Michelle

Monday Motivation

May 12, 2014 by Michelle 16 Comments

Happy Monday all!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! It was a great Mother’s Day weekend here – I got to play in my garden, have lots of family time and enjoy the best (so far) weather weekend of the spring! All good stuff!

Yes there was also some running that can only be described as u-g-l-y! My long run was suppose to include 4 miles at race pace, but my legs just couldn’t get there despite how much I tried to will them (or when they did get there I couldn’t hold on). Disappointing for sure. While I have had some great speed work sessions on the track these last couple of weeks, I have yet to have that speed translate into longer runs. Clearly I still have more work to do here. But it’s a new week and so I’ll go after it again.

How was your weekend?

Are you facing any big challenges in your running right now?

Filed Under: Monday Motivation

Training Check-in Week 9

May 6, 2014 by Michelle 4 Comments

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done one of my weekly training updates – and with my next race just 4 weeks away seems like a good time to check in! Since I was trying to get back up to speed after being sick for almost a week with a nasty chest cold/crud/thing, Coach Bennett suggested I just ease back in this week and see what I can do.

So here’s how last week went (Actual in blue)

Monday: 30 mins cross training — T25 Day 1

Tuesday: 9 miles — 4 miles, plus T25 Day 2

Wednesday: Rest day — Pilates Barre class, plus T25 Day 3

Thursday: 8 miles with 7 x 1000m repeats — 7.35 miles with 5 x 1000m repeats, plus T25 Day 4

Friday: Rest day — T25 Day 5 – Was suppose to be a double workout, but I opted for just one

Saturday: 7 mile LSD — 4 miles

Daily: rolling — Done!

All-in-all a pretty good week back. My legs were definitely felt heavy and sluggish – I had to really push through these workouts but I’m pretty happy with the results. I’m looking forward to seeing what this week brings with more miles and week 2 of T25!

How was your week?

Filed Under: T25, training

Coffee Date – May edition

May 3, 2014 by Michelle 17 Comments

It’s the first Saturday of the month so it’s time once again for the Ultimate Coffee Date link-up!

I’m back from this morning’s run, so pull up a mug and join me….

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you how excited I am for the month of May! While the schedule will definitely get a little crazy at times, there’s a lot of fun stuff planned – and the weather’s finally starting to feel like spring!

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you I started Shaun T’s Focus T25 this week and it is challenging for sure as I adjust to adding it in with my running and Pilates classes — but I’m loving it and think I’ll be stronger for doing it.

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you I spent a fun morning with my mom yesterday at my favorite nursery and I cannot wait to get to work in my garden.

A sample of the plants I picked up!

If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that a lacrosse obsession has firmly taken hold in my house! My oldest is playing on two teams and my youngest son is playing for the first time. My husband is coaching plus playing in his own league. And every weekend, I feel like my television is permanently tuned to ESPNU which always has the best college match-ups. The MML season has just gotten underway and my boys have been begging for us to get some Boston Cannons’ tickets — Yes it’s a full-on obsession around here!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you I’d tell you I’ve got 34 days until our family vacation 🙂

If we were having coffee together, what would you tell me?

Filed Under: gardening, general musings, Lacrosse, Ultimate coffee date

Somebody’s been race shopping

May 1, 2014 by Michelle 12 Comments

I’ve been eyeing these races for a while and now I’ve finally pulled the trigger: Two half marathons and a 10K!

I think my credit card needs a rest!

Have you ever gone on race buying binge?

Will you be at any of these races?

Filed Under: #14in2014, BAA, Philly Half, race shopping, Smuttynose Rockfest

Coming out of my haze and turning 4

April 28, 2014 by Michelle 17 Comments

Happy Monday All!

Thank you again for the good wishes last week! As I suspected there was no miracle recovery and I did end up missing Sunday’s race. In a rare move on my part, I just gave in to what my body needed, rested a ton and as of this morning I’m finally feeling like I’m coming out of my crud/virus-induced haze. It helped that the weather was rainy and damp — made it easier to give in and stay in bed or on the couch.

Since I was sick for the better part of last week there’s not much to recap but I did just realize that this little ole blog turned 4 yesterday! One of these blog-anniversaries I’ll be organized enough to celebrate with a giveaway or something. But not this year….Instead I offer my heartfelt gratitude for all you who stop by my little corner of the blogisphere and offer support and encouragement!!

So now it’s a new week and I’m ready to get moving again! My next race is in 4 weeks so the plan is to get back on the road and get some miles in and get to my weekly Pilates Barre class. I’ll also be starting Shaun T’s Focus T25! I’ve wanted to try it for a while, but had been debating how to fit it in with my runs. After getting to preview the workouts a couple of weeks ago at my brother’s house, I finally decided to just bite the bullet and dive in. Wish me luck 😉

What have you got planned for this week?

Filed Under: milestones, T25, week ahead

Trying to avoid a DNS pity party

April 25, 2014 by Michelle 28 Comments

Completely frustrated right now!

