Taji 100 Week 3 Update

I completely forgot to write my week 3 summary. Now I'm through the last weekend in February. I started the week with only a 1.5 mile 'bonus'.

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February 15th to the 21st

The week starts as always with a Friday. I've been treating Fridays as rest days and not stressing about major miles, just 1. It looks like it was a 1 mile walk in my neighborhood before dinner.

The weekend is where I have time to get miles. On Saturday I headed to Tewksbury for the Fudgcicle 5k with friends. I always get a little extra distance as I include my walk to the start and the walk back down the route to meet up with friends and run them in. This Saturday I got a PR for the race, which was nice.

Sunday was another Freeze Your Buns Race. I run these with my husband. I was thinking of running extra miles after but honestly I was nearly crawling due to cramps and just didn't want to. Realizing how many miles I did not get that I needed, I went for a mile walk after dinner. 

Husband is super excited that I've dragged
him to another 5k.

Monday is Winter Warriors, which generally means 4-5 miles. There was ice everywhere, so we had to modify the route for safety.  Even with that I managed just over 4 miles while chatting with a friend. It was getting slippery as the run went on and the weather got colder. 

Tuesday was a super busy day, between the office and our Meals on Wheels route. After work was a PTO meeting. In the Spring I might have considered getting dropped off and running home, but placement of snow on the roads between my home and the school, made that very unsafe in the dark. Instead I headed off to the Y and had a treadmill party of 1. I did a lot more walking and less distance than I planned but the dramatic increase in weekly miles has been taking it's toll.

Post YMCA treadmill run

Wednesday's miles were nearly an accident. I headed to the Y to walk a bit before my chiropractic appointment. I felt great and ended up walking over 3 miles on the indoor track. That was the visit that sparked my last blog post. 

My watch did all the C25K reminders!

Thursday morning the roads were gross and icy. We decided to stay local that day and hit the Y at lunch to run. After work that night was Winter Warriors again, which is sadly coming to an end. Can I just express how done I am with 10+ mph winds with below freezing temps? I can handle below freezing, but a 12-20+ mph wind just sucks the heat and breath out of me. That said, aside from careful footing in the park due to slippery slush and then patches of black ice near the high school, I still managed 4 more miles. 

That was the end of the week, getting ready to head into the last week and final stretch. I had 76.65 miles.  Just a small buffer to help. 

Exercise Road Block: Workout Clothing

One of my road blocks in the past to exercise was work out clothing. 

At the Y in my favorite Gym Girl Ultra Skirt.

As an ambassador with Skirt Sports I have tackled the looking good and feeling comfortable while working out.

The bigger problem was, the "I can't go to the gym without the proper clothing" road block.  I'd forget my bag, a piece of clothing or forget to pack, and then justify that as a reason to skip going.

Maybe it's because the Y is a different than gyms I've been in before, but I noticed there are plenty of people walking the track in street clothing.

Now if I forget something, I still go, I just walk. Though I'm fairly certain I have seen someone running the track in jeans and sandals.

As minor as this is and as obvious as the solution is, this was seriously a road block to getting to the gym and working out.

Today I just walked 3.1 miles after my morning shift and before my appointment with my chiropractor.

Pushing myself to run or walk 100 miles in February without the assistance of a marathon training plan has brought many of my excuses into the clear for me to confront them. I'll be better off for having done this challenge.

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Taji 100 Week 2 Update

Valentine's Day was the halfway point.

Taji 100 14 day streak badge

The week started out ahead with 2.33 extra miles and I needed them.

Friday was a bit of a rest day and cold. OK truthfully everyday has been cold, but I just wasn't handling Friday's cold well. I did go out and walk a mile after dinner.

Collage of garmin results, Phil & I at breakfast
and my purple tights under my black pants.

Saturday I got up entirely too early to met a friend and head to the Fudgcicle race. He wanted to run a few miles before the race, and I was going to as well(at my pace.) I skipped the pre-race running, and chatted with a friend instead. We then ran the race together, I was struggling some. I think the high mileage is starting to get to me, or the 21 mph winds. Once we finished we ran back along the course to find and encourage friends. I ended up with 3.78 miles for the morning. I wasn't done for the day, that afternoon after a movie, the family headed to the Y to walk the track. The boys ran a mile, while the adults walked.
That night Sunday plans were made.

Collage of my Taji 100 status 56.56 miles
to go. Garmin results for both activites,
cuddling my friends tan Chihuahua,
and Pokemon Adventure sync showing
67.3 km for the week.

Sunday I met up with two friends for a 6 mile run. That  ended up being 6.7 miles. I was struggling some but I was able to do it. As a bonus we ran on a bunch of new roads for my Run Nashua challenge.  Afterwards, one of the friends and I met up with some other runners for a 3 mile walk. That group decided to run instead, so we just walked.Total Daily Mileage: 10.24

This was a  good set up for the week. I didn't need many miles and I knew I was missing Winter Warriors on Monday. 

Monday at lunch, my husband and I stopped off at the Humane Society and dropped off some donations, then we went for a mile walk. More new roads!

My selfie in front of Humane Society banner

Selfie in the snow, with face mostly covered.

 

Tuesday we had a snow storm, once we were settled in the house, I went to go running. I didn't manage to run much as I had eaten too recently but I did walk another mile.

Wednesday was one of those days when everything times out wrong. I ended up taking Moxie for a walk that night and carried him most of the way so I could check off another mile.

Holding Moxie after walking outside

Because the weekend had been so good, not running Monday to Wednesday was not a problem for miles.

Gift from Husband, Flowers, beef sticks.
card and gift bag,

Thursday was Valentines Day! My husband surprised me with a hydration vest and flowers. He gets me. I went to Winter Warriors and ran with my WW running friends. Due to excessive ice and us being super careful, we didn't do our usual 4+ miles, but 3.63 miles was enough to bump we move the 50 mile total line, with 0.48 extra to start the new week.

With 2 running friends after Winter Warriors

Pace chart of run. Dips are the icy park.

Taji 100: Week 1 Update

It's been 7 days since Taji 100 started. My goal was 25 miles. I succeeded and banked XX miles toward the goal.

I'll be honest I was nervous.  This year I wasn't training for a marathon. I hadn't run a weekend long run in ages and I know those are critical for success. Instead of just running, I had to make a plan.

All my achievement to date!

The plan 

Walk at least 1 mile every day at lunch. Generally these miles end up being 1.1 or 1.25, which in the end of the challenge will add up.

Attend every single Winter Warrior run in February. I know I'll get in at least 4 miles. Challenge myself to go with a running group, instead of the Winter Walkers.

Attend Fudgcicle 5k and Freeze Your Buns, try to get miles in before and after.

Use my YMCA membership and go, even if it's to walk the indoor track. Remember if I'm walking the track I don't need to change into workout clothing, don't use I forgot to pack as an excuse. Bring the boys to YMCA as well. They love the adventure zone and the kids wellness area.

What I have done

Friday  Feb 1, to start things off, after work, I went to the Y with my husband and we walked nearly 2 miles before heading out to pick up the children. I knew Friday would be a rough day to get many miles.

Saturday I made up for it. I suited up and braved the -2 to 1 degree weather for the Fudgcicle 5k. Afterwards, I went to the Y with my family so the boys could play in the wellness area. I ended up walking nearly 3 miles on the track with my husband.

Sunday was Freeze Your Buns 5k with the husband. Then lots of resting before I took Moxie our 9lb Min Pin for a walk, which ended up being a 1 mile carry the dog.

Monday's course and stats!

Monday I went for a lunchtime walk and then to Winter Warriors for 4.5 miles. I opted to go with my friends that were running, rather than the walkers. We did the usual route and added on another half mile.

Tuesday is a busy day at the office, plus my husband and I have a Meals on Wheels Route. If I recall I was having rough headspace day and only did a 1 mile-ish walk after dinner to check off another mile.

What was I thinking Wednesday

Wednesday I was doing much better. We got to my chiropractors office early and went for a walk that not only got nearly 1.5 miles to my tally, but checked off a few more roads on my Run Nashua map. That evening I went to the Y, bumped into a good friend, ran 2 miles on the treadmill with the elevation set at 6, hiked up 35 floors on the StairMaster(that don't count toward Taji 100) and then did a 1 mile cool down walk on the indoor track. Since I have several mountain races in my future, I'm using the stair master to help prep me for all the hills.

With Carolina and Olive! Yes that is duct tape on my sneakers. 

Thursday was Winter Warriors again. I knew I only needed 1.8 miles to get my 25 miles for the first week goal.

I'm proud that I not only accomplished my goal of 25 miles, I accomplished 27.33 miles!

Today will be a rest day, so I'll likely get in a 1 mile walk to keep the streak going. Tomorrow is Fudgcicle 5k again.

Current Run Nashua map.

Confession Time: Run Club and Stats

Photo credit to GLRR Fudgcicle group

Confession 1: I've been afraid to wear my Gate City Striders singlet because I'm not a competitive runner. I doubt I'll ever be on a podium and or win points for the team. This was all me, I have never met a member of the Striders that has said anything to this effect. Every member I have met has been supportive and encouraging. Last weekend I decided to get over it and wear my singlet at the GLRR Fudgcicle race, because I'm a member and I'm proud to be on the team.  Expect to see me out more with it at races, I love the color.

Confession 2: I've stopped being as precise with my stat tracking, while steps from just walking around don't get recorded in my run tracker, planned and executed walks, such as today's mile at lunch do. I'm not separating walks from runs anymore. It's all movement, it's time on my feet and it's often in my running sneakers(I need that mileage tracked). One of my Ultra running friends said something about training for an ultra is all about time on your feet and less about pace. Thank you Friend! That was the piece I need to just let it go. I know more time on my feet with translate to a better over all pace, and this year I'm running enough races to get an idea of what I'm at.