crazy week — Page 2

Training Check-in: A Week of Shuffling

August 5, 2014 by Michelle 15 Comments

Well for as good as Week 1 felt, Week 2 was meh at best! A combination of various family obligations, schedule changes and the hangover effects of dealing with insomnia, left me in a state of constant shuffling last week. Shuffling of workouts to fit them in…and shuffling with tired legs out on the road.

So this is how the week shook out:

Monday: Needed to push this run to Tuesday.

Tuesday: Again, needed to push this run till later but was sure I’d get it in. By late afternoon I needed to concede that I was just too damn tired so I skipped the run.

Wednesday: Weekly Pilates Barre class

Thursday: 4 miles of intervals plus 2 miles warm-up and cool down. Ugly but done.

Friday: Cross-training on the bike

Saturday: Needed to leave uber-early to drive to Maine so moved my run to Sunday.

Sunday: I was exhausted when I started…Was suppose to do 7 but called it quits after 5.8 miles.

Daily: Core work & rolling

Clearly the mileage suffered…Some weeks you just have to do what you can and move on…last week was one of those weeks!

So the goal of week #3 is simply to get back on track!

Friday 5 – This and That

February 21, 2014 by Michelle 15 Comments

What a week of juggling this has been! This was the first time since my boys started school that they’ve had different vacation schedules: my 8-year old was off this week while my middle schooler was not. So you can probably appreciate why I’m clinging to my coffee mug this morning 🙂

No Running — That’s right in the midst of this somewhat chaotic week I couldn’t turn to my runs for a sanity check. I’ve been resting my knee since I was hit with that surprise pain during last Saturday’s run. I had originally planned to wait until Thursday to run, but it still wasn’t feeling close to fabulous so I’m holding off until tomorrow.

Strength & Core — In the absence of running, I’ve been squeezing in core work and doing the strength exercises Coach Bennett wanted me to do. Doesn’t do nearly as much for the sanity-levels but oh so important!

No Toeing the Line — Thanks to all of you who weighed in on my question about my upcoming 10-miler. As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’ll be taking a pass. So it looks like I won’t be racing until April when I run the B.A.A. 5K and the Newport 10 Miler – gives me time to get this knee to behave.

Great Gesture — Speaking of races, I got a great email last week from the race director of the Narragansett Summer Running Festival. He had come across my recap from last year and loved that I had run this with my son as his first race. He invited us to return this year with complimentary registrations! Seriously, how cool is that! My son was psyched so we’ll be running this one again 🙂

New Shoes — After eyeing these for a while I finally decided to order a pair of Altra Intuitions! Given that these are zero-drop and I’ve been running exclusively in Kinvara 4s, I will be rotating these in slowly, starting with shorter runs. More to come!

So tell me, how was your week?

I’m once again linking up with the DC Trifecta – be sure to swing by and show them some love!

Filed Under: Altra Running, crazy week, Friday Five, left knee, school vacation

Friday Ramblings

August 9, 2013 by Michelle 3 Comments

Sitting here in a quiet house with the dog at my feet and coffee cup in hand…

There has been at least one, if not both, boys home sick since Tuesday! I was happy to see both smiling faces heading off to camp this morning – I swear there’s nothing worst than seeing your children not feel well 🙁

Between the sick kids and my cranky left hip, running has been a bit challenging this week. I am trying very hard to not get hung up in the miles I’ve missed, knowing that the cross-training will help and getting this hip happy is priority one!

Changes in family plans means I’ve needed to change up my fall racing schedule – I won’t be running ZOOMA in September so I’ve been on the hunt for another race to use as a “tune up” before I get to the B.A.A. Half in October. Though I think I’ve now found the source of my recent GI issues, Coach Bennett thinks it will be helpful to put my body through “race conditions” and see how I respond. So I think I’ll be adding this to my schedule:

It’s run on a beautiful course through Salem & Marblehead – Can. Not. Wait!

Seriously, how is it Friday again already? I feel like I just finished coming down from last weekend’s birthday fun and here we are again. Don’t get me wrong – I love seeing Friday arrive, but this summer is flying by way too fast! We still have a number of things left on our family summer bucket list!

We’ll get one more item checked off tomorrow as we’ll be catching a Boston Cannons’ game! My hubs J was elected to his lacrosse league’s all-star game (so proud of him!) and they’ll be playing their game before the Cannons. So the boys and I are going to go cheer on our All-Star and then we’re all hanging out for the Cannons’ game afterwards!

How are you doing with your Summer Bucket list?

Do you run tune-up races?

Filed Under: #13in2013, BAA, crazy week, fall racing, Friday Five, kids, Lacrosse, race calendar, running coach, Wicked Half Marathon

Five for Friday

May 17, 2013 by Michelle 11 Comments

Hello Friday…what took you so long to get here?

This is the first morning all week where I’m not racing off somewhere as soon as I put the kids on the bus (or they even leave the house!). So with coffee in hand, here comes a little randomness for this Friday morning….