I’m sick. I think I may have a touch of the same virus my youngest son had just a week or so ago. The minute I started to feel lousy I should have listened to my body and taken a rest day (or two) – this thing has quietly been brewing for a bit. But I wanted to keep my training on the right track so I pushed.

And now my body’s rebelling big time. I tried to manage things as best I could, hoping I could get ahead of it. Well it wasn’t enough because I landed in bed Thursday barely able to get my head off the pillow and with almost no voice 🙁

So, (barring a miracle recovery) the reality that I’m probably not going to be running Newport on Sunday is setting in, and I’m trying really hard to avoid having a big ole pity party. This will be my 2nd DNS this year. I was really looking forward to running Newport – it is a beautiful course, and while I wasn’t planning to “race” it, I had wanted to go and put in a solid training run with some RP miles. Now, given how I feel I doubt I could muster an LSD pace for that distance. And I know how miserable it is to run a race sick – (not to mention the hour-long drive to and from the race). BTDT…no thanks.

I’m just feeling really frustrated right now cause every time it seems that I’m starting to get on a bit of a roll, my body decides it doesn’t want to cooperate.

Ever had to DNS a race you were really looking forward to? Would you rather a DNS or a DNF?

Filed Under: DNS vs DNF, listening to your body, Newport 10 Miler, Uncategorized

BAA 5K Recap

April 22, 2014 by Michelle 11 Comments

What a beautiful day! And, what an emotional day!

On Saturday I ran the B.A.A. 5K with my husband J and our oldest son. It was a beautiful morning for a run – a little chilly, but picture-perfect clear blue skies. Because there were going to be so many more runners this year, we decided to park a few blocks from the start and walk over. Not only did it make a breeze to get in and out easily – but the parking garage also had a very nice lobby with clean bathrooms! (Always a score to avoid the porta-potties!)

As we made our way over I could tell my son was a little nervous but excited. This was going to be his second 5K and with a much bigger crowd than the local race we did last summer. And there were so many runners – in an effort to let more people participate in Marathon weekend, the BAA had increased the field of the 5K from 6500 to 10,000. (8,640 actually ran – but still an awful lot of people for a 5K on Boston’s narrow Back Bay streets!) Given the chilly temps and crowds, we decided to keep our extra layers on and skip the bag check. We snapped a couple of quick pics and then heeded the call to head to the corals.

Yes someone was being goofy 🙂

The corals were jammed and it was a challenge to stay together and find anywhere to slide in. As we stood waiting you could just feel the energy – I mean obviously runners are always pumped up at the beginning of a race, but this was different. We chatted with other runners and many joked that there were so many of us that the elites would be finishing before we crossed the start. Well in fact that almost did happen!

As we shuffled our way to the start, the announcement of the lead man’s first split was 4:3X. Yes they were flying…and we were soon going to be in the way! No sooner was the announcement made than volunteers started moving corral barriers to open up the street and get us moving faster to the start – so much for self-seeding! It was chaotic but we were finally off.

We tried our best to stay together while also trying to find some open space to run – at some point I ended up ahead of J and my son and pulled up to wait for them. They caught up but my son wanted to take a walk break so they urged me to just keep going so I ran on. I knew even before we started that this was not a day for chasing a sub-30 – this was a day for taking in the moment and I did. I thanked volunteers, marveled at runners with prostetic legs gutting it out and enjoyed the spectators chanting “Boston Strong” along the course. When we reached the turn-around, runners were hooting and hollering and high-fiving – we were all just having so much fun! I came across J and my son – he was slapping hands with so many runners. It was great to see him see the running community at its best!

The route took us on the famous “right on Hereford, left on Boylston,” and as we reach the corner of Boylston there was an enormous American flag hanging over the course from a firetruck ladder. As I turned on to Boylston it hit me, I hadn’t been back here since the bombing…consciously or unconsciously I hadn’t been back here since I ran last year’s 5K – before everything that happened happened. I wasn’t prepared for the rush of emotions that only got stronger as I passed the Forum, site of the 2nd bombing. I’m not sure I can even put into words what I was feeling as I ran down Boylston and across that famous finish line – it was a lot to process. Soon came the final turn back onto Charles Street and the finish line. The finish area was more chaotic than the start so unfortunately I missed seeing my husband and son finish but heard the race announcer give them a nice shout out as they came across the line! We collected our medals and race shirts and, at my son’s urging, headed off to breakfast.

All-in-all a great morning – the B.A.A. does such an awesome job (though I do hope they return the field to its original size next year)! It was a great event to be a part of and I especially loved how in awe my son was of getting to cross the Marathon finish line. He’s already talking about running it again next year – and that’s just fine with me 🙂

Filed Under: #14in2014, BAA, family running, race report, running community

My X2Performance Update

April 18, 2014 by Michelle 13 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I announced that I had been selected as a Brand Ambassador for X2Performance®. Once I got my samples, I immediately put it to the test on a long run, double workouts and hill repeats. I was off to a good start with it – if you missed it, you can read about it HERE.

