Fab in Feb!

 Saturday

The hodge podge theme for January continued into this last weekend of the month.

We had on the schedule 9 miles.  I did 2.5 out, 1.89 indicator, 3.5 back, for about 8.  The pace on all but the indicator was just hilarious.  I went out at about 10:45, back at about 11 – 12.  I just could not make my legs work after the hard effort.  And if that's the way it was going to be, forget extra miles. lol.

And about that hard effort  … confirmation! 

It is what it is.  

Which is a good thing to know. J My time was exactly 16:49 again.  1 minute faster than at Peachtree training last year.  The distance was just a wee bit long, so the pace on the watch was a little better than last week's (8:54 instead of 9:02). That "8" is necessary! lol.  I would have loved to really blow that other indicator out of the water, BUT somehow, this makes me happy too.  If it’s black and white, I can accept that this is where I am right now, and move on to focusing on where I go from here.

This change in attitude for sure was helped along by doing my workout with the full tribe.  I know it’s not useful to compare, but when you train with others that generally fall into your pace pods, it’s good to know you are not a full on slow poke.  Kyle came in a minute or so behind me, and Majorie, who runs a very similar pace (and sometimes a good bit faster), said she was chasing me the whole way, but couldn’t catch me.  (not sure how true/fair that really is, but her saying so put me over the moon anyways! ;) ) Ran the last lap chasing after a Boston-bound speed demon, which was really motivating, too.  He was doing his best to keep us going hard.  And a handful of others commented on how fast I was looking, etc.  That put me over the moon, too .. confirmation that we are all progressing on similar paths, and that I am not falling to the wayside as far as progress.  That’s all I need.

Goal for the Hearts and Souls 5K remains 27:47; a repeat of my 5K PR.  It won't be easy, but I think I can .. I think I can .. I think I can!

Jump photos are not a little bit's best friend! ;) 5'0.5 and vertically challenged = where's Judy? :)

Sunday

Oh dear. Thank goodness W5K starts at 3pm.  Dancemagedon 'til 3 am!  $34 worth of Sex on the Beaches.  Serious hangriness the following morning.  But I persevered! :)

I was a little worried for my ladies this week.  Helping to set out the cones on an ULTRA hilly training run had me thinking I might lose a few friends. Haha.  But in actuality, the run was not bad at all, and I only totaled 2 - 2.5 distance.  

I am settling into knowing who all exactly is in my pod, which is awesome!  More and more often, I take out the top of the run/walk intervals, and the familiar faces in that group are starting to seek me out. They average 11:30 - 12:30 minutes, including walks, for the distances we've been tackling.  Anyone with a pace of 13 and under doing intervals ends up with another lead, which works out perfect, #s wise. So that's where I'll try to plug myself for consistency's sake as often as possible.  Some days I think I'd better hold out and see where I am needed, but the only other group that makes sense is the full run group, and there are for sure a couple of faster run leads that can cover the smaller number of participants in that category.  

I think all of "my" women can push either the time or distance a bit more .. my tops are not struggling all that much now. (hear the muhahaha between the lines ;) lol).  SOOOOooOOOOO, hopefully they will soon let me talk them into 2-1 more often, 3-1, or even run a mile and then start intervals. :) 

Since I was still within the realm of possible for 100 total miles in January, I also had my own goal, and decided to throw in a 3.1 5K closer to home.  The pace on that was a serious bust, but all I was running for was distance.  And I got it! 

Month in Review:

100 miles!  Yaaaas!!!  If this were last year, I would already be well into March as far as total miles.  #1000miles in 2016 seems very possible.

 

This month, I also: worked it at my 1^st indoor tri; set a 15k PR with an average pace under 10, and smoked my 4 miler PR.  Two PRs in one month … winning!  And then, not to be forgotten, I took on Run Lead responsibilities for the first time, and am very much enjoying getting others as addicted as I am on this run thing! J

Up next:

Fab in Feb!

I am going to BLOW. FEBRUARY. OUT. OF. THE. WATER!  It’s not going to know what hit it!!!

The theme is "F."  Five Fab Feb goals:

1. Forty-five crunch challenge at work M-F.  (doesn't seem like much core, but better than the fat zero I am getting now, right?)
2. Fitbit Feb 10k step streak
3. Food tracking streak (MFP)
4. Fizzy Free (If you don't set goals that scare you, you're not thinking big enough, right?)
   
5. Five lbs! (Come on "3" in the tens digit.  You're so close, I can taste you!!!)