Sunday, September 27, 2020

This is silly, I'm not training for anything.

I don't know why I've kept up the "training" posts. I'm not training for anything. My mileage isn't progressing or following any kind of plan. As much as I crave structure and goals to motivate me, I don't think another demand on my time and energy is what I need right now. I've got a good groove of weekly activities for now and I'm good with it. 

Monday
Did: 60 min Power Flow w/ Karina
I usually avoid doing workouts on Mondays since it's my day to help D with his eLearning at home, plus do my usual workday, but today I felt like I just needed to take the hour for myself and do some yoga. It was a good choice.

Tuesday
Did: Track Tuesday, 6.74 mi @ 8:10/mi avg
Matt had to miss out on the track run today, but thankfully another track friend Chris was able to join for the first time since pre-Corona. Definitely good to have another person along those suuuuper dark sections of the Swamp Rabbit Trail so early in the morning.
Did a downward ladder and was fairly pleased with paces... the time per distance doesn't exactly match the detected pace since the distance markers on the track are basically nonexistent. 
1600 @ 7:00/mi = 7:13
1200 @ 7:05/mi = 5:26
800 @ 6:50/mi = 3:31
400 @ 6:23/mi = 1:39

Wednesday
Did: 60 min Soul Sculpt w/ Brionna
Yayyyy got another of Brionna's classes in. Super tough class, tons of lunges and squats. Booty's gonna be sore.

Thursday
Did: 4.21 mi @ 8:35/mi + 60 min Power Flow w/ Marsha
Was planning to run home from dropping D off at school, but as we pulled away from the house it was raining fairly steadily (where did that come from??) and was still dark. I wasn't in the mood for it, so I said no thanks and hopped out. Ran later once the sun came up and the rain (seemed to have) moved out. Got rained on for the last mile = loved it.

Later got in a power flow class with Marsha as the instructor - man I have missed her! She's got good inspirational stories and affirmations throughout the class, plus is always challenging and has new/different things for her students to try. 

Friday
Did: 60 min Power Flow w/ Jessica
Lotsa yoga this week! This has become my typical Friday lunch class which I really enjoy. 

Saturday
Did: 8.42 mi @ 8:49/mi avg
Ran with the downtown group again, this time a slower paced crew (thank goodness) with an easy route out-and-back on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I think I need to eat more food before I do long-ish runs, because I start to poop out around an hour into the run. I pushed to get past 8 miles but really want to get back to double-digits soon. It'll happen, just need to get my head in the game.

Sunday
Did: 5.7 mi hike w/ D
Took D out for an ambitious hike at Table Rock - all the way up to Governor's Rock! 
Large Hill

It was a beautiful morning and D did an amazing job climbing this super-technical and very climby trail. He loved making it to the view at the top (or at least the "top" where we turned around) and keeps talking about how he really wants to go all the way to the top of the mountain! Maybe someday soon... here are some pics from our adventures:





😊

Saturday, September 26, 2020

"Because Why Not" Half Marathon Training (Week 6/12)

Side note: Uhh yeah I forgot to write in this blog for, like, a week and a half? It wasn't until a friend asked me about it that I realized I never published this blog last week. Oops. Life gets in the way.

Monday
Did: nothing
Mondays are busy.

Tuesday
Did: 7.04 mi @ 8:24/mi 
Track Tuesday is back again. Did 5x800 and they were sloowwwww, man I was dragging. Maybe I didn't sleep well? But still, the temps were nice (low 70s and low humidity) so it was good to get out and get done.
3:33, 3:28, 3:44, 3:41, 3:35

Wednesday
Did: 3.28 mi @ 8:27/mi
Ooooohhhhh Garmin has new features on their website:
Fancy

Took the opportunity this morning to go for a quick 3-miler in between conference calls. It's 63F!! SO NICE. Tackled some hills on this one but otherwise just getting outside.

Thursday
Did: 60 min Soul Sculpt w/ Brionna
I really wanted to go for a run in the hurricane but it's just not happening because my schedule today looks like this:
Yeah.

I had hoped to get out sometime in the 8-930 range but I had IMs and emails and phone calls out the wazoo before 7am and the rest of the day was just shot. Ugh. I did stand firm on my virtual sculpt class even though it meant cutting off a phone call with external lawyers (😬) so now we have a follow-up call scheduled for 5pm today. 😕 BLAH. But the sculpt class was good and awesome to be able to take one of Brionna's classes again since it had been a while.

Friday
Did: Power Flow w/ Jessica
Did the first half of a 60-min power flow class virtually with Jessica but the connection kept cutting out and I got annoyed, so I did the last half on my own. Better than nothing.

