Change of Plans

I was pretty excited to get off work a little early yesterday and be able to lace up my running shoes and take advantage of this little January thaw we are having.  I was worried the roads would be super muddy but they weren't bad, only a few spots were super muddy.

It wasn't really in my plan to run, in fact Wednesday was supposed to be a rest day, and long run on Thursday. As it happens though, life happened and I got asked to work Thursday and have Friday off instead.  This gives me a four day weekend, but screws up my running plans.

I decided to move my long run to Friday, and make Saturday either an easy run day or a rest day and since I got off work a little early yesterday I was able to get in a run yesterday as well.  YAY!

I think Friday is supposed to be almost 60 degrees! This means the county roads will be okay but I am thinking the rest of the roads less traveled and graveled on the ranch will be a muddy mess.

If there hadn't been such a brisk breeze I could have worn shorts and a tank for sure! I was pretty happy in my tank, capris and arm sleeves though.

What temp do you break out the shorts and tanks?  Low to mid forties for me, unless there is a cold wind.

Weekly Wrap Jan 18-24

Monday 7.25 mile run on snow covered roads.  The kids were out of school so they went sledding at my grandmother's while I ran.

Tuesday:  24 minute HIIT in the morning before work.

Wednesday: 45 minutes of easy yoga first thing in the morning, 12.18 mile run in a snowstorm/ rain.   I knew mentally this would be a tough long run (like the windy one last week) so I started by running with the wind and then on the way back did into the wind/with the wind intervals to break it up.  I would run into the wind for half to three quarters of a mile and then turn around and run with the wind for half a mile, some times I would run a mile or more into the wind.  It was 3.5 miles to the turn around point and by the time I got back to my car I had run 12.18 miles. So a lot of back and forth, but mentally it helped to not run into the wind so miles and miles with the snow/rain beating me in the face.

Seriously so happy to be done with this run!

Thursday: 24 minute HIIT after work. Zuzka Light's 6 pack abs

Friday: 15 minute HIIT in the morning before work. I oddly believe that these HIIT workouts before a busy day at work really help energize me.

Saturday: 60 minutes of yoga in the morning. and a 7 mile run in the afternoon.  and YAY... speed work. Finally! I did quarter mile intervals x6 with quarter mile cool downs in between. The roads were finally good enough to have the traction for speed work and it was a balmy 40 degrees and my legs were feeling good!

I didn't think I kicked my dog here, but looking at this picture I am not so sure!

Sunday: Busy working on 4-H demonstrations with the kids, my daughter is doing homemade play dough and my son is talking about gun safety. Posters are a lot of work..  but learning public speaking is so good for kids.   I did get in a windy afternoon run while the Broncos were busy beating the Patriots...yay! I saw the first half and the very end.  and I ran in capris! 

Runs 4 for  31.45 miles
Strength 3
Yoga 2

also still participating in Fit Approach's yoga challenge, I think I got in four this week.

Predictably my long run this week is scheduled on a very windy day. On the upside it is supposed to be in the 50s, so at least for a change it will be warm and windy instead of cold and windy.

 once again linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in!
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules}

Three Things Thursday: Making the Most of it

1. Yesterday was long run day.  It was also a windy snowy day. Ergh.  Last week my long run was on a cold windy day over snow covered roads too.  I seem to be picking the wrong day for my long run! Today is supposed to be sunny and nice. Naturally I have to work.

2. I am trying to do a yoga challenge with Fit Approach, but have been a little inconsistent with it. Unlike most of the other challenges I have done, they don't post the whole thing ahead of time, they do it daily and then I don't always remember to check.  I have done a few of them.

3.  I think I like my new windy day long run plan.  I start out running into the wind for several miles (yesterday I did 3.5) and then instead of doing the whole 3.5 back into the wind I did into the wind for half to three quarters of a mile and then turned around and ran with the wind for a quarter to half a mile, sometimes more. In the end I was back at my car with 12.18 miles done. Mentally it was nice to know I would get a break from the snow (rain at the end) being blown into my face making it hard to see.

See what a gloomy day this was?! and this was a break in the snow.

How about a sunnier picture to leave you with.

Currently

Currently I am:

• Watching Downton Abbey.  I started with Season 1 and am almost through Season 5 and yes I am also watching the new episodes of Season 6 as they come out. I am sad this will be the final season. My husband isn't into it at all, but I didn't expect him to be. It's been my laundry folding and cooking distraction and it makes me happy. I had seen it all before, but with the final season coming out I wanted to watch it all from the beginning. Yay for Amazon Prime!

• hoping I like my new Orange Mud hydration vest.  I picked one up on a killer deal before Christmas with the hopes that I can carry water in one side and bear spray in the other this year.  I have ran with it twice now and think I will really like it.  I am worried about rubbing and chaffing in the front of my arm when the weather warms up and I am able to wear tanks again. 

I really wanted the orange one, but the one with the deal was pink...it's pretty too.

