I have been having some hamstring tightness and went to a massage therapist to beat me up a bit. He gave me some excellent stretches and wants me to focus on more dynamic stretching rather than static stretching to help with my hip ROM so we will give it a go. In the meantime, I’m laying off most of my hamstring exercises in the gym. So here are some of my pictures from the past couple of weeks that will give you a glimpse into our lives- see, I do non running stuff too.

1. Colorado weather. Finally I no longer wonder if there might be snow on the ground. Blue skies and sunshine, I heart you!! This weekend I will be digging in the garden while Noah helps and Jim figures out how to smoke some pulled pork for our neighborhood smoke-off.

Check out those runner tan lines. Yikes. This just gets progressively worse throughout the summer.

2. Toddler fun. Any given night of the week, we have somewhat set things that we do to entertain The Noah Bear. Monday &  Tuesdays are typically at the house and neighborhood park. Wednesday evenings, we take Noah swimming at the indoor pool at our gym. Thursdays I take Noah to the library to get new books and a video (lately he is all about Chuggington, which is far less creepy than Thomas the Train) and Friday nights are $5.00 Family Nights at Monkey Business- Big Fun!

Big Jumpin’ at Monkey Bizness!

3. My Colfax Marathon schwag. It was a fun day out with my friends, for sure.

Sticker, medal, and t-shirt

4. Noah’s 1st Rockies game. He was so into everything going on around him. He loved waiting for the player to hit the ball and would wait patiently for the sound of the bat hitting the ball; he loved everyone’s excitement when the Rox would score or do something good – he gave out lots of “knucks” and hi-fives. It was adorable!

“When is he going to hit it again, Mom?”

5. My little gangsta rap boy. I’m not sure how I feel about this: hat on backwards, beads as bling but he is pretty cute on his daddy’s shoulders.

6. Run like a dog. Stella is such a happy runner. Get her off leash and she is impressive. She runs hard and happy and has this incredible wild-eyed crazy grin as she runs back toward you. I truly think about her at least once when I’m running. I want to run like that. So free. I take her with me on as many runs as I can and she just loves it. On this particular day, it was warm out and so I treated her to a nearby stream for her to cool off in. Then she saw a squirrel.

Did you hear a squirrel?

7. Music. I have always loved music. I play it all throughout my day (cooking, working, doing Yoga, working out). I don’t usually have it with me while I’m running, but lately I have been listening to music while I’m running my shorter distances. These aren’t necessarily new songs on my iPod but they were songs that I was diggin’ on this week. I listen to all types of music and it isn’t always a “pump you up” type of music.

• “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. & Pharrell)
• “Otis” by Kanye West
• “Madness” by Muse
• “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons
• “Crying Wolf” by ZZ Ward

What was one of your favorite things this week? Any songs I should check out? Come on, Dom – you know you have a whole list for me!!

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• Five on Friday – 80′s Music (fourhensandarooster.com)
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The numbers

Miles Run: 61.2

Strength sessions: 1 (I wanted 2 for the week, but by Thursday my body felt pretty hammered so I eliminated that workout)

Yoga classes: 2 classes plus 1 15-minute home session

Cupcakes eaten: Too many to count this week. I did refrain from eating one the morning of the race – man, that was tough.

So, here is the breakdown of last week’s training.

Monday- 6 miles in 47:54 (7:59 pace). I took Stella Nutella out and it was a warm one. Phew. But I will take it for as much as I have complained on here about Colorado snow.

Tuesday-10 miles in 1:21:48 (8:10 pace) + Strength Workout. This was a late afternoon/early evening run -not my favorite time of day to run, but it was when I could do it. I didn’t really have it in me to incorporate any strides or any sort of speed work. After Noah went to bed, I hit the gym for a puny workout, but at least it was something. I eliminated a lot of my exercises that had to do with my hamstrings (they hurt and are sore so I didn’t want to wake that bear) which then eliminated a lot of my routine. So, like I said, the workout was puny, but it was something.

Wednesday- 5 easy miles in 42:54 (8:34 pace) + Hot Vinyasa Flow class. My legs felt heavy on this run, but I was really happy I went for the run. By the end, my legs felt much better. Stella went with me, so she was happy too. I took a Yoga class from a new-to-me teacher and it was really great. I will try to make his classes again when I can. It was a tough workout and I knew I would be sore. I liked it!

