Transition Week and February Goals

Transition week between not really running at all and 5k training:

Friday (1/22) 5.1 miles / 9:51 avg pace

Sunday (1/24) 5.05 miles / 9:47 avg pace

Tuesday (1/26) 5.05 miles / 9:07 avg pace

Wednesday (1/27) strength training/stretching/foam rolling

Thursday (1/28) 5.16 miles / 9:20 avg pace

Saturday (1/30) 8.0 miles / 8:56 avg pace

Sunday (1/31) 4.0 mile run + 1 mile walk

Saturday was amazing! It was 50 degrees and sunny. Basically a perfect day for running which really doesn't happen in Michigan in January. For comparison, last January I made note of a couple runs where the windchill was in the negatives. Since the weather was so wonderful and I was feeling a bit ambitious I decided to throw in a couple of fast miles: 7:32 and 7:11 with a recovery mile in between. I know I said I would keep it easy this week, but with the perfect running conditions it was just too tempting.

The warm weather lasted through Sunday, but it rained pretty much all day. I thought about bailing on my run, but had already made plans to run with Maria. She was planning on running 6 miles, but I needed to keep it short. I didn't want to over do it this weekend and not be able to do speed work today. I ended up walking about a mile while she ran an extra two miles. 

In addition to returning to scheduled mileage this week, I am also setting two mini goals for the month of February: strength train every day and only take the stairs.

I started working on incorporating daily strength training into my routine in January. I missed a couple days while on vacation and another day or two throughout the month, but for the most part have been quite successful. I started with a very short routine of planks, push ups, and squats. I'll be participating in Allison's StrongBody Streak so I'll be expanding my routine to 15 minutes per day. I've already noticed my core has gotten stronger (I used to struggle with a 30s plank, but am now up to a minute) and am looking forward to seeing more gains in February.

As for the stairs: I am totally lazy at work and will often take the elevator between the staff lounge in the basement and my office on the third floor. With a desk job I really need to make an effort to get up and move through out the day. I do feel slightly justified in my laziness since the standard number of stairs between floors is 14. My library has crazy high ceilings on the first two floors, so there are actually 89 stairs between the basement and 3rd floor. So in reality it more like climbing 6 flights of stairs, not 3. But still, no more elevator!