I had planned to write a running post all last week. (At one time this was intended to be a running blog). I had also planned to make my blog rounds with comments and color the roots of my hair but apparently I struck out..... I've become a gray haired antisocial who runs and doesn't post about it....
I will make a fair attempt here!! Updates on life and running to follow! WARNING-lengthy:)
Life:
I LOVE it!!! I am still a mom of 3. As of this moment, I am a mom of a daughter in HIGH SCHOOL. This is impossible! I MYSELF am still in high school!!! Hmmm....well, my mind is often still in high school....my face and my skin are unfortunately in my mid 30's...
My daughter Ryan just finished Volleyball tryouts and made the team. I had a moment on Friday that completely brought me back in time...I felt like I could climb right inside Ryan's 5'1" body (no idea where the short gene came from) and remember EXACTLY what she felt like at the moment she found out!! I could not be more proud of her and could not be more excited to parade around in my school sweatshirt with her team button pinned to the front, wear my sparkly green and white ponytail holder, and carry my foam finger and fold-up bleacher seat to her games this fall!! (That's a bit of a stretch. I generally watch games all by myself standing off to the side of the gym chewing on my nails but this just sounds good!) Anyway, I love and support my kids in whatever they choose to pursue but damn, I'm excited I have kids that like sports!
My 11 year old daughter Reese is growing like a WEED. She is now the same height as Ryan! Long runner legs which put a big smile on her mom's face. She's gone to track night with me a number of times this summer and done fantastic there. She's also run a number of 5K's including her PR in June but things are mostly about summer and about fun for now as they should be. Hours on the lake, camp with friends, bonfires, yard volleyball, family and babysitting jobs to make money for school clothes!
Max is almost 9. He LOVES animals and birds and hunting and fishing and spends most of the day driving an ATV around our property in some imaginary world of his own. He played both baseball and AAA hockey some this summer but he is definitely a kid who needs some down time and it's been a great summer in that respect for him! He ADORES his dad and his uncles. Adores them. I recently tried to sign into my gmail account and Max's email was still signed in. OH my word. And I thought I had a lot of email-ha! He talks to Joe and my 2 BIL's literally 20 times a day in short one-liners. Sending pictures off of trail cameras, talking fall hunting plans.... He is so blessed to have these INCREDIBLY patient guys in his life-ha!!
We just celebrated my dad's 60th birthday! My dad is a father of 6 girls!! Imagine being the only male in a house with 7 females....We are an INCREDIBLY close family. We had an amazing surprise birthday celebration for him this weekend!
And a rare picture posting... Me and my very sexy, very supportive, very PERFECT FOR ME husband.
RUNNING:
I'm in training for the Twin Cities Marathon in 7 weeks. WOW, 7 weeks!! Things are going SUPER for me right now. For the past 3 weeks, I have been able to get my mileage up there (mid-70's the past 2 weeks) and my body feels SO strong right now. Almost moreso than my body, however, my mind. I'm in the perfect "place". A "place" that I visited mentally 2 years ago for awhile and then somehow got lost and couldn't find my way back....This "place" may only be a vacation for me but I love 7 week vacations so I'm enjoying the hell out of it!!
I've not raced much...only twice this summer officially and even then not real goal races. I will get my fill this fall. I have 4 races lined up in the next 7 weeks. I don't have a coach and most of my training decisions at this point in terms of racing have to do with how I think I will mentally respond best on October 7th.
I'm running the Women Rock HM on Sept. 1st in St. Paul. This is part of a girls weekend for me. Sharing a room, arriving late the night before, early race start, all women....yada yada yada....I've decided to train hard right up and through this race. My goal is for 13 miles at my goal MP. THEN, I will rest a little and take a down week in preparation for the Dick Beardsley HM on Sept. 8th. My plan is to RACE this one. I HATE the HM but considering I have broken my PR in training, perhaps I should take care of business here and knock this monkey off my back.
I have somewhat of a training plan/schedule/idea/progression of workouts that I occasionally follow. Usually not-ha! It's extremely flexible. It's working for me:)
Past week in Review:
Monday- 6 miles/47:39/7:56. The day after a 23 miler. Felt amazing. Actually had to hold back from making this a longer progression on a recovery day.
Tuesday- 4 mile easy loop in the morning before work. 8 miles after work. Supposed to be a 5X1K workout. I did NOT do my workout as planned. I ran the first 3 intervals 20 seconds under my goal pace and then shortened my recoveries and ran them way too fast. Then, I DIED.....a gagging, gasping death.... Determination does not equal intelligence and I smacked myself for this one as I'm usually smarter than that. Regardless I walked away with 8 more miles at 7:28 avg. pace and a little more confidence in my speed potential so not all bad.
