Week in review Dec. 24-30: Starting like Buddy the Elf and ending like Ebenezer Scrooge

Lots of biking and a good amount of other stuff.

The week got off to a pretty good start. I knew I wouldn't be doing much training on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and I was right; all I logged was one trainer ride on Christmas Eve. The rest of the day was spent wrapping presents while watching Christmas movies, cooking in advance of the holiday, and relaxing before going to bed on the early side. Christmas Day was a long, exhausting, and fun day of family festivities.

I was ready to jump back into training on Wednesday. I spend the morning farting around and running a couple errands, but did get in a nice run later in the day in the sunshine with some new running tights my mom had given me. I even rallied again for barre later that evening.

The rest of the week included trainer rides, another legit speedwork run, and lots of PT. I think I overdid it on the weights on Saturday, though, because my knee was in a good amount of pain on Sunday. I was pretty bummed, especially because it was another relatively warm, sunny day. I tried to get some chores done around the house and did manage some yoga before bed, so not all was lost.

Although the week ended on a downer, my numbers were still pretty good:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 51.5 trainer miles in a little longer than 4 hours. I think this might be my best trainer week EVER. Since I had some extra time on my days off, I tacked on an extra 10 or 15 minutes here and there, and it showed.

PT/Rehab: Four times, all solo sessions, for about 2:30. This is also the most PT I've done in a while! Amazing what I can get done when I don't have to work, haha.

Run/Walk: Twice, both on the road, for 13.5 miles in about 2:20. OK, this wasn't a total fail — this consisted of a nice, easy run and a speed run, both outside on nice days. I am bummed about missing my long-ish run, but all told I am still 2 for 3.

Weights: Twice, one barre class and one heavy/body session, for about 2:15 all together.

Yoga: One self-guided session for 20 minutes of mostly bends, twists, figure 4s, etc.

Total: 12 sessions for about 11 hours, 26 minutes. Not bad!

Of course I could have done better doing training on Christmas Day and not missing my long run, but I'm still happy with how the week turned out. I'm especially proud of myself for making PT such a priority. Almost as important, I'm glad I took it easy on a few days and rested my knee when I needed to. Hopefully this will help set me up for a good 2019.

Two Fridays in a row of legit speedwork

I have been doing a lot of "speedwork" as I built up my running from my injury last year, but the last two Fridays (hashtag fast Friday) I've done what I consider actual speedwork, without the quotes.

Last Friday I did a virtual 5K for my team, TBD Racing, and managed a respectable 25:24, according to my Garmin. I had a few twinges in my left hamstring but my real limiter was having to slow down so I wouldn't barf. I guess, officially, that means I have room to improve on my cardio fitness, haha. I don't really RACE 5Ks but that time isn't far off from what I think is my fastest time, at the end of a sprint triathlon a few years ago when I was in peak-for-me fitness.

Yesterday I resurrected an old speed workout from the last time I was in shape and did what I call leapfrogging miles, one mile easy followed by one mile fast, repeat. I walked a half mile to warm up, hit a hard lap (I finally figured out how to do that on my "new" Garmin that I've had for a year, haha), and started with an easy-ish mile.

I was surprised at how fast I ticked over the easy miles: 9:21, 9:21, and 9:20. I didn't feel like I was working too hard. My "fast" miles weren't bad: 8:48, 8:47 (talk about consistency!), and 8:27. I ended with another half-mile walk to cool down.

Not too shabby!

I am a little bummed I only had so much speed in those fast miles — we're talking a difference of only about 30 seconds for the first two — and I was hurting by the end of the last. I joked on Instagram that the 8:27 felt like a 6:27. BUT, I'm going to attribute that to getting back into shape and eating too many (not really) Christmas treats.

If nothing else, I now have baseline. When I do this workout again in a month or so, I'm optimistic that I will see a bit of improvement. Yay, Fast Fridays!

Week in review Dec. 17-23: Giving myself the gift of not freaking out about workouts

Not too shabby for the week before Christmas.

I knew this past week would include a couple late nights, trying to make work deadlines, more Christmas errands, and probably a meltdown or two. I was correct on all accounts, but at least I had planned and prepared properly.

I tried to give myself the gift of not freaking out or beating myself up if I couldn't or just didn't want to do something one day. As expected, I was sick of everything by Tuesday evening, so my husband and I went out for steak and fries cooked in duck fat. It was completely worth it.

I hit the Y after work Wednesday for a treadmill run and managed a trainer ride after a Christmas errand on Thursday. Our department had a nice Christmas lunch on Friday and both my boss and I decided afterward we weren't doing any more work this year, so we headed out early enough that I could run a virtual 5K outside before it got dark on the shortest day of the year.

My husband and I were lame and didn't make any plans for the weekend, so I was able to rally with a trainer ride, weights, and PT on Saturday; and my longest run in more than a year, PT, and yoga on Sunday. I didn't have to work today, Monday, so that saved me a few hours on food prep Sunday, which was greatly appreciated.

Even with the extra running around I managed:

Run: Three times, once on the treadmill and twice on the road, for 19.25 miles in about 3:20. For almost all of my runs, I'm only walking as a warmup and cool down, so I think I can stop calling them run/walks, at lest for now.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 34.5 fake trainer miles in about 2:37.  I couldn't rally on Tuesday but still managed a shorter ride and a longer ride later in the week.

Weights: Twice, one video and one round of heavy/body moves, in about 2:10. I can't even remember the last time I did a pull-up and I'm going to be sore for days, in a good way of course.

PT: Three times, all solo sessions of moves given to me by my therapist from long ago, for about 2 hours.

Yoga: Twice, both solo sessions, for about 35 minutes total. Hey, two yoga sessions instead of one or zero! Progress!

Total: 12 sessions in about 10:42. Hey, a 10+ hour week! Not bad at all, considering.

I've got all the Christmas presents wrapped, the dishes I'm bringing to my in-laws' brunch are prepped and ready to go, I thoroughly enjoyed a homemade hot chocolate earlier, and I am now cuddling with a dog. I'll most likely take tomorrow completely off from training to relax and visit with family, and hopefully will be getting back into in on Wednesday all caught up and ready to go.

A great (short) day for a 5K

It was cold and drizzling by the time I escaped work early today for the holiday but I knew I wanted to do a virtual 5K today for my team, TBD Racing. I bundled up and headed out while it was still light outside, on the shortest day of the year.

I walked for a half mile and then jogged a half mile before turning on the jets. My goal was to give it my all without hurting myself for 3.1. I had to back off a few times as I approached what I call puke threshold.

I was shocked to see the first split of 8:20. I was more shocked to see an 8:16 and a 7:58 for miles 2 and 3. I was hurting by the end but my Garmin told me I had nailed a 25:24. I pretty much obliterated my goal of sub-27 by the end of the year. And I didn't have to stop or walk!

