Recaps, and I Deserve It!

So, I've become terrible at blogging. It was so much easier when I wasn't working! Not that I would go back to that for anything--I love my job so much, and I learned during the few months leading up to being hired at the store that the stay-at-home thing is not for me. I will respect anyone who takes that path, but it is definitely not mine.
Life is pretty good at the moment! I've hit my stride at the store, I think. I'm definitely still a rookie and I'm still definitely learning, but I'm still enjoying the environment and getting to know both the team and the customers. We had a great event at the store this past weekend, I'll talk about that more in my recaps.
So, with no further ado...

Run recaps:
Thurs 3/10-- I did a practice run for the Pub Shuffle with my bosses and their dog. This was just a super easy jog, really, mostly done in the name of learning the route. 3.7 (?) miles.
Friday 3/11-- the first double digit run of the year! I had to go super early because we had another road trip adventure planned for that day. The run went very well, it was your quintessential long slow distance. I also tried a new energy gel, as my beloved Gu gave me a ringing headache the week before. I tried the Gold flavor of Honey Stingers, and I was really pleased with these. It was just honey, so it didn't have the unappealing texture I've found gels to have, and it didn't give me the caffeine headache or nausea I would get from other gels. I will probably use these again! I also got to see a new part of the LakeWalk, which really made the middle 4 miles go by quicker. Mistake made: I didn't have my traditional red PowerAde waiting, I didn't take in any fluids on the run (my bike crew opted to sleep in...), and I waited faaaaar too long to eat anything after the fact. 10 miles.
Sunday 3/13--The 1st annual DRC Shamrock Pub Shuffle! I signed up for this event last month, and when I did that I never would have thought I would be a part of it the way I was! The non-competitive event went in 4 waves--7 min/mi, 9 min/mi, 11 min/mi, and walkers. I helped lead the 9 group, which was huuge! All in all, the event went so well, and nearly $2000 was raised to help build a handicap accessible baseball field in West Duluth. Add in the fun time I had afterwards with my co-workers, and we have the recipe for a great day. 2.9 miles
Week total 3/7-3/13: 26.7 miles. Biggest week ever, accomplished!
Monday 3/14--Back to the Y, time for a... fartlek? I guess... I'm horrible with the terminology. Basically, I did 4 2:00 surges at an 8:14 pace during my run, and the rest was done at about an 8:40 or 8:50 pace. I felt kind of flat in the last 1.5, and I really wanted to stop, but I didn't. 6 miles in 52:46.
Tuesday 3/15--again at the Y, tempo run time! Mile 1 was at 8:34 pace, the last 3 were at 8:27 with a slight kick at the end. All in all, I felt pretty good! 4 miles in 33:59.
Today's run--today is my day off for the week, so I took the chance to get my long run in. I made a classic rookie mistake today. I felt fantastic, so I took off like my hair was on fire, and by about 1.25 miles, I was pretty tapped. I reminded myself that long runs are not done for time or speed, and I slowed down. I would have slowed down anyway, but I made a mindful effort to slow down. I saw a fox along the trail, and about 34509834 awesomely cute dogs, and a kid on a hotel balcony singing his heart out, and I capped it all off with a trip to Caribou Coffee. A great morning, all in all. 8.2 miles in 1:22:53.

I'm on track for another big month for me! After today's run, I'm at 66.9 miles, which is a 5K shy of tying my biggest. As I have a 4 miler on the docket for the weekend, I'll have topped my biggest mileage with a full week and a half to go. That's actually kind of awesome.

I leave you with this--the shoes I will be receiving shortly:

Source

Aren't they pretty? Meet the Saucony Mirage, a lightweight stability trainer. I have been told it would be great for short runs, speed training, and races.

Now, I can't lie... there's a voice in the back of my head asking me if someone who is only planning on hitting 1:50 in a half really needs a shoe specifically for racing. It's not like I'm an Olympian or anything. But, every time I hear that voice, I mentally smack that doubter and think, "Midpack runners are just as deserving of nice things!" I will get a lot of use from these shoes--in 5Ks, in halves, short runs. Me getting these shoes is not a bad thing, it's not a waste, it's fantastic. 

Have a great weekend, all! :)

In Other News...

Hello!
So, yesterday's post was about what has happened in my life over the last month that I didn't post.
However, this is a running blog, and I didn't mention one darned thing about running during that entire post!

So, here is how THAT has been going lately:

I'm actually kind of pleased with how running went during our 2 1/2 week road trip. When we were in Wisconsin seeing the fiance's family, I made it out on two wonderful, long (for me) runs of 5.1 and 7.8 miles. OK, so it was pretty much back and forth on the road he lives on, but it worked well enough for me.
Going home to Michigan, I got some great runs in. I also got a few new toys:

YES! New shoes! (I needed those badly! They're the same type I had before [Asics Foundation], just different colors.) I love them, so much.
And, look--no more soup can weight workouts for me, because I have actual weights! Thanks, Assistant Coach Little Sister! The red ones are 3's, the red ones are 5's. She also got me a Yoga mat, which I badly needed, too.
So, even with taking days off because I was sick, on the road, or had other things going on, I still had an AWESOME December mileage total: 56.93 miles. That was my 3rd highest month in 2010, and my highest non-half-training month of the year! :D
January started off great, it really did. I got in a few good treadmill runs at home, including one at 6am the day we left to head up here, and one AWESOME one at the hotel on our apartment hunt. I got a nasty cold, though, right after that. So, between that and our one last Lake-Effect-Snowpocolypse before we left, that week dropped right off.
Once we got to Duluth, I re-met an old friend: fear of new things. It took me nearly a week to get the stones to go seek out a safe place to run and go for it. Not being familiar with this place at all, and it being SO much bigger than the 900 person village I'd been living in, I was completely terrified to go, and especially to go alone. I was doing Yoga, some Bob Harper videos, and skating to keep myself somewhat active, but I was getting frustrated. I knew I needed to run, but I was crippling myself with fear.
I finally got brave this past Monday, and I headed down to check out a trail I kept hearing about. It was great, actually--relatively clear considering the weather, right on the water, and varied enough to be interesting and a challenge at points. It's within walking distance of my apartment, too, so that's always nice.
Even with my new discovery and my fear conquered, I still wasn't able to get out as much as I wanted. This is why:

 Uh, yeah. It's cold here. (It barely broke 0 yesterday. I wish I was kidding.) Too cold for me to feel safe being outside for more than about 15 minutes, let alone the time it would take for me to do 3 miles or more. Money is SUPER tight right now, so a gym treadmill is sadly out of the question, so I've only ran twice this week. Again, I did a ton of Yoga and fitness videos, but it's just not the same. I know I need to be getting in the mileage to get ready to start training, and I know once training starts, I won't be able to slack off.  I'm either going to have to get brave and face the weather, or find a super cheap and/or free alternative option to run inside (maybe even doing laps at the nearby hockey rink, if they'll let me!)
So, that's where I'm at in terms of running and fitness of late. It looks like this nasty cold spell is going to break tomorrow, so next week I will hit the trail hard every chance I can to make up for my slacking.

All right, time to get off the computer and on with my day! Hope you all have a great one!