February

10K on the treadmill, 3K walk X 2 with Lilo

Its been a while since I have updated so here I go!

Into my third week of marathon training and it is going AWESOME! It is amazing how much stronger I am feeling. The first week, on my first Sunday long run of 9K, I was DONE and so sore the next day, and then the 5K on Tuesday just felt brutal. This Sunday the long run was 18K and I was tired out (even took a nap!) in the afternoon. The next day though, I felt awesome, and yesterdays 5K was SO FUN! Such a difference in just over a week..so I am sold on this training plan as it seems to be working well so far.

I have ordered two pairs of shoes and am really excited for them to arrive. They are ones that aren't available in any stores in Canada yet, and the one place that I know is getting them in late February will sell them for much more than what I was able to order them for online, including the shipping. Here is what they look like

women's asics gel neo 33

women's asics gel excel 33

Both seem to be great shoes, not sure which is the best for me as I haven't been able to try them on. I am a neutral runner though so both are applicable to how I run. Cannot wait to try them out and see how they feel :-)

I topped out at 160K for January and by following my running schedule, will do 230 for February. I decided to do the St.Patrick's Day 5K in March which will be my first non-virtual race this year..haha and a 5K which is not my thing! I seem to take between 5 and 8K to get into my groove lately, so heres hoping in a month and a half I will be a little speedier at the shorter distances!

For February my plan is to keep doing what I am doing. 

- I am at a point where I am SO excited about my running and feeling all sorts of little wins, I am working this month on focusing on the bigger picture as well since I know those wins won't always be so easy to find once the mileage cranks up and life gets a little busier. 

_ I have been doing Monday-Thursday training in the evenings, and then Sat/Sun in the mornings. I would like to do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday in the morning, and then Wednesday in the evening since its a bit of a longer run. This may not always work with my schedule, it is still a goal though so I can get my body convinced this is a good idea for when the weather & sunrise does allow for running in the mornings. 

- There are 2 trips planned with work for this month, so I will be doing one workout on a different treadmill, and then another one outside. Feeling good about this actually, taking in scenery I haven't seen since Summer, in Winter, will be great! Plus, the treadmill at the one place is right next to the pool...that is fine by me!!!

- Don't eat like crazy! I am ALWAYS starving after a run, so I am focusing on remaining aware of the fact that if I burn 900 calls on the treadmill, it doesn't give me license to eat whatever I want to for the day..everything in moderation. 

My favourite distance right now is 8K. its long enough that I feel like I did something, and short enough that I can push myself without worrying about giving too much effort and nixing a workout further on in the week. Also, its a distance where my time is not great, so theres the continual need to improve on the last run which is a great motivator. 

Question: What's your favourite distance and why?