Hello my friends! This was such a fun week of running–I ran a ton with friends and family and had some exciting adventures and experiences. Also! My big life news of the week is that WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! Anyone who is local knows the Boston real estate market is bananas right now, so this was a huge deal for us and the result of literally years of research, scrimping, and saving. We’re moving just outside of the city, which is a little scary for me (I’m an urban girl) but I’m excited to explore my new town and of course have already researched the local running club 🙂 We don’t actually move for a week or two, but it’s super duper exciting to make it official.
Back to the week, I took Monday off and easy and then headed out for some solo speedwork Tuesday morning. This was a tough workout for me–I’ve been running with pacers at track, so I had a hard time regulating my paces. But I got it done and I know these are the workouts that make me mentally and physically stronger. Wednesday I went to an event for Global Running Day hosted by our local Lululemon store. It was set up like a silent disco–we all wore headphones and listened to a couple of yoga teachers leading a moving meditation while we ran loops along the Charles River. It was a little cult-like and weird to be in such a big group all in matching tank tops (they were free for the event) but a cool and different experience.
Thursday I set up a run and happy hour for Oiselle Volee teammates–we went on a 5 mile run and then had tacos and margs at a fun spot. We had a great turnout and an awesome night! I love these women, I always learn a lot from them and being a leader has been an honor and a blast. Friday I did some very necessary yoga before we met with our attorney for our official house closing–so, so many papers to sign.
Saturday was the big adventure of the week! My brother had noticed that the North Face Endurance Challenge MA race was offering half off for their marathon relay, so we jumped on it. The hubs, big bro, and a teammate trekked out to Wachusett Mountain, a local ski area, for a day of fun, sun, and dirt. The race was set up on a 6 mile loop pretty much straight up the mountain and back down again.
We had been warned that the course was very challenging and very, very technical–both of which proved to be true. Bib pickup was a breeze–we got bibs for each team member and an ankle tracker (nicknamed the “Martha Stuart” ;)) that we swapped off between legs. 
J took the first leg up the mountain, and the rest of us hopped onto the ski lift to see him about 45 minutes later at the summit. It was perfectly timed so that you could head up, see a teammate, and then meet them back down at the bottom.
When Jeremy got down we swapped out our tracker, handed off the handheld water bottle, and I took off up the trails! The run started out pretty easy–I held onto a cruising pace as I kept my eyes down for roots and rocks. The trails were super well-marked with colored tape for each race (there was also a trail marathon, a 50k, and a 50 miler–woof). The terrain quickly stopped being run-able and I took it hand over foot up some major rocky climbs, taking off at a jog again to wave to my teammates at the summit. The way down was a fair amount easier but there was a big rock scramble that I took fairly slow to avoid wrenching my ankles. 
I was mostly by myself, so I happily chatted with a fellow participant as the trail flattened back out and turned up a fire road towards the finish. I wrapped up feeling strong and happy to be done! There were some good snacks (fruit, rice krispie treats) along with free water bottles and medals. After I wrapped up J and I beelined it to the recovery tent to hang out in the Normatec boots–it was his first experience and he was smitten 🙂 There were also ice baths, which we left to the 50k and 50 mile finishers. I also loved that this was a “cupless” race–everyone got a lightweight collapsible cup to carry and fill at aid stations.
While the rest of our team finished, we grabbed some food in the ski lodge and chatted with the folks nearby. I even got to see a couple teammates who had completed the 50k–so impressive! All-in-all, it was a really awesome day. There were barely any all-female teams so hopefully my teammates and I can kick some butt in that category next year.
Sunday I wrapped the week with a 10 mile easy run with another teammate–it was lovely to catch up with her and shake the legs out. A super social, excellent week!
Weekly total: 30.7 miles
- Monday: off! Did my PT and core exercises.
- Tuesday: 15 x 1 minute at 6:45 pace, 6 miles total
- Wednesday: 3.5 meditative miles
- Thursday: 5 miles + strides with the Oiselle gang
- Friday: 90 minute yoga class
- Saturday: 6 trail race miles
- Sunday: 10 mile long run with Sarah
Linking up with The Weekly Wrap (hosted by Hoho Runs and Taking the Long Way Home).
Guess what, guys? I ran FIVE days this week, including a speed workout and a long run in the double digits! I feel like I’m finally back in the swing of things and am comfortable saying I’m actually in training for the 
Thursday I wanted to get in an 8 mile run, but I just wasn’t quite there yet. I did get in 6.5 miles and strides, which is the most I’ve done on a weeknight in ages. Again, it was hot and humid, so I was really happy with this run. Saturday I was trying to wait out the humidity and ended up running in the rain for about 4 miles. I felt pretty good and ended up with some strong tempos (7:37, 7:22) on a hilly route. Coupled with an awesomely challenging hot yoga class, I slept like a baby Saturday night 🙂 Sunday I woke up to PERFECT running weather and breezed through a solo 11 miler. I think it’s safe to say I’m getting back to it!!
Running-wise, I’m doing a trial with a new coach! I’ll have more on that soon, but it’s someone local which I think could work really well for me.
Workouts: Both my HMGP miles and my MGP miles this week felt harder than usual. I did them without music and hit my paces, but it took effort to get there. I ran the MGP workout way too fast and my stomach was not cooperative, so my goal for this week is to run my marathon pace miles at true marathon pace and to let them feel easy breezy.