Wednesday-5 miles easy 41:37/8:20. Hit spin class at the gym in the evening to make up for my lackluster speed workout. This was freakin' HARD. Pride pushed me through this one.
Thursday--Supposed to be 12 miles easy but I was forced to the treadmill due to weather. I have run on the TM only a handful of times this summer and honestly, right now I find it ridiculously mentally challenging. I ended bargaining with myself to turn this planned 12 into a 10 and then a 5 later instead. Ended up starting very easy but after a rough start warmed up and felt quite good physically (first 5 miles/40:24, 2nd 5 miles/36:32/7:18) Ran 5 miles very slow at 8:57 later in the day.
Friday--Easy 5.6 miles/44:33/7:59
Saturday-Long. 20 miles/2:32:55/7:39. Final 4 miles gradual uphill. This is the fastest avg. pace 20 I've ever run in training and the first 16 were really quite easy. The final 4 however were not so glorious....Need more hill work.
Sunday-12.8 miles/1:59:02/9:18. Impromptu run with my dad and the best run of the week!
Finished with 76.4 miles and felt better than ever as a whole!!!
Another random post over! Off to do my rounds and color my roots:)
5 comments:
Woot, woot! A post from Jenn, and a funny one, of course. Nice to have all these things which I already knew in a post. Love your paragraphs on your kids - you have such great kids, very different and unique, which is awesome for them and for you. You are a very YOUNG mom of a HS girl. You can blend right in:)
Love all the pics. Love love the pic with you and Joe #hotness.
Your running - super! You are staying true to yourself and doing your thing. You deserve the huge PRs you will be getting both at HM and M. So excited to follow your training and to see you getting faster and faster, more and more confident, while staying HEALTHY and feeling strong.
So much to say...might save most of it for an e-mail because surprisingly this post makes me feel a lot...gosh, I'm an emotional mess right now...ha! What is up with my hormones lately?? This isn't a post to make one cry...in fact, AM seems to have found the Jenn humor..Instead, I just start crying like a baby when I read the part about Max and his relationship with his dad and uncles and his own little imaginary world of nature and exploring. Gosh, I love this kid and don't even know him. All your kids really. I feel like I know them. And how long has he had an e-mail account?? This makes me think that E might be ready for one to e-mail her friends when/if we move. And her dad. and me. How sweet...such good ideas from reading this.
Congrats again to Ryan...Love how you say you feel like you could feel what she was feeling...I can see this.
And Reese...gosh, so much talent there. All your kids. And they are so lucky to have parents that see their different gifts and encourage them.
4 races...I was happy to see that I had three of them on my calendar already. yes, ME! I went to write them down and they were already there. The fourth...well, that one I'm just dancing for. ;)
SUCH a beautiful family Jenn. And you are so much of the glue that holds them all together in beauty...your family...dad, mom, sisters, daughters, son and Joe...so so so blessed with you. And sounds like they return this fully to you. I feel honored to have some of you in my life too.
Okay, going to e-mail version...
Hahah...I love how Amanda writes more on a comment than I do most emails yet then she's off to email you. Such great friends you have. :)
Well, you know I'm not a novel commenter but I did want to say I was thrilled to see your post and get an update on Jenn's life. Couldn't be more happy that things are just awesome for you right now. Really, it makes me smile! Love the family pictures and the updates about them all. You are so incredibly young to have a high schooler, but you got the sexy hubby there so yeah, I can understand ;).
Thanks, Jenn. Miss ya!
Happy birthday to your dad, he is so amazing! I was always so jealous of your houseful of girls when I was in high school, so much fun. Nice training lately, I can't imagine running a 20 miler that fast....One day. So happy to read a post from you!
Hey there. Nice to see you posting regularly again.. Watch out. It can become habit forming :)
Your Dad must feel so blessed by the thought and effort put into his party. It was a beautiful gesture and I bet he couldn't be prouder if he had a posse of sons. You know the verse - "blessed is the man who's quiver is full" ...same is true for gracious daughters.
Wish I could see Max up close and personal. He sounds like such a special kid. I just know my own would click with him. Tell him we have a wading pool full of tadpoles and crawdads waiting for him here- and elk season is approaching. Jon and Nathan went on a hike in the dark last night to scout elk- I bet Joe and Max do that type of thing all the time. :) Very neat relationship those two have. And Patient uncles are a real gift to nephews and nieces both :)
Running is AWESOME right now for you, friend! I cannot WAIT to see how your women rock half goes. I smell a big PR here..and TCM...watch out!
Post a Comment