Here we goooooo!

Sunday, June 7: Strength/HIIT
I found this workout on BuzzFeed a few weeks ago and did it for the first time when I had time to kill on Memorial Day in DC. Normally I default to the NTC app for strength training, but I wasn’t feeling NTC on Sunday, so instead I did this workout. Instead of doing each circuit for 10 minutes (AMRAP-style), though, I did each circuit for 10 minutes and then did another 10 minutes where I went through both circuits consecutively (so I went straight from the V hold in Circuit One to the single leg deadlifts in Circuit Two instead of starting over again on Circuit One).

BuzzFeed, in case you’re interested, has posted a lot of great workouts lately in the Health section, almost all of which are bodyweight/low equipment workouts, in case you’re in the market for workouts and, like me, don’t have gym access.

Monday, June 8: 3 miles in 29:29 for a 9:49 pace.
Storms rolled through the Chicago area Monday afternoon, and since I have a fairly limited window of opportunity to run on Monday afternoons, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to run. I decided to go for it, sticking close to my apartment so I could come back easily at any time if the weather took a turn for the worse. In the end, it only rained for about the first half mile, so all was well.

I also had the chance to wear my lightweight running rain jacket! I have a North Face Better Than Naked jacket, and while it definitely is $$$, it’s honestly amazing. It’s incredibly light, making it good for summer rain. I did get a little toasty after the rain stopped, but that was because I didn’t want to take the whole five seconds it would’ve cost me to take off my jacket and tie it around my waist. If you’re in the market for a rain jacket (and/or being obnoxiously matchy matchy), I’d certainly recommend this one. Plus North Face products are top notch, and you have a lifetime warranty on it in case something goes wrong. (I should also probably note that, despite how it sounds, North Face didn’t send me this jacket to review on my blog haha).

Tuesday, June 9: Dance.
Our session is almost over, which means we spent this whole class rehearsing our dance for graduation tomorrow. ‘Twas a sweaty one. We actually had subs in both hip hop and break, and while I don’t dislike my teacher, I do like it when we have subs as well. Everyone has a different teaching style, and I like getting to experience that every now and again, especially in breakdance.

Wednesday, June 10: 3 miles in 31:16 for a 10:25 pace.
This was the slowest three miler I’ve logged in awhile. I was kind of frustrated with it, to be honest, so I did some digging through old stats of mine (and by “old” I mean “from earlier this year”) and discovered that my average heart rate was about 20 beats per minute higher on this run than it had been on three milers earlier this year, which explains why it felt so challenging. Heat raises your heart rate during exercise, by, according to Google, 10-20 bpm, so I guess that explains things, considering the three milers I compared this one to mostly took place when it was 40-50 degrees, not 81 and humid. I’ve decided for my own sanity to track the weather during my runs this year as well, so instead of beating myself up over slower-than-I-would like runs, I can go back and see whether outside influences had a major impact on my time (like I think they did on this one) or if it’s my personal fitness.

Thursday, June 11: Rest.

Friday, June 12:  5.83 (according to my watch) miles in 57:41 for a 9:53 pace.
Ragnar Leg #1! According to Ragnar, this leg was actually 5.7 miles, and since it was literally in a straight line, I don’t think I could’ve messed up the “tangents” that much. Anyway, you can read more about this in my race recap later this week 🙂

Saturday, June 13: 5.9 miles in 59:40 for a 10:07 pace and 5.08 miles in 49:02 (!!) for a 9:38 pace.
More Ragnar. More details coming later.

Ragnar obviously made this a weird start to marathon season. I logged 22.81 miles (if my watch is to be believed), which is a lot more than I would have had I followed CARA’s novice plan exactly (15 miles). On the other hand, I don’t really feel like a “novice” at this anymore, either. I still respect the marathon, but I don’t fear it like I used to, so I’m not quite as concerned about being perfect. Overall, I’m fairly happy with how things went, especially with my last leg of Ragnar. On to normal training!