Category Archives: Winter Miles Challenge 2014

One bad week but one good run

Well, another week has gone by. This was a bad one. I just ate too much food. Not enough self control. I barely worked out at all! BUT I did have one good run, yesterday. It was a very windy day, and the wind kept catching the jogging stroller, so it was tough. I did walk/jog intervals for about 10 1/4 miles. My averaged out pace was 12:32 min a mile, so I’m pleased about that. I’m happy overall that I was able to get the distance in! I did meet my Winter Miles Challenge, woohoo! You can read more details in my Fitness Friday post at Mylifeaworkinprogress.com.

The next few days are supposed to be cool, but mid-week the weather’s supposed to warm up. The forecast says we may even get into the 60s! As exciting as that is, every time this area has a good extended forecast, by the time we get there, some storm or other has moved in bringing snow and cold.

I’m just really hoping that we have good weather by March, so I’ll at least have a month of good training for my half marathon. As it is now, I could completely the half, but not as fast as I’d like. Baby J and I are going to visit his Daddy in Florida in a couple of weeks. We’ll be there for about 2 1/2 weeks, so perhaps I’ll get some good runs in while I’m there!

One other thing, my arm muscles are getting stronger. I was able to do more reps and more weight this week. I need to be more consistent though. I have a lot of work to do, so hopefully next week will be better.

Baby J loves to ride in his stroller during mama’s runs!

How was your week? Your weekend so far?

Glad January is over!

February isn’t starting off so great, but it’s all in perspective, right? My toddler has croup. I think he’s getting better, but Friday and Saturday were rough. Last night I took him to the ER, after he started vomiting. They treated his fever and nausea, and then gave him an oral steroid for his throat inflammation. Today he wasn’t coughing as much, just super crabby.

It was a gorgeous day outside, so I finally felt comfortable taking him out. In fact, I thought the fresh air would do him some good. And it did…at first. The track where I run goes by two playgrounds. He didn’t understand why I wouldn’t stop and let him play with the other kids (I didn’t want him to infect anyone). So he’d cry. When he cried, his coughing fits would start. Add to that the fact my yoga pants kept falling down (that’s NEVER happened before). I stopped running a little after 1 mile and was able to walk another. It was really frustrating. I almost wanted to cry for a minute, but I just have to persevere.

The good news is that my average pace while jogging was 9:18 min mile. All through January I was averaging a 10 min mile or worse. Of course, that was only for a mile, so I don’t know how long I could’ve kept it up, but I was feeling pretty good.

I didn’t meet my Winter Miles Challenge this week. I missed it by about a mile, that’s it. Frustrating, but I just have to do better next week.

Finishing strong

I’m encouraged. Yesterday, I had a great run. I ran at least 6 miles and without my running buddy. I never run well alone, so I was thrilled that I made it that far without her. I’m sure I could’ve done at least another 2 miles, but poor Baby J was getting really antsy. Every time we passed the playground, he started getting upset, because he wanted to play. I kept telling him, “Soon, soon,” and he was being so good about it that I couldn’t do any more laps. Not fair to him!

As far as the distance, it might have been 7 miles. You see, when my running partner and I started training in the fall, we had several people tell us that a particular track was 2 miles around. Well, when I started using RunKeeper a few weeks ago, it told me that 2 mile stretch was actually only 1.8 miles. That’s a little depressing! I need to verify that, maybe with the MapMyRun app. In the meantime, I ran what we used to consider 6 miles, and then threw in an extra 11 minutes of jogging, just in case.

My view on the trail

I have to be honest and say that I did stop during my run. I had a bathroom break after the first 2 miles, and then had to stop several times quickly to adjust my son’s gloves, and once to tie my shoe laces.

Also it was pretty slow, so “jog” would be more accurate. I didn’t time myself, but I’m sure it was at least a 10 minute mile. BUT all that said…I did run the entire distance, so that’s really encouraging. I think at this rate, my long run can be up to 10 miles in February, which definitely puts me on track for the half-marathon in April. It’s going to be okay!

There’s a 5K next Saturday that I really want to run, but we’re trying to be frugal right now. The registration fee isn’t expensive, but I can think of several things that I should spend money on right now before a race, so it’s probably not going to work out.

I’m going to head out in a bit with Baby J to go run some more. Can you believe it’s 15 degrees colder today than yesterday? The weather here is so back and forth. I’ll probably put Baby J in a snow suit, so he can stay warm even with the wind. I’m very jealous of those of you with treadmills and ellipticals at home, by the way!

I just need 2 miles today to meet my Winter Miles Challenge goal for this week. Oh, I’m behind on my push-ups. I’ll have to do them twice today.

Yesterday I blogged about Fitness Friday on my other blog. You’re welcome to swing by and tell me about your goals!

Also on mylifeaworkinprogress.com, I reviewed the Armpocket, and I’m giving one away. This armband is awesome! There are several models to fit different sizes of phones, and some of them have storage room for gel packs, lip balm, IDs, etc. It’s really cool! You can check out the review HERE and the giveaway HERE. And I’m also participating in a giveaway for the Bowflex Boost fitness tracker. Super jealous of whoever wins that one!

How was your Friday? What does your weekend look like?

TGIF and I’ve joined the Winter Miles Challenge. You can too!

Winter Miles Challenge Button

I’ve signed up for the 2014 Winter Miles Challenge hosted by Run with Jess! This free challenge is to motivate us all through the toughest two months of the year- January and February. Although it doesn’t get really cold here in Southern Virginia, I still can use the motivation.

You don’t have to be a blogger to participate, so check out the link above for more info and to sign up. The challenge is open to everyone, and you can pick how many miles you plan to run each week (and change that at any point). And there are prizes you could win!

I knew this week I’d have trouble getting mileage in, so I picked the beginner goal at 10 miles of running a week. We’ll see how I do, but hopefully by February I’ll be in the next category, which is intermediate.

On a different note, today I blogged a Fitness Friday post on my other blog, My Life: A Work in Progress. If you’re interested, you can pop over there and read my current fitness goals as well as view some photos. I even posted my measurements (scary stuff- for me!). You’re also welcome to join me over there every week for Fitness Friday, and you don’t need a blog to do so!

Today’s run was the third this week. And I’ve gotten progressively slower. But I ran a little farther, so I’m not depressed about it. It balances out, right? I figure it’s going to take a few weeks before I get back into the swing of things. I will be able to run faster and farther…it’s just going to take some time to build my endurance and speed back up.

To recap:

  • Wednesday, I ran 1.8 miles at an average pace of 9:36.
  • Thursday, I ran 2.15 miles at an average pace of 9:39.
  • Today (Friday), I ran 3.62 miles at an average pace of 10:58. I actually did run/walk intervals for a couple miles after that, but I wasn’t tracking the time or exact distance.

I was very stiff and sore today, and really struggled to put one foot in front of the other. Just have to keep working at it! I haven’t done any ab or arm exercises yet today, but I’m about to run my push-up app.

How was your day? Did you meet your goals this week? Are you working out this weekend or taking a break?