weekly recap – Masher Runs

I have to admit that my running has been a bit sporadic lately. Not because of injury, but mostly because of a crazy schedule. Without actually training for anything, my motivation isn’t always there. But I’m also not stressing if I’m not running a ton of miles. Here’s a look at the past week.

Sunday: 3 Miles + Abs, Hips & Arms
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 4 Miles + Abs, Arms & Hips
Wednesday: 0
Thursday: 0
Friday: 0
Saturday: Crescent Moon 5k
Sunday: 0
Total: 10.1 Miles

Sunday was my first run in a week, I felt a little out of shape, but not horrible. I took it easy on the treadmill while everyone else was battling whether up in Cleveland. I think this was the only year I wasn’t jealous that I wasn’t running.

Tuesday was almost a run I could have gone without. Mallory and I met up at Lester and just weren’t feeling the run. We did a walk/jog for 4 miles. Between her leg cramps and my cramps, it just wasn’t our day.

I had planned to run on Wednesday, but I had a borderline migraine so I knew I was out for the night. Again, since I’m not in training, it’s ok to skip a workout or two.

Saturday I ran the Crescent Moon 5k. I ran with my sister in law Nicole, and we took it as a fun run. A recap will be up later this week.

Overall it wasn’t a horrible week, but I know I need to start adding in some speed work and increasing my mileage.

The biggest thing I dealt with this week was a time change in my schedule. I started a new job, so now I’m getting to work an hour earlier, so some exhaustion is definitely slowing me down. The plus side is that I get home an hour earlier, so now I feel pretty spoiled getting home before 5:30. It will take a few weeks to get used to, but it’s going to make a world of a difference for my overall health and happiness.

Another week has come and gone, so it’s time to look at the miles I put in.

Monday– Off

Tuesday– 5.2 Miles, 9:20 pace

Wednesday– Off

Thursday– Off

Friday– Off
Saturday– 3.5 Miles, 9:10 pace

Sunday– 5.7 Miles, 8:58 pace

Total – 14.4 Miles, 9:05 average pace

I started off the week enjoying the most likely last nice weather of the year. I met up with Mallory Tuesday night and we decided to run Roscoe and finish up around town. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned as we spooked ourselves out a mile into the run when we discovered the park was completely dark and noises (leaves and deer) left too much to our imagination. We decided to play it safe and headed to some neighboring developments to finish up the run. We ended up with a little over 5 miles, not bad for a Tuesday night.

Party pants for night running!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday running just didn’t happen. I felt a little guilty at first, but figured I could make up for lost miles on the weekend and enjoyed a little bit of free time.

Saturday I took advantage of the nice weather (30 degrees and no snow) and ran into town. The run was chilly and windy, but I convinced myself I’d be begging for this weather come January and February when we’re in a deep freeze. The run was uneventful, which is always a good thing.

Sunday I was joined by Cynthia and Ladd as we ran Lester for some easy miles. We chatted the entire way, which helped to pass the miles. They tried to push me to run a little faster and to move out of my comfort zone, which certainly happened as we finished up the last almost complete mile at an 8:35 pace. Throughout the run I realized that maybe I haven’t been pushing myself hard enough, and what I consider a comfortable pace of 9:00 minutes, could move closer to 8:30 someday.

Off trail exploring

It wasn’t the week I had originally planned, but I still got some good runs in and I made every mile count. This next week should be fun as we finally have snow, but we also have some cold weather coming!

How do you push yourself out of your comfort zone?