Restructuring

There's nothing quite like the panic, stress, and overdrive of a new school year to remind you that you're only human.

New office, new job, familiar faces. These first weeks back were BUSY.

I was so consistent with my speed work and workout schedule from March until July, but over the last two weeks, I've struggled. And once you give in to the struggle, it's hard to get back at it.

Monday, on the drive home from Orlando after a rousing back-to-school conference, Elizabeth and I sketched out what this fall's workout schedule will look like. We have a 10k in October to train for, and I'm playing with the idea of running a half in December or January - I can't believe my "year of short distance" is almost over already! - so it's time to get serious again.

This week's workouts included two morning runs and one treadmill run (because we were traveling). I was impressed that we got up early to run before work this week! It's been storming so badly in the evenings that we really had to.

We got up at 6am Sunday to run before we drove to Orlando; we were dressed and ready to go when we realized it was storming and there was tons of lightning. So we settled for treadmills later that day.

We also did an ab workout Monday.

Starting this week, our plan is to add a fourth day of running to our schedule. We needed to move around cross-training days to accommodate this. Our usual plan as looked like this:

Consistent, but fairly easy.

Now, it will look more like this:

Friday's easy run will be moderate distance, hence the +.

Although summer is only going to get hotter and more humid in the next few weeks, we both know we have to get back into consistent training. I'm disappointed in myself for allowing myself to slack off a bit over the last couple weeks, and I'm worried that some of the major progress I've made with speed will have regressed a bit, but I really needed the time to adjust to being back at work.

I'm also going to try to get back into my blog-reading schedule. I've missed catching up with all of you!

How was your week?

Are you preparing for race season?

How do you balance running and cross-training?

ABK

Weekly Workouts 5/30-6/5

Monday: Because we didn't have work on Memorial Day, Elizabeth emailed me early in the morning to let me know which ab workouts she had done. I was going to do a Runner's World workout, but these seemed harder!

I did the first video twice and the second video once. I have no idea how she barely breaks a sweat and is able to talk so normally throughout her videos! Give me 90 seconds and I'm panting so much I can't talk!

Tuesday: Elizabeth and I completed the bridge loop twice for a four-mile run. We were worried about rain so we parked closer to the bridge than the last time I did this run (hence the shorter distance), but it ended up just being muggy and sweltering with nary a drop of rain in sight.

I didn't look at my paces at all. Even though this was speed work, I concentrated more on effort because of the heat. (We had to run earlier so I could go home and pack for DC.)

Wednesday & Thursday: These were technically "rest" days. I was up at 4am to meet the kids at the airport for our trip to DC. I knew I wouldn't have any time for workouts on Wednesday, and Thursday ended up being a long day too. I did get quite a few walking miles in, though. We were all over the city and did Arlington on Wednesday, so I'm counting that as hill work!

Friday: At 2:30am the fire alarm in the hotel went off and we had to get evacuate all the kids and wait for the all-clear from the fire department. (It was a small fire in the staff lounge, from what I gathered. I was relieved when I smelled smoke because I knew it was legit and none of the kids had just pulled the alarm as a joke!)

Still, three hours later I was up for a short run on the hotel treadmill. I only had time for 25 minutes, but I made the most of it, increasing the pace every five minutes or so and finishing at a sprint.

I also walked 4.5 miles that day for a total of 7 miles. Ouch.

Sunday: I was so exhausted on Saturday, I pushed our "long run" to Sunday night and opted to just do an hour run/6 miles. Of course, once we got out there, I realized just how tired I was. My legs felt heavy and I was having a hard time keeping a solid pace; the humidity was taking a lot out of me. Was it the stairs, hills, and constant walking of DC? Was it that I was still sleep deprived? All I know is that this run was a struggle-fest, and we ended up cutting the run a little short, but at least we got out there!

Let's play "how many gnats did Ali eat on her run tonight?"

I have five more days of school-with-students. I know this week is going to be nuts; I've got my blinders on and I'm ready to power through and finish this year on a great note!

How was your week?

