LinkUp: If running is what you do in your free time, it's what you have to talk about right?

So HRG asks How do the people in your life feel about your running? Do you feel like you are surrounded by runners or not so much! Do your non-runner family/friends enjoy talking about running with you or do you just skip any running talk with them? 

I absolutely love the question, becuase I think it's one a lot of runners struggle with.  If running is what you do in your free time, it's what you have to talk about right?  But what if your friends aren't into running?  Or exercising?  Then does it just sound like bragging?

The biggest surprise for me: my parents. Story about Dad: I called him when my running streak hit a full year and asked if I should purposefully take the day off the next day to end the streak.  He was all "you'll know what to do".  When we talk, he'll ask if I'm still running every day.  Mom and Dad come to all of the Flying Pig races when I'm in town, and they've even come to some of the Minnesota races.  Their favorite by far was the trail race I did a couple years ago at a state park.

Less surprising but no less wonderful: my gym friends, runners and non-runners alike, have come to local races to cheer (and sometimes even run with me).  This makes my heart full.  During training season, they ask me how training is going, and sometimes if I'm still running every day.  I ask them how Zumba or spin or swimming is going.  Through these conversations, I think I may have found a new training partner for long runs.  How wonderful would that be?

Work friends: At the old job, it was no secret that I ran.  I'd do a lot of workouts so people saw me in my gear from time to time.  I also did the Team:Work workouts for the old Dreidel Dash (which I guess is no longer a thing).  Some people would ask and were really supportive. At the current job, I saw one of my closest colleagues in a race and she ran some of it with me so we do talk about training. Some other people do know that I'm a runner.  Mostly from comments like "if I drive all the way out there, can I go for a run at the end of the day before driving back to town?" (That's how this awesomeness happened.)

Those who started it all: The Qat Lady has to tolerate me talking about running, because it was she who got me into this habit in the first place.  (Thank you!) My Pooky Bear gets sucked into this sometimes too.  In the beginning, she had really useful tips for me about training on a treadmill.  (Something about not stomping or banging my feet.  I assure you, it was useful.)

Flying Pig 7 Weeks to Go

Sunday
Planned:Second longest run, lift weights
Actual: 6.6 miles on a hilly route; this run was excellent. TRX Kettlebell class at the gym. 


Monday
Planned: Long run
Actual:14.13 miles run.  Post run yoga.


Tuesday
Planned: Speed work, Lift weights
Actual: 1.23 miles outside  My body is sore and destroyed from yesterday so I'm skipping speed and weight lifting. 


Wednesday
Planned: 1 mile run.  Maybe Zumba?
Actual: 3.11 miles.  This was a surprise run and it made me feel better to do it.  I lifted to make up for messing yesterday.  Olive asked me to Zumba.  I went but wound up only staying for about 20 minutes.  Pro tip: Zumba and weight lifting don't go on the same day.


Thursday
Planned: Tempo run (148-160bpm), Lift weights
Actual: 4 miles easy (no tempo today, I am still new to Whole30), Lift weights


Friday:
Planned: 1 mile run
Actual: 1.23 miles outside.


Saturday
Planned: Speed work , maybe Zumba?
Actual: 4.16 miles easy and then stretch out while breakfast is in the skillet.  No speed work and no Zumba. 

Overall, this was also week 1 of Whole30.  I got 34 miles in including a long run and 3 weight lifting sessions.  I did not get in speed work.  But I'm feeling okay about it.

Long Run Monday - Emotional Bonk but Fitness Win

Plan: Keep the heart rate low.  Warm up.  Run at least 12 miles. Have a longer cool down.

Route: I headed out along the 40th street Greenway, along Harriet, Calhoun and Isles.  From Isles I crossed over to the Kenilworth and Cedar Lake Trail.  Back down around Cedar Lake, then took the Greenway back into town.  The main hills on this route are at the beginning. I had one stop around mile 4 for an um, emergency.

Weather: 43* and windy when I started, with promises it would get warmer.  That was a lie as far as I was concerned.

Wardrobe: Capris and my ally shirt with arm sleeves.  I had low socks and the Pink Altras on my feet.  And a visor on my head.  I would've been better to just wear long sleeves.  I had the arm sleeves engaged the whole time.

Execution: Fitness wise, this was actually a really solid run.   I compared the paces to some other runs I've done recently, and I am getting ever so slightly faster.  And that's with my last long run being five days ago,  (I know, that's less than recommended.)  Emotionally this run was a fight and a bonk, almost entirely for nutrition reasons.  I felt like crying, turning around, or looking for a bus to take me home at least the first half of the run.

