Trizza

Thank You! Had a great day this week and getting my favorite summer food place tomorrow to break my diet for one day :-)

I turn 36 today (Yay birthday's) and so my BQ is 3:10:00

I know that feeling. You think you avoided a soaked foot and then suddenly the other foot is drenched. I'm shooting for a 99 minute run on the Half Marathon on this run. My long term goal is to get closer to the 90 minute mark. If I do that I might be able to challenge the BQ with proper training.

The Sunday rain for miles 1-6 was nice and bearable...then the last 6 was atrocious. Downpours and puddles the whole way. Yesterday was the other end of the spectrum with a light rain in the morning, but nice and hot by 12:00 when I started. The problem is that heat turned the moisture to stifling humidity. I think my Strava update says it best "It's so humid my sweat is sweating". I did a solid six though in that heat and another easy 5 today is in the plans. Haven't tested my speed yet, but I think my goal all comes down to the weather on 7/12.

Week two was finished on a good run even though the weather was terrible (downpours). I totaled 34 miles in about 5 hours of running last week. I'll be heading out for my first run this week today to start my march for a repeat at about 33 miles or so this week.

OK so I call bologna on the speed up with side stitches as they happened during speedwork again this week on my third mile repeat. I had to slow to a walk to check there wasn't a knife in my ribs and after finishing the mile at a slow jog and my 3 minute recovery I'm proud to say I finished the fourth mile repeat at my goal pace. It wasn't easy, but the stitches did stay at bay during that portion. I'm hoping it's just a hydration issue or something or running at 5K-10K paces that is causing the issue and when I try for my half marathon in 3 weeks everything is better. Speaking of the race I am officially registered for the Narragansett Half Marathon on July 12!

Damn for science I now need to try running faster next time and then correct my posture the next. Hopefully I don't get any more cases, but we shall see. Today was 5+ miles on the hilly route here and man was I sweating, but pretty good run all things considered. I'm back on track with my eating and my language studies as things got a bit off the rails with the party this weekend and now running is usually the thing to smack me back on track. I'm also looking into getting a new bike to start commuting to work this summer so we'll see how that goes, but surely a way to improve my fitness and running for races later this year.

Yeah the last 2 miles was as easy a jog as I could do to stop the stitches. After my rest day I was fine by Saturday and this weekend completed my first 30 mile week of 2015. I had a setback overall in "eating" this weekend with my daughters birthday being Sunday, but all in all it wasn't that bad. I'll be back to full tracking and healthy eating today. I did some pushups and pullups this weekend, but nothing super organized. It was a start though.

Running? Check. Eating healthy and lots of veggies? check. Bodyweight work? Nope. I just can't figure this one out and I'm afraid as I now cross 30 mpw I just don't have the energy for 3xweek of a full routine. I'm going to try getting in a routine of pushups and pullups starting tonight, but will need to see how it goes. I also had to back off my speedwork today with side stitches after halfway through my second interval. I toughed out the rest of the distance, but anytime I tried to push to a 7:15 - 7:30 pace it flared up again. So I got in 5.5 miles, but with a few walks and recovery paces added in to keep from the cramping. Tomorrow I am on my rest day, but have to commute to Boston for a work symposium. Should get plenty of steps/miles in getting around Boston. Plus plenty of good/healthy places to grab some grub. Still on track for my Duolingo goal although it's getting a bit more challenging as I progress.

I still have to call the dentist about it since the Dr said they couldn't do much except give me muscle relaxers to stop any nighttime teeth grinding that maybe worsening it. It's gotten better since then and also more aware of eating softer things and less things like gum. Anyway on to the challenge! So I still have a nagging cough and my sinuses are not perfect, but today is the kind of day that decides if you can reach that goal or not. I went out today and not only did my 5 mile run, but I added in some hills. It was the perfect day with some cloud cover and in the 70's, but rain held off for now. I am still working on my body weight work as I need to keep it about 30 minutes, but with no cardio meaning none of the Xbox fitness programs can be used. I'll try to finalize that tonight so I can get my 3 x this week. Been eating well so far this week and meeting my veggie goal with ease. I've reached 33% fluency in Spanish according to Duolingo.

Running wise it was a rest day, so not much on that front and I'm dealing with some health issues so definitely don't want to push it. I've got a head cold, sinus issue and my doctor suspects my new jaw pain might be TMD. Eating was on point for my veggies and I tracked everything. I have a five miler planned for tomorrow, so hoping the head cold moves on!

Thanks everyone for commenting. It can definitely feel like your lost in the crowd during recruit challenge. So I've decided to try Strava premium which includes McMillan training programs and use that to get my last 5 weeks in for the Narragassett Half in July. It's a tough program with some intense speedwork. It's exactly what I need. I also started the Hero's Journey 2.0 from Darebee.com and it's tougher than I thought. I did everything for level one and thought if I start now I'll be closer to finishing it during the 6 week challenge although still won't get it quite done since it's a 60 day program.

DareBee is new to me, but some of those look really interesting to try. I don't agree with the use of crunches and sit-ups, but if you replace those more with planks I might be able to piece together a routine. Thanks!

I do enjoy a spread out list. The running honestly is the easy one since I run non stop once I get going during the year. The food and workouts are tougher, but will be the big boost I think for my running to get better by being healthier. As for the Life quest I wanted to aim a bit big and really try my best.

After my successful finish to my first challenge I thought I would take a look at another goal for my second challenge, but I realized if I take away from my running to much my marathon goals later this year might be cut short. So although I not only kicked my goal's butt with a 1:42:27 half marathon time, which was also a PR, I am going for faster and better running in my second challenge. Main Quest: To reach a 1:40:00 Half Marathon time. Until I can do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs there is always the need to get faster. I am planning on running the Narragansett Half Marathon on July 12th for now. Side Quest #1: To get faster I need to run more and better. I will be running 4-5 days a week and totaling 27-40 miles each week. I should top 200 miles by the time the challenge is done. Side Quest #2: I have completely dropped my body weight work after the last challenge and find the r/bodyweight routine not my type of work. I will be doing some body weight work 3 x week, but have not set what one yet. It must work push ups, pull ups and planks. Side Quest #3: I'm in the ballpark of my goal weight now at around 170-171 pounds, but I am keeping my MFP goal set at losing 0.5 lbs/week to keep from creeping back up. My goal is to not only keep to my calories each day, but also make sure I eat 2-3 servings of vegetables a week. I have no problem getting enough proteins and fruit, but vegetables often get forgotten as the week drags on. Life Quest: A scout is worth nothing if he can't do a bit of spying on the enemy. To improve my Charisma I need to work on my skills. I will require myself to talk for longer than 10 minutes with someone not in my family and preferably not a close friend (coworker or acquaintance counts) each day. Also I am working on learning Spanish and will require 30 XP of duolingo each day (up from 20 XP goal). Lastly I will try a service like Mixxer once or twice a week to gain confidence to speak with others in Spanish. I've set the bar pretty high this time and will rely on HabitRPG to track these goals daily as well as weekly. I also prefer to update my post here daily on weekdays so I have some accountability. With a week to go I plan on using the time to refine my body weight plan and test the Mixxer system for finding a good partner.