For everyone who loves snow… this video will put a huge smile on your face! I watched it twice!
Seattle had the world’s largest snowball fight on Saturday, right at the base of the Space Needle. The event’s organizers trucked in tons of snow from the mountains to make it happen.
Wish I was there… and now I want it to snow for real! Who doesn’t love the pure joy that comes from having a snowball fight? : )
It’s official: I completed every workout on my training plan this week!
I tend to skip weight-lifting here or a session on the bike trainer there, but this week I made training a priority and got it all done.
I finished this morning’s session on the bike trainer just in time to watch the Seahawks play the Falcons. Stats:
Aaaand, unfortunately, the Seahawks lost. Whomp-whomp. : (
In other news, I’ve decided to start training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon on Feb. 18 and see how training goes. If I feel great and want to go for the marathon, I have until May 9 to switch my registration. If the training makes me hate my life, I’ll stick with the half.
I’m 98% sure I’ll run the marathon, though. Here is my training plan for it, based on Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 plan (I loved the Novice 1 plan for my first marathon).
I added two days of strength-training (Tuesday and Thursday), just as I did for my first marathon and am doing now. I also turned Thursday’s run into hill repeats, since the course will be hilly. Many of the Wednesday runs are meant to be done at marathon race pace, so I’ll shoot for 9:05 pace — that’s a 3:58 marathon, yo.
It would be fun to set a marathon PR in Seattle, and then PR again in Chicago. Dreamin’ big.
I’m gonna post this and then drift off into a nap…
This was the coldest run I’ve ever done. Aaron was off with his team at 9 a.m., and I set out shortly after. It took about a mile and a quarter before I could feel my toes again and I stopped being concerned about my nose becoming frostbitten.
I really, really tried to slow down for this run; general wisdom is that long runs should be done at an easy pace that allows you to talk with a friend. My aim was a 9:30 average pace. It was wayyy too cold for that, though, and I had to go faster just to keep warm!
Every breath was a struggle because the air was… this is going to sound stupid… so heavy with coldness. It’s just science, folks.
The scenery was beautiful, though. This is the same trail on which I ran my half-marathon PR (in blazing heat rather than freezing cold!).
About five minutes after I got to the finish line of the bike ride, I was surprised to see Aaron pull in with his team since I wasn’t expecting him for another hour at least. Turns out they just did one loop of the course because it was too stinkin’ cold to do the extra loop.
It wasn’t a timed race — more like a fun ride — but the Audi guys were the first cyclists I saw at the finish line, so I guess they… “won”? Heh.
Both Aaron and I are heading for warmer temps soon, thank goodness, although not together. I’ll be in Palm Springs Thursday through Saturday for my company’s annual meeting, so I’ll get to do my 8-mile long run in the warm sunshine! I might even wear SHORTS!
Glorious.
And Aaron is going to Maui the following week for a cycling retreat with his team.
I will not be jealous.
I will not be jealous.
I will not be jealous.
Oh, damn, I’m going to be so jealous. : )
…and done!
Done…
I’ve got three layers of Lulu on top. Brrrr!
Aaron and I are going to do something this morning that we’ve never done before.
He’s doing the Stinky Spoke Poker Ride, which is one lap of a hilly 17.5-mile course, but he’s going to do two laps because some part of his brain is hard-wired to say, “MUST CHOOSE MOST DIFFICULT OPTION.”
I don’t know anyone else like that… {shifty eyes}
Meanwhile, the Sammamish River Trail is right freakin’ next to the start and finish line, so I’m going to do my 7-mile long run while he’s riding. I should finish well before him, and hopefully I’ll be able to change clothes and get warm in time to see him finish because oh my God this is the weather:
I love how the temp sneaks up to 36, but still feels like 32. What in the actual f*ck.
BUT thank goodness it’s actually going to be clear and sunny!
It should be an interesting morning. Wish us luck!
I just counted back 18 weeks from June 22 to see when I’d need to begin training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon, should I choose to do it, and I landed on Monday, Feb. 18.
That’s THE DAY AFTER my current fake-half-marathon training plan ends!
I think it’s a sign.
I kicked things off tonight with an easy-ish three-miler:
It’s hard to slow down, even though I know I should use my Thursday night run as an easy recovery run between Wednesday’s speed intervals and Saturday’s long run. My first mile was too fast, as usual, due to the fact that that the 30-something-degree temp nearly froze my face off. Then I had to work on dialing it back.
I settled into a groove, eventually, and had about a minute where my legs were so numb from the cold and on complete auto-pilot so I could hardly feel them, and the velvety darkness all around me could have easily been water that I was floating, floating, floating through effortlessly.
Night running: I give it two thumbs up.
All of my workout tanks are in the laundry (and my running clothes were completely sweat-soaked and gross after the run), so I dug up my Full Moon Party tank to wear for stretching, foam-rolling, and lifting weights.
I stole Aaron’s glasses to match my hipster owl, and by “stole” I mean took them directly off his face while he was playing Xbox. He didn’t even get that mad, and waited patiently for me to return them, and that is how I know he loves me.
I did:
And repeated that for a total of three rounds.
So far I’m on track to complete every workout on my training plan this week. Feels good!!
I’m still mulling over the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle half vs. full situation (although I’m heavily leaning toward the full, since I irrationally loooove marathon training), but I did decide today to do my favorite race of all time again!
I ran Seattle’s Best 15K in its inaugural year two years ago on my 24th birthday (May 21). This year, it falls on May 18, so it’ll be a great farewell to 25.
My time was 1:23:07, which is an 8:55 average pace (here’s the full race recap) — yowza!
It was also the most fun race I’ve ever done, and I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. Seriously. Like a crazy person.
(No need to rely on official race photos when your boyfriend/now-fiancé is an awesome photographer!)
My goal will be to PR.
Also, to smile my face off once again.
Dev on Running 