a long-winded post and 3 weeks to go!

Hi friends!  How was everyone's weekend?  Hope you all got to do something fun!  Ours was pretty good.  Friday after work I went out to celebrate a co-workers 15 year company anniversary.  We went to  a local brewery that just opened in town for some drink and pizza.  I just stuck with one glass of wine since I knew I still had to run.  As good as their pizza looked, I knew it would mean bad news for my workout so I had to pass.  That night was the typical pasta dinner and early bedtime for Jake and myself. 

Saturday we met up with the YMCA running group.  Jake had gotten in 5 miles already, and was going to run my 12 with me.  I was nervous about this run.  I had 4 up-tempo miles in the middle with a pace of 7:30-7:25.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go.  I ran the first 5 miles easy with the group, then Jake and I set off to get the 4 faster miles done.  Here's how they clocked: 1. 7:27, 2. 7:22, 3. 7:25, 4. 7:21.  We ran the last 3 miles easy to cool down.  I was pleasantly surprised by how I felt during this.  I told Jake that the miles felt "comfortably-hard", but that I was never pushing myself to go all out.  It really gave me the confidence for my potential paces for Fargo.  After the run we met up with a good friend for brunch.  She's back in the area for a few months for work so it was so good to see her and catch up!



Emily and I at my wedding :)

Later that night we met back up with her and some other friends we hadn't seen in a long time.  It was a good night :)

Sunday, the weather was pretty crappy (per usual) so we hung around, I had an easy run, Jake went for a bike ride, and we did a few things around the house.  Of course the weekend went by WAY to fast, but it was a good one.

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Alright, let's get going on this week.  As I mentioned in my last post, I have a race coming up.  Jake and I will be racing the River Bend Nature Center Maple Syrup Run on Sunday.  I will be doing the 5k and Jake will do the 10k.  This race will be part of my long run on Sunday.  So as much as I'm going to try and "race" it, it's more or less for the race experience than anything.  It sounds fun though so I'm looking forward to it.  Here's what's going on this week:

Monday - 2x1 mile T (6:45) with 2 min. jog, 3x800m (3:00-3:03) with 2 min. jog, 3x400m (no pace given, just as fast as I can go). 1.5 WU&CD.
                8.5 miles total

Tuesday - REST

Wednesday - 2-3 striders after WU.  5x800m(3:00-3:03) with 2:30 recovery, 3x600m (2:17) with 2:30 recovery.
                     1.5 WU & CD

Thursday -  5.5 miles easy, 6 striders, strength

Friday -  5.5 miles easy with 4x30-45 sec. pickups in the middle

Saturday - 3 miles easy, striders

Sunday - 2 mile WU, RACE (5k), long cool down to hit total miles
               10/11 miles total

To be honest, I haven't thought much about this race.  I think the fact that I know its more for the experience than anything is taking the pressure off.  We'll see, I'm sure I'll be nervous anyway :)


OH!  also, on Saturday I'll be going up to TC Running Co for a gait analysis.  Nichole sent me a newsletter that she gets from them and they had a 40% off deal going for assessments through OSR Physical Therapy so I jumped on it and signed up for a spot.  I'm really excited to see what they have to say.  I have no idea what I look like when I run and what my form is like so it will be nice to have a professional help me out.  I'll let you know how it goes!



Alright, well that was officially way to long, and if you made it to the end, I don't know whether to applaud you or say sorry......well sorry, I'm not sorry :)  Have a great start to the week everyone!