5 Tips for Running on the Track

July 14, 2017 by 27 Comments

As I mentioned in a recent post, I’ve returned to the track for some of my *ahem* speedwork. Our local high school recently resurfaced their track and I am lucky that it is just a quick 10-minute drive from my house.

This track stays fairly busy even when school’s not in session and since the resurfacing it has been one hopping spot! I’ve just been twice in the past two weeks, but it’s clear to me that some could stand to learn a thing or two about track etiquette. So with that in mind, for this week’s Friday Five, I offer some tips for running on the track.

Run counter-clockwise — Unless otherwise posted or you have the track to yourself, you should run counter-clockwise.

Choose your lane wisely — If you’re walking or doing a slow warm-up, please stick to the outer lanes. The other day I watched two women decide to take a leisurely stroll on the inner lanes, oblivious to the runners trying to navigate past them.

Pass on the left — Pass people on the left when possible, and feel free to call out “on your left” or “track” to give plenty of warning. If you are the passee, please don’t take it personally and shoot dagger looks at the passer (as I’ve had one or two do to me in the past), just slide wide right and keep doing your thing.

Keep it moving — As a general rule of thumb, when you’re not running or walking, step off the track to take a rest or to stretch. When you finish the interval you’re running, be mindful of those around you before coming to a complete stop, and then step off to the side until you’re ready for the next round.

Leave your furry running partners and strollers at home — I can’t make this up – I have seen both! Dogs and strollers can do damage to the track surface. So leave both at home – your fellow runners will appreciate it.

5 tips for running on the track #runchat Share on X

I’m linking up with Rachel from Running on Happy and Lacey & Meranda from Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five link-up! 

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Filed Under: Friday Five, track work

Weekly Wrap – Slow return to training

July 9, 2017 by 40 Comments

The first full week of July is in the books, and it’s time for the Weekly Wrap with Holly, Tricia, and this week’s guest host Christine. Definitely be sure to stop by and check out all of the great ladies who join in for this link-up!

So how’d things shake out this week? Here’s a quick run down…

Sunday – 4-mile run. A rare Sunday run for me, but I had missed running Saturday due to family plans. And besides, the morning was too beautiful to pass up! Also, I got back to daily planks.

Monday – Rest day.
Tuesday – The track was calling – I swear 800-meter repeats never get easier!


Wednesday – OK so I may have gotten a bit ambitious at the track 😉 I had plans on a strength workout, but listened to my legs and opted for rest.
Thursday – 5.5-mile run.
Friday – Strength work and chiro visit.
Saturday – 3.4 miles – this was supposed to be a 6 or 7-mile run but for some reason, nothing felt good on this run. My stride felt off and so did my breathing. After a solid week of running, the wheels came off the wagon a bit. I’m chalking it up to being just “one of those days!”
Sunday – Feeling especially tight today, so I went with some gentle yoga.

So as the title of this post alludes, this week marked a return to training. While I enjoyed taking June at a leisurely pace, I know the fall race season will be here in a blink of an eye so it’s time to ease back into a training plan. I still haven’t settled on a goal race, but the RC coaches and I are leaning towards a couple of November options with a possible tune-up race or two. I did sign up for the Wicked Half and I’m looking forward to the Skirt Sports Ambassador meet-up.  This race will be for fun and should help me to get focused. It’s a mere 68 days away, so Saturday runs will get longer and I’m going to try to keep one day for speed work.

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Filed Under: half marathon training, Weekly Wrap, Wicked Half Marathon

July Coffee Date

July 1, 2017 by 27 Comments

How is it already July?!?!

The breakneck pace of 2017 continues! It’s the first Saturday of the month, and that means it’s time for catching up over coffee! Thanks to Coco and Deborah for hosting the Ultimate Coffee Date link-up.  Grab a mug (or an iced coffee) and join me!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that after a sea of end-of-year school events, elementary school graduation, a major event for work, and 3…yes 3 weekends of lacrosse tournaments, I am really looking forward to some lazy summer days this month!

My kiddo’s sporting the yellow gloves

 

 If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my newest snack addiction is the Health Warrior Pumpkin Seed Bars. I first got to try the Cinnamon Spice bar thanks to StrideBox and I was quickly on the hunt for more. Since then I’ve discovered the Honey Cracked Pepper with Turmeric and the Dark Chocolate. These bars are so good!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m looking forward to lounging on my deck and doing some summer reading…but I need some recommendations! It’s been a while since I’ve read a good novel and I miss reading.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that while this pup is wildly cute, he’s a stubborn handful! We start our first session with a trainer this morning and I cannot wait!

In fact, I better finish my coffee and get ready for the trainer.

What would you tell me over coffee? Any book suggestions?