First taper week is done done done! This was a super duper busy week/weekend, so I was grateful to be able to carve out time to get all of my workouts in. Monday started with easy miles, and then Tuesday I ran a really strong workout. I’m taking advantage of the lighter evenings to do some of my harder runs later in the day–much as I love to get my runs out of the way in the morning, I definitely do better when I’m fueled and rested. I hit the first set of these half marathon paced miles at a 6:58 average and the second set at a 6:50 average. I felt so strong and steady during this workout–which was definitely the high point of the week.
I generally cut back on the booze and sugar in the two weeks before a marathon, so that should help get everything into ship shape for marathon Monday. Commence all of the weather stalking…
Well, well, well–back to weekly recaps after a little bit of a break! As I mentioned in my 
Sunday I wrapped up the weekend with an easy recovery run with J, and then Monday I split my easy miles into two runs since I had gotten a crappy night of sleep. Tuesday was just a fabulous run! I felt like I was finally 100% back in my groove–it was one of those “I could have run forever” nights. However, it was followed by a really tough workout the next day–3×2 miles at HMGP. I got it done, wrapping the last set up at 6:59 pace, but it hurt.
This past weekend, my running buddy Alexa and I ran the 
After a nice chat we made sure to use the boat’s bathrooms and walked off the gangway directly into the registration area. The bib pickup and bag drop were smooth and easy, and we were able to stay warm indoors at the ferry terminal, chatting with various running friends up until the race start.
After the 10 mile mark we ramped it up for the first of three sets of MGP miles–just as the course got hilly and stayed that way until the end. We cranked it through three miles in the 7:30s and then hung together until mile 15, when I was feeling good enough to speed ahead. The only downside of the small race size was that I was pretty much alone for this last chunk–but the water stop volunteers and cops were awesome and I kicked it into high gear for the last three miles–7:38, 7:57, and 7:10. Overall, I finished at around an 8:10 average (according to my watch), feeling fairly strong and happy. 
This was a huge and hugely successful week of training! First, this will be my last weekly update until mid-March–J and I are heading to New Zealand for our honeymoon on Wednesday and I’ll be mostly offline while I’m there. 
The sunset didn’t hurt either!
Today I enjoyed the gorgeous snow from an overnight storm and J and I did a morning yoga class–a great start to working out the kinks. This afternoon once most of the snow had melted away I did my recovery run. Onto two more days of work before we jet off–can’t wait!!!
What a fun sports and running-filled week!! Any other Olympics fans out there? I definitely miss the running and gymnastics from the summer games, but I love watching the winter sports, especially the figure skating. We had people over to watch the Opening Ceremonies for the 4th Olympics in a row! Fun fact–Jeremy has actually been at all four of these parties, although for the first one we weren’t dating and he was just some cute kid from my kickball team 🙂 You’re welcome for the photo below. This year we repped Japan because we were gifted these amazing kimonos for our wedding from cousins who live there–pretty cool, right?
Wednesday I treated myself to a rest day and did a bunch of foam rolling along with my core and mini-band work. Thursday dawned super icy so I hit the treadmill for my tempo run. I had some technical issues with the interface on the mill at the gym, and as usual, it went by slowly, but I got it done. Friday was a super easy recovery run before a huge day of running fun on Saturday! I met up with some of the Oiselle gals for an 18 miler. It got up to 50 degrees and I felt pretty good the whole time! We ran on the Boston course and ended up with 852 feet of elevation gain. My fueling was on point and we even finished with a couple of strong fast miles at the end. As always, happy to have great company 🙂
After some recovery chilling I was out the door for more running fun! A big group of the O girls met up for the New Balance Grand Prix event. It was my first time attending a professional track meet and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was SO much fun and so exciting! The big stars of the night were Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn–Jenny took home the W in the 3000 in an amazing performance! I also loved watching some of the other less familiar runners and events. Like the 60 meters, where the runners are going so fast they hit a crash pad at the end. Wild! Also, I run on this track every Tuesday so that’s pretty cool.
Wednesday I did my first workout at the Y near my house–it’s cheapest gym option that’s close to both home and work. They supposedly have fancy treadmills that can connect to TV streaming services but I couldn’t figure them out, so I made do with an episode of The Crown on my phone. Things to work on for next time!
Sunday J and I ran the Super Sunday 5 Miler! Despite some logistical hiccoughs, we had a fantastic turnout from the Oiselle gang and I managed a 20 second 5 mile PR. I have a recap of this race coming shortly, so stay tuned for that.
The theme of this week was: hooray for the cutback!! I definitely was feeling the accumulated stress of 3 weeks in a row at close to 50 miles, so was glad to be taking it a bit easier. I had some residual tightness in my right hip after last week’s 16 miler, so this couldn’t have been better timing. Monday I kicked things off with 6 really easy miles at 9:30 pace, keeping it light so my hip could loosen up. After some quality time with my foam roller Tuesday’s marathon pace run felt pretty good. I haven’t been running with headphones much recently, but I was definitely glad to have a little music to pump me up for this one! Tuesday was also the hubby’s birthday so we celebrated with delicious tacos and this amazing flourless chocolate cake. SO good.
Thursday was a beautiful 6 miles, the first 3 with a colleague who’s also training for Boston. Friday J and I went to a yoga class together and did some nice shoulder opening work–definitely something I don’t focus on enough!
Shorter and Faster 