I'm excited for 2018. Last year was the YEAR OF THE HOUSE. I dominated everything we did. Took all our energy. Zapped our emotions. It was all consuming.

Now that we're settled and have a home base-a haven- I'm excited to move forward with other dreams and projects that were put on the back burner last year.

[BTW I've taken the pics and really want to put together a 'home tour' post so I can boast about my husband's hard work you can see the home we created.]

Some things on the horizon for 2018...

Rise.Run.Retreat.

I'm passionate about this retreat and I'm looking forward to giving it my full attention in 2018 and creating something really special! More details soon!

Unplugging

Right before Christmas our family went away for a quick few days to just be together. It came on the heels of a death in the family and was some much needed down and together time. Even though we've moved into the house there has been at least one big project per month that my husband has been working on to finish the house, which means he comes home from work but is still working and isn't really available. Home, but not home which is even harder sometimes for the kids. When we went away I committed to not be on my phone (other than to document our trip with photos) and then decided not to share pics from the trip at all. I unplugged and went "off line" completely and it was very refreshing. I've built a business around being online, which I am really grateful for and see social media as a really valuable tool, but sometimes it becomes more than just a tool and I needed to step away. I'm trying to find ways to implement planned "offline" times into each month in 2018.

Training Update

January is the start of intervals! After two months or pre-interval work in the form of hill repeats, 200's and strides I'm finally "ready" to get into the nitty gritty of intervals on the track. I'm lucky to be able to get to the UNH indoor track when I'm able to line-up childcare.

I'm really grateful for the people in my life who are available to watch my kids for these "non-essential" things like getting to the indoor track. I have to admit the mom-guilt can be a very present when I line up childcare for things like physical therapy appointments, massages (believe me they are NOT relaxing massages) and runs or track workouts. I wrote and researched an article about "mom-guilt" [you can find it HERE], so I'm well versed in where these emotions are coming from. Yet, I consider myself an athlete and when I use that at my point of reference I feel better about these pursuits and finding the childcare for them. I also remind myself that between staying at home and homeschooling I HAVE to have some time to myself to pursue my own interests and goals; not only is it a good example to my kids, but it also is an essential part of me feeling like I am THRIVING, not just SURVIVING.

As far as training goes, here's how the week looked:

Monday: Tempo Run 2x10min @5K pace w/ 5 min jog between

1 mile warm up

2x10min @ 1st 6:48 down to 6:44; 2nd 6:44 down to 6:27

I HATE doing tempo or speed work on the treadmill. I can never really give the same effort as I can outside. For whatever reason my paces are always much slower than I am capable of on the roads. Not sure why, but it is what it is. I decided to run as fast as I felt I could sustain. Now looking at my intervals on the track I think this 5K effort needs to be faster (6:20-6:15) so I'll give that a try next week and hopefully I'll be on the roads for it. Depends on the damn weather.

Tuesday: 30-60 min hilly run

5.0 mi on TM; 46 min total

Hill Run: 1/2mi each @ 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%; 1/4 mi @ 10%, 8%, 6%, 4%, 2%; Fast finish to five miles total.

Wednesday: Indoor Track (at least 3 miles in intervals)

10 min warm up (~1mi)

6x800, 90 sec standing rest

I wasn't sure how these would go. I haven't done intervals since the spring I think? Maybe last fall? Either way it has been a while and the last time I did 800s I STRUGGLED to run 3:06s, it was a huge effort. So I wanted to go out and make these feel comfortable, controlled and smooth and that is exactly how they felt. And they were faster than I expected. I had a little lapse in effort on #4, but recovered to run a faster final 800.

3:00; 3:01; 3:02; 3:06; 3:05; 3:02

Thursday: 45 min Hilly Recovery run

5.0mi; 45:26; 8:54 min/mi Got in a few miles in the first flakes of the big snowstorm. Nice relaxed run, my legs felt surprisingly fresh and strong after a hard track effort.

Friday: REST

10 min mobility and stretching

PT prehab session + dry needling I've been going to PT for 3 weeks now to prehab my L hamstring. I had chronic tightness building in my L hip and even though I was doing all the right things in the form of strength and stretching I just couldn't get it to loosen. PT is helping along with some new stretches thanks to Kim Nedeau (she is amazing if you haven't checked out her website and YouTube channel you should. If she lived closer I'd totally higher her as my PT/Trainer). So far I've been noticing better glute engagement and firing on my L side, which is great!

Saturday: Strength + Easy Run

Strength:

10 min mobility and stretching

(3 sets each varying reps depending on weight used)

Bridges on ball/alt leg raise on ball

pull up/single leg press

single leg squat/TRX reverse push up

battle ropes/qtr. squat

dumbbell plank pull through/bw squat

Check out my Instagram stories for videos of these moves!

Run: 4 mi on TM @8:30 min/mi

Sunday: Outdoor long run planned (we'll see if it actually goes down that way). 15 miles with fast finish @ HME (Half marathon effort) I'm going to go with "effort" for this first run and these long runs will slowly morph into having HMGP (half marathon goal pace) miles thrown in the mix.

It looks like we're in for a bit of a January thaw over the next two weeks which will be AMAZING!! I can't wait. This cold has been brutal!

How are you kicking off the new year? What are you excited about? How is training going for you?

-Sarah

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Training Update and Life Lately

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Rise.Run.Retreat.

Unplugging

Training Update

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