marathon monday

marathon monday: plot twist!

March 25, 2020

Okay, friends, happy Monday! Is it still Marathon Monday for many of you? For me, not so much, at least not in the literal sense. As part of the far reaching, ongoing global plot twist served up by the Corona Virus, our Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon has been postponed until October 4th.

It’s only postponed, not cancelled, but things are not necessarily that simple. The 12-18 week training cycle layered against the realities of summer travel (which I realize may or may not be possible either), hot and steamy weather, competing events on October 4th, and just the sense of abandoning all the progress I have made these past few months… it all had me spinning for a while. Some of my running friends have decided to forge on with current training then run “virtual” races on their original spring race dates, albeit most likely alone. Some people have gone immediately to maintenance running or less. I am probably going to fall somewhere in the middle.

After wrestling with my options and kind of letting the dust settle, as my friend Jeff described it, I have decided to pause heavy training for now, despite how well it was going, but keep up the spirit of the plan in my own ways for a few months. Then by mid-summer I will reevaluate the October race.

running, pile on the miles, lazy w, marathon training, run eat repeat

Last week would have been Week 13 of the plan, meant for really gaining momentum toward peak volume and the hardest workouts, but instead I was as glued to the news as anyone, devouring sugary trail mix, and consumed by a new sense of urgency about growing our own food (more on that later this week). I barely scraped together 35 miles and made a couple of pathetic efforts to get reacquainted with my baby hexagon weights, ha. My arm and back muscles were so sore afterwards that I thought for SURE I had the coronas.

Aches! Stiffness! General lethargy! Are these symptoms of the virus? Just kidding.

To say that I was distracted and unfocused last week is an understatement; but knowing this was a community-felt undercurrent helps me kind of package it up and set it squarely in the past.

I have sulked and scrolled Twitter and eaten extra carbs pointlessly for enough days.

Onward!

Here is what I know, regardless of whether or when I might race next:

Running is fun! It feels awesome. I hope to run for most of the rest of my life, and racing (for me) has very little to do with that.
So far in Oklahoma we are still free to run outdoors as long as we remain at a safe distance from other people, and on days when that does not feel like the right choice, I still have my 0.33 mile loop on the sandy hills of our back field plus my reliable treadmill. For these I am truly thankful.
Handsome and I suddenly have very little on our calendar outside of farm and garden projects, so running is less intrusive to our life than it sometimes is.
Running is an excellent stress relief, it helps me feel energized and happy, and having a little weekly structure will help me keep a positive outlook.

So I will continue running a similar and fluctuating volume, 40-65 miles per week, but with the luxury of flexibility to make adjustments for real life priorities as needed. This is where my body feels best, where I can keep my energy up for a busy summer garden season and my jeans size down at a reasonable volume, and where I believe that I could easily join in on a spontaneous half marathon with no trouble.

I will also strive to vary my pace and distance daily, eschewing that dreaded “grey zone,” but not running hard SOS workouts as often. Maybe tend to some of the lower leg and feet pains I have been feeling lately. There is wisdom in getting leaner and fitter overall but saving some enthusiasm and focus for the upcoming summer cycle, if I dive into that. (The BIB is already paid for, and the race is local, so the thought of dismissing it wholesale makes me nauseous.)

Something I have been actively reminding myself to celebrate is how much progress I made from mid-January to early March, and that all stays in my body if I maintain it. That all stays in my mind, too, if I capture it.

The internalization of how each pace feels, the luscious union of breath and cadence, the swell of energy when you hit the fourth or fifth or eighth tempo mile. (It feels like riding the wave pool at White Water when we were kids.)

I get to retain the times I won arguments with myself over whether or not to attempt something difficult, and the sourness of disappointment when I cut an interval a few seconds short. Both are instructive.

I can hang onto the slow build of confidence from completing longer and harder workouts. The pleasure of fasted runs that cleansed me. Fueled runs when I overcame fear of food in my belly, ha! All of it. And if I understand the method as well as I think I do, the physiological adaptations are progressive. I have not lost much in just a week of mediocre activity, so I can keep my body healthy and maintain some stuff for a while then see what additional magic is available later.

