Comments (12)

By kilax, December 28, 2017 6:23 am

• A lot of my holiday wishlist was books and I am excited to have a stack to read! I’ve started with What Made Maddy Run.

• It’s so cold here, that the door hinges inside the house have frost on them. Ha. (That may be because this door isn’t insulated for crap, though.) It’s been in the negative digits (with colder windchills) when we wake up. I am happy to report Snow’s house is in the 40s on the first level, and in the 80s on the second level!

• I signed up for my goal 5K in April! My older brother said he and some of his family may do it too. Yay!
• I’ve been having a lot of fun at all the holiday (and other!) celebrations, but now I am a bit socialized out! My brain can’t seem to make much more conversation. I am looking forward to a quiet New Year’s Eve!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 160

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By kilax, December 24, 2017 7:01 pm

Highlight of the Week: Teaching Merry Fitness Boxing/swimming again/feeling great on my runs!

Monday | December 18, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 4 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 42°/43°, Time: 47:50, Pace: 10:38 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent, grateful for the mild weather
Strength: dumbbell circuit + UNO, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | December 19, 2017: 15 m ride
Indoor Ride Time: 56:20, Pace: 16.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | December 20, 2017: 5 m run (incl. 6×400)
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 30°, Time: 52:17, Pace: 10:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | December 21, 2017: 3 m run + massage
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 35°/35°, Time: 29:10, Pace: 9:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Friday | December 22, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 5 m run
Strength: dumbbell circuit + UNO, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:53, Pace: 2:04 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 37°/37°, Time: 51:59, Pace: 10:24, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Saturday | December 23, 2017: teaching Merry Fitness Boxing + 3 m run
Strength: boxing, cardio & core, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: hood, Temp: 24°/24°, Time: 29:33, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | December 24, 2017: 7.5 m run 
Loc: Reverse Kilbourne/VP Woods Loop, Temp: 18°/19°, Time: 1:20:22, Pace: 10:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good, cold butt!

Notes:

• I’m glad I was able to do speedwork this week! It was the first speed sesh of 5K training. My lungs weren’t at 100%, but they didn’t feel horrible! Baby steps.
• Friday’s swim was my first in three weeks! It felt so good to get back to the pool. I wasn’t even annoyed that my headphones were dead – I was just so happy to be swimming. (It helps I got a massage the day before – my swims always feel amazing after I do).
• I loved teaching the holiday themed boxing class this week, and I love that my students got in to it and dressed in holiday gear! And I love that Andrew came. Yay! We plan to run together while he’s here, too.
• It’s going to be strange not teaching the Monday night strength class for the next two weeks because of Christmas and New Year’s Day! I’m sure everyone will enjoy the time off though.

Link to Training Week 426

Comments (6)

By kilax, December 19, 2017 6:14 am

According to my calendar, 5K training for the Frosty Footrace starts this week. Eek!

I won’t be in top racing shape for the race on February 25th, but would like to use it to gauge my fitness level for a 5K on April 7th. That’s the tentative plan anyway <— we’ll see if I can hold interest in it!

I had great results with this training plan, so I am going to follow something similar (hills, speed, and tempo are separate days):

Week 1: hills, 6×400
Week 2: hills, 3×800 + 4×1:00
Week 3: hills, 7×400
Week 4: hills, 4×800 + 6×1:00
Week 5: hills, 8×400, tempo
Week 6: hills, 5×800 + 8×1:00, tempo
Week 7: hills, 10×400, tempo
Week 8: hills, 6×800 + 8×1:00, tempo
Week 9: hills, 12×400, tempo
Week 10: hills, 6×1:00, race!
Week 11-16: probably repeat week 5-10

Ideally, speedwork would be at or below goal race pace, but I am in the process of losing weight, and have to start the training cycle with slower speedwork, and speed up as the weight comes off. We’ll see what happens, and I’ll use that to determine my goal pace for Frosty. Yay, speedwork!

At the last 5K I “raced”

Comments (8)

By kilax, December 18, 2017 6:26 am

Highlight of the Week: Feeling very energetic for a few runs, despite having a cold. 

