SIbbetson

If nothing else, this virtual race series has really shown how much influence that Dave has over The Loop. :-) That's some elevation!

Impressive!! You do have more PRs in you! I am 39 and ran my full and half PRs at 39, and my 5K PR 3 weeks before I turned 39.

I am praying for you and all of our medical professionals during this time! Thank you for what you do. Like you, I was afraid of becoming a carrier and passing it around, but now I am working via Telehealth. Kudos to you for getting in a great virtual race too. Easy mileage pays a ton of dividends!

What is your GMP? The 9:14 might be MGP + a certain %, or it might be to "trick" your body into thinking it's finished and then running hard again, which can produce greater training adaptation. Hope you had a fun 13.1!

Wahoo!

Wow, you are a fighter! Whatever happens with running, you are already amazing, but I hope you can find joy in the run too.

This pandemic has gotten people more active and outside, I think!

This week was like a year!

Well-stated: "Wouldn't it be nice if we learned some things about isolating contagion and protecting ourselves by trying what we can to halt this one? We might learn some other things as well that could make our lives better, healthier and more productive." Can I bike in the virtual race? 😢

FWIW, I have run my best 5Ks off marathon training, bahaha! Cheers to spring!

That makes sense!

Having a race to target sure helps! :-)

February 2020 in review! Total mileage for the month: 99.3 Jan. 27-Feb. 2: 45.5 Feb. 3-9: 49.6 Feb. 10-16: 29 Feb. 17-23: 8.1 (all AlterG treadmill) Feb. 24-March 1: 0 (insert crying emoji here) Races: None this month. I'd hoped to run a local race, the Cabin Fever Reliever 20K, but my left hip had other plans. Workouts: Feb. 7 - 4 x 0.5 moderate (6:30-7:00) with 0.5 easy between, within an 8 mile run. We will call this one humbling! Although the pace was moderate and not hard, it also made me really wonder how I ever ran 5 marathons with paces under 6:30! It was my first run beyond very easy after Houston and after bronchitis, so those things factored in, but oy. Feb. 11 - 6 mile progression run in 7:19, 7:14, 7:02, 6:58, 6:43, 6:35. I was hoping to do about 7:30 down to 6:00-6:15, but that wasn't in the cards. I felt pretty good for 3 miles and then just felt drained; the uphills in particular got me on this one and showed me I was not yet full strength following my illness. Doubles: Feb. 10 - I thought I was back to doubles for one day! Strides: Feb. 5, 9. Strength work: Weekly totals of 1:00, 1:25, 1:30, 2:30, 2:08 Yoga: Weekly totals of 1:00, 1:55, 1:20, 0:47, 0:36. Cross-training: I did some swimming, aquajogging, and biking, but I am not keeping specific totals, which I am calling great progress considering my obsessive cross-training history during injuries. This workout was done with Abby from the Abbey Long Runs: Feb. 1 - 10 miles (8:49). I stumbled through double-digits in a bronchitis-induced haze only because I got lost when running in an unfamiliar area before attending a CE event in Kansas City (I was trying to run 6 miles). I felt very weak, despite sleeping for 12+ hours the previous few nights, and I went on to sleep for 15 hours the night after this run! Needless to say, I probably didn't need to be running, but I did take it very easy. Feb. 8 - 13 miles (7:47). I was still somewhat weak on this run, but it was FAR better than the previous Saturday's (although, admittedly, that bar was set quite low!). I ran with Abby and Missy, which is always a highlight! Pre-dawn fun Cold long run day Running Highlights: 2:45:01 and Beyond quickly became an amazing project! I made it in the Fast Women Newsletter because of it. It is discussed at just over 11:00 into this Ali on the Run Show podcast. I was interviewed for the Road to the Olympic Trials podcast and on the Strong Runner Chick Radio podcast about it (episodes coming soon). This podcast with the Houston 2:45 pacer is a good listen (I may be biased). This piece, which actually came out in January, discussed this amazing time in U.S. Women's Marathoning. It made me realize that I have never thought twice about women in their 30s and 40s running amazingly fast, because I see it around me every day! I have felt better and run stronger in my 30s than in my 20s, which I attribute to taking better care of myself now and training properly, but I love seeing so many "normal" women running extraordinary times well into masters age categories. There has really been an explosion in recent years. This article was particularly interesting to me under the heading "Responders, non-responders and the problem with equality". I have found I do not run any faster in Vaporflys or Next %s than in others race/workout shoes, and it was nice to read that there are other non-responders to these shoes. I do recover faster from efforts in them, so it's still nice to come off of a half marathon with no recovery time needed and off a marathon barely sore. I wish they made me faster though! My running low-light was a hip injury - details here. My last outdoor run was Feb. 12. The Olympic Trials Marathon was of course a highlight, deserving of a separate post. My mention in Fast Women! Life Notes: The Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs won the Superbowl, which my husband tells me is a huge deal. 🙂 My daughter tells me the snacks were the best part. I went to bed really sick at 7:30 p.m. that night. February 4 was my first wheeze-free day since January 17! I had a chest x-ray to ensure I didn't have pneumonia, and fortunately I didn't. The conclusion pretty much was: don't run a marathon with bronchitis. We keep Valentines very low key - thankfully! Albani made the soccer team. We started our garden (mostly Jon started our garden). Chiefs! Chiefs + frosting Chiefs + pneumonia testing Between illness & injury, I spent a lot of time on this couch w/ this cat during February Valentines from Grandpa & Grandma Gardening A poor photo of good soccer try-outs Books: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane White Elephant by Trish Harnetiaux House Rules by Jodi Piccolut Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline Again to Carthage by John L. Parker, Jr. The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention by Jay Dicharry Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan Run the Mile You're In: Finding God in Every Step by Ryan Hall This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah Theme of the month: 2:45:01 and Beyond! I had a lot of fun with this project.

21 miles on the treadmill - oooof!

Those bigger mileages will make for a strong marathon, no doubt.