•  Still in love with Inknburn and  they just released a fun new kit.  I am pretty excited to get these "denum" capris that are made with technical fabric and this gorgeous bright shirt.
   

 This time of year I need a little brightness!

• I am reading The Rosie Project, a book I got for my birthday, but just finally picked up! It is a very funny and quirky story about a man with social problems (think Asperger's type symptoms) looking for a wife and finding love where he least expected it.

• I am running in several pairs of shoes right now.. one that I really love are my Altra Torins.  This is the fourth pair of Altra Torins I have had and I can easily foresee more in my future.

 

• Training for a half marathon. Running overall is going good, my long run will be 12 miles this week and my half isn't for another 52 days and 22 hours.  I like to get in a couple 13 and at least one 14 before a half.  I also have two cut back weeks planned in.  Speed work is really hit and miss as the roads have been snow packed and hard to get any good traction on for speed so I run fast when I can and slow down when I need too, sort of like fartleks.
• I am using some Zuzka Light dvds for cross training. I would link to them, but I don't think you can buy them anymore, so no point.  They use a HIIT type format and weights and kick my butt three times a week. 

Weekly Wrap January 12-18th

Monday
40 minutes of yoga
21 minutes of rowing
5.25 mile hill and tempo run.

Tuesday
24 minute strength HIIT in the morning before work

Wednesday:
15 minutes yoga before work

Thursday
30 minutes of yoga in the morning
11 mile long run (first run in the double digits for the year!) slow and easy and despite the wind and hills felt really good.

Friday
27 minutes of HIIT before work in the morning

Saturday
5.1 mile run with hill repeats and a short tempo run 

Sunday: 45 minutes of power yoga which is a strength and yoga HIIT session basically, and a 7 mile run over snow covered roads, but the sun did finally decide to come out and play.

yoga x4
strength x3
rowing x1 for a 5k
runs x4 for 28.35 miles
miles for the year 69.23

I am going to call it a successful week! I would like to be working on speed a little more but it's a bit hard with the roads so snow covered and traction is not optimal.  I am hoping all the hills and throwing in some fartleks when I do have good traction will add up and count for something!

53 days and 22 hours until the Run to the Pub Half Marathon!
  
 once again linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

Three Things Thursday; Half a half plan

1. I know its January 14th and still months away from spring, but I have to admit the weather temps that were in the low 40s yesterday have me dreaming of spring and green and wearing shorts and tanks out to run.

2. 57 days and 22 hours until my next half marathon.  My longest run lately has been 9 miles.  I feel pretty good about things so far, except I haven't done much if any speed training and am not feeling real real motivated to get on it, which means I should pull up my old half marathon training plan, tweak it to fit this one and get on it!   I do of course have vague time goals in mind. 

The first three miles of this race are slightly uphill so my plan for this is to run lots of hills during my long runs. I actually have been doing this all winter and fall. In fact many of my runs are mostly uphill for the first half and down for the second.  There is also a bad hill at mile 9/10 ish I think so I need to work on adding a hill towards the end of my runs when I am tired.   The rest of this race is down hill.

So I think continuing to train with a mostly uphill out and a downhill back will be good. 

3. That said today is long run day and it is supposed to be a windy mess of a day out there.  I didn't win the lottery last night so I guess I will have to take it outside and suffer in the wind.  My little dog doesn't want me to get a treadmill anyway.

Who can say no to that face?!

A day in the life

Monday morning as the kids and I waited impatiently to see the bus lights crest the hill about a mile from our house my daughter asked why didn't I ever drive them to school?  I made the mental list 40some mile round trip, an hour and more out of my day off, peace and quiet, kids fighting on the way to school, gas isn't cheap etc etc.  Then we noticed the bus was late.

SO I called the bus barn at the school. "Yes" the lady on the other end of the phone reassured me "the bus is stuck by so and sos house."  She sounded rather stressed and as I know they are extremely short on drivers and they were trying to either send another bus or someone to plow her out, I reassured her the boys out here would get it done.

My brother showed up with his tractor and by the time he got there another neighbor had noticed the bus drivers plight and was there with his tractor as well. My sister in law ferried her son over the snow drifts and he hopped in with my kids and I drove the kids to school.

Really once past that drift it was smooth driving. 

I got the kids to school just in time and then headed home for a morning of laundry, cleaning and catching up on Downton Abbey, and an afternoon of helping get the heifers Bangs (brucellosis) vaccinated. My niece who is the last cousin not in school entertained herself by playing in the snow and climbing the bales in the corral. She didn't whine once. What a great ranch kid!

Then while my Dad, brother and sister in law made a pretty strong effort to move them to another pasture I went for a run.  I would have helped with the effort but there weren't enough 4 wheelers for everyone.   I helped get them out of the corral and headed in the right direction. I didn't see the end result but I am pretty sure they never left the pasture they started out in.  These girls aren't even a year old and can be a bit dodgy to move if they don't want to go where you want them to and having not much life experience they don't know that there are greener pastures... well this time of year just whiter ones.