Thursday- 10 miles broken into 2 5-mile runs. I woke up sore from Yoga. I grabbed Stella and we went out for an early morning run of 5 miles. I could not quite make my body fathom 10 miles all at once so I opted to break my 10 miles for the day into part one and part two. Nothing spectacular, but that evening 5 miler was slower than my morning 5 miler. Oh and no strength session for me today. My body hates me!

Friday- 4 miles in 32:40 (8:09 pace). I think my watch was wrong for this pace because my legs did NOT feel like they were moving at this pace… more like a 12:09. It wasn’t a tough run or anything, my legs just felt really heavy.

Saturday- 0 miles plus C2 Yoga at Core Power Yoga. I took Barbara’s class at Core Power Yoga. It was perfect. Just what I needed. Went to the Rockies game Saturday night with the fam and some friends. Big fun! It was Lil Megan’s birthday! We talked some more about marathon strategy and she said that she really wanted to go sub 4:00 (and was briefly considering trying to push for a BQ – which I quickly tried to discourage because she has a crazy tough 50 miler soon and there is no need to push it so hard in a marathon right now. She WILL get her BQ this Fall, no doubt). So, we compromised on a strategy of 3:50 pacing.

Rockies baseball game fun!

Sunday- 26.2 at Colorado Colfax Marathon in 3:46 and some change. 

Me & Lil Megan at the start. photo courtesy of Ryan (thanks)

I am pleased with the race. Megan and I started super conservatively (like waaayyy behind the 4:00 pace group in the back of our Corral C) and gradually picked up the pace when we felt good. My main focus was getting Megan to a sub 3:50. I knew what time we needed to be at Mile 5, Mile 10, Half Marathon and Mile 20, but I did not check the time other than that. We just ran based on feel. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was my nutrition. I don’t feel that I ate enough during the race, but I did drink enough and never felt bad so that’s good. Megan finished under 3:50 like a champ!

Megan looking strong at Mile 18ish!

For you runnerds who love their numbers:

Finish time: 3:46:50 (8:39 pace) 

Overall place: 244 out of 1206 and 44th out of 510 female finishers

Division place 30-39: 16 out of 164 

Running for SunRype!

After the race, I hung out with my work peeps (Erika busted out a huge PR of 1:42 in her Half Marathon and Tony was a nut, running a 3:09 for the marathon). So fun! Once back home, it was typical Sunday afternoon stuff of groceries, house cleaning and hanging out around the house and playing with Noah.

Looking ahead at this week.

Other than typical creakiness after a long run, I feel good. I was just telling Jim that it is crazy to think that I ran a marathon yesterday because I really feel good. And that makes me feel awesome because I know that I will be ready for this 50K. I will be strong! But, I’m not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to this drop back week.

Monday- rest day.

Tuesday- am easy run + Strength Workout + pm run (hopefully some speed work)

Wednesday- 8 miles. + Yoga

Thursday- 10-12 mile run (hill work) + Strength Workout

Friday- Yoga

Saturday- 16 miles + Strength Workout.

Sunday-6-8 miles 

So, what are my lessons from this week?

1. That I am a run by feel kind of gal. Sure I enjoy looking back at the numbers, but I truly enjoy running and I don’t want my watch to dictate if my run is considered “good” or “not good”.
2. Yoga and Strength Training have added so much to my running. I know they get compromised a lot when I run out of time in my day, but they need to be just as much of a priority for me in this last home stretch of training.
3. Speaking of stretch, simple stretching is not relieving my hamstring soreness and tightness. I hope to get into a massage therapist a few times between now and June 29th. Thanks to Christmas gift cards, this is a possibility (Thanks Laura and Steve)!
4. I need to sharpen up my diet. Food is fuel and I need to fuel my body right if I expect it to perform at it’s best. Will you still see me eating a bacon cheeseburger? You betchya. How about cupcakes? Duh, yes. Just maybe not every other night now.

teaching the kid proper nutrition: big warm cookie, vanilla ice cream with fudge on top. YUMMO!

You would think that this was after the marathon, but no, it was like a Tuesday night or something. And it was after my 3 fish tacos. See? I soooo need to sharpen up my diet.

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• So I’m Running a Marathon This Weekend (kandjcolorado.wordpress.com)

I can’t believe that I am running a marathon this weekend and I haven’t really batted an eye. It will truly be a training run for me (50K in June) and lil Megan (50 miler in July). We plotted our strategy during our epic 20 miler through the woods and decided to go with our plan of 4 hours on our feet. So, we will be lining up with the 4 hour marathoners. If we feel good and strong at mile 20, I told Megan that we can pick up the pace but only after 20 miles. We have to keep our egos in check during this race. A 3:30-3:40 marathon finish time will do us no good for our training goals. It will only increase our recovery time and that we cannot afford to do that because we are in our biggest training weeks right now. This is not our goal race so we don’t have much, if anything to gain by pushing the pace for this race, but everything to lose (injury).

This will be my 4th Colfax Marathon (2nd as a Marathoner – I ran it last year and I’ve run it twice as part of the relay team, Smells Like Colfax). It’s a big race and really well organized and they have worked hard over the past few years to make positive changes in the course. It’s not a PR course by any means, but it’s not a tough course either.

Goals for Sunday’s race:

• Finish strong. Finish time estimated 3:50-4:10 (one never knows)
• Negative split the race.
• Regular nutrition: miles 7, 13, 18, 23 (if not more)
• Regular water intake: when I’m thirsty, drink
• Have fun with my friends – Nina, don’t you dare line up with me and Megan! You have a fast race to run, lady!

I’m looking forward to the expo today for sure! It is located at Sports Authority Stadium, which also happens to be where my office is located so that makes things easy. Run Colorado has some cool new stuff that I want to check out. Honey Stingers is usually there with a great deal and I will probably load up on socks if there is a good price on the sticker. All boring to the non runner but super exciting for runnerds!

This marks my biggest ultra marathon training week filled with good miles (approximately 60-63), tough strength workouts, Yoga classes, stretching, a massage (fingers crossed), foam rolling, unquenchable appetite, fatigued legs, sore muscles and some mental toughness.

What do you do to stay focused (and not beat up) during tough workout weeks?

Related articles

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So… for the past few months I have been dealing with Identity Theft. It is no joke. Someone gained access to my social security number (how I don’t know), opened up accounts using my ssn, charged things to these accounts and then did not pay the bills, thus racking up a couple of thousands of dollars in bills and then those accounts were sent into collections. The person knew enough about me (but not everything). I had prefect credit, friends. I’m talking a score of 820. Well, as you can imagine that score plummeted to 610. I was notified this past February about the drastic change in my score. Since my life is pretty boring and I knew I hadn’t made any outrageous charges or tried to open any new accounts, I investigated and that’s when I found out someone was using my ssn to open new accounts.

Not cool!

Since February, I put a fraud alert on my account, and I have written numerous letters to the collectors, credit bureaus, the places where the accounts were opened. I have a detective assigned to my case and have a ginormous folder that I keep copies of all of my letters, forms, etc that is associated with this sort of thing. Now, as of April, my due diligence was paying off and my credit score was creeping back up into the 700s. I was feeling better about things. That was until Wednesday when I received a notification saying that my credit score took another nose dive, but this time when I opened my credit report I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and left me unable to breathe: This person’s name was now listed under my name as AKA (also known as) and I had now assumed ALL of her debt. All $50,000 of it in collections and now associated with me. I was pretty devastated as one could imagine. How was this possible? How was she able to do this? What was I going to do now? Where do I start? Trying to see the forest through the trees, there were positive things that came along with this new information:

• I now had a name. Before we just assumed it was an alias.
• I had her last 3 known addresses and phone numbers.
• Some of the new debt would make it incredibly easy to track this person down
• I had to get all of this new information to the detective asap so he could hand it over to the other detective in the state that the fraud was taking place in

I needed lots of help this go round so I took the day off from work and headed to my bank. Jim had to go with me to interpret for me since I was a blubbering mess and couldn’t form a coherent sentence. They set us up with fraud protection (should’ve done that the first time back in February) and they put me in touch with a identity theft specialist. This person proved to be my most valuable asset. He told me exactly what to say when I called each credit bureau. He walked me through everything step by step with lots of hand holding. You see, up until this point no one believed me (or at least it felt that way) because I was the one who was now having to prove who I was to these collectors and credit bureaus and I guess they were just skeptical, but now with the help of my identity theft specialist, people were starting to believe me and things were starting to happen. I’m happy to say that as of now, all new 18 items have been expunged from my credit report. I’m one happy yet emotionally drained chick!

Now, back to running. As you can imagine, this took it’s toll on me mentally so it was just about all I could do to go run.

Last Week’s Unspectacular but Happy it’s Something Workouts

Monday- off.

Tuesday- 6 miles in 47 minutes (7:45 pace). It was hard for me to get moving today. Didn’t want to go to track, didn’t want the treadmill so I just took it outside on the trails.

Wednesday- 6.2 miles in 48:23 minutes (7:48 pace). Ran up to Highlands Point with Stella dog and so happy I fit it in early in the morning since the rest of my day turned to shit quick.

Thursday- 6 miles in 49:10 minutes (8:10 pace). This run was rainy, sloppy, hailing, and soggy, but actually quite fun. I wanted 8, but the hail was starting to hurt.

Friday- 9.5 miles in 1:19 minutes (8:19 pace). Today was supposed to be my long day of 16 miles (drop back week), but I was exhausted. I talked myself into just running 6 miles, but was able to pull out 9.5 miles so I was happy with that and called it a day. We took Noah to Monkey Bizness that night to wear him out. Big Fun!

Saturday- 5 miles no watch. These were early early morning miles, but I got it in before heading up to Boulder for the day for my RRCA Coaching Certification Course. My plan was to run that evening as well, but wow I was beat! Off to bed early for me. Took this picture for my mom for Mother’s Day on top of the Bluffs where I run a lot.

Sunday- rest. Have you ever woke up sore from just being tired? My alarm went off at 4:30am and I just couldn’t go for a run. I couldn’t do it. It hurt. I hurt. I needed that extra 1 1/2 hours of sleep. So I did. Then it was off to Boulder for the second day of my certification. I really enjoyed the class and met some really great people. The class is jammed packed with information and I loved every bit of it, but definitely hated that it fell on Mother’s Day. Jim and Noah met me after class up in Boulder to hang out and grab some dinner and celebrate Mother’s Day.

Yes, buddy, there are some weird people in Boulder.

THIS WEEK

Monday- 4-6 easy miles

Tuesday- 8-10 miles (I might have to do some mile repeats in here) + my strength workout

Wednesday- 4-6 miles + Yoga

Thursday- 8-10 miles + strength workout

Friday- 4 miles easy + Yoga

Saturday- off

Sunday- 26 miles

This will definitely be a better week than the last (it HAS to be) so that’s something. Lots of fun things to look forward to this week. This will also be my biggest mileage week and I’m pumped to see how my body will handle it.

This is one of three workouts that I rotate through. All workouts focus on leg strength (for climbing those big hills, core and stability training (for ankle and knee stability and a strong core- abs, hips, and back), and shoulder strengthening (my shoulders tend to get really sore on my long runs).

Core & Stability Training

Warm Up: 10 minutes on the Step Mill or the Row Machine gradually increasing my speed until I am sweating.

I perform Exercise 1 for 10 reps, then Exercise 2 for 10 reps, then Exercise 3 for 10 reps. Repeat for a total of 3 sets.

Round One: 3 sets of 10.

1. Step Ups with a Knee Lift- I perform the Step Ups one leg at a time and really drive the knee up. I do this exercise fast but controlled. I use no weights.
2. Wide Arm Push Ups- My eyes are forward and not looking down.
3. Ball Plank-Pike- I perform this exercise with my hands on a platform (usually the one that I just did my step ups on) and my feet on the ball for the added difficulty.

Round Two: 3 sets of 10

1. Lunges on an Upside Down Bosu – I hate this video, but you will get the idea. This was an exercise that I really struggled with at first because of my poor ankle strength. My feet would cramp up like crazy. I would perform this series of exercises without my shoes on and I felt like I was more stable.
2. Single Leg Deadlift with a Dumbbell Shoulder Press- I use at 15 lb db for this exercise. I really feel this sucker in my hammy’s!! I perform all 10 repetitions on the right side, then 10 on the left.
3. Side Plank with a Twist- I perform 10 twists on one side then 10 on the other.

Round Three: 3 sets of 10

1. Power Knees with Cable- I perform this exercise (minus the jabs in the video) one leg at a time. Just like with my step ups, these are done at a fast but controlled pace. My resistance is set at 12.5 lbs.
2. Box Jumps- Instead of stepping back down as demonstrated in this video, I hop back down.
3. Plank Hip Touch- I start in forearm plank, then lower the right hip to the ground and then back up to center. Then lower the left hip down to touch the ground and back up to center.

So, there you have it, my fun little strength routine. Give an exercise or two a go and tell me what you think of it. Any good exercises you like to incorporate into your training?

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So, I hit my goals for last week so that’s pretty cool. It was a good week all around so it’s always a confidence booster to have a few of those. I’m also linking up today with Laura at Mommy Run Fast for her Menu Planning. It’s a great way to get new recipe ideas and get out of your comfort zone in the kitchen. I set my menu every Sunday for the week. If I’m lucky, I also get Noah’s nap time to do some food prep for the week. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, I like to have a good idea what’s on the menu for the week to keep the stress levels low for me after work.

Last Week’s Stats

Total Miles Run: 48

Strength Workouts: 2

Yoga: 0 classes, but 5 days of home practice for at least 30 minutes.

Splurges: almost an entire  16 oz container of peanut butter consumed in a week.

Monday- off. I had to leave work early to go get the Noah Bear because of an eye infection. He seemed to feel okay but had goopy eyes so we just lounged around the house that afternoon playing puzzles and trucks and watching Thomas the Train.

Tuesday- AM Strength Workout + PM 6 miles 48:45 (8:07 pace). Noah was feeling better so we went to the gym for an hour so I could get a quick strength workout in. It felt good to get back into the gym after the week off. That evening I went back to the treadmill instead of the track for my speed workout since we were getting some nasty snow moving in…again. Here is what my workout looked like:

1 mile warm up
4 sets:
2x200m @ :42 (6:00 pace) w/ 200 recovery jog + 1×800 @ 3:00 (6:00 pace) w/ 400 jog
1 mile cool down

And here is what my backyard looked like.

But it’s May 1st… my thoughts exactly!

Wednesday- 5 miles. Today I felt like doing some climbing and not slugging it through snow so I took it to the Step Mill for 30 minutes (got in 3.5 miles for an average pace of 8:34) then followed that up with 30 minutes on the treadmill at 15% incline walking at 3.5 mph (17:24 pace) and it was all I could do to keep from holding on. I actually had to hold on for majority of this workout. That night I met a friend for dinner and drinks. We had such a good time!! I think I also convinced her to join our EPIC Relay Team. Woo-Hoo!!

Thursday- 10 miles with Nina Machina in 1:23ish (8:17ish pace). I needed the support of a buddy today. I totally did not feel like running so this was perfect. We ran on the pavement of the South Platte River Trail. It was really nice out and there was not a trace of snow.

Friday- 6 miles with Stella Nutella. No watch. Just an easy run with me and my dog. Jim and I took Noah to Monkey Bizness (for their $5 night). He has such a good time at that place. The only thing I hate is that it is such an effort to get him out of there and it turns very dramatic, very quick. I’m talking throwing his shoes, throwing himself down on the floor, kicking and crying – it was quite the performance.

Saturday- off. Volunteered for the Columbine Classic 4mile/8mile race so it was an early morning. I got there around 6:30am and helped get the race shirts all organized until I was off to do my original volunteer task of working Mile 4 Water/Aid Station. They carted us off in the back of a trailer to the middle of nowhere for our Aid Station spot. We were all smiles…. until 2 hours later when we still hadn’t been picked up. Yep, they forgot about going to pick us up. And we were all hungry and getting crankier by the minute. I finally got home around noon just in time for some weed pulling and house cleaning. Woo-Hoo!

Sunday- 20.5 miles in 3:50ish (11:10ish pace). My friend, Lil Megan is training for her first 50 Miler, The Leadville 50 Silver Rush and she needed 20+ miles for the weekend as well. I knew I wanted to do something somewhat challenging and on the trails. Nina and I had done Roxborough State Park and had a good run and I have run Waterton Canyon on many occasions but have never tried to link these trails together. I scoured over maps the night before trying to figure out the mileage but could never find a definitive answer so I asked Megs if she was in for an adventure and a lot of “winging it”. She was, of course. It was an awesome run. Lots of climbing for our first 4-5 miles then our last 7 were all downhill. The in between was filled with lots of beautiful up and down trails. There were no falls, plenty of tripping over roots, creek crossings, deer sightings (and thankfully no bear sightings). We were alone on the Colorado Trail and it was so so pretty. I will never ever do this trail by myself but will gladly do it again with a willing partner. We walked up every hill and had great conversation all the way. Have I mentioned I had wonderful girls in my life?!!

Upcoming Week’s Training Goals:

• Yoga Classes 2-3 this week – a must!
• Strength Training 2-3 sessions
• Speed Work 1 day
• Long run of 16 miles on Friday due to my schedule (a drop back week)

MENU for the Week

I’m not stretching myself out of my comfort zone this week with recipes. These are oldies but goodies for this household. Plus, I set my menu after running a tough 20 mile run so I didn’t really feel like looking up too many recipes.

Monday- Crockpot Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots and a side salad

Tuesday- Sloppy Joe’s and Green Beans

Wednesday- Vegetable Tort. This is basically a veggie dump in a pie crust. Yum!