I would like to ask all teachers to please find a way of spreading projects, field trips and the like more evenly throughout the school year so that the final couple of months of school don’t feel like such a scramble!
After a solid race pace run last Saturday, this week marked the beginning of my taper. It’s been a nice week of easier runs – but I did enjoy hitting the track yesterday just to push my legs a little.
The one thing that has not gone well in the training department this week is my sleeping – yes, I consider getting enough rest as part of training! I’ve gotten into a very bad habit this week of falling a sleep on the couch and then when I head to bed I’m wide awake! I’ve got to work on doing a better job of logging some sleep as I head into race week.
I was thrilled to hear the news that B.A.A. has extended an invitation to the 5000+ runners who were not able to cross the Boston Marathon finish line. I know a number of runners who were stopped short of fulfilling their dream and I’m so glad they’re getting another chance.
It will be another weekend filled with the boys’ sports – at last count, at least 3 lacrosse games and two baseball games. I’m hoping to get some time in my very neglected garden and my hubs and I planning to sneak out for a date night!

For now I’m going to pour a second cup and catch up on some blog reading before I get on with the day!

What have you got planned for the weekend?

Filed Under: BAA, crazy week, Friday Five, need more sleep, taper time

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

October 18, 2012 by Michelle 6 Comments

1. If someone sees my zen, could you please return it to me! It’s almost hard to imagine that last week this time I was getting ready to head out of town with J for a weekend away to celebrate our anniversary. (By the way, thanks you for all the good wishes!) We had a great time! But a few days back into the grind of the daily routine, kids’ school work & sports, etc. and that weekend away seems like a million years ago! As a friend pointed out, “The zen disappears the moment you pull into your drive way.”

2. It’s Thursday so that means I hit the track this morning which always makes me happy (despite not being a fan of 1000 meter repeats!) There’s always something about finishing a track workout that leaves me feeling a little badass — gotta work on translating that feeling to the road more often! Just a little more than 3 weeks until the Chilly Half Marathon — I think I may try to go check out the course this weekend to see what I’m in for.

3. I participated in a great Twitter chat on Tuesday hosted by FitFluential and Commitment Day. What is Commitment Day? It’s a movement to get 300,000 people in over 30 cities to participate in a nationwide 5k on January 1st, and more importantly to set the tone to commit to a healthier lifestyle in 2013. You can run, walk, skip if you want but the point is to get out there. I especially love that they are encouraging families to come out and participate together (in fact children register for free with an adult!) I’m planning to participate in the Boston event with J and our boys and encourage you to check out the event in your city — check the Commitment Day website for more information.

Filed Under: 3 things, Chilly Half, Commitment Day, crazy week, FitFluential, track work, Zen

Friday Five

September 14, 2012 by Michelle 9 Comments

1) Made it through this week’s hill work without any angry outbursts from the left ITB! My schedule has been crazy this week so I ended up swapping Wednesday & Thursday’s runs so I did my hill work on Wednesday. It was a solid workout and the ITB behaved…what more could you ask for?

2) Thursday’s recovery run didn’t happen. I could feel my left wasn’t going to cooperate even before I got out of bad, so I put my ego in check and skipped the run. I’m trying to be smart about this!

3) “Yikes!” is never a comment you want to hear from a massage therapist when she feels how tight your ITB is 🙂 She ~~beat the tar out of~~ intensely worked on my legs then sent me home for an epsom salt soak. My schedule didn’t allow for the time for a soak, but I will do one after Saturday’s long run. I did get to my “Yoga for Runners” class and after that 2 hr session I can say my legs were officially junk!

4) My boys have been back in school now for a week and a half and the family calendar is a ridiculous sea of colors and I’m desperately trying to carve out white space! How did we get so crazy so quickly!?!

5) Just 8 days until the ZOOMA Half Marathon – Let the weather watch begin 🙂 I’ve got my last long run tomorrow to use as my dress rehearsal for clothes, shoes and fueling decisions. Hopefully the ITB will continue to be quiet!

What Have you got lined up for this weekend?

Filed Under: crazy week, Friday Five, ITB, ZOOMA Cape Cod

Monday Motivation

October 31, 2011 by Michelle 7 Comments

Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks

“Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?”

— Peter Maher

Thanks to this weekend’s Nor’easter, my race on Sunday didn’t happen. It’s been postponed until this coming Sunday. Since I woke up yesterday to a bad cough and no power & no heat, I was just as happy to hold off. The good news is the early forecast shows next Sunday be a clear day in the 50’s!

It looks to be another crazy week ahead but with a little creative calendar juggling I think I can get all my workouts in — including the 11-miler I’m off to do now!

Have a great Monday & Happy Halloween!

Filed Under: crazy week, Monday Motivation, Schedule vs Training, weather

One of "those" weeks

October 23, 2011 by Michelle 6 Comments

This past week was definitely one of THOSE weeks! You know the kind…

….the kind when you look at your calendar and wonder what happened to the white space?!

It was the kind of week where I was juggling family commitments, client projects, volunteer responsibilities and trying to squeeze in my workouts – wait how is that different from any other week? 🙂 There are just some weeks when this juggling act feels in control, manageable…and then there are weeks like this one where you feel like someone has increased the speed on your treadmill when you weren’t looking!

It was the kind of week where I was really grateful for the escape time a run can provide – time to think through kitchen remodel options, or to sort through the to do list and prioritize…or best of all, to unplug and just enjoy the meditation of the run!

Ah but now it’s Sunday, the long run’s done and the ITB (for the most part) behaved. So now it’s time to enjoy some down time with J and the boys…to pick pumpkins, do some baking (with the apples from last Sunday’s apple picking trip) and watch some football! A perfect end to one of those weeks!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Filed Under: crazy week, Schedule vs Training, to do list