(Virtual) Race Week! Everything is in chaos, my work shut down on Friday and I spent that night on a Zoom call and Twitch with friends playing games, so I changed my 50K run to Sunday instead. I’ll have a race report coming up for that!

Wash your hands, stay out of groups, and let’s all band together (by staying apart) to get through this together.

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 8 miles. Finished up Distopia Rising while doing tiny loops in the neighborhood.
• Wednesday: 4 miles. Tiny loops in the rain. Ran the first chapter of Rule Britannia.
• Thursday: 6 miles. More tiny loops, Rule Britannia chapter 2.
• Friday: Rest.
• Saturday: Rest.
• Sunday: 31 miles. Race report coming soon!
• Long run fuel: Tailwind, Bobo’s Bars, Peanut butter packet, Pringles
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine once times this week, will add another in next week to keep an average of 2/week.
• Stretching: More stretching, although I did miss it one day. More gentle yoga, which is also helping a bit!
• Race report owed: Get Lucky

A small taper for what was supposed to take me into race week. Get Lucky 50/50 has been made into a virtual race, so I’ll be doing jail trail loops this weekend to get that in. As of right now, sadly, I’m expecting O24 to be cancelled, but I’m still hopeful for Eagle Up.

Wash your hands, stay out of groups, and let’s all band together to get through this together.

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 8 miles
• Wednesday: 5 miles. Tiny loops in my neighborhood, did the second ch apter of Distopia Rising.
• Thursday: 7 miles: Tempo: 9:05 pace: 18 min/4R/12 min
• Friday: PRANK: 18 miles. In honor of Friday the 13th, we ran RPANK goes to hell. Which spilled over into Pi day and we had mimosas to celebrate!
• Saturday: Rest.
• Sunday: 6 miles. Jail trail with a bit added on.
• Long run fuel: Tailwind, Doritos, Clif Bar
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine three times this week, to catch up from last week.
• Stretching: More stretching, although I did miss it one day. I also did some yoga while live streaming church on Sunday, which was actually really great, looking forward to doing that again this week!

Another 50+ mile week, as well as my introduction to trail running, not a bad week!

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 8 miles: Tempo: 9:05 pace: 18 min/4R/12 min
• Wednesday: 10 miles. Picked up my first pair of trail shoes (after returning some Asics that were just bad for me) and did a couple loops of the Frontrunner trail in Schenley. More rocks and loose gravel than anything, and easily doable in a road shoe, but broke them in (and saw a lot of other nightrime runners, which was fun).
• Thursday: 5 miles.
• Friday: Rest. Baked scones and took them to packet pickup for the first ever Pittsburgh 30K trail race the next morning.
• Saturday: Pittsburgh 30K (20 miles). Ran with the ‘party in the back’ for my first trail race! It covered a lot of green spaces, and specifically went to places that will most likely be gone in the next few years to development.
  
  Had a blast and found some new bits to go back to explore, talked with some locals wondering what was going on (there were about 50 of us in total) and got yelled at by a cranky woman who doesn’t understand that she doesn’t own the road or the land that is the city’s.
  
  Also got a ton of compliments on the scones, so that was cool, I’ll have to make a batch and surprise 3ROC (the store that sponsored the race, and who’s Instagram I ended up on) with another batch sometime.
• Sunday: 7 miles. Was going to meet a friend for another 3, but timing didn’t work out and I was more tired from the 30K than I expected (over 3,200 feet of elevation).
• Long run fuel: Tailwind, scones, Oreos, Clif bar.
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine once this week, need to add in one more this week to keep it averaging twice a week.
• Stretching: Stretching every day, not just run days, and it’s helping. I’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek each night as I stretch, highly recommended (both the show and stretching/rolling). I did the Adidas women’s running yoga on Sunday and I’m not a fan of the instructor at all, will find a different course to do this week.

Second 55 mile week in a row, and I’m feeling better than I thought I would, but still a bit tired/sore. Onward!

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 9 miles: Tempo: 9:05 pace: 18 min/4R/12 min
• Wednesday: 10 miles.
• Thursday: 5 miles. Tiny loops in my neighborhood, started Distopia Rising, one of the new adventures from Zombies, Run.
• Friday: 15 miles. PRANK run, went from 8 until about 11:30, had a wonderful time as always.
• Saturday: Rest.
• Sunday: 15 miles. Met a friend from the Frontrunners to do some loops. Great conversations and enjoyed the sun for the first time in a while (or at least it felt like it).
• Long run fuel: Tailwind, Bobo’s bar.
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine twice this week. Still making progress, slowly seeing some improvements.
• Stretching: Stretching every day, not just run days, and it’s helping. I’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek each night as I stretch, highly recommended (both the show and stretching/rolling).

Over 1/3 of the way through this plan, and my legs are definitely feeling it now!

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 9 miles.
• Wednesday: 7 miles. Tempo: 9:05 pace: 18 min/4R/12 min
• Thursday: 5 miles. Ran with the Frontrunners through the cold again.
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: 20 miles. Ran the Spring Thaw up at North Park, always a fun time and a good race.
• Sunday: 10 miles. Got a quick treadmill run in before heading downtown to see Little Shop of Horrors!
• Long run fuel: Tailwind, Bobo’s bar, Gu.
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine twice this week. Still making progress, slowly seeing some improvements.
• Stretching: Stretching every day, not just run days, and it’s helping.

Bit of a down week before back at it again.

• Monday: 8 miles.
• Tuesday: Rest.
• Wednesday: 7 miles: Met my friend Fox for some cold miles in the rain/snow/grapple.
• Thursday: 5 miles. Ran with the Frontrunners through the cold again.
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: 14 miles.
• Sunday: 5 miles. Worked the auto show which wrecks my legs standing on concrete for that long, then ran on the cement sidewalks doing tiny loops, so my legs were trashed.
• Long run fuel: Scratch and a Bobo’s bar.
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine twice this week. Still making progress, slowly seeing some improvements.
• Stretching: Getting better at stretching after each run, but still need to improve.

Back from Sarasota and back to the grind!

• Monday: 5 miles.
• Tuesday: 8 miles.
• Wednesday: 7 miles: Tempo: 5K pace (9:05): 14min/4min rest/12min
• Thursday: 5 miles.
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: 14 miles. Was supposed to do 20, but the ice on the roads, trails and sidewalks gave me enough close calls that I didn’t want to chance it anymore than I already had.
• Sunday: 16 miles. Ten planned, plus the extra six from Saturday.
• Long run fuel: Tailwind and a Gu packet I had tucked away in the water bottle.
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine twice this week. Making slow progress, but that I’m moving up in some exercises!
• Stretching: Did not get as much stretching in due to travel, need to work on that.
• Race report owed: Sarasota Music Half Marathon.

Finally got my down week! Flew down to Florida to see my aunt and uncle and run the Sarasota Music Half Marathon, race report to follow! My legs feel pretty beat up, but I’m back up to high mileage, so I need to see about just taking it slow and recovering this week as I can.

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 6 miles. Tiny loops around my neighborhood.
• Wednesday: 6 miles.
• Thursday: 4 miles. More tiny loops.
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: Rest/travel day.
• Sunday: 13.1 miles. Sarasota Music Half Marathon. Racing a half beat up my legs more than I expected, but I had fun.
• Long run fuel: Just a Gu packet for the half.
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine twice this week. Making slow progress, but happy with what I’me maintaining and building.
• Stretching: Did not get as much stretching in due to travel, need to work on that.
• Race report owed: Sarasota Music Half Marathon.

This was my last week before a lower mileage week and I’m very much looking forward to the break. I’m off to Florida to run the Sarasota Metro Diner Music Half Marathon, race report to follow!

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 7 miles. Tiny loops around my neighborhood.
• Wednesday: 7 miles, speed work. VO2 max: 2x1200m, 2x1000m, 1x800m at 5K pace (9:05)
• Thursday: 4 miles .
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: 18 miles. I headed down to the jail trail to do loops, and joined the Frontrunners on their modified Saturday loop before running a bunch more miles on my own. I also ventured a bit into downtown just for something different, which was a nice treat.
• Sunday: 12 miles. Ended up splitting this into two 6’s due to timing as well as an upset stomach. Not ideal, but still glad I got the miles in.
• Long run fuel: Tailwind, jelly beans. I’m not really a fan of jelly beans for long run fuel, but it was Lunar New Year, so I was attempting to celebrate correctly!
• BWF/Core work: Did the BodyWeightFitness Recommended Routine twice this week, so still on track!
• Stretching: Doing better, but always room for improvement.