HM Training: Week 4 Recap Plus

Last week was week four of half marathon training and it went extremely well. Knocks on wood, in fear of jinxing myself

And, since last week was a higher mileage week this week’s mileage is cut wayyyy back. It’s nice that it is Tuesday and I only have one training run left for week 5. Only one long run before I am halfway through this training plan. Crazy!

Let’s recap week four, shall we…

Monday

Planned - 3 miles @ 12:47 pace

                Actual - 3 miles @ 12:24 pace

Wednesday

Planned -  6 miles (4 @ HMP 11:27)

Actual – 6 miles @ 11:16 pace (11:37, 11:16, 11:08, 11:06, 10:55, 11:33)

Friday

                Planned – 2 miles @12:47 pace

                Actual – 2 miles @ 12:15 pace

Saturday

                Planned – 10 miles @12:47 pace

Actual – 11 miles @11:58 pace (I maintained a comfortable pace the entire run and these were the results: 12:04, 12:07, 12:07, 12:03, 11:57, 11:55, 11:41, 11:57, 11:52, 11:55, and 12:04)

Total: 22 miles – a 10% increase from the previous week :)

I am heading out of town tomorrow which means more of me trying to fit in training while traveling. I actually have two back to back trips; Austin for the Austin City Limits music festival/San Antonio to visit friends and then two days later I am headed to NY for four days. Thankfully these are my last trips before the half so once I return, four weeks out from race day, I will have a decent chunk of time to adjust back to my normal training schedule.

But in the meantime, I know I probably won’t be posting much if anything for the next few weeks so I am going to give you my training plan for week 5 and 6 here and then once I am back from NY I will do a full recap.

Week 5

Monday

                Planned – 4 miles @ 12:40 pace

                Actual – 4 miles @ 12:29 pace

Tuesday

                Planned – 3 miles @ 12:40 pace

                Actual – 3 miles @ 12:10 pace

Thursday (hopefully, if not then I will aim for Saturday) - 9 miles @ 12:40 pace

 

Week 6

Monday or Tuesday (depending on how I feel) – 2 miles @ 12:40 pace

Wednesday – 5 miles (3 @ HMP 11:27)

Thursday – 2 miles @ 12:40 pace (maybe the Brooklyn Bridge?)

Saturday – 13 miles @ 12:40 pace (hopefully through Central Park)

That’s about it for now. I am super excited for the next two weeks and a much needed vacation. It may seem like I travel a lot, which I kind of have been lately, but my last trip was for work. Actually quite a few of my trips this year were for work. And even though I was still able to see friends and do a lot of cool things my focus was still work. For these two trips I am disconnecting from work (and at least for this week, school) and I am just going to sit back and enjoy my vacation without any distractions. I am super excited to head back to Texas, to see some of the most amazing people I know and go to ACL for the third time. And even more so, I am excited to do it all with E!

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxox

P.S. Here's a sneak peek of our soon to be newest family member... CHARLIE! 

HM Training Week Three Recap

Week 3 of half marathon has come and gone and I am pretty happy with how it went, even after having to make adjustments to make the training schedule fit my life schedule. And knowing me, and knowing I have two travel weeks for weeks 5 and 6, this will be a normal occurrence (switching things around) when all is said and done.  But that is life. Plus, who doesn’t adapt their training plan to fit their schedule? I would like to meet this person.

Anywho, here is last week’s plan and results.

5 miles (3 @ HMP 11:27) on Wednesday – total time 57:37 and an average pace of 11:31. The 3 miles @HMP were as follows: 11:24, 11:08, and 11:05 J

3 miles on Thursday @ 12:47 pace (this was supposed to be Monday’s scheduled run) - total time 38:23 and an average pace of 12:40

2 miles on Friday @ 12:47 pace – total time 25:18 and an average pace of 12:37

10 miles on Saturday @ 12:47 pace – total time 2:05:37 and an average pace of 12:33. This run was absolutely what I needed to get me feeling confident about the half in 6+ weeks. This training plan calls for four 10 mile runs and one 13 mile run and I think that is a good thing. For me, especially at this pace, the more longer the runs better. Mentally and physically.