 

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Filed Under: Ultimate coffee date

Weekly Wrap: Eyeing Fall Races

June 25, 2017 by 25 Comments

Staying true to my goals for this month, my workouts have been comfortably locked in on cruise control. This past week was no different. There was some time for yoga and getting re-aquatinted with my foam roller. And, there was some running. The temps have been climbing so I promised myself this would be the week to get out early to beat the sun’s heat.

Of course, Mother Nature does have a twisted sense of humor, and just as I stepped out the door for Tuesday’s run I was greeted with this…

Yep a serious downpour…given how warm it was I ran anyways…anything to avoid the mill. And actually, this run felt great!

I was chasing my shadow and the sun on Thursday’s run, and happily logged another pain-free run!

And, while the struggle bus came looking for me on this morning’s run thanks to a cranky stomach, I’m happy to say the miles were pain-free

the glute/piriformis/hip thing finally feeling under control these past couple of weeks, I’ve allowed myself to start eyeing potential fall races.  I’m pretty sure I’ll pull the trigger on the Wicked Half Marathon, held in mid-September. Some of the Skirt Sports ambassadors in the area picked this race for a meet-up so I’m sure this could be a fun one! Past experience has taught me that the temps can still be pretty warm in mid-September, so I’d like to find a goal race for October or early November.

Any suggestions for a half marathon? Do you have your fall races settled yet?

Linking up with Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap, and this week’s guest host Zenaida. Definitely be sure to stop by and check out all of the great ladies who join in for this link-up!

 

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Filed Under: fall racing, Weekly Wrap

Weekly Wrap – Just cruising along

June 11, 2017 by 19 Comments

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last joined Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap – How’d I let that happen?! Kim is this week’s guest host so be sure to stop by and say hello!

As I mentioned in my June goals, I’m not following a training plan at the moment – just kind of taking workouts as they come. So how did this week go?

Monday: Yoga and chiro visit. Based on the feedback I gave my chiro, he thinks I’m progressing nicely so we’re going to see if I can get to the first week of July before my next appointment!

Tuesday: I usually run on Tuesdays, but the combination of a torrential downpour most of the day and a crazy work day, made it easy to push this run to Wednesday.

Wednesday: We finally got a break in the rain, so I celebrated Global Running Day with a 3-mile run.

Thursday:  Strength work – my usual focus on hips, glutes, and abs, followed by some trigger point work with my massage therapist.

Friday: Since I ran Wednesday, I’d plan to run Friday…but remember the never-ending mulch pile in my driveway? I decided I just couldn’t look at it any longer, and I knew with our town’s big lacrosse tournament this weekend if I didn’t tackle it then it would most likely still be there on Monday. So I spent a couple of hours hauling mulch around and I’m happy to say the pile is gone! Talk about a total body workout!!

Saturday: The whole family spent the day at the lacrosse tournament – we left the house by 7:30 and didn’t head home until close to 6 pm! And, did I mention the temps jumped to the high 80’s? Yeah, we were all toast!

Sunday: Being on my feet all day Saturday took its toll, but I really wanted to get a little run in before day 2 of the tourney. So I tacked on another 3 miles.

As you can see, there was not much running this week and I’m totally fine with that. Temps are supposed to hover in the 90s for most of this week so I’ll be pushing the clock back to run as early as possible – otherwise, there will be a lot of cross-training this week 🙂

How do you fair when not on a training plan? 

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Filed Under: no training plan, Weekly Wrap

Global Running Day 2017

June 6, 2017 by 9 Comments

Global Running Day is Wednesday!

So on the first Wednesday of June, the annual call goes out to celebrate running!

The driving rain we’ve been dealing with here for the past couple of days is supposed to finally break tomorrow so I’ll be starting my celebration with a run, of course. Then it might be time for a little retail therapy in the form of both gear and races 🙂

SPIbelt – SPIbelt has been with me since my earliest days of running! Use code michelle2017 to save 15%!

StrideBox – I have shared my love for StrideBox many times here! Use code RunningDay17 for 50% off of the first box for a new regular monthly subscription to StrideBox! (Offers good only on 6/7)

SkirtSports – And I’m always happy to share a little SkirtSport love 😉 Use code SPRINGCPT20 to get 20% off.

So many races – Active has teamed up with a bunch of races to offer registration discounts. And, everyone who registers for a participating event on 6/7 will automatically be entered to win a swag bag valued at $500, featuring products from Garmin, New Balance, Gatorade, and Road ID just to name a few. Click here for details.

How will you be celebrating?

Linking up with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for this week’s Tuesday on the Run – the topic this week is Global Running Day, naturally! 

