Mississauage Marathon Training: Week 2

This week had some challenges; specifically my husband was away on a business trip for most of it. New year means new travel budget which means he's going to be gone a lot more over the next few months, and I have to pull out the SuperMom cape to juggle the kids and work. And since said kids are too young to be left unsupervised, getting out for training runs takes advance planning.

Fortunately I have a job where it's no problem to head out for a run on my lunch hour, and there's lots of great running routes near work. I'm not sure if my coworkers admire my dedication or just think I'm crazy, but either way, I'm happy I can still train!

Monday: TRX class. I can take my kids to this class with me because the trainer's daughter is friends with my eldest and the kids all hang out together while we get our sweat on. Works out nicely for me! Killer class for legs and abs. Turns out you can make TRX pikes and mountain climbers even worse by adding a bosu ball for the arms. Kinda wanted to kill the trainer but too tired by the end.

Kid two demonstrates some unconventional TRX moves.

Tuesday: 9k lunch run. Usually I look forward to lunch runs because they provide an awesome and energizing break in the day, but I was dreading this one because the temp was minus a billion and the windchill was worse. My office was freezing, too, so I was cold even before I left the building! Fortunately once I got moving I warmed up quickly and the run went well. Still, I am pretty over this polar vortex extreme cold stuff.

New Buff-esque neck warmer (not an actual Buff - my husband got it for me at SAIL, not sure of the brand name). It's fully fleece lined and great on extra cold days for face protection.

Wednesday: 8k lunch run. Again. In the cold. Again. SENSING A THEME HERE. Except it was windier and therefore felt colder, which was just fantastic. /sarcasm

Anyone want to give me a treadmill? I loathe running on treadmills, but at this point I'd be happy to have the option!

Oh, and supermom over here managed to burn dinner ("It's called 'blackened chicken', kids. What, the smoke detectors? Oh, I was just testing those..."). Also it was ready 45 minutes late because the potatoes wouldn't cook. Not a winner of a day, that's for sure.

Thursday: 8k with hill repeats. My legs were pretty dead at the start so I wussed out and ran 3 repeats of the easy hill near work, rather than the planned 5 or 6 repeats on the hard hill. It was marginally warmer and less windy than Wednesday, so that was a plus. Still pretty cranky about this crappy winter, though.

Partway down the hill. It's not very steep, hence, wussy.

Thought about doing some strength training. Thinking about it is pretty much the same thing as actually doing it, right? No? Damn.

Friday: REST! Odd how I often wake up just bursting with energy on rest days and wishing for a run. Always want what we can't have.

Saturday: 23k with Patty. We started early because the forecast said it would snow all day and we were hoping to be done before the snow started to accumulate. Success! By the time we were finished the snow was starting to stick on the path, but we had clear conditions for the majority of the run. Felt amazing to run on clear pavement with no wind for an entire long run. The luxury.

Started in the dark, then the lake trail.

Taking pleasure in the little things, like a perfectly brewed cup of post-long run tea. It always tastes that much better after a winter long run!

Sunday:  8k recovery run. Turned into 9k because I felt so energized and was loving the run. Conditions were super slushy with lots of ice patches. I'm just so happy that's back. Sigh. I knew that clear pavement on Saturday was just a tease. My feet were soaked by the end of the run, but even with that nuisance the run felt fantastic. I love it when it all just clicks and you feel like you could go on forever.

Ran on part of the Around the Bay route, finally remembered to snap pics of some of the permanent mile markers! I love those. Wish they'd replace the faded ones.

Weekly stats: 57.8 km run, 1 TRX class. Great running week! Feeling good; getting that weekly mileage (km-erage?) back up towards 60 and no aches or pains or anything worrying like that. This next week will be a bit of a cutback/rest week due to travel (escaping the snow, YAY!), so we'll have to see just how many miles I'm able to squeeze in around theme park fun. Since 58k is the most I've done in a week since September, it's probably a good time to have a bit of break to let my body adjust.