Week 17!

We're getting there. 13 weeks to go after this one finishes out. Today is a rest day and tomorrow is the first 10 miler. Last week was the longest distance I had ever run before (9 miles) and boy did that take a lot out of me...it was fun though. During the run, it was enjoyable - I was just soo tired the rest of the day.

This week has gone well. I got my best time so far doing 3.2 miles at the backbone on Tuesday (24:55) and got my 3rd best on Thursday. It is going to be the coldest day in a while on Saturday for our 10 miler but we're not going to postpone til Sunday (it's the Superbowl!!  GO PATS!!)

Week 14

I may have skipped a couple weeks of blogging but I did not skip my runs! Well, I'll admit the week of Christmas I went into super lazy mode and skipped some then. I justified it, though - I decided that would be a rest week from lifting/running. I did a couple of light runs/workouts but I figured it would be good to take a week off. That was "week 12" of the program. Les and I both skipped the 6 mile run that week and I think I did 2 runs. We were back on track week 13 and I actually did 5 runs (4, 3 milers and the 6 miler). The 6 mile was a struggle only because my calves/achilles tendons were super sore!! I made it through but had to walk part of some of the steeper hills. 

This week we do 3-3-3-7. I did my 3 yesterday at the backbone and it was my slowest by far (the conditions were horrible though so I know that was why. It's not an excuse, it's a reason). I enjoyed the poor conditions because it will absolutely help for the Spartan Race. Parts of the trail were muddy, slushy, and both made for a slippery time. 

Today, I am going to not do a 3-mile run but my goal is 10 basketball court-length suicides at the gym. It has been a while since I've done any sprinting so I think it will be just as beneficial as going for a 3 mile run. Tomorrow I will get back to the 3 miler and Sunday for cross-training, I would like to do another sprinting day!! That's all for now!

Week 11 - i'm getting faster

I can finally start to feel that I'm getting faster and tolerating long (4+ miles) runs better. I'm now starting to enjoy them and look forward to the long runs because I can see the benefit I am getting from them in my training. this week will consist off all 3 mile runs so I am hoping to do all at devil's backbone and get that good climb at midway point of each. the weather was pretty crummy yesterday and today isn't terrible (both off-days). the rest of the week should be high 30's, low 40's with potential for snow wednesday so maybe I will alter the sched and run tomorrow, thursday, friday saturday or tomorrow thursday friday sunday.  we will see!  time to keep on chugging.

Week 10 Starts Today

Week 10 is here. Week 9 went very well. Did all my runs at the Devil's Backbone. Of course the longest run last week was only 3 miles but I challenged myself a little harder by going up the front side of the Keyhole and up the backside. It was my first time going up the backside and my pace was slightly better than it had been all week. Not much else to say about the week of runs other than I'm pumped for all the races....still 5 months to go.

Week 9

Week 9 started yesterday with a rest day...as does every week. Today, however, was the first run of week 9 and I went to the Devil's Backbone and did a loop that was 2.45 miles (i know, I'm an over achiever). Great run and I will thank the beautiful weather for that. It is 61 degrees right now on December 2nd!! Shorts and T-shirt weather. Supposed to be nice all week. Coldest day is tomorrow so I may run Friday and take tomorrow off, but we'll see. 

Last week I found out that the Spartan Race is on May 2nd. That is terrific because the MARATHON is on May 3rd. I guess the day before the marathon won't be an off day. I'm up for the challenge!!

Last weeks 5 mile run went very well. It was supposed to be a warm day on Sunday (when we did it) but it was not at all! It was freezing (about 20 degrees) but my new tights and running pants helped me out and I felt fine. We did that at the Backbone as well.

That's about all for now!

Onto Week 8 of Colorado Marathon Training (and week 3 of P90X)

Onto week 8 of marathon training. Last weeks runs ended up being wednesday, thursday, friday, sunday. i forget why i didn't run tuesday but it's all good cause i got it in. i was going to go 4 days in a row and run on saturday because the weather was supposed to be nicer than sunday but it ended up being cold and cloudy.  Sunday's weather wasn't too bad. It was very windy, however, so that run was a bit slower. I could feel the wind slowing me down on one long road! That mile ended up taking about 9 minutes. Today is an off day (other than P90X legs and back)! The first 3 runs of the week will be the same as last week, except Saturday gets cranked up to a 5 miler!  I'm glad today is off too...it's supposed to be the coldest day of the week. 

Tuesday: 48º

Wednesday: 53º

Thursday (Turkey Day): 58º

Saturday: 56º

Definitely going to stay on track this week to get those great weather runs in. I'm going to set a goal and try to stay at a steady 9 minute pace for each mile for the 5 miler. This will be the longest run I've done in a few years for sure so right now, it seems long! If I can pick it up a little for the final mile, I will! 

That's all for now! 

Week 7 Coming Up

I made it through last weeks runs. It's getting real now. The temperature didn't get above 30º all week til yesterday (Sunday) and it was under 0 when I woke up a few times last week. I did 2 of my runs indoors on the track/treadmill at the gym but I don't like it...especially when 14 laps = 1 mile. That means for a 3 mile run, I gotta do 42 laps...I split that workout up to 1 mile on the treadmill and finished up on the track.
Last night, Leslie and I ran our longest so far of training (4.5 miles) outside. I got 40:57 for my time which comes out to a 9:06 pace, which I'm fine with considering a lot of the run was through snow and I had to wait for a red light to turn twice. I also took about a minute break and didn't stop the timer at the halfway point. This week is back to 2-3-2-3 so no runs longer than 3 miles. Then next week, we bump up to 5 miles!  Let's hope the weather stays calm, however, what can we expect when training thru the winter for a marathon in May!