2013 Goofy Challenge: Week 5 – Travel

Week 5 Recap:

I didn’t follow the plan this week.   I missed a run and didn’t bother to make it up.   Lame, I know.   There were no excuse as I could’ve gone to the (air-conditioner) gym at the hotel and did at least 30 minutes as supposed to glue my bottom to the couch at the hotel room.   I am not too happy with myself at the moment, however, I also am not going wallow about it.   It’s in the past.  Hakuna Matata.

One thing that I realized this week though, I definitely stronger and better.   My pace is slowly increase and I am no longer huffing and puffing the entire run (only in the first 10 mins as my muscle and the rest of me warms up).    This part made me so happy.

5 weeks down, 23 weeks to go!

Plan for this week:

Tues: Run for 45 minutes

Thu: Run for 45 minutes

Sat: Run for 6 miles

Tuesday 7/31

I felt like kaka and didn’t really want to get out, but I did it anyway.   I went to the gym and tried to put in 45 minutes, however, I can’t seem to get my rhythm.   Everything off, so after a half hour or so — I gave up and stopped.   I put it 2.7 miles in 30 minutes

Thursday 8/2

I arrived at Chicago around 7pm and was really surprised on how hot it was.  It’s not only the heat, it’s the humidity.   I believed the temperature was hovering between 95-98 degrees at 9pm with (or so it felt) 100% humidity.   I quickly surrendered with the weather and decided to hang out at our air-conditioner hotel room instead.   Lame, I know.

Sunday 8/5

It was too chaotic to run on Saturday, the day we came back after our trip, so I did my run on Sunday.   We dropped the girls at grandma-camp, and head out on the trail.   I have to note here that it was HOT.   It wasn’t as humid as Chicago, but it was very warm.   I struggled the first couple miles due to the heat and had to take sip of water every walk break but I finished the distance and more.  7.5 miles in 1 hour 27 mins.   Not too shabby

2013 Goofy Challenge: Week 4 – Double Digit

Week 4 Recap:

My first double digit run this year!!  I was actually excited and nervous for the long run this week as I wasn’t sure how I’m going to do.   I started the week with a really crappy news on my health, so I was NOT in good mood but somehow I managed to re-focus and redirect my energy towards my run.   My mid-week run was great and I even did one of them during my vacation, even though the husband had to nudge me a bit in order for me to get going.    In overall, I had a really good week.  I felt stronger than a week before and am very looking forward to become even stronger as the weeks goes by.

4 weeks down, 24 weeks to go!!

Plan for this week:

Tues: Run 45 minutes

Thu: Run for 45 minutes

Sat: Run for 10 miles

Tuesday 7/24

I got home a bit earlier and head straight to the trail.  I had a very crappy day and I just want to go out for run.   I did the usual route and set my Nike app to do 45 minutes and went out my way.   I ended up having a really good run and even run a bit longer than I planned.  4.0 miles in 49:13

Thursday 7/26

Our family took a couple days off on Wednesday and head out to Rosyln, WA — about an hour east from where we live.   We stayed at this awesome resort called Suncadia Resort and had an awesome time.   I did pack my running gear with me but had a motivation issue to actually did my run (who actually run on their vacation, right?)   However, after a serious smack-down from the husband, I finally put my shoes on and head out for a run.   I followed the path around the property and set my app for 45 minutes.   It was beautiful scenery and I was so glad that I did my run!   I got lost for a moment and had to text the husband so he can figured out where I was at (gotta love technology) and it was pretty hot out there.   I did 3.51 miles in 46 minutes

Saturday 7/28

Double Digit!  It’s my first double digit run since… well, my half-marathon in January.   I was pretty confident and asked the husband to drop me at the very beginning of the trail and run west.   He parked the car around the 10 miles mark and rode his bike towards me.   The first 3 miles went by fast.   I did my usual 2-1 ratio and I did great.   At half-point, I decided to change things up a bit and started to do 5-1 ratio instead (okay, it might’ve start as an accident as I miss the cue for the walk break).   Surprisingly, I did really well with that ratio and felt strong the entire half of the run with it.   I finished my 10.02 miles within 2:07:49.   Not too bad!

2013 Goofy Challenge: Week 3 – Progress

Week 3 Recap:

I had so much going on this week, between hectic work, challenging health-news and family obligations, but I am very pleased to look back and know I didn’t miss any scheduled run.   I felt stronger and finally found some rhythm during my run, which made my run more pleasant.   The weather been very good, not too hot for summer and even though the humidity was high, the trail that I was running have a lot of trees, which make the run very comfortable under the shades.

I am currently using Saucony ProGrid Omni 10 and I love it.   It’s a good stability shoes that replace my old Asics Gel-Equation 4 that I used for my last 3 races.    However, I want to have an alternate shoes during this training so I went ahead and buy Saucony ProGrid Omni 11 which pretty much the same shoes, but newer model.    I used the new shoes for all my run this week and plan to put equal miles on this shoes and alternate with my other one.

I am still not incorporating any strength training.   I know I have to, and have absolutely no excuse.   My bad.   I’ll make an effort to really put that in place this coming week.

In summary, despite everything that happen – I had a great week running-wise.   I’m making progress and that’s always a win.

3 weeks down, 25 weeks to go!

Plan for this week:

Tues:  Run for 45 minutes

Thu:   Run for 45 minutes

Sat:  Run 7 miles

Tuesday 7/17

A few of us at work decided to go a group run together around lunch time.   We took a nice jog towards the waterfront and start running at Elliot Bay trail and go into Myrtle Edwards Park.  I had such a great time with the group run and enjoy the conversation with my co-workers.   It felt awesome to be able to break the work day, run and enjoy the day.   The weather was perfect!   We did 5k in about 45 minutes

Thursday 7/19

My good friend, Elysia, met me at Starbucks after work and we head out to Snoqualmie Valley trail.    I had such a great time with her as we chatted and had a really nice conversation.   We did 2-1 ratio and run 3.7 miles in about 45 minutes

Saturday 7/21

My training plan called for 7 miles today, but I decided to do 8 miles to put on some mileage for this week.   My husband and I headed to the trail around 10am and I started to run west from where we park at Fall City.   Usually, I turned around on the half point and headed back to where we park, but I didn’t feel like it and wanted to kept going.   I asked my husband to moved to the car around mile 3 to further west so I can keep running.

I did 2-1 ratio and my overall pace were better than any of my run in the last 3 weeks.   I felt strong for the entire 8 miles and my split were pretty even.   I hydrated myself well prior the run as well as during the run.   I know that I am making tremendous progress because a few weeks ago, I felt winded on my 4 miles run and now I can breezed through my 8 miles with no problem.

I finished 8.04 miles within 1:43 minues.

Another one small win.