She Runs the Wasatch

Moving to Kansas: 5 Things I’ll Miss

As most of you know, I am moving soon! On May 8, I will be making an epic journey to Manhattan, Ks with Frank and our two (angry) cats. I expect it will be fun and I am so excited to have new places to see… however, I am sad to miss some stuff here. This is going to be a two-part blog entry! This first one includes 5 things that I will miss about South Bend and the next (which I’ll post next week) are 5 things I am excited about in Manhattan, KS.

Well here we go…

The Purple Porch Co-op

This is my co-op. They have a farmer's market every wednesday, and it's awesome! — This is my co-op. They have a farmer’s market every wednesday, and it’s awesome!

This is the best place ever. I love the Purple Porch. It is a food co-op that started as a small Farmer’s Market on Wednesday nights. Now it’s an actual grocery store! The best part is that I’ve been around to see the transition. I love the people, the vibe, the farmers, and the food. They are an amazingly supportive community. They’ve given me free food, you know, cause I’m a grad student and we are a poor group of people. They’ve given me a community… really, I don’t know what I will do without them.

The South Bend Adventure Club

When Frank and I moved to South Bend, we had left a club called OAR (Outdoor Adventure Recreation) in Gainesville. OAR was a great group of people and we had tons of fun. So, we tried to recreate it in South Bend. Amazingly, we were rather successful! We managed to create a community of over 1300 people (and counting) that like to go outside, hike, climb, caving or whatever else there is to do in the area. A lot of the people in the club became some of our closest friends, all of whom I am sad to leave. The club was such an awesome thing, and it’ll be an adjustment to not have that for my weekend fun!

East Bank and River Trails

The East Bank and River Trails run for about 15 miles along the St. Joseph River. I just love them. There are always lots of runners, people walking their dogs, and just lots of happy people. With it being along the river, I get to see a good amount of birds and wildlife, along with an occasional angry goose (or river otter). I do almost all of my long runs here and a lot of my tempo runs too. I just love the river and being close to it (although, Manhattan, Ks has TWO rivers).

Fleet Feet Group Runs

I'll miss this group of people. They do an awesome job keeping our runs fun! — I’ll miss this group of people. They do an awesome job keeping our runs fun!

I really like running socially for my slow and recovery runs. The Fleet Feet running group meets once a week at a bar about a half-mile from my house. We run a 5k route and then all hang out to eat dinner/drink. It’s a pretty fun group of people and I’ll miss them a lot. I’m trying to get a few of them to run the Sunburst Half Marathon on the same day as my Hospital Hill Half!

Down Town South Bend Events

South Bend used to be a booming industrial town back in the 50’s and 60’s, but in 1964, the Studebaker plant when under and lots of people lost their jobs. South Bend went through kind of a dark age after that. However, a few years ago, a large group of young and educated people moved into town and wanted to really make a great city. They started a ton of fun events down town and tried to get a good community of people involved. Events like Ignite Michiana, where Frank gave a talk about the Adventure Club, and monthly events like Science Café, First Friday, and Green Drinks allow for things to do after work. We made a lot of friends in the downtown crowd and had a lot of fun. I’ll miss all the people and having a group that really wants to see the city grow.

I guess the real thing that I’ll miss is all of the friends I made here. I’ll be back around these areas often, while I finish writing my dissertation, but home base will be in Kansas. I’m crazy excited about what’s to come, but I’ll miss all the friends I’ve made here.

What do you love about your town? Do food co-ops exist where you are?

Training Update: Hospital Hill Half training, with a little slacking off

Last week kicked off my training for the Hospital Hill Half Marathon. As you know, I have some lofty goals, so training has been kicked up a notch. However, I’ve already slacked off a bit and skipped my long run (Boooo…) because my mom was in town. I figured that was a good reason to skip, and well, one skipped work out isn’t going to kill me.

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 4.8 miles at 8:33 min/mi overall pace (tempo run) + hot yoga
This was an awesome run… like the reason I run is to go out and feel like I did this day. I started off at an 8:58 pace for my warm up and shaved off a few seconds each mile until I was at a 7:27 pace for the last 0.8 of a mile. I felt like I could go forever. It didn’t hurt that I saw one of my committee members while I was out running and totally flew by him twice (I lapped him on the loop I do). Let’s hope that I feel like this for Hospital Hill.

