Since I shortened my long run last week, my long runs are now bumped back a week and the longest I’m going to end up doing will be 11 miles this coming weekend (as opposed to 12.)  Which is fine.   As I’ve mentioned before, Hal Higdon’s beginner plans have 10 miles as your longest run before a half.  I think I’ll be fine.

Monday: nada

Tuesday: 4 miles on the TM before work…it was gross out

Wednesday: nothing (this is bad, I’ve been ignoring Wednesday cross training pretty consistently)

Thursday: 6 miles on the TM at lunch…Real Housewives of NYC is back on!

Friday: 1500 swim straight.  At the Y.  I literally had half an hour to do something (including getting showered and dressed).  So I did what I could.

Saturday: 10 miles first thing in the morning.  Outside.  I was dreading it.  It wasn’t bad at all.

Sunday: 2100 swim at the Y (swim meet at the pool in the morning).  Almost didn’t go, was good that I got in at all.  Main set: 5 x 100 @ 1:15.  Just to get the blood flowing.

As of Thursday the ice is gone…I don’t want to say the S word and jinx it, but fingers crossed that it is just around the corner…

…and things were going so well…

Monday: walk with the fam to the rugby field

Tuesday: 4 miles outside after work.

Wednesday: nothing

Thursday: 6 miles outside.  This was an ugly run, for a few reasons:

1. Ran at lunch.  Totally kosher, but I still have PTSD from previous jobs and run with my work phone and stress the whole time.  Plus I was under a time crunch.
2. That morning, I found out that both Andrea and Margaret WILL NOT be running RTBG with me.  So…I’m rolling solo.  And lacking a little bit of motivation.
3. Because it was lunch and I was starving, I stuffed my face with 5 thin mints as I was walking out the door.

Spent a lot of the run feeling like I was going to barf up cookies.  Walked up the one big hill.  Lame.

Friday: Happy hour with coworkers!  Who needs to cross train.

Saturday: 6.8 miles in some nice weather.  But I felt pretty crappy (not from happy hour, the whole week I was dragging big time, really tired.)  Also started to get some minor shin pain.  Decided there was no reason to push.

Sunday: 2500 swim.  Main set:
400 swim fast in and out of one wall (so every other turn) @ b+15
50 easy stroke
2 x 100 FAST @ 2:00
300 swim fast in and out of one wall @ b+15
50 easy stroke
2 x 100 FAST @ 2:00
200 swim no breathing inside the flags @ b+15
50 easy stroke
2 x 100 FAST @ 2:00
100 swim no breathing inside the flags @ b+15
50 easy stroke
2 x 100 FAST @ 2:00

That set is actually a really great, quick 2000.  I coached the group I would normally swim with (people always go faster on fast swims when there is someone on deck yelling out times as you come into the wall), so I ended up doing this set by myself.  Plus I was in a little bit of a rush.  So I made a few modifications: the 400, 300, 200, 100 were all @ 1:20 base, 50s all on 1:00, and the 100s were just on 1:15, not all out.

Then on Sunday….

That is Spike and Paul walking down the middle of our street at 8am on Monday.    Sunday night was freezing rain followed by 5 inches of snow.  Then Monday afternoon the sun came out, and it melted, then the temps dropped again at night…

…and the world is once again covered in ice.

Monday: nothing.

Tuesday: 4 treacherous, treacherous miles outside.  It rained Monday night and was super sunny Tuesday morning, so I was like, awesome!  This is going to be awesome!

Then the sidewalks looked like this:

And the roads, though clear, were COVERED in secret, killer black ice.  Ugh.  Like, seriously.  Enough with the ice.

Wednesday: family walk to the rugby field

I know, forward-facing carrying is controversial.  But she hates facing inward and loves facing outward and we all got to enjoy the sunset.

No filter needed.

Thursday: 6 miles outside before work and it was a balmy, cloudy 60ish degrees at 7am.  My favorite kind of running weather.  Really, truly glorious.  Felt like spring.

Friday: 2K super quick swim (same main set as last week, becoming my quick go-to 2K workout set: 5 x 200 @ 2:40, 2:35, 2:30, 2:35, 2:40

Saturday: 9 miles outside on a crisp, clear morning.  No ice to dodge.  It felt so great to just go.

Sunday: 5+ hours working at the Maher Mile Masters meet.  I was hoping I could squeak into a later heat, but no room and no time for me to swim.  Wah wah.  I thought about doing a mile swim for time sometime this coming week in solidarity with everyone who raced in the meet, but…..yeeeah.  We’ll see.

Monday: nothing (I’ve been sticking with keeping Mondays off, even though I feel fine most Mondays.  Mentally it’s nice to start the week without a workout hanging over my head.  Plus I really like having a little more time after work to get all the crap I inevitably did not do Sunday ready for the rest of the week).

Tuesday: 4 miles on the TM.  Got a TV  but…it was Watch What Happens Live, one of the very few Bravo shows I can’t stand.   Bummer.

Wednesday: nothing

Thursday: 4 miles on the TM and ANOTHER Watch What Happens Live with the Vanderpump group…did you know that Kristen lied and really DID cheat on Tom with Jax last summer and now Tom is dating ARIANA?? omg nfw stfu.  (I really need to pay more attention to the Bravo schedule so this never happens again)

Friday: 2K super quick swim (main set: 5 x 200 @ 2:40, 2:35, 2:30, 2:35, 2:40)

Saturday: flew to BOSTON!  …and of course my flight got delayed then cancelled then rescheduled, so nothing happened on the workout front.

Sunday: 8 (ish) slow, slippery, sloppy miles along the Charles.  I dragged Emily along with me.  About an hour in she was really happy with her decision to come.

…and we’re halfway there!  6 weeks to go.

Monday: 5 mile run, after work, on the treadmill…one of those runs where I had to take a towel to cover the distance because it felt like it was taking For. Ev. Er.  And did you know that in the last 20 minutes of any given Bravo show, you get 7 minutes of commercials, 5 minutes of show?  WTF

Tuesday: nothing.  I was beat.

Wednesday: 3 miles outside squeezed in before work…OUTSIIIIIIDE!

Thursday: 2000 at the Y nice and easy

Friday: 5 miles…treadmill…shoot me…

Saturday: It was sunny!  It was almost 60 degrees!  I wanted to run!  But I held off….3 mile walk instead with the fam as opposed to an indoor swim.  It was  gorgeous.

Sunday: 6 miles OUUUUUTSIIIIIDEE!!  in freezing rain…but whatever!

Slowly, slowly, back on the horse…

running to freeeedoooooooooom

Well, this should be short.

Monday: nothing

Tuesday: nothing

Wednesday: nothing

Thursday: nothing

Friday: 2000 straight, easy swim

Saturday: 4 miles on the TM

Sunday: USMS postal swim, 4,650 yards

Last week I got sick after Sunday practice.   It knocked me totally out of the game through Wednesday.  I barely made it out of bed, let alone to work, let alone to work out.  However, the 4 mile easy run on Saturday felt surprisingly awesome considering how crappy I felt all week (probably because I was heavily tapered for it.)

This means a shift in schedule for this week: moving my long (5 mile) run to Monday (today), then bumping my shorter runs to Wednesday and Friday, followed by my 6 miler on Sunday instead of Saturday.  Then back to regularly scheduled programming next week.

In other news…

Paul: Guess what today’s theme is?
Me: Uuuuhh….
Paul: FLOWER POWER!

What.

But this time of year, I guess you just embrace brightness and color wherever you can get it.