Weekly Wrap: Unplugged

October 15, 2017 by 29 Comments

After running around for the past two weeks feeling a little like a chicken with my head cut-off, this week was all about recharging.

I started the week by joining a friend on Monday for dinner and a screening of the film Walk with Me. The film follows Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and explores devoting one’s life to mindfulness. I found it fascinating and a great way to begin my unplugging. (You can view the trailer here)

The next morning J and I got out of town to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and it was a great chance to leave the demands of to do lists behind – including the training plan. While I did get some running in and time on the Arc Trainer, the workout highlight was time spent hiking the trails.

I’ll be doing my best to hold onto my zen by hitting my yoga mat this afternoon before returning to regularly scheduled programming 🙂

When was the last time you took some time to unplug?

As always, I’m joining Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap. Be sure to stop by and show these ladies some love.

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Filed Under: vacation, Weekly Wrap

Harborside Wk 6 – Quick update

October 8, 2017 by 37 Comments

Week 6 of Harborside training is done and there’s not a ton to report this week. As I mentioned over coffee yesterday, it was another one of those weeks where I didn’t know if I were coming or going. But in an effort to stay consistent on recapping my training, here’s a quick review.

Monday – Rest day

Tuesday –  3.25 miles. I was starting to not feel so hot so I pushed the run to the afternoon. There was a lot of self-talk to get myself out the door, but once I was moving I actually felt pretty good, so I’m glad I went.

Wednesday – Week 2 of gym meet-ups with my friend E

Thursday – 5 x 800-meter repeats were on the plan, but I woke up feeling pretty lousy. I spent the day working from my couch and while I hated to miss time at the track, I decided rest was the better choice.

Friday – E and I decided to head outdoors instead of another trip to the gym. We did a 4-mile walk at a brisk pace and my legs were surprisingly sore after (funny how walking can do that!).

Saturday – Had a great run with my husband, despite the ridiculous humidity (c’mon Mother N!) and we were rewarded with this view as we reached the top our last hill.

Nothing flashy this week, but given how I was feeling most of the week, I’ll take it! As always, I’m joining Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap.

How was your week? Do you still run when you’re not feeling great or do you take a rest day?

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Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap

September Rewind

October 1, 2017 by 38 Comments

And just like that, another month comes to a close! As always, I’m joining Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap – just wrapping up the whole month. When you’re done here, please visit these two great ladies and all of the other bloggers linking up.

Good things for the month:

  • Completed half marathon #13! Although it was a struggle – finishing it was a win!
  • Skirt Sports Ambassador meet-up – always fun to meet-up with runners who you’ve been in touch with online.
  • Started training for my fall goal race – the Harborside Half.
  • Got back to strength training.

  • Finished the month with pain-free runs!

Things I could do without:

  • Mother Nature’s unwillingness to let summer go – the humidity finally broke around here at the end of the week!
  • A cranky ankle slowed me down and I fell short of my goal of 80 miles for the month – I finished with just 53.

On the decks for October:

  • Return to speedwork and hill repeats as I get into the meat of this training plan
  • .I’m looking forward to meeting up with my friend E for weekly gym sessions! We’ve now got a standing date at the gym on Wednesdays, so I’ll be adding in one more weekly strength session on either Mondays or Fridays.

Tell me something good about your September.

 

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Filed Under: month in review, Weekly Wrap

Harborside Week 4

September 24, 2017 by 26 Comments

Week 4 of Harborside Half training is done and what blur of a week it was! It was one of those weeks where you stare at the calendar on Sunday night, take a deep breath, and brace yourself for the scramble to come. J was traveling so I was doing the single-parent thing…throw in the dog returning from board and train and the usual school/sports/homework dash and you start to get the picture.

Source: Tiny Budha

Workouts happened when they happened…there was some running, a little hiking, time on the Arc Trainer, and some yoga…with an assist from the newly-returned pup!

New meaning to downward dog!