Wednesday: 4 miles at 9:19 min/mi overall pace (recovery run) + yoga
This was a pretty chill recovery run that I did with my running group. We kept it slow and steady. I kept having to pull myself back a bit but I wanted to keep it chill.

Elly is always there to cuddle post run. :-) — Elly is always there to cuddle post run. 🙂

Thursday: 4 miles – hill repeats with warm up and cool down + hot yoga
As far as runs go, this one was brutal. It was hot out, I was tired, and somehow my 40-foot hill seemed like Everest. I did a 10 minute warm up, and then 8 times up the hill at an all out pace and then back down at a VERY slow pace. I felt good during my warm up, but I tired out fast. I guess I need to do more hills. I was a bit discouraged after this run, since Hospital Hill has some pretty intense hills that I’m going to have to tackle and I need to be a little more with it than I was for this work out.

Friday: Rest + Picked up my mom from the airport

Saturday: 4.5 miles at 9:05 min/mi overall pace (foundation run) + yoga + hike
I had a pretty bad headache the whole time and kept it pretty slow. I think I hadn’t drank enough water before and it was the first really hot day out. I spent the rest of the day hanging with my mom.

Frank decided to do a little climbing while on our hike.

Sunday: Unintentional rest day + hot yoga
I was supposed to do 9 miles. Oh well. I don’t get to see my mom all that often, so I figured I had a good excuse. J

Total Mileage: 17.3 – pretty sad given I was supposed to do around 26. Oh well.

This week will be a bit more intense, and if I’m feeling any aches or pain, I might go ahead and skip a workout so that I don’t up my mileage too quick.

M: Rest
T: Speed work
W: Recovery
T: Foundation run
F: Long run (14 miles… ugh!)
S: rest
S: tempo run

I’ll probably be pretty tired by the end of the week, but that’s ok. I’m feeling strong and ready to kick some butt. And… by the way, it’s snowing right now.

How do you feel about skipping workouts? Are there any occasions (besides injury) that call for a skip?

Hospital Hill, here I come!

I have started training for my next half marathon, which has gotten me to thinking about what my goals are. I am way more confident going into this next half and I’m hoping for a BIG PR. I also realize that it might not be possible… and that’s ok. But I am going to use this race as an opportunity to find out what is possible. Now, I’ll reassess my plans when we’re a little closer, but as things stand now, I think my goal is mega-hard, but reachable.

The Hospital Hill Half is one of the oldest half marathons in the US. This year marks the 42^nd year for the race. Last year they had over 9,000 people on the course, and they expect even more this year. And to top it off, this will be my first race in my new home!

However… training for this race is tough. I currently live in Northern Indiana, where it is flatter than a pancake. Kansas City has a bit more topography. Here’s the elevation profile of the race:

It may not look like much… but it’s substantial. My poor Indiana legs are used to doing hill repeats on a hill with a 40-foot gain, so a gain of 180 feet over a mile is certainly a challenge. My last two races were nothing in the way of hills, so I am sure to be in for a rude awakening.

All that said and done, what are my goals?

A goal: 1:50:00 – I know crazy… but I’ll be with a pace group.

B goal: Sneak under 1:55:00. There is a 1:55 pace group, so this is very doable

C goal: See if I can run the exact time I ran at the A1A Half (I nearly did this at the Holy Half and it would be funny if I did it again)

So, you might think I’m nuts. And I might be. However, I think I have it in me. My biggest obstacle is not my endurance or my legs… it’s the mind game. I hate suffering on runs, and the Hospital Hill Half is going to be a bit of suffering. I’m ok with that. If I crash and burn, I’m ok with that too. I’ll never know how hard I can push until I push a little too hard.

I do have a plan of attack, and so I’ll be incorporating these things into my training:

More speed work including some track work
Stairs – Shoutout to Hanna and Maddie on this one
Hill repeats on my 40-foot hill
More mileage
More strength training, with body weight of course (cause I hate weights)

I think I can do this and I’m gonna try. It’s absolutely key that I keep a positive attitude going into my training and that I learn to kick that mental game. Whatever happens, I can’t wait to at least try!

