Cherry Blossom 10-Miler: Training Week 9

April 8, 2015 - Mel

Every time I think about this race, I get butterflies in my stomach… bursting OMG TEN MILES ones, but nervous excitement, nonetheless. Some of that was alleviated when I reached out to a former derby teammate to see if she still planned to run this year — and she is! So at least I won’t be starting alone and she intends to run my pace with me. I downloaded the app and started following the #cucb2015 hashtag to connect with other runners. I hear there’s a beer & oreos group around Mile 8, so I put out a gluten-free cider APB via twitter.

But seriously, NEXT WEEKEND. I can’t believe how quickly this race came around! And let’s not even talk about the half marathon yet. WHOOOOOSH.

MONDAY: REST (awesome after-work event)

TUESDAY: REST (homework)

WEDNESDAY: RUN! 4.04 miles WITHOUT A COAT (!!!) and Day 1 of a 30-day Core Challenge that I immediately forgot on Day 2.

THURSDAY: REST (must. pack!)

FRIDAY: Traveling to Columbus.

SATURDAY: Another 4 on 4/04 (4.26 to be exact) with no headphones. While the course I picked was boring (and I spent most of my time watching out for store doors to smack me in the face), I felt AWESOME.

SUNDAY: Easter, eat ham. Repeat. Does that count for exercise?

To be honest, I thought I did another workout this week. I really need to work on adding in some at-home workouts to get me through this semester (and until I have, like, 15 more minutes of day light hours). Before I go and get down on myself for having too many rest days, I need to remember that I walk a mile to work (and home a mile) 4-5 days per week. And yeah, I need to upgrade my walking-to-work shoe collection because I did not anticipate bleeding blisters on my run on Saturday.

And then we’re in Race Week! In putting my first 10-mile race into perspective (while I was training for the 15k and thought it would be “fun” to run a 10-miler), I hadn’t even completed an 8-mile training run before doing the EQT in November. I’m in much better running shape as far as getting my long runs completed; obviously, skipping the shorter training runs, I’ve realized in retrospect, are not making me a better runner. Noted for future races, self.

Side note: hallelujah, it’s SPRING!

Total runs this week: 2
Weekly mileage: 8.3
Total training mileage: 54.10 + 8.3 = 62.40

Total miles from MARCH, while I’m here: 33.35 miles. Yikes! That seems… like not enough.

Weekly Therapy: SPORTS and spring and all the things.

March 20, 2015 - Mel

the week:
Happy First Day of Spring! And Happy International Day of Happiness! And Happy International Macaron Day (freebies at both Jean Marc and Gaby et Jules, by the way). And OMG Gaby et is setting up a location within the new fancy-schmancy grocery store opening in downtown next month). (I’ve had a lot of sugar today, including chocolate-caramel popcorn from Pittsburgh Popcorn Company.)

Oh yes… it was also my 6-YEAR anniversary this week! We celebrated by going for burgers at Benjamin’s (I drank almost a full bottle of wine, save for the glass that I knocked over and the glass I gave to my neighbor) and went to see Cold War Kids. Ah, blissful normal-ness.

weekend:
OMG does my house need some spring lovin’ (that’ll be me up on a ladder, trying out the new fan blade cleaning trick with a pillow case that I saw on Pinterest!) I also have to tweak the living room layout, clean the wood floors, lay down a new rug, replace my one off-sized window panel, vacuum EVERYTHING… I’m putting the boyfriend to work outside to clean up the courtyard. Because, SPRING!

seven things, seven days:
1. Registered for the Niagara Falls International Marathon in October. Half-excited, half freaking out.
2. Also getting more serious about training now, and signed up for coaching through Steel City Road Runners.
3. And so long as I make it through this year’s longest of long runs, I’m planning for Prague Marathon in 2016.
4. I also now have a mentor through AASP.
5. While we’re on the topic, The Sports Psychology of March Madness. {via Sporting News} FWIW, I’m in the “Sleepers” bracket category at work for only properly guessing 9 out of 16 in the first round. First prize is a free vacation day. GIMME!
6. Designer juice is for assholes. YES, THIS. {via The Financial Diet – add to your blog reader!}
7. The Methodology for Psychology Podcast gets me moving (and smarter!) in the morning. But as the days get nicer, I’ll be walking to work more, and I’m already going through more episodes than there are sunny days. Have any interesting psychology podcasts to recommend?

Weekly Therapy: Oh hey, Ohio!

April 9, 2013 - Mel

the week:
We started the week in Columbus (with HOCKEY! and BRUNCH!). It’s always nice to take a mini-vacation to Ohio and see old pals. Too bad I couldn’t get up to Cleveland for the Indians home opener.

This chocolate place in Columbus is SO GOOD!

weekend:
Bout day! These back-to-back bout weekends are certainly a challenge in getting my body to move in the mornings. Heh.

seven things, seven days:
1. We (the boyfriend and I) just found out our mutual friend — the one responsible for finally getting us together — is moving to Pittsburgh. SO EXCITED!
2. We also picked up our first CSA (Penn’s Corner CSA for those in the Pittsburgh area).
3. Enjoyed a nice, solitary morning in the park… and then a goose came over and nipped my shoe. Dick.
4. Was so great to catch up with one of my old college friends.
5. Starting a day off with hot yoga: one of my favorite ways to wake up.
6. Did I mention Baseball Season? BASEBALL!
7. Once again, I missed skipping my justfab selections, so I have to pay for yet another month of crap. For whatever reason, I still don’t get their emails announcing the new month picks (even though my settings say otherwise), and there’s NO WAY to cancel online. You have to do it by telephone. And well, NOBODY’S GOT TIME FOR THAT. {/rant}