It's Been A Minute + I'm Ready To Work

You guys. What's up? It's been a bit since I've posted here and I've missed this space. It feels strange to be typing here and not an Instagram post on my phone, but this will always be my favorite space. I told myself to just start writing. It doesn't have to be long or perfect, just write and get back into the groove, so here we go. 
I'm going back to CIM in December and I'm going all in to run fast - as fast as my legs will carry me. After I ran Phoenix in February, the excitement started to build and I knew that I have so much more to give in this sport. Summer has been a time of keeping my fitness, and doing some races to work on my speed. I haven't raced as much I would like to so far, but we've got a lot of summer left and I'm excited to dive into August and see what the month brings. There is kind of a lot to catch up on, so why don't we take baby steps - let's just start with my training from last week, sound good?

Monday July 22nd - 5 easy miles
Happy for recovery miles as I had a 16 mile run the day before, which also happenend to be our 18 year wedding anniversary (that feels strange to type - 18 years?). We had so much fun and I definitely had a tiny bit to drink - in the form of a glass of wine and later a mixed drink at a rooftop bar. This was a definite YOLO moment (two drinks in one day) and more than psyched to celebrate with this handsome guy....

We definitely had a more laid back and relaxed day than last year when we climbed Mt. Baldy...

Throwback to last year

Tuesday July 23rd - 8 miles
Normal 8 mile Tuesday and back to double days - 1-2 days a week. I opted for only one run today.

Wednesday July 24th - 8.6 miles
My partner in crime is back with a vengenace. Josh is my solid, legit running partner on the days that he runs (a 4.4 mile run for him, then I finished it solo) and he keeps it spicy. Mom, can we run up that hill again - Mom, let's pick up the pace...

Thursday July 25th - 10 miles
Workout day!
2 mile warm up, 8 x 800 meter repeats with a 400 meter jog in between, 2 mile cool down
Splits: 3:01, 2:55, 2:55, 2:55, 2:54, 2:54, 2:54, 2:53
It was hot on this day, kids were not in camp and I couldn't figure out how to do this at the track with three kids in the heat, so this workout was done on the treadmill. I worked for every repeat and times were just a bit off from the last time I did this workout on the road in May. Splits from May were: 3:04, 2:57, 2:56. 2:50, 2:52, 2:50, 2:51, 2:51. Happy with this effort and very tired afterwards. 

Friday July 26th - 8 miles AM + 4 miles PM
Double run today and moderate to easy miles for recovery from yesterday.

Saturday July 27th - 9 miles

Sunday July 29th - 14 miles with the last 4 at 6:44 pace. My time on the 4 miles was 26:58 and I sprinted at the end to squeeze in under 27 minutes. Yassss, so happy to be finished.

Total Miles: 66.6

19.5 weeks till CIM and it's way too early to start counting, but I guess I'm kinda counting...

I hope you guys are enjoying summer so far and cheers to the start of a great week. 

Dare to dream.

xo,

Natalie