Have you ever crashed and burned in a race? What’s your craziest goal?

Training Update: Another Nice Relaxing Week

Last week was my final chill week before I start training for the Hospital Hill Half Marathon. It has been nice to run when I want, and not when I don’t, but I am pretty excited to get back to a regular schedule. I’ve had a few aches and pains that I’ve been working through, but I am feeling pretty good again, and ready to bust out some speed work.

Last Week’s Training

Wednesday: 5 miles (2 with alone and 3 with running group)
This was a pretty chill and uneventful run. I took it slow and just ran by feel (kept a 9:00 min/mi pace). It was nice to get out and move my legs a little after a week off, and I was happy to be back after some lower back pain.

Thursday: THE DAY I SAW THE OTTER!! (3.5 mile easy run)
I wrote all about this last week… but I saw an otter. It was adorable and totally made my day.

Saturday: 6 mile trail run
I went to a state park just south of town with a bunch of my friends and we hiked for about 7 miles. I wanted to get a run in, and since Hospital Hill has hills (and South Bend does not), I decided a little trail action would be nice to acclimate my legs to rolling terrain. After our hike, I went out and ran 6 miles through the beautiful trails of Potato Creek State Park. I had forgotten my ankle brace, but decided to run without it. This was the first time I’ve run on trail without the brace since the injury two years ago!

Sunday: 12 mile bike ride
I didn’t feel like running a long run (I had an 8 miler planned), since my legs were tired from all the running and hiking the day before. I instead decided to go out for a ride along some of the trails along the St. Joe River. Frank came along and it was pretty awesome.

Frank and I biked to the Mishawaka Dam, where we took a quick breather before heading home.

Total Milage: 14.5 <-haha!
Well, it has been nice to be rather low on the milage and just run easy, but I’ve been pretty eager to get back to a regular schedule and add some hills and speed work. I am going to write up a separate post about my goals for Hospital Hill, but they are pretty BIG. I guess I better get to it!

This week looks something like this:
M: Rest
T: 10 min warm up + 20 min HMP + 10 min fast finish & Yoga
W: 35 min foundation run & Yoga
T: 15 warm up + 8 x hill + 10 cool down & yoga & Yoga
F: 40 min foundation run & Go pick my mom up! (She’s in town this weekend!!)
S: Hike + rest
S: 9 mile long run

Do you like to go trail running? Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Oh man… I saw something cute on a run!!!!

Last week, with the stress of work and moving, I decided to listen to my body and take a break from running for a week. I was having persistent lower back pain and some weird spots in my right foot. I concentrated hard on my yoga practice, and after a few days, I think I yoga-ed my way out of pain. Needless to say, I think I needed a little rest. But I am feeling 100% again and I am back to it!

Last night I ran 5 miles with my run group, and it felt amazing! I was glad to be back in my shoes. I took it pretty slow (9 min pace), but my back felt great.

I decided to go out again this morning because we have some bad weather rolling in, and I figured it would be a gamble if I tried to run after work.

Cause... you know... if it's not snow, it's like tornados or something around here. — Cause… you know… if it’s not snow, it’s like tornados or something around here.

AND GUESS WHAT!!! I SAW A RIVER OTTER!!! Like….a real river otter on the St. Joe River. I freaked out and watched it for a while before finishing up and heading home.

That little bump on the log isn't just anything... THAT'S A RIVER OTTER!!!!!!!!!!!! — That little bump on the log isn’t just anything… THAT’S A RIVER OTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a bit of a gloomy day, but it was still a pretty one.

Anyways, I am glad to be back, and I’m ready to start training for the Hospital Hill Half next week (it’s only 58 days away!!!!) with some speed work and hill repeats!

What are you training for? Have you seen any cute and cuddly animals on your runs?

A Crazy Weekend Trip!

I didn’t do a lot of running this week, but I did go on an awesome weekend trip! I’ve been feeling a little burnt out, so I only ran with my running group on Wednesday. My trip was awesome, so I’ll tell ya all about that!