My left hamstring is a little tight, and I was limited by my cardio fitness, but I'm thrilled with the result. Plus, my Garmin also tells me I had a 7:56 mile in there somewhere. My previous fastest since my knee injury was an 8:25.5.

Not bad for a run I had to talk myself into. A little cold and a little rain couldn't stop me.

Not bad for the shortest day of the year.

Week in review Dec. 10-16: Hectic before the holidays

Not bad, considering how busy I was.

I am feeling the Christmas crunch. I don’t have kids, I don’t do a lot of shopping, and I don’t even bother to put up a tree anymore, but I still spend a good amount of time sending out cards, running errands, buying and cooking groceries, and crocheting last-minute scarves.

So, last week I tried to be gentle with myself and not beat myself up because I couldn’t do as many workouts as usual due to holiday errands. I ended up doing something Christmas-related after work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Friday – running to the craft store, tracking down photo paper, printing pics, wrapping gifts to get in the mail, prepping packages, and running to another craft store. It really would have been pushing it to get in a solid bike or run, AND do my PT or weights, AND knock out some holiday to-dos.

Ideally, I would have gotten up early Friday to do a speed run before work since I had a haircut scheduled for after work, but I didn’t make it to bed early enough Thursday and, let’s be honest, I just didn’t want to. Still, even skipping a full day, I had a decent showing this week. Enough to burn off some Christmas cookies, anyway, haha.

Last week included:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for about 3.5 hours and 45.5 fake trainer miles. I’m actually pretty proud of myself for getting three solid rides done.

Run: Twice, once on the gym treadmill and once on the road, for 13.75 miles in about 2:24. I went to the gym after work one day since my home treadmill is being difficult, and it was nice enough yesterday that I could do a long-ish run outside. I’m not sure why, but both IT bands seemed to be a little aggravated. I tried to run gently and didn’t push it, and it never got to the point of pain. I also managed 6.75 of those miles running, the longest straight run I’ve done in a long, long time.

PT/Rehab: Twice for about 1.5 hours total. I mean, twice is better than zero, so I’ll take it.

Weights: One video for about an hour. Again, once is better than nothing.

Yoga: One Sunday night, much-needed session of bends, pigeons, etc. for about 15 minutes. My hips are so tight, ugh!

Total: Nine sessions in about 8:45.

While training wasn’t great, it was still decent. Plus, I made headway on that last-minute scarf, especially important because this person is impossible to shop for. I think it’s OK to trade 5 hours of crocheting someone a handmade gift for 5 hours (OK, 1-2 extra hours) of training this time of year. Plus plus, my new hair looks pretty good, just in time for the holidays. =)

I’m going to continue to take it easy and be nice to myself this week. If I can get done my holiday to-dos and one session a day, I will be thrilled. Everything else can wait until next week.

100+ workouts already this quarter!

In October, I set a goal to do 100 workouts before the end of the year. I didn't have many hard and fast rules, just that it had to be something I would log into DailyMile: swim, bike, run, weights, yoga, PT, etc.

I passed that goal earlier this week!

89 + 6 + 7 is... uh... more than 100.

I didn't intend to front-load workouts earlier this quarter, but I am glad I did. With all the extra stuff that needs to get done before the holidays, I have been running more errands and doing more Christmas chores, which takes up time I would spend lifting or PT'ing. I don't have a goal for the end of the year, just to keep doing what I'm doing. Honestly, I am just glad to be doing anything at all.

Here's hoping you are getting in some holiday workouts among the office parties and shopping, if that's your thing.

Week in review December 3-9: It wasn’t great, but I enjoyed a bit of a break

Eh.

It wasn’t a great week. I logged about half the number of workouts and volume I usually do. Part of it was because I felt super crappy and exhausted on Tuesday (thanks, hormones) and part of it was that my old, rusty treadmill decided to stop playing nicely. I am pretty sure Santa is going to bring us a new one this year.

The week actually started off well with a barre class Monday. We had had our Christmas card pictures taken the day before, so I spent the rest of the evening color correcting and ordering cards. (Yes, we are the weirdos who do pics with our dogs every year.) I barely slept early in the week but rallied for an easy treadmill run on Wednesday followed by a bit of yoga, and a decent trainer ride on Thursday.

It had been a loooooong day Friday and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and order takeout, but I rallied again and got on the treadmill to do a speed workout only to find that the belt wasn’t keeping up with the speed I wanted to run. I managed to plod for a mile before calling it quits. The jerky motion aggravates my hip and knee and I didn’t want to be surprised if/when it did suddenly start going the speed I wanted.

I could have been productive on Saturday after a good night’s sleep, but I did boring things instead like have a nice breakfast out with my husband, run errands, address cards, and start Christmas shopping before meeting my parents for dinner. I was surprisingly successful tracking down gifts so it wasn’t a total waste of time. By the time Sunday came around, I was refreshed and ready for a long-ish run.

As frustrating as the week was, it had its successes. I cooked dinner every single weeknight. (Going out with my parents Saturday was the first time in almost TWO WEEKS we had gone out to dinner!!!) I had a prepped breakfast and lunch every day. It was warm enough to do my long-ish run outside. After a walk warmup, I ran a straight 10K, the first time in over a year that my knee has allowed me to do that.

I think my biggest “fail” of the week was that I didn’t do any PT. As we get closer to the holiday crush, I expect that I am going to have to be judicious with my time in the evenings. I know I have to run one errand after work today and probably another tomorrow, so I may be deciding between cooking, a run or a ride, OR PT, but not all three. I get frustrated when I can’t check off my entire to-do list, so I am going to have to practice patience with myself. Maybe I will call it getting into the holiday spirit.

Anyway, my week by the numbers was:

Run/Walk: Three times, twice on the treadmill and once on the road, for 14.1 mile in a bit longer than 2.5 hours. This included one aborted speed treadmill run and a really nice 10K in the brisk air.

Bike: Once on the trainer for 13.5 fake trainer miles in an hour.

Weights: One barre class for about an hour.

Yoga: One self-guided session of mostly hip openers, bends, etc. for 20 minutes.

Total: 6 sessions in a hair less than 5 hours.

Yeah, I could have done a lot more. But everyone needs a few days off here and there, and hopefully I can use that rest to build toward a stronger week this week.

Week in review Nov. 26-Dec. 2: It was a “little bit of everything” kind of week

A third run, a third bike, a third other -- sounds about right.

It wasn’t a spectacular week, but it had its small victories. I got to the pool! I did a birthday “triathlon”! I got to run outside in the sunshine and warm-ish air! I was able to squeeze in some yoga!