And in case you were wondering, after I came home from the 10 miler I had a recovery drink, stretched and sat in an ice bath for 15 minutes. Afterwards I put on some compression socks and had some breakfast. The rest of the day included house work and cooking, a (much needed) massage, and a short road trip to see E’s family. I woke up Sunday and felt great. I had no residual muscle soreness on Sunday or Monday and I think that had to do with the ice bath, the massage, and the fact that I didn’t sit too much on Saturday.

This week I have another 10 miler on tap and will follow it up, again, with an ice bath. I will be sure to keep you posted on how my recovery is after this next long run as well.

Week 4 Schedule

Totally stole this from Run Eat Repeat

 

Monday 3 miles @ 12:47 pace

Wednesday 6 miles (4 @ HMP 11:27)

Friday 2 miles @ 12:47 pace

Saturday 10 miles @ 12:47 pace

Now, since I am the worst when it comes to blogging in a timely fashion I am posting my week four schedule having already completed two of the four scheduled runs. But I think this week I will hold off on giving my results and save them all for next week’s recap.

Or, of course, you can just go to the blog FB page and check them out now. I usually post about each day’s training run. Exciting, I know. Ha!

And so you know, I just do this to help keep myself accountable and document my progress (and any struggles) for recording purposes.  I am fully aware how boring these posts must be to read so thanks for toughing it out.

I am hoping this week to get in a couple non-running/training related posts as well. Fingers crossed.

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxoxoxox

HM Training Week Two Recap

Week 2

Last week was week two of  the ten-week half marathon training plan from Runner’s World that I am following.

Last week’s schedule called for four runs, all at a slow training pace, totaling 17 miles for the week.

Last week was also the week I traveled to Seattle (2,777 miles away) for a work conference, flying in on Monday and out on Sunday.

During the week we had sessions and events, sometimes lasting past 1030p – which is tough when you are two time zones behind your norm and your typical bedtime is ~ 930p.

During the week we also had made plans to meet up with friends, visit breweries, see the city, and eat all the Veggie Grill I could.

I knew running while traveling, especially with such a hectic schedule, would be tough but you know what? I made it work. I had to switch the days around a bit to accommodate traveling and spending time with a friend who came up from Portland and I also had to figure out where the heck to run and what areas were safe. It was a pain in the ass.

But guess what? It was totally worth it. I logged in some great miles and saw some breathtaking views along the way. It was awesome. Especially those temps- 50’s with like no humidity! I won’t see that in FL until November or December if I am lucky. It was terrific.

Last week my training pace goal was 12:47 min/mile for all four runs. What actually happened (thanks to hills and fantastic weather) was this:

5 miles on Tuesday @ 12:08 pace

3 miles on Wednesday @12:02 pace

2 miles on Thursday @11:02 pace

7 miles on Friday @11:45 pace

I tried to just focus on a comfortable pace during each run and take time to enjoy the scenery. It was nice. I am not mad about my pace, I know now that I am back in FL and know my routes (and am running through soup) it will be much easier to SLOW DOWN.

Week 3

This week is the first training week I see a double digit run- 10 miles on Saturday. I was battling jet lag and just the normal post-travel funk pretty tough on Monday and Tuesday so I had to, again, switch up my running days. This week I have four runs scheduled, for a weekly total of 20 miles. The plan is:

5 miles (3 @ HMP) on Wednesday

3 miles on Thursday @ 12:47 pace (this was supposed to be Monday’s scheduled run)

2 miles on Friday @ 12:47 pace

10 miles on Saturday @ 12:47 pace

Today I got in 5 miles before work. The plan was one mile warm-up, 3 miles at half marathon pace (11:27 was the goal) and one mile cool down. The results:

Mile 1- 11:29

Mile 2- 11:24

Mile 3- 11:08

Mile 4- 11:05

Mile 5- 12:30 (this was my target pace for my warm up but I was running easy so I just went with it)

Total time: 57:37 and an average HR of 122bpm

BOOM! I love that I am starting to push my run a little faster and I was able to maintain a really comfortable pace and low heart rate. Yay! Improvement!

Well, that’s about it for now. Stay tuned for a recap on my first 10-miler of 2014 next week J

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxox

August Recap, Week 1 HM Training Plan and a Video

August was really my first full month consistently running and using cycling and my personal training sessions for cross training. It was a really great month and I am excited to report that I logged over 167 miles, over 70 of which came from running.  I ended the last week of the month strong and hit my goal of logging 20 running miles AND I also rode for over 50 miles last week. It was pretty awesome, especially since most of them were logged out on the Townies with E. We are really enjoying our new bikes and it is great to have someone to ride with on the weekends again.  To me, cycling is very social and is something I always preferred to do with others. Running, well I can go either way. I enjoy company when I can get it but since I have almost always run alone I am pretty used to it being just me out there.

