The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! Da da da DAAAAAAAAA!
The Good-this time last week, central Ohio was rocking some seriously gorgeous weather. I was able to run in a short sleeved top and shorts last Weds for speedwork with my training group, and a tank top and shorts last Friday (more on why I wasn't at work later). Plus, aside from an intermittently sore right calf, half marathon training is actually going fabulously (knock on wood!). While speedwork may at times be miserable (more on that later too) I'm definitely feeling myself getting faster which, in turn, is actually making me feel like I might run a sub 1:50 half in May after all!
The Bad-cold weather is baaaaaaack with a vengeance! Last Wednesday's speedwork session was in a short sleeved top and shorts, and last night's session was spent in insulated tights, a short sleeved top, a long sleeved top, jacket, and gloves (the only reason I didn't wear my ear warmers too is b/c I couldn't find them). I ended up taking the jacket off halfway through but damn it was cold when I wasn't running.
Ah, speedwork. Last Weds, it was 2 mile repeats at tempo pacex3 (total of 6 miles, or 7.5 with warm up/cool down). Last night? 1 mile warm, 1 mile tempo pace (so for me, around 8:00/mile), then 2x400m at 6:45-7:00 pace, rest, 1x800m at same pace, rest, 1x1600 at pace, rest, 1x800 at pace, rest, 2x400 at pace, rest, 1 mile at tempo, 1 mile cooldown. Excuse me, 800m cooldown. By that point, we were SO done with the track. Especially since it was icy. Ohhhh jeebus that was hard. And definitely one of those times that makes me extremely thankful for my training group b/c otherwise there's no way I would have made it through a workout like that on my own. The things I put myself through in the interest of making my time goal...
The Ugly-aka, my left eye. Last week, the corner of my eye had been looking a little pink and had me thinking pinkeye but the lack of itching and goopiness got me thinking otherwise. Until I got home from last Wednesday's speedwork and found that the whole white of my eye had gone pinky red, like something out of a horror movie. Ew. Said eye proceeded to feel kinda goopy and slightly crusty whenever I woke up during the night, so needless to say Thursday morning I put my glasses back together (they'd been broken forever...like since my honeymoon. In July. 2008.) and marched my happy ass off to the nearest CVS Minute Clinic to find out what was going on. Again, I feared pinkeye but the lovely nurse practitioner informed me that based on my symptoms and their progression no, she did not think I had pinkeye. Rather, an eye infection caused by something on my contact lens that I had not changed in...six months? (Hush. I don't want to hear it.). So I got a week's worth of eye drops and instructions to not go back to work for 24 hours after starting said drops and therefore winning me the chance to take a half day off work the next day (hence last Friday morning's lovely run). And a ban on wearing contacts or eye makeup at all for seven.days. Gah.
Thankfully, my eye now looks normal again and after a trip to the eye doctor's today I have new contacts AND glasses on the way. I learned my lesson for sure. :P
Now, back to counting down the days until springtime! I'm sick of the Terrible Twosome coming in from the backyard with muddy paws, and NEED to get back into the routine of walking them daily. They're like children who have been cooped up inside all winter and have been driving me nuts. Like, getting all their toys taken away and put in toy purgatory (aka the family room closet) because they won't stop bickering over them and generally being annoying. Plus, I'm sick of bundling up before I go run. Come onnnnn, Mother Nature....
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
What is that I see?
Is that...sunshine?! And temps above bitterly freezing cold?! I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I'm not complaining!
Apparently, Mother Nature heard all of the complaints from me and my fellow Ohioans re: how sick we were of super cold weather and ice/snow, and had decided to bestow upon us a lovely week of nonsubzero temperatures. What does this mean? It means the kids can get out of the house and play a little bit, and that parents don't have to feel homebound by the weather. It means the snow is finally going to melt, and we'll see grass again. It's brown grass, but its grass. It means there is currently a small pond in my backyard, which will only grow as more snow melts and provide endless amusement for the Terrible Twosome. Joy. But best of all, it means I can go on a run without slipping on the snow/ice and having to bundle myself up within an inch of my life! Thursday, I might even get to wear shorts! SHORTS! Insanity, I tells ya.
Half marathon training is going well so far. Random aches and pains, but nothing persistent. I'm trying to be a very good girl about sticking to my training plan and getting the appropriate mileage in each week, and have actually been good about doing my speedwork too. This week's workouts looked like this:
Monday: 3 miles easy
Tuesday: 3 miles easy, plus some elliptical
Weds: 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at approx 8:15 pace with 2-3 min standing rest between each mile, 1 mile cooldown.