I even managed a rest day, taking Thursday completely off training. I don’t remember why, so I was probably just tired and fed up with the week. Usually that happens by Tuesday, haha. But I was able to finish the week out strong with doubles Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so a day of rest and an early bedtime definitely didn’t hurt.

My week was:

Run/Walk: Three times, twice on the treadmill and once on the road, for 18.25 miles in about 3:17. This was a weird week: One 39-minute straight run for my birthday, bookended by walking warmups and cooldowns; one “speed” run of increasing 0.75-mile intervals with alternating walks and jogs, ending with a jog to hit 65 miles for the month; and one straight “long-ish” run that ended up being shorter than my “speed” run earlier in the week. But, I got to enjoy the 50-degree weather and sunshine yesterday, and nothing hurt by the end of the week, so I’m considering this a success even if I got there in a strange, roundabout way.

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 41.32 fake trainer miles in about 3:13. Doing a shorter ride of 39 minutes for my birthday threw off my usual totals a bit, but other than that the week’s rides were pretty unremarkable.

PT: Just two solo sessions this week for a total of about 1:15. Unfortunately I can’t make everything a priority, and these fell down the list this week.

Weights: Just one video this week for about 50 minutes (skipping the warmup because I did this right after a trainer ride). Again, I would have liked to do a heavy/body session, but it fell down the priority list. I usually lift heavy on Saturdays but we went to a Christmas party with friends instead, and we had a blast, so the trade-off was well worth it to me.

Swim: Yay, a swim! Just one session of 39 minutes of drills for my birthday.

Yoga: One quick Sunday night session of about 15 minutes. I definitely needed this. Even though I logically know my hips and glutes would especially benefit from some yoga several times during the week, I am struggling to find even a few minutes here and there. Usually by the end of the day I’m tired and just want to relax. This is something I need to keep working on.

Total: 11 sessions in about 9.5 hours. Overall, a good week.

We’re moving solidly into the holiday season and I’m hoping I can keep up my good weekly habits. We don’t have a lot of plans … yet … but I’m sure the parties and shopping and all that other stuff will be popping up shortly. On the days when I can work, work out, sleep, and repeat, I will. On the days I can’t, I won’t. I’m going to do what I can and try not to beat myself up about it. And if I have more "little bit of everything" weeks in the meantime, that's good, too.

November in review: Highest volume and run mileage in a long time!

I love it when I add up my numbers for the month and I'm pleasantly surprised. I only had a couple of days here and there during which I did not workouts at all, mostly when I had plans or just needed a day off. I put in a solid couple of days over Thanksgiving break and I did a birthday triathlon, which helped with some of that solid volume.

I also managed to run 65 miles this month! I was so happy to see that I was in the late 50s by the end of the month and I wanted to hit that milestone. The last run of the month was on the 30th and my husband was running an errand, so I found a new series on Netflix (Schitt's Creek — HILARIOUS) and settled into the treadmill. And, best of all, my knee held up.

Running miles for the last 13 months.

I didn't get to ride outside at all. We pretty much went straight from summer to winter and missed fall completely. I got a couple of runs in outside, but sadly the bike is probably inside for the winter.

Not a bad showing.

Overall, my month turned out to be:

Bike: 12 times, all on the trainer, for 177.57 trainer miles in about 14 hours. Nothing special here — just a lot of Trainer Road interval rides.

Run: 12 times, 6 on the road and 6 on the treadmill, for 65 miles in about 12 hours. Again, nothing special — just building up slowly and steadily so I don't re-injure anything.

Weights: 6 times of 3 videos, 2 heavy/body sessions and 1 barre class, for about 6 hours. This averages out to about 1.5 per week which isn't terrible. I can't be too mad.

PT: 11 times in about 7:30. Eh, this should be closer to 2-3 hours per week. I keep working at this.

Swim: 39 minutes for my birthday triathlon, which worked out to be 1200 yards of drills.

Yoga: 2 sessions in about a half hour. Eh, again — this should be about 1 hour per week. Something else to keep working at.

Total: 44 sessions in about 40.5 hours. WOW! I haven't had that kind of volume in a while. Thank the Thanksgiving holiday, thank wanting to do something special for turning 39, thank my boring life and desire to be a hermit.

I am trying not to gain 100 pounds with the holidays coming up, so hopefully this will give me a good base to hitting December hard. Or, at least, hard enough where I can fend off some of the stress without creating more for myself. I do plan on enjoying wine and cookies in the near future; I just plan on enjoying some runs and rides, too. =)

A birthday triathlon

I turned 39 the other day. Last year we were still figuring out what was wrong with my knee, the year before that I was sick, and the year before THAT I was taking it easy after gutting out a marathon through some SI joint weirdness and pain. So, I wanted to do something special this year.

I had seen on social media people doing their age in distance or minutes for swim, bike, and run and figured I could do that. I had to work on my actual birthday, so I split my “triathlon” into two days: 39 minutes of swimming and biking one day, and 39 minutes of running the next day (followed by about 39 minutes of cupcake eating, haha).

I am WAY out of swimming shape but I figured I could do drills for 39 minutes. I found myself heading back to the wall for the final time as my watch read 39 minutes and then… I couldn’t remember how to stop and save my workout! Luckily I was able to figure it out before the clock ticked over to 40 minutes. My cycling leg was pretty simple; I just hopped on the trainer and increased the resistance until I settled into something challenging yet sustainable. I cooled down with a few minutes left to go and wrapped up at 39 on the dot.

It was dark and wind chills were in the teens by the time I got home from work for my run the next day, so I just hopped on the treadmill for 39 minutes of running. This was the first time since my duathlon over Labor Day weekend that I didn’t take walk breaks! And everything felt fine, if not a little boring. I just settled in and watched some Orange is the New Black until the timer clocked in at 39 minutes exactly.

This was fun to do and not too challenging, and it felt like I was getting 39 off on the right foot. Maybe next year for the big 4-0 I’ll be up for swimming 4,000 meters, riding 40 miles, and running as fast as I can for 40 minutes. I have a year to train, right?

Week in review Nov. 19-25: Surprise! When I have a few days off work, I train more

A pretty evenly balanced week.

OK, it isn’t much of a surprise, haha. I had a glorious four and a half days off work last week with Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Even though I didn’t do anything active on Thanksgiving besides eat, I was still able to log 12 sessions for the week, including my PT.

I got a solid start to the week with a trainer ride and weights video on Monday, and a run and PT on Tuesday. On Wednesday we were sent home early – hooray!!! – so of course I did a longer-than-usual trainer ride and more PT. I also squeezed in some Thanksgiving baking.