It was three miles home and once I got home my little dog convinced me to run another two miles before the kids got off the bus, So I did. Supper was in the crock pot after all.

Weekly Wrap.

Monday: Running.  Interrupted. I started out on one course, but after a mile it became clear the whole run was going to be a slogfest so I turned around and ran back to my car.  The road I was running on had drifted over and it was just over my ankles.  It was also a little crusty on top, so I would break through the crust and then slide on the soft snow underneath.  Not sure even why I lasted as long as I did. Stubborn I guess.  2.2 miles, and then I drove 3ish miles and started out on a road that had been drove on a lot and had a great 6.8 mile run for a total of 9.11 miles.

Also did 45 minutes of yoga in the morning.

Tuesday: 20 minutes of yoga in the morning.  This was supposed to be a HIIT workout but my lower back was grouchy from the 2.2 miles of slipping and sliding while running on Monday.  Yoga just seemed like a smarter option.

Wednesday: 7.78 mile run, 5 minutes of easy yoga and a  24 minute HIIT in the morning

• divebombers, pistol squats and dragon lunges
• step ups, renegade row pushups, single leg deep lunges, kettle bell swings

Thursday: 12 minute HIIT after work

Friday: yoga 20 minutes in the morning before work

Saturday: ...nothing not sure what happened here, but I know I napped all afternoon and it felt amazing

Sunday: .. really meant to run, but it was cold and windy and I wasn't in the mood to be cold and blown away so I did the elliptical for an hour and did a 20 minute HIT workout.

Running  16.88
Yoga  4
HIIT/Strength 3
Elliptical 60 minutes

Soooo upside was this week I did so much better on yoga but bailed on half my runs. I did get in some cross training on the elliptical.

ALSO as of today I have 59 days until my next half marathon and first race of the year!

and once again linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap even though I am a day late! again

Don't let your babies grow up to be runners.

My little sister, who is also a runner, shared this with me yesterday.  I had to share it's pretty awesome, and a lot of it is pretty true!



and I think some of my favorite lines are:

Runners wear spandex in public and are outside at dawn, all sweaty and tired before even breakfast, most people know that's just wrong.

They pay money to do this all day.

Like an addict they're itchin to get their next fixin when the last runner's high has grown cold.

There is something to that runner's high! and getting pretty new running scoots!

Although really I hope my babies grow up to be runners, then they can run with me, until I can't keep up with them anymore anyway.

Weekly Wrap

Whew today is back to normal! Two weeks of Christmas vacation flew by for the kids and I had nearly a week off which was nice.

Monday Work day
Tuesday Work day and a 12 minute HIIT after work

Wednesday: 7 glorious sunshiney miles

Thursday: Crappy 3 mile run through ankle deep snow and bitter cold winds.  I had been decieved by the sunshine and felt terribly under dressed.   The whole run felt a struggle.  Might have been the wind or the ankle deep snow.  Good bye to 2015!

Friday: 7.43 miles running, awesome run and much needed, great way to kick off 2016!

Saturday: Rest day from running 24 minute HIIT, lots of walking up hills with sledding

Sunday: 7 miles, much colder than I thought it was going to be out and my fingers were so frozen by the time I was done! 15 minute HIIT

Total miles ran: 24.43
Strength workouts:3
Yoga: 0 (oops)

and once again linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap even though I am a day late!

 Have a great week!

A New Year, Same Old Me!

The whole new year a new you always annoys me a bit.  You aren't going to be a whole new you just because the calendar moved another day forward into a new year.  Is it even realistic to expect the way you have been to just change over night?  I can't buy into that.  I can be a better me, but let's face it, I am 38 years old and at this point I am pretty happy with the way things are. That doesn't mean I don't have room for improvement because I do. It just means I don't want a new me. 

I am not going to set any resolutions.
I have goals of course. Like running three half marathons, doing speed work once a week, etc, but I haven't got them all down yet. It seems like the end of the year was so crazy I just didn't have the time or energy to get them wrote down.

I do have a phrase I found that I love "Find joy in the journey"  Usually finding joy isn't hard for me. I have two wonderful children, that make my clean house messy in less than 5 minutes and I live in beautiful surroundings.  I consider myself a glass half full and is about to be refilled kind of person... usually. Till things aren't going my way of course and then I have to remind myself to find joy in the moment and that no one but me controls my own attitude.  

I started out the new year just how I ended it.. with a run of course.  Although I admit my run on the 31st was a struggle and the run on the 1st was a breeze.  I feel like that is starting 2016 on the right foot for sure!

of course the run on the 3`1st may have been a struggle since it was on a road that was completely drifted over and the wind was super brutal.

I had made the decision last fall to not always take the easy route on my runs and this run for sure was not the easy route, it would have been easier with cross country skis or snow shoes! The snow was ankle deep and I struggled the whole way. 

What is a goal you set for the new year?  New year, new you or same old you?