Well I have achieved my first goal of the year, 50 miles in January.  I didn’t think I’d get there a few weeks ago when I took 4 days off in a row.  And then I had the IT band thing last week so I couldn’t do my normal Saturday long run so I thought it was in serious doubt.  But I ran 3 miles on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday which left only ¾ of a mile for today.  Easy…right?  Well I’m not feeling the best.  My eyes are in so much pain, I didn’t even wear my contacts today.  And my body just overall aches. I’m not sure why…I hope I’m not getting sick. :( I also wanted to run today so I could get the Chinese New Years and Gold Trophy (50 mile).

So here is my month preview.  16 runs with an average distance of 3.2 miles.  My pace was ok. I would like to get faster.  I’m not sure if I’ll get to 50 in February.  You know 3 less days and all.

Training Recap

Miles ran in 2014: 51.26 miles (only 348.74 miles left to go)

Week 20 Mileage:      Swim =   0 miles;   Bike =   0 miles; Run =  14 miles; Total =   14 miles

Total Mileage so far:  Swim = 11 miles;   Bike = 68 miles; Run = 182 miles; Total = 261 miles

Well this will be the first Saturday I won’t get to run in over 4 months. I am very sad. :(   I want to run, I really do, and I may go walking later (and possibly run a litle). But I should really take the day off.  I did 3 miles last night very fast and I think that has finally aggravated my IT band to the point it really hurts to walk. Darn! So for those who aren’t familiar, the IT band is a sort of tendon (?) that runs along the outside of your leg from your pelvis to your knee.  It is important for stabilizing the knee during running.  Apparently, I’m not alone, this injury affects 12% of runners.  My pain is above my knee, almost right in the middle of my leg. I have been told to get a foam roller to stretch it out and hopefully ease my pain. Later tonight I’m off to Sports Authority to get yet another training tool. I’m disappointed that I will miss a Saturday. Saturdays are typically been my long run day and I do between 4-6 miles. Not today. If I do any running it would be 2 miles at most.  I don’t want to make it worse!   Swimming would have been a good activity to do today to cross train but, I worked today. Blah. I got home just in time for our new coach to be delivered.  Yay!  I love it. It is very comfy to sit on, I’m so happy!

Assuming I don’t run today here are my weekly training recap:

Training Recap

Pounds lost: 29 (almost to 30) :)

Miles ran in 2014: 40 miles (only 360 miles left to go)

Mileage:  Week 19:  Swim = 0 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 11.1 miles; Total = 11.1 miles

Words I thought I’d never utter but it is true.  Because of the super cold weather (polar vortex #2), Eden Prairie didn’t have school today so we didn’t have band practice.  Don’t get me wrong, I love band but this week has been so busy with work that I’m looking forward to an evening with nothing to do.

Sunday I went for a 4 mile run outside it felt great. My first mile was very fast and then I slowed considerably. I don’t know why I keep doing that. ARGH!  But anyways here are my splits:

It might be a while before I can run outside again. Look at the forecast for Sunday-Wednesday.  I wonder if they will have school on Monday.  LOL! 

We worked really late Monday so no working out for me.  Tuesday was volleyball at 9:15pm. I hate 9:15 games.  I have a hard time staying away for these games. I went to the community center for a run but I forgot my shoes and by the time I got home it was too late to go back before my game.  I was so upset, I came home and threw my hat and gloves and boots and keys on the floor and had a little temper tantrum. I laugh now because I was so upset because I culdn’t run.  What is wrong with me?  I can’t believe that I was mad. The old me would be “Yay, great excuse for not working out.”  I survived the volleyball game but didn’t fall asleep until almost midnight.

That means Wednesday was a long tiring day.  Another late day at work so I missed swimming.  :( I made up for it by going running at the community center. I did 56 laps…4 miles. It seemed slow but my average pace was pretty good.  I really miss the outdoor running…it so boring running in circles. On an exciting note, the Gophers killed the #9 Badgers last night. It was electric, it would have been fun to be at the Barn last night…I was running instead.

Today was freaking cold.  The low this morning was -15 degrees. The high never got above zero, weather.com says the high was -6 degrees.  That is why I don’t have band tonight.

