Mondays in Love: September Recap

I spent the whole month of September very happily in training mode--my first full-on month-o-training since March. It was delightful. All those moments of "oh gosh, that speed work looks speedy" and "what pace?" and "I haven't covered that distance in months" turned into moments of victory and 4 weeks of workouts crossed off the training plan.

What did it look like? It looked like 32 EZ miles, 4 miles of speed work, 13 miles at race pace, 6 miles at tempo, and 31 miles in long runs. Total: 86 miles.

I'm already 24 miles in for October and I'm slated to hit 100 if all goes according to plan. This makes me so happy. 

October has always been my favorite running month. I've gushed about it before. Why do I love October? In high school cross country, it was race season. Since then, it's still race season (see here and here). In much of the nation, it's gorgeous. I remember my old park so fondly.

Fall here is mind-blowingly beautiful, but totally different. Late last week it rained in the valley overnight but snowed in the mountains. That morning was crazy/beautiful (see below, and click on it to get the full version, if you can--totally different feeling to the picture). Fall here is dramatic, and gorgeous, but, I'm told, very short-lived. So far it's great. 

Mondays in Love: Saturday!

Before I get to my Monday in Love, I want to give a huge shout out to my friend Kayla for finishing her first 13.1 and doing it in an awesome time!! And, just like I was a running pusher for her, I'm super proud of her for becoming a pusher with her friend she ran with. She convinced her friend of the need for some new gear that ended up making race day much more comfortable. YAY!

This Monday, I'm totally in Love with my Saturday "long" run. It was the absolute triple threat of things I love:

1. More miles!
2. Urban chickens!
3. Fall weather!

1. More Miles

As I said, I now have the all-clear to add on miles to my daily runs, and I couldn't be happier about it! I decided to take it slow and added one mile to my now-standard Saturday 4-miler, making it 5.1. It felt easy, let me expand the terrain I'm covering, and left me feeling confident about building up mileage a bit. 

2. Urban chickens

I kid you not, there was a loose chicken in the park. You may remember my love of the urban chicken. I can't make this stuff up.

3. Fall weather

The park hasn't started changing colors yet, so for my newly added 5th mile I headed into a neighborhood where I knew I've seen some changing leaves. Bring it on! I love all things about October and running. Race season! Gorgeous mornings! Crazy costumes at 5ks! I love it all.

Happy Monday y'all!! 

Photo Phriday

For a while now I have been promising to post some fall pictures of the park I run in. Today I finally, finally forced myself to run with a camera. I'm really glad I did. Join me for today's 4-miler!

It took a minute to cross the street, so while I waited I snapped this picture of the entrance.

Just inside the park I spotted these vine-covered trees.

A little on down the trail

This park has a lot of gazebos in it. This isn't my favorite of them, but it's still pretty groovy.

Rounding the bend at the far end of the park

I think this is my favorite of the gazebos.

Loving the fall

We had a beautiful Saturday. After running this morning, we spent most of the day working on house projects and playing with the kiddo. But this is a running blog, so let's talk some running.

My RW taper schedule told me to run 11 miles this morning. But for reasons I outline below, that wasn't going to happen. I cut it to a little over 7 (which is what I've always done during the taper anyway). It was a great morning for a run. Check out the view from my house to the park. Love this!

Yesterday I decided to do a short jog at the end of the day in hopes of loosening up my legs before today's last long run. I was trying to explain to Mr. Joanna that something the only solution for sore legs is more running. Like that makes any sense. It didn't help much, though I was still glad I went, just because it was an unbelievably gorgeous day.

I hate to say it, but my body is ready for the end of race season. My hams are tight ALL the time, and my on-going problem at my left butt-bone only gets worse with time. My right IT Band has to be stretched before and after every single run. I think a little help from a sports medicine person will go a long way (and maybe a massage). That's the hope anyway, since I have no intention of giving up running over the winter. A decrease in miles? Sure. Stopping all together? No way. So here's hoping a little rest and some highly trained input will help.

Ok everyone, ONE WEEK until the US Half, my last race of the year. I'm SO looking forward to seeing some college friends and exploring a new city. The countdown is ON. And GOOD LUCK to everyone racing this weekend--MCM and all those Halloween-themed races. Rock those races!

616.8 + 2.2 + 7.1 = 626.2