Sunday, December 31, 2017

Boston Marathon 2018 Training {Week 3}

Week 3!

Weekly Miles

Running: 45 miles, 6:17:05
Cycling: 21.57 miles, 1:50:28


Total Miles for this cycle
Running: 120 miles, 17:03 hours
Cycling: 44.59 miles, 3:40 hours


Summary

This week went as planned. I nailed all of my workouts despite being a single dog Mom for a good portion of the week. I was #soblessed my boys behaved so I could get my workouts done. I was apprehensive about my speed sesh after eating/drinking/indulging for Christmas and I was nervous about the 6 mile tempo I had on deck for Thursday. Luckily, everything went fairly smooth.

Lowlight

Being a single dog mom for most of the week wasn’t fun. Ze doesn’t like to poop in the snow, and was revenge peeing in his crate again. But the real low light was the extreme cold temps we are experiencing in Chicago. I can’t run outside when it’s below 20 degrees and no wind.



Tuesday Uniform selfie post 8x643m

Highlights

Waking up early enough to register for my March half!

I had 8x 600m on deck for Tuesday and I changed them to 8x.4 mile(643 meters) because complicated math on the treadmill at 4:30am was no bueno. I slayed all of my 643meter repeats at 6:18 pace.

The other highlight was the tempo 6 on Thursday. I was honestly prepared to break it from tempo 6 to long intervals of some sort- like 4x10 min, mile repeats or something. I usually need a mental break when running hard for extended time on the tread. But Thursday was full of rainbow crapping unicorns and I glided through 6 miles at 7:15 pace. Like whoa! It also showed me that I’m still in good shape post PR half, and that I shouldn’t doubt myself (a recurring theme).



Thoughts

Week 3 solidified that my goal of 3:1x is more attainable than some rando number daydream picked out of the air. I chose the goal to challenge myself, but at the same time I wanted something that could be a possibility. Over the next 15 weeks I’ll do everything possible to ensure I smash this goal.



Looking Forward

Stop the self doubt.
Write down some 2018 goals.
Continue to smash my workouts
Step up the weight training

106 Days To go!


-Xaarlin

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Boston Marathon Training 2018 {Week 2}

Week 2!

Weekly Miles
40 miles, 5:40 Running
10 miles, 00:50:00 Cycling


Total Miles for this cycle
75 miles, 10:46:00 Running
23 miles, 01:50:00 Cycling




Nothing to do with this post, except that I really enjoyed the sunrises last week.

Summary

Another solid week of training- although the intensity and duration of workouts will only pick up from here, I feel good about training and balance with non running life so far.

Lowlight
It’s not a training week without some drama. During my speed sesh on Tuesday, my hair band snapped after the 3rd 400. I considered quitting, but since Shalane wouldn’t quit over something so petty, I tied my hair band back together and slayed the remaining 400’s like a boss.

The lowest low light was waking up Wednesday morning at 1am to find Ze had a blow out in his crate. Being a dog mom is rough sometimes. I cleaned up the mess, went back to bed and woke up a few hours later to cycle. No excuses ever.



Highlights

I did 12x400’s @ 1:35- And felt amazing! Since I’m going after an aggressive marathon goal, I was moderately concerned that the speedwork would be too fast- but that wasn’t the case. I’m pumped to continue pushing myself.

Another highlight is when you and your SO buy each other the same exact thing for Christmas.

Thoughts

I ran with Ze for the first time ever. We went up to the Chicago Christmas tree. He did amazing, but we won’t run too much until he turns one in April because his bones are still developing. I’m really looking forward to taking him for a few runs a week not only to burn off his endless border collie energy, but also so L won’t have to dog sit 2 high energy pups. It’s all about balance. I need to figure out how to log all of his runs- because as he gets older I think he would appreciate those stats.


Looking Forward

I need to continue to remember my intentions for this training cycle and be sure to include loads of self care and me time so I don’t burn out.

In reality, I need to add some yoga into my week, and be better about my half assed PT exercises.

I’ve indulged a lot with food and drink, and need to start dialing back a bit. It makes getting up at 4am to run much easier when I haven’t stuffed myself or had a drink the day(s) before.



112 days to go!


-Xaarlin

Monday, December 18, 2017

Boston Marathon Training 2018 {Week 1}

Week 1

Weekly Miles:

Run: 35
Cycle: 13.02


Total Miles for this cycle
Run: 35
Cycle: 13.02




Summary

I was/am excited to start training for Boston again. I love having something to look forward to during the shitty Chicago winter. I’m also excited to chase goals and put the work in because I could never write a blog post about how I was disappointed with not getting a PR in a race - after not training for it. That would just be shameful. Smh.