I chose to Opt Outside with a run instead of shop on Black Friday. It was miserable and rainy on Saturday, so we stayed in, I did another trainer ride and lifted weights, and we watched a few episodes of the new Narcos. I was able to round out the week with a long-ish run yesterday – it was perfect running weather! – and even more PT. I’m pretty sure this is the most PT I’ve done in a while.

By sport, it was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 49.75 trainer miles in a bit less than 4 hours. Had I known I was that close to 50 I would have done another easy quarter mile somewhere in there.

Run/Walk: Three times, twice on the road and once on the treadmill, for 16.25 miles in a bit less than 3 hours. I made sure to get outside on Friday and Sunday because those are probably the last good outdoor running days I’ll have for a while.

PT: Four sessions, two longer and two shorter, of my take-home exercises for about 2.5 hours.

Weights: Two sessions, one video and one of my heavy and bodyweight routine, for about 2.25 hours.

Total: 12 sessions in about 11.5 hours. Not bad at all!

The best thing about having a few days off for Thanksgiving is that I got to do other stuff, too: Sleep in, finish an actual book, hang out with friends, bake, etc. It was hard getting out of bed and tackling the day today, but Christmas will be here before we know it. EEEEK!

Thankful

I hope you (Americans, anyway) had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I slept in, ate donuts and drank coffee, snuggled my mutts, went out to lunch (no cooking! no cleaning!), and drank my weight in mimosas. So, an awesome day.

It has been a struggle to come back to running after my injury last year. So, while I do my share of grumbling about workouts, I have been trying to remember that every time I run, ride my bike, lift weights, or even take my mutts out for a walk, there are lots of people who can't. A year ago I couldn't. And I am thankful that, right now, I can.

I am also thankful that I've found my racing team, TBD Racing, and that I'm a part of the team for another year. I love being a part of a team that is made up of normal people. We are all shapes and sizes, all talent and non-talent (raises hand), road runners, trail runners, cyclists, beginners, veterans, you name it. We support each other and cheer each other.

Part of the team for another year.

We have a lot to be thankful for, today and every day.

Week in review Nov. 12-18: A birthday celebration!

Two hours per sport was my sweet spot, apparently.

Last week was a light week for training, but for a good reason: My husband’s birthday was Saturday, and we spent much of the weekend celebrating. In fact, for TWO weeks in a row now, I have had plans both Friday night and all day Saturday. That is very unlike my natural hermit tendencies.

I went into last Monday already stressed out and I ended up making it a day off from training. I think I watched a movie and spent some time catching up on online stuff. It ended up being a wise move because I was able to train hard (well, hard-ish) for three straight days, doing doubles on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday and Saturday were also rest days from training with an early Christmas celebration with friends on Friday, and honoring the birthday boy all day Saturday.

I got to cut short my food prep on Sunday since I only work Monday-Wednesday this week, and we had birthday leftovers for dinner, so that freed up some time for a nice long-ish run and even a full round of PT. Yay! So, even though I only did workouts on four days this week, I made all four doubles with three PT sessions and one weights video. I definitely got some bang for my buck.

I managed to do both of my runs this week outside. I don’t think my hands ever warmed up yesterday, and I need a slightly warmer pair of running tights, but I survived. I was glad for the fresh air, but man oh man I can’t believe it’s this cold already and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. I am going to need polar expedition equipment just to take the dogs out, come February.

Anyway, my totals were:

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 26.5 trainer miles in just longer than 2 hours. I am enjoying being back on TrainerRoad… for now.

PT/Rehab: Three times at home for about 2 hours. This included two longer session and one shorter session, for the first time in a while I’ve done PT two days in a row.

Run/Walk: Twice, both on the road, for 10.6 miles in just shorter than 2 hours. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just trying to acclimate to winter running for as long as I can.

Weights: One video done right after a trainer ride for about 50 minutes after skipping the warmup.

Total: 8 sessions in about 6:50. That’s still almost an hour per day average, so I can’t be too mad about that.

And, honestly, it was better than I expected with three full days off. I’m in a good groove with a few solid workouts during the week and I hope to ride the momentum into Thanksgiving so I can preemptively burn off the turkey and goodies I am looking forward to enjoying. =)

Running in the cold, already =(

I ran on the treadmill last week and had some hip and knee pain, which I don’t think is a coincidence. So I was determined to run outside last night after work, even in the dark, even in the cold.

I had to psych myself up all day to do it. As soon as I started wrapping up at work, I started trying to trick myself with “This will be fun! It will be so nice to get outside!” self-talk. Even though it was getting dark already on my drive home, I kept it up: “It’s not that cold! Running outside will be so enjoyable!” Before I could talk myself out of it, I bundled up and headed out.

It wasn’t fun, but it was tolerable. I was slow and for some reason even with a buff my chin was randomly super cold. The wind was cold on my face running into the wind, but running with the wind wasn’t bad. My legs and body were fine. It was OK. I got it done and headed home.

Yuck.

The terrible thing, though, is that it was “only” a real feel of 24 degrees in the middle of November. If I have to use this many mental tricks to go out for 40 minutes mid-November, I don’t think I’ll be running outside come February. Ack.

It was uncomfortable but I didn’t die. Which... is a pretty good mantra to have for any athletic endeavor, anyway.

Week in review Nov. 5-11: Cold, dark, and full of children

About a third biking and a third running -- not bad.

I was doing OK weather-wise two weeks ago when the temperatures were in the 30s and there was still a little bit of daylight in the evenings. Last week was even colder and darker after the end of Daylight Savings, and I just am not ready for windchills in the teen and 20s. I pretty much sequestered myself indoors all last week except for the occasional dog walk or errand.

But if you can overlook my hibernation from the cold, I didn’t have a bad week! I only did one weights workout, and I didn’t do as much PT as I would have liked, but I still managed three treadmill runs, three trainer rides, a barre class, and yoga. I voted on Tuesday and stress ate all Tuesday evening waiting for results, but that was my only day fully off from exercise.

In a turn of events totally uncharacteristic for me, I had THREE social events this weekend: a family dinner on Friday (an amazing Brazilian steakhouse); a kid’s birthday party on Saturday; and a gathering at our friends’ house to eat, watch football, and catch up. Our hosts have a 2-year-old and I employed the Auntie Kristin method of child entertainment: Keep them riled them up long past their bedtime until they are falling asleep on their feet from exhaustion. I don’t mind kids when I can be the fun “aunt,” haha. Because Friday dinner was late and I had a few hours between events Saturday, I did manage to squeeze in a workout both days, for which I was pretty proud of myself.

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 46.75 trainer miles in about 3:37. I have seen a definite increase in fake trainer mileage and overall effort since I re-tested my FTP. I mean, that’s what I want, but putting in the work to get there is not easy.