My husband (Frank) and I like to spend our time hiking and experiencing things that are of the local culture. We used to do this with a large group of friends in Florida, but now that we live in Indiana, we do a lot more just the two of us. After living here for five years, we have managed to do a lot and see a lot. However, we had a bit of a bucket list going of things we wanted to do. We are moving to Kansas in about a month and we were worried we wouldn’t get to everything. This trip was meant to finish up that list!

The main thing was going to the last few state parks in Indiana that we had not been to. After this trip, it is official; we have been to every one! We managed to cover a lot more than just a few parks.

Thursday Evening: Left after work around 6 pm and drove to Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, In. We grabbed some Ethiopian food in Indianapolis on the way (Delish!). We slept in our car just outside the park.

Friday Morning: We hiked a few trails in Spring Mill while getting poured on. There was so much water. Water was flowing out of one cave and into another, it was flooding trails, covering bridges… really, it was flooded. After stomping around in the mud and water we went to the Gus Grissom Memorial Museum. Turns out his hometown was Mitchell, In.

This water was flowing out of a cave... it was insane. — This water was flowing out of a cave… it was insane.

Friday Afternoon: I wish I had brought my camera for this place. We went along a trail called Hemlock Cliffs in Hoosier National Forest. This was an absolutely beautiful place. There were waterfalls and caves, plenty of rock-face and beautiful trails.

Friday Evening: We went to Lincoln Boyhood Home National Park, hiked some trails and visited President Lincoln’s mom’s grave (there were a few graves on this trip… weird. I know). We then went to Lincoln State Park, got rained on some more, and dodged a Tornado Watch while hiking. We then drove along the Ohio River Scenic Parkway to O’Bannon Woods State Park in Corydon, In.

I found these two munching away at O'Bannon Woods State Park. — I found these two munching away at O’Bannon Woods State Park.

Saturday Morning: We spent the morning hiking in O’Bannon Woods. I felt like I was in the Smoky Mountains. This park had beautiful rolling hills, a few caves. Really, I am always impressed with Indiana’s State Parks. They are all just so beautiful.

Saturday Afternoon: We went to Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, In. This is where George Rogers Clark, a famous Revolutionary War hero, had his home after the war. This is also where William Clark started on his expedition with Meriwether Lewis to St. Lewis and ultimately to the great American west. It’s important to point out that George Rogers Clark has become a bit of an inside joke between Frank and I. Frank spent like months watching documentaries and reading books about him. So, to pay our respects, we visited his grave in Louisvills, Ky. This included us running around a gigantic cemetery looking for this grave from 1819. After 20 minutes of intense searching both in the cemetery and on Google, we found it!

Yeah... this was a little weird. I'm glad we found it though. I bet not too many people seek out his grave. — Yeah… this was a little weird. I’m glad we found it though. I bet not too many people seek out his grave.

Saturday Evening: We went to Deam State Recreation Area and hiked a few miles until the sun started going down. We then hopped in the car and took off to Mounds State Recreation Area in Richmond, In, where we slept.

Sunday Morning: We hiked in Mounds SRA for a few hours and then went to our final Indiana State Park, Whitewater Memorial. We spent some time there hiking. Turns out the place is really beautiful… as usual, I was impressed with Indiana’s protected land.

We did it! All of the Indiana State Parks have been visited!!!

Sunday Afternoon: Who could leave a state without visiting the highest point? We certainly could not. We went to Hoosier Hill, which stands at an impressive 1257 ft. And then things took a bit of a weird turn. Frank pointed out that we were just outside of Alexandria, In, home of the largest ball of paint in the world. We decided that we couldn’t leave without visiting this. We pulled up to some guys house, and he lead us to this crazy set up with his 4000 pound paint ball. We painted the 24,424^th layer of paint, took some pictures and hopped back in the car.

Highest point in Indiana... no big deal. — Highest point in Indiana… no big deal.

This is the biggest paintball in the world... and I painted it! — This is the biggest paintball in the world… and I painted it!

Sunday Evening: The paint ball was about 3 hours from home, so we broke it up by stopping at Salamonie Lake to hike and to Hanging Rock to climb a little. We then got some ice cream and headed home!

