Training Update - Week 7

Training recap:

My first 50 mile week! Also the first week where I’ve started to feel like an athlete again! I am no where near fast yet, but at least I’m seeing progress, which is so priceless!! *Love*

On tap this week for workouts were:

*11 mile progression run on a cold and snowy New Years Day. My watch died at 3 miles, ARGH!! Luckily Brian was doing this with me so could cue me for mileage and pace changes. The last 3 were supposed to be: 2 @ 185-190 bpm, 1 @ 190-195. I had to go off feel, but think I nailed it! Brian and I laughed afterwards, though – I have NEVER worked so hard for a 7:30 mile! Wow, I have a long way to go! Despite the dismal paces, I was just ecstatic to be able to do the 11 miles without worrying about my legs falling off. I’m also super pumped about the effort/workout. I’ve moved beyond caring about paces, so seeing the 7:30 at the end when I was literally dying just made me laugh :).

Who
has holiday spirit? Northfield residents appreciated the festiveness
that had graced their streets the last week and a half :). Lots of honks/smiles/waves! I just need red or red/white striped
knee socks to complete the outfit… where to find them??

*9 miles easy w/ 2×200 and 1×400 with Sharon and Rael! This was a lot of fun!! I was able to sneak out a 36, 37, and 1:20. Pretty excited about the 36. I have only run a 200 faster than that a few other times. Granted, those times shredded my quads (SO not used to top end speed! Ah!), but I’ll take it! 🙂

*13 mile long run, done in the FREEZING cold temps with Sharon & 3 other crazy people through the snowy streets of Northfield. Sharon was pretty quiet. It was really, really cold. But, we got it done! Make yourself stronger!!

Other life news:

You probably noticed the name “Sharon” fairly often in this post. Sharon is one of my out-of-state athletes who drove up to MN to visit for 2 days. Say, what? 9+ hours of driving to train in the windy, cold MN weather? Yep. She is awesome. And hard-core. Did I mention awesome?

I was lucky enough to be able to pull together quite a few of the Minnesota TNC Endurance athletes to make her stay more enjoyable. Our group is the best!

Rael joined us for a really FUN track workout the day Sharon arrived. I timed their repeats, sprinting back and forth for splits, and hopped into Sharon’s last set. We busted out a 36 and 37 second 200m together! I gave her a sideways glance. Didn’t you say you were pumped when you hit a 39 a few weeks ago?!? Pretty sure I know who I need to edit paces for going forward 🙂

At the St. Olaf track. It was so great to be able to have secure footing! We all felt like we were flying!

Rael also ran until she couldn’t… and then got up and finished the repeat she couldn’t. Seriously, that woman has grit. I teared up a little as she re-started. It is so awesome to see the mental/physical battle in an athlete & watch them overcome.

Then I took her on a tour of Northfield. There are a lot of fun, quaint shops. We didn’t buy anything except a chocolate cookie at the bakery. Big spenders! We schemed that it was the sub-20 cookie! We also found a “make it yourself” sign shop (made from MN licence plates) that I told her I’d buy her a “315” sign when she broke that barrier later this year. Hopefully I can find something a little cooler to celebrate that milestone, but hey, if I can’t, license plate numbers pinned to some sort of TNC Endurance or MN-themed background will be in her mailbox!

The shop had each of the numbers/letter for sale individually and then you put them together yourself. OBVIOUSLY, I can totally find a cooler celebratory gift, but it the idea at least had us scheming for 3:15 🙂 Any fun ideas?

Clearly,
the best possible place I could have taken a picture. With blotchy
sunlight streaming through the book store windows :).

I
recruited two brave souls to accompany Sharon for her PM shake out run.
Outfitted with the warmest gear, headlamps, and smiles (at least until
they stepped out the door!) :). Not sure what the temp was… definitely
negative degrees, though. *Aside* It was SO hard for me not to suit up
and join them! But a double wasn’t in my plan and I had already run
farther than I should have during my earlier workout… alas…

We then enjoyed a co-op type meal (i.e. what do you have around? What can you bring?) with other TNC athletes/friends! Claire, our resident chef (not kidding… culinary school), helped us create a great chicken curry dish. YUM. I’ll be re-making soon and posting that recipe to the blog.

Blurry,
but you can see the enthusiasm that went into the dish! Why did she and
Nate keep reminding me to keep an eye on the rice? Are they doubting my
cooking/attentiveness skills? 🙂

Nate turned 31. Happy birthday to my absolute BEST friend!!!! Love you to the moon and back!

Happy
birthday, Nate! My mom sent us home with the rest of the “Nate’s
Pudding Pie” dish and it lasted until noon the next day. There’s a
reason the recipe is called “Nate’s Pudding Pie”!

New Years Eve was fun. I tried to make a homemade Caesar dressing. It looked like it would taste great, and had good reviews, but it wasn’t great at all. I could taste the egg yolk in my mouth for a long time afterwards. Yuck. I obviously WON’T be posting the recipe here for you :). Maybe Caesar is one dressing I’ll continue to buy at the store? Unless any of you have tried one that is great?

Yuck. Doesn’t it look pretty, though?

I then rang in the new year by falling asleep on the coach after finding out that 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was made in 1954 and not a NEW movie… not sure where I got that idea…. AND finding out, well, it’s weird. I lasted until I saw scuba-clad men walking underwater… and then decided I wasn’t going to fight to stay awake :).