April Goals

Today I went for a run and did five recovery miles to start the day. The beautiful, morning sun warmed the air and a breeze pushed me along. While I ran Saturday I noticed that my daughter’s painted rocks had all been removed. However today, new rocks popped up along my run including a palm tree, rubber ducky and flower rock. It was sad to see her beautiful rocks moved, but really heartwarming to see happy owners replaced them with new rocks. Together, we could use a lot more positive stories like this right now.

Goals. I’ve finally settled on some goals! It’s time to get back to breaking a 21:xx 5k! Therefore I pulled together a calendar to work on some speed, while still keeping some miles to be ready for my virtual Pittsburgh half marathon. So, game on! Let’s see what I can push myself to do! This seems terrifying because speed doesn’t seem like something I’ve ever done, but now is the time to try!

Unofficial 5k PR

Today I went for a run in my new Team Ultra swag! Michelob Ultra picked me and I’m an official sponsored beer runner! I am grateful and humbled to be selected by this awesome brand. I have met so many fun, interesting, inspiring and motivated runners through Team Ultra and hopefully I’ll meet many more! So I took my new swag for a 5k and nailed it! 22:03 unofficial 5k PR!!! I set into a pace and resisted the urge to check my watch. First two miles were strong and third I began to feel the telling signs of fatigue. I was finally in the finish stretch feeling light headed and tired. The feeling is so different than marathon fatigue. I feel my lungs pumping air, each muscle contracting and the energy pushing me forward. I immediately stopped as my watch chimed. Exhausted, thirsty and overcome with joy. Mabye this swag is my lucky charm!

Speedwork

Today I went for a run and completed my second round of speedwork. I tried a threshold run involving ten – three minute intervals. I’m not sure what a threshold pace would be so I tried to hang around a 7:30 pace. It was pretty fun! The three minutes was long enough to find a groove, but short enough to not completely drain the batteries. I looped around the neighborhood three times and then made my way back. Today my meeting started at 830, so I had a few extra minutes if the run went over and luckily it didn’t! It was a great mix of starting with Shawn for the first two miles, picking up the pace solo and then an easy cool down as the sunrise spilled over the horizon. This 5k training has been pretty fun so far!