Confessions, the first installment

I might be entirely alone in my confessions. But hey, everyone likes a good divulging of quirks. Or sins. Either way, it's time I come clean.

• I don't stretch. If I do, it's purely by accident. Like, I'm buying time because I really just want a rest break while running. Or I'm trying to take a selfie in the parking lot, but someone is getting in or out of their car. I have stretched and I know how to stretch. But it's far from a habit. The only thing going for me is that I do flail about on the foam roller at intermittent times.
• I don't own a racing fuel belt. Or bottoms that have enough pockets for 5 energy gels. I've run 13 marathons with GU shoved in my sports bras. And because I'm not a litterbug, I like to use the non-existent spot between my "boobs" to store my empty gel packets. 
• Speed work terrifies me. Really. I get nervous butterflies every time I am headed out to tackle speed. Mile repeats are the most terrifying. I have to run for how long for how fast? But then I always feel completely BA and happily exhausted when they are done.
• I don't currently have a training schedule. Um, yes, you read that right. I am training for Boston without a training schedule. I have a loose idea of what I want/need in my training each week and execute from there. 30-40 miles a week, 1 long run (building 3 weeks, cut back 1), 1 speed session (whatever I damn well feel like), and 2-3 easy/moderate runs. With my varied work schedule each week, it takes the pressure out of the must do parts of have a specific training schedule. Plus, it's no secret I'd rather run happy than be a slave to training.
• I hate spring. Because spring leads to summer. And summer=death heat. All the people north of the Mason-Dixon are jumping around like newborn puppies and I'm sulking hard. I'd much prefer to run under the crisp blue skies of February. I cried a little inside when it got near 70 degrees this week. Ugh. It's coming. 

I feel like there were other things to add to the list a few days ago. There might be an addendum later. Because I'm quite certain there are other confessions that I've neglected.

I've been a terrible blogger in 2015. Oof. The good news is that life is going along smashingly.

I killed my Yassos last week. I saw JJ's post on FB about her 800s when I finally woke up. She'd already been awake for 4 hours when I finally scrolled through to her workout. It was lightly raining outside and I hesitated for awhile until I finally decided to go gut it out. The goal was 10x800 at 6:40-6:55 pace with 1:30 jogs in between. 

I did take a break for water/shed my arm warms after the 5th rep. And another water break after the 8th rep. Probably each another minute. But I was pretty pleased that I hit the reps.

I spent the rest of the afternoon baking. I'm raising money for a Loopster's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Man of Year Nomination campaign. I baked up some goodies to ship out to a few of my donors. If you are awesome enough to read this silly blog and donate here (any amount welcome!), I will send you a box of baked goodies too. I'll be running the Wisconsin Marathon on May 2nd and the Kalamazoo Marathon on May 3rd in tutu--put your color in the message box. And write "Confessions" so I know you saw it here.

I got some new Kinvaras on Wednesday and gave them a 5 mile break in run on the 'mill. I spent the last 2 miles switching between +3% incline and -3% decline to give my quads a workout. Despite my non-training plan training, I still am taking these things into consideration.

The temperatures plummeted nearly 40 degrees over the course of Thursday and I was glad I packed a long sleeved shirt to run in after work. I scooted out in just enough time to get my 3 miles in before the sun completely set.

I fueled back up with beer and tacos.

Took some selfies with Torrance.

And snuggled in with Luxy.

The temperatures were absolutely blissful when I woke up for a long run Friday. But I was kind of concerned about tackling my nemesis, the 16 miler. We are foes from way back. My latest one was The Great Rain Disaster.

So I decided to wear my Ride The Suck hat and not look at my watch for 16 miles.

I cheated and looked at mile 12. When I started doing the runner math, I held my pace tight and pushed through the final 4 miles with a purpose.

Apparently I set a new Penelope half marathon PR on this training run!

And scrolling through the records on this Garmin, I also set new records in the mile, 5K, and 10K in the same week--they came from my Yassotacular Tuesday. Sa-wheet!

After a rough and streaky start in January, I am starting to feel strong again. I've decided that I need rest days with my day job. Props to all the streaky streakers out there. According to my FitBit, I've covered 559 miles through today--an average of 8.2 miles a day. My walking (mostly attributed to work) nearly doubles my steps on a weekly basis. Pretty cray.

Only 6 weeks (gulp!) until Boston. Hard to believe that it's nearly here. It still feels like a dream. I've been imagining what crossing the finish line will look/feel like. Probably should wear waterproof mascara.