Another Mile, Another Minute...

So apparently my sub-10 min/mile pace stayed on vacation in Jamaica. The two runs I've done since I've been back (yesterday and today) have been progressively slower. Monday's mile...

Today's two miles...

(I decided to add another mile to this run since I added another minute to my pace)

There never seems to be a real rhyme or reason to why some of my runs are slower and some are "fast" (for me). Although, the common theme among the runs this week is that I'm tired and really not getting a good night's sleep. I'm also a little stressed out about non-running related things so I'm sure that doesn't help (as much as running is supposed to be an escape from life's stress, sometimes the stress doesn't help your running). 

"Feels Like 8 Degrees"...

I braved the "feels like 8 degrees" weather this morning and made it to my run with Chelsea's group: Pro Bike + Run. Chelsea and I are fellow ZOOMA Ambassadors for their 2017 race series and she lives in Pittsburgh...

She was so sweet and helpful when I asked the ZOOMA group for tips on where to run while I was in the city. And even though I knew a morning run was going to be cold, nothing prepared me for this...

When we got to the meet up spot Chelsea was kind enough to lend me extra layers and warm things for my ears while we waited for the group run to start...

(this is a pic from along the course)

Between Restlessness & Exhaustion...

So I'm a little tired. Ok, I'm A LOT tired, and I've had this nagging headache that doesn't seem to want to go away. I ended up missing my run this morning so that I could get some more rest and hopefully sleep my headache away. But it didn't work. So for right now I'm aiming to linger in a state between restlessness and exhaustion and hopefully get through my daily run tonight.

Between sleeping in and keeping up with this blogging streak I had a busy day at work planning for an upcoming conference that I'm going to attend/present a poster at. The conference is right before my next half marathon which is the Miami Beach half... next weekend!!!

The Miami Beach half was my desired PR race, but after the A1A half last weekend I'm really not sure I'll be able to pull it off. The reality of that is pretty sobering because as the weather gets hotter and more humid in Florida, a PR seems further and further out of reach. I'm still going to put in the work and preparation and aim for it, but I come back from my work trip late on Saturday night and my race is bright and early on Sunday morning 😞. So the combination of being tired and having to run in the heat probably won't be great.

While I'm planning for the upcoming Miami Beach half and work stuff, I'm also planning for future stuff with my ZOOMA Ambassador group. With that in mind, I'm excited to share that the ZOOMA leadership team recently opened additional ambassador spots!!! If you are interested you can apply here. 

You can also check out the entire schedule of ZOOMA races (here) and decide which one(s) you want to register for 😉)...

How was your Wednesday?

Have you ever been a race ambassador?

Do you have any PR goals for this year?

Distance Means Nothing & The New Look...

"Distance means nothing" is not entirely true as it relates to running (and anyone who has ever run a marathon can attest to that); but it's certainly true when your Valentine is miles away...

LDRs are hard but he makes it worth it...

@SitariPoetry

Valentine's Day or not, training never ends so I woke up early this morning and ran with Jani...

Tangent Tuesday (version 1.31)

I've officially completed my longest running streak!!!!

31 days of running 😊

I'm also doing a 10 thousand steps a day challenge but unfortunately I haven't been as good with getting my steps in...

(the broken blue line represents all the days that I didn't have 10,000 steps... as you can see that was a lot 😞)

I may not have done well with the steps challenge but I'm really proud up myself for keeping up the running streak. I've made getting my run completed a priority so I just hope I can continue to do so for the rest of the year, especially on the days after my really long runs when my muscles are aching.

***

Putting It In Writing...

I started to use my Commit30 planner today...

I didn't get very far to be honest but I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to check off all the days that I've kept up my blogging and running streak...

(I like it when the calendars match 😊)

I was thinking about getting a different colored pen for each of the monthly goals I set but maybe that will make it too messy? We'll see. It definitely needs more... pizzazz (so stickers and other fun stuff will be coming soon).