Thurs: 4 miles easy, plus some elliptical
Fri: Off
Sat: 7 mile long run
Sunday: 6o mins mixed cardio (20 mins each on two different elliptical type machines, plus 20 min on the Arc trainer).
THIS is the kind of schedule I need to be more consistent with. I find it far too easy to take days off early on in the week. Hell, it took half an hour of inner monologue with myself to get off the couch and put on gym clothes today, then another fifteen minutes to get me out the door. This week, I was motivated by the fact that my husband had a nasty case of the flu. Because, you see, I wanted to be as far away from his germs for as long as I could. The poor guy had the cough, the congestion, the fever, the body aches, and the stomach upset (both kinds)...and I wanted nothing to do with it. It didn't help that his grandpa passed away last Saturday so we had the funeral on Weds-meaning, lots of people who wanted to hug him or shake his hand, and lots of people he had to tell "Uhhhh, you don't want to touch me right now." We even skipped the family lunch after the service so he wouldn't overdo it-we picked up lunch at Panera and took it home instead.
So apparently, nothing motivates me to go to the gym quite like a flu-ridden spouse. Thankfully, he's feeling much better and I have shown no symptoms at all...very possibly due to my work-required flu shot. Either way, I'm not complaining.
Hopefully, this time next week, I'll be able to add "bike ride" to my record of what exercise I did this week. Because maybe, just maybe, I can get in a ride on my new used bike next weekend...once I pick up some bike grease. And a helmet. And probably new pedals too. Cross your fingers!
Warmer weather, here I come!
Apparently, Mother Nature heard all of the complaints from me and my fellow Ohioans re: how sick we were of super cold weather and ice/snow, and had decided to bestow upon us a lovely week of nonsubzero temperatures. What does this mean? It means the kids can get out of the house and play a little bit, and that parents don't have to feel homebound by the weather. It means the snow is finally going to melt, and we'll see grass again. It's brown grass, but its grass. It means there is currently a small pond in my backyard, which will only grow as more snow melts and provide endless amusement for the Terrible Twosome. Joy. But best of all, it means I can go on a run without slipping on the snow/ice and having to bundle myself up within an inch of my life! Thursday, I might even get to wear shorts! SHORTS! Insanity, I tells ya.
Half marathon training is going well so far. Random aches and pains, but nothing persistent. I'm trying to be a very good girl about sticking to my training plan and getting the appropriate mileage in each week, and have actually been good about doing my speedwork too. This week's workouts looked like this:
Monday: 3 miles easy
Tuesday: 3 miles easy, plus some elliptical
Weds: 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at approx 8:15 pace with 2-3 min standing rest between each mile, 1 mile cooldown.
Thurs: 4 miles easy, plus some elliptical
Fri: Off
Sat: 7 mile long run
Sunday: 6o mins mixed cardio (20 mins each on two different elliptical type machines, plus 20 min on the Arc trainer).
THIS is the kind of schedule I need to be more consistent with. I find it far too easy to take days off early on in the week. Hell, it took half an hour of inner monologue with myself to get off the couch and put on gym clothes today, then another fifteen minutes to get me out the door. This week, I was motivated by the fact that my husband had a nasty case of the flu. Because, you see, I wanted to be as far away from his germs for as long as I could. The poor guy had the cough, the congestion, the fever, the body aches, and the stomach upset (both kinds)...and I wanted nothing to do with it. It didn't help that his grandpa passed away last Saturday so we had the funeral on Weds-meaning, lots of people who wanted to hug him or shake his hand, and lots of people he had to tell "Uhhhh, you don't want to touch me right now." We even skipped the family lunch after the service so he wouldn't overdo it-we picked up lunch at Panera and took it home instead.
So apparently, nothing motivates me to go to the gym quite like a flu-ridden spouse. Thankfully, he's feeling much better and I have shown no symptoms at all...very possibly due to my work-required flu shot. Either way, I'm not complaining.
Hopefully, this time next week, I'll be able to add "bike ride" to my record of what exercise I did this week. Because maybe, just maybe, I can get in a ride on my new used bike next weekend...once I pick up some bike grease. And a helmet. And probably new pedals too. Cross your fingers!
Warmer weather, here I come!
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