November recap: I cooked the squash!
Let's take a look at November goals...
November Goals
Get back on the bike after Richmond. This gets a check, I've been on it twice since Philly.
Take 2 on the squash vegetables. I made butternut squash risotto and put it plus eggplant on a pizza! Huge win.
Maaaaaybe stop drinking so much on weekends. Maybe. Definitely a check, 2 weeks of being sick knocked this one right out.
Check out that photography class thing at some point. Bah, giant fail.
Keep the speed workouts to 1x a week and most of the miles easy. That definitely happened - I did track Tuesdays only for speedwork this month and lots of easy miles.
Wear shorts as long as possible. 45º is not cold! I wore shorts yesterday - but a few warm weeks definitely helped this one.
My plans for the month derailed when I got sick a week before the Richmond Half. I decided to bail on it and instead race Philly the following weekend. Even though I didn't hit the ridiculous goal I set for myself for the half, I left every ounce of myself out on the race course and am more than pleased with how my fall racing season wrapped up. More importantly, I was there to cheer on the poet as he completed his first full, and I couldn't be more proud of him for sticking to his training plan and executing to the best of his ability on race day. And I haven't yet said, "I told you so," as he's gotten pumped to do it all again in the spring.
Pushing my half marathon back left me with very little recovery time before IM training started, but I nipped that pretty quickly and was able to tack on an extra week of rest. Starting next Tuesday, I'm handing things over to my coach, but I'm hoping to ease back into training to keep the burnout bunnies away. It's December, and we're coming up to my favorite holiday of the year by far. I know going in that making time for everything is going to be a challenge, but I'm trying not to stress about it and take everything week by week. It's so great to be able to look back a year and see that last November I spent the entire month walk-running 5Ks as I worked back from surgery, with my longest run of the month around 5 miles. This November I ran almost twice the amount of miles I ran last November, and that included two races much longer than a 5K. I've come a really long way in the past year and I'm definitely closing in on the longest amount of time in my life I've been able to consistently run without injury. My running isn't perfect and it might always be a work-in-progress, but I'm not staring angrily out the car window, wishing I was the one snorting my way through the 30º weather just to get some miles in. I'm the one out there, and I can't do anything but be thankful for that.
November
PRs set: 2
Rest days: many
Miles run in something other than shorts: 7
Hot pink science shoes purchased: 0
Adrenalines thrown in the trash (donated): 1
Time spent discussing and/or trying on running shoes: hundreds of hours
Cupcakes eaten in a single day: 5
Christmas ornaments eaten by a puppy: 1
December Goals
Make sure to keep getting enough sleep and good food as training ramps back up.
Don't be afraid to ask for rest if you need it, but don't be a lazy bum.
Get the bike fit straightened out.
Plan a mini-vacation for somewhere in the middle of IM training. You'll appreciate it when it shows up.
Spend more time in the pool than any other month in 2011 (14+ miles).
November Goals
Get back on the bike after Richmond. This gets a check, I've been on it twice since Philly.
Take 2 on the squash vegetables. I made butternut squash risotto and put it plus eggplant on a pizza! Huge win.
Maaaaaybe stop drinking so much on weekends. Maybe. Definitely a check, 2 weeks of being sick knocked this one right out.
Check out that photography class thing at some point. Bah, giant fail.
Keep the speed workouts to 1x a week and most of the miles easy. That definitely happened - I did track Tuesdays only for speedwork this month and lots of easy miles.
Wear shorts as long as possible. 45º is not cold! I wore shorts yesterday - but a few warm weeks definitely helped this one.
My plans for the month derailed when I got sick a week before the Richmond Half. I decided to bail on it and instead race Philly the following weekend. Even though I didn't hit the ridiculous goal I set for myself for the half, I left every ounce of myself out on the race course and am more than pleased with how my fall racing season wrapped up. More importantly, I was there to cheer on the poet as he completed his first full, and I couldn't be more proud of him for sticking to his training plan and executing to the best of his ability on race day. And I haven't yet said, "I told you so," as he's gotten pumped to do it all again in the spring.
Pushing my half marathon back left me with very little recovery time before IM training started, but I nipped that pretty quickly and was able to tack on an extra week of rest. Starting next Tuesday, I'm handing things over to my coach, but I'm hoping to ease back into training to keep the burnout bunnies away. It's December, and we're coming up to my favorite holiday of the year by far. I know going in that making time for everything is going to be a challenge, but I'm trying not to stress about it and take everything week by week. It's so great to be able to look back a year and see that last November I spent the entire month walk-running 5Ks as I worked back from surgery, with my longest run of the month around 5 miles. This November I ran almost twice the amount of miles I ran last November, and that included two races much longer than a 5K. I've come a really long way in the past year and I'm definitely closing in on the longest amount of time in my life I've been able to consistently run without injury. My running isn't perfect and it might always be a work-in-progress, but I'm not staring angrily out the car window, wishing I was the one snorting my way through the 30º weather just to get some miles in. I'm the one out there, and I can't do anything but be thankful for that.
November
PRs set: 2
Rest days: many
Miles run in something other than shorts: 7
Hot pink science shoes purchased: 0
Adrenalines thrown in the trash (donated): 1
Time spent discussing and/or trying on running shoes: hundreds of hours
Cupcakes eaten in a single day: 5
Christmas ornaments eaten by a puppy: 1
December Goals
Make sure to keep getting enough sleep and good food as training ramps back up.
Don't be afraid to ask for rest if you need it, but don't be a lazy bum.
Get the bike fit straightened out.
Plan a mini-vacation for somewhere in the middle of IM training. You'll appreciate it when it shows up.
Spend more time in the pool than any other month in 2011 (14+ miles).