Thursday- Salmon w/ Spinach and Baked Sweet Potato (this is my favorite pre long run meal)

Friday- out or leftovers. Jim doesn’t really do leftovers (unless it is some sort of meat) so I have learned over the years how to modify recipes to cook for 2-3.

Saturday & Sunday- Jim is in charge of meals so for those who know Jim, this will be some sort of a one-pot cooking concoction. I think he should do a guest post on how to live in the kitchen on one pot, one bowl, one plate, and one cup. It’s really impressive, actually. I will be in Boulder going through the RRCA Running Coach Certification. Very excited!!

Any recipe recommendations for me??

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But here is a look at some of the things I was loving this week.

• Cheesy grins from this little guy!

• Mid run stops for a little Yoga.

Crow Pose

• Post run celebratory beer! Imperial Java Stout.

• When Noah picks out his own clothes and dresses himself.

• A beautiful Colorado day!

• My 2 year olds photography skills! Yep, Noah was riding his push trike (read: I was pushing him) and wanted to take pictures with my phone so I let him. None of the others are even recognizable but this one turned out pretty cool.

• Snuggle time with Stella and Noah. We lay on our sleeping bags and watch “Over the Hedge” or Thomas the Train. Noah will hold my hand or he will stroke my hair. Love it!

• Daily Yoga practice at home. I love a good Yoga class and I do find it hard to push myself as hard at home as I do during a class but I can really see improvements in my practice, and that’s always fun.

Crescent Lunge / Headstand / Fallen Angel

• Yoga Challenges on Instagram. I don’t post my pictures every day like the others but I do work on the poses each day. Some people are so creative with their pictures and I use it as motivation and maybe a little direction for what I will be working on that day. I also like to check out #crowplaces and #springbalancearmy for other motivation. You can find me at fitnesskel HERE.

• A good group of girlfriends. Although I don’t have a picture to capture this Favorite, I feel really grateful for the ladies in my life. I have some pretty incredible friends! I am starting to pursue some cool things and I have an amazing network of people to draw from for encouragement, suggestions, a critical eye, a bottle of wine, a long run, a good run, a crappy run, or just to meet up for dinner and drinks. I feel lucky to be surrounded by such cool chicks!

Hope you all have an awesome weekend! And tell me, what’s a favorite thing of yours from this week?

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My Stats
Run Mileage: 41 miles

Yoga Classes Attended: 0, but I did do 30 minutes every day of arm balances and various flows.

Strength Workouts: None

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Eaten: Don’t Ask!!!

Week Seven:

Monday- off. I missed my Yoga class, dang it.

Tuesday- 4.5 miles in 38:42 (8:36 pace). This was a snowy run (yep, snow. Again). I ran this in my Yak Trax and winter gear. Have I mentioned that I seriously want to burn all my winter gear??!!

Dear Colorado, I love you; I really do, but this weather… well it sucks! And you’re making it hard to love you. I don’t mind snow, really I don’t. I know how much we need the snow and how important it is for our water supply. Plus, it can be lots of fun; so October through March, I accept it. However, it is not acceptable to snow every week in April. And now May 1st too?? Not okay. 

Wednesday- 6 miles in 48:23 (8:03 pace). This was one of those runs that I never got in a groove and never felt good. Normally, it might take me a mile or 2 to get in a groove, but not today, I never found it. This doesn’t happen often, thankfully. One of those low, lows.

Thursday- 10 miles in 1:22:13 (8:13 pace). First day in shorts and a t-shirt. Woo-Hoo!! I ran a hilly route and took it easy. I was just out enjoying our awesome weather and loved being out every minute. One of those high, highs.

Shorts and t-shirt weather!! Finally!!!

Friday- off. 

Saturday- 17 miles in 3:03 (10:45 pace). The North Fork 50K/50 Mile Race Director organized a group run for us on part of the course this past weekend and it was going to be my first look at the course and get a good feel for this trail running thing. It was perfect (dare I say, a little hot) outside and we were all so happy to be out there. We started at a conservative pace and then each found our run groove. I fell into pace with 3 guys who run with the Denver Trail Runners each week. We ran together for the entire 17 miles and had a great time. We each took turns leading the run and had steady conversation. We all agreed that we should try to run some of our bigger runs together again since we ran so well together on this day. If nothing else, it will be a huge morale boost to see each other race day when we are hating life at mile 27. We might’ve had a celebratory beer afterwards…

My running buddies for 17 miles: Stu, Adam and Jason

we made sure to walk up the hills, at least halfway. I’m telling you, it takes practice for road runners or marathoners to figure out that you HAVE to walk during an ultra. No shame in that game!!!

The Columbine girls screaming down the trail. They must’ve heard we had beer waiting for them.

Kelly, Adam, Me, and Melissa. Post run celebration. I’m not flexing, by the way… I’m holding onto all my food – very important stuff- beer (Java Stout), tortilla chips, pretzels and a chocolate chip cookie.

That afternoon, Noah and I had a big time at the park. I pushed that kid on the swing for, I swear, 30 minutes. We went to the pool for a bit and then settled in for a movie on our sleeping bags.

Sunday- 3.4 miles in 30:15 (8:53 pace). I pushed Noah in the stroller. Man, I forgot how tough that is. Phew. I am out of stroller shape. I would liked to have gotten in some more miles, but it just didn’t work out that way. So instead, Noah and I ran some errands and then went for a little hike in the gorgeous weather!

That’s one cool dude, folks!

Looking ahead to this week, I would love to fit in my strength workouts and Yoga classes to my running schedule. I feel such a big difference when I am consistently cross training! However, I struggle each week with finding that family/exercise/life/work balance so I have had to learn that flexibility is the key to  my training. So, here are my goals for this week’s training: wish me luck!

• 3 Strength Workouts
• 2 Yoga Classes or 5 days of home practice for at least 30 minutes
• 1 day of Speed Work
• 20-22 miles – I don’t know if this will happen Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It depends on my work to-do list, how long I will be volunteering at the Columbine Classic Saturday morning, which day is the least annoying to the husband, and what the weather will be like (snow or no snow, 90′s or 50′s).

Fingers crossed. I had to leave work early Monday to pick up Noah from his little school because of an eye infection. We got some eye drops from the doctor but… have you ever tried to put eye drops in a 2 year old’s eyes?? Wow, seriously one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I had to hold him down with one hand while he was screaming and thrashing about and with my other hand pull open his eye lids and try to squirt the drops in. Terrorizing for both of us. I hope he doesn’t have nightmares about me now. He’s doing better, but I did keep him home from school today. So, we’ve had plenty of play time today. Now, Mommy needs a run!!

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It wasn’t until Monday night, after I had a frustrating Sunday and Monday filled with a roller coaster of emotions (things that normally wouldn’t bother me are now bothering me), plenty of eye rolling and just general annoyances, gobs of starchy food, spoonfuls of peanut butter topped with chocolate chips, that I realized what was happening.

My workouts this week have been less than desirable and it has taken just about everything in me to just get a run in, let alone a good one. And extra workouts? Nope. Not feeling it. What am I feeling? Peanut butter and chocolate, pasta, mashed potatoes, holding down the couch, biting your head off. So I did a little digging.

I read a few articles about PMS symptoms and how it relates to running. What I discovered was pretty interesting. Below is a snippet from a Run the Planet article called “How Your Menstrual Cycle Affects Performance”. You can find the link below.

The fluctuation of your energy levels

Your menstrual cycle is composed of three phases. The first phase, generally days one through thirteen (the first three to seven days being menstruation), is called the follicular phase and is marked by relatively low levels of estrogen except for a spike near day fourteen. The next phase, called ovulation begins on day fourteen. The remainder of the cycle, days fifteen through 28 of the average 28-day cycle, is called the luteal phase and is characterized by moderately high and stable levels of estrogen. Estrogen levels are important because estrogen is the key hormone affecting not only your cycle, but also the type of fuel available for your working muscles. Studies have shown that low levels (in the follicular phase) favor the breakdown of quick energy stores (muscle glycogen) whereas high levels (in the luteal phase) favor fat-burning, lower lactic acid levels and glycogen sparing.

OOOOHHHHH!!! That’s why!! I thought I was done paying attention to all this stuff. When we were trying to get pregnant, I knew all about this world (painstakingly so – it took me over a year to get pregnant). I knew my temps, my phases, how food affected me, how travel, stress and exercise affected my luteal and ovulation phase. I just never thought about it from this angle and how to potentially use it to my advantage.

I will really start to pay attention to this from now on. It helps me better understand why I will hit a workout one week but not the next. And that it might not have anything at all to do with overtraining or under training. So, before I burn my training plan and heaven forbid, over react, I will be mindful of this.