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Filed Under: #REALwomenmove, #StrideBox, Global Running Day, race shopping, Skirt Sports, SPIbelt, Tuesdays on the Run

June Coffee Date

June 3, 2017 by 14 Comments

It’s the first Saturday of the month, so of course, that means it’s time for catching up over coffee! Thanks to Coco and Deborah for hosting the Ultimate Coffee Date link-up.  Grab a mug (or an iced coffee) and join me!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m really looking forward to having no training plan this month – to just roll out of bed and run without trying to hold to a schedule. I’ll be curious to see how many miles I log when left to my own devices.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’ve been hard at work on my garden and it’s starting to come together nicely. What’s blowing my mind is after working all last weekend and parts of this week on the garden, I can’t believe I still have a pretty significant pile of mulch in my driveway!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m so happy my oldest son decided to not go to overnight camp for the full 7-week session. He’s only going for the second session so he can go to a technology program at one of the local colleges. After two summers of him being away for the bulk of the summer, I’m looking forward to having him around 🙂

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I cannot believe that my “baby” is just days aways from graduating elementary school and will be a middle schooler! Seriously where has the time gone?

And, of course, I’d have to share a photo of my ever-growing puppy who’s now 4 months old!

What would you tell me over coffee?

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Filed Under: Ultimate coffee date

New month, new goals

June 2, 2017 by 34 Comments

 

The jam-packed month of May is now in the rearview mirror and I’m ready to turn my attention to the month ahead. So far this year has been marked by a lot of stops and starts on the running front. I was always anxious to jump back into training for an upcoming race, but it’s clear looking back now that I should have taken more time to heal.

June now gives me a chance to do that! With no race planned until mid-September, this month affords me the chance to right the ship, hopefully once and for all. So for today’s Friday Five, I’m sharing some fitness goals for June:

Focus on Chi Running form — I’ve actually been working on this since the workshop I attended early last month. I especially want to work on my lean.

Photo courtesy of ChiRunning

Improve cadence — Along with my running form, I really want to focus on locking in my cadence. I’ve been doing some of my runs with the metronome app and would like to work on slowly increasing my cadence from 170 to 175.

Prioritize self-care — Time with the chiropractor, massage therapist, in addition to time for foam rolling, are a must.

Eat the rainbow — With May’s hectic schedule there were way too many meals on the run, too much take out, and not nearly enough attention to eating well. Time to climb back on the wagon – especially need to up my fruits and veggies!

Build from the core out — I took a break from daily planking last month, but am getting back at it, along with hip and glute strength work at least twice a week.

Do you set monthly goals? What have you got planned for June?

I’m linking up with Rachel from Running on Happy and Lacey & Meranda from Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five link-up!

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Filed Under: ChiRunning, Friday Five, goals

A May Runfession or Two

May 26, 2017 by 24 Comments

It’s the last Friday of the month, which means it’s time to come clean with some Runfessions! Be sure to check out what our host Marcia and others are confessing!

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I runfess that in sharing my race week ambivalence with a good friend over lunch yesterday, it became crystal clear to me that the only reason I was still considering running this Sunday was due to some twisted negative self-talk that I needed to “man-up” (or is that “woman-up”?) and not wimp out. This is not a good reason to run.

I’m all for a good challenge and pushing myself in a race but I runfess that I’m not interested in hobbling through just for the sake of saying I did it – especially if I just risk doing more harm than good.

While I’m disappointed that this whole training cycle didn’t come together as I’d hoped, I runfess that I will not regret sleeping in on Sunday morning and living to race another day.

I runfess that I’m already mapping out fall races 🙂 (Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this!)

So c’mon share…what do you runfess? 

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Filed Under: Runfessions

Race Week Ambivalence

May 23, 2017 by 13 Comments

 

Ambivalence
[am-biv-uh-luh ns]
noun
1. uncertainty or fluctuation, especially when caused by the inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.

2. Psychology. the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action, simultaneously drawing him or her in opposite directions.

Yeah, I think this sums it up pretty well how I’m feeling. Technically, this is race week. I say technically because, if you’ve been around here for a bit then you know consistent training has been hard to come by.

I thought after making the decision to drop from the half marathon to the 5-miler a couple of weeks ago, that I could re-focus and charge ahead to crush the shorter distance. Instead these last few weeks have been very up and down – sometimes the piriformis and hip feel good and running is more enjoyable, but other times, the pain radiates down my leg and I’d just assume do anything other than run.

Throw in a schedule both at home and work that are in overdrive and I’m just feeling meh at the thought of running this race this weekend.

I have to say this is a first for me…and what makes it worst is that I really do love this race – I think it’s one of the best Boston has to offer. I want to be excited, but right now the thought of sleeping late Sunday morning is far more appealing.

So the question is…how do you get your head in the game when you’re not excited about a race?

Linking up with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for this week’s Tuesday on the Run – the topic this week is grading your month. 

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Filed Under: race week, running dilemnas, Tuesdays on the Run