Run/Walk: Three times, all on the treadmill (boo), for 15.75 miles in just less than 3 hours. It was cold and dark and I couldn’t muster the mental fortitude to deal with it, so I started the latest season of Orange is the New Black and zoned out. My left hip has started hurting, though, and I can’t believe that it’s a total coincidence that it’s bothering me after I ran on my old, jerky treadmill that we bought off CraigsList years and years ago. I think Santa Claus is going to bring us a new model to keep us running this winter.

PT/Rehab: Twice, both solo sessions, for about 1.5 hours total. I just need more hours in the day.

Weights: One barre class for about an hour.

Yoga: One solo session for about 15 minutes, keeping with my Sunday evening tradition. I tried to focus on hips, glutes, my IT band… anything that could potentially help with this hip pain.

Total: 10 sessions in about 9:19. Not bad at all!

I am going to have to come up with a plan for staying active even in the cold and dark because as much as I’d like to hibernate until March, that’s not practical for work, fitness, or what little remains of my social life. I am still thinking about a spring half marathon and want to keep building up my running intervals (last week I bumped it up to 9 minutes running, 1 minute walking). But man oh man do I hate being cold.

So, to be continued. Maybe there will be a heat wave this coming week – 40s sounds tropical right about now.

Week in review Oct. 29-Nov. 4: My sinuses are all dried out but I had candy!

2 x each biking, weights, run/walking, and PT.

It was an OK week. I had a good start on Monday, but my sinuses went haywire by Tuesday and all I could do was lie down with some hot tea after work. I took another day off Wednesday to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters, but I was back at it by Thursday and finished the week pretty strong.

Also, the theme of the week was “2.” As in, 2 bikes, runs, weights sessions, and PT sessions. And, 2 days off. With one yoga session on Sunday I was able to finish with 9 total workouts, which I guess is 7 + 2? OK, that’s a bit of a reach.

My sinuses have been weird off and on for a couple of weeks now. I swear I had a sinus infection a few weeks ago, but then it cleared up. On Tuesday, when all I could do was lie on the couch, I was legitimately afraid I would be sick for Halloween the next day. A good night’s sleep meant I felt a LOT better, but my sinuses have felt super dry off and on and I have been getting the occasional bloody nose. I’m not sure if they are freaking out because we turned on the heat, or it got cold, or allergies, or all of the above, or something else. I am drinking a lot of hot tea and using my neti pot once or twice a day, and it is helping.

Anyway, workouts last week were:

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 33.25 trainer miles in about 2:38. This was almost exactly the same time as last week but an extra mile, so I’ll take that as improvement.

Weights: Twice, one barre class and one heavy/body session at home, for about 2:15 total. I can’t lift as heavy as I could a few months ago but I’m going to keep at it.

Run/Walk: Twice, both on the road, for 11 miles in just less than 2 hours. This was a speed run and a longer-than-usual run, and both felt good. I did my speed “intervals” (4 x 8 minutes) at my goal half-marathon pace minus 30 seconds, and it felt fast but sustainable.

PT/Rehab: Twice for about 1:30. I should have done at least one more, but I just ran out of time before I had to run errands Saturday and do food prep Sunday. Blah.

Yoga: I’m going with the one session on Sunday night routine, this time for 15 minutes. It’s better than nothing and I definitely need it by Sunday night.

Total: 9 sessions for about 8:36.

So it was still more than one per week and one hour per day, a good mix of activities, and two rest days – I can’t complain. If I build this routine of boring consistency all winter I’ll be in good shape come next race season.

October in review: Boringly consistent

I live a pretty boring life and October was no exception. I didn't go on any vacations, and I didn't buy anything extravagant. The most exciting things I did was take a few days off to to a college football game, spend time with family when they were in town, and pass out candy to trick-or-treaters.

But I like boring and boring allows me to get lots of training in, which helps me stay sane. So yay for a nice, boring October.

I did go a couple of Fridays without doing any workouts at all. It rained a couple Fridays in a row and I just couldn't be bothered to get out of bed and face the gloominess. I was sick-ish one day, just so tired I needed to lounge on the couch and do nothing, and that helped me not get actually sick so hooray!

I also got into a routine of doing a short yoga session on Sunday evenings. It's not as much yoga as I should be doing but hey, it's something! And, I made it to the pool ... once. But hey, I made it.

October wasn't bad at all.

It worked out to be:

Bike: 10 times, all on the trainer, for 141.75 trainer miles in about 12 hours. I wish I could have ridden outside at least once but winter hit Michigan hard and fast. Boo.

Run: 10 times, all outside, for 50.2 miles in just longer than 9 hours. Hey, I'm getting there! This was the same mileage as last month in two fewer runs and a bit less time, so I'll consider that a slight improvement.

PT/Rehab: 11 times for 7.5 hours. I always wish I had done more rehab.

Weights: 5 times of 2 barre classes, 2 videos and 1 heavy/body solo session, for about 5:10. That's more than once per week so I can't be sad about that.

Yoga: 4 times for 1:15 total. This worked out to be a quick session every Sunday night

Swim: Once for 1750 yards in a bit less than an hour. Of course I'm going to be slow doing drills a couple of times a year, but at least I made it this month.

Total: 41 sessions in just less than 36 hours. 

I did log another fastest mile according to my Garmin, 8:25.5, and I continue to casually train with the goal of a half marathon in the spring and logging a sub-27:00 5K also per my Garmin. I have the occasional twinge in my knee or hamstring but I keep adding time and speed super slowly and I feel like I continue to get stronger. I've been pretty good at doing some kind of weight workout at least once per week, which I know is helping.

Overall, October was great. I'm hoping to build off that for a great November and holiday season.

Week in review Oct. 22-29: Now two pretty good weeks in a row

Heavy on the running, but solid all around.

It was another “pretty good” week. Not a monster week, but a bit of almost everything and even one rest day.

I was happy that I hit 50 running miles for the month on Sunday, and that Friday after work was clear enough to run for the first time in a while. It’s getting colder every day in Michigan – not sure why we skipped cool fall evenings and landed smack into actual cold – but I have been braving the brisk temperatures with plenty of hats, gloves, and long sleeves. I tend to err on the side of overdressing but I have been making a good effort to dress JUST warm enough for the weather. I don't like being chilled at first but I have been warming up pretty quickly.

I had family in town from Colorado on Tuesday so that was a rest day, although we did walk all over downtown. I should have done more PT or lifted weights on the weekend, but I started reading an actual book on Friday and we had tickets to a dance show Saturday, so I didn’t. I can’t be go-go-go all the time and I enjoyed the rest and relaxation.

