Day 16: Out with a Bang

Today's task:  1 mile warm up, 2 x 1200 @4:49, 4 x 800 @3:08 (2 min rest interval), 1 mile cool down

Today's weather:  36 degrees*

Today's outcome:  1.25 mile warm up, 4:47, 4:53, 3:12, 2:53**, 3:14, 3:16, .94 mile cool down

*My phone is a liar.  I checked it before I went out to see what kind of clothes I should wear, and it said it was 43 degrees.  When I got outside, I thought it was a rather cold 43, but that's probably because it was really 36.  Don't worry...I warmed up fast.

**One of these times is not like the other.  Yeah, my guess is I miscalculated the distance for that second 800.  I'm improving, but I'm not sure I'm physically capable of a 2:53 half mile...yet.

Remember when I said I hate 800s?  Well, I hate them more after 2 x 1200s!  Do the math and it's 3.5 miles of all out effort!  I adjusted my paces to reflect my improved speed, and today was the first workout at the increased speed.  I thought they were a little ambitious when I was writing them out, and I think I was right.  I came in 2 seconds under for the first 1200, then was consistently a few seconds over for each interval after that.  Looks like I have a little more tweaking to do.  The upside is that my splits were pretty consistent, which means I'm feeling my pace pretty well these days.  

Ryan was off of work all of last week, which meant I was able to get my runs in pretty much whenever I wanted.  What a luxury that was!  Today was back to the grind, and I had no choice but to run first thing in the morning.  Contrary to popular opinion, being a stay-at-home mom doesn't mean I spend my day trying to decide whether I should get a mani/pedi or go out to lunch with girlfriends.  I have to make little windows of time in my day to work out, just like any other grown up on the planet.  I truly enjoyed the freedom of my schedule (or lack thereof) last week, and I think it even made my runs more enjoyable because they weren't crammed in or done just to get them over with.  

Today's run was my last of 2013, and I'll take a moment to reflect on a great year.  According to mapmyrun.com, I've run 888.7 miles this year, or enough to get me from here to Iowa City.  That total could possibly be higher, depending on how many runs I forgot to log onto their website.  I've PRed in each of the six races I've run, and placed in my age group in two of them. Granted, one of those races was teeny tiny, but the other was a big one, and I still can't believe it when I see my name two spots below #1.  I have found a focus with my running this year, and I'm excited to see where it takes me in 2014. First on the docket is the Virginia is for Lovers 14k in February, where Ryan and I will join forces as Team Psilent but Deadly to try to better last year's 5th place finish in the male/female couples division.  A few weeks after that is THE race...the Shamrock Marathon!!!  Currently, my goal is to finish the race.  This goal will undoubtedly get more specific as my training mileage increases and I see what I'm made of.  I'm looking forward to the challenge, but more importantly, I'm looking forward to the week after the race, when I use the gift card to the Spa at Williamsburg I got for Christmas from three angels who shall remain nameless.  The rest of the year remains one big question mark, which I imagine is how it will stay until I get through the Shamrock. Of course I'll do the usual J&A races, but it would be fun to branch out a bit and try a few new challenges as well.  I guess we'll have to see how Fancy I am this year to determine how many race entry fees I can cough up! 

So farewell to 2013, and cheers to health, happiness, and PRs a-plenty in 2014!