I'm writing this post only after being questioned by a friend why I don't update my blog...Thanks for making me feel like a complete failure and slacker. It worked.
Tomorrow is officially the beginning of fall, which I'm ambivalent about. No one loves laying out for hours in the scorching, blistering summertime heat, having your sweat form a puddle around you more than I do (that sounds gross, but really), but I’m ready for crisp, cool mornings and crisp, cool runs. Honestly, I’m just ready to get my speed back. It’s hard to believe how much quicker your average pace is in cooler temps. Even with my foot injuries from overtraining, I’ve managed to maintain my endurance (daily 5 mile runs, longer on weekends) but with the intense summer heat (even at 6am), my speed has plummeted. This has resulted in lots of frustrated and rant filled miles the past few months. I read somewhere that the optimal temperature to perform your best running is 55 degrees, which I would probably agree with. Heading out on my run today, I was excited that it finally felt coolish. But half way through my 6.5 mile run on the green way I could tell temp had risen and could feel the sun on my shoulders when the trail snuck away from the tree's shady canopy coverage. Regardless, I got in the mileage, not at my ideal pace but I just had to remind myself that just 2 days before I crushed over 5 miles at a 8:30 pace.
Anyway, on a side note, I’ve promised myself that I would not buy any clothes/jewelry, etc. the entire month of September. I’m 21 days in and going strong. At the end of the month, my “reward” for accomplishing this will be registering for the Kiawah Half Marathon, which is a whopping $90. Even if I fail and buy something, I’m still signing up for the half—I just don’t want to tack that hefty price tag on top of unnecessary and impulsive fashion buys (mostly from Target and J.Crew).
My brother recently decided that he needed something to motivate him to get in better shape. He asked me to help him create a training schedule/program for him so he could do the same half in December with me. So I reviewed a few plans online, but some of them are pretty detailed, and I knew he wouldn’t care or follow all the extra stuff, so I drafted a basic 12 week schedule for him. It includes one weekly long run (the most important) part, 4 other running days, and 2 p90x days (his request). I incorporated a tempo run mid-week just to help increase his speed. Almost every reputable plan I read online (Runner’s World, Hal Higdon, etc.) had tempo runs as an integral part of training. There a few different ways to do tempo runs and that's where it gets confusing. But basically tempo runs are runs where you are running at a pretty quick pace for at least 20 minutes. The tempo run pace is described as "comfortable hard." The point of the tempo run is not only to increase your overall speed but also to control or slow the rate at which your running muscles fatigue. Running World explains more about the tempo run and how to find your tempo pace here. I've definitely been trying to work speed work into my training (specifically strides). I haven’t been very consistent, just trying to do quicker, shorter runs at least once a week or finishing a regular length run with 4 or so strides. I think I've seen a small beneficial change but it’s too early to tell. I still have 12 weeks until the half, which is when most training plans actually start and I’m already at 7 miles for my weekly long run. I just want to get faster to get my sub two hour marathon DONE.
Got myself one of these babies. Best thing ever for $20. They come in lots of fun colors and you can customize them to say whatever you want. I got 3 bands, black, red and lime green. I got my mom and brother’s contact info put on them because my dad can’t work a cell phone and wouldn’t answer the house phone if an unknown number called because he thinks the government is listening in or something--because the Jones household is just bustling with interesting, top secret activity.
This weekend is a 4 day weekend for me (lots of PTO--if you don't use it, you lose it). Friday I did a great 5.2 mile run at a pace I'm happy with. Saturday morning I worked at Glazed, slinging sugar circles at customers with a smile. Saturday afternoon, my brother, friends and I went to the Game Day Food Truck Rodeo downtown, which was meh. Unfortunately, the dark weather set the mood for the afternoon and we didn't stay long. There was a lot of good food there though. Today I was due for a longer run (kind of) so I did 6.5. I took off work tomorrow (because why not?) and plan to do a quick 5k in the morning. I have the Race for the Cure run in a month, and I've set a goal in my mind that I'm working towards. After the run, I'm getting a much needed hour long massage at Urban Nirvana with my mom and then grabbing lunch with my aunt who just got back from 4 days in France followed by a European Cruise... yeah, must be nice.
Making this for dinner tonight...Spicy Roasted Cauliflower.
I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't look like a brain. It totally does, but that's not stopping me.
