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By kilax, November 10, 2015 8:03 am

I had a bit of an eventful run this morning! As I was leaving one park to run to another, I saw a tire rolling down a hill toward me. Confused, I looked up and saw a truck skidding off the road, and, yeah – it was missing a front wheel and tire. Yikes! Luckily, the driver was okay. Not so sure about the truck…

Then on the way back through that park, toward home, I saw a coyote! I think it’s the first I’ve seen while running, this season.

Luckily, the rest of the run was uneventful – I was just ohhing and ahhing over the pretty frost and fog (and water and sun) and wondering when the hell I was gonna wake up (3 miles in).

Comments Off on Training Week 316

By kilax, November 8, 2015 6:44 pm

Highlight of the Week: A naturally fast finish long run!

Monday | November 2, 2015: 7 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: Round Lake loop, Temp: 71°/69°, Time: 1:00:49, Pace: 8:41 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good
Strength: One Dumbbell and Lebert Bodyweight Stations, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | November 3, 2015: 10 m run
Loc: MT to Nippersink FP, Temp: 46°/45°, Time: 1:36:46, Pace: 9:40 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good, but tired and hungry
Wednesday | November 4, 2015: rest
Thursday | November 5, 2015: 10 mins kettlebells + 5 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 70°/68°, Time: 43:06, Pace: 8:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pissed about the wind and heat
Friday | November 6, 2015: teaching strength class + 5 m run (incl. 4×800) + 14 m ride
Strength: One Dumbbell and Bodyweight stations, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but not super awake
Loc: hood, Temp: 46°/49°, Time: 43:41, Pace: 8:44, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent
Indoor Ride Time: 1:01:26, Pace: 13.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | November 7, 2015: teaching fitness boxing + 7 m run
Strength: body weight and boxing , Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: great
Loc: Around Grayslake, Temp: 44°/48°, Time: 1:04:25, Pace: 9:12 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, unlike me to say this, but the sun felt good
Sunday | November 8, 2015: 17 m run (first 4 virtual w/Kelly)
Loc: Around Round Lake, Temp: 31°/48°, Time: 2:45:37, Pace: 9:44 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: fantastic

Notes:

• My week started with the discovery of a black toenail on my left Morton’s toe! Luckily, it only held me back from doing mountain climbers Monday night, and by the end of the (work)week, it didn’t hurt anymore. Although it still looks hella bad!
• My previous yearly personal distance record for running was 1915.1 miles, set in 2013. I passed that distance on my Thursday run this week and ended the week with 1945.7! My goal for the year is (was?) 2000 miles, so it seems like I am going to make it! I worry if I talk about it too much though, I will jinx it, ha ha.
• Did everyone else have an off week from Daylight Saving Time ending? Gah, I felt so tired every night. And it didn’t help that we started off our week going to bed late Sunday because we were up watching the Royals win the World Series! Hopefully I finish adjusting to the time change this week!
• I’ve been trying to switch things up in my strength classes to keep it fresh for my students, and really… fresh for me. It’s so much fun to research different ideas I have for strength moves, and see what the current industry trends and studies are!

Link to Training Week 315

Comments (14)

By kilax, November 7, 2015 3:51 pm

I’m so happy our need for batteries took us near the clearance Halloween section at Target!

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By kilax, November 5, 2015 12:11 pm

Mother Nature is saying “I hope you’re ready for a change!”

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By kilax, November 4, 2015 12:56 pm

Nope, not a post about my hair. Ha!

We’re checking in on our neighbor’s cats while they’re out of town, and when we were locking up last night, a random gray cat showed up at the front door all “Meow, b*tches, let me in!”

“Um… you don’t live here, cat.”

What is it with stray grays? That’s how we found Data!

I asked the next door neighbor if she’d ever seen this cat. Nope. The cat was playful and friendly, so I hope he was just out for an evening stroll, and is back at home now. If we see him again in the next few days though, he’s coming home with us… so we can take him to the local no-kill shelter. Data is an only child (who lives like a king)!

Comments (5)

By kilax, November 1, 2015 8:20 pm

Highlight of the Week: A super fun Halloween strength class, and a run with my dad (while he biked)!

Monday | October 26, 2015: 8 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: MT to Nippersink FP, Temp: 56°/53°, Time: 1:12:16, Pace: 9:02 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Strength: One Dumbbell & Lebert Body Weight Stations, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | October 27, 2015: 6 m run (incl. 8×400)
Loc: hood, Temp: 54°/54°, Time: 53:09, Pace: 8:51 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: okay!
Wednesday | October 28, 2015: rest
Thursday | October 29, 2015: 10 m ride + 11 m run
Indoor Ride: Time: 41:54, Pace: 14.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 46°/46°, Time: 1:40:10, Pace: 9:06 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | October 30, 2015: teaching strength class + 20.5 m run
Strength: One Dumbbell and Halloween themed stations, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: Grayslake & Lindenhurst Loop, Temp: 37°/48°, Time: 3:33:30, Pace: 10:25, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: decent, but tired glutes
Saturday | October 31, 2015: 5 m run
Loc: Cedar Prairie Trail, Temp: 46°/46°, Time: 46:56, Pace: 9:23 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good! odd side ache
Sunday | November 1, 2015: 10.5 m run (w/Dad on bike)
Loc: Around CF, Temp: 40°/52°, Time: 1:39:01, Pace: 9:26 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!

Notes:

• I actually did some half chin-ups this week! Crazy! I had a station set up in the studio with a step under the pull-up bar, so people could get a jumping assist, and when I jumped up, I was able to stay up and lower myself up and down several inches, several times. I was able to do it at home too. Schweet.
• I always thought I preferred 400s for speedwork because they are over so quickly. But after running mile repeats last week, then doing 400s this week, the 400s surprisingly felt a lot harder. I think it’s because you have to accelerate so much faster in a 400, than a mile repeat – I must not have as many fast twitch (as slow twitch) muscle fibers. Good thing I’m a long distance runner, and not a sprinter!
• One of my runs this week had a low enough wind chill to warrant covering my ears with an ear band, and it was so nice to have the ear band block out a ton of the wind noise! I forgot how nice that is! I may have to wear one on the really windy days, even when I am not concerned about my ears getting too cold.
• I did NOT set myself up for successful long run on Friday, and boy, did I feel it! I’ll be more purposeful in my prep next week (meaning, no tempo middle distance run 14 hours before, eating enough for dinner the night before, getting more than 5 hours sleep, and not running right after teaching class).
• October recap time! In October I ran 252.2 miles (a new monthly personal distance record!) and cycled 46.1 miles (lowest mileage month of the year – ha!). I taught 10 strength classes. I really enjoyed teaching this month, especially the fitness boxing class! I’ve scheduled two more fitness boxing classes for the year (one in November and one in December) and am teaching an indoor cycling class in December. It’s crazy to be talking about the final two months of the year! And something I thought was odd about October – I wore a tank for most of my runs! I wore arm sleeves a few times, and a t-shirt a handful of times, but mostly tanks. And still shorts, no capris yet!

Link to Training Week 314