Training update and a GIVEAWAY!
Mileage is getting up there!
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| Running at the cabin, putting some good miles on my YakTrax. |
Training update:
This has been a great week. I was able to get all of my workouts in, which is the first week I’ve been able to do that – mostly due to motivational issues.
I asked Craig to hold me accountable this week. I would have asked Nate, but it’s all too easy to make up a lame excuse to him (I cannot be coached by my husband!).
So, this week involved:
Monday: Easy 5.5 miles to and from mom club
9 miles with 30 minutes of 1 min on/off. I was feeling terrible from the start of this run. My heart rate was super high even running at 9:30+ minute miles. I knew this would be rough. But, I powered through. It hurt. A LOT. On my last repeat I looked down to see that I had hit a new workout max HR: 202. Wow. That’s hard to do on a fartlek workout that has a lot of rest!
Then all of a sudden I needed to throw up. I dry heaved a few times, while Craig and Greta looked on. I have never done that before in a workout! Guess that means I pushed it hard? 🙂
Wed: 4 miles easy. I ran to and from a meeting with the Red Wing Girls on the Run program director. More on that later…
Thursday: 10 mile progression run. I nailed this workout! I started at a HR of 165 and worked up to 202 (again!) by the very end of the run. I was a little sad to see I had only run a 7:40 mile the last mile — I was working SO hard for that! Oh well. The only way to get faster is to put in the work every day. I made myself faster that day.
Friday: off. Slept.
Saturday: 12 MILES! I am so pumped I did this!! This seems so freakishly long now that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around running for that long when I’m 2 miles in…
Sunday: 4 easy peasy miles with the pup!
= 45 miles!
This week is a 50 mile week. I’ve already nailed a 10.5 mile run with 1 minute hill repeats and a 6 mile recovery run. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t struggle with my hip flexors or control of my legs. DOUBLE AWESOME.
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Goals:
I cheered on an athlete at Zoom! Yah! Yah! indoor marathon last week. It reminded me how great of an event it is! Perhaps it’s a good thing memories fade after a bit… I vaguely remember saying I’d never do it again… but there’s a world record out there that would be really, really fun to reset. So, I tentatively have that as my “A” race goal for the year. Chris, my coach, said he’d tentatively agree to pace me.
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| Chris is in red with the white hat. |
But, before then my intermediate goal is to break 3 hours at Grandma’s this year. Brenden, the GAC assistant coach that ran my OTQ with me in 2011 at Grandma’s is also going to try to break 3 with me as a training run for an ultra. Picturing 2:59 definitely helped me push a little harder on those hills today. Show Greta 2:59, Nichole! (She will be 8 months old by then)
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Life updates:
Greta is becoming so much FUN! My heart is so in love – both with her and also with our small little family. I apologize for being a sap but I really, really do love being a stay at home mom. As in, you couldn’t pay me enough to go back to corporate finance. That’s saying something coming from me.
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| Greta is ridiculously smiley and happy now. I love it! |
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| Little G and I reading. Pretty sure she has no clue what we’re doing, but she happily stares at them and bats at the book every so often. If nothing else, I just want to teach her that reading books together is fun snuggle time together. |
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| Printed off some newborn pictures. This is my absolute favorite! |
Greta is getting baptized this Sunday. I give myself a 0% chance of getting through the service dry-eyed.
Craig’s mom was able to alter my old baptism dress since it was just a little big :). I don’t think I was that big of a baby, but I was able to wear this when I was 2 months old. She’ll be 3+ months old. Ha!
It’s so beautiful and can’t wait to hold her at the front of the church in it!
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| HAHAHAHAHA |
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| One of my athletes made this for us! How awesome is that?! I can’t believe one of my athletes would do something like this for us (I know how much time is involved) – we are so unbelievably lucky! BTW, Greta’s given name is Gretchen in case you were confused 🙂 We use both names interchangeably, but mostly use Greta. |
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Giveaway!
Let’s be honest, you’ve just scrolled down the post because the giveaway is the real reason you’re reading this!
Stunt Puppy is offering one lucky blog reader a STUNT RUNNER!
Fast and the Furry with our Stunt Runner! I’m signed up for it again this year and can’t wait!!
To enter, comment below with your 2015 goals and what color Stunt Runner you’d like (they’ll have all colors in stock next week).
Mesa will pick one lucky commenter on Friday 1/23, so get your commenting on!
All for now, folks!
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| AHHH, I can’t get enough of this smile! |
Color: Orange! Goal: To run a 1/2 marathon at an even (or negative split) average pace of 7:00 per mile. (What's that, about a 1:32?) Or – to break 1:30, but that's a pretty large drop in average pace from my current PR! (Beth)
What's your current PR? Nothing is impossible!!
If you're going for another record at Zoom! Yah! Yah!, I have to be there. I had to miss this year's race. (I'm not entering the giveaway.)
YAY! I'll keep you posted on my fitness progress (since that will dictate whether I'll be able to try or not), but I'd love to have a shot at it! Would you join in on a few of those last laps again? 🙂
I think registration isn't until about Labor Day?
Greta is SO adorable. I love seeing the pictures you post. (I am going baby crazy over here!!) 🙂 My goal for 2015 is to have a breakthrough in the marathon sub 2:32 and to teach my puppy girl Gussie how to run on leash. She definitely misses the days of running free in the forest in the mountains with me. We are majorly working on leash skills first, I figure loose leash walking should come before trying to run with her as she is a little….well she has a ZEST FOR LIFE. we will put it that way. 🙂 Hope to see you soon! Oh and we would like the Orange if Mesa chooses us! 🙂
It was so awesome to meet Greta last weekend!!! Made my whole day skiing with (well sort of) her dad and then seeing you and her at the awards!
My goal for 2015 is to run a sub 18:00 5K again!
I like the GO DOG GLO STUNT RUNNER™ – TITANIUM
My goal: to be the most healthy i can be. To be with my girls, and not only pay attention to them, be in the moment and not worry too much. Mesa please choose orange!!
Great week of training! Glad you have your motivation back 🙂 Don't ever apologize for being sappy about your little girl! She is so adorable. Glad she's all smiles now! My 2015 goal is to get freakin pregnant already!
Riley would like the GO DOG GLO STUNT RUNNER – TITANIUM.
I would love the orange! I'm new to running, and my goal is to get rid of the baby weight (already down 5 lbs) and keep increasing my endurance. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
Erin
fairyfractal at gmail dot com
My goal with grizzly is to run more than two mailboxes and not lie down to sleep. It's a serious problem, but my hope is to do intervals with him when it gets warm, and to use the Bright Orange color so I can slowly jog with him between sprints. I have other goals with him, but we'll take it one mailbox at a time.
I want to run a 3:45 at the Tokyo marathon in 4 weeks! My vizsla Matilda LOVES Stunt Puppy leashes and she wants a blue one 🙂
My goal is to run a half-marathon PR in the fall. I would choose the orange one for my pup Mia!
Goals: where to start?!? I had hip surgery in October, so I am hoping to do everything I can to return to my pre-surgery fitness levels! Ideally, I'd like to re-qualify for Boston, so that I can actually run it!
I also love the glo-dog-glo color 🙂
Goals: (1) to start running with my little Vizsla, Quin. She has been to young to run with me, but I think she's old enough now! (2) To break 3 hours in the marathon. My pr is 2:58 from 2012 but I need to do some work to get back in that kind of shape!
Oh and Quin says she would like an orange Stunt Puppy!
we would love to try this out with our black lab!