September 1^st marked the first day of my half marathon training plan so I made sure to wake up early yesterday to log some miles.  I think I have mentioned this before but this go around I am using a ten week training plan from Runner’s World to help me train up for a sub 2:30 half marathon.  Most anyone who runs has probably heard the adage that you have to run slow to get faster and this plan really focuses on that- building a good aerobic base by running slow and monitoring your heart rate as a measure of the intensity. Having a strong aerobic base is very important in order to be able to run more efficiently and also to help your body burn fat for fuel instead of sugars. It helps keep you feeling strong over a long period of time. This was something I really tried to focus on my first go around of training but (stupidly) I ended up more concerned about my pace than my intensity and which ultimately I believe led to my injury and my struggles to get faster.  Seeing that RW focused on the slow run was really what sold this program for me.

This week and next, and for the most part almost all my runs not at half marathon pace (11:27 min/mile), are at a very slow, easy pace.  And I like that. Last Saturday I did a 7 mile run and I tried to maintain the recommended pace from the training plan (this is my week 2 long run) and I am happy to report I maintained a 12:42 pace (12:47 was the goal) and my average heart rate was 141 bpm, just one over my goal of 140 bpm.

This week my training plan is as follows:

Monday – 3 miles @ 12:47 min/mile pace (completed at a 12:42 pace with an average heart rate of 116 bpm and a MAX of 140 bpm – BOOM!)

Wednesday – 4 miles @ 12:47 min/mile pace

Thursday – 3 miles @ 12:47 min/mile pace

Saturday – 5 miles @ @ 12:47 min/mile pace

In addition to the running I also have two personal training sessions (one was yesterday, the other Wednesday), a gym date Tuesday afternoon, Friday morning spin session and hopefully a bike ride on Sunday as part of my active recovery.

Next week I am off to Seattle and even though this means training super early before each day’s conference session I am beyond excited to run in cold weather. The high’s out there right now are about 10 degrees cooler than the temps I am used to seeing each morning when I wake up. We have been in the 90s for weeks with the heat index hitting triple digits most days so I don’t know how my body will handle a high of 70, and temps in the 50s when I wake up. Pretty sure I will be in heaven. Yay for no humidity! J

Also, I log everything over on my Garmin Connect so if you have an account you should add me…I still can’t figure out how to find people on that site yet. I have only had an account for two years; you think I would know by now. I switched over to the Vivofit from the fitbit (I love it sooooooo much better) so you can follow me there, too, if you are also a Vivofit person.  And of course tracking and logging most days on MFP ~ dacia1978.

Well, folks. It’s that time again. I hope that I can write about things other than training schedules and of course apologize for the really intermittent posting lately but it is what it is. One day, I hope to have something more interesting to talk about. Until then, this is what I got.

Oh, and in case you haven’t seen this E and I made a short video as a response to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge using our minis. I hope you find it as goofy and silly as we did. It was so fun to make this- I definitely see more Lego movies in our future.

 

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Catching Up and Checking In

I know I have been pretty quiet on the blog lately but man, has life been crazy. I am in the thick of finals for my two summer courses and am trying my best not to stress over it. This past Sunday and Wednesday I turned in my last assignments and all that remains is one final and one paper. Once August 9^th rolls around I will be finished with summer classes and I’ll have two whole weeks off before the fall term starts. I plan on celebrating with a nighttime tour of the Pensacola lighthouse, a sailing excursion, taking the Pensacola pedal trolley pub tour, classic movie night at the Saenger (American Graffiti) and then a weekend trip to New Orleans. I am pretty excited about all the fun stuff we have planned for August. I am even taking a break from finals to go kayaking this Saturday. Which will be my second active adventure and I will be able to cross that goal off my 4 week challenge chart. Yippee! In case you were wondering, walking/exploring/climbing around Ft Pickens was active adventure number one.

