July stats

I know it's already August 8, but it's been busy busy busy here. Also, blogging requires stillness and I have not been very still as of late. But that's another blog post. 

My birthday month is over and it was a pretty good one. I had some great runs and some crappy runs but I had ZERO TREADMILL runs so it was awesome. My speedwork is coming along, I continue to hate tempo runs, and my long runs depend on many factors. Today's long run was spectacular because I ran with a couple of friends, one of whom is my BRF who hasn't run long in quite a while since getting mono! It was so nice just to run with her again. But today is August and I need to talk about July. 

Stats

Total 68.6 miles

Running: 50.9 miles

Biking: 17.7 miles

Cross Training: 5 sessions

Races: 0

I skipped a couple of days of running when we went camping for the first time ever. I did do a lot of walking however and tallied 27 miles in the 4 days we were away. I also skipped some biking before and after camping. I did good with cross training the beginning of the month but then things got away from me and on the list of priorities it was low. I did do quite a bit of swimming and while we were camping I did some rowing in the canoe. So maybe I should count those. 

June stats

Stats
Total Mileage: 68.3 miles
Running: 55.9
Biking: 12.4
Cross training: 4
Races: 0

Running-wise June was ok. I started training for my next half-marathon. It's the toughest training plan I have ever done-- faster speedwork, tempo runs, faster long runs. There will be no stroller runs this time around. Vader has been working a lot of early days which means he's getting home early enough for me to run outside. Other days I've paid a babysitter. I've been lucky enough to not do a treadmill run since May 5! I'm hoping to keep that trend up this summer.

April stats

I'm still riding pretty high from Saturday's race. I had to tell Lauren Fleshman how I did because we're besties now and she replied and retweeted me. Such a perfect day. The best part though was having my family there and my kids seeing me get the medal.

April was a pretty good month. I was able to do some stroller runs, some decent long runs, good speedwork & I ran a race. I upped my running mileage and for the first time in months I ran more than I biked! I seem to have forgotten to do any strength training. Oh well.

Stats
Total Mileage: 129.4 miles
Running: 72.4
Biking: 57
Crosstraining: Oops
Races: 1

March stats & wrap-up

Guess where I had that kidney stone problem...

March could have been a bit better if I had not had that damn kidney stone problem. It cost me 14 running miles! Grrr. Overall I'm okay with it. I'm not a 100 mile a month girl. Running 3 times a week & biking twice is working out for me. I'm not quite sure what the proper terminology is for biking... I'm on a semi--recumbent bike. Is that still biking, or cycling, or spinning? Does it matter? I'm on it right now which is why I'm musing about it. When I add my running and biking miles together it's a decent amount:

Stats

Total Mileage: 128 miles

Running: 63.5 miles

Biking: 64.5 miles

Crosstraining : 7 sessions

I skipped my strength training yesterday. I did my 1/4 mile repeats and I was really feeling it since it had been my first run since doing them last week. So I decided not to push it. Which kind of sucks since I'll be missing it on Friday as well. I'll just have to be more vigilant next week--when the kids are on school break.

I feel like my running is getting better, my biking is getting better, and I'm hopeful I'll do well in my next 5k. I've increased the resistance on the bike and I'm doing speeds I did at the lower resistance. That's progress. My speedwork is feeling better and my long runs are going well. The easy runs on the treadmill are NOT working out, but I am hoping to do my first stroller run tomorrow. I should just get up earlier and run in the morning but I think I need the sleep more. 

My next 5k is just a tune-up race to see where I am right now. Chewie & LightRunner are doing the 200m, SkyWalker is doing the 1 mile, I'm doing the 1 mile with the Princess and then I'm doing the 5k. That will give me 4 and I need 10 for the day so I'll have to stick around and run some more. 

I'm looking forward to my first double digit run this weekend (since my last half). I'll be using my new Garmin Forerunner 220. I've heard good things about it so I hope it can fill some of the hole left by my beloved Bia. We'll see. I'll have to squeeze 10 miles in to the weekend and see my sister's new twin babies too. I can't wait! For the babies. I'm looking forward to doing 10 miles again, but not in the same way.

February stats & recap

Daily Runs

February was definitely better than January (but strangely less than last February. Had I done my long run yesterday it would have been more, but alas, I did not.) Despite it being one of the coldest Februarys we have had in centuries (for reals), I did all of my long runs outside and even managed  a rare midweek run on the road too. 

Daily Rides

I have not done very well with strength training or core or anything besides running and riding. I've decided that for the time being I am going to try to do strength/core/other stuff just once a week instead of trying to fit it in on my running/biking days. I have a limited amount of time to do anything and I have plenty I'm doing. So we'll see how well that works. 

I have been pretty consistent with the bike rides and have advanced to doing more than just nicely pedaling the time away. I've added some resistance training. I was going to just do "speedwork" on the bike and pedal really fast for certain intervals, but I think it'll be better for me in the long run if I do the resistance training. So rather than pedal really fast, I increase the resistance for a minute and pedal as fast as I can (not very) and then recover for a minute with lower resistance. The funny part is that when I am doing an easy bike ride I wind up with speeds of 11-12, but when I do the hard bike ride my hard speeds are 11-12 and the easy recoveries are much higher. So I am actually biking faster anyway. I think this will strengthen my legs, particularly the parts that don't get a lot out of running. 

I've got 61 days until my "A-goal" 5K race and 76 days until my "B-goal" half-marathon so only time will tell. 

Stats:

Mileage: 52.1 miles

Runs: 11

Races: 0

Bike: 67 miles

Rides: 8

Crosstraining: 3 

January stats

Running and Biking

I had every intention of getting into a good routine this month and really upping my running and biking miles. 

You know what they say about intentions right?

It's not entirely my fault. I started out the month sick and I ended the month sick. And someone was sick in the middle. In fact, someone has been sick in one way or another since November. I've just gotten my first delivery of Essential Oils and am getting some diffusers soon so I am hoping to stop the sickness. I'll let you know how it works out. I am a natural skeptic, but I will say that during LightRunner's illness I rubbed some oils on his feet and never once had to give him tylenol or ibuprofen. So there's that. I thought I'd do something nice and take the girls to the movies at the mall and I was rewarded with the flu. I didn't go to the doctor and get diagnosed. But I haven't been that sick in 16 years. I was in bed for 16 hours. That does not happen. Ever. It knocked me off my feet, literally. I missed runs, biking, cross training. That big ol' gap in the graph up there is my flu week. I did nothing but sit on the couch and watch Thomas the Tank Engine. I couldn't even focus enough to read. It sucked. 

It's also been wicked cold and snowy. You know, winter. Bah, winter. My long runs have not been long. Whine, whine, whine. The highlight was being able to do a couple of runs with friends. I really need to do that more often.

January was not the best. But onward and upward right?

Stats

Mileage: 40.7 miles

Runs: 11

Races: 0

Bike: 54 miles

Rides: 6

Crosstraining: 6 days. I think.

February will be better. 

Yearly wrap-up and future goals

Lotta green (Easy) on there… 

I decided to take it easy in December. No speedwork, no long runs. Partly because of holiday prep and sickness and partly because I did the Quickfit Holiday Challenge with Jessica Smith.

Stats

Mileage: 32.6 miles
Runs: 10
Bike: 39.2 miles
Trips: 6
Races: 0
Cross training: 22 days / 27 sessions

Not a lot of running, but more than last December (23.7) and I did a decent amount of biking and cross training. I also did a decent amount of socializing! Lots of nights out with friends and holiday celebrations. It's been a pretty good month. 

I recently got a new iPhone (5S) that can take full advantage of the Health App and count my steps and track my sleep and all that fun stuff. I manage to walk an average of 3 miles per day just doing chores in my house. The sleep tracker has confirmed that I sleep like crap. I'm awake multiple times a night and don't get a lot of deep sleep. I'm sick AGAIN though, so I'm hoping to get back on track. I was doing so well getting up at 6:30 every morning and it was easier to fall asleep but then Christmas vacation happened and we all got sick again and yeah. I hope to start again on Monday. 

As far as the year went… I wound up with 661.9 miles (yes I find that funny too) which is the most I have ever done. Sure, it would be great to have a 1000 mile year, but I don't think that's in the cards for me right now. As long as I keep going up, which is what I'm been doing, I'm happy. I think I'm also less likely to get injured that way. I've got 51.7 biking miles for the year to add to those running miles too.

Last year's goals: 

1. Run 4 times a week
2. Cross train 4 times a week
3. Beat my 5K PR of 27:35
3a. Set a new PR of 26:30
4. Don't get injured doing it!

1. 4 times a week is tough. I had some good weeks, but quite a few when I couldn't get that 4th run in. I'm pretty sure I did 3 times a week consistently though. 
2. Tee hee. I had months when I did a lot of cross training but many months when I did none. 
3. HAHAHAHA, nope. Not even close. 
4. No injuries, so that's good. 

So, not quite a successful year as far as that goes. BUT, I had lots of special running moments that meant more than the time on the clock (Ragnar, Wildcats Marathon with my kids, Ran a race with my husband, Running the half marathon for Fallon). I also participated in something called the Earthathon and helped other runners reach an awesome goal of running 25,000 miles. For 2015 I am helping to lead a team of over 20 runners (United Snails) as we try to reach 25,000 before other teams (there's still time to join! Go here to join a team. All you need is a twitter account.) It's a great way to stay motivated to run during a cold dreary winter.

I'm keeping my goals for 2015 simple:

1. Run 3 times a week
2. Bike 2 times a week
3. Cross train (strength, core, etc.) whenever I can
4. Run with friends whenever I get the opportunity! 
5. Be the best runner I can be

I'm not giving myself any time goals. I would like to PR at both the 5K and half marathon this year. I'll work damn hard to do it. But I'm not going to define myself by that. I'm not going to judge my success on numbers. I'm not an elite, not a pro, I'm just another Strong Running Mama trying to stay sane and be a good example to my kids. If I do the majority of my runs with a smile on my face (or at least in my heart) and run with friends and laugh, I'm doing pretty good. I am a million light years ahead of where I was 5, 10, 15 years ago. 

November stats

I feel like I was just writing October's stats. We spent the majority of November sick. After 3 weeks I gave up and went to the doc (yesterday) for meds for a sinus infection. I only took a weekend off when I was sick and the girls were both sick and the idea of running long just wasn't appealing.

I did pretty good sticking to my routine this month but it's getting harder. It's getting cold out there and the toddler does not like to bundle up for stroller runs (and it's hard to buckle him up wearing a coat anyway). I think I'll be doing more treadmill runs soon. My long runs are not quite long yet, but I ran more often this month. Last November was 32.8 miles.

Stats

Mileage: 54 miles
Runs: 14
Races: 1 (Celebrate Women 5K)
Cross training: 8
Bike: 12.5 miles

I did really well with the cross training this month. In addition to the Jessica Smith videos, I've been adding some bike miles. I bought a bike trainer to use with my road bike but it didn't work out the way I hoped. My bike is a smaller sized mountain bike. The back tire was being shaved by the trainer and when I looked into getting a replacement tire I realized that I couldn't get a trainer tire for it and to get just a regular mountain bike tire would have been too much work and money. Adding it all up didn't make sense. So I sent the trainer back and bought a semi-recumbent bike instead. I should have done that right away but I swear when I first started looking all I saw were bikes for thousands of dollars. My research failed me. I'm not heading for a triathlon or giving up running. Biking is great cross training for running and an indoor bike is something I can do during the winter. I'm hoping to do the bike twice a week, run 4 times a week and throw in some videos when I can. 

The Exerpeutic 400XL Folding Recumbent Bike

I did just start Jessica Smith's Quick Fit Holiday Challenge which means videos almost every day for the month. I generally don't do challenges because I have a hard time fitting them into my running schedule but I like the word "Quick" in this one. All of the daily workouts are 20 mins or less. I should be able to get that done on top of whatever running and biking I am doing. I'm expecting to have a really strong winter of exercise so I can have a really strong half marathon time next fall. When a good friend says she's running her first post-baby half and asks you to do it with her there's only one response. So I signed up for the Wineglass Half Marathon in October. A destination half with friends and wine. Awesome.