Monday | December 11, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 3 hill repeats)
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/33°, Time: 48:58, Pace: 10:53 avg, Difficulty: easy enough, Felt: good, just run down by my cold
Tuesday | December 12, 2017: 25 mins strength + 10 m ride
Strength: kettlebells & pad, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but sweaty and out of breath (damn cold!)
Indoor Ride Time: 41:58, Pace: 14.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | December 13, 2017: 5 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/34°, Time: 54:54, Pace: 10:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent
Thursday | December 14, 2017: 13 m ride + 4 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 53:28, Pace: 14.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great/annoyed with bloody nose
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 26°/25°, Time: 42:06, Pace: 10:32, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Friday | December 15, 2017: teaching strength class + 4.7 m run + 3 m run
Strength: dumbbell circuit + UNO, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just a bit sick
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/30°, Time: 49:34, Pace: 10:33, Difficulty: easy, Felt: mostly good, legs a bit tired
Loc: hood, Temp: 30°/31°, Time: 29:18, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fantastic
Saturday | December 16, 2017: 10 m run
Loc: Kilbourne/DPRT Loop, Temp: 34°/40°, Time: 1:56:59, Pace: 11:42 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: tired legs (from Friday double), tired lungs (from coughing all Friday night)
Sunday | December 17, 2017: 3 m run + teaching fitness boxing
Loc: hood, Temp: 34°/34°, Time: 31:19, Pace: 10:25 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Strength: core/cardio & boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• Strength class was canceled Monday night due to snow coming down during commute time. It’s always a bummer when class is canceled, but it meant I could rest a bit more (with the cough I had) and go to bed earlier!
• My cold stuck with me all week so I only did easy workouts, and skipped speedwork, a 5K I was thinking about, and swimming (I can’t swim when I can’t breathe out of my nose). I am grateful I could still work out, because I would lose my mind if I couldn’t. I do hope this cold goes away this week though. I keep thinking I am better, then the cold turns a new course. Eyeroll.

Link to Training Week 425

Comments (17)

By kilax, December 16, 2017 8:23 am

2017 was another quiet year with races/events! I participated in nine events, compared to five last year (and twenty the year before). Three of those nine were biking events. I only ran six events this year.

I ran less in 2017. I decided to cut back to around thirty miles a week for the year. I miss running more than that, and plan to bump up the mileage in 2018. I do not miss racing more, but I would like to “race” a race in 2018 with a goal time, likely a 5K. It would be fun to do an event in a different state, too, but we’ll see about that!

I hope to do RAGBRAI again, if the route doesn’t go too far south in the state. And it would be fun to do another cycling event!

Also, if you would like to fill out your own 2017 Racing Statistics in the comments or on your own blog, I created a google doc here for you to copy and fill out/edit!

You can see 2012 here, 2013 here, 2014 here, 2015 here, and 2016 here. You can always find my race stats here.

Comments (8)

By kilax, December 11, 2017 8:14 am

Highlight of the Week: Goat yoga!

Monday | December 4, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 4 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 59°/62°, Time: 48:30, Pace: 10:47 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Strength: step and kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good (hungry though!)
Tuesday | December 5, 2017: 10 m ride + 3 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 39:54, Pace: 15.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 30°/30°, Time: 30:51, Pace: 10:17 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Wednesday | December 6, 2017: 3 m run
Loc: Lakefront Trail, Temp: 35°/32°, Time: 31:25, Pace: 10:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but could tell the legs need a rest day
Thursday | December 7, 2017: rest
Friday | December 8, 2017: teaching strength class + 6.7 m run (incl. 10×1:00)
Strength: step and kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but really sweaty
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 19°/20°, Time: 1:13:49, Pace: 11:01, Difficulty: easy then hard, Felt: great then blah
Saturday | December 9, 2017: 3 m run (w/Gina) + goat yoga (w/Gina)
Loc: McKinney, Temp: 27°, Time: 29:59, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | December 10, 2017: 1.7 m walk (w/Gina, Steve, Luca, & Ginger)

Notes:

• The beginning of this week was all about the wind. Monday it was warm and windy (25 mph with gusts in the 30s) and I ran all my hill repeats in to the wind (why not?). Tuesday was my first dark run in awhile, and yeah, it was still windy (in the 20 mph range). And Wednesday, you guessed it, windy (high teens), but sunny, at least. Yay, wind.
• My legs were tired on my Wednesday run. They hadn’t had a rest day in a week. I was trying to get as many runs as possible in before my trip to Dallas (so I could chill in Dallas!). I had originally planned to do a long run Thursday am (I even took time off from work!) but when I woke up Thursday am with only five hours of sleep, I decided to just use the time for sleep and rest. Eh, yolo.
• So on Friday’s run I felt great for the first mile and was excited that my rest day paid off! Then after I did my repeats in to the wind, uphill, and some on the crushed limestone, I felt crappy. My legs were a bit tired and my lungs too. Ugh. I really hope this slight cough I have doesn’t turn in to something more! It was 20° when I finished my run and the area on the top of my inside knees was purple! I ordered some inexpensive fleece-lined tights from Amazon to try, but please let me know if you recommend a certain brand/style!!!
• Saturday morning’s run in Texas was in the high 20s but felt so much warmer than back home (duh). It was nice to have a pleasant run! Especially with Gina!
• We tried goat yoga after our run. It was hilarious. We were laughing the whole time, with the goats jumping on us and everyone else! I am not sure why I didn’t think about the fact that the goats would be going to the bathroom everywhere… ha ha ha.