Saturday
Did: 9.29 mi run, Part 1 = 8:12/mi pace, Part 2 (cooldown) = 10:35/mi pace
Got myself up early to run with the downtown group and ended up with a group of FAST folks. We ran a 7-mile lollipop down Augusta Rd, through some really nice neighborhoods near Greenville Country Club, then back down Augusta. I was pooped by the end but I know it's what I need to push myself. Did a couple more miles on my own as a cooldown.



Missed these Falls.

Sunday
Did: 5.28 mi hike - Pinnacle Mtn Trail to Mills Creek Falls spur at Table Rock State Park
Another lovely hike with D, Robin, Dale, and their pup Luna. We got out to Table Rock around 8am and enjoyed a little over 2.5 mile out-and-back to some pretty falls. It was a gorgeous morning, D did great and didn't even complain about being tired until we had just about a quarter mile left. 











Loving these hikes with my best little adventure buddy. 😍

Monday, September 14, 2020

"Because Why Not" Half Marathon (Week 5/12)

 Alright, trying to get life back on track post-vacation is always interesting. 

Monday
Did: nothing
Air travel all day - exhausting!

Tuesday
Did: 30 min Power Flow w/ Jasmine + 6.22 mi @ 8:34/mi avg #10kTuesday
Tried to get in a yoga workout but technical difficulties caused me to cut it short. Still was nice to do some yoga since I didn't do any last week!

Went out around noon for a 10k in the neighborhood. The cooler morning temps tricked me into thinking this would be comfortable! Plus this was one of my fastest 10ks in a while, so it felt challenging, but good to get it done.

Wednesday
Did: nothing
Full day of work + eLearning Kindergarten!

Thursday
Did: 5.31 mi @ 8:47/mi avg + 60 min Soul Sculpt w Katie F
Ran home from school drop-off, man it was humid... I was hoping for another taste of nice fallish weather! They keep saying a cold front is rolling through this weekend. Fingers crossed. 

Did Sculpt at lunch... a little bummed because I'd intentionally signed up for Thursday since Brionna usually teaches, but turns out she had a substitute... I do like Katie, though, so it was a good class and a hard push with plenty of squats and lunges. 

Friday
Did: 60 min Power Flow w/ Jessica + BMW 2-Miler
Lunchtime yoga with Jessica was nice as usual. She's usually got a good message or mantra to share each week and puts me in a good headspace for the weekend.
In the evening we (Scott ran with me) did the virtual on-course BMW 2-Miler. I didn't have any expectations for the race since I still feel like I'm not back to normal/good speed yet, but it was fun to give a hard push for a couple of miles. Ended up with a time of 14:31 (definitely not my fastest) which was satisfactory, especially with how hot it was. 

Saturday
Did: 8.31mi @ 9:40/mi avg
Headed out for a run this morning and boy are my legs sore! I guess getting back into the regular running and sculpt and yoga groove this week has hit me pretty hard. Also explains the slower pace, but I'll take it. I got rained on for the last half of the run which was very nice compared to the gross humidity that I started in. 
Moist.

Sunday
Did: 1.7 mi walk + 16.8 mi family bike ride
Took a walk with D to try to explore the horse farm trails, but turns out they don't open until 1pm on Sundays. Boo! So we walked back home.
In the afternoon we took a family bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail - to and from The Commons for afternoon refreshments. It was a nice afternoon!

Total Run = 21.8 mi
Not a high mileage week but getting back in the right pattern for working out. Hope to tick up a few more miles next week.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

"Because Why Not" Half Marathon Training (Week 4/12)

Um, well I didn't start a blog last week... oops? If I look at my Garmin, here's a record of what I did and some photos to go with them...

Monday
Did: 2.34 mi walk w/ D
Walked to the horse farm with D for "recess" during eLearning.

Tuesday
Did: 7.12 mi @ 8:29/mi avg  Track Tuesday
Finally got over the 7-mile mark for an hour of Track Tuesday! It was stupid humid this morning though. Got a reverse ladder done:
1600m - 7:30
1200m - 5:32
800m - 3:37
400m -  1:41
Not super fast intervals but feeling better about seeing some higher mileage with this speedwork.

Wednesday
Did: nothing
Can't even remember why.

Thursday
Did: nothing
Traveled all day on an airplane! (3 airplanes to be more precise)

Friday
Did: 17.7 mi mountain biking
Went mountain biking in Bend, Oregon! We made a wrong turn and did 17+ miles instead of the intended 13, but it was a great ride and some really fun trails. 



Saturday
Did: 15.3 mi mountain biking
Did the lower section of the McKenzie river trail (the same trail that Scott and I did when we were here exactly 4 years ago). Beautiful day in the woods - it's all so green and lush!



Sunday
Did: 6.5 mi run along Deschutes River Trail + 5 more miles walking. 
Morning solo run on a beautiful trail. I couldn't get enough of it! Something about the chilly crisp air, the sunshine, and the rushing water beside me - so perfect.






That rounded out the trip - we traveled all of Monday. It was a great destination to revisit and I hope we get to go again!