I also got some time with my massage therapist who gave me an earful about needing to balance my running with more strength work. She has a point…strength work was noticeably absent from this week’s workouts and has been hit or miss lately. Past experience has taught me that I am not one of those people who can just run…my body holds up much better when supported by strength training.

So this upcoming week I’m re-committing to strength training. My friend E just joined my gym and we’ve made a pact to meet every Wednesday (and most Fridays when kids sports schedules allow). I’ll be incorporating the RunnersConnect Kettlebell for Runners program. I had started to do some kettlebell work with Trainer Stacey before she left and I’m looking forward to getting back at it.

So how was your week? Are you consistent with strength training?

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap. If you do a weekly training recap, be sure to join this great link-up for inspiration and motivation! 

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Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Schedule vs Training, Strength training, Weekly Wrap

Harborside Half Training Week 3

September 17, 2017 by 20 Comments

And just like that, we’re already halfway through the month! It’s Sunday again so I’m joining Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap. If you do a weekly training recap, be sure to join this great link-up!

This week was definitely all over the place – it started with my foot wrapped in ice and ended with an LRB.

Monday: Rest day. So how does one end up injured on a rest day? I’m still asking myself that question. One minute I’m pacing around my kitchen on the phone for work and all of the sudden I take a step and I’m hit with a shooting pain in my foot. I’m talking “stop you in your tracks” pain. WTH?! I hobbled the rest of the afternoon and evening but was convinced it would be fine for Tuesday’s run.

Tuesday: No run – in fact, my foot actually hurt more! Again, WTH? So I spent a good bit of the day like this:

Wednesday: Time to get over the mini pity party I was starting to throw for myself. Upper body workout on the Bosu and then a trip to the chiropractor.

My chiro was as baffled as I was by the sudden pain. He did a stress fracture test and then went to work on my foot and ankle. While not fun, my foot felt a lot better afterward. When I told him my plan to run the Wicked Half as an LRB, he gave me the hairy eyeball and let it be known he didn’t love my plan.

Thursday: 3-mile run – the foot was a little sore, but the run gave me hope I might be able to pull off Saturday’s half.

Friday: Rest day. I ran errands, met a friend for lunch, and then headed up to Salem to meet some of the Skirt Sports Ambassadors for a pre-race dinner. This meet-up was so much fun – there was lots of running talk and lots of laughs!

Thanks to Serena for the photo!

Saturday: Wicked Half Marathon – aka, LRB (long run with benefits!) I’ll be doing a separate recap on Tuesday, but I will share that it was 100% humidity, the ankle was done after mile 8, but I completed my main goal of finishing upright and smiling! Half marathon #13 done.

Needless to say, today was a total rest day, and thankfully the ankle’s a little sore but otherwise not too bad.

Talk to me – how was your week?

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Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap, Wicked Half Marathon

Harborside Week 2 & an Upcoming LRB

September 10, 2017 by 34 Comments

So week 2 of Harborside training is done and an LRB awaits. What’s an LRB?  I’ll explain more but first a brief recap of this past week:
M – Rest day. Spent a great Labor Day touring around Newport with the family!
Tu – 5-mile run
W – Ankle PT and lower body strength work
Th – Yoga
F – 3-mile run
Sa – 9-mile (my longest in months!)
Su – Rest
It was a fairly uneventful week. Saturday’s nine miles was the longest I’ve run in a while – it was not without its ups and downs, especially in the final 2 miles, but I was very happy to see that 9 come across my Garmin!

OK, so what’s an LRB? A long run with benefits!

With the Wicked Half Marathon coming up on Saturday, this is technically “race week”. When I signed up for Wicked my main goal was just to join in on the Skirt Sports Ambassador meet up, run for fun, and finish upright. And, now given my sometimes temperamental ankle, those are still the goals. So the RC coaches want me to treat this as a long run… with benefits. Basically, it will be a 13-mile training run with course support and a medal 🙂 The challenge for me will be to not get swept up in the race atmosphere and try to do more than I should. The plan is to stick with the run:walk intervals, ignore my watch (pace-wise), and just run by feel.