You will be happy to learn that I’m moving out of the miserable bloating, cramps, I-can’t-take-enough-Midol phase and into the low estrogen level- I-Am-Wonder-Woman Phase so I would expect big things from me in the next week

Now, if only I could control that appetite thing…

How Your Menstrual Cycle Affects Performance

How Menstruation Affects Your Running

How to Run with the Flow of Your Menstrual Cycle

Related articles

• Women’s Hormones and Running – Guest Post by Jason Karp, Ph.D. (ubermotherrunner.com)

Workout Stats

Days Run: 4

Total Miles Run: 48

Yoga Classes: 0 but I did do 2 days of home practice for about 10-15 min

Strength Workouts: 2

Here is what the breakdown of what the week looked like for me.

Monday & Tuesday - In a bit of a run funk and found it tough to get myself motivated. Simply heartsick. Plus, this is what I came home to on Monday evening. Not fun!

I was soooo not dressed for 20 degree temps and snow walking back to my car. Grrrr!

Wednesday- 9.6 miles + Strength & Core Workout. Stella and I went out in the snow (ridiculous) for 6 miles in 49:16 (8:10 pace). So. sick. of. snow. And I’m sick of wearing this for my runs.

Ready to burn my winter gear

That evening, I took it to the treadmill for a little speed workout, but that wasn’t happening! My earphones kept popping out and it was making me crazy!!! So, it was all I could do to manage 3 miles in 25 minutes (8:23 pace) I followed it with my core and stability strength routine. Love it!

Thursday-11.8 miles. It took me forever to get out the door this morning for my run, but it was finally blue skies and warmer temps (read: super muddy trails) and I was happy for it. I got in 8.22 miles in 1:08 (8:17 pace). That evening, I took it to the Step Mill for 30 minutes. I am starting to really enjoy this machine. It’s tough and I’m crazy sweaty afterwards.

Friday- Unintentional rest day. Wanted to get some Yoga in today but I just couldn’t get it done. Did some damage that evening at Sweet Tomatoes carb loading for my 20 miler, though.

Saturday- 20 miles. Let me just say how much I LOVE that I can sucker my friends into running 20 miles with me. Nina Machina only had 10 miles on her schedule for Saturday and 10 for Sunday so she just decided to do 20 on Saturday! Who does that? Katie only had 18 miles but hey, what’s 2 more miles?! And Alyssa didn’t care how many miles, she just wanted to get in some miles. So they all joined me on not an easy, flat route. Plenty of hills to keep it interesting and to keep us honest. It was a perfect running day out with the girls filled with great conversation! Jim and I had a date night and I ate my weight in sushi – it was awesome!

Sunday- 7.73 miles + Strength & Core Workout. After a trip to Lamar’s Donuts, I HAD to go for a run (I ate 3!!! And it was awesome!).

How can you say no to that face?

So, I chose Waterton Canyon. It never disappoints. Lots of bighorn sheep out there per usual. My legs felt great! That afternoon, we took a family trip to the gym. I got in another great strength routine followed by a little yoga. We took Noah to the pool. He gets so excited about going swimming. I’m learning that I can bribe him throughout the week with a trip to the pool – don’t judge; it’s awesome!

Post run cool down on the tractor

Jim’s gone to Gulf Shores Alabama this week for a big golf tournament with his buddies so that means it is just me and Noah. So, what that means for my workouts is that I have to be more strict with my schedule than what I would like. When Jim is home, I can go out early in the morning or after Noah goes to bed to “make up” for a missed workout, but obviously I can’t do that when Jim is gone so I have to be strategic with my time.

Monday- Yoga

Tuesday- Speed Work (possibly some mile repeats) plus my Strength Workout.

Wednesday- Hill Repeats + Yoga

Thursday- 1:15-1:30 hour run + Strength Workout (My work is holding a 3 mile training run for the Colfax Marathon since we are a charity partner so Noah will join me in the jog stroller for this)

Friday- Yoga

Saturday- North Fork training run. The race director has offered a few training runs before the race for people to get used to the trail and such so a group of us are going to that. I have 16 miles on the schedule so I am planning on running all 16 of those miles on the race course. Very cool. Got a babysitter that morning for that.

Sunday- An hour easy run + Strength Workout

So, that’s what this week looks like for me. Noah and I will be hitting up our usual date night spots: the library, the gym, the gym’s pool, the neighbors, Monkey Bizness, the park once the snow goes away. We have a good time! Plus, once Noah goes to bed I get to catch up on all my girlie tv. Full remote control access! Love!

This is what Noah means when he says “Momma I wanna carry you”

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• Weekly Recap: Nailed It (kandjcolorado.wordpress.com)
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