I’ve continued to test X2Performance on a variety of workouts and with yesterday’s track workout I’ve now wrapped up my trial, and I couldn’t wait to share an update.

Overall I have been really pleased with my experience with X2Performance! I can honestly say that it did provide a nice energy boost (as I described to a friend – extra pep in my step!) without any jittery side effects. Equally nice was the fact that I didn’t feel like the energy boost provided was short-term – no quick spike followed by a crash. On the days I used X2Performance, I felt solid throughout my workouts. I did have one u-g-l-y long run last Saturday – but that was much more about me not being able to get out of my own way mentally…no amount of x2Performance was going to turn that run around – let’s be honest it’s not a miracle worker!

X2Performance also promises to improve recovery — and, for me, this was one of the biggest benefits. For a variety of reasons, I have needed to shuffle my workouts over the past couple of weeks, which left me sometimes needing to do double workouts in one day or running back to back to back days. Usually my 40+ year old legs (ahem!) don’t love multiple days of running (especially when hill repeats are involved!), but with X2Performance I found I was feeling good post-run and was ready to go again the next day.

So will I continue to use it? Yes – with one caveat. Depending on which order option you choose, X2Performance can cost $3.99 – 4.99 per serving and honestly that’s just a little too steep for me on a regular basis. However, I could see making that investment if I had a big “A” race I was training for, which is why I plan to use it consistently when I start training for my goal half marathons in the fall. I’m really curious to see how it might help with my long run recovery during the summer months.

Don’t forget you can still get a free trial 4-pack to try for yourself! Click HERE for details (There is a $5.95 shipping charge).

Have you ever tried a pre-workout supplement?

(As a brand ambassador, I was provided product and am being compensated for participating in this program. As always all opinions expressed here are my own, and I am not obligated to share a positive review. The statements on the product have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.)

Filed Under: #TeamX2, product reviews, training, X2 Performance

Training Check-in Week 6

April 14, 2014 by Michelle 5 Comments

So for a brief moment I thought about skipping this week’s check-in – Why? Because I didn’t want this to turn into a whine-fest about what a disaster my 10-mile attempt was on Saturday. I’ll not bother to re-hash the details accept to say that I really need to get out of my own way sometimes!

But, for as down as I was about it on Saturday morning, I went on to have a great weekend and I’m over it and moving on. I think I would have been less upset about the way things went if it weren’t for the fact that I really wanted to get one double-digit run under my belt before Newport. No point dwelling on it right? Besides if I let one run define me I’d really be in a world of trouble!

Apart from Saturday, last week shaped up to be a pretty good week. I had ~~blocked out~~ forgotten how hard 1000 meter repeats can be! But there’s no better motivator than knowing a massage awaits! And now two classes in, I’m completely in love with my Pilates barre class!

So up for this week?

After Saturday’s meltdown, Coach Bennett advised two days off – and for once I didn’t fight him on it. So no workout today, but I am going to take advantage of the beautiful weather and spend some more time on garden clean-up. Then along with daily core work and rolling, the rest of the week should look like this:

Tuesday — 8 mile progression run

Wednesday — Pilates Barre class

Thursday — Track work (a ridiculous number of 400 m repeats!)

Friday — Cross-training

Saturday — B.A.A. 5K

Sunday — 6 miles

How was your weekend? What have you got planned for the week?

Filed Under: tough runs, track work, training, week ahead

Friday Five (OK it’s actually 4 today)

April 11, 2014 by Michelle 21 Comments

It is Friday once again and it’s finally starting to feel like spring around here! Whoot whoot! Before I rush out the door for what looks like a pretty nutty day ahead, a little of this and that to share 😉

Nominated! So my little ole blog’s been nominated for the Top 50 Health & Fitness Blogs of 2014! It’s a great group of blogs and I’m happy to be listed among them. If you’re so inclined to cast a vote (no crazy commitments required), please click HERE – blogs are listed alphabetically. Thanks for the support!!

Webcast with Dave Scott. On Saturday, April 12th X2PERFORMANCE® is hosting a live webcast with 6- time IRONMAN® World Champion Dave Scott! The webcast will take place at 5PM EST and Dave will be answering questions as well as providing advice on strength-training and nutrition. All attendees will receive an exclusive offer from X2PERFOMANCE at the end of the webcast, plus be eligible for randomly selected prizes. You can register through this link. I’ve got a couple of scheduling glitches I’m trying to work out so I can catch this.

Vacation planning. Now that the family vacation is booked, I’m trying to get organized early to avoid the usual last minute scramble. So out comes the “to do” list – we know I love a list! And towards the top of that list, I realized I need a new swimsuit. Now I’ve promised myself this is not going to send me over the deep-end. I’m going to try to embrace Carla’s wonderful 2-step approach and move on!

Weekend!! The forecast is looking good so I’m planning to spend as much time in my garden and yard as possible! Also on tap are the boys’ lacrosse games, baseball practice begins and a ten mile run (haven’t seen double digits in a while).