I also got my flu shot on Friday after work, intentionally on a Friday as I have had bad reactions before and wanted the option to sleep all day if I needed to. Happily, this year I only got a bit tender in the lymph nodes and was able to carry on as usual, with a long trainer ride on Saturday and a long-ish run on Sunday. Hooray for helping avoid the spread of infectious diseases!

By the numbers, my training last week was:

Run/Walk: Three times, all on the road, for 15.9 miles in about 2:52. I’m pretty sure this is my highest volume week since I started building back, although not by much. My left hamstring and hip was a bit grumpy on Sunday so I have been doing some stretching and foam rolling.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 32.25 fake trainer miles (one hour-long session and one hour-and-a-half-ish-long session) in about 2:37. I re-tested my FTP on Thursday by doing that stupid ramp test and increased it by 30 points. I’m going to regret that this week, but I was absolutely dead by the end and am confident I went as hard as I could.

PT/Rehab: Twice, both solo rehab sessions, for about 1:15. I should have done more, but I had to budget my time.

Weights: One video for about 1:05.

Yoga: One 25-minute self-guided session, including a lot of stretching of the aforementioned grumpy hip and hamstring.

Total: 9 sessions in about 8:14.

Nothing out of the park, but still a solid week with a few minor successes. I'll take it.

50 miles running again!

It's a gloomy, chilly, drizzly day here and I had made peace with the fact that I might not run at all today. Until I got home from running errands and saw there was a break in the rain.

I threw on my shoes, grabbed a hat, and as quickly as I could headed out. 6.2 walking and running miles later, I've hit 50 for the month again. Hooray!

I know there are still three running days left in the month, so I might squeeze out another 5 or so, but this way I'm not cramming before passing out candy on Wednesday.

50 miles for the third month in a row! I am thrilled my knee is cooperating and seemingly getting better.

50 miles again, hooray!

It was FINALLY clear on a Friday evening...

... so I got out and ran!

For the last two Fridays in a row it was sunny and clear right up until the time I left work. I'm happy to run in a light rain, but not a heavy, cold rain. So it was easy to snuggle under the blankets and watch a movie instead.

Not tonight! Rain is moving in but it isn't here yet so I was happy to lace up and head out.

It was dry over my running route, which was good enough for me.

I was able to run my 4 x running intervals as hard as I thought I could sustain for the full 8 minutes. It wasn't easy, but I felt OK except for some hip tightness. And when I finished I had this alert from my Garmin:

Fastest mile since my knee injury in November.

So overall, it was a good run and a good evening.

Week in review Oct. 15-21: Not a monster but not bad

A nice variety.

Tuesday night already, eeek! I had family in town today so I spent all evening yesterday tidying up and just got home from a wonderful day with them today. I'm late but it was well worth it.

Anyway. I knew that last week wouldn’t be as good for training as the week before. I had a harder time starting the week on a strong note, and then for the SECOND week in a row, it started raining Friday afternoon when I had plans for an after-work speed run. I can do wet and I can do cold, but not both. Blech. So I did the logical thing and stayed inside, watched a movie (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, finally, which I loved), and ordered in barbecue.

It was also a frustrating week for health issues. I had an abnormal pap smear a few weeks ago so had to go back last week for additional tests (ladies, if you are overdue for your pap, call your doc right now, seriously) and then somehow one of my thyroid medications went missing somewhere between my doctor’s office and my pharmacy. ????? GRRRRR! So that was annoyance and stress I really didn’t need.

Throughout all that, I still had a decent week. I made it to the pool! Hooray! And did a bit of everything else except weights for some reason. I couldn’t squeeze in a video or barre class during the week and I was on a tight schedule Saturday so had to pass up my usual heavy/body routine time.

It worked out to be:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 41.75 fake trainer miles in about 3:38. I’m doing all these via Trainer Road, EXCEPT that I keep forgetting to charge my phone beforehand on Saturdays and it keeps dying halfway through the ride. Harumph. I know I need to retest my FTP but... I don't want to.

Run/Walk: Twice, both on the road, for 10.45 miles in about 1:53. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just one easy run and one long-ish run, with one extra run interval. Both days were chilly but otherwise fine.

PT/Rehab: Twice, both solo sessions, for about 1.5 hours. Nothing out of the ordinary here, either.

SWIM! Once in the pool for 1750 yards, all drills, in about 59 minutes. I have been struggling to get to the pool. The pools most convenient to my home and work don't have lap hours until later in the evening, and one has very limited parking, so I haven't been good about going. Last Monday, I went to a third pool that was more out of the way, yards, warm, and kind of dingy, BUT I could park and hop in at 6 p.m. with no problems and only one other person. Sooooo... that's what I did. Of course it was very slow but considering I've been to the pool single-digit times this year, I'll take whatever I can get.

Yoga: One solo session for about 15 minutes.

Total: Nine sessions for about 8.25 hours. Overall, not bad at all!

It wasn't another monster week, but it was still more than a workout a day for more than an hour a day, which is about what I consider a "good" week these days. Hopefully I can use this to have a slightly more "good" week this week.

Week in review Oct. 8-14: A monster week inspired by Kona and boring-ness

A great week.

Last week was my best week for training in a while. I made it work by having ZERO after-work commitments, being boring and having no social plans, and having chilly weather on Saturday that coincided with Kona coverage, leaving me perfectly happy to train indoors all day while watching various Facebook streams.

I was feeling pretty burnt out by the end of the day Friday and it was starting to drizzle cold rain, so my thoughts for a speed-ish run went quickly and easily out the window in place of getting cozy under the covers only to emerge to go out to dinner. That, and not making it to the pool, were my only real misses of the week. I made my PT a priority and even squeezed in some yoga last (Sunday) night to round out the week.

By the numbers, it was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 41.5 trainer miles in about 3:35. My return to Trainer Road is going as well as can be expected. Except for my phone dying during my “long” ride on Saturday, I feel I’m building back up to challenging rides with no real knee pain.

Run/walk: Three times, all on the road, for 15.5 miles in about 2:50. Even though I skipped my speed-ish run Friday, I ran long-ish on Monday to make up for missing last week’s Sunday long-ish run. I was also able to bump up my run intervals to 8 minutes, keeping the 1-minute walk recovery, with no problems.

PT: Four sessions for about 2:45 total. I made this a priority to do after two workouts during the week and both weekend workouts.

Weights: Twice, one video and one heavy/body routine, for about 2:05 total. I like going to barre, don’t get me wrong, but I need to work Jillian Michaels back into my life so she can properly kick my butt once or twice a month. I was sore for days. And I’m sore again today because I had been neglecting pullups until Saturday.

Yoga: One 20-minute session of mostly bends and pigeons.

Total: A monster 13 sessions in about 11:35. My biggest week in a while and only the second week this year that I’ve gone longer than 11 hours.

So, the secret seems to be, be boring. Have no social commitments after work (fine by me), eat leftovers at least once (also fine), and have an endurance event on TV all day Saturday so you can do something active the entire time. Also, the weather needs to be nice enough to run a few times per week, but not TOO nice, so you don’t get distracted and want to go for a walk or something when you should be doing a weights video. Ha!

This coming week will most likely be a bit easier, but that’s fine – I think I deserve a break. A nice, boring break.

A goal for the end of the year

After my duathlon last month, and now that I am feeling better about my knee cooperating with my return to running and riding, I started thinking about some new goals.

I wrote a few weeks ago about running-specific goals: Log a sub-27:00 5K on my new Garmin and train for my first real attempt at an open half marathon at 1:59:59 or better this spring. But I do want to continue to improve on the bike, and get back to swimming.

So I am going to try to work out 100 times between October 1 and December 31. This counts yoga, PT, and anything else that I log in my training spreadsheet and Daily Mile. I don't have any hard and fast rules; workouts don't need to be X minutes or anything. I'm already off to a good start with 13 sessions since Oct. 1. If I average 7-8 sessions per week I'll be doing great.

I also really want to get back into the pool. Something fun I've noticed people doing this year is a birthday triathlon, doing the number of years they're turning as minutes swimming, biking, and running. My birthday is on a Tuesday this year but I think I can do it! It will be a good goal to keep me motivated until then.

So, here's to keeping a workout routine through the end of the year. It won't hurt to have the habit going strong to counteract all the turkey and Christmas cookies sure to be consumed.

Goals for the remainder of 2018!

Week in review Oct. 1-7: A bit of a reprieve

I finally feel like I can breathe again… a little bit. Last week was still busy, but I actually had a minute or two of downtime, if you can imagine that.

Lately, I have been starting the weeks off strong and then slowly fading. Part of that is because I food prep on Sunday, usually making salads for the next three days and prepping or planning leftovers for dinner Monday. So on Monday and some Tuesday nights, I don’t have to do much in the kitchen, and can do PT after my main workout. And it’s awesome! But by the time Wednesday night comes around, I need to do another round of lunch prep (salads don’t keep for five days in my experience), and I’m starting to get tired, and doing that extra workout falls by the wayside.

I actually didn’t do badly this week with a workout every day after work until Friday, when I knew I had to work late so I did my run in the morning. I was at a college football game and all the festivities alllllllllllllll day with no time to work out on Saturday, and wasn’t feeling great yesterday, although I did do some yoga before bed so I could say I did something (and because I needed it). So, while I did fizzle out, a strong start and being pretty consistent paid off overall.

Not too bad, considering.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 23.25 trainer miles in about 2:02.

So, I re-started my Trainer Road account last week. My knee has been feeling mostly fine during trainer rides so I decided to bring it back as a test of knee fitness and also because I do want to improve. I really had good intentions to ease back into it, but that all went out the window once I saw that FTP line. I would have stopped had I felt actual pain, don’t worry. I had a few twinges of discomfort but nothing that crossed that line. I’ll continue to ride semi-cautiously and build slowly.

Run/Walk: Twice, both on the road, for 8.35 miles in about 1:34. Both of these runs were tough; one was after an extremely emotional day Wednesday, both low and high, and one was my first truly chilly morning run before work Friday. I wasn’t feeling great yesterday and figured a day focusing on rest and food prep would be better for me than stressing about squeezing in a long-ish run.

PT/Rehab: Two solo sessions for about 1:15 total. My pattern for the last month has been to neglect my PT except for some combination of Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. Prime example of how I fizzle out at the week wears on. Maybe I need to do something like move my Thursday workout to before work and do Therapy Thursdays after work? I’m open to ideas.

Weights: One barre class for about an hour.

Yoga: One solo session for about 15 minutes.

Total: Eight sessions in about 6:07. I would have liked to log a few more hours, but I’m pleased that I did eight sessions, especially considering I took one rest day and one yoga-only day.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad week and wasn’t a bad start to the month, either. Here’s hoping I can hold off that fizzle for as long as possible.

(Finally) September in review: Some running, a bit of biking, barre

First off, good luck to everyone running Chicago tomorrow! I have randomly been in Chicago twice over marathon weekend but have never run it. I will one of these days. Detroit is always a week or two afterward and I prefer to sleep in my own bed when possible. =)

OK, back to business. I was looking forward to life calming down a bit this past week so I could catch up on things like blogging and housework, but, alas, those areas are still neglected. So, of course, I'm wrapping up September rather than vacuum.

I really neglected PT in September and didn't make to the pool (again) at all, but other than that, it was a decent month training-wise considering how busy I was at work for the last few weeks. Outside of training and the office, I did manage a few fun things: My first duathlon over Labor Day weekend, hanging out and barbecuing with friends, going to a college football game, spending time with my sister-in-law when she was in town, and doing a lot of food prep. I did cook some fun things, like peach crisp and tomato sauce.

Even with all that excitement, it wasn't an easy month. I'm trying to make some big changes in my life and man, I know why people get complacent. Change is hard and it can suck. I am hoping to come out better and stronger, and hopefully with a schedule that allows for more regular training. I was too emotionally exhausted to work out or cook dinner on more than one occasion. But I've decided I can't accept things to continue the way they are, so there's nothing left to do but put my head down and keep trying. I'm being vague on purpose, but stay tuned.

Anyway. By the numbers, September included:

Run: 12 times, all on the road and 2 of those races (both runs of the duathlon), for 50 miles in about 9:12. I REALLY wanted another 50-mile month so I may have run/walked a little longer than I should have last Sunday, but my knee felt fine so I think it was OK.

August and September were both 50-mile months, but I did it more efficiently in September.

One thing I noticed: I ran 50-mile months the last two months, but I did it in a LOT less time in September — more than an hour less! This tells me that I am slowly improving as my knee gets better, successfully adding more running time and decreasing walking time. Slowly, slowly, slowly.

Bike: 9 times, 2 on the road (one race, the duathlon) and 7 trainer rides, for 35.88 road miles and 70 trainer miles in about 8:22. As the month went on I did fewer and fewer rides, and it was a significant decrease last month, so I'm chalking this up to a busy month.

PT/Rehab: Sigh. I only did PT 6 times in September for about 3:45 — terrible. This should be at least double. The more I do, the healthier my knee will be. But making the time is so, so hard.

Weights: 3 barre classes of about an hour each and ... that's it. That was what I could make work this month so that's what I did. At least I was somewhat consistent.

Yoga: I actually did some yoga! Just 2 sessions for 35 minutes total, but it was something.

Total: I did 32 sessions over the month for just less than 25 hours. It was still more than one per day, so I guess I can't be too mad.

Pretty much a third run/walk, a third bike, and a third other.

Looking back at the casual goals I made for myself at the beginning of the year, I can actually cross one off: Work through my health issues and re-start a training schedule that gets me back to racing. Working through my health issues will likely be a lifelong effort, but I did race in September. It was a tiny race but I still felt every bit of the exhilaration, fear, excitement, elation, and all the other emotions that make an appearance during a race. It was wonderful to be reminded why I love it so much.

October is already off to a great start. I'm looking forward to coming back in a month and sharing another successful monthly wrap-up.

Week in review Sept. 24-30: I survived!

Considering my week, I'm happy with anything.

My week from h-e-double hockey sticks is finally over! Woo hoo!

I had to work late Thursday, early and late Friday and allllllll day Saturday, and I wasn’t feeling great Tuesday, so training was very limited last week. I considered anything a victory. So this minor victory was completing two run/walks and two trainer rides:

Run/walk: Twice, both on the road, for 10.44 miles in almost 2 hours.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 20 fake miles in about 1:45

Total: Four sessions in about 3:42.

I'll do a proper September wrap-up, but the week did include my longest run (well, run/walk) since last November so I could hit 50 miles running for the month again. My knee felt a little tight and catchy after the fact, but it was fine during.

I'm bummed I didn't do any PT at all, but I just plum couldn't make it work with the additional, well, work, this week. But I'm committed to starting strong today and for October... and hopefully through the end of the year.

This'll be short and sweet because my workouts were short and sweet, but I'm hoping next week will be back to normal.

Week in review Sept. 17-23: (Almost) too busy to do anything but run

A decent amount of running and a smattering of some other stuff.

It was A WEEK. I am elbows deep in three huge projects at work, two of which launch this week, and I'm also in the middle of it for my and my husband's side business. I am so stressed out I woke up last Wednesday in full-body hives and I've had a scratchy throat since Saturday.

As a result of all the nuttiness I needed to take a couple nights off training and life last week. After work on Thursday the only thing I did was make a tomato sauce and then dinner. It was surprisingly relaxing. By Saturday I wasn't feeling great so after my morning routine of brunch with friends and a trip to the market, I drank tea, took a nap, and watched TV. It was glorious.

My one victory all week was getting in my three runs. I saw the sunset one night, tried to do four speed repeats and only managed 2.5 another night, and enjoyed an awesome "long" run on what is probably going to be one of the last wonderful nights of summer weather. Even on my "failed" speed run I still managed my fastest 5K and my fastest mile since I got my new Garmin. So really, the runs were wins all around.

I still managed a barre class, a bike ride, a PT session, and some yoga, so the week wasn't a total failure. I should have done more PT at the very least, but I've definitely had worse weeks.

It shook out to be:

Run/Walk: Three times, all on the road, for 12.8 miles in about 2:23.

Weights: One hour-long barre class.

Bike: One trainer ride of 10 fake trainer miles in about 53:00.

PT/Rehab: One solo session for about 30 minutes. Blah.

Yoga: One 20-minute solo session.

Total: Seven sessions in a bit longer than 5 hours. Except for totally dropping the PT ball, it wasn't terrible, especially considering my week.

I keep telling myself, I just have to get through Saturday and then I can have my life back. I'm hoping to get a couple of workouts in, and stay on track with my healthy eating, and get decent nights' sleep. That's about all I can hope for this week and if I can do that it'll be another victory.

Setting some running goals

I'm not feeling well today — I'm stressed out at work and haven't been sleeping — so instead of risking making my scratchy throat and stuffy nose worse I laid in bed or watched TV all day. It wasn't terrible.

Last night, I tried to do a "speed" run of faster-than-usual running intervals and managed to run relatively fast for three of the four intervals, and my Garmin reported that I had run my fastest 5K since I got my new Garmin, at 27:21. So, now I have a goal: Sub-27. (My PR is 25:04 at the end of a sprint triathlon, many moons ago.)

My fastest since my new Garmin, and now I have a goal.

Later today, I took some time to print out pages of my training log (I like to have a hard copy) and look over some numbers. I decided that running a half marathon in the spring would be a decent goal. I've never raced an open half marathon, but my fastest known half marathon split is the second half of the 2012 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2:04:30. And, now I have another goal: Sub 2.

Every day I get to run without knee pain is a good day, and I'm not assuming that I'll continue to progress without any issue. But if I keep adding time slowly and taking it easy on my off days, I don't think these goals are out of reach.

A belated Sept. 10-16 week in review

Guys. This last week has been incredibly busy. I was at a conference for a few days, at a college football game all day Saturday, and managing multiple projects at work. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to have several huge things happen next week and I'm at my wit's end.

So, this little corner of blogworld has been, and probably will be for another week or so, neglected. But, at the very least, I wanted to do a quick write-up of what happened last week for posterity.

Considering my crappy week, I'll take it.

PT: Three homework sessions for about 2 hours.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 10 fake trainer miles in about 1:44.

Run/walk: Twice, both on the road, for 8.25 miles in about 1:37.

Weights: One barre class for about an hour.

Total: Eight sessions in about 6:21. I mean, it wasn't terrible, considering, so I won't complain.

A couple other things of note:

I've been going to barre Monday nights for a while now, 6 of the past 7 Mondays (although one of those was during the day on Labor Day). It seems to be working for me for some reason; the start time isn't so early that I have to rush from work, it's an hour that I can compartmentalize without using too much brain effort on a Monday, it's a day off from cardio on the day after I usually run, etc.

I've been adding a bit more resistance to my bike rides and feeling OK. I wish I could carve out more time to ride outside on the weekends but this is where I'm at for now. I feel pretty good about re-starting my Trainer Road subscription in the next month or two.

Running is also coming along. I've been doing 6:00 run/1:00 walk and will probably add another minute to the run intervals next week while keeping the 1 minute recovery. I have the odd discomfort in my knee but have not had actual pain in a while, knock on wood. I'll probably get myself to a 10:00/1:00 rotation before I consider myself "healed" enough to run nonstop regularly.

I need more time in the day/to win the lottery/to make a few clones of me to do the day job, housecleaning, food prepping, etc. so the real me can just train, play with the dogs, and garden all day.

I miss swimming. I miss training for a big (even a relatively "big") event. I miss the athlete I was a few years ago. I want to get back to half-iron and full marathon shape. I know it will take time and I need to be patient. Getting my knee back into run/walk shape and getting my thyroid meds under control so I stopped having anxiety attacks were big steps in the right direction. I need to keep taking these baby steps and trust the process. It doesn't mean I have to like it, but I will do it. I will be back! Eventually.

Lastly, my sister just moved to a town that hosts an Ironman 70.3. It's tempting. It may have to be my comeback race next year... we'll see.