January Running Streak...

Yeah, I posted a chart yesterday...but today is the last day of January, so I HAD to post again :) What I like is that this picture shows all of the days that I ran during the month of January - nice gap there after the 1st huh.

It's getting easier to get up and run every morning. I love that my training plan is for 3 days a week...and the other days are Bonus days in my mind. The first 5 days back on the road after my brief illness was all about just getting out on the road again and getting into a routine. THEN I started to pay attention to my training plan which started 9 weeks out from the Shamrock run on March 16. So all the "spikes are the days that I did training runs - well most of them at least.

What I have learned in this first month of running:

- to not beat myself up when I don't have that great of a day. At least I got out and did something, even if it wasn't what I was supposed to do.

- I am improving. Which is kinda crazy - I have always thought of myself as a mediocre runner, but the daily running (no matter how short) is paying off. I'm feeling like a runner more and more!

- I am not immune to germs and other sickly things. Hence the giant gap between the New Year's Day run #1 and run #2. I got a lot of quality rest during that period.

- That I will need new shoes more often in 2014. In January alone I logged almost 49 miles - and that was just 20 days of running. I imagine as the year goes on I'll be running a little more on my "bonus" days and logging more miles on my shoes. I average probably around 300 miles per pair of shoes, so yeah, the more running I do the more often I'll be getting new shoes! Oh darn ;)

- That doing some sort of weight bearing training is GOOD. I've noticed that even with a few burpees or jump squats or push-ups I feel a little stronger. Will be adding more as the year goes on!

So there we have it...January was a great start to my running streak. Well the last 19 days were...

Next race - Fort Vancouver 10k Run!

January So Far...

(Click to Expand)

So my Holiday Running Streak did not pan out and I had to quit 10 days into the streak. THEN I thought I would start a 2014 Running Streak and that ended after one day - I know, that's going backwards...

Today I am happy to report that I have maintained a running streak since January 13 and feel pretty good most days. I don't push it too much on the days that I'm not doing a training run and I think that helps to keep things somewhat balanced. In fact, I can tell that since I have started up again, I feel SO comfortable! Getting into my rhythm is happening sooner than when I just ran according to my training plan and I feel good longer into each run before I feel like I need to take a walk break.

My ultimate goal is to see how many days I can run in 2014...so far so good. Half of January is a good start!

I might need new shoes more often this year...

Gotta add to the "collection"

Wahine All Womens

In search of sporty-sport women who want to try out a little multi-sport action at Blue Lake Park in Fairview, OR. The event is called the Wahine All Womens Triathlon, but it has more! There is a Duathlon, 5k and 10k run as well as a Hula Kids Triathlon.

It has been almost 3 years since I last was at Blue Lake and I'm itchin' to get out there again. It would be fun to have some of my more adventurous peeps come out and join the fun!

Go HERE to check out the event.

Go HERE for my 2009 Race Report and HERE for 2010 and HERE for 2011. As you can plainly see from the posts Robin & I were a team...and we had a BLAST!!

Think hula skirts and leis...and other island-y type items :)

It's Fine

After 12 days off I got out on the road again this morning. The darkness of the morning didn't even bother me. I was sooo ready to get out and run again! So much that I ran a pretty fast couple of miles - fast for me anyway.

I'm still bogged down by a cold, but only a little. My back felt pretty good - I would say 99%. We'll see how things feel tomorrow.

SO excited! 9 weeks until the Shamrock!

Too Much Time Off

Mr. Decaf lounging - I did my best to imitate him last weekend

My last run was on New Year's Day...that seems like forever ago! Since then I have been sick and a little broken. Broken because all of the coughing I did caused my back problem to come and stay a while.

In the last 10 days I have spent an entire weekend at home, took a sick day from work and visited my chiropractor 3 times. The days that I did work were a little uncomfortable because my back was sore and tight - I felt like I had a stick up my back-side.

Here we are, it is now the second weekend of 2014 and I'm ready (mentally) to hit the road again...we'll see if my body will go along. Shamrock training starts on Monday!