10k training, w2/4: hiking counts as running, right?

Monday

Speedwork, 6.3 mi/8:39 pace

Lifting

Speedwork at Buffalo Park is what's up.

Tuesday

Hike (2.5 mi)

Hot Yoga Carve

These Scottie dogs were delectable. Probably because they were made from butter.

I will miss being able to walk to this trail from my place!

Wednesday

Lifted

Oiselle Volee Run, 6.1 mi

Smoked Salmon is my new love.

Last softball game for me.

When you don't have real plates...

Met up with a few local Oiselle Volee runners and one from out of town! It was awesome to meet and run with them! Also.. talking while running can be challenging.

Thursday

Bike

Tempo, 3.5 mi/8:35 mi

My going away lunch was of course, pizza.

Friday

Bike

Hike (4 mi)

Ollie came into the office for my last day. He was a good guy, very quiet and calm!  The dogs would come and visit quite a bit..

Went on one of my favorite Flagstaff hikes after work.

Saturday

Hike (6 mi)

Went to the Grand Canyon to hike on the South Kaibab down to Skeleton Point. More pics to come!

Sunday

Hike (13!! miles)

I thought this one was only going to be 10 but that was proven wrong. This was a hike up to Wilson Mountain in Sedona, the highest peak there. My ankle wasn't feeling too hot after so the "long" run was a no go, which I have never skipped but this hike was worth it. Also, more pics to come :)

petrified forest national park

Agate House

Crystal Forest

Blue Mesa

Blue Forest

The Teepees

Window Rock

The Painted Desert

sunset crater + wupatki national monuments

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Wupatki National Monument

10k training, w1/4: when bad food is suddenly so good

Not pictured: 8 pieces of pizza. No shame.

Monday

Cycling: 10 min easy, 30 min tempo, 10 min easy run
Hot Yoga

All smiles before 6a, right?!

Tuesday

Lifting: Full body

This was supposed to be speedwork day. Then I ate healthy for lunch and felt sick. 

I also found out that my stuff was supposed to be packed..Wednesday. So as much as I want to blame my sandwich and salad, pretty sure stomach issues can be blamed on stress.

Wednesday

Speedwork: 6 mi/8:48 pace/4x1200, 1 mi warm-up and cool-down

Baked these salted caramel cookies for the movers. And got them pizza. They hardly ate either so...you can guess what happened.

Yes, I ate all of the cookies by nightfall, and ate the pizza the next three days. Speedwork went pretty darn well considering my healthy fuel.

The ankle wasn't feeling too hot at the beginning of softball then it chilled out.

Thursday

Tempo: 5 mi/8:43 pace/3 mi at tempo (ish), 1 mi warm-up and cool-down
Lifting

The view right at the end of the run.

Friday

Rest Day/Walk on treadmill

Mexican for lunch - Salmon tacos with mango salsa, and veggies on the side. An exorbitant amount of chips and salsa was also eaten. Duh.

Got my new Fitbit Alta! It's pretty chic.

Saturday

Long Run: 10mi/9:16 pace

Took it easy on the treadmill for this since I haven't gone over 6 in a while and didn't want to kill my ankle. However, it felt pretty good during and after!

Went hiking at some National Monuments after - more pics to come!

Sunday

Hike: Petrified Forest National Park

Once again, more pics to come.

Our only meal of the day was both of our first times at Sonic. It hit the spot. But the guilt was so real.

Intense Sunday night bingo to close out the week.  One last week in Flagstaff..

run for the mountain 10k

The Summer Run Series just seemed to show up out of nowhere - I had a 10k yesterday and let's just say it was humbling..

Hopes were up in the work-land that I would run this 10k like it was a piece of cake. However, variables haven't been on my side in the past few weeks..but I'm not going to list out excuses.

The work-land represented yesterday.

This is a trail run like most of the runs in the series. Rocks, branches, hills, uneven trail, etc. I ran the 5k version of this race two years ago in 31:35/10:11 pace, and then last year I ran the 10k in the snow (yes, in May), in 1:02:46/10:07 pace.

I spy a crazy foot.

This year...I didn't have a set goal and honestly this hasn't been on my mind lately due to other stuff going on, so the mental preparation was not there like it usually was.  Arbitrarily, I knew I should be finishing under 55:00 if I had a good 9 minute pace + the difficulty of the trail.

I could not muster up the energy to pass this guy. We high-fived at the end cause we're buddies like that.

I ended up with a personal 10k PR (all of my 10k races have been on trails though..) at 56:38, and obviously a PR with this race.  I walked a few times which wasn't my proudest moments. Usually when I run hard at altitude, I cough quite a bit afterwards for a few hours, and that didn't happen this time.  Which tells me I didn't push it.

Fortunately- this now motivates me to raise the standards for my 10k PR considering the paces I have run 5ks, half-marathons, and my marathon. I am going to do a quick 4-week training build-up to a 10k on June 14th (yes, going to get those weekly training posts back up and going - hello, accountability!).

Which leads me to say, that race will be in Illinois, since I will be moving to St. Louis in a few weeks for work! I plan to hit up 3 more National Parks so expect some epic posts from those adventures later this month, and early next month!

marathon training outtakes

Now that you've read my tips for training for your first marathon training. Let me share some of the lesser known aspects of marathon training - in pictures.

Sometimes selfies that describe how your run went are completely necessary.

Training for a spring marathon? Time to get to know your local treadmill.

You will take random pictures in the middle of runs to try to capture your experience for social media.

Sometimes you'll reminisce about your shorter races after long runs. (though this picture was the 15k that turned 13.1..)

Pancakes + nut butter + banana = your post long run best friend.

You will guilt trip your friends into coming to visit when you have a race.

Post-training races, you will obsessively check the race photo website because you are SO sure they got an awesome picture of you. 

Then you're incredibly disappointed.

You will start obsessively taking pictures of your food, no matter how disgusting or boring it looks.

 Running your long run in really cool places is extremely helpful.

New selfie poses will be developed.

You will eat so much food. 

Think: this entire greek yogurt container in 12 hours. 3+ bunches of bananas in a week. All of the snacks in your Naturebox and Graze in less than 3 days. All of this by yourself. Absolutely no sharing.

It will feel really weird to taper. And you will gain weight. Especially if you're a genius and carb up in Italy for those tapering weeks.

Avoiding race photographers pre-race is impossible. They will sneak out from nowhere and give you less than a second to pose.

And you will finish. I promise. And it will be SO worth it.