Training this week: Feb 1 - Feb 7

Sooooo, it's Week 3 of training, and I have yet to do all the workouts. I feel like this doesn't bode well for racing. There are a lot of weeks left, but hopefully this trend doesn't continue. I spent a good chunk of Friday last week putting together a new schedule for life. We use Google Calendar for everything. We have like 13 calendars to keep track of, so when I print the Google calendar, it never looks like I want it to. I used good ol' Word to create a table of All the Things.

PICTURE OF THE SCHEDULE HERE (as you can see, I never did take a picture)

Inevitably things change--mostly things get added, things rarely get taken off--but this is maybe going to give me a better One Stop Shop for keeping track of what's going on and what seven minutes I have to get a workout in. :)

I know, I know. I have two different rows for cleaning & chores. I admit to being more Type A when it comes to the state of the house. Clutter stresses me out, so I clean. I also think the act of cleaning is cathartic.


Mon 2/1: Strength. Last time I took I took Josey to the Y, she cried a lot, but a friend of ours was working in there, so she could calm Josey down. She wasn't there this morning. Strength and swimming 1700 was on the agenda. I did a circuit on the weight machines upstairs and then headed down to get in the pool. I figured if I hadn't gotten paged in 15 minutes, all was well. Of course, not so. I got my suit on and was heading in to the pool, when a Kids Stuff worker walked in looking for me. I don't take a pager when I'm going to the pool, because they aren't water proof. Anyway, I got home and did another strength workout from Coach. No swimming.

Tues 2/2: Workout. I ran 35 minutes on the treadmill at home one of these days.

Wed 2/3: Workout. Notes

Thurs 2/4: Workout. Notes

Fri 2/5: Workout. Notes

Sat 2/6: Swim. Bethany and I went to the YMCA to swim. She had a workout from the Master's group, so we did part of that. 1900 yards. 

Sun 2/7: Workout. Notes

Training This Week: Jan 25-31

I spent a good chunk of time reviewing the training plan and the weekly schedule and came up with something that will hopefully work a little better -- at least this week.

Mon 1/25: Swim 1600 & Strength. I haven't been swimming (not including with the kids or teaching lessons) in ages. It was good to be back in the pool. Determined I need a new suit. Did another set of workouts from the app.

Tues 1/26: FLU. I was supposed to bike 50 & run 40, but Josey did a lot of puking during the night. We couldn't go to the YMCA. Instead, I got a good strength workout from the Coach and did that. Also did 30 min of flexibility yoga with the kids. At least it wasn't supposed to be relaxing.

Wed 1/27: Run 35 & Bike 45. On the schedule was run 50. Spent the whole day helping with preschool or in the car running kids to and fro. Then Livy's swimming lesson and out to dinner to celebrate Ezra's first job.

Thurs 1/28: FLU. The plan was to drop Ivy & Jamey off at school, go to the Y for a bike & run, then go to Josey's swimming lesson. Well, Livy puked 6 times during the night, so scratch that. Then I got sick. Jeremy came home early to take care of everything, and I even skipped teaching swimming lessons and went to bed at 8. Ivy stayed home from Family Fun Night at school, so there's a real clue of who got sick next.

Fri 1/29: FLU No school today. Ivy laid low most of the day. Livy had a bit of a fever.

Sat 1/30: FLU Jamey woke me up at 2am, with "Mom, I puked on the bathroom floor." Super gross. He puked a bunch more during the night and into the mid morning--he skipped the first day of his swim meet. By evening, it seemed like everyone was over it!

Sun 1/31: FLU Ha ha ha! All the kids are fine. I'm puking again. Ugh!

Training This Week: Jan 18-24

Oh sheesh! My fab SIL is now an Ironman Coach, so she has written me up a plan for the Liberty 70.3.

Mon 1/18: stretch 30 min. As family, we used the new Apple TV to download a Yoga app and did "family yoga." This mainly consists of fighting over floor space and the 2-yr-old climbing all over me.

Tues 1/19: Swim & Strength. No swimming because I discovered I don't have a swim cap or goggles. Huh. In a house full of swimmers, not an extra pair of adult goggles anywhere. Did the 7-minute strength workout (from another app) four times.

Wed 1/20: Run 35 & Bike 45. My sister was home from work for the day, so I went to the YMCA for the workout. My tush is not used to biking.

Thurs 1/21: Swim & Strength. Again no swimming because I have to work the schedule differently. I did approximately 1 million situps and pushups.

Fri 1/22: Bike Intervals & run 35. Nope.

Sat 1/23: Run 40 & swim 30. Nada. However, we did go out to celebrate our 11th anniversary.

Sun 1/24: Bike 60 & run 15. Nothing.

I was feeling very discouraged about the training plan, but after several conversations, I decided not to throw in the towel.

The reasons behind the racing

I am starting 70.3 training this week. 70.3--that's a half ironman. 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking, and 13.1 running.

This has come about for a variety of reasons.