Nutrition: Pre-run I had a spoonfull of almond butter.  I carried two Larabars and water.  I only ate one of the Larabars.  I didn't start it nearly soon enough.  I should've had it in my hand the entire time and taken small bites every mile or so.  As soon as I got some food in me, my attitude turned around.  So I'll need an improved nutrition game plan going forward.

Bonus: Did I mention I started the Whole30?  This is day 3.  Which explains the massive shift in nutrition and also the massive bonk. 

Flying Pig 2017 8 Weeks to Go

Sunday
Planned: Long Run or second longest run (do the opposite on Monday)
Actual: 1.5 miles run, 1hr elliptical, TRX/Kettlebell class.  I didn't do anything like a long run today because of the weather.  I woke up feeling destroyed and not wanting to run in the cold.  Doing a later workout at the gym did give me the opportunity to try a different TRX/Kettlebell class.  I liked it.  Taking it long term means I have to make a pretty big adjustment to the training schedule.


Monday
Planned: Long run or second longest run (do the opposite from Sunday)
Actual: 1hr Tempo run on the treadmill.  I know right.  I just can't do anything in order this week.  I ran a slightly slower 'tempo' of 4.8mph (12:30/mile), and then increased the speed up to 5.0mph (12:00/mile) for the last 15 minutes or so.  I did get to a total of 5 miles on the treadmill, though Garmin thinks I went a lot less.  Because it gets confused without the GPS to keep it in line.


Tuesday
Planned: Speed work, Lift weights
Actual: Speed work was inside on the track, w/u, 6X 1 lap hard, 1 lap easy.  This was a rough workout because my stomach was upset.  I skipped weights b/c of that.



Wednesday
Planned: 1 mile run
Actual: 1.23 miles outside.  No Zumba.


Thursday
Planned: Tempo run (148-160bpm), Lift weights
Actual: Long run, 12.06 miles at Medicine Lake.


Friday:
Planned: 1 mile run
Actual: 7 laps on the track (6 laps is a mile).  Lift  weights.  This makes up for Thursday.  I have yet to make up for Tuesday and probably wont?


Saturday
Planned: Speed work , Lift weights
Actual: Speed work on the track (w/u, 10x 1/2 lap hard, 1/2 lap easy, c/d), then Zumba.  I'm going to fix the workout template to adjust for when I'm actually running and lifting.

Long Run Thursday: Disorganization and Poor Planning Pays Off

Plan: I did not set heart rate alarms, but 'keep an eye on the heart rate' should still happen.  See if I can get up that big hill at the end.

Route: Start at French Park visitor center.  Run east past Hazelden and then follow the path around the lake.  Turn around at the corner of Medicine Lake Blvd and Northwest Blvd and run back the other way.

Weather: Weather was around 40* and winds out of the southeast, 10mph or so. This is where the disorganization and poor planning starts, because I'd heard "oh there's a slight chance of rain, blah blah" and didn't look.  Yeah, it rained miles 2-8, and then again right at the end of the run.  Not terribly hard rain, but rain and it was 40*.  

Wardrobe:  Running pants (not tights), compression socks, long sleeve shirt and quarter zip.  Orange visor on my head and Altras on my feet.  (And if you look closely, you can see raindrops on my shoulders.)

Execution: I am shocked and amazed on many levels.  Rain: I ran through the rain in the cold. Couldn't have predicted that ahead of time.  Hills: I made the hills bigger in my head than they were in real life.  I made it up and down all of them fine, including that last beast.  Heart rate: I'm really proud of the heart rate.  I kept it low 'till the end.  Then I decided I needed to be able to run down hills fast at the end of a run because Flying Pig Training.

Nutrition: I had bacon and eggs for breakfast and I did not have an upset stomach for this run.  Win!  For lunch I had museli and one of these bars.  I carried water and gummy chews.  I had a chew every mile or so.  Except when I was climbing, I really had no desire to eat.

Bonus: I'm so proud of myself for staying out there in the cold and the rain and not giving up.  And I'm actually really happy with these paces.  For a long run with hills and a low heart rate, that's an improvement over some recent efforts.

Flying Pig 2017 9 Weeks to Go

Sunday
Planned: Long Run or second longest run (do the opposite on Monday)
Actual: 12.15 miles at Ft Snelling.  This is both long run and hill day.


Monday
Planned: Long run or second longest run (do the opposite from Sunday)
Actual: 7 mile tempo/second longest run.  This was a fantastic workout.  The runner's high was so phenomenal I had enough energy to file my taxes


Tuesday
Planned: Speed work, Lift weights
Actual: Speed work was w/u, 9X 1:00 fast, 1:30easy, c/d.  This was a hard workout into the wind and the 'fast' intervals weren't always as fast as I'd have liked.  No lifting weights.  Because reasons.