Link to Training Week 424

Comments (2)

By kilax, December 3, 2017 8:16 pm

Highlight of the Week: Feeling great for my long run Sunday, and naturally finishing the last half faster than the first!

Monday | November 27, 2017: 5.2 m run (incl. 6 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 47°/47°, Time: 54:42, Pace: 10:31 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: step and kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | November 28, 2017: 10 m run
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 52°/51°, Time: 1:52:14, Pace: 11:13 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just annoyed with all the rocks in my shoes
Wednesday | November 29, 2017: rest
Thursday | November 30, 2017: 10 m ride + 4 m run (incl. 3×800)
Indoor Ride Time: 33:43, Pace: 17.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great – no sore butt!
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 52°/50°, Time: 38:40, Pace: 9:40 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: great!
Friday | December 1, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 4 m run + 3.3 m run
Strength: step and kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 22:03, Pace: 2:11 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: hood, Temp: 45°/48°, Time: 40:34, Pace: 10:08 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fine, but hungry
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 50°/47°, Time: 31:32, Pace: 9:33 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Saturday | December 2, 2017: 6.7 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 37°/37°, Time: 1:15:01, Pace: 11:12 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: sluggish (duh)
Strength: core, pads, and boxing, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good
Sunday | December 3, 2017: 11 m run
Loc: Outlet Mall Loop, Temp: 26°/42°, Time: 2:00:17, Pace: 10:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great

Notes:

• The combo of speedwork last Sunday then hills on Monday did a number on my legs – I was feeling it Monday night! I thought my long run Tuesday morning would be horrible, but it wasn’t – just all the rocks in my shoes were. Ha. I usually have a day or more between hills, speed, and the long run, but my schedule is going to be all out of whack this month as I try to fit my workouts in with holiday celebrations!
• Steven came with me to speedwork again this week! And he got to see how hella windy it is at the lake I do it at. Makes sense – it’s an open lake with almost no tree protection. Doing my speedwork there will build mental toughness… right? It’s worth all the irritation?!
• This was my highest mileage week this year at just over forty-four miles. Funny that I used to run over forty miles every week, last year, and the year before. I cut back on purpose this year. I think I’d like to start increasing my mileage again in 2018 though. I feel better (physically and mentally) when I run more.
• Monthly recap time. In November I ran 134.8 miles (25 runs, and my highest mileage month of the year so far!), cycled 62 miles (6 indoor rides) and swam 3,822 yards (4 swims). My coldest run was 25°F and my warmest was 63°F. I did 4 hill sessions and 5 speed sessions. I taught 7 strength classes, and 3 fitness boxing class.

Link to Training Week 423

Comments (16)

By kilax, December 2, 2017 6:46 am

Ha ha ha, I meant “revolting against me” but “revolting” as an adjective works too!

It’s been in the 40s and 50s here lately and I’ve been enjoying wearing shorts for my runs!

My legs however, have not been.

What started as a tiny red spot on the inside of my right knee, has now spread to cover most of my entire lower legs. SEE PHOTO HERE (I did not want that photo to be what shows up on Facebook and in Feedly, ha).

It really itches, and is irritated if something touches it.

I am not sure if it’s windburn, dry skin, a reaction to chlorine (I swam yesterday), or a reaction to the stuff I put in my baths. Or a combination. I’ve had patches like this on my legs before, but never this much!

Whatever it is, OUCH!

I am going to wear tights for my run today. And maybe put vaseline on my legs. An obviously stop with the baths.

Unrelated photo of Khaleesi enjoying the fire with her mouse:

Comments (12)

By kilax, November 26, 2017 7:48 pm

Highlight of the Week: Saying “Happy Thanksgiving” to people on the trail on Thursday’s run/running on a brand new portion of the Millennium Trail on Saturday.

