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Another crazy week, and that train is not slowing down anytime soon, but here we go!
- Monday: Hills and strides: 4 miles, 6 x 12 second hills, 6 x 100m strides. Was supposed to do 8, but stopped after the speedwork portion since it was such a busy week and I needed the extra time to packed for Sleepy Hollow.
- Tuesday: Rest.
- Wednesday: VO2 Max: 9 miles, 6 x 1000m, 5K pace (9:25). Was really proud of myself for hitting this workout!
- Thursday: 5 miles. Ran most of the first training mission for the ZR Halloween virtual race around my neighborhood.
- Friday: Rest/travel day.
- Saturday: 25 miles. Paced friends at the Sleepy Hollow Hourly Ultra in Canton, Georgia. Will possibly write up a race report, but had a great time helping friends crush their goals!
- Sunday: Rest.
- Strength: No time this week to do any workouts, although I was complimented on some progress my arms have made, so that’s good! I also like to think all the crewing and rearranging of our tent site was a good workout too!
- Stretching: I’ve been doing my full stretch/IT band/knee rehab routine after each run, although I did not after my pacing at Sleepy Hollow (even though I was yelled at for it), and I’m paying for it.
Another crazy week, and that train is not slowing down anytime soon, but here we go!
- Monday: LT Run: 20 minutes/4 minutes recovery/16 minutes 9:31 pace
- Tuesday: Rest.
- Wednesday: Rest.
- Thursday: 9 miles.
- Friday: 7 miles, strides: Strides 10x100m 8:35 pace.
- Saturday: 4 miles: Happy Matt Virtual 5K!
- Sunday: 12 miles, progression run: last 3 miles at LT pace (9:31)
- Strength: Just one BWF workout on Friday.
- Stretching: I’ve been doing my full stretch/IT band/knee rehab routine after each run.
A lot was going on this week, so things were moved around, including a workout moved to the previous week. But thankfully, this was a down week, so I was able to get everything worked in and only had one speed workout to do!
- Monday: Rest.
- Tuesday: Rest.
- Wednesday: Rest.
- Thursday: 8 miles.
- Friday: 7 miles, strides: 2 sets of 5x150m.
- Saturday: Rest.
- Sunday: 10K: The Great Race. Always a fun time running through the city of Pittsburgh, it was really humid and significantly warmer than last year, so I’m super happy with being about a minute slower than my PR!
- Strength: Two BWF workouts, Friday and Sunday.
- Stretching: I’ve been doing my full stretch/IT band/knee rehab routine after each run.
I had to do a lot of juggling this week, a lot of which is due to what’s going on in Week 4, so a very full, somewhat painful, but very successful week!
- Monday: Rest.
- Tuesday: Rest.
- Wednesday: Speedwork: 6 miles: 6×12 seconds hills (8:57 pace), 6×100 meter strides (8:34 pace). Was supposed to do 8, but a study I’m in has a heart rate sensor on my foot and it was painful to run, so I called it a bit early. Still getting faster on my speed workouts and think I can push it even a bit more.
- Thursday: Rest.
- Friday: Lactate threshold: 8 miles with 18 minutes LT interval/4 minutes recovery/15 minute LT interval; 9:31 pace.
- Saturday: 8 miles. Afterwards I did the second event for the Corndog League, which was flights of stairs (both up and down) in 20 minutes. I met Mike and we went to the Cathedral of Learning where I completed 47 floors (pictures below)! From there, I headed to the Frontrunners 30th Anniversary Banquet!
- Sunday: Endurance progression: 12 miles. Last two miles at LT pace (9:31)
- Strength: I only did one BWF workout last week, so I did three this week to even it out: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. It’s definitely paying off, so that’s awesome!
- Stretching: I’ve been doing my full stretch/IT band/knee rehab routine after each run.
The theme of this plan seems to be every Friday I’m muttering “Uncle Pete is trying to kill me.”
However, I have to say, I’m getting faster, or at least I’m getting more confident at how fast I should be running.
- Monday: Rest.
- Tuesday: General aerobic + speed: 7 miles with 6×12 second hills and 6x100m strides; Hills at 9:14 pace, strides at 8:57. Once again, I think I can push these a little faster, so I’ll try that next week.
- Wednesday: Endurance: 8 miles.
- Thursday: BWF. Did not want to do this, but got it done anyway.
- Friday: Lactate threshold: 7 miles with 18 minutes LT interval/4 minutes recovery/12 minute LT interval; 9:31 pace.
- Saturday: I have to shuffle around a few dates due some things next (this) week, so I moved my recovery 9 miles from Wednesday to today.
- Sunday: Endurance: 11 miles. Two loops on the jail trail with Liz and Steve. It was sunny and warmer than we wanted, but I was so happy for the company. They peeled off and did 20 and I headed home to brew beer!
- Stretching: I’ve been doing my full stretch/IT band/knee rehab routine after each run. Things are feeling a bit better (although I didn’t have the chance to on Sunday and I felt it later that day).
And we’re back on a training plan (and it feels so good. Just kidding, Uncle Pete is probably trying to kill me), this time, getting ready for the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November.
Most of my training plans have been miles focused, with minimal workouts in them, so I figured I would try something a little bit different. Pfitz is very scientific in his approach, with very structured workouts. I already know there’s a couple weeks I’ll be moving some things around, so that will take more finesse than on previous plans, but overall, I’m excited.
The goal is to sub 2:10 at Philly, although it is a relatively flat course, so I’m hoping with this plan I can reach that, it’s not too much of a stretch, and will be a nice new PR.
I have my train tickets, just have to get an AirBnB for me and two of my friends and we’ll be out there enjoying the weekend and seeing a new (to me) city!
