Week 1, Day 1 of 50k training! and some other stuff…..

Hello!

Happy Monday! 🙂

Hope you had a good weekend!

Mine was pretty good. Did some shopping on Saturday – pet food, cute workout clothes for FitBloggin, groceries, wine, etc. Good times.

Except for the part where I forgot the $5 off coupon for the groceries. #fail

Sunday was laundry, vacuuming, planning my outfits for FitBloggin.

Um, did I mention that I’m going to FitBloggin? IT STARTS ON THURSDAY!!!!!!

So, we FINALLY caught up on season 4 of Ink Master.

Raise your hand if you thought the finale was lame and that the choice for winner was BS.

Seriously.

I’m actually really, really mad. I enjoy(ed) watching that show because of the talented artists that compete and, well, I like tattoos. The drama that goes along with it is to be expected because it IS a reality show and a competition and it’s people stuck together for a long period of time. But, they are totally playing up the drama too much and making the show more about that than the art and the tattoos.

I mean, really. Season 5 is “the rivals.” Oh. Goodie. More drama.

Add to the fact that there was the possibility (BLATANT REALITY) of favoritism by the judges (um, seriously, how can you leave a SPIKE out of the Statue of Liberty’s CROWN and not get eliminated, much less WIN THE WHOLE SHOW?!?!?!) and you’ve got more drama.

Pretty sure I’m done watching that show.  Sorry, had to rant a little. 🙂

And, moving on….

Guess what today is?!

It’s the first day of 50k training! Whoop!

I kicked off my day with mile repeats at the track. I’ll head to CrossFit after work and then, I’m fairly positive that I will fall over and die fall asleep standing up.

So, I had 3×1600 in 7:25 this morning. Except, adrenaline got the better of me and my repeats looked a little more like this:

mile 1 – 6:58

mile 2 – 7:22

mile 3 – 7:26

I don’t know where that 6:58 came from. Oops. #speedygonzalez

The track that I was running on was old, cement, and rife with tons of cracks, grass, and weeds.

The other alternative was to use the indoor track which was super nice, in excellent condition, springy and 15 laps to a mile.

Um, no. Really? 15 laps to a mile?! How depressing!

It was also what surrounded the fitness area in the Y so not only would I be running in a TON of circles, I would be doing it in front of a ton of other people with nothing better to stare at than me going in circles….over and over and over and over.

At least I had the outside to myself. Just me, the birds, the ants, and my pepper spray. Oh yeah, of course it’s not in the bestest part of town. But, the area is fenced and all the gates are locked and the people at the front counter know I’m out there (yes, I DID tell them as I was walking outside. accountability and all that jazz). So, as long as I’m running in the daylight, I think I’ll be okay.

Talk to me: Have you ever run on an indoor track? Have you ever run on a track that’s shorter than a 1/4-mile? Have you ever seen such an adorably lazy dog? 🙂

 

– jennifer

Trackless Tuesday & the kindness of a stranger

Hi there!

So, again, here I sit staring out the window waiting for the snow to fall.

Yesterday, it was almost 60 degrees.

It’s presently 22 degrees, feels 11 and about 5 inches of snow are in the forecast.

Then, we’re supposed to be back up to the 50s by Saturday.

This place has crazy weather. Crazy, I say.

Luckily, I was able to get my speedwork done this morning.

I was really anxious and apprehensive about it for some reason.

Here’s what I had on my schedule:

One problem.

I don’t have access to a track. 😦

Turns out that the local high school track isn’t open to the public.

It’s a little difficult, without defined measurements, to know how far those distances are when you’re running on the streets.

My Garmin is awesome but it doesn’t accommodate all that.

So, I knew I had to change it up but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.

Plus, I knew it was going to be cold and I guess I was a little gun-shy about that given my foray into the world of hypothermia on my long run this past Saturday.

I darn near talked myself out of it before I even got out of bed!

But, like all people who are addicted to their phones and social media (don’t judge me), I tweeted about my apprehension before I got up and almost immediately got a response.

Who is this person and why was she up so early?!

And, honestly, her response helped. A LOT. As soon as I read it, I was motivated to run.

And, I don’t even know her!

All too often we tear each other down with negative words, criticisms and hatred. For what? What purpose does that serve? None. All it does is hurt people.

Love and support are what we ALL deserve. And what we should ALL give to each other.

Life is so much happier that way.

And her support – the support and confidence of a stranger – got me out the door this morning. And for that, I owe her.

Thanks, @caffeineyesplz!

So, I figured out how to change up my workout to fit my needs this morning.

(I completed each one with a 400 rest interval.)

Phew! That was a tough one! Here’s how I did:

1200 – 5:30

800 – 3:33

800 – 3:36

400 – 1:43

400 – 1:49

And then, I finished with a 1.5 mile cool down.

Although, it was pretty cold so it didn’t take much for me to “cool down.” Haha! No hypothermia or frost nip, though. Thank goodness!

Today is Day #2 of the #CoreCommit Core Power Challenge!

We had a 10 minute video to follow.

Holy. Moly.

I’m definitely going to be feeling today’s workout tomorrow!

Did you sign up yesterday? I hope so!

And, I’ve got another challenge for you, too!

The saying goes that “there’s a sucker born every minute” and I think my name is topping that list today.

FitFluential is doing a 1,000 Burpee challenge and, because my picture is next to the word “sucker” in the dictionary, I’m doing that one too!

source

Besides buffness (yes, that’s a word. just go with it.), the potential prize is a head-to-toe look from Under Armour!

Are you in? 🙂

Talk to me: I’m looking for cold weather running socks to help keep my poor little tootsies warm. Do you have a favorite brand?

– jennifer

Mile Repeats and Motivation

Hello!

It’s Track Tuesday!

I got there at o dark 30 because I knew I had mile repeats on my schedule.

peaceful morning

I was the only one there!

OH! And it was 56 degrees this morning!

So. Fabulous.

Running and cool weather are best buds.

Seriously.

So, I started off with a mile warm-up jog.

Which I needed. Because it was chilly!

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What? It was like 90 degrees with 100% humidity on Saturday?! Don’t judge me.

Then, I did my 8 burpees.

100 DAY BURPEE CHALLENGE – DAY 8!

Have you done yours?

Mile 1 – 7:42

Mile 2 – 7:43

Mile 3 – 7:38

WOOT!

Okay, not really.

But still, week 3 of marathon training after coming back from an injury?

Yeah, I was leaving smoke trails. 🙂

Let me tell you a little bit about those burpees today.

Remember yesterday?  Murph?

Um, yeah.

My entire body aches.

Running felt great on my legs but my upper body?

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I almost didn’t get out of bed this morning.

I was snuggling with a very cute little kitty.

She was warm.

But, I got up anyway.

Because I wanted to run.

I love running. And endorphins. And food. I really really love food.

Question: How do you motivate yourself to work out when you’re tired and want to skip/stay in bed/be lazy?

– jennifer