Hi from DFW (our stop between the West Palm Beach + Bozeman airports!).
I haven’t posted in several days but I am very happy to say that generally everything that needed to get done before leaving on our trip got done. All sorts of non-essentials had to be placed aside but I feel like I can breathe again and while it might seem naive, I don’t think I’ll be in a crunch period that stressful for a while. It could absolutely be my vacation brain talking but I see more space on my schedule up ahead and am just excited about what this next Quintile has to offer.
(Things that did not get done: blog posts, strength training, and YNAB. Honestly I think I’ll just coast on that last one until we get back and do a giant budget balancing/audit of both February and March over the course of one afternoon.)
What did get done –> a million podcast recordings, multiple ad recordings, all of my EPIC inbox, my email, our tax prep, and a lot of miles. Also a lot of scrolling and whiny texts to Kae and Coco (sorry and thank you for listening, K + C!). For posterity, here was last week’s training:
9 Weeks Until Marathon
M: 9 @ 9:06/mi with fast friend (I told her I needed a chill run and we took it easier than usual!)
T: hill repeats at a local park with manmade hills – 8 mi @ 9:26/mi average; uphill repeats were average ~8:00/mi, 50 seconds each
W: run with friends, 9.09 mi @ 9:06/mi average
R: tired run, 7.19 mi @ 9:45/mi ave, legs felt done!
F: 7.77 mi @ 9:08/mi
S: 18 mi @ 8:53/mi. No speedwork just steady easyish pace (this one wearing Alphaflys which are now over 200 mi and still feel ok, though I will get new ones for the race). 71F and 98% humidity and there was such bad weather I was just happy to get these miles in with no rain or thunder/lightning!
S: REST and travel day
Total = 59 miles
Strength = big fat ZERO. And I’ve had some soreness in my knees and 100% think this is related to my total falloff in strength training. Getting back on the wagon immediately after this trip. I actually reactivated my Peloton app membership because I think those are just the easiest and most convenient strength solution right now (ie, the one I will actually do 🙂 ).
PS: Marathon predictor apps are sort of torturing me! Metathon predicts I can run a 3:25, which is . . . not even on my radar, and I will *not* be going out that fast (7:49/mi). On the flip side, Runalyze says 3:49 and also predicts a half marathon 3 minutes slower than the one I already ran. (Runalyze also has a lot of garbage data because my HR often cadence-locks when I run so it will look like my easy pace HR is 195, and I suspect this is throwing off the VO2 max estimate). ANYWAY. I am still hoping for sub-3:40 or perhaps even closer to 3:35, which would give me a chance of running Boston in 2025.
PPS: Hoping to run some on the treadmill on this trip – we will see what the altitude feels like!!!
9 Comments
Yay for getting the essentials squared away! I’m so glad you’re feeling like you can breathe at the beginning of your vacay.
If you’re having knee soreness, and are struggling to did time for strength training, I recommend doing wall sits a couple times a day. I’m doing them for the full two minutes that I brush my teeth. My PT added heel raises (while I’m in a wall sit) and that definitely upped the ante. It has definitely strengthened my muscles all around my knee and made my quads really strong. And they are super easy to do. Might be something to do while you’re finding a way to incorporate more strengthening into your weeks.
Have a great time in Montana!
Well done getting the essentials done, (that was ALOT!), now a chance to reset and enjoy a break. I’m reading Slow Productivity and it’s really helping me embrace the ebbs and flows of the seasons through the year. You’ve had such a busy year so far, here’s to a bit of an ebb for the next little while (I’m hoping this for myself too!).
now I’m playing with those analyzers!!!! Not the most productive way to start Monday but can’t help it. hahaha….
I was pretty much dead in the middle of the predictions from Metathon (3:31) and Runalyze (3:40ish) and I can totally see you running 3:35 or faster. Hope you have tons of fun skiing!
Also looking at the race predictors! Mine vary widely though (3:39 on Metathon and 3:01 on Runalyze). I wonder what it is about my data that gets such different results! I would be ecstatic with something under 3:35 next month, but we’ll see!
I hope you have a fantastic vacation!
Great job getting everything done, and you had some great runs! I’m intrigued that you have a park with manmade hills for hill repeats. I have the turnpike overpass (sigh) but haven’t gotten over there to do hills in quite a while.
Have a great trip and good luck with that altitude!
Vista view park in davie! It’s a very popular destination with runners. I think it’s a former landfill!! Yuck but … glad it’s there!
Just catching up on blog posts now 🤦🏽♀️ you stopped the reading updates? I was loving them ☺️
They will be back!!! I had a little reading rut but I’m out of it!!!