Lowlight

Nothing I can think of- I wake up early and put the miles in. I wish I had a better story for blog fodder- like someone telling me I’m not a real runner, or some other drama to over come which seems disproportionate to runners on social media- but alas, everything was good this week.



Highlights

I ran 8 miles around Milwaukee after a exceptionally fun Saturday filled with walking, beer drinking, cocktails, duck pin bowling and food.

Thoughts

It’s tough balancing being a double dog Mom and training for a marathon, but I’m #soblessed my husband can dog sit while I go run. In all seriousness, I’m pumped to start some speedwork next week and push myself.

Dog Mom Gift Guide

Since affiliate link gift guides ( nearly all of which have sponsored content- lame!) are all the rage, I decided to come up with my own gift guide for dog moms, free of any affiliate links or sponsored content. Since there is NO sponsored content, all opinions are truly my own.



1. A weekend trip away from the dogs

Board the dogs and take the dog Mom on a well deserved vacation even if it’s just for overnight. The break from taking the dog out in sub freezing temps will be appreciated.



2. Drinks with friends

Take the tired, stressed out dog Mom for some much needed cocktails. She will thank you 1000 times over for a night out to forget about the fur kids.

3. Food and me time

A dog mom’s work is never done- especially with an asshole puppy who hoards and hides poop at school. Take the dog Mom out for food so she doesn’t have to cook. Encourage her to take as much “me time” as possible. Just lay on the couch and do nothing! Veg out and forget about chores and day to day life- you need all the rest you can get! Even better, go do something fun like duck pin bowling.



I’ll have to come up with a bucket list for dog moms and their pups too.

Onto week 2 of training!

120 days to go!


-Xaarlin

Monday, December 11, 2017

Boston Marathon training {Week 0}

Today starts Boston Marathon training for me! I’ve been super excited for this day since I qualified again at the Copenhagen Marathon in May. I’m even more excited because I’m fresh off the heels of a breakthrough half marathon PR.



On Training

I guess I should set intentions for this new season of marathon training since that’s what social media tells me I need to do. Lolz.

I’ll be following the Hanson marathon advanced plan again. I’ll likely add some Goal Marathon pace miles into my long runs too. I’ll also be adding cycling (and swimming eventually) in each week because I’ve got another big goal post Boston- a Triathlon!

I’ll up my strength training- Mondays and Wednesdays are usually arm/core days, Tuesday’s and Thursday’s post speed/tempo are leg days. Trashing my legs after hard workouts made my half PR achievable.


Tuesday Uniform FTW. Only worn for speed work

On Goals

It was surprisingly difficult to determine a time goal to train for. Sure- I put my recent half time into a running calculator online and it said I could run a 3:20- but that is at my current fitness level. I plan on being fitter 4.5 months from now- and 3:20 didn’t excite me much. (Current PR 3:28) I looked at training paces for something more aggressive and decided on a 3:1x. Yes, Ambiguous to everyone but me since I know what that “x” represents. Some things I need to keep to myself.

Ideally I’d like to set some new PRs in 2018, but with marathon and eventually triathlon training, I know I won’t be as prepared to PR a 5k because, long distance training. Dropping my half time further would be doable. Getting closer to breaking 1:30 is top of my list for a half this spring.

On Mindset

Social media tells me I need motivation and inspiration to run. What a load of bull shit. If I only ran when I was “inspired” or “motivated” I’d run half of what I do now. I run because I genuinely enjoy it. And on the days I’d rather sit on the couch, I think about my goals and how important they are for me and then I go run. Chasing goals and enjoying running is internal for me. External stuff like motivation or inspiration set you up for extreme failure.



Other stuff

I was at my lowest race weight for the half and it paid off. For this cycle I need to lose 10lbs (from my fluffy weight this morning), and would like to cut about 4-5% body fat. The whole “you can’t out exercise a bad diet” is 100% true. I don’t eat bad food- no junk food here, but I eat too much food (gotten better about bingeing on food) and can cut back on beer. I’m not as concerned now- 6 weeks pre Boston I’ll start dialing in my food intake more.

The end of this rambling post

I’m so excited to train for Boston again! I really wanted a second go since last year’s race was an inferno. It’s also nice having something to look forward to during the Chicago winter.

126 days to go!

Race schedule :

•F^3 half- pending weather

•Potential half in a tropical location

•March Madness half- if I remember to register on 12/31

•Shamrock shuffle 8k

•Boston Marathon


-Xaarlin