Training, Day 2

Temp: 22 degrees  Wind: Brisk  Road Conditions: Icy, snow covered.

Today was a much better run!  Went out for a late afternoon run today, which was hard to do.  Honestly, I almost skipped it.  Finding excuses...not feeling well, tired, etc etc blah blah blah.  Finally I just sucked it up and out I went. 

Much better than yesterday.  The mileage will come but this 1.84 miles was a lot easier than yesterday's 1.60....with a walking break!  I'm glad I sucked it up and went out.  They are right-you never regret a workout, only the ones you didn't do.

Since it was 4:30 when I left, I put on my reflective vest and Morgan's new vest he got for Christmas.  He was not impressed with it and kept trying to bite if off the first quarter mile or so, which led to me running into his behind.  But he finally tolerated it-until we got home and then he presently locked his legs and refused to move until I undid him.

Yup, they worked. 

Til next time,
Mitch



Marathon Training, Day 1: New Years Day 2012

It's been a while since I have been "here."

"Here" is a lot of places today.

Here is at the computer, on the blog.

Here is out on the road, hitting the pavement with my trusty partner, Morgan.  Hell, "here" is out on the pavement at all in nearly 3 months.

But worse of all, "here" is at this fitness level.  Three months of sedentary life and eating whatever is semi-edible in front of me has taken it's toll.  How did it get this way?  How did I let it get this far?

2011 was a remarkable year for me and a lot of which I am proud.  I completed my first full of year of running, Captained a RAGNAR team, ran the Medtronic 10 mile in October and got my first medal, and completed my second year of biking the MS 150, a two day bicycle trip from Duluth to Minneapolis.  But I think I had so many goals that once I completed the 10 Mile in October, I was done.  Pooped.  Completely exhausted and worn out. 

My shoes were put away and not put on for nearly 3 months.

But we are breaking out of the rut now!  Today is January 1, 2012 and time to get this rear back in gear.  I have 41 weeks until the Medtronic Marathon and I have unfortunately, regressed in my running back to one and two miles.  But we will not pity ourselves or feel sorry!  So, back to square one we go!

Temp: 22 degrees  Wind: STRONG.  Ick.  Road Conditions: Icy, snow covered.

Well, not my best run ever.  But the point is that I got out there.  I downloaded and revised a Higdon plan and a Higdon pre-training plan to get me back into shape.  So tomorrow is another at least 1.25 mile run.

My running buddy was annoyed with me today.  He was ready to go farther faster.  Coming off a season of Pheasant hunting, he was in better shape than I was, that was certain.



But I am happy to say I am not the only one in this house ready to get back in shape after a few months of laying around.  Dear Hubby bought a CycleOps last week to train and get ready for the MS 150 in June, and keep himself in shape.  So he got it all set up while I was out yesterday in the cold and I came home to hear the hum of this upstairs in the loft:

So far, 2012 is off to a good start.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.  Hopefully less wind!

Til then-
michele



Post 4th Sludge

The best of intentions, the well-laid plans, the huge elephant looming over me in less than 7 weeks....

and I am still in my pajamas, drinking coffee and looking at my dog and running shoes. 

This does not look good.

I have no excuse to NOT go out for a run.  It's ideal!  Low humidity, only 65 degrees at 7:32am on Wednesday morning that I don't have to go to work, don't have any kids at home and a timeline that is pretty flexible today.  So why am I not out?

Lack of motivation. 

Just the THOUGHT of putting on my shoes makes me want to hurl.  Wish I had a better reason for that, but could it be over training?  Too extreme of a schedule for me?  I don't know.  I just know that I need to find my mojo and hit the pavement.

*******************************************************************************

On a more positive note, I DID have a good 4th weekend!  I got in a run that was hot and humid in the South Dakota air, complete with a bite to my ass from a huge horsefly, jumping over a few dead snakes on the road and scaring the bejeezus out of a deer that ran and ran and ran across a field, jumping 3 fences to escape me.  Seriously dude, do I stink or something?

When I got back to the in-laws post run, I jumped in the kids pool complete with all my clothes on and sat in the cold water from the hose for about 10 minutes.  I have a whole new appreciation for the ice baths runners do after big races.  It was divine!  However, once I crawled out and stripped down on the driveway to my skivvies, apparantly that was a signal for my children that running naked is completely appropriate because they promplty took off their pajamas and ran around in diaper/underwear until Grandma could scoop them up and find swim suits.

Whoops.

Well, off to finish this delish cup of coffee, AKA juice of life, and then hit the shower.  Shoes: we will meet again soon.  Maybe tonight.

Or tomorrow.

Sunday morning runs

Have I mentioned yet that I am training for Ragnar?  The Great River Ragnar is 8 weeks from yesterday and I am co-captain of the Pavement Pirates, a team of 11 Ragnar Rookies and one novice.  We've got a nice spectrum of runners, and I am admittedly in the bottom fourth of experience.  But I am super stoked about the challenge and have taken my training pretty seriously.  To get ready for this I have altered a Higdon marathon plan with the Ragnar training plan available on their website.  I'm pretty impressed with my training schedule-it's ambitious, especially for me, and includes endurance and strength work along with some cross training and the ever important rest days.

This week's training schedule looks like this:

Sunday: 60 minutes (ran 6.34 miles in 1:00:42.  Go me!)
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Short-3 miles
Wednesday: Fartleks-30 minutes (ugh)
Thursday-Short, 3 miles
Friday-Rest (travel day for the holiday weekend)
Saturday-4-5 miles on gravel roads.  Welcome to South Dakota!
Sunday-80 minutes
Monday-4 miles-then in the car to head home.

So pretty ambitious for a girl running not quite a year.  But the pace is good for me and reminds me of why I am doing this.  I have 11 other people depending on me to get this event put together and be a good time.  I certainly don't want to be the one to bring the team down b/c I couldn't do my mileage.  But I also realize that rest and recovery is important.  So I'm doing a good, conscious job at listening to my body and resting when it says we need to, or altering my pace as needed.

Today I woke up at 5:45 and lay in bed for 45 minutes before swinging my legs out to get dressed and head outside.  It was a glorious day in Minnesota this morning-sun was up, partly cloudy, a cool 62 degrees with a slight breeze.  Knowing I was going to put in some longer miles, I left the dog at home to his dismay.  He gets a little naughty after 3 miles and is ready to head home.  Put in the iPod, set the Garmin and I was off.

I've switched up my route a little which is admittedly out of my comfort zone.  I headed out on a country road that I usually bike on, heading east.  No traffic today, just a few walkers out and a LOT of baby bunnies.  The first mile was rough, as it always is for me, but then I found my pace and settled into my stride.  The humidity was hiding in the cooler air but still the run was pretty fabulous.  I"ve been floating along all morning since then, just happy with how my day started.

Some problem areas: how do you handle these?

1.  My sunglasses fogged up and finally I just took them off and carried them.  I need to invest in something else.  Should I spend the $$ on new glasses for running/biking, or a wicking visor?  What do you prefer?

2.  Water.  Now that I am heading out of town on runs and doing more than 4 miles, I need to take water with me.  I am too lazy to drive my course and leave out bottles, so I need to carry it with me.  Today I just carried a 12 ounce bottle of water.  Do you prefer a fuel belt or a hand held bottle?  Why?  Any other tips?  A camelback just seems like it would be too hot, but I like the thought of sipping the water as needed, as I tend to throw up once I have water sloshing in my stomach.  Maybe I should look into one of those beer helmuts instead....would settle the question of the visor issue as well. 

What are your favorite go-to items on your runs?

Fartleks

Last night I did my first Fartlek workout.  I was trying to squeeze my workout in between the workday and evening meetings, knowing fully well that I would show up to said evening meeting slightly stinky.  Eh, okay.  But this was my first Fartlek ever, plus I was running in a different town, different route.

Needless to say, it didn't go well.

I am such a creature of habit!  I lose my comfort level when I switch things up.  Which is fine, it's good for me and my training.  I think, however, I would have been better to leave my Fartlek for today and just do a regular run last night, since I was on a new route.  I can't believe how much my mental game was out of whack and totally bummed out my run.  But at least I DID get enough of a workout in to get nice and sweaty and stinky.  No one sat next to me at my meeting.

So now I am determined to fix this for next week's Fartlek, which will be back home.  Should I run a regular route? 

Do it at the track?

What are your tricks for a successful Fartlek?

Til next time,
Mitch

Going viral?

Well, now that I have been linked to by Beth over at http://www.shutupandrun.net/, I am terrified that someone will click on the link and come here and see a very pathetic blog.


Which it is.


But will improve!  Musings of a Mom started as a place to update our friends and family on my daughter Grace, who has special needs, and maybe connect with other families facing some similar issues.  But i found myself continually at a loss of what to write....the blog didn't "feel"  right.


So, after much consideration, this blog will change to Running in Heels.  I am a new runner-only 10 months in-and am determined to run my first marathon in October 2012 at the Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon.  I've got a few 5K and 10K's under my belt, and am currently training for the Great River RAGNAR this year.  But I come from a place where I LOVE LOVE LOVE stilleto heels, and I hate to sweat....and am not the most coordinated of gals.  So this journey will be interesting to say the least.


So please, if you have come here from Beth's blog, please bookmark me and come back again in a week or so, see if there is something here that makes you laugh (at my expense, I am sure).  Leave me a note telling me to get my ass in gear.  The point of this blog is to show that if you put your mind to it, ANYONE can be a runner.  Even me. 


Til next time,
Mitch
(yes, that is me.  Michele is just so....girly)

Overhaul

So here it is, THREE years later, and I am returning to this god-forsaken site that thankfully, has seen no visitors. Time for an overhaul.

Overhaul of this site.

Overhaul of my mental anguish.

Overhaul of where I see this going.

At least I come to this now with a sense of what this could look like, what it could be. And if it remains in the darkness.....oh well. Hopefully this can be cathartic for me in this abysmal winter we are having in Minnesota....65 inches of snow and counting.

So I will be back....soon.