Indiana may not be known for it's beauty. It's a well kept secret and all you have to do is look! — Indiana may not be known for it’s beauty. It’s a well kept secret and all you have to do is look!

Final Stats

Total Hiking Milage: 31 miles

Places Visited: 17

Ice Cream Shops Visited: 2

State Parks Visited: 5

Grave Sites: 2

Layers of Paint on The Largest Paintball in the World: 24424

I’ve gotta say, this was one of our best trips to date. We have been to all of the state parks in Indiana, and now we have a new state to explore. I think I can leave for Kansas without looking back!

Race Recap: Holy Half Marathon!

After finishing the Holy Half Marathon, I think I can confidently say that I really love the half marathon distance. I was a little worried that A1A was a fluke, in both performance and enjoyment, but I ran almost the exact same time at the Holy Half AND I had fun doing it. And plus I eeked out a tiny PR too!

Lizzy and I picked up our packets the day before and attended the spaghetti dinner with all you can eat carbs to get us ready for the race. It was pretty nice and relaxing. Honestly, after having such a terrible workweek, I really needed some chill time to think about anything else but work.

I managed to get to bed pretty early, but I wasn’t feeling quite right. …and then I remembered why this race couldn’t be a goal race. I was supposed to get my period on race day. Ugh. I was ok with it when I signed up, but now that it was happening, I was a little less happy.

I woke up the next morning, and sure enough, I had my period. I felt pretty icky and really didn’t feel like running. I had some coffee, ate some breakfast, and tried to get myself jazzed about race day. Lizzy, Frank, and I took off to get to the race a little early and meet up with a friend of mine who was running her first half marathon. It was crazy cold, so everyone was huddled up in the Stepan Center, an awkwardly shaped building used for tennis practice in the winter. It took quite a bit of coercing for the announcers to get the runners to brave the cold at the start line. Luckily blue skies and sun kinda helped the situation. The start line was crammed, and there were way too many people for such a tiny race. They capped it at 1500, but most of the course ran through sidewalks and trails causing there to be a lot of bobbing and weaving around people.

The course had a crazy amount of turns, but it was really pretty!

I didn’t even hear the start announced, but people started moving, so I did too. The first mile or so was so crammed that I was running pretty slow just to avoid tripping. The course was two loops with an out and back at the end. Everyone, and I mean everyone, I saw on the course was under 30, and Lizzy and I were probably some of the oldest people there. From the very beginning, we could see that the students were definitely struggling. People were walking by mile 4 and it was clear that a lot of the people on the course were just young students who figured they could run 13 miles without training.

The first loop went great. Lizzy and I ran together and we took a pretty conservative pace. We were passing lots of people and I just generally felt strong. Lots of people were saying dumb things like, “you’re almost there”, when we had only run 4 miles, but I was cheery enough to not want to kill them (that was not the case later in the race). We got to mile 8, and I was starting to fade a little. My cramps were getting bad. I rallied for a bit, but Lizzy ended up taking off while I tried to keep it slow. I had a random mile at 9:11, but besides that, I kept it at around 8:40-8:50.

Lizzy and I running around the lake. I think I was starting to hurt a little at this point.

At the end of the second loop, there was a rather demoralizing out and back section. People were trying to take it way too fast, since we couldn’t see the end of it until the turn around. Even though I was feeling a little sick, I was still passing people like crazy. The students were pretty much dropping like flies. Lizzy said someone even had to be taken by parametics at the end. Finally I could see the finish line, and I sprinted to the end. I was just happy to be done with it. I got my medal, sat down and tried to chill for a bit. Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about my time. I figured I had majorly biffed it, so I even forgot to turn off my Garmin. We looked over at the results sheet and I was pleasantly surprised. I ran the course (which was around 13.5 according to my watch) in 1:56:46, two seconds faster than A1A. I had run 13.1 in 1:54:44, which was under my top goal, to break 1:55:00! I had been worried that A1A had been a fluke, but I can set that aside now. I think this race really helped with my confidence. At least I know I can be consistent!

I had a smile because I could see the finish line! Haha!

After the race, I chilled for like an hour and then Frank dragged me out on a 10-mile mountain bike ride. It was pretty tough, I was tired, but there were tacos at the end, so I was pretty ok with the situation.

Lizzy and I at the finish with our medals!

Even though I didn’t feel great during the race, I am pretty happy with how it went. I think I can enter future half marathons with more confidence and I feel pretty ready to crack 1:55:00 on the next course I run. Thanks everyone for your support! It was a bit of a rough week, but I am so glad I did this race! Now that I ran the Holy Half, I think I can go to Kansas without having any races in Indiana on my bucket list.

Training Update: Race Week!

I didn’t really do a whole lot of running this week besides the race. Frank and I spent a lot of the week going through our stuff. We’ve already brought two carloads to Goodwill! It feels great to be cleaning stuff out, and I can’t wait to move. I know, Kansas might not sound like the best place ever, but I am excited to have a new place with new trails to explore. We still have a lot of clearing out to do. We are leaving with only what we can fit in our small Kia Soul (along with us and two cats). I’ve already found running clubs and nice trails to check out. It should be pretty great.

Oh and this too…

The Hospital Hill Half Marathon! I better do some hill work!

I’m signed up for a half marathon in Kansas City! It’ll be my first race in the area and I’m pretty excited. The Hospital Hill Half is one of the oldest Half Marathons in the country. There are also like five hills. I have some work to do to prepare. Haha!

I’m sure you’re all wondering how I did at the Holy Half this weekend. It went… ok. Certainly not bad. Just ok. A few hours after posting my goals, I realized why I had never intended for this to be my goal race. I’ll talk more about in my race recap, but I did PR. I ran the course two seconds faster than I did A1A’s course AND I ran the whole thing at a pace that was 9 seconds faster than the A1A Half. The Holy Half was about 13.5, so I had a little extra to run. Since I did a lot of resting, I’ll go ahead and talk about the days I ran.

Wednesday: 3.6 miles at 8:35 pace

I ran with my usual run group, but tacked on about a half mile more by running from my house to our meet up. We had a pretty good time running our 5K route around Notre Dame. I was running with Lizzy, and I think she was feeling quite a bit better in her recovery. She was keeping us at a pretty good clip for a lot of it. Haha.

We're a cute bunch! — We’re a cute bunch!

Saturday: 13.5 miles at 8:46 – Holy Half Marathon!

I won’t give too much detail, since I’ll be writing a whole post about this. I had a good time, but unfortunately had my period the morning of the race. I felt pretty icky and pooped out a little at the end. I finished the 13.1 faster than A1A by about two minutes, and finished the course two seconds faster than A1A. Having Lizzy there helped immensely, especially since I was not doing well with the mental game. She took off from me around mile 9, but I came in not too far behind. So I guess we can call this a PR. Afterwards, my husband wanted to go mountain biking, so I tacked on 10 miles of that too. I feel like that was worth mentioning.

Overall, I didn’t do much running this week, but I’m feeling a little better. I was getting stressed and burnt out about running and work. These next two weeks are really just going to be chill out weeks before I start my training for the Hospital Hill Half. I’m going to just finish my milage and run by feel, no speed work. I’ll start that up again soon. I think I just need a little break from structured workouts.

Thanks everyone for your support this past week. I know I’ve been a little negative and down. Work has been a bit better and your support really helped me get through the race.

Race Jitters and Goals

‘Tis the night before race day… and I still have no idea what I want out of it. I guess that’s becoming a trend with me. I think I’ll just wake up tomorrow and see how I feel, and that will kinda determine the time that I go for.

Unfortunately, this is going to be the weather:

I don’t run too well in the cold, and I still haven’t even figured out what I’m wearing. I feel pretty unprepared. Lizzy will be running this as well, so I was thinking I’d run the first half with her (she’s planning on taking it slow since she’s still recovering from LA), then reassess, and either stay with her or pick it up (or slow it down if I need to).

These are my goals for the race:

If it’s a great day – Go for a sub 1:55 (8:40ish pace)

If it’s an good day – Try to hit around what I did for A1A (8:55ish pace)

If it’s just a day – Just have fun!