Oh and as far as my four week challenge goes, I am on day 17 of 28. I have hit my daily goals (8K steps, tracking, stick to meal plan, 25 minutes of activity) all but one day. I have hit all of my weekly goals (4 or less meals out, run three times, weigh myself only once a week, and drinkend only) with the exception being I missed on running three times once. Last week I only ran twice.  Eh, it happens. And for my monthly goals I have gotten one of two active adventures knocked out but have yet to get in any bike rides. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get in one of each. With 11 days left in the challenge I think I am doing great and hopefully will be rewarding myself with a new dress from Anthropologie when I go to NOLA.

Hmmmm, what else? I am still meeting with the personal trainer twice a week. We do one day upper body and another day lower body. We do a little cardio but that is mostly during warm up and cool down. For the most part we stick to strength/weight training. I love it. It’s always a challenge. He pushes me and that’s what I need when it comes to strength training. If it was just me by myself I would kind of wander around aimlessly and lift less weight for fewer reps, I’m sure. So it’s nice to have guidance but also someone to push me. And of course, someone to make sure I have proper form and posture and help me prevent injuring myself. Once I start training for my fall half marathon I will continue on with seeing him twice a week but both will be upper body days. I was thinking about going  down to just one day a week but I enjoy it too much (and because it’s through the university it’s pretty cheap, comparatively) so I decided to stick with twice a week for the time being.

Today I ran outside for the first time in months- it’s been since probably March or April I would guess. I had been running after work with E but once it got too hot, I am in Florida so that heat comes early, we moved to the indoor track and/or treadmill for our runs. But we luckily happened to get that random cold front in yesterday and I just knew I needed to get outside and run. I miss it so. There is such a better feeling, IMHO, from running outside vs running inside. The fresh air, the scenery, it’s just so peaceful. And not only was this my first outdoor run in months but it was also my very first run from my house around the neighborhood as E and I usually run up at the university where we both work. Oh, and it was also my first outdoor run in the Newtons. I just bought them last weekend and was excited to test them out on the road. I am not in love with them the way I love the Brooks PureDrift I currently run in but I think it may just take time. They are a bit higher in the drop and they have way more cushion (not to add lugs) and I think (hope) my feet will adjust and I will end up liking them more. If not, I will probably exchange them for the Saucony Kinvaras or maybe some Altras (even though I was told they didn’t have any in my size the last time around) or maybe stick with the Brooks I currently have and just get a new GPS watch.  We’ll see. I am planning on getting in another run tomorrow morning as the high will only be 71 when I head out. Not sure how long this cool morning weather will last but regardless I plan on sticking to running outside in the morning through the half marathon training and leave my evenings from my trainer, T25, and in the fall hopefully some fun group fitness classes.

And speaking of group fitness….Pensacola is getting a Pure Barre studio! In case you’ve been reading my blogs for a while you know that when I lived in San Antonio I attended classes at the Pure Barre studio there and LOVED it. I just so happened to be taking classes while training for the two half marathons I ran while living there. Then I moved to Pensacola where the closest studio was an hour away so no more barre for me. Then last year, back in June of 2013, a Pilates Barre studio opened in Pensacola and I attended classes there. For about four months. It was good. Not the same as pure barre at all. In my opinion, the Pure Barre classes are much more difficult/challenging and much faster paced. But I liked it enough to stay for several months and fork over a hefty sum of money for what was available, what was kind of close enough to pure barre, until I just couldn’t rationalize the cost anymore. The yoga studio was way, wayyyyy cheaper for the unlimited classes pack so started going there instead. Then you know life got in the way and I stopped yoga and pilates and only did group fitness at the university (free, because I was down to only my income), then I had surgery and stopped everything for a while. Needless to say, I am beyond excited this studio is opening up. And during the last two weeks in October, before the grand opening in November, classes will be FREE! I know I won’t be able to take classes at this studio at the frequency or at the cost I did in San Antonio (military discount) but I am super excited that at least I have the opportunity to take them when I want. It’s a really great way to cross-train and I really enjoyed the classes when I used to go.  

I have really been enjoying my summer at home, getting back into a workout routine, getting settled into the new house, and exploring Pensacola. Almost every weekend we have spent in Pensacola this summer has been spent doing amazing local activities. It has been a lot of fun and it really has made me fall in love with Pensacola even more than I did before, which I wasn’t sure was even possible. For me, living here is kind of like living in paradise. I am thankful every day that this is where I live.

Not that I don’t think other places are great, too. Pensacola just feels like home to me.