- Monday: Rest. Well, was supposed to be a rest day, but since it was Labor Day and I had the day off, I met a friend and we did 5 miles along a favorite route of hers!
- Tuesday: General aerobic + speed: 6 miles with 8x100m strides; 9:14 pace. Looking back, I should probably increase this pace a bit.
- Wednesday: Endurance: 8 miles. Headed to Schenley Park to run both the day and night versions of the Frontrunners loops. Was humid and gross, and I kept seeing the same people as we all took different winding routes through the park and nearby streets.
- Thursday: BWF. Back on the Recommended Routine, hoping to do this twice a week during this cycle.
- Friday: Lactate threshold: 7 miles with 14 minutes LT interval/4 minutes recovery/12 minute LT interval; 9:31 pace. My first crack at a true LT workout (using the paces in on the charts in the back of the book).
- Saturday: Rest.
- Sunday: Endurance: 10 miles. Also did BWF since I didn’t do it on Saturday
- Stretching: I’ve been doing my full stretch/IT band/knee rehab routine after each run. Things have felt a bit creaky, but I think that’s to be expected the first week back on a training plan, but otherwise, nothing too painful.
I spent July cleaning up my digital and physical life for a project I did for Camp NaNoWriMo.
Taking the format of NaNoWriMo, camp is more free-form, allowing you to write, edit, draw, really tackle any project you want. I set out about 40 different tasks and I completed 30 of them (and I was working on number 31 last night, but didn’t finish).
Here’s what I did:
Finished reading “Refocusing My Family”
Setup and started mental health BuJo
Updated personal ultrarunning packing list
Sorted papers on printer stand
Mango: Arabic lesson 1
Created Runnit Spotlight wiki page
Knit heart blog post
Magazines finished: 1
Cleaned up Google Keep
DnD Recap
Medical directive packet
Philly half training plan
Cleaned up mobile bookmarks
Cleaned up browser bookmarks
Clean bookshelves: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Updated videos for the Myst Linking Book
Social media pulls: Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June, July
Updated my running page
Sorted my ginormous pile of filing
The big projects I need to finish (besides the cleaning out my filing cabinet, which I got halfway through last night) is cleaning out my Gmail and updating my dating app profiles. I had also hoped to get through more magazines and cleaning some more physical spaces, but before I tackle those, I have to get the huge pile of books I’m getting rid of out of my house.
Overall it was a successful month and I’m glad I tackled what I called “Literary Miscellany.” It’s been nice to get those tasks checked off and out of my mind!
Caitlin M. Marietti
It’s essential that we, as humans, are able to communicate with one another. That is, after all, why babies start to cry, isn’t it? It’s a form of communication and communication is the root of our civilization.
Not everyone is good at it. Some people don’t like it, some people don’t develop the skill. But those that do develop it have a distinct advantage. They can do more, get more, share more, learn more. Currently, I am employed in a hospital and I see the benefits of having good communication, good people skills every day. I see how successful doctors and nurses and aides alike earn the trust and approval of their patients, and I see how less successful people struggle in getting their patients to trust their words and their motives.
And that can make all the difference. If I am giving a patient information about how to care for themselves when they go home and I berate them and belittle them while explaining the proper way to get up from a seated position to standing with a walker, the chances that they’re take my instruction home and use it are slim. They will resent my words and my methods. If I take the time explain and I remain calm, pleasant and relatable, my patient is far more likely to respond positively and, thus, use what I have taught them at home.
For me, good people skills are an integral part of what I do now and, since I was recently accepted into a Nursing program, what I will do in the future. Patient education aside, being able to relate to, effectively sympathize with, listen to, and helping my patients be more comfortable with me as their caretaker is a primary goal of mine. Since patients are more than just their disease, it only seems logical to work with the person themselves. Thinking about how patients may perceive things can help me adjust and better help them.
This doesn’t just apply to my interactions with patients. Every part of patient care requires a team; from physicians, to the lab, to the aides, to the pharmacy. There are so many people to work with. Part of being a part of this team, too, requires being able to both give and receive feedback. Have you done something right? Have you a need to improve on something? It’s about growth.
It’s also about saying “thank you.” People don’t say that nearly enough. Being coachable also means being respectful of those around you. Learn from everyone and thank them every time. When I am done with a shift at my hospital, I will find those that I worked with and thank them for their help. It’s important to me and to them to know that a) they have helped me learn and grow and that b) I appreciate what they have done for me, whether it was big or small. This positive feedback pays for itself in mutual respect and the increased possibility of a repeat learning session.
Be what you say you are. There is nothing to be gained if I tell everyone how nice I am and then I bash people’s lifestyles or tastes or condition. Be that “thank you” every single time: say it and mean it. I try so hard to thank those who I maybe care a little less for working with. Just because we aren’t best friends outside of work does not mean that I cannot learn something from the, even it’s it what not to do. Be what you say you are and people will react more consistently as well.
I am applying for Activia Training US scholarship because the folks there are generous enough to have it. The link for this scholarship can be found here: https://www.activia.co.uk/scholarship-us. I suggest you check it out.
The current administration has (somewhat quietly, especially when you consider everything else that is going on) put together what they are calling a “Natural Law” Commission.
They are unhappy with how the government in the past has protected human rights, and have instead installed a committee that is completely against a woman’s right to choose her medical care or any type of equality for the queer community.
The committee is the brainchild of the founder of NOM (the defunct National Organization for Marriage that fought for California’s Prop 8) and the author of the hate-filled Manhattan Declaration. GLAAD has a report about all the members, and it doesn’t look good.
Add this to the ever-growing stack of steps backwards we’re taking. This is a way at an end run around the marriage equality ruling from SCOTUS as well as Roe.
All my best,
Mike