Plus, before long, watermelons will be abundant, and that makes everything better.

Honest confession, I cried a little bit when the decision was finally made to postpone the race. But in the scheme of things, this is so small. We all have much bigger problems. I have millions of very real blessings to count, among them the pleasures and lasting effects of the past ten weeks. It is the training, after all, that changes us, not the race.

Take care, friends, and happy running!
XOXOXOXO

motivation monday: instagram crossover

July 30, 2018

Occasionally dubbed “Marathon Monday” around here, I am relaxing a little to share all kinds of wonderful motivation. Delicious stuff that nourishes all areas of life. Welcome (back) to several weeks’ worth of Motivation Monday posts coming at you. I hope you enjoy.

Monday, July 30th: Instagram Crossover

Have you been loving the IG feature where you can save posts into personalized folders, using that little bookmark icon? I groove it so hard. It is either very good or very bad for my information-hoarding tendencies. At present, I have the following folders in my personal IG and use them all with abandon:

Winter Hygge
Maximalist & Ordered
Food
Wellness
Books
Gardens
Art
Heart
Fitness

The first two are about home decor, two seasonal ways I do things around here.

Food, wellness, books, gardens, and art are pretty self-explanatory.

And you would think that the final two would be self-explanatory, as well, except that gradually I have noticed something interesting.

The Instagram accounts I follow for fitness ideas (mostly super talented and crazy successful runners) have a lot of cross-over with the ones I follow for soul nourishment (life coaching, universal spiritualists, big business authors, you name it).

There sits between the two spheres a glorious overlap of motivation and purpose, a Venn diagram of nourishment, so much so that often when a post strikes a chord in me I hesitate for a moment, trying to decide into which folder to drop the little electronic treasure. Is this a fitness post, or does it speak more to my heart? And… This speaks to my heart, but will I want to refer to it on tough running days? The answer is so often yes, to both.

Those of you who have been athletic your whole lives might not find this the least bit surprising. I remember even from non-participatory times of my life (i.e. ages 14-38) that sports metaphors are effective in a widespread way, and the roots of self-improvement and competition run deep for most people. The things we work on to make progress physically have everything to do with spiritual development, too.

It’s wonderful. I love it.

And maybe you’re saying, “Well duh.”

Here are a few examples of what I have saved. See if you can guess in which folder they sit:

Every cell in your body is eavesdropping on your thoughts.

Ok, this one?

Comfort is the enemy of progression.

The author of this quote went on to say, “Don’t change everything at once, you may stress yourself out.”

Okay, how does this one strike you?

If it’s not a HELL YES then it’s a NO.

The screenshot above gives away the answer. I saved it to my “Heart” folder. But it has resonated with me on so many levels, up to and including this unshakable desire to Boston Qualify.

Heart and soul feed the body and the body in motion ignites the heart, and they both serve each other beautifully, with harmony, if we allow the good stuff to flow freely.

Consider the young women here, Megan and Sierra. They danced at our friend Lynn’s recent annual showcase at Teaze Dance and Fitness, and their performance blew my mind. They did a twin aerial hammock routine that had their lithe bodies spinning and floating and holding poses mid-air, with no safety net or even a cushion on the hardwood floor. They turned and curved around the music as if it had its own physical shape and substance, the whole time suspended by only the lengths of silk or each other’s arms and legs.

The depth of grace and mountain of strength that their dance required are both so far beyond me. I loved watching it, and I have loved reflecting on it too.

Megan and Sierra’s artistry summoned a surprising amount of emotion from the crowd. I cried a little and thought so much about the lyrics to their chosen song. It was all about female friendship and offering support when no one else is there for you. I walked away as inspired emotionally as I was inspired to try something harder, or at least more complex, than just running.

Body and spirit. A dual ignition. This is what so often happens with these Instagram posts, which satisfies me but makes it tricky to organize all of that electronic inspiration, haha.

All of this is another cliche I am so happy to discover as real. Another game to which I do not mind being late because it’s such a good time overall.

“Keep showing up.”
~Des Linden
one of many running mantras
that matter so much
to everyday life
XOXOXOXO

mm: hansons week 6, aka what the fartlek?!