I guess that’s because it is J

 

 

Love and hugs

Dacia

xoxoxox

Playing Catch-up

So…HI! How are you?

I know, I know- it’s been awhile.

Things have been crazy, but in the best possible way.

As you know, E and I have been traveling a lot lately and last week our travels (and my job) brought us to Orlando and Tampa for the week. It was sooooo much fun! I arrived in Orlando on Tuesday for a work conference. I did a lot of relaxing for the first few days I was there on my own. This included some shopping and a massage. I also was able to meet up with one of my favorite people on planet earth for a few hours before Earrived- that was awesome. After Erick got into Orlando we hit Downtown Disney- went bowling at Splitsville, rode in a hot air balloon- then we headed to Tampa where we went to Cigar City Brewery, ate dinner with Yummy Sushi Pajamas,  went to a Rays game, attended a post-game concert (WEEZER!!!) on the field, and then ended the trip by swimming with the manatees. I could write a whole post just on this trip but I won’t, not for now at least. Instead I will just share some pictures and move on to my next topic.

 

Working out….

I started T25 like a month ago. Rocked the first week- then went to Philly for a week and only got in one workout. Then I came back and rocked week 2 and then went away for a week and didn’t get any workouts in. Was planning to start back up this week, week 3, but never really got into the swing of things. So, I made a decision (mostly based on the fact that I might be able to get week 3 and some of week 4 in before I leave for Fitbloggin’)to just start over from week1, day1 on June 30th. I will actually have ten whole weeks between June 30th and September 8th with no huge (out of the general area) travel plans. This will give me the chance to actually finish both T25 Alpha and Beta straight through- which I am guessing is probably how the program wasintended to be completed.

So, what am I going to do between now and June 30th workout wise? Well, I snagged Les Mills Combat last week during a hugeBeachbody sale so I think I will try out some of those videos in the morning and maybe even get back on the spin bike too. I have been going to the gym after work trying to get back into the swing of running, which E and I were doing 2-3 times a week regularly, and build back some of my endurance because…

I signed up for another half marathon.

Well, more importantly – I agreed to join a group to run the Ragnar Relay- Cape Cod in May of 2015 and I need to get back into running regularly and training so I decided it was time for another half marathon. Training for the half (the Pensacola Half Marathon 11/9/2014) won’t really begin until mid-August BUT I need to make sure I have a good base built up before I start training again. My goal is 3-4 runs per week through the summer. Nothing too crazy, just enough to get me used to running again. Yesterday I decided to test out my legs/lungs to see where I was by seeing how fast I could run a mile. I was aiming for somewhere in the 8s (like 8:59) but I still surprised myself with a 9:16 mile. I don’t expect to be running sub-30 minute 5Ks anytime soon but I am hoping that this go around I will be able to get a little bit faster and feel a little bit stronger through my training. I think that T25 through the summer and then maybe some boot camp (or combat) in the fall will help with that too. I may be physically the smallest I have been in a really long time but I am definitely not the strongest (which isn’t surprising because of the surgery and downtime) and that is something I really want to focus on.

Some other things I lost post-surgery were my flexibility and stability, both of which come in handy for almost any activityespecially running. So I am going to start doing yoga again. Starting today. The university has a yoga class (actually taught by one of my co-workers) on Thursday evening so I am going to check that out. I also signed up E and I for a gentle beginner’s yoga class on Sunday. Since it has been at least 6 months since my last yoga class I wanted to start off in a beginner’s class having no idea where my skill level would be right now.

That’s where I am on the exercise front. On the weight front….well, I have a whole lot of beers and (veggie) burgers I need to burn off. Let’s just say I am more than happy to be home and back in the kitchen cooking my own meals. I love being able to eat out (who doesn’t) but doing it every meal, every day gets old quick. This week I have been doing a good job preparing dinners at home, packing my lunches and drinkingsmoothies for breakfast. I have been trying to limit the amount of TV I am watching (although Orange is the New Black sucks me in almost daily) and get some extra movement in around the house/yard when I can. It’s all about getting back to my healthy habits, not beating myself up too much over my ‘indulgences’, setting realistic goals and focusing on what I really want out of this life. I know I have another travel week coming up soon but after that I have ten weeks at home so I plan on making the most of that time. Both my body and my mind could use a little break from the whirlwind ~ I am so ready for just being normal for a while :)

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxo