Friday Five

Coffee and My Friday 5

February 7, 2014 by Michelle 9 Comments

I’ve got my favorite mug filled so it’s time for another round of my Friday Five.

Don’t think, just go — My joy of returning to the great outdoors was short-lived as snow and icy roads have sent me back to the mill this week. But I have refused to get hung up about it…don’t think, just go!

Senior Posse — The January fanfare at the gym has subsided so the one benefit of returning to the mill is the ease at which I can find a parking pace in the lot and I get my choice of machines once inside. One interesting trend I have noticed this week is how many seniors have been showing up – and unlike some of their younger counterparts, they’re there to workout, not chat! I love it!

Family running — My oldest has picked his next 5K! He’ll be joining me for the B.A.A. 5K on Marathon weekend. J also decided to register so it looks like it’s time for some family training runs 🙂

#FFBurpee Challenge — As I wrap-up the first week of the burpee challenge, I have no problem admitting that this challenge is kicking my butt! I’ve been trying to do some burpees in the morning and then the rest in the evening so it doesn’t feel so daunting. My youngest son’s been joining me for the evening round and you can’t beat his enthusiasm for motivation!

Quiet Weekend Ahead — Aside from the usual chauffeuring the boys around to meet friends and get to their sports commitments, I’m looking forward to a fairly quiet weekend in the RWA household. With the amount of racing around that is the norm around here, I’ve learned to really savor these weekends where there’s actually white space on the calendar.

How’s your week been? Any weekend plans?

Filed Under: #FFBurpee, family running, Friday Five

Friday Five – Great cause, Burpees and other stuff

January 31, 2014 by Michelle 17 Comments

Hello Friday!

Coffee cup in hand and dog by my feet and a little this and that coming your way….

Stop Stroke Shuffle — Dani over at Weight Off My Shoulders is hosting the Stop Stroke Shuffle 5k virtual race. Dani is once again representing Tedy’s Team at the Boston Marathon and raising money for the American Stroke Association. Proceeds from this virtual race will go towards Dani’s goal of raising $5,000. I plan to run this in honor of my grandfather. Click on the cute medal below to join in!

#FFBurpee 1000 Burpee Challenge — OK I’ll admit this is a tough one for me….I loathe burpees! They’re hard and truthfully I’m not very good at doing them, but they are effective.

FitFluential is teaming up with Under Armour for this challenge – the goal is to complete 1,000 burpees by February 28th. No that’s not a typo…1,000! Need some extra incentive? How about a complete outfit from Under Armour…not to mention the positive effects on your physique! Check out the details HERE and join me (I’ll need the encouragement 🙂 )

Race Bait & Switch — Have you ever registered for a race only to have the race director announce just days before the start that there’s now a pace restriction? Yep! When I registered for this 5-miler last month there was no mention of needing to maintain a particular pace, yet in the race director’s email yesterday he casually mentions that they’re facing time constraints and runners should plan to maintain a <9 min pace or drop down to the newly added 5K. Not cool in my book! I had already decided to take a pass because this head cold has made speedwork non-existent.

Super Bowl — As a diehard football fan I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that Super Bowl Sunday is just days away. I still haven’t gotten over my beloved Patriots’ u-g-l-y loss in the AFC Championship game. But, we do love football in the RWA household so I will be making jambalaya for the event (it’s tradition), and cheering on the Seahawks! Any traditional Super Bowl dishes in your house?

…oh and don’t forget the Bulu Box deal ends today!

Filed Under: #FFBurpee, Friday Five, general musings, race, Under Armour

Coffee and a Friday Five

November 1, 2013 by Michelle 9 Comments

Time really flew this week and somehow it’s already Friday!

So with coffee cup in hand….

World Champs! While I’m first to admit that I’m not a huge baseball fan, I couldn’t help but get caught up in my youngest son’s die-hard excitement for this team. It was great to see them win it all at home!

Needing sleep — Thanks to the late playoff and World Series games, I have been getting to bed waaaay too late which has resulted in too much coffee the next morning. A not so good cycle that I’ll be correcting now that the games are done.

Over 6 pounds — that’s how much candy my oldest hauled in last night trick-or-treating! Yep he weighed it. My youngest had a pretty full bag as too – this could get ugly!

Small Changes — 4 weeks into the #OneSmallChange challenge! Week 4’s water intake was much better so for week 5 I’m adding daily rolling to help ease my crazy tight legs. This was a recommendation of my LMT that I haven’t always made time for.

Running progress — Got back to running this week with a solid 6 miles on Tuesday and track work yesterday. So far my foot has tolerated the runs and I’m babying it in between runs as much as possible. 9 miles on tap for tomorrow and then hopefully a full weeks of training next week.

How’d your week go? What have you got planned for the weekend?

Filed Under: #RedSox, Friday Five, general musings, need more sleep, Small changes

Friday Five – Race Time and an Anniversary

October 11, 2013 by Michelle 6 Comments

Coffee cup in hand and lots of thoughts swirling in my head….

1. This has been such an odd race week. I have been icing, stretching and doing everything else I can think of to baby my right knee and foot. There are moments things feel pretty good and other times I cannot believe how much everything hurts!

2. I’ve only run once – a 4 mile fartlek yesterday. Some discomfort but no serious pain – I’m calling it a small victory.

3. Originally the B.A.A. Half was going to be a goal race – I was hoping to go after a PR. Obviously, I’ve been rethinking that goal all week and trying to figure out what’s realistic. Still have no idea what time goal to aim for – looking forward to my call with Coach Bennett to see what he thinks.

4. I am so excited for my running buddy E – this will be her first half! She’s trained so hard for this and I just know she’s going to do great! I can’t wait to see her cross the finish line!

5. My hubs J gave me an amazing pep talk last night. His support always means so much to me. And, today is our 21st wedding anniversary!

Are you racing this weekend?

Filed Under: BAA, family support, Friday Five, race goals

Friday Ramblings

August 9, 2013 by Michelle 3 Comments

Sitting here in a quiet house with the dog at my feet and coffee cup in hand…

There has been at least one, if not both, boys home sick since Tuesday! I was happy to see both smiling faces heading off to camp this morning – I swear there’s nothing worst than seeing your children not feel well 🙁

Between the sick kids and my cranky left hip, running has been a bit challenging this week. I am trying very hard to not get hung up in the miles I’ve missed, knowing that the cross-training will help and getting this hip happy is priority one!

Changes in family plans means I’ve needed to change up my fall racing schedule – I won’t be running ZOOMA in September so I’ve been on the hunt for another race to use as a “tune up” before I get to the B.A.A. Half in October. Though I think I’ve now found the source of my recent GI issues, Coach Bennett thinks it will be helpful to put my body through “race conditions” and see how I respond. So I think I’ll be adding this to my schedule:

It’s run on a beautiful course through Salem & Marblehead – Can. Not. Wait!

Seriously, how is it Friday again already? I feel like I just finished coming down from last weekend’s birthday fun and here we are again. Don’t get me wrong – I love seeing Friday arrive, but this summer is flying by way too fast! We still have a number of things left on our family summer bucket list!

We’ll get one more item checked off tomorrow as we’ll be catching a Boston Cannons’ game! My hubs J was elected to his lacrosse league’s all-star game (so proud of him!) and they’ll be playing their game before the Cannons. So the boys and I are going to go cheer on our All-Star and then we’re all hanging out for the Cannons’ game afterwards!

How are you doing with your Summer Bucket list?

Do you run tune-up races?

Filed Under: #13in2013, BAA, crazy week, fall racing, Friday Five, kids, Lacrosse, race calendar, running coach, Wicked Half Marathon

Friday randomness

June 14, 2013 by Michelle 4 Comments

It’s Friday! It has been another one of those crazy weeks where I feel like the hamster wheel has been running at full tilt. So here’s some heavily- caffeinated randomness coming your way…..

We’re still drowning in school projects and other end-of-school year activities. This afternoon’s special treat is listening to my son’s fifth grade class recite poetry during the “Coffee House” – yeah I know you’re jealous!
We still have two weeks to go before school is over – thank you Mother Nature! And if the chaos in my house this morning is any indication, we may not make it!
Thursday track workouts continue — yesterday, despite not feeling my best, was a great session of 800-meter repeats. Always great to crank out a solid workout especially when you’re just not feeling it.
As I mentioned earlier, I have started keeping a food journal to see if I can figure out what’s behind my race stomach issues. It’s interesting to step back and really look at what you consume throughout the day. One glaring thing that is jumping off the page for me is just how little water I’m drinking!
We will be spending our weekend wrapping up the boys’ sport seasons — there will be at least 4 lacrosse games possibly 6 (it’s a tournament) and 1 baseball game. Somewhere in there I hoping to squeeze a long run in and maybe tend to my neglected garden if the rain holds off.

What have you got planned for this weekend?

Filed Under: Friday Five, general musings, kids

Five for Friday

May 17, 2013 by Michelle 11 Comments

Hello Friday…what took you so long to get here?

This is the first morning all week where I’m not racing off somewhere as soon as I put the kids on the bus (or they even leave the house!). So with coffee in hand, here comes a little randomness for this Friday morning….

I would like to ask all teachers to please find a way of spreading projects, field trips and the like more evenly throughout the school year so that the final couple of months of school don’t feel like such a scramble!
After a solid race pace run last Saturday, this week marked the beginning of my taper. It’s been a nice week of easier runs – but I did enjoy hitting the track yesterday just to push my legs a little.
The one thing that has not gone well in the training department this week is my sleeping – yes, I consider getting enough rest as part of training! I’ve gotten into a very bad habit this week of falling a sleep on the couch and then when I head to bed I’m wide awake! I’ve got to work on doing a better job of logging some sleep as I head into race week.
I was thrilled to hear the news that B.A.A. has extended an invitation to the 5000+ runners who were not able to cross the Boston Marathon finish line. I know a number of runners who were stopped short of fulfilling their dream and I’m so glad they’re getting another chance.
It will be another weekend filled with the boys’ sports – at last count, at least 3 lacrosse games and two baseball games. I’m hoping to get some time in my very neglected garden and my hubs and I planning to sneak out for a date night!

For now I’m going to pour a second cup and catch up on some blog reading before I get on with the day!

What have you got planned for the weekend?

Filed Under: BAA, crazy week, Friday Five, need more sleep, taper time

September 14, 2012 by Michelle 9 Comments

1) Made it through this week’s hill work without any angry outbursts from the left ITB! My schedule has been crazy this week so I ended up swapping Wednesday & Thursday’s runs so I did my hill work on Wednesday. It was a solid workout and the ITB behaved…what more could you ask for?

2) Thursday’s recovery run didn’t happen. I could feel my left wasn’t going to cooperate even before I got out of bad, so I put my ego in check and skipped the run. I’m trying to be smart about this!

3) “Yikes!” is never a comment you want to hear from a massage therapist when she feels how tight your ITB is 🙂 She ~~beat the tar out of~~ intensely worked on my legs then sent me home for an epsom salt soak. My schedule didn’t allow for the time for a soak, but I will do one after Saturday’s long run. I did get to my “Yoga for Runners” class and after that 2 hr session I can say my legs were officially junk!

4) My boys have been back in school now for a week and a half and the family calendar is a ridiculous sea of colors and I’m desperately trying to carve out white space! How did we get so crazy so quickly!?!

5) Just 8 days until the ZOOMA Half Marathon – Let the weather watch begin 🙂 I’ve got my last long run tomorrow to use as my dress rehearsal for clothes, shoes and fueling decisions. Hopefully the ITB will continue to be quiet!

What Have you got lined up for this weekend?

Filed Under: crazy week, Friday Five, ITB, ZOOMA Cape Cod

Friday Five

May 18, 2012 by Michelle 5 Comments

What is it about doing speed work at the track that always puts me on such a high for the rest of the day? I need to do more of it, because if nothing else it’s a confidence booster!

Some how I’m now just 10 days away from my next half marathon. I feel like it’s kinda crept up on me. Time to start obsessing …. checking the 10-day forecast.

Yoga is kicking my butt! I joined a “Yoga for Runners” class taught by an amazing yogini/marathoner. Last night was the second class and it was tougher than the first! I am ridiculously tight and while I try to break out the Rodney Yee DVD with some consistency, there’s clearly nothing that compares to having the instructor there to point out all your flaws…correct your form!

My youngest announced to me this morning that he only has 15 days of school left before he becomes a 1st grader! He’s looking forward to being out of school a whole week before his older brother – I’m panicking because that means I have only 15 days to finish any of my house projects or they go on hold until the boys start camp in July – Yikes!

The weather’s finally turned picture-perfect around here so I plan to live in my garden quite a bit this weekend. My boys gave me some beautiful perennials for Mother’s Day that I still need to get into the ground. So in between the usual kids’ sports/chauffeuring to b-day parties/etc., I hope to be happily up to my elbows in dirt 🙂

What have you got planned for the weekend?

Filed Under: Friday Five, gardening, randomness, track work, Yoga

Friday Five

March 30, 2012 by Michelle 12 Comments

Hit the track yesterday for the first of what will be many more speed workouts. It was a good ego-boosting session of consistent splits despite crazy cold winds.

My household is officially consumed by all things Lacrosse. My oldest son’s season has started and the first game is Sunday. J is the head coach for my son’s team as well as oversees the whole U11 program. J also announced that pick up games for his (~~old man’s~~) league will be starting soon. This means in short order there will be lacrosse equipment strewn all over my house (replacing the hockey stuff), my son and J will spend endless hours debating practice drills, and college lax games on ESPNU will become a permanent fixture.

I was thrilled to have my son ask me to run with him as he eyes his first mile race at his school’s upcoming fun run! (Where we going to fit it in among all things lacrosse I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.) I’m trying to convince my youngest to do the half mile kids’ run, but in typical fashion he’s taking a wait and see approach. He’s agreed to go to the track and see just how far a half mile is, but is making no commitments beyond that!

The PureFlows, replacements for the PureConnects, did arrive and I will say that even after only a couple of runs in them that they are a big improvement for me over the Connects.

Looking forward to a “date night” with J on Saturday. We may try to catch “The Hunger Games” – I really liked the books and from what I’ve heard this movie actually lives up to the hype!

Have a Great Weekend!