February 5, 2018

Hello and thanks for joining me again for Marathon Monday! I’m happy to say that week six of preparing for April was fruitful, definitely not because it was easy but because it served up a handful of challenges and good lessons. Also, finishing week six means we have already made it through the first third of this training cycle, very cool! I’m feeling great in so many ways, you guys. Happy to be here doing this. Grateful for this little experiment, even when I have a wonky week. Okay.

Before I tell you about my week, please help me give major congratulations to my friend Jeff who ran TWO back to back (and seriously fast) marathons last weekend to celebrate his birthday. On Saturday he ran a 3:30:11, and the very next day he finished in 3:39:29. How amazing!! He also raised money for Parkinson’s disease research for his birthday.

His family had these signs posted at their gate for his homecoming!

I have lots to learn from Jeff and am grateful that he’s an open book. He’s clearly talented but also honest when he doesn’t feel great or the conditions aren’t ideal, and he always pushes himself, which inspires me. His results week to week and month to month certainly prove that the effort pays off. Congratulations and happy birthday, Jeff!!

I also love Robin so much. She is the first person who clued me in to the Hansons method!

Okay. Week six:

Monday: The plan called for “6 easy” and that is exactly what I ran. 6.11 miles at a 10:27 pace, and I felt physically great the whole time, barring an annoying wardrobe malfunction. I wore thin, stretchy yoga pants instead of running tights, and the waist kept slipping so far down my hips I had to stop and tug and pull and adjust about every .75 miles, ha! Home to do yoga. My body felt good all day if a little underworked. But I had plenty to do around the house. And the point of easy days is to be easy. Let the nutrients of your practice soak into your body, as Adriene would say.

Tuesday: Speed day! I woke up so excited for this, based on how much fun it’s been lately, and how successful I felt last Tuesday. The morning was sub-zero frigid cold again, so I did my basic chores and tidied up the house and got my yoga session out of the way first, hoping to burn enough time to get to the mile loop once the temps were slightly better. But then I got hungry and ate a little more than I usually do this early before a workout, and I would regret that. On one hand, the time delay worked, but by then the wind had picked up a lot and it was cold for a whole other reason, ha! Oklahoma. Anyway.
I started my warm-up and my feet went numb. It just took forever for my body overall to feel warmish and loose and comfortable, then I felt annoyed and overstuffed by too many jackets so I took one off, then I got cold etc etc etc. Just not finding a groove, and my thoughts were scattered and kind of in a downward spiral, emotionally. ahhhhhh
Then I noticed a grave with fake poinsettias on the side of the track?? Is that legal? It really bothered me.
Long story short, those intervals were sloppy and awful. Not even good enough to call a fartlek. I only hit the prescribed 10k pace twice out of five times, and even then my running was all over the place. Too fast, then too slow, then too fast again, then winded. These workouts are supposed to be disciplined, and I was not. Total miles: 8.05 at a 9:34 pace, including the weird warm up. Boo.
But I am happy to have stayed at the park and tough it out even when I knew I had screwed up the workout. If there’s a silver lining here, it’s the learning experience: Warm up for longer if needed, eat more wisely before running hard, and do not listen to music that makes you sad, especially when you’re already battling negative thoughts. And stick it out. Finish even if it’s terrible.

Wednesday: Got my morning stuff done and laced up a bit earlier on Wednesday, and once I started running I really felt great. Thanks to my husband, I ran with fresh new music too, yay! I was aiming for 10 miles but stopped early with a sharp pain in my right foot, something much worse than just a sore arch. It became more painful throughout the day. That evening I stretched and iced and rolled it as much as possible, hoping to not be sidelined at all. 8.86 miles (10:19 fairly smooth steady pace)

Let’s agree that two disappointing days in a row were close to messing with my positive attitude. Have I told you how much I rely on running to keep me feeling cleansed, not funky, especially when my personal life is in turmoil?

Oh. Wednesday night I made a new recipe that was pretty great for me but something about it upset my husband’s stomach, so I doubt we will be repeating it except for a crowd.

