Running After Baby // Week 14

It's been a while since I've written specifically about exercise. I'm doing a lot of it, despite what the number on the scale might tell you. (But that's another post for another day!)

(Old photo alert!)

Accomplishments:

I don't think I shared my 5K time from last month's race. Obviously I wasn't in any sort of racing shape. Still, I crossed the finish in 25:15. Not too shabby for two months postpartum. That's basically 8:08/mile. My ultimate goal with the 5K is to get under 22 minutes. My PR is something like 22:03, but I know it will take a while (and lots of track workouts) to get there.

Another huge win for me was running an 8-miler two weekends ago with my running buddy Ariana. This past weekend, Stephen and I ended up getting into a fencing project at home, so I actually only ran like 3 miles on Sunday. Next weekend, though, I'd like to tackle between 9-10 miles with my friend. It felt really great to run long again.

Really great.

Goals:

In my last running after baby post, I wrote about how I planned to run a 10-mile race in November. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time that the date of that race conflicts with one of Stephen's cross country races. A paid gig trumps paying to run in my book. So, I don't have a race on the calendar right now.

Regardless, I'm still following Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Novice plan. I'm currently in the middle of week 5, though my long run is a bit farther than is on the plan. I'll probably just aim to increase the distance of my longest run until I reach around 13 miles, hopefully by November. I like being in half marathon shape, whether or not I plan to run for speed, because I find that distance is pretty manageable to knock out on a weekend without cutting too much into family time.

For cross-training, I do kettlebells 3x/week for about a half hour. I do Barre3 online 2x/week for about half an hour as well. I also take some walks to round things out. I do yoga to decompress at least once a week, but I'd love to find time for daily practice, even if that means just 10 minutes.

Other goals include getting a bit speedier with my general training pace. I run between 8:30-9:30 for most of my training runs. I'd love that to be more between 8-9.

Big Shift:

The biggest difference in my running these days is that I do most of it before the sun comes up. Stephen leaves for work relatively early. So, unless I set my alarm and nurse Eloise, I'm out of luck. Our treadmill is acting funky, too, so we need to get that looked at. I can usually fit in 3-5 miles in the morning, which is all I really need to do during the week.

I may even dare to say I'm enjoying being a morning runner. It's basically the only time that belongs to me during the day. It's the only time I find that I have quiet, which is important to me. So, yeah. I'm digging it. I know my body feels more sluggish in the morning. That's something I need to work on -- warming up.

Right now, I'm most excited for fall running. The leaves are already starting to change. I may drive out to the country and do some runs when the colors are wild and pretty. I love listening to the wind go through the trees and re-fueling with cider and donuts.

What are you most excited about in your fitness routine?