So that said, this will be a pretty routine training week with no special race prep except to try to get a little more sleep-which has been lacking lately.

Have you ever used a race as a training run? 

I’m wrapping up another week with Holly, Tricia, and this week’s guest host Sara from Sara Runs This Town. If you do a weekly training recap, be sure to join into this great link-up!

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Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap, Wicked Half Marathon

Harborside Week 1

September 3, 2017 by 25 Comments

Week 1 of Harborside Half training is in the books, and I’m happy to say Mother Nature cooperated by sending some fall-like temps my way. So let’s re-cap, shall we?

Monday:  Rest Day – Nailed it 😉 Both my husband and I had the day off from work so we took the kids to Kimball Farms for mini golf, bumper boats, arcade games, lunch and some of the best ice cream!

Tuesday:  A second day off from work meant more familly time! Covered 4.5 miles hiking with my family and the pup.

Wednesday: 3-mile run and a much-needed sports massage. My massage therapist spent a good deal of time on my left ankle, calf, and knee and urged me to see the chiro soon for more ankle work.

Thursday:  Between work and middle school parent orientation, my workout time got squeezed, but I did fit in my ankle PT work.

Friday:  Another run – this time for 5 miles.

Saturday:  I had planned to get some strength training in, but we ended up needing to go car shopping to replace my husband’s car. It turned into a much longer endeavor than I had expected. The good news is we found a car and got a good deal….but what a long process!

Sunday: 7-mile long run. Ths run was pretty good until it wasn’t – the ankle got cranky around mile 5 and then the mist turned into a downpour. Hello struggle bus!

All in all, not a bad first week. For this upcoming week, I need to make sure that both strength work and yoga happen. I’m also hoping to get that chiropractor visit in.

I’m linking up with Holly, Tricia, and this week’s guest host Montana from Pretty Lil Mudder. Please be sure to stop by and show all these ladies some love!

How was your week? Have had a taste of fall temps yet?

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Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap

Kicking off Harborside Training

August 27, 2017 by 28 Comments

I’m wrapping up another week with Holly, Tricia, and this week’s guest host Teresa from Finding Fabulous at Fifty. Please be sure to stop by and show all these ladies some love!

Workouts for me this week were kinda meh. My work schedule continued to be hectic this week as I was finalizing the program launch I’ve been working on. So work, combined with kids being home (no camps this week) = jamming in workouts when I could. There was a lot of PT ankle work, daily planking, and yes, some running. I even squeezed in some speedwork on the mill at the end of a very long Wednesday, but my weekly yoga and cross-training took a backseat.

With today’s 7 mile run I kicked off my training for the Harborside Half! Back in July, I had runfessed that I was looking for a November goal race, in part so I could avoid heavy training in the heat. I also knew that given what was coming up on the family calendar for the fall, November would be quieter. There are a couple of local races I’ve been wanting to check out and have heard some great things about the Harborside Half, so I’m in!

While I have a decent base, the RC Coaches are going to have me start this training cycle with just 3 days of running, a couple of days of cross-training, plus yoga and a rest day. Once we’re sure my ankle’s totally onboard, I’ll probably move up to 4 days of running. I’m not 100% sure what my goals are for this race yet, but I do know that I really want to push myself during this training cycle and see what I can do!

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap

Weekly Wrap – So Tired

August 20, 2017 by 37 Comments

 

This week was uber busy with much going on at both work and home. At work, I’m driving a huge program towards its launch date and also had a major fundraising event. On the home front, we’ve been redecorating my youngest son’s room (going from Red Sox theme to Boston Bruins – yes we love our hometown teams!) and starting to get ready for heading back to school. Put it all together, and I am just so tired!

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 3-mile run. After Sunday’s pain-free run I was keeping my fingers crossed for this run, and it did not disappoint. I took it slow and easy and the ankle was happy.

Wednesday: Cross-training was planned, but schedules collided and it just didn’t happen. I did manage to squeeze in my PT exercises for my ankle.

