We're basically homeless bums right now. The house isn't done and we're not living at the beach anymore, instead we're camped out in my Mother-in-Law's basement. It's not ideal, but it's nice to have supportive and gracious family willing to accommodate us and our never-ending-house-building.

It's hard to see much beyond the moment when basic things like eating breakfast in the morning involves a thousand 'shhhh-ings' because good god three kids are loud! When you're staying with someone else everything is a bit of a challenge, like getting out the door for a run involve tip-toeing quietly through a dark room where all three children are sleeping or trying to keep three small children from breaking every breakable item that is so enticingly within reach.

So life lately is crazy in a slow motion kind of way, like why do the weeks FLY by normally, but these weeks of the final stages of house-building are draaaaaaaging?

There are some good things about this time and trying to see all the positives, despite the fact that this wasn't the plan and isn't ideal. This year has been a real lesson for me in learning to ebb and flow with life when it doesn't go according to my highly orchestrated plan.

When life is like this I tend to find solace in the controllable things like running. So lately running has been really good. My day to day training has been consistent and this past weekend I felt really good on my runs.

Since I've been racing every other weekend since memorial day weekend, my weekly training has mostly been easy running with a hill workout each week and a long trail run on non-racing weekends. This past week is a great example of what I've been up to:

Monday:

Planned: REST

Actual: 4.64 mi, 42:09 @9:05

I opted for a rest day after Mt. Washington because we celebrated Father's Day with a day out at Storyland! So I swapped my recovery run from Sunday to Monday.

Tuesday:

Planned: 45 min running, 45 min strength

Actual: 5.0 mi, 45:04 @ 9:01 428ft elevation gain

Finally back into the land of hills! Some of my runs along the beach actually had negative elevation gain because according to my Garmin I dipped below sea level. Ha! It's nice to finally see some gain in my runs.

Wednesday:

Planned: 4.0 mi Treadmill Hill Workout

1 mi up

1/2 mi @ 12%

1/2 mi @ 5%

1/4 mi @ 15%

1/4 mi @ 5%

1/2 mi @ 20%

1/2 mi @ 5%

1/2 down

Actual: 3.45mi, 36:40 @ 10:38 (.65 later on to complete workout)

I joined the Y and was psyched to sleep-in drop the kids off and knock out this workout. I completed the workout as planned and it was a doozy with the climbing. With just .55 miles to go they had to come and get me, because Liam just wasn't having it with the childcare.

Later that afternoon I ran around the yard a bunch of times to get that last .55 miles of the run. Normally, I wouldn't be crazy like that. But I just didn't want to let it go unfinished.

Thursday:

Planned: 45 min running, 45 min strength

Actual 5.93 mi, 52:55 @8:55

I've been running so many out and backs at the beach I was excited to run a loop, but it ended up being a little longer than anticipated, but I felt pretty good it just cut into my morning strength routine so I had to fit it in later in the afternoon while the boys played outside.

Strength:

2x20 ea

plank w/toe touches

squats w/ wreck bag

wreck bag throw

2x 20ea

plank w/ elbow to knees

walking lunge w/ wreck bag

single leg bridge

2x20ea

plank pull through

dips

hamstring x-over

10 min various crunches, clamshells, leg raises, bridges

Friday:

REST

Saturday:

Planned: 8 mile with gravely climbs and vert

Actual: 8.72 mi, 1:51:49 @ 12:50 2740 ft in elevation gain

I'm happy to be back close to the mountains and able to get some more significant vert on my runs. I ran Gunstock Mountain with my friend Holly. We ran up to the summit, looped through the nordic ski trails and then finished with a second ascent. I loved every minute of it, despite the crazy humidity it was the most fun I've had on a training run in a while.

Sunday:

Planned: 45 min recovery run

Actual: 45:13, 5.21 mi @ 8:41 min/mi 427 ft elevation gain

I've been going to bed earlier all this week and I think it's been making a difference in how I feel on my runs. This run felt amazing, especially the climbing. It was another hilly run and on the climbs I felt really strong, my breathing was easy and my legs felt good. I haven't had an "effortless" run like that in a while and it was a great feeling!

This week has been a bit more relaxed as I prep for another mountain race: Loon! This one is a challenge, but I had so much fun there last year. I can't wait to tackle the Boss again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xzAHROP974&feature=youtu.be

--Sarah

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Life Lately and a Training Update