Mile Markers 11/2/2015 – 11/8/2015

Mile Markers November 8: Sammamish River Trail

Hi, everyone! How was your weekend?

My mom visited this weekend and we spent time exploring Washington, including driving through the mountains and exploring Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian village in the Cascades. What a fun weekend! 

Mile Markers November 8: Leavenworth WA

Rainy season has arrived in Seattle. While we apparently get a lot of rain and clouds during the months of November through April, November has the highest average rainfall of the entire year. I don’t mind, because I’ll gladly take months of light rain instead of weeks of raging snowstorms, icy sidewalks, mountains of snow, and being stuck running on the treadmill all the time.

Monday: AM: 7 miles on the treadmill, 1% incline, 8:14/mile average pace. PM: 25 minutes strength training. 

This was my first “workout” since the marathon and I kept it on the easier side with a short fartlek run. After warming up for 20 minutes, I increased my pace to 6:49/mile (8.8mph) for one minutes and then recovered for two minutes at 8:49/mile (6.8 mph). The fast intervals were quick enough for me to run faster but not too demanding on me aerobically since the duration was so brief. I repeated this ten times and then cooled down until I reached 7 miles. 

Now that the time has changed, it gets dark at 5 pm here in Seattle. It was pitch black outside when Ryan and I went to the gym before dinner for our workout, which made it feel so late. I did some upper-body and lower-body combo moves like squats with and overhead press and lunges with rows. 

Tuesday:  7 miles easy, 8:30/mile. 

Just a normal rainy run. I switched up my route a bit this week and it’s so fun and rejuvenating to try a different trail.

Mile Markers November 8: Eastside Running

Wednesday: AM: 6 miles easy, 8:37/mile. PM: 25 minutes kettlebell + core. 

Since I’m focused right now on maintaining a decent base, I set mileage ranges for most days, usually around 5-7. Originally, I planned on running 7 miles, but I just wasn’t feeling it that morning, so I told myself to do five. I ended up feeling good, so I split the difference and ran 6 miles. Sometimes it’s just a battle of the mind versus the body, and usually my mind is significantly lazier than my body. Once I start running, though, it’s becomes easier to listen to my heart and legs rather than the part of my brain that tells me to go home and drink more coffee. 

I found this kettlebell workout on Pinterest. It was the workout I used to do all the time during my senior year of college and I had forgotten how much I loved this workout until I did it this week. It’s quick, efficient, and works your entire body while actually be fun. I squeezed in some planks and bridges afterwards to work my core a bit.

Thursday: 4 miles easy with Charlie, 8:58/mile.

Charlie did so much better at pacing on this run than he did last week! We ticked off the first three miles like a metronome, hitting 9:02-9:07 min/miles. It started to rain during mile 4, so Charlie picked up the pace because that little puggle does not enjoy even the lightest of rain showers. 

Originally, I planned on doing some strength training or Pilates, but by the time Ryan got home, we both felt a bit spent, so instead we each had a beer and watched the latest episode of Supernatural. This season is sooo creepy but so good. In terms of working out, it’s all about balance and there’s days where we just have to listen to our bodies when they tell us to take it easy.

Mile Markers November 8: Running with Charlie

Friday: 10 miles at a steady pace with a moderate progression over the last 3 miles, 8:07/mile average pace. 

It was raining when I arrived at the trail, but I honestly love these rainy runs. Rain in Seattle is significantly different than in the Midwest. Here it just spits or lightly drizzles, while we fondly called Valparaiso, IN “Val-pour-rain-snow” because of the torrential deluges we experienced on a frequent basis (when there wasn’t five feet of snow on the ground). The rain and cool morning temperatures chilled me for the first couple miles because I was in shorts (I despise wearing leggings or capris when it rains, since they get so wet and cold), but then I settled into a comfortable pace once I adapted to the temperature. Since I was feeling good, I increased my effort slightly over the last three miles and finished with the last mile at 7:39. Now, if I can run 13 of those and it feel good…

Mile Markers November 8: Woodinville Running

Saturday: 3.5 miles of hiking, 500 foot gain, and 2.5 miles of walking.

My mom, Ryan, Charlie, and I hiked a small portion of the Pacific Crest trail in the Snoqualmie Pass region. We then drove through Snoqualmie Pass and explored the German influenced town of Leavenworth, with which we all instantly fell in love. We walked around Leavenworth for 2.5 miles and then drove through Stevens Pass to see more mountains. 

Mile Markers November 8: