THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

Day 1 of Bandera training.  Vanessa is tired and coughing so ran on the home treddy nice n easy starting at my favorite door.  Watched NYC marathon this morning!  Pretty exciting!  I'm tired too, we both spent all day yesterday working an aid station at th Kingman Kong 50k.  Vanessa was the most adorable helper ever.  We had a blast but wowza it was cold and windy!

Trail tempo day.  Temps were around 60 but the wind was blowing from the south 26-33mph.  I jogged about 2.5 to the rails to trails entrance off Webb Road, then ran the 1 mile stretch on the trail between Rock and Webb 5 times for my tempo.  It kept me in the crosswind and somewhat protected with the trees, although I could have gone without the  180 degree turns.  My watch died but checked my phone before and after--about 34 minutes so I was probably hovering around 6:50 pace, give or a take a few seconds.  Long cooldown home.

4am..staggered through a workout with my partner at work that included a mile of running, then plodded 4 more

Afternoon. ..tired zombie, 8 slow around Vanessa's school, no watch

Me and Mini made a trip to the East Y today for my favorite treadmills.  Bandera hill workout prototype 2.

1 mile warm up

3 x (.5 mile 6%, .5 at 12%, then 1 down -2%)

paces (8:00, 12:00, 6:22) for the first then next two (7:30, 11:45, 6:18)

.25 job in between each 2 mile set.

1.5 cooldown

first two sets seemed like the workout was too easy and I was going to need to modify but then the third set hit and I huffed and puffed and heaved up the hill.  nevermind.  not too easy!

ez recovery miles, no watch.  stopped twice--once because I ran into Nancy driving her van full of kids and we talked a little while and then again when my Mom called.

8:44 pace.  Nice n  easy meandering around the East side.  Vanessa was up a lot last night coughing and we ended up sleeping in the recliner.  Didn't take her to school until 9 so got a late start.  The wind was ridiculous today!

7:51 AP.  Met up with Kyle and Fernando at SCP.  Miles the dog ran with us and every time we ran by Fernando's house at the north end of the park he switched out children as bike escorts so we also had Karina and Rafael making us do a fartlek as bike pace waxed and waned in the wind and inclines/declines.  Fun run and the time passed quickly!

Jogged to the East Y, sweat buckets doing 200 floors on the NES, did a little core, then jogged home.  recovery day, sorta

Met up with Nancy and ran 4.4 easy chatting and catching up.  Then I went home and jogged 5 easy on the treddy.  Off to dinner with my daughter to celebrate 36 years of being alive.  :)

Treadmill tempo. Vanessa didn't have school today either and it's been a week since the last tempo day.  I set the incline at 1% and got on the less-forgiving mill at the Y to make it a wee bit harder.  1 mile warm-up, 7 at 6:40 pace, 2 mile cooldown.

30 degrees!!  first outdoor run in the cold!  I went out for an easy trot but felt so good in the coolness I sped up to a high aerobic rate, not quite tempo, but speedy.  felt amazing.  no watch, but guestimate I was close to the 7 minute gal.

Zombie miles

aaaarggg extra shifts are hell on me.  Still, this post is shared with a fire station and after amping myself up with some coffee at 4am I changed into the jumpsuit and took advantage of fire's workout equipment.  20 minutes on the NES then 6 miles on the treddy bumping speed from 8:34 to 7:00 as I toodled along.  This wraps up a pretty lousy week for mileage but as much as I worked, as little as I slept, and as many other demands of my daughter and life put on me, I feel like I fought pretty hard to get the mileage I did!

Treadmill fartlek.  I was dreading this.  Yesterday I barely squeezed anything in...today it needed to happen.  I had a 6 hour long psychotic snap in which I perused rental homes, realized my lease is up in a month and I MUST move, looked at a few dumps(ugh), dragged Vanessa everywhere, cooked macaroni, and then purged every closet and room ending up with 3 boxes, 12 trash bags, a lamp, a bike, and a fan that I hauled to the dumpster. 

I finally got on my home treadmill, grimly staring at my scenic closet door while Vanessa zoned out on Wild Kratts.  20 minute warm up, then 5 x (5x 1 min on/off) with 5 minute jogs in between, cooldown to 12.  The interevals were really only to keep my mind busy from the drudgery and not lapse into yet another psychotic snap.   

Yesterday exhaustion caught up to me and an extra hour of sleep won over a run.  Work last night wasn't terrible, so after a nice little 30 minute session of EMS crossfit at 5am at post(sandbag crunches, airway-bag stepupes, bumper decline pushups, etc...)and a cup of coffee, I chose to get my run done before going to sleep after getting Vanessa off to school.  It was 6 degrees outside and I just didn't have it in me, so hit the treddy at the East Y.  I wanted a workout and some miles, but wanted to be respectful of my fatigued body.  Ended up doing a run that sorta mimics the gear-changes that happen throughout an ultra.

2 x (1 mile ez, 1 mile up 4% 7:30, 1 ez, 1 up 1% 6:40, 1 ez, 1 down -2% 6:18), then the same series one more time except with 1/2 mile increments, and 1 to cool down.

I lack peppy legs and speed but felt strong-legged and although I was tired, and aerobically wasn't particularly challenged by this workout.  It was just about the right balance of work today.

I got up in time to get a run in outside before Vanessa got out of school but then got a phone call from a friend I've really needed to catch up with.  We finished talking just in time for me to pick Nessa up, so I rolled a few slow ones on the home treddy.  Long run tomorrow while Vanessa is in school--OUTSIDE yayyyyyyy!!

3:24(7:47 pace).  I don't know if it was a good night's sleep, the joy of running outdoors, the spectacular sunny 30 degrees, or what, but I felt great from beginning to end so decided to make it a marathon.

40 degrees and rainy. Oh fun.  Actually, my legs felt fine--can't feel yesterday's marathon at all, which is a good sign as far as developing leg resilience for the long haul. No watch, but finished just a few minutes over two hours so I wasn't totally slacking.  It was a wee bit cold and miserable-ish towards the end when I was too wet to really stay warm anymore.

8 very easy.  It was nice outside and legs felt great.  They are supposed to be trashed from the last few days.  The fact that they are not makes me very very happy!

Tired from work and it was rainy and windy so I went to the East Y for my favorite crosstraining activities.  250 floors on the NES, which was kicking my butt--I could feel tiredness in my legs for sure and made the usual sweat waterfalls. Then I shook it off with a little 2 mile jog on the dreadmill and wrapped it up with about 10 minutes of ab exercises that worked me pretty hard and headed home for one more night of work before a day off!

Started in a crisp 30 degrees running a little over an hour. Drove to Cessna stadium afterward and ran 4 x 4 ascents with half mile jog every 4 climbs on the bleachers. It wasn't bad...maybe less running next time.

Home treddy.  It was supposed to be an easy run considering the stadium bleachers yesterday but I couldn't take the boredom so ended up doing 20 x 1 minute on/off --5 at 7:30 pace, 5 at 6:00, 5 at 6:40, then 5 more at 7:30.  Not really a workout but kept me pressing buttons and wasn't too stressful.

8:10 ap.  Quiet Thankgiving today. I was too tired after work and went straight to bed, but set the alarm in enough time to get up and have some cofffee before heading out for a run.  My Mom is out of town and my kiddo is at her Dad's house so might as well get a good longish run in.  Off to work.  Everybody be safe tonight!

Home treddy. I'm pooped from work and then skipping sleep for Thanksgiving lunch. It was really nice though, Chris's Mom cooked and we all had a nice get together. Totally just want to get in bed and sleep for a week though! I will catch up tonight, some kind of treadmill mischief awaits me at the Y tomorrow after laundry. I hate coin laundry, btw. I love love all my great friends and family. I am grateful for them and grateful for my precious daughter that makes me want to be a better person.

Random speedwork day. I slept in, then had laundry, which led to the ymca tome crunch. I skidded in just in time for 6 miles at 6:40 pace, no warmup, 1% incline, before kidzone closed. Didn't feel like that was enough, so went home and immediately hit the home treddy for part two.

10 minute warmup

4 x 45 secs on/ 75 off 5:27 pace

2 minute jog

4 x 60 on/off 5:56

2 minute jog

4 x 90 on/60 off 6:15

Cooldown to 6 miles.

All in all it was invigorating to move a little faster!

home treddy.  struggling with a cruddy upper respiratory bug.