Days 1 & 2, Week 2: It's like I don't even run anymore.

I'm a little concerned with the Runner's World My Run Plan app.  Mainly my concern is about how much running it's having me do right now, which is not much.  Case in point - I was all up in the bike riding and weight work for cross-training over the past few days:


Just a little 25 miler that I did in the time I wish it took me to run that same mileage.

And just some casual upper-body strength training..no big deal.

That do-rag does AWESOME well.

The longest run I had last week was 4 miles.  Four.  Measly.  Miles.  You can tell I'm worried about running a marathon with such low mileage...and by "worried" I mean "completely freaked out and it's only week 2."

OK.  Take a breath.  It will be alright.  Even if other training plans have you running 14 miles at this point on the weekends.

Good air in....bad air out.....*gasp*

There.  I feel better.  Not really.

Anyway, here's how I'm going to get through the rest of this training cycle without feeling like I'm not really training:

1) Remember that the marathon isn't until October, for crying out loud and that there's time.
2) Convince myself that this will be a low-mileage training experiment and view this whole thing scientifically
3) Download the entire training plan from the app (which I just figured out how to do) and search frantically for longer runs than 4 miles on the "Long Run" days
4) Shake my phone every now and then when the app is running and say to no one in particular, "IS THIS THING ON?"
5) Remember that I'm also training for a half duathlon (10K/56 mi/10K) so I can freak out about that for a while to get my mind off the whole "I don't think I'm running enough" thing.

So the coping mechanisms are in place.  All that's left are some learnings:

• I have learned that bike riding in the morning when the sun comes up is pretty awesome.
• I have also learned that bike riding in the morning when the sun comes up leaves me covered in gnats.
• I've learned that recovery cat shows up most when I'm in a hurry to get ready and get out the door in the morning.
• I have also learned I better start biking and strength training on the same day to get those bike miles in.
• And lastly, I've learned that it takes more than 4 freaking miles to run a marathon people. 

Tomorrow's workout: Speed makes a comeback!  Some 300s...interesting.

Days 3 & 4, & 5, Week 1: Guess who learned to make neat little videos of pics?

Guess who learned how to make neat videos out of all of her stupid workout pics?

OK, I won't make you guess.  It was me.

I also learned how to embed them in a blog post, so everyone is the recipient of my recent learning curve...whether that be good or bad.  Anyway, let's do a quick rundown of the workouts for the past three days:

Workout #1: Strength training with weights and obstacle training with animals at the same time.  Boy, can I multi-task.

Workout #2: A little 2-miler outside that large dog treated like an ultra.





Workout #3: A little 2-miler where the cats acted like the treadmill was moving catnip.





Overall, this week is still a recovery week with the My Run Plan app making me do some small runs so I can remember what running is.  And here are some learnings so you can remember what they look like:

• This week has been exhausting.  I kept falling asleep before I could finish a blog post.
• It's faster to make one of those videos than it is to write a "quick" blog post.  The magic of modern social media technology.
• The trick to making those videos is to remember to take pictures.  Oh, and get the Ripl app.
• The trick to not falling asleep during a blog post is to go to bed when you should like a real adult.
• The trick to ending a post is just to stop typing.

Tomorrow's workout: Weights and a bike ride in the wind UGH

Yet another quick post before the NyQuil takes me.

I didn't blog yesterday because I had a late meeting at work last night.  But rest assured I managed to get a really bad selfie with recovery cat after I did Cathe's PHA workout.

Don't hate me, hyoomans, because I get da rubs.

Today I made one of the other members of my zoo happy by taking him for a tempo run that was supposedly at marathon pace.

TAKE ME RUNNING WOMAN

It was a little nippy out for a March morning, but we braved the cold and managed to, of course, run the tempo too fast.  I blame it all on large dog being generally over-exuberant about the run.

FYI: My marathon pace doesn't have an "8" in it.  At all.

But the run was, overall, a nice run, especially since I dug out a pair of fleece-lined running tights I completely forgot I had nabbed at a TJ Maxx and--you're not going to believe this--when I ran in them, they didn't fall down causing me to chafe in unmentionable places.  I would give the brand a really large shout-out....but there's no brand on them.  That's the risk you take when you get your gear at TJ Maxx, I guess.

The dog bed really completes this pic.

There's also a risk when you're writing a blog post hopped up on NyQuil that it will end abruptly because it's sleepy time now, seeing as this little runner is getting sick and all.

NyQuil-laced learnings:

• I got this dumb cold from the hubbs.  Stoopid germ-riddled husbands.
• Didn't stop me from running, though.  Because I'm a moron.
• I just need to be better soon for my 20 miler on Saturday.
• I also need to go to bed.  Nite, all!

Tomorrow's workout: 30 minutes on the bike.