ABK

The Perfect Weekend

If I can manage to fit a dinner out, a run, and social hour into a weekend I feel pretty satisfied and ready for Monday. This was just such a weekend.

Archie is doing much better. After the initial day of his illness, he only threw up once. He's been tired and a little clingy, but has been eating and drinking normally again, and his stools are normal again. (I jokingly mentioned to Matt that we're as bad as our friends-who-are-parents with our poop-talk and he replied, "That's what happens when you have a sick baby." Accurate.)

Cuddling in my shirt.

We're keeping him in the hospital cage as long as he's clingy because we think it's mostly due to his being cold. Today he gave himself a bath, so I think he's feeling much better.

So excited to eat, he took a seed-bath!

Snoozing on my hand while I was attempting to grade midterms today.

Friday night Matt and I had my favorite meal for long runs/races: sushi! It really is my favorite fuel, and once again it worked like a charm.

I could eat my weight in sushi and still not be tired of it!

Saturday I was up early for my long run. I met Tracey (one of my GGM teammates) at Tropical Smoothie and we ran a gorgeous 7 miles.

Feeling accomplished!

I was so distracted by the lovely route and good conversation that I didn't take any pictures...Oops! It's funny, because 7 miles is still a challenge to run physically, but in mental terms it doesn't seem that long anymore.

Thanks for the smoothie, Tracey! Next one's on me!

After the run, Matt and I hit up JoAnn Fabrics and got crafty making festive sweaters for Meg's Sweater Party. We enjoyed an amazing home-cooked meal, homemade eggnog, and some of the best sweaters and outfits I've seen in a long time.

Meg's coworkers are some of the funniest guys I've ever met. They make me miss our college friends!

Mmm, eggnog!

For those wondering, yes, those are authentic paisley pants from the '60s.

And because I love you guys, and am a sucker for public humiliation, here's a fun picture from Thursday when I did some speedwork at the gym and finished it up with weights for the first time in months:

Yes, 20 lbs hurts that much.

You're welcome.

How was your weekend?
Have you attended any holiday parties yet this season?
What's your go-to meal before a long-run or race?

ABK

Running on Fire

This week I started (and finished) Scott Jurek's memoir Eat & Run. Although I took exception to some of it, I highlighted more than I expected. I think some of his mantras and keep-going attitude rubbed off on me this week.

Even if you're uninterested in running ultras, this is worth the read.

Yesterday I had one of those mid-week mini-long runs of 6 miles. I’m still having trouble fitting more than 4 miles in before I have to get back home for work, so I saved the run for after a full day of teaching.

My calves burned the entire time. I was going to cut it short but I decided to push through. I was really glad that I did the entire thing. I walked at the halfway point, just to have some water, but then continued and ran the whole time.

I think the burning calves were caused by the cross training that I did earlier in the week.

Here's a picture of all the people on the treadmills during rush hour at our gym. I'm glad this was on my cross training day, so I didn't have to claim one for myself!

It's hard to take a non-blurry picture while on the stair-stepper! Whodathunk?

I would still rather be sore during a longer midweek run than on my real long run on the weekends, so I think that I'm going to keep doing cross training early in the week (on Tuesday or Wednesday).

This might be TMI, but I also have another UTI…seriously the worst illness to have while running. I felt like I was going to wet myself for the first three miles of this run. I seem to be getting them more and more often. This might have something to do with how often I'm working out and how much I’m sweating.

Post-run collapse...But inside I was grinning.

Anyway, I was on my first dose of antibiotics when I went for my run last night, and that definitely didn’t help. I didn't feel very well or have a lot of energy, but I pushed through.

I was playing with the idea of only doing 4 miles. I bargained with myself, wondering how many miles I could add to a scheduled shorter run to make up for it. But in the end, I stuck with it; the run was tough, but that made it good.

The hard runs are what train us for greater distances; finishing this one will do more for my marathon training than hundreds of Good, easy runs ever would.

Needless to say, I'm really, really glad I finished.

Oh, also, I listened to Pandora on this run and "Come On Eileen" definitely gave me the boost I needed around mile 4.5.

(Look for a guest post from me in the near future on Alyssa’s blog, See This Girl Run, on building mental toughness!)

How do you find the silver lining of a tough run?

How do you fit in longer mid-week runs?

What's the best 80s song to run to?

ABK

MTWR 5

Last week, after a disappointing 7 miles total, I set myself some goals that ignored the plan I've been following and focused more on what I felt was right for me. The goals I set were:

Goals for this week: 
    1. Run at least three weekdays, at least 4 miles.
    2. Complete my long run.
    3. Complete a real crosstraining workout at the gym.

This is what training looked like in reality:

Monday, Aug 5	4 miles. Did 4x1 intervals run/walk. Super humid and pretty slow, but so glad I went.
Tuesday, Aug 6	XTrain. 15 minutes “fat burner” setting on stairstepper, 2:00 plank, abductors/adductors (55 lbs x 20 x 2), leg press (50 lbs x 20 x 2), ab machine (50 lbs x 12 x 2)
Wednesday, Aug 7	4 mile progression run on treadmill. Last mile at 8:55. Definitely a morale booster.
Thursday, Aug 8	Rest
Friday, Aug 9	Rest (Summit – all day travel and exhaustion)
Saturday, Aug 10	Rest (recovery from Summit)
Sunday, Aug 11	9 miles on treadmill. 4 or 5 SportsBeans pre-run, 2 Gu Chomps at 2 miles (with water and walk break), 1 Chomp at mile 4. Felt AWESOME. Fast & Furious on TV helped, too haha. Ran in Kayanos. Definitely the right shoes for me.

 
I missed one of my 4-milers, but it was necessary. I was going to run it on Thursday, but had to be up and on a bus by 5am to go to Orlando for an all-day event for school. We didn't get home until well after 9pm. I ended up taking three rest days in a row, which was a little much, but I didn't want to run the day before my long run.

I finally got a fuelbelt that I'm super excited to begin using, but I somehow forgot to turn my alarm on. I woke up with the sun and thought blearily, "Why is is bright out?" Yeah. So I had to do my run on the treadmill.

I refused to let this long run fall by the wayside. I got it done, even if it meant using the treadmill.

I usually get really bored on the treadmill, but I was lucky. I forgot my headphones, but refused to let that stop me. I asked Matt to bring them to the gym at his leisure, and I'd do the first few miles without them. This ended up being okay, actually. I wasn't distracted by trying to skip songs. Plus, The Fast and the Furious was on TV! (I'm such a sucker for those movies.)

I was scheduled for 8 miles. Matt brought my headphones at mile 4. I felt so good, I did an extra mile. I could have even done 10, but I began to have some knee and hip discomfort, and there's no reason to push myself and possibly cause injury at this point.

Feeling so strong left me feeling really positive. I'm excited to tackle 12 miles next week!

I'd been so worried about this run - testing fueling again and doing it on the treadmill instead of outside - that the relief of it being a success has really broken down a wall I was mentally fighting.

Despite keeping the treadmill at the same MPH the entire time, my pace still fluctuated. So weird.

I ate 4 or 5 SportsBeans about 15 minutes before the run. (They're caffeinated.) I was going to run 4x1 intervals but felt too good, so instead I chose to take water breaks every two miles or so. At the first two-mile mark, I ate two Chomps (caffeine free) and had some water; I ate a third Chomp at mile 5.

These things are EASY to eat, tasty, and WORK! Definitely my preference for fuel.

I was still feeling really strong; added an extra mile and pushed my pace.

I did have some "intestinal discomfort" around mile 7. I'm just not used to eating on the run yet. But I didn't have to stop, and the feeling passed.

It was really fun to watch people come and go. I got there just as rush hour began, so there were people on the treadmills on either side of me. As they came and went, I kept on trucking. And my pace was easily under 10 minute miles the entire time, even including my walk breaks. Love it.

The glow of success!

This run also solidified for me that I need to return the Brooks for my Asics. My feet just felt so perfect in my tried-and-true shoes. Now I know that Kayanos are my sole-mates for life!

Did you have a long run or race this weekend?
What are your plans for next week?

ABK