1. My sister-in-law has done several different Ironman races, none of which are Madison. So, I've been encouraging Jeremy to do it with her. It's so fun to be at races and cheer and I don't have to race then. The snafu is that Jeremy has done a few half iron races, and he has no interest in doing a full. In a moment of who knows what, I thought something like, "I should commemorate my 40th birthday with something big, and it should be Madison." I promptly texted Amy, and it was agreed. So, now if I'm doing IMoo in Sept 2017, I have to do a half this year to make sure I won't die. 
2. I was feeling like I should do something big in my life so I'm not so blah. I have zero intention of making Ironman a habit. I know, I know. This may prove to be fateful, and I'll become an Ironman Junkie. If it happens, it wasn't pre-planned. 
3. And lastly, which feels the most cliche and hokey: my dad committed suicide about a year ago. He did not take care of his physical health or his mental health. I admit it has had me a little freaked out. I remember standing in my mom's kitchen in the days after he died, telling someone "I do not want to end up like that." So, last Feb I got back on the anti-anxiety meds. It's amazing to me how much that has helped my life. I lost 18 pounds in 2015 (not the 25 I wanted, but I've also decided to be gracious to myself). I still need to address the eating habits, but good grief, that's the hardest one. I'm doing things that make me happy: getting involved at a church we all like, reading "Peace Like a River" and the Mitford series as many times as I want, yoga, and the new big house. 

I have lots of comments to make about scheduling all this training, but I'm going to save that for another post.

Race Review: Minneapolis Half Marathon

I did the Minneapolis Half on May 31.

Training
Training went pretty well. I ended up babysitting our neighbors 3 & 5 year old boys for six weeks, so my midweek runs got nixed quite a bit. It was difficult to get them in with afternoon preschool and morning swimming lessons and our big kids school & swimming schedules.

My first 10 weeks of long runs were great. Then I got this weird cough that is still hanging on. My 11 mile run was killer. The first four miles sucked so bad. I was slow, and my legs were heavy. Then at four miles, I broke through the funk. I didn't go any faster, but I felt better.

Packet Pickup
After the last track meet, we all drove down to the Depot in Minneapolis. Parking was a breeze and cheap. We walked right in, got my chip, and picked up a shirt. There was no other schwag. The kids did get to make sunglasses at the State Farm booth. We were in and out in about 30 minutes.

Race Day
We left the house at 6ish to make the 7:30 start. It was a little early, but we were sure how far I had to walk from the drop off to the start. It was about 100 yards. It was chilly! Maybe 40 and a little breezy.

An official photographer got me in a pic at the start.

I was hoping for 12:30s. I was a little slower than that (13:04). But I had a great race, and it was a fun experience.

I texted Jeremy at the first water stop (mile 2) to tell him I had settled in with a pace group. Then they stopped, seriously stopped, and chatted and played on their phones. I decided not to wait around for them. 

I followed a group of guys in bright orange shirts to the Mile 4 water stop. I texted Jeremy as I was approaching the stop, so he'd be able to estimate when I'd finish. I looked up and saw Jeremy & the kids just past the 4 mile mark. It was so fun to see them out there yelling and high giving. 

At Mile 6, I lost the Orange Guys. We all walked through the water stop, and they just walked faster than I did. My iPod died a little before Mile 8. Texted Jeremy again where I was, and again looked up to see them on the side of the road!! 

The last half was rougher, because I HATE running without music. Also, the last 2 miles were practically all up hill. Killer on me. 

I didn't have a time goal--just to finish and have fun. I did that. 

Turns out Jeremy and the kids played at a park, went to Cub for donuts, and cheered me on. They had a great morning. Josey was a little miffed that she saw me, and I just ran off. 

The finish line was on the trail behind the Guthrie. It was a great location. 

Summary

I'd do this race again. The water stops were great and well placed. The volunteers were nice. There weren't many spectators, but I was at the tail end of the race. 

I've signed up for the Scenic Byway half in Belle Plaine on Oct 10. 

What is the training schedule?

I'm doing the Minneapolis Half Marathon on May 31. Someone recently asked me what training program I'm following. I'm basically doing Hal Hidgon's Novice 1 half marathon plan. I'm pretty sure this is the same plan I followed when I did the Fargo half in 2012.


Sunday - Long Run
Monday - Cross Train (swimming laps)
Tuesday - Yoga at the Y (I can't change this)
Wednesday - Short Run
Thursday - Yoga Flow at the Y (again, can't change it)
Friday - Short Run
Saturday - Cross Train (ride bike, probably with the kids)

Changing the training schedule

Because our favorite swimming teacher has decided to abandon us for a great job in Chicago, we've had to accelerate Josey's swimming schedule. We weren't going to start her in lessons until Fall Session, but I want to do a session with Mat, so I signed her up for this Spring Session. I hope Mat knows this means we like him a lot and are really going to miss him because I've had to give up my Friday morning yoga class so Josey can be in his 9:30 Baby 2 class. 

So with that schedule change, I switched around basically the whole training schedule. Part of that was eliminating the two days I had both short workouts and yoga. It just wasn't happening. 

Between the six of us, we have 13 swim "classes" every week in April and May. 

Josey is eating an apple right this very second, and she is so adorable, I had to take a picture.