12.5 Weeks Till CIM + I'm Back

I realized that I unintentionally took the majority of summer off from the blog. Something had to give and this little space took the hit. Our summer was a lot of fun, but definitely the ball was in my court at all times in the parenting realm. Jerold has been buried in work all summer with the start of his new fiscal year, and for the first time probably ever, we really didn't see him a whole lot. That left me, playing super Mom - I hope successfully most of the time - and the balls never really stopped juggling after school ended. The kids had a blast with fun camps, friends and tons of free time. I loved having days of endless sunshine and the biggest decisions were going on a hike, hitting the beach or relaxing at the pool. Glamorous it was not, as I was always on, always watching over little ones, always entertaining. I keep the thought in the back of my mind that the days crawl and the years fly by. I catch myself when I begin to groan inside, thinking desperately about needing a week completely alone on an island. I think how lucky I am to be their Mom and wow - thanks God for letting me have the chance.

Somehow I threw in quite a bit of running in there, which always adds an element of... I don't know - enjoyment, yet work at the same time. Never a chore, but a constant plan of making the time for it, plus adding in all the things for it (how much water did I have today? I'm tired, but gotta make time for strength). I knew after Boston, that I wanted a crack at a race that had more odds of going in my favor - West Coast time zone, cool to cold weather and a favorable course. Hello, CIM. Summer was a building block of base and nothing too crazy... I took a week off after Boston and then an unexpected week off in July after our trip to New Orleans. The ball juggling and then a nasty case of strep throat put me crawling to bed for over a week and running took a back seat.

Now here we are, approaching mid September, twelve and a half weeks left before the marathon and the running is coming along. There is still so much time left of training, and I'm just taking things in a chill approach - one run at a time, easy on the easy runs, sleep, strength and not sweating the small stuff.

The kiddos are back in school, this week and last have been insane - cause even though they are back, for some reason my life seems slammed. Getting all three out the door early, delivering each of them safely, checking in with teachers, soothing tears of adjustment (Elle is in a new school and she goes from being the happiest little girl when I pick her up, to literally screaming on the floor in the kitchen 10 minutes after arriving home. Just screaming about everything all at once. I know we'll get through it and of course I question every decision - you want it all to be perfect, which we know is impossible). 

Running has been steadily at 50 - 60+ miles a week and my body has been good with that. It'll be interesting to see how it all rolls out over the fall and if I'll be ready to absorb more miles. I'm ready for whatever my body will be happy with - I'm feeling positive about this cycle and can I dare say that this race will finally be a breakthrough? Ah, I will not jump the gun - just do the work, be patient and wait.

Here's what last week looked like:

September 4th - 4 easy miles (Mondays are an optional day off and I have felt like running easy and shaking my legs out from the Sunday long run, so I usually run on Monday)

September 5th - 7 miles

September 6th - 2 mile w/up, 5 mile tempo in 33:47 (6:45 pace), 2 mile cool down = 9 miles 

September 7th - 7 miles (got out on the trails today which I love)

Crushing on the sweet gifts from Brooks Running to kick off marathon training - the new Ghost 10 shoe and the Fine Form running bra. Full reviews coming soon. LOVE.

September 8th - 10 miles with 8 x:30 second pick ups (paces from 6:30-5:45. It was pretty sweet to see a few 5 something paces in there. Progress!)

September 9th - 7 miles

September 10th - 17 miles at 7:41 pace

Total miles = 61


I'll keep plugging along and see where this journey takes me. Life is a winding road - take chances. 

Kick ass.

What are you training for this fall?

How do you feel about your training thus far?



xo,
Natalie