Friday Five

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

Friday randomness

June 14, 2013 by Michelle 4 Comments

It’s Friday! It has been another one of those crazy weeks where I feel like the hamster wheel has been running at full tilt. So here’s some heavily- caffeinated randomness coming your way…..

We’re still drowning in school projects and other end-of-school year activities. This afternoon’s special treat is listening to my son’s fifth grade class recite poetry during the “Coffee House” – yeah I know you’re jealous!
We still have two weeks to go before school is over – thank you Mother Nature! And if the chaos in my house this morning is any indication, we may not make it!
Thursday track workouts continue — yesterday, despite not feeling my best, was a great session of 800-meter repeats. Always great to crank out a solid workout especially when you’re just not feeling it.
As I mentioned earlier, I have started keeping a food journal to see if I can figure out what’s behind my race stomach issues. It’s interesting to step back and really look at what you consume throughout the day. One glaring thing that is jumping off the page for me is just how little water I’m drinking!
We will be spending our weekend wrapping up the boys’ sport seasons — there will be at least 4 lacrosse games possibly 6 (it’s a tournament) and 1 baseball game. Somewhere in there I hoping to squeeze a long run in and maybe tend to my neglected garden if the rain holds off.

What have you got planned for this weekend?

Filed Under: Friday Five, general musings, kids

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

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

Friday Five

May 18, 2012 by Michelle 5 Comments

What is it about doing speed work at the track that always puts me on such a high for the rest of the day? I need to do more of it, because if nothing else it’s a confidence booster!

Some how I’m now just 10 days away from my next half marathon. I feel like it’s kinda crept up on me. Time to start obsessing …. checking the 10-day forecast.

Yoga is kicking my butt! I joined a “Yoga for Runners” class taught by an amazing yogini/marathoner. Last night was the second class and it was tougher than the first! I am ridiculously tight and while I try to break out the Rodney Yee DVD with some consistency, there’s clearly nothing that compares to having the instructor there to point out all your flaws…correct your form!

My youngest announced to me this morning that he only has 15 days of school left before he becomes a 1st grader! He’s looking forward to being out of school a whole week before his older brother – I’m panicking because that means I have only 15 days to finish any of my house projects or they go on hold until the boys start camp in July – Yikes!

The weather’s finally turned picture-perfect around here so I plan to live in my garden quite a bit this weekend. My boys gave me some beautiful perennials for Mother’s Day that I still need to get into the ground. So in between the usual kids’ sports/chauffeuring to b-day parties/etc., I hope to be happily up to my elbows in dirt 🙂

What have you got planned for the weekend?

Filed Under: Friday Five, gardening, randomness, track work, Yoga

Friday Five

March 30, 2012 by Michelle 12 Comments

Hit the track yesterday for the first of what will be many more speed workouts. It was a good ego-boosting session of consistent splits despite crazy cold winds.

My household is officially consumed by all things Lacrosse. My oldest son’s season has started and the first game is Sunday. J is the head coach for my son’s team as well as oversees the whole U11 program. J also announced that pick up games for his (~~old man’s~~) league will be starting soon. This means in short order there will be lacrosse equipment strewn all over my house (replacing the hockey stuff), my son and J will spend endless hours debating practice drills, and college lax games on ESPNU will become a permanent fixture.

I was thrilled to have my son ask me to run with him as he eyes his first mile race at his school’s upcoming fun run! (Where we going to fit it in among all things lacrosse I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.) I’m trying to convince my youngest to do the half mile kids’ run, but in typical fashion he’s taking a wait and see approach. He’s agreed to go to the track and see just how far a half mile is, but is making no commitments beyond that!

The PureFlows, replacements for the PureConnects, did arrive and I will say that even after only a couple of runs in them that they are a big improvement for me over the Connects.

Looking forward to a “date night” with J on Saturday. We may try to catch “The Hunger Games” – I really liked the books and from what I’ve heard this movie actually lives up to the hype!

Have a Great Weekend!

Filed Under: Brooks PureFlow, family running, Friday Five, Lacrosse, track work

Friday Five

February 3, 2012 by Michelle 16 Comments

After 3 workouts in a 24-hr span, I am thoroughly embracing a rest day today! Some core work but nothing else – I want to have something in the tank for tomorrow’s long run.
I’m beginning to realize that I have been underestimating the importance of getting enough sleep. While it is tempting to stay up to read, catch The Daily Show, try to get some writing done, etc., I need to do a better job of stepping away from all of it and catch some more zzz’s. My body and mind will thank me for it.
I’m desperately on the hunt for some new tunes for the playlist – any suggestions? Please share.
With the impending loss of Google Friend Connect, I’m starting to embrace the fact that I need to give those of you interested enough in following my little journey, alternative ways to follow. So you’ll see in the side bar that I’ve added a few options, including finally setting up a Facebook page. As I start writing more, I’ll be posting links to my Examiner articles there, so I hope you’ll check it out and give it a “like.”
Looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend full of the usual family activities, capped off with watching the Patriots bring home another Super Bowl win!

Any big weekend plans?

Filed Under: Examiner, Facebook, Friday Five, need more sleep, Patriots