One Word...Burrrrrr

Closing out week two of my yearly reviews and all I can think about was how chilly this week was down here.  It had been so hot all this "winter," even reaching record highs.  Everyone, myself included spent much of the time complaining about the heat and hoping for cooler weather.  Then BAM, 40 degree temperatures came out of nowhere!  The highs barely reached 60 and most days were overcast and windy.  It's kind of silly to complain about getting what you wished for, just wish there was a bit more of a progression into the cooler weather.  Needless to say it was quite a shock to the system and made my running attire a bit tricky.  But hey, if that is my biggest issue, then life really ain't that bad!  So here we go with week 2...

Monday was the typical spin and lift day.  I continue to try and do more leg work.  Dead lifts, squats, box jumps, the fun stuff were involved in my dreaded designated leg day.  Monday was also the first day it was insanely cold (well by Florida standards) but was still sunny, so it was actually one of those really refreshing days.  I even got to wear long pants for the first time in probably a year which had me jumping for joy!

Tuesday was dedicated to speed work.  I actually LOVE speed work.  I only recently started doing it about a year ago and in the past few months have gotten more structured with it.  I had to take some time away from speed work when I suffered an injury to my heel and achilles last Fall, and I'm still taking it a little slower.  But here was my fun speed workout from Tuesday:

1 mile warm up @ 8:30 pace
400 @ 6:18 pace
800 @ 6:23 pace
1200 @ 6:31 pace
1600 @ 6:40 pace
1200 @ 6:27 pace
800 @ 6:19 pace
400 @ 6:09 pace
[400 RI between each]
1 mile cool down @ 8:00 pace

The 1600 was a little slower than I had hoped and a bit of a struggle, but I pushed through and know what I've got to work on.  The weather was actually a little warmer and sunnier that day too!  And of course what helped my sore legs, not to mention really tie my outfit together, were my Tiux compression socks.  They are the absolute best!

Wednesday was a super busy work day and also the day I get to work out with my husband.  He made the workout so of course we were Olympic lifting.  I actually barbell benched 100lbs for the first time ever, so that was pretty exciting for me!  Time was limited but we got a lot done and I sure felt it the next day.  Wednesdays are also the days I teach an evening yoga class at LA Fitness.  I had a great turn out (thanks to New Years Resolutions) and a great class.  I love me some yoga and so do my kiddos, here they are practicing their sun salutations in their play room.

Thursday I had no goals or expectations for my training run, other than to just run.  After reading the weather report, it looked like that day was going to be a gorgeous one with temps pushing 70 and plenty of sunshine.  Apparently I either read it wrong or Orlando didn't agree with the report, because when I set out for my run, it was in the low 50's, cloudy and very windy.  My outfit I had brought wasn't really conducive for the weather, but luckily I had a jacket in the car I could use.  Having no expectations for my run, I figured I would just go around the neighborhood near our gym and hopefully knock out a solid 5-6 miles.  Of course I had to turn on my watch, I rarely run without it.  But after what felt like an eternity waiting for it to locate satellite, I said to myself "forgot it, you just wanted to go run any way, so just go run!"  And that's what I did, just ran.  No watch, no pace, no desired distance, just running for the sure joy of running.  It was the second week in a row I ran watch-less with no intentions for my run and it.felt.awesome!  Though my legs were sore and tired, it was colder than I had anticipated and I was probably going too fast at times then too slow at others, I just kept right on going.  Before I knew it, I had ran roughly 6 miles.  I plan to have many more "free runs" like that this year, just hopefully not as cold, cloudy and windy.

Yes, my poor legs were FROZEN!

Runner's high had me going until I ran out of road!

Friday is a busy work day for the hubster and I.  We try and get a lot of things done as we enter into the weekend, as well as set our goals for the week to come.  That morning, he went to his first yoga class in almost 8 years while I stayed back and got in a quick upper body pump in at the gym.  My legs were still rather unhappy with me from earlier this week and I wanted to get at least 8 miles in on Saturday, so it was just arms. 

Friday evening, I got to sneak away and get to hot yoga.  My absolute most favorite instructor of all time and owner of the studio I go to was actually filling in that evening.  I hadn't taken a class with her in years so it was an extra special treat to get to practice with her!  Almost 2 hours of hot yoga and I was ready to relax and call it a night!

Saturday was a treadmill run day.  The boys and I went to LA Fitness, they were super excited to see all their friends in Kids Klub, and I knocked out 9 miles.  I ran into an older gentleman and seasoned runner who I have spoken with on several occasions and even ran a couple of miles next to him on the treadmill.  Definitely not the same as out on the trail but still fun having a running buddy nonetheless!  I'm slowly but surely getting my speed and endurance back.  I'm realizing that at this point it is mostly mental.  I've said it before how I've lost a bit of my mojo, but I am feeling it make its way back into my life.  Just need to dig deep and pull it out!

Had a super fun Saturday with the family.  Hunter, the boys and I, all decked out in our Chiefs gear, went to the park and got in a little shopping.  We had some friends over to watch the game but unfortunately, the Chiefs lost to the Patriots.  Today, after my husband gets back from his run (pictured below, you can see how excited he is, lol) we are going to head out to our sons' soccer game and rush back for some more football watching.  I've got a long run this week (24 miles), so I'm excited to see how that goes and of course I will be posting all about it!

One thing I realized this week and I don't know how I just now realized it, is how close I am to running my 5th marathon, eeeek!  As of this past Thursday, I am officially less than a month away.  Excited, nervous, indifferent, all sorts of feelings and emotions rushing through me.  I feel as if I will be about as prepared as I can be considering I just ran a marathon injured less than 2 months ago.  Luckily, physically I am all healed.  But mentally I am not fully back in the game.  So this, my 5th marathon and what I had hoped to be my 3rd attempt at BQ'ing, will be just to see what I can do coming back from an injury and time off.  Not shooting for that sub 3:35, although it would be nice, but hopefully I will be the proud owner of a shiny new PR next month!