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| Exactly. |
Tomorrow is officially the beginning of fall, which I'm ambivalent about. No one loves laying out for hours in the scorching, blistering summertime heat, having your sweat form a puddle around you more than I do (that sounds gross, but really), but I’m ready for crisp, cool mornings and crisp, cool runs. Honestly, I’m just ready to get my speed back. It’s hard to believe how much quicker your average pace is in cooler temps. Even with my foot injuries from overtraining, I’ve managed to maintain my endurance (daily 5 mile runs, longer on weekends) but with the intense summer heat (even at 6am), my speed has plummeted. This has resulted in lots of frustrated and rant filled miles the past few months. I read somewhere that the optimal temperature to perform your best running is 55 degrees, which I would probably agree with. Heading out on my run today, I was excited that it finally felt coolish. But half way through my 6.5 mile run on the green way I could tell temp had risen and could feel the sun on my shoulders when the trail snuck away from the tree's shady canopy coverage. Regardless, I got in the mileage, not at my ideal pace but I just had to remind myself that just 2 days before I crushed over 5 miles at a 8:30 pace.
Anyway, on a side note, I’ve promised myself that I would not buy any clothes/jewelry, etc. the entire month of September. I’m 21 days in and going strong. At the end of the month, my “reward” for accomplishing this will be registering for the Kiawah Half Marathon, which is a whopping $90. Even if I fail and buy something, I’m still signing up for the half—I just don’t want to tack that hefty price tag on top of unnecessary and impulsive fashion buys (mostly from Target and J.Crew).
My brother recently decided that he needed something to motivate him to get in better shape. He asked me to help him create a training schedule/program for him so he could do the same half in December with me. So I reviewed a few plans online, but some of them are pretty detailed, and I knew he wouldn’t care or follow all the extra stuff, so I drafted a basic 12 week schedule for him. It includes one weekly long run (the most important) part, 4 other running days, and 2 p90x days (his request). I incorporated a tempo run mid-week just to help increase his speed. Almost every reputable plan I read online (Runner’s World, Hal Higdon, etc.) had tempo runs as an integral part of training. There a few different ways to do tempo runs and that's where it gets confusing. But basically tempo runs are runs where you are running at a pretty quick pace for at least 20 minutes. The tempo run pace is described as "comfortable hard." The point of the tempo run is not only to increase your overall speed but also to control or slow the rate at which your running muscles fatigue. Running World explains more about the tempo run and how to find your tempo pace here. I've definitely been trying to work speed work into my training (specifically strides). I haven’t been very consistent, just trying to do quicker, shorter runs at least once a week or finishing a regular length run with 4 or so strides. I think I've seen a small beneficial change but it’s too early to tell. I still have 12 weeks until the half, which is when most training plans actually start and I’m already at 7 miles for my weekly long run. I just want to get faster to get my sub two hour marathon DONE.
Got myself one of these babies. Best thing ever for $20. They come in lots of fun colors and you can customize them to say whatever you want. I got 3 bands, black, red and lime green. I got my mom and brother’s contact info put on them because my dad can’t work a cell phone and wouldn’t answer the house phone if an unknown number called because he thinks the government is listening in or something--because the Jones household is just bustling with interesting, top secret activity.
This weekend is a 4 day weekend for me (lots of PTO--if you don't use it, you lose it). Friday I did a great 5.2 mile run at a pace I'm happy with. Saturday morning I worked at Glazed, slinging sugar circles at customers with a smile. Saturday afternoon, my brother, friends and I went to the Game Day Food Truck Rodeo downtown, which was meh. Unfortunately, the dark weather set the mood for the afternoon and we didn't stay long. There was a lot of good food there though. Today I was due for a longer run (kind of) so I did 6.5. I took off work tomorrow (because why not?) and plan to do a quick 5k in the morning. I have the Race for the Cure run in a month, and I've set a goal in my mind that I'm working towards. After the run, I'm getting a much needed hour long massage at Urban Nirvana with my mom and then grabbing lunch with my aunt who just got back from 4 days in France followed by a European Cruise... yeah, must be nice.
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| Photo my aunt sent me... jealous? No, not me. :| |
Making this for dinner tonight...Spicy Roasted Cauliflower.
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| Brain or Cauliflower? |
Here are some photos I took of last night's sunset. Kind of crazy, right? The end.
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| #realtalk |