The good news is I lost 2 more pounds so I’m almost to 30. I will probably gain a bit this weekend but I’m happy.  Funny thing is according the one website I was on today. I still need to lose close to 70 pounds to reach the “normal” weight category. Ya right!

Time to veg on the coach…I’m so excited…by the way we are getting a new coach…also very exciting.

I don’t say those word lightly and I know “hate” is a strong word but I really don’t know how else to describe my strong dislike for this month. I’m so glad my birthday is in December.  There are many reasons why this month is so horrible.  Firstly, it is always so cold and this year especially.  We had the polar vortex a couple weeks ago and guess what we are getting another one. Yay!  I love below zero “highs.” Secondly, the days are short. I go to work it is dark, I come home from work it is dark. I know it isn’t as bad as say Alaska but it sucks! Thirdly, work is busy.  I mean really busy, nights, weekends, blah, blah, blah.  And January is just the start, I have 4 more months of this to look forward too and that is just depressing.  But my vacations keep me going and that is why I book them so far in advance…I need something to look forward to!

OK enough of my bitching.  On to my workouts. Sunday was a good run.  I did 3.4 miles and my pace was under 13:30.  My first mile as you can see was fast for me…the fastest in a very long time. Mile 2 was good too but the last one I really slowed down. I’m not sure why.

After work on Monday, I dragged Eric out for a run. It was the last “warm” day before we went back into the deep freeze. Tuesday was volleyball. We had playoffs and played a doubleheader. We lost the first game but won the second game. Wednesday was a swimming night. I’m happy to say I’m back to swimming. I couldn’t go last week because I had a cold so it was out. Stuffed up nose and water = disaster! I’m happy to be in the pool, slowly swimming my laps. Thursday was band so no workouts. Friday was swimming again and yesterday I trudged through the snow and ran 3.15 miles. I had planned on 4 miles but we got 4” of snow and not all the paths were clear. My time was very slow but I’m blaming it on the snow. 

I had a setback on my weight loss. I somehow gained over 2 pounds in a few days which was a major downer.  But I got back on track so I’m back to about 27 pounds lost. It is very discouraging but I will press on.

Training Recap

Pounds lost: 27 [after gaining 2]  :(

Miles ran in 2014: 28.9 miles (only 371.1 miles left to go)

Mileage:  Week 18:  Swim = 1 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 9.3 miles; Total = 10.3 miles

After the Polar Vortex came through we got some surprisingly nice weather. It was 30 degrees today and the forecast is 38 tomorrow! Break out the shorts and T-shirts! Since it was such a warm day, I decided I had to take my long run outside. I’m so glad I did. The time goes by so much faster (even if it means I’m so much slower!) The sidewalks were fairly clean but the blacktop surface was very slippery but the pack snow was easier to run on. I have to figure out a good place to run in the winter since my normal run along the river is a snowmobile route now. I did basically two laps of my local loop. That was kind of boring but anything is better than running 56 laps inside on the track…well at least when it is warm outside. As soon as it gets below 20, I’m going back inside unless it is a race of course. I’m a wimp.

My training lately has been focusing on the running. I have a lot of running races so that is ok. Swimming was put on hold because the pool was closed for Christmas break and now I have a cold. I don’t want to drown so I’ll wait until I can breathe out my nose. I went running on Wednesday instead. And biking…well I have discovered that that one is currently my least favorite of the three. But maybe that is because it is winter and I can’t go out for a ride on my bike. Road bike doesn’t work on snow. And I hate stationary bikes. We will see what my attitude is towards the bike when spring arrives.

Here are my splits from today. I’m not too happy with the time since I was averaging a 13:30 pace prior to this but that was mostly inside where it is flat with no ice or snow and I’m constantly checking my pace after each lap so I can speed up if I’m going too slow. Outside I just go enjoy myself and barely look at my watch. But on a positive note, my first mile was fast and my overall pace was faster than the last time I ran a long run outside. So I’m making progress.

Training Recap

Pounds lost: 27 (I had a good week!)

Miles ran in 2014: 19.6 miles (only 380.4 miles left to go)

Mileage:  Week 17:  Swim = 0 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 12.4 miles; Total = 12.4 miles

Well I’ve been proactive with vacation planning for this year.  I know I'm strange because I like to have my trips planned out this far in advance.  I even have tentative plans for 2015 trips!  It helps me get through this horrible 4 months at work.  I keep thinking I just have to make it to May and I can go on my trip. I’m really excited for all our trips…but my tax refund better be big to cover them all! LOL! 