Thursday: Yoga day!

Friday: I spent most of the day either traveling to and from the event site or doing event set-up. With 10,700 steps logged I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel about 800-meter repeats, but I didn’t want to miss a run day. So as soon as I got home, I changed and headed straight to the gym so I had the option of hitting the Arc Trainer if I couldn’t finish the repeats.  The repeats weren’t pretty, but I got ’em done!

My new fave compression sleeves!

Saturday: Event day – happy to say things ran smoothly, we had a great turnout, and I enjoyed, once again, playing race director. I logged 14,827 steps (that’s 6.58 miles!) and by the time I made the 2-hour drive home to say I was toast would be an understatement!

Sunday:  I allowed myself to sleep in before heading out to get another 5 miles in. My legs were so heavy and I quickly adopted the mantra “just a mind set” – I kept telling myself tired was just a mind set and instead tried to enjoy the low humidity (nice change!) and the fact that the ankle was still cooperating. The rest of the day was one of well-earned lazing on the deck.

With the ankle cooperating, I’m going to try to increase my mileage this week. Fingers-crossed!

I’m joining Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap, and this week’s guest host Madhuri.

 

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Filed Under: crazy week, Weekly Wrap

Guest Hosting the Weekly Wrap!

August 13, 2017 by 70 Comments

Happy Sunday and welcome to the Weekly Wrap!

I am so excited to be this week’s guest host while Holly and Tricia enjoy some time off from hosting duties this summer. Weekly Wrap brings together such a great group of active women supporting each other, and I am honored to be guest hosting.

If you’ve never joined the Weekly Wrap, I encourage you to dive right in! The rules are pretty simple. Visit and comment on as many blogs as you can, including the host blog. Please don’t just link and leave – let’s support each other! It’s a great way to discover new blogs and make new friends!

If you were here for my last Wrap, then you may remember I skipped last week’s long run, as my lack of quality sleep had left me totally drained. Well, what I didn’t share was that my left ankle was feeling super tight and my upper calf was sore, and I think even if I’d had the best of sleep the ankle would have kept me from hitting the road.

So, how did this week shake out?

Monday: I wasn’t taking any chances with the ankle, so I headed to my PT/chiro. The verdict? Ankle immobility was affecting my fibula head – I’ve been here before and had to fess up to lagging on any of my ankle exercises. So you can guess what my homework was!

Tuesday: After checking in with my RC coaches, we were in agreement to skip the speed work and cross train instead. So, I made a long-overdue return to my gym and hit the Arc Trainer. 40 minutes of cross-training done!

Wednesday: Yoga  – keeping to this month’s goal of at least one weekly session.

Thursday: Strength day including ankle work.

Friday: I was so hoping to run, and while the ankle felt better, it didn’t feel great. Back to the Arc Trainer I went for another round of cross-training, followed by foam rolling and more ankle work.

By the way, if you missed my post about the benefits of the Arc Trainer, you can read it here.

Saturday: Rest day filled with shopping and errands, and yes, more ankle work (are you sensing a theme?)

Sunday:  5-mile run! Babying my ankle all week paid off with a glorious morning run. OK – it was ridiculously humid, but I was running so I didn’t care. My pace was solid, and best of all the ankle stayed quiet until the last half mile – I’m calling that a win! Nice to end the week on a high note.

This week also brought some fun stuff in the mail, including these beauties:

One of my birthday presents from my hubby – Saucony Zealot 3

And, the August StrideBox arrived!

I have really been enjoying these StrideBoxes! It’s been a great way to discover some new products. This month’s box includes items from Bakery on Main, Eboost, Hungry Buddha, Vital 4U, Zealios, No Sweat, and Gear Well – all of which are new to me. Can’t wait to try them all! Huge thanks to the nice folks at StrideBox for the goodies.

So that’s my week, and now I’m off to enjoy some lazing on the deck 🙂

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Filed Under: #StrideBox, Arc Trainer, Cross-training, listening to your body, Saucony, Weekly Wrap