Spicy shrimp peanut lo mein. Click here for the basic noodle sauce, and then add some lime-garlic marinated shrimp, roasted broccoli, plain peanuts, and siracha!

Thursday: This should have been my tempo day, but I woke up to excruciating pain in my right foot. So I took the day off and reminded myself how some smart prevention and a short break can prevent a much longer timeout and worse pain. After chores, grocery shopping, and yoga I spent the day walking, icing, rolling, stretching, and more walking, icing, rolling, and stretching. I resisted that old impulse to freak out. Zero miles.

Friday: I woke up feeling good enough to run and made it to the park for 10.01 miles at an easy pace (9:54 pace is about a minute slower than my MGP), celebrating gobs of crisp, bright sunshine. Friday renewed my hope, and I was so glad to have stuck with it day by day. I almost cried with relief.

Emotional rollercoaster much?

Saturday: I woke up hurting again but not in a stabby, pathetic, limping way. I could probably have rested, but with a small pep talk and green light from my husband I laced up and managed 6.54 quick miles. These got chalked up as more or less as my tempo for the week (9:14 average pace, which is about 15 seconds per mile too slow, but considering the sharp wind and my foot pain, this is where I say “effort is effort.”) By the end of this run I was in lots and lots of pain. Not just from tight tendons but also from that wicked blister that had magically invented its own blister on top and callous beneath. Very sexy.

On Saturday I did get weirdly happy about an alert on my Garmin saying my V02Max was climbing. So I had that going for me, ha!

Also, we spent the afternoon running errands in the Moore-Norman area, and a window-shopping expedition at OK Runner turned into purchasing some brand new shoes! On sale, too. I love them and am announcing publicly that they are a drop-dead awesome early Valentine gift.

Sunday, last day of week six: We slept so late that Klaus was freaking out, ha! Then we took our coffee outside and luxuriated in the hot tub foooorrreeevvver. It was pure magic, just watching the sky, giving thanks for some shifting energy in our family, and making good plans for the farm. I stretched and scraped my arch and heel against underwater hard surfaces as we chatted, gradually realizing it felt pretty good. The blister monster had healed overnight (thank you Neosporin!) and I was eager to close out the week’s 47 miles. Once we wrapped up Hot Tub Summit I found running clothes as quickly as I could and drove to the lake. 8.44 miles, very comfortable and deeply unwinding, at a 9:55 pace. I am loving that those easy paces are becoming difficult to keep easy, if that makes sense. That’s good, right? It wasn’t very long ago that I was celebrating an hour at 11 minutes per mile. But I re-read the “easy running” chapter before each time to internalize the physiological benefits, and I listen to calming podcasts on these runs to keep myself from sprinting all sloppy.

Total weekly miles: 48.01. I hardly “nailed” either of my SOS workouts, and this step-back week did not call for a long run, so I guess overall I’m just happy to have completed the miles and worked through the beginning of an injury that could have become much worse. And I am still so happy to be doing this!

10 Takeaways from Week 6:

Eat smart. Absolutely no milk before running.
Wear clothes that fit right. Duh.
Keep doing yoga but incorporate some strength work too (are weak hips contributing to chronic plantar fasciitis?)
Replace shoes more often to prevent wear and tear blisters, etc.
Take one day at a time, one workout at a time, and rest when needed.
And do not allow one funky day to snowball into a bad week. Most trouble can be salvaged.
Ice, roll and stretch regularly and as prevention, not just when you’re in pain.
Be thankful for every single mile…xoxo
Surround yourself with inspiring people!
Keep your thoughts positive to support good running. It matters.

How was your week of running? I really would love to hear. When my local running friends post updates I read them voraciously and look at everything I can on Garmin Connect, but I want the stuff that statistics don’t tell us, too. The motivation, the physical changes, emotional rollercoasters, new music. The weather! Tell me everything.

“Success isn’t owned. It’s leased.
And rent is due every day.”
~J.J. Wyatt
XOXOXOXO

marathon monday: why the hansons plan & recapping january

January 29, 2018

They say to never judge a run by the first few miles.

Never judge a week by how Monday goes, either.