Let’s start with May.  We are doing a multistate trip that I talked about here. So the plan is to fly to Denver on Saturday for Matthew’s graduation.  Spend a few days there and fly to San Diego.  Catch the Twins game there and drive up to San Francisco.  Catch a Twins game there and a game in Oakland and fly home.  I have lots of exciting things planned with this trip.  I can wait…I think I should repost the image:

In June we are going to Seattle.  I cashed in my miles to get a flight out. We have 3 days of venturing around Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Parks. We are going to a Mariners game (of course) and other fun stuff around Seattle.  We are really hitting the west coast this year!

The big trip I just booked.  Eric is thrilled. We have been tossing around the idea to go to Iceland/Greenland for a couple years but never managed to do it.  Well this year we committed and now the flights are booked.  We get to see spouting geysers, Faxafoss waterfall, Gullfoss waterfall, Thingvellir National Park, home of the Viking parliament. Also Seljalandsfoss waterfall where it is possible to walk behind the falls and then on to the thundering falls at Skogar. Further along the coast we will visit the Solheimajokull Glacier with a short walk right to the edge of the ice before heading on to Iceland's most southerly point with it's black sand beaches, coastal cliffs and spectacular rock formations.  And let’s not forget a day trip to Greenland. Needless to say I’m EXCITED!  

Welcome to 2014!  I know I already ran a 5K this year but...

This mid-week vacation has messed with my head.  Thursday and Friday were working days. I was screwed up both days. Thursday felt like Monday and Friday didn't feel like Friday but at least I remembered to wear jeans. And today feels like Sunday.

After work on Friday we went to Hoolihan's for my free birthday meal. It was delicious but I was too stuffed to run afterwards. I can't make a habit of this....I need to get my miles in to reach my goal!

This morning I went for a nice 4 mile run...inside.  I have a feeling I'll be running inside for a while.  It is freaking cold outside. Nothing exciting to report. My time was on par with my 5K race time which is good considering I went an extra mile.

After that Danielle and Bradley came up and we drove over to Uncle Jack's for the Bisek Christmas.   The food was good and I won $1 playing Dirty Clubs.  So that was cool.

Speaking of cold, at work on Friday there were numerous emails sent out to us telling us to take our laptops home with us this weekend and work from home on Monday.  Most of the members on my team did just that. I, on the other hand, am a pioneer woman and I stick with my man.  He has to come go to work and so will I. Here is the forecast for the next few days.  Very balmy!

Training Recap

Pounds lost: 22 (I'm still at 22...frustrating!)

Miles ran in 2014: 7.2 (only 392.8 miles left to go)

Mileage:

Week 15:  Swim = 0 miles;  Bike = 0 miles;  Run = 8.6 miles;   Total =  8.6 miles

Week 16:  Swim = 0 miles;  Bike = 0 miles;  Run = 7.2 miles;   Total =  7.2 miles

Well another 5k is in the tank.  This one felt colder than the last one in December but I think it was waiting an hour before the race in a cold "warming tent." Ugh. DJ, her friend Brenda, Eric and I froze our butts off but it felt great and I felt good when I finished and I knocked almost a minute off my time. YES!  My toes were freezing to start but after the first mile my toes were comfy.  The first mile was fast for me. I did it under 13 minutes and it was a bit uphill.  My shoelace came untied but I just kept running.  I eventually tied it near the turnaround point.  My second mile was the slowest but again it was up a hill.  I had to walk a few times. I took off my balaclava but it was too cold without it so I had to put it back on.  I finished strong and came in at 42:06.  I hope to only get faster from here.  Afterwards we ate our bananas and drank hot chocolate and got in the long line for the shuttle buses. My fingers were frozen and hurt so bad. I need to figure out how to keep my fingers and toes warm. Hopefully the Get Lucky 7K will be warmer...fingers crossed.

We stopped at Caribou for a celebatory drink.

Well 3.1 miles done, 396.9 to go for 2014.  My goal is 400 miles.  We will see if I get there. :)

Click here for my map. Here is my my splits: