5% incline

This workout is feeling much easier.

I felt dizzy the  last 2 miles. I think I found the culprit, Power Bar fruit fuel packs. I have no idea why, but I can contribute all of my dizzy spells to those. I don't ever seem to have the problem when I don't take them. I used them in the most of my 2013 races and ended most of them feeling dizzy. That's got to be it, I never feel it otherwise. I wonder if that's ever happened to anyone else. Google time. You can find any answer you want to find on Google:)

These miles weren't all that easy for me. Kam and I met on Bountiful blvd for a hilly long run, away from the inversion. It was especially chilly outside with the wind. We chatted up and down the hills and by mile 3 it was starting to feel like a tempo effort at 8:30 pace. Kam seemed to mange to keep his HR around 60 bpm range. He was also smart, he brought along his fuel consisting of a gallon-sized ziplock bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I have no idea where he carried it. They looked delicious but I didn't think I could stomach it. At the turn around we finally hit a flat section that was brief but nice. We ran back to our cars and took in some more fuel. Then we headed up the trail by the B to the gun range. My stomach was not happy and began to reject the GU I had just taken. I'd never had this kind before and hoped it would pass. At 12.5 miles I had to quit so I could drive home and silently die on my bathroom floor. So I did that while Kam continued on (8:23ap.) After my stomach settled I jumped on the TM to gut out a few more miles (9:30ap and HR at 80%- yikes!) It was nice running with someone else today so I could stay out of my own head and get a second opinion about training. The guy knew just what to say. 

12 weeks till Boston

Several important updates.

1. Tempo Tuesday has been moved and renamed to Meandering Monday's.

2. I have found my wallet and earbuds. 

3. I have made and eaten a lot of delicious chocolate cake that is to die for.

This morning I met Andy on LPT for 8 miles and salivated over confections.8:03ap

Then I came home and ran an extra mile as I mapped out a route for tomorrow's hill intervals.

 was smoggy and foggy. I literally ran in a humid cloud the entire workout (90% humidity.)  It didn't seem to bother me, but I felt like I could taste it. Yellow day- ugh!

1 mi wu

12x400 downhill @ 5:20-5:40ap with uphill recovery (3 mi up/3 mi down)

1 mi cd

I found an area near my church that seemed to be perfect for some downhill without traffic. It was also lit up, which I needed.  I started the intervals in a field where I could run on the dirt for part of it. This was the steepest part then flattened out on the road for the last 150m. The goal was to do these around 5k pace, but with (surprisingly) little effort, I found myself falling between 1:21-1:25 each time. The uphill recovery was actually much more taxing. Sort of a strange-reverse-effect workout. 

I focused on good, smooth form down the hill and also keeping a consistent effort when it flattened out. I expected my quads to be sore (and maybe they will be) but I really feel like my CX tights really protected my legs. My legs don't even feel tired today, which I would normally expect already. Yea!

Overall, I expected this workout to sort of hurt for being first speed workout with hills, but it ended up feeling less taxing that a trail run:) These would be tougher on the track, obviously. A good starting point to see the condition of my legs and what work needs to be done by Boston.

I went into this workout not giving it much credit,  but it ended up feeling harder than I thought it would be. Christi from the blog, who recommended this plan, warned me of this! Felt harder than the past few weeks of consistent paced tempos at a similar pace. 

2.5 wu/ cd

Incline @ .5%

6mi progressive @42:20, 7:03ap (7:30-6:30)

Progressive tempos are still my favorite type of workouts! Like if I could marry them, I would.

Frolicking around on Davis Blvd for 8 miles. 8:40ap

14 mile LR w/ Bike support from Steve. It was fun talking and having some company out there. Effort felt easy/moderate. Started to get tired last 10 mins. Last mile picked up in 6:37. HR stayed in 75% range for most of run. Legs and lungs felt great considering this weeks training. Felling hopeful!