I’m adding to this wisdom: Never judge a training cycle by the first few weeks. Because life is crazy, and sometimes the first few weeks of an eighteen-week plan need to serve other purposes in life, like bouncing back from an especially heavy holiday season.

This has been the case for me lately. While I’m deeply grateful for so much that has happened since life changed in November, it has been physically and emotionally draining. And our family life continues to be filled with uncertainty, so sometimes I lace up to run barely able to walk.

I needed much of January to feel like myself again, and certainly running helped. But I was just logging slow miles and crying a lot.

Anyway! What I’m saying is, the warm-up is over. It was good. And I am so glad I didn’t give up yet because this past week delivered a kind of a breakthrough that has me thinking about setting a very concrete and exciting goal for this year’s Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon on Sunday, April 29th. Time to get to work.

Why Hansons this time? In short, because the feedback is compelling. Since last summer I have read so many personal testimonials from competitive and recreational “age groupers” who used this method to become stronger runners who reach their time goals without dieting, without gaining weight, without getting injured, and without feeling burned out. Hansons runners are passionate and openly celebrate not just their success but also their health and happiness along the way. (Weird, right? To do something you love only to suffer unnecessarily along the way?)

Some of these folks I stalked online are competitive racers, which I admit is something fun to think about. But all of these runners want to run well and discover their own potential. That is for sure me already. Remember back in 2015 that I said I wouldn’t run another marathon until I believed I could do it “clean and strong?” No more dieting. No more sloppy, half-hearted efforts. No more hitting the wall and crossing the finish line in tears.

Well, this plan’s mileage already feels great. I’ve been building up that much since late autumn and it is satisfying overall, even before playing around with paces, which really is where the magic hides. I’ll share in the week five recap below, how the method is already helping me see results.

Besides the promise of improvement, I am smitten by the science here. It just makes so much sense. Chapter by chapter, the book explains what happens to your body over time as you provide it new challenges. It details the muscular, cardiovascular, and even cellular adaptations you make from week to week, and why each different workout is useful and important. It helps you visualize the draw of energy and the power of speed, the glide, the transfer of oxygen, and more. It’s beautiful, really. Reading each chapter then recalling key sentences while running, I can almost feel my body responding.

I am following the advanced marathon plan. If you are interested at all, please read the book. It’s fascinating! Until then, here are some key differences this plan boasts over others:

Higher weekly mileage, which is fun and satisfying, but most of those miles being easy effort (from 38 on week one up to 62 just before your race)
No long runs over 16 miles, even during peak, so fewer days lost to long hours on your feet, plus fewer days lost to extended rest and recovery
More “Something of Substance” workouts, which train you for strength, speed, and tempo running
Less of a taper, which in my mind mitigates race-week nerves and more importantly trains you to run under mildly exhausted conditions, called “accumulated fatigue.” This gets your strong for the second half of your marathon. No bonking!
Goal-specified training. I LOVE THIS!!! The Hansons plan helps you pinpoint specific paces for a long run (used to be my favorite, that might be changing), tempo run, easy days (surprisingly slow but luscious), and speed intervals (adrenaline!!). And it all helps you approach your race intelligently to finish in the time you want.
Race well and discover your potential, above just finishing. That’s the bottom line here.

My January so Far:

My mind and body have needed this past month to recoup. I am grateful for the time and resources to run most days each week, eat good, nutritious food, and rest well. The weeks since January 2nd have been fruitful in many ways.

Lots of warm winter salads loaded with vitamins, carbs, and healthy fats! Yes, please.

Week One: The plan asked for 38 miles and I ran 34 due to our extended break. Those were all slow and easy miles, letting the emotional holidays drain away. I also joined a luscious yoga series and started reigning in the treats. Shark Week for me was that week, and I complained about that a little in my training log, ha. (Ladies will agree with me that hormones can greatly affect running. That’s a whole topic for another day!)

Week Two asked for 41 miles, which I ran greedily, plus 0.61, haha! More yoga. My body felt better that week, but still no Something of Substance (SOS) workouts yet. This is where the self-compassion comes in, the part where I forgive myself for not pushing it because at least I got the time on my feet (TOF). It’s all contributing to a strong base like I had back in October (passed my 200-mile goal that month). A couple of weeks of easy movement and time to think also helped me shed that holiday bloat and heaviness. Overall I felt pretty good.