Even though my goal is to blog every day and run at least a mile every day for the entire year, breaking those streaks down into monthly goals makes them more manageable. But, because that means having the same goals listed every month, I decided to add a third goal (that will more than likely change each month). For January, I am going to try something new. I haven't figured out what that "something" will be yet so if you have any suggestions please let me know (I could count the Pure Barre class I did last weekend as my "something new" for this month, but it kind of feels like cheating since I did it already). 

In Desperate Need of Good News...

Today was one of those days that can be perfectly illustrated in "The Awkward Yeti" comics...

That's pretty much how I felt after my 5K training run this morning. I did 90s:30s intervals and was able to achieve a 10:42min/mile pace with negative splits...

My legs were definitely feeling it after! I'm going to try and slow my pace for the next few runs just to give my muscles a break. I don't want to risk getting injured on a training run so if I can maintain an 11:30min/mile pace for the rest of the week I'll be happy... 

The Taper...

I am tapering, I promise. But, yesterday was the ZOOMA Amelia Island Half Marathon and I'm a ZOOMA Race Ambassador. So obviously I had to do it...

Unfortunately I wasn't able to travel up to north Florida for the race on Saturday morning because I spent all day Thursday and Friday course directing an advanced trauma nursing course...

So instead of being able to enjoy all the festivities of the event I ran the race virtually...

The Last Long Run...

This morning I ran 21 miles as my last really long run before the NY Marathon...

I ran the first 16 with my friends Mary and Will...

And then I ran the last 5 miles with Will (Will is also running NY). We decided to do loops (since it's so much easier to refuel that way) but because I don't pause my watch on the really long runs (or at least I try not to because I can't figure out how to turn off the auto save feature on Garmin) our two stops for refueling messed up my splits...

Begin Gradually...

I really intend to do blog posts more regularly than once a week. I really do. But this year has been crazy and the past several weeks months have been particularly hectic and busy. Some of the "busyness" have been welcomed distractions and so while it has kept me away from blogging it was the kind of distraction that I needed (and still need). The rest of the stuff has just been your typical work stuff.

But thankfully none of that has kept me from running. And more importantly none of that has kept me from completing my long runs. The ability to complete the long run mileage is not something that I take for granted. Like Henry (below) it's taken me a while to get to the point where I can complete a long run and still be able to walk after...

Heroes, Hydration & Challenges...

As much as I agree that you have to find your own motivation to train, there are certain mornings when I'm only able to get through my long run because of my running buddies (aka my "running heroes"). Recently I've been doing my long runs on Saturdays with Dafney (who has been helping me with my pacing and endurance), but this morning I ran with other running heroes (Andy, Tabitha and Suzanne) for my Sunday long run.

The group was scheduled to do 11 miles but I ended up doing 9 miles with them and then ran on by myself for another 3 miles...

The Best Kind of Support

One of the cool things about being a ZOOMA Race Ambassador this year is all of the amazing support that I've gotten. The running community (in general) tends to be pretty supportive, but this year it's been really nice to have an additional support system for training. As a blogger I've been a part of several blogging Facebook groups, and as a Race Ambassador I'm a part of the ZOOMA FB group as well. We do the usual stuff in the group: post pictures of races and runs, get feedback on and ask questions about different running related things, and encourage each other for upcoming events, like the ZOOMA Annapolis Half Marathon coming up in June!!!!

[You can check out the race site HERE]

I also get a 10% discount code on all race registrations and I get to share that with everyone!!!

{REGISTER HERE}

Updates, Reminders & Favorite Things...

Ok guys, if you signed up for the ZOOMA Run Love Virtual Challenge here are the training plans:

5K plan starting on Jan 4th 2016...

10K plan starting on Jan 4th 2016...

If you haven't signed up (but want to) you can register HERE.

**~**~**~**~**

This Is How I Zooma...

So I officially became a ZOOMA Ambassador for the 2016 ZOOMA Women's Race Series!!! 

#ZOOMANation

The ZOOMA Chicago Half Marathon in 2014 was my very first half and it was a really great race (despite the fact that I thought I was going to die all the way from mile 11 to mile 12). I'm excited to be an Ambassador this year because they are doing some fun and exciting things, including a virtual 5K/10K Love Run...

It will be held around Valentine's Day weekend ;)