Oh, February.

February was quick. Unfortunately, this winter is not. However, the snow and cold are making me excited for spring like never before! As I type this, I'm trying to keep the stress low: soul music playing in the background, a candle lit, some mint tea, and banana bread cooking in the oven. I feel comfort. Comfort in the midst of stress.

Running this month went very well. I have one more easy run tomorrow to close out the month at 30 miles a week with a little speed training thrown in the mix. My speed is pretty much the same as it was last fall. I'm set to run a 2 mile race on March 12th, mainly to see if there are any differences in speed. Endurance-wise, I'm in a great position right now. Easy run paces have improved significantly and my longer runs have found me pushing the pace quite often. Hills aren't too bad either. After the 2 mile race, I'll settle back into building mileage and focus less on speed work, or intensity, as a precaution to injury. I'll continue to do tempo workouts but will be careful with them as my mileage goals for March will be the highest they have ever been.

So about that stress. I've got a lot of stuff due for school this week and the next on top of a comprehensive exam next weekend. This exam requires a certain passing rate to graduate from my program. I've been studying but standardized test freak me out! There's also a somewhat important mid term for a class next week and then I have to teach a six session program at a local high school. The thought of all of these things and being prepared enough are what stress me. It even effected my sleep this week, where I found myself on the sleep schedule of a newborn baby- waking up every two hours in the night! Last night, however, I tried some relaxation thoughts, such as, "I'll get the work done tomorrow, it will be fine, I'm in control." These thoughts worked and I slept through the entire night! Ha.

Running has still been helping with staying somewhat sane during these stressful days. I feel like I found a purpose again with running. And many of the mental battles I deal with on my runs, I can look back on when I'm struggling with other things in life to find a way to keeping moving along.

Finally, Boston! And some other thoughts.

Boston changed their standards today and I couldn't be more excited! I think running has caught on a lot in the last ten years. Not only have more people qualified for Boston but more have also qualified for the Olympic Trials. I think it's always a good thing when standards have to be tightened because it forces runners to work even harder. To now qualify, I will have to run a 3:35 marathon and then wait for faster individuals to register first. However, I do think I could eventually run faster than 3:35. In fact, another long term goal of mine is to qualify for the New York City Marathon based off their competitive standards that guarantee entry (3:20). But for right now, I'm training at equivalent paces to run a 3:35, though I don't have enough mileage under me yet to hold such a pace over 26.2 miles. I'm off to a good start so far, 47 days in and still counting.

Although I'm no expert because I haven't qualified yet, I think a 3:30 marathon is not all that hard to do. The hard part is putting in the work to get there, especially considering most of us aren't elite. We have to work around the schedules of adulthood. Even without any children, it takes a time commitment that can sometimes be challenging. Though certainly, not having children makes it a hundred times easier to train. Lately, though, I've noticed a positive effect on my mood due to my commitment to train. I feel more vibrant and alert in other activities when I include a daily run or swim. I haven't felt this good health-wise since high school, when I first started running. Sometimes if I wait until the evening to run, I notice that I start to get antsy. Then when I run, I feel back in control and alive. So no matter what my future goals are racing wise, I hope to never lose sight of my commitment to get out there daily to maintain not only my fitness but my sanity as well.

Pushing through winter

Sometimes an easy recovery run on a treadmill is harder than a workout, whether it's indoors or outdoors. Yesterday this happened to me. I don't mind the treadmill for tempo work, intervals, and stamina runs. But it's incredibly difficult to do an easy run on it! It's boring, even if I have music blaring in my ears. And with music, it's harder to stay slow. This was a 6 mile recovery run/jog. My legs were perfectly fine going slow but mentally I was struggling...until I thought that this could be a good test in holding back and letting my body recover. That mindset made the remaining three miles feel better and in the end, it was a pretty refreshing run.

Overall, this winter hasn't been too bad. In fact, I'd say it's been the best for me, and in part, due to a change in mindset. You don't need the latest high-tech gear to stay warm. Just layer up, wear a scarf, double up on gloves if you have to, and slow down on ice. Don't let the clothing companies fool you! The roads may be covered and it may be more windy, and sometimes it's so cold, it's better to run indoors. These extreme conditions often give you inaccurate perceptions of your progress. However, I feel that because of this consistent work during an inconsistent season, that come spring, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Impatience is a virtue

38 day streak and counting. I notice a difference in my mood and energy as well. I'm not sure if this is due to working out everyday, my new medicine, or getting lots of sleep. It could be all three, but that's beside the point. I had so much energy (disguised as impatience) on Saturday that I decided to test my fitness on a 1/10th mile indoor track. I thought that 6 weeks of consistency would have me run a new mile PR, just like that. But after carrying 6:00 min pace for three laps, I learned otherwise.

I forgot that I hadn't done any speed work during these last six weeks, other than two 5ks on a whim and some mini (slow) tempos. As strong as I felt that day, it didn't mean crap without all the elements in place. I ended up doing 2 x 800 at 7:00 min pace and added a slow three miles to the day. But more importantly, I was forced to try and find the positive. I found two:

1. I still feel in the best shape of my life. I feel very strong endurance wise.
2. Last year, I did something similar-- went to the indoor track to run a mile. The result was a 7:50 and it felt all out. So, comparing last year to this year, that's an improvement. See, at this level, you can always find improvement, even if small, somewhere. Also last year, a 3:40 indoor 800 felt really hard. This time around 3:30 felt that hard. Another tiny improvement.

I'm not sure what I'm training for yet but Saturday added new ideas to my head. In all, my impatience to race off little speed work led to an important realization: It takes more than just consistent, slower mileage to break PRs. Because I'm somewhat injury prone, it's probably best to just continue with the slow buildup with the goal of an endurance-type race in the spring versus stopping at around 35 miles a week and getting intense with speed workouts. But if I think too far ahead, I'll grow more impatient. Taking it week by week seems to be working. And that's also keeping me healthy and energized.