Wednesday
Planned: 1 mile run, maybe Zumba?
Actual: 1.16 miles run inside so I could escape the blazing wind.  Made up the weight lifting workout from yesterday.  And I am pleased to report I also did go to Zumba.  I saw friends I've been missing and generally had a blast.


Thursday
Planned: Tempo run (148-160bpm), Lift weights
Actual: 6 miles on the track because I just could not deal with 30* and 15mph winds and lifting weights.  This was an easy run because tempo happened on Monday.  At first I thought I'd run my mile on the track and then move over to the elliptical but as I got started, I felt okay so I kept going.


Friday:
Planned: 1 mile run
Actual: 1.23 miles outside.  Brr.


Saturday
Planned: Speed work , Lift weights
Actual: Speed work followed by a 'new' 30 minute Kettle bell workout to replace the old Kettlebell TRX class that I will miss. I'm still up in the air on this KB workout.  We'll have to see how it goes.

Sometimes my Garmin is a jerk

I love my Garmin, but sometimes it's a jerk. 

I'm sure there's an explanation for this troubling behavior.

Today's 'speed workout' done on a treadmill, GPS off, and the watch using the accelerometer.  Which is woefully inaccurate for me.

Workout was
Warm up - 9:00
9X 1:00 hard, 2:00 easy.  Easy past was 4.2mph.  'Hard' pace for me is 7.1mph, which was really hard and felt like an accomplishment.  Only Garmin thinks 'hard' is about 6mph.  Jerk.

Garmin thinks my 'hard' pace is a lot slower than it actually was, and that my easy pace is much faster than it actually was. I'm choosing to believe the accelerometer is confused because my stride is so efficient, but I know that's probably a load of bull.  Sigh.

Long Run Sunday: Ft Snelling

Plan: Run the Ft Snelling route.  I used a program on my Garmin that beep is my heart rate goes to low (ha!) or over 152 bpm.  If I can keep my heart rate low for this run it will be a miracle. 

Route:  The Ft Snelling Route Amended - run back up the long but not steep hill, making this a slightly different route than the one I normally do.  This will be better practice for Flying Pig which has its own very long hill. 

Weather: Started in the low 40s and got up to the 50s by the time I was done. It was cloudy but the sun poked out from time to time.

Wardrobe: I ran in capris and a shirt, and arm sleeves.  I took the sleeves off at the bottom of the big hill.  I wore my orange visor.

Execution: My heart rate did stay within range back up the hill, but it went haywire shortly after that.  I mostly ignored my heart rate alarm for the last two miles of the running.  Sigh. I have to say, that hill was nowhere near as bad in real life as I'd made it up to be in my mind.

Nutrition: Before the run I had a handfull of apricots.  During the run I had some water and a whole pack of chews.  I had chews at miles 4, 6, and 9.  By the time I was home I felt like I'd had too many chews.  Good lesson for next time.

Bonus: According to Strava, the last time I ran at Ft Snelling was the end of July last summer and the time before that was late June last summer.

Flying Pig 2017 10 Weeks to Go: Step back week

Sunday
Planned: Low mileage run, easy
Actual: 1.23 miles.  Taking the "low mileage" thing as far as I possibly can.


Monday
Planned: Low mileage run, easy
Actual: 4.15 miles in new shoes.  This was more of a tempo run than an "easy" run.  It was a miracle I did anything at all, so I'm good with it.


Tuesday
Planned: Speed work, Lift weights
Actual: Speed work was w/u; 9X 1:00 hard, 1:30 easy; c/d.  50 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes spin.  Weights was TRX/Kettlebell for the last time.  Which makes me very sad.

Wednesday
Planned: 1 mile run
Actual: 1.23 miles run.  Bonus Zumba class.  Every time I go back to Zumba I'm all "this is really fun, I should do this more".  I'm thinking about replacing Tuesday night class with this class.  We'll see.


Thursday
Planned: Tempo run (148-160bpm), Lift weights
Actual: 4.5 miles easy run, since I accidentally did my tempo run on Monday.  This was actually a really good workout.  Weight lifting after the run.


Friday:
Planned: 1 mile run
Actual: 1.22 miles after work. 


Saturday
Planned: Speed work , Lift weights
Actual: Speed work is the same as Tuesday.  And yes, I'm about to compare this workout to Tuesday when I'm done posting.  Lift weights at downtown gym.  Because the parking lot at Midtown was full.  WTF.