These goals seem reasonable, and I think I could certainly go for the sub-1:55, if my mind is in the game. Unfortunately, my mind has not really been with it. Work is driving me crazy and I have been having troubles sleeping. Hopefully some race day excitement will help calm my mind of my work problems…

Elly has been taking great care of me, though!

I really have the best cat in the world.

I should have a pretty good cheering squad out there (my husband and a few friends), so I am excited about that. Also, a bunch of my bio students are banditing the race (I know, banditing is bad, but I think it is expected at this race and I was pretty excited that they would be there). It’s also going to be a big help to have Lizzy at the starting line with me. Wish me luck!

So, seriously, what should I wear?

Training Update: Well… not the best of weeks…

I know, I know… I still have not posted my race recap from last week. Things have been very stressful and I’ve been going through some ups and downs in my personal life. Actually, my personal life has been all ups. My work life has really been the downs. I think the stress of these last few weeks has really gotten to me and my training. Last week just didn’t feel right. I was hesitant to get out the door to go for my runs and when I did, I was having trouble keeping the paces I was trying to hit. Stress in one aspect of my life has a way of seeping into all of the other parts.

Also, yesterday, this happened:

Uh.... I thought it was spring. Where did this snow come from? — Uh…. I thought it was spring. Where did this snow come from?

Anyways, I am only 4 days out from the Holy Half… last week was peak training, but I don’t think my body got the memo on that.

Monday: Rest + Yoga
Felt pretty good and was excited for some speed work the next day. I was feeling fresh after my race during the weekend and was ready to run.

Tuesday: Speed work… only did 2.25 miles + yoga
I went out to do some intervals and was feeling pretty great. I had my headphones in and after I had finished with my 10 minute warm up, Frank called me to tell me that he had gotten a job with NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network). His current job runs out of funding soon (being a scientist sucks… our lives are based on government funding cycles). He had been applying for stuff all over for a while and he had finally gotten one. I tried to continue running, but I had a ton of questions, so I just went home.

Wednesday: 5ish miles
My run group meets on wednesdays to do a 5k, but I decided to get a few extra miles in. I left the house, but my Garmin was acting up. It didn’t connect until I was at least a half mile into the run, and even then, it was telling me I was going 11 minute miles, which I was most certainly not. I think I ran about 5 miles…

Thursday: 0 miles… unintentional rest day
I was just really unmotivated. I was anxious about telling my boss about Frank’s job, since it means relocation for us. I was supposed to do yoga and core work. I did nothing.

Friday: Another unintentional rest day + yoga
This unmotivated day, I was supposed to do a Tempo run. I just didn’t. At least I did some yoga…

Saturday: 4.5 miles Tempo
I did a 10 minute warm up, then ran 20 minutes at tempo, which felt pretty terrible, and then a 10 minute warm down. I kept getting a persistent stomach cramps. I felt pretty discouraged after this run and hoped for a better long run the next day.

I always love my long runs. The city is just so much prettier when you are on foot.

Sunday: 12 miles long run + Yoga
My long run went much better. I had some trouble getting out the door, but once out, I was good. I listened to podcasts and kinda cleared my mind a bit. I kept a 9:35 pace, which felt really comfortable and good. I was pretty happy that I hadn’t talked myself out of the run once I was out.

Total milage: 23.75 – not really what I was hoping for…

Oh well. I guess bad weeks happen. I just don’t like that it happened the week before a race. I’m hoping that I can refocus and have a good taper week, although things have been pretty stressful around here thus far. 😦

The good news is that Frank got a really awesome permanent job, which means no grant cycles, no feverishly looking for a job because the last one is about to run out. He can keep this one for as long as he wants to. We will be moving to Manhattan, KS (The Little Apple) in May. I’ll be coming back and forth a lot as I finish my PhD, but home base will be there. Kansas wasn’t really where I dreamed of moving, but it’s actually really pretty.

This is the Konza prairie, which is only 10 miles south of town.

And it’s only 7 hours from the Rocky Mountains. I can feel some serious trail running in my future!

How do you run when you’re stressed out? Have you ever had a terrible week in the peak of your training? How do you stop stress from taking over?