I ran on the treadmill for the first time this season yesterday, and I did a lot of thinking. That’s the nice thing about the treadmill. It’s so easy to zone out. On the road you have to be vigilant about your surroundings. You can’t listen to music too loud. You always have to be aware. On the treadmill you can turn up your tunes as loud as they can go. You don’t have to worry about a dog or deer jumping out of the bushes, or a person driving up in a car or van.
You can just run.
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When Plans Take Shape and Find Life
As I was staring at my medal/bib holder in front of me off into space, I started thinking about my races in 2016. One obviously sticks out in my mind — the Marine Corps Marathon. It was an incredible experience. MCM was the race of a lifetime. I know not everyone had a stellar day out there — after all, the weather was brutally hot and a lot of people were completely blindsided by it. I didn’t have a stellar day myself, but I still loved it.
While I stared at my MCM bib and daydreamed about my races, it got me thinking about 2017. Over the course of my 3 mile run, I made big plans for myself for next year. I’m not quite ready to share those plans, so I’m going to back up a week to the week before my treadmill was in good, working order and before I had any direction or plan for 2017.
I should mention, I did not have a great week. If I’m being honest, my week of training was abysmal. The silver lining is that now I get to officially train my dog to run. During marathon training my mileage was just too high for her. Now I can keep my mileage fairly low and take her with me.
Last weekend
My husband took apart our treadmill to move it to a different room of our house. Our friend was going to come help him move it during the week but we got hit with some nasty weather and he couldn’t make it. It sadly sat in pieces for a week.
Tuesday — 3.03 miles
Trixie (my pup) and I went out for a nice run together on Tuesday. She ended up running her second farthest distance of all time. Prior to this run, she ran 3.5 miles in the middle of summer and almost didn’t make it home. Winter is definitely more her speed.
After the initial burst of energy from her, she settled into a nice pace and we ran well together. She’s doing great with training!
Wednesday — 1.35 miles
Wednesday was stupidly cold. I was fine (ish), but my dog was not. She let me know she was done after a mile. When we turned around to head home, she was pulling me as hard as she could. And when she wants to go fast, she goes fast. I decided to let her off the leash and she took off like a rocket. She did wait for me, which was extremely adorable, and as soon as I caught up to her, she would run as fast as she could again. We made it home and I let her inside to warm up.
I really wanted to hit 2 miles for the day (at least) so I went back out. Unfortunately my motivation dwindled without my furry running buddy. I stopped in the middle of the road, bundled up from head to toe (not training for anything, mind you) and realized how ridiculous a situation it was. I threw in the towel and went home to do some strength training instead.
Friday — 45 minutes cycling
Friday was the last day of school before winter break. I had plans to run with my friend, Candice, but when I saw it was “feels like -9” I was all like…
Yeah. No.
I can suffer in single digit temps, sure. And if I’m in training, no problem. But just to go out for a 6 mile run for shits and giggles in “feels like -9” frankly ain’t gonna happen for me, folks.
Instead, I set up my trusty bike trainer and hopped on for a good 45 minute workout. After the bike, I did some strength training. It felt pretty good to get back into a groove with the additional training.
Saturday — 6 miles
On Saturday I ran a very mild trail — one that I run literally all the time with my dog, in fact — but it was completely snow covered. There were several inches of snow over most of the trail and it was incredibly hard to run on. It was like running in really deep sand. I knew I was in trouble when I could feel my tibia and fibula twisting in opposite directions of my knees. Since I have hypermobility and am therefore at increased risk of injury, I knew I was putting myself at risk. Sure enough, here I am three days later and I’m still suffering. I’m fairly certain I’ll need to head to the chiro for an adjustment after that run. At least it was fun with friends!
Last week’s runs weren’t nearly as awesome as I was hoping they’d be. But life (and weather) happens, so I don’t sweat it.
I feel good that my plans for next year are beginning to take shape a little more each day. In truth, my heart wasn’t in my original plans that I thought I had set for 2017. I wasn’t all in. Now I can visualize what 2017 may hold and I’m definitely all in for what I’m envisioning.
We’ll see what will come of it. As 2016 comes to a close I’ll have a better idea in the next week or so as I hash things out on the treadmill, on the road, and with my coach.
Happy running!
xo
TALK TO ME!
Do you have a plan for 2017 yet?
Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs for Tuesdays on the Run, and HoHo Runs and MissSippi Piddlin’ for the Weekly Wrap.