Monday | November 20, 2017: 3.3 m run (incl. 4 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 46°/49°, Time: 35:27, Pace: 10:45 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: annoyed with cars, still mad about something from Sunday
Strength: BOSUs and dumbbells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | November 21, 2017: 15 m ride
Indoor Ride Time: 52:01, Pace: 17.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good, just sore butt
Wednesday | November 22, 2017: 3 m run
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 32°/34°, Time: 31:22, Pace: 10:26 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good
Thursday | November 23, 2017: 7 m run
Loc: Kilbourne/VP Woods loop, Temp: 33°/32°, Time: 1:18:52, Pace: 11:16 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, legs kind of tired
Friday | November 24, 2017: teaching strength class + 672 yd swim + 3 m run
Strength: ankle resistance bands, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but tired (sleepy)
Loc: FitNation, Time: 15:26, Pace: 2:18 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 63°/63°, Time: 30:50, Pace: 10:16 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, especially to run in shorts and a tank!
Saturday | November 25, 2017: 5 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail to Pine Dunes and back, Temp: 43°/44°, Time: 52:14, Pace: 10:26 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Sunday | November 26, 2017: 10 m ride + teaching fitness boxing + 3 m run (incl. 4×400)
Indoor Ride Time: 37:58, Pace: 15.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just sore butt
Strength: box and boxing, Difficulty: easy (all observing), Felt: good
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 49°/49°, Time: 29:09, Pace: 9:43 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good!

Notes:

• The Holiday Mile Challenge started this week! I have to log a mile (walking, swimming, biking, running, whatever) each day from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day. So far, so good!
• Whiny whine whine – I was excited to see how many steps I got on Thanksgiving after a seven mile run then being on my feet all day. But my watch goofed up, and my steps didn’t count from after my run until I reset my watch ten hours later. Annoying. I changed my watch to a new face that doesn’t show my steps, cause I don’t care when I don’t see them! <— so dumb
• Speaking of Thanksgiving, it bums me out to see people so stressed about overeating on that day. Yeah, don’t eat yourself to the point you’re uncomfortable, but it’s a holiday! Indulge a bit! It’s just one day.
• And on that note, I did NOT do a 5K on Saturday because I’m just a bit too heavy now to go push it and see where my fitness is. Maybe I’ll do one in December.
• It’s been kind of gloomy for most of the month, so it was nice to have the sun out for all of this week’s runs (and to even wear shorts for my last three runs!). I would NEVER say that in the warm/hot months, ha!
• The classes I teach at Essential Fitness feel like fun workouts with friends, so I forget, from time to time, that people pay to take the classes! Ha ha ha. I guess that’s a good thing… if the students feel that way too!
• Steven came with me on my Sunday run, to walk. Knowing he was there and that the sooner I finished my run the sooner I got to walk with him made me go a lot faster! And of course, my fastest interval was the one where we were crossing paths.
• Ugh, I need to get back to figuring out time in my weekend schedule for a long run! I feel so good when I do one!

Link to Training Week 422

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By kilax, November 19, 2017 6:05 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running and visiting with Rachel!

Monday | November 13, 2017: 4 m run (incl. 6 hill repeats)
Loc: hood, Temp: 34°/38°, Time: 42:46, Pace: 10:41 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: great (overdressed at times though!)
Tuesday | November 14, 2017: 3 m run
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 47°/47°, Time: 30:04, Pace: 10:01 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fantastic
Wednesday | November 15, 2017: rest
Thursday | November 16, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 10×1:00)
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 34°/34°, Time: 47:57, Pace: 10:40 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish until the last few repeats, Felt: okay!
Friday | November 17, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 7 m run
Strength: ankle bands, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good! worked hard
Loc: FitNation, Time: 22:03, Pace: 2:11 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, relaxed
Loc: Kilbourne/DPRT loop, Temp: 42°/40°, Time: 1:15:44, Pace: 10:49 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: awesome
Saturday | November 18, 2017: teaching fitness boxing + 3.3 m run
Strength: body weight moves & boxing gloves, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 39°/37°, Time: 37:02, Pace: 11:14 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: a bit tired
Sunday | November 19, 2017: 8 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: Burlington, Temp: 25°/27°, Time: 1:25:13, Pace: 10:39 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, but a bit tired

Notes:

• I didn’t get to exercise much in the beginning of the week because work was so absolutely INSANE this week (didn’t take lunch breaks and worked late). Gah. Friday was a bit quieter and I hope next week is more normal.
• I thought my hill work and healthier eating was paying off because the inclines felt easy on my Friday run. Then a hill got to me at the end of my Sunday run. Ha! I’ll keep at it.
• On Sunday I got to run with Rachel!!!!! What a treat. We just chatted the whole time. I hope we can do that again soon.
• I am considering doing a 5K next Saturday to gauge my fitness. I’ll decide on Thursday (when I do or don’t do my speedwork that day!).

Link to Training Week 421