This week's lessons from the long run: hydration, confidence, and toenails.

This morning the workout was upper body goodness, so I whipped out Cathe's Ramped Up Upper Body.  However, I wanted to see if I could spice this workout up by making it a little different, so I went searching 'round the disc....and then I found the mishmosh premixes, kids:

Mish to the mosh.

Because I get excited about intensely odd things, imagine my joy when I saw that last premix with the abs inserted into the upper body exercises.  I know, right?  Nothing gets better than having the abs woven within a workout so you don't have to mentally coerce yourself into doing a separate workout after your main workout is over, amirite?

Small dog agrees, I can tell.

How did I get the stupidest human??

Anyway, what I really want to talk about is yesterday's workout: my long run.  Twenty glorious miles at a 9:50 pace was on the schedule, but this is how it ended up:

Overall not a bad run, especially considering that I have one really nice head cold (I couldn't even taste my energy gels during the run) and that I ran straight into the wind for a lot of those miles.  I'm happy with that pace, and I'm not even upset I stopped a mile early.  Well, I pretty much had to stop a mile early, because I had to get ready to go to a birthday party.  Because, you know, running 19 miles and then going to a party is exactly what stupid runners do.

But, like every run, this long run taught me some lessons to make me (hopefully) a little less stupid.  Here's some things this run taught me:

1) Every time I do a run of this distance, I am always incredibly thirsty by mile 15 or so.  Even though I bring water with me, it's never enough - I feel like I need an entire liter of water per mile after 15 or so, I'm so damn thirsty.  Since I do an out and back route most of the time, I realized (DUH) I should drop little bottles of water on my way out so I can chug them on my way back.  Only took me about 7 years of long runs to figure that one out.

2) I am now completely unashamed of standing on the side of a country road in a sports bra and capris.  When you start the run in sleeves and then you start running with the wind at your back, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do when she feels like she's going to spontaneously combust...even if it means changing into a t-shirt with a yard full of goats eyeballing you with their creepy goat eyes.

3) My legs are getting used to running outside again.  While my head and lungs were feeling BUH the entire time, my legs felt good and strong for the entire run.  They even feel decent today.  That's a little confidence booster, let me tell you.

Woot woot!  CONFIDENCE

4) When nature calls after you tie that long-sleeved shirt around your waist, remember that you're wearing it when you answer the call.  Because if you forget, you'll have to throw that long-sleeved shirt straight into the laundry when you get home.  And that's all I have to say about that.

5) Running while sick is made much better by wearing tie-die and purple capris.

Large dog photo bomb in progress.

5) Toenails.  Completely unnecessary.

I celebrated these lessons after the birthday party by going home, chugging some NyQuil, and heading straight to bed.  Woot.


And here's a woot woot! for some learnings:

• Honest, I haven't had any NyQuil this evening.  Yet.
• I could get used to the nonfreezing weather we're having.
• What I can't get used to is not being able to smell or taste anything.  It's sad when you're cooking something new and you have to get the hubbs to taste-test it for you.
• What the world needs is more tie-die running gear.
• The world now has one less toenail.

Tomorrow's workout:  Mile repeats.  BUH.

This post begins with speed work and ends with rainbows and awesomeness.

This morning's speed work was WAY better than last week's joke of a speed workout. I had a weird little ladder workout on the schedule - a 1000m, a 2000m, then 2 more 1000m repeats.  Not really a ladder; more of a speed bump, if you think about it...and if you even think about those sorts of things.

I also think about purple running shorts.  A lot.

Anyway, the workout was better because, even though my nose still kept running every 400 meters or so, I remembered I had this little cloth wipe-thingie that attaches to your thumb so you could wipe and blow your nose while you run.  If it wasn't totally gross right now I'd take a picture and show you what it looks like.

The other reason this speed workout was better was because I trucked through that 2000m repeat like a champ.  This is mainly because I divided it up into smaller 400m chunks in my mind and blasted some of my fave songs the entire time.  But I didn't go into the workout thinking I was going to make it; after all, I struggled my way through some measly 1200m repeats the week before until the struggle bus pretty much ran over me.  You see, I have this nasty habit of thinking I can't do things, and then I just go out and freaking do them, surprising myself.  And then go back to thinking I can't do those things.

What can I say; it's a gift.

So what "things" am I talking about?  Well, besides the 2000m repeat from this morning, here are some other things I never thought I could do but then busted out, both running and non-running related:

• Stand up and present in front of others.  I used to take Fs for presentations in high school rather than get up and look like a fool in front of a class.  Little did I know that would be my primary job for 17 years in my own classroom - and that I would even make presentations in front of entire school districts.
• Run 3 miles at once.  Before my first 5k, I had never run three miles straight.
• Run a full marathon.  Believe it or not, I never thought I could run a full marathon, and didn't even think I could do it at the starting line of that first 26.2 since I had never run that far in training.
• Own cats.  I was seriously NOT a cat person at all until these two little ferals showed up on my porch befriending large dog and then asking to come in the house because they might freeze to death during the winter and they were just too cute to become kitten-cicles.

Resistance was futile.

• Run a 4:10 marathon.  That's my marathon PR, and I didn't think I was going to make it after I completely broke down for a few minutes at mile 23.  But I gathered myself and managed to get to the finish line just in time.
• Complete a triathlon--specifically that whole "swim" part of a triathlon.  I don't know if you call what I did "swimming," but I got the job done and didn't drown.  Win-win.
• Get married.  I never pictured me hitched to a guy, but boy is the hubbs thankful I relented on that one.  Well, he is on the days I'm not yelling at him to stop talking to me while I'm on the treadmill.
• Run marathons just for fun.  Some may consider that sick and wrong, but it's what I do these days.
• And finally...I never thought I could obtain my own run recovery cat who demands recovery rubs when I finish my treadmill sessions.

Gimme da rubs hyooman...only way you can
recover properly I swears.

And there you have it--the short list of my "didn't think I could dos but went and did thems." You just never know what you can do until you try, which I guess is the main learning of this post.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go cue a rainbow.


And while I'm doing that, here are some lesser learnings:

• How awesome are those purple running shorts?
• Super awesome, that's how awesome.
• Those cats were awesomely cute as kittens, you have to admit.
• Looking back on that list, I've done some pretty awesome things.
• Now it would be awesome if I could remember that I did them the next time I think I can't do something.
• It would also be awesome to end this post with a pic of the dogs:

Enough facetious blogging garbage - it's play time.

Tomorrow's workout:  Cathe's PHA workout.  Good times.

Lessons from the long run: So much purple. And sweat.

I did blog yesterday, and I even posted it.  But then I promptly passed out from exhaustion, and never put it out anywhere on social media so I just want to thank the two people that read it according to my stats.  So, thanks to you two random strangers for reading the product of a very long and tiring week.

Speaking of long and tiring, today I long-ran it, doing 15 miles in the almost-spring weather we're having.  The first 8 were with large dog attached to me.

If you consider temps in the 30s "almost spring."

For once, I don't have much to whine about--it was a pretty decent run.  But, as usual, it taught me lessons that I will probably forget by next weekend:

Lesson #1: Large dog will never, ever give you a good mid-run picture.

"Is the camera behind us?"

Lesson #2: If I run after lunch, I will have to make a pit-stop at home by mile 4.  This is because I am stupid and always run after lunch even though I know better.

Lesson #3: Elbow sweat-pits.  WTF.

SEXY

Lesson #4: Purple running capris with side-pockets make the run better.  Especially since you can stuff all your gels in those pockets and not have to wear another belt just to hold them.

Small dog is entranced by all the purple.

Lesson #5: Who didn't think she could run a 9:45 pace for 15 miles but then went out and busted that sucker out?  This crazy runner in them crazy purple capris, that's who.

This moron!

No more lessons; what have we learned?  We have learned:

• I like to take pictures in my living room about runs rather than taking out my phone during a run because, you know, I'm too busy RUNNING during a run to take a ton of pics.
• I am a moron because I am shooting for a 9:20 pace for my marathon so thinking that I can't run a 9:45 for 15 miles is completely stupid.
• Elbow pits.  Buh.
• "Buh" is exactly what large dog is thinking about this post.

End it already, Mom.

Tomorrow's workout: Upper body goodness!

Doesn't everyone have an "I was so hungry I was about to eat my own fingers" snack?

If you haven't been outside lately in the eastern half of the country, you may not know that it's cold.  Like, super cold.

I sucked it up and went outside and did the same amount of miles as degrees on the thermometer - three.  I was not excited about having to wear my balaclava.

Suspicious runner is suspicious of cold weather.

I'd like to say at this point that I went outside and the run was more awesome than I thought it was.  But I won't because that's not true.  It was cold, I found it hard to breathe at a 10 min/mile pace with all that cold air, and my right big tow didn't warm up until after I got into the shower afterwards - and it freaking hurt while it was warming up.

I look OK, but cold.  So cold.

The silver lining of this run is that I will be better prepared to run in this cold winter suck in the future.  I did manage to try out these super duper thin base-layer leggings I got at Target (C-9 brand) a few years ago; wore these under my fleece-lined tights and managed to stay pretty warm.  I now officially approve of them for running.  (They are also good to wear under bike shorts on those chilly spring mornings when you're going for a ride and you don't own a pair of cycling tights and are too cheap to buy any.)

Super thin and super purple.  So much super
the cat can't even look at it.

So that sums up my workout for the day; what about the eating?  Below are the highlights:

• Breakfast: scrumptious oatmeal doctored with PB, bananas, and cinnamon with coffee.  Yummo.
• Snack: Nutrisystem muffin and a handful of nuts.
• Lunch: BUH VEGGIES and a hot dog. And a small piece of peppermint bark because hubbs told me he had some so of course I had to eat some because I knew it was in the house.
• Snack: Nutrisystem muffin (apparently the "high fiber" label on those suckers doesn't scare me) and more nuts.
• Post-run snack: Even more nuts...and an apple.
• I was so hungry I was about to eat my own fingers snack: A small bowl of the hubbs's potato chips because I found the bag when I was looking for the peppermint bark in the spot where hubbs hides his crappy food from me
• Dinner: Veggie tots, shredded chicken sandwich, homemade sugar-free PB pie.  Yummo.

A few stumbles, but not too bad overall.  I have managed to lose some weight since I started this mess; around a pound.  One thing I've learned about weight loss is that it took a long time to gain--and it's going to take time to lose.

The other thing I've learned recently is that the hubbs needs to find a new hiding place for all of his junk food.

And now even more bonus learnings:

• I better get used to running in the cold.  Because winter.
• I'm going to attempt a 13 mile run in 9 degree weather on Saturday.  Wish me and my right big toe luck.
• Doesn't everyone have an "I was so hungry I was about to eat my own fingers" snack?  Everyone should if they don't already.
• Anything purple is automatically super--just so you know that for future reference.

Tomorrow's workout:  A total body workout of some kind...boot camp sounds like a good idea.