Speedwork and January recap

I'm so happy with how this month has gone. I've been consistently running twice a week (missed 1 Tuesday because Jack was sick) and haven't missed a long run. Occasionally things come up on the weekends and before I know it, it's Sunday afternoon and I haven't done my long run. I'm trying to make it more of a priority and getting it done on Saturday.

This past Saturday we were pretty busy. Jack and I had an awesome 3 hour lunch with a friend and Sidney and I had our first night out together in over 3 years! Can you believe it? Jack spent the night with some friends who have a daughter the same age. I was worried because it would be my first night away from him, but I knew he'd be fine and we were really looking forward to (and needed) a night out! He did great, falling asleep in 10 minutes and sleeping until 8:15 the next morning. Woohoo!!

Sidney and I enjoyed dinner and a comedy show and a solo breakfast at IHOP the next morning. We ended up spending the morning with Jack at our friend's house and left around 12:30. Sidney put Jack down for a nap while I did my run. My goal was to run 6 for the second week in a row and move to 7 this week. I finished with 6.6! 

Slow and steady, right? I'm always so proud of myself for running the entire distance and not stopping to walk any. If I needed to walk I definitely would. There are times I WANT to walk but I switch to a song that pumps me up or I say motivational things to keep me going. It's not easy to keep going when you want to stop. But you might find you can do amazing things if you just break past those barriers!

Last night I met a group for a 5 mile speed workout. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We ran at a park I had never been to before that has a 1/2 mile loop. I was thinking it might get boring running the same loop for 5 miles. We did a 1 mile warm-up, then the plan was to do 5 800's with a 400 recovery. So basically run a fast half mile, recover for a quarter mile, and repeat. The first one was definitely the hardest. By the third I was feeling really good. We stopped for a water break and everyone agreed we didn't need the quarter mile recovery. I had been in the back for the first 2 but now I was leading the group and feeling strong. I even finished doing an all out sprint. I did a solo cool-down lap and all in all had a really great run! I'm always amazed at what I can do and running with others definitely pushes me. I'm glad I have this group to run with on Tuesdays!

Last January I ran a total of 6.35 miles between 2 runs. Nothing to write home about. I'm going to finish this January with 40.25 miles!! A big difference! I'm only running twice a week right now and being that it's cold, dark, and I can't run with Jack...I'm super proud of those 40 miles!