Week Three That week I ran 45.77 miles, just almost exactly what the plan called for (45). I did attempt one sloppy speed session of my own design, just a very casual “fartlek,” and honestly you guys, though it was nothing to brag about performance wise, it felt amazing. I had so much fun! Like a little kid, giggling and running and feeling perfectly free and happy. I am always amazed by days like this because so often people talk about how much speed work hurts. Surely down the line, I will learn how to work my body so hard it does hurt. But for now? For now, the speed play is fantastic. Anyway. Week 3 I kept up with daily yoga and focused on eating more vegetables and protein than anything else. Sleeping rough, also lots of bad dreams due to some emotional stuff. I’m looking forward to the gardening season and to cranking up mileage so my body is too exhausted to lay awake at night.

Week Four I missed one entire day this week due to extreme winter weather (my treadmill is a goner), and another day I did a shorter run than planned due to some special family events, so the prescribed 46 miles got whittled down to 36.31. I forbade myself from making it into a big deal because life is full and good and in the scheme of things, missing 10 miles this early in training is fine. Okay. Moving on. Winter is almost over! : )

A Quick Word About Paces: I hesitated for months to ask anyone for help in pinpointing my correct paces because I felt ashamed of my abilities. It was a lot like discussing weight or age, ha! Which is both silly and a double-edged sword. You will always find running friends who are faster, and you will always find running friends who are slower. So why waste a bunch of energy comparing? It does not matter. Even in competitive groups (which like a dork I have to remind myself I am not in), you have to focus on your own health and your own journey, staying happy and grateful for the current season you’re in.
When I finally reached out for some guidance, I was pleasantly surprised by how encouraging all my local friends and volunteer coaches in the HMM group were. The concept here is to discover your running potential and make measurable progress for yourself, relative to your own starting point. It’s definitely a long-term vision kind of thing, which I love love LOVE. I love it so much, the promise of running and improving for many years. That said, here is the list of paces I am following day by day for this training cycle. Huge thanks to Paul in our local HMM group for spending his time calculating these for me:

Week Five: Shark Week again. Thankfully my symptoms were mild this month, and for extra credit, the worst of all days happened to land on Wednesday, a planned rest day, ha! So no running. Just lots of rest and yoga and easy housework like ironing my husband’s shirts and sewing a few things. Overall this week, the plan called for 49 miles, and even taking Wednesday off it was easy to hit that number. I ran a total of 52.66 miles, including three true SOS workouts! The highlights of week 5 were running my first speed, tempo, and long run days at prescribed paces (see above). Each effort was completely different, and each one felt amazing. Seriously so much fun. After the long run especially (12.54 miles at a smooth and effortless pace of 9:29) I walked away feeling shocked that my body could move like that, keep that momentum, and feel strong and comfortable the whole time, with gobs of energy to spare. This is not what I am used to, you guys. I dare say this method works.

As I hit publish on this very long post (thanks for hanging in there), I have made a good start on Week Six with six easy recovery miles (41 to go) and some yoga. Whether I commit to the April 29th marathon is still a big question mark, but either way, I will certainly be enjoying the process. And I will post here on Mondays and on IG a little to track my progress.

Have you tried the Hansons method yet? What were your results?

Are you doing any fitness challenges for January? Anything you plan to stick with in February? What feels amazing to you lately? I would love to know. Everyone is different, and it’s so fun to hear how people discover health and wellness.

Take care of yourselves!!

“Comparison is the Thief of Joy.”
~Theodore Roosevelt
XOXOXOXO

motivation monday: weeks 4 & 5 recap & keeping a confidence journal

March 28, 2017

Hello, happy Monday! I am ready to get all over this new week ahead. Let’s recap training weeks four and five and talk about confidence.

One of my favorite features of Kara Goucher’s half marathon plan is that she encourages you to keep a “Confidence Journal.”

CONFIDENCE JOURNAL: I keep a log of my runs and workouts. But I also keep a small “confidence journal” and I keep it with me. I write down workouts or runs that have gone particularly well. Or workouts that were hard, but I was able get through. Flipping through the journal when you start to doubt yourself is a good way to confirm you’ve done the work. In many ways, you’re just asking your body to do what you’ve already done.

I have for a long time been tracking my food and miles and along the way paying attention to how different habits make me feel, both physically and mentally; but often this becomes a critical inner dialog about how things could be better. How it’s never good enough, you know?

More miles, faster miles, cleaner eating, stronger core, better stretching, everything. Nothing wrong with that exactly. We all are trying to get better at stuff. But focusing only on room for improvement can erode the long view and stall progress.

I don’t know about you, but my inner voice can be pretty discouraging. I should be using it to motivate myself. Positivity matters. You guys know that gratitude is a big deal to me, being actively thankful for the gifts and blessings we are given. Now I am just tacking on some active confidence. Just noting the things that are going well, small accomplishments that make me feel closer to my goals. I groove it. My goal right now is to run a half marathon in well under two hours, without dieting. Ha. Yeah, I need to build up my confidence.

Anyway! Confidence Journal. I urge you to keep one. It feels silly at first, kinda like Stuart Smalley talking to himself in the mirror, but on the days you need a little boost, it’s great. So much healthier than scanning social media and slipping into the comparison trap.

Week Four Recap: 35.8 miles total, plus barre twice, some abs and yoga, and one really short but really fun day of “hiking.”

Highlights: On Wednesday that week the prescribed workout was called “Ice Cream Sandwich!” LOL. It is basically speed work book-ended by tempo miles. Friends, that was so much fun. The first 2-mile tempo (8:25) was easy and fresh feeling. The speed work in the middle was truly exhilarating! It felt like flying uphill! (400x repeats at a 6:45 pace!) And although I had trouble on the second tempo getting up to speed, I felt so happy. It’s true that you get a completely unique physical sensation from running “fast” (whatever that means to you) than you do from running long and slow. Both feel great. Total that day was 7 miles exactly.

“Most of training is just teaching your body to be okay with working hard – and setting the bar a bit higher. A workout will make you sore, but that’s okay. It just means you’ll be that much more ready when race day comes.” – Kara

Short, easy, refreshing hike with hubby and friends at Mt. Scott. This really made me crave both a cool weather, challenging hike in Colorado and a hot summer’s day in Oklahoma.

Week Five Recap: 41.9 miles plus barre once, a tender knee, a sky-rocketing metabolism, and lots of mental clarity. Last week I needed running to smooth out the extremes of life, and it worked like a charm.

Week Five Highlights: I was happy to get my mileage up a tiny bit in the midst of stress and noticed that “easy” paces are gradually improving, all while my heart rate is nice and low. I also liked making running more of a scheduled priority than I had the past few weeks. This past week l felt better mentally and physically, despite some tough family news, which of course oozed good vibes into the rest of my days.

Another highlight from week 5 was grabbing a Saturday morning run with my friend Robin. I don’t run with other people very often, and every time I do, I wonder why I don’t make more of an effort. It was so lovely. The miles (3 alone then 8 with her, average pace of 10:01) clicked by like nothing. Runners are fun people.

Side story: The day after our easy run, Robin ran a spontaneous half marathon and PR’d! She hit the time I have set as my next goal, running just by feel, which gave me the best little thrill of encouragement. She is also quickly approaching the Boston Marathon, so send her all your good vibes. She is currently one of my favorite running inspirations.

In the midst of so many great workout days, week five did present some eating challenges. Ha. Hello life stress and a really fun social outing. Thank goodness for a cranked up metabolism!

Thursday evening we attended Oklahoma City’s 30th annual Chefs Feast benefiting the Regional Food Bank. The food was amazing and plentiful. I ate like a… Well… I did not go home hungry.

This photo was snapped after two solid hours of grazing. No longer able to suck it in. We had fun!

Then on Sunday I let some negative household vibes and funky weather get me down and made less than stellar food choices, on top of not running. No biggie. I woke up Monday morning with some tummy regret but am thankful to know exactly how to deal with it all:

RUN. Run and focus on the positive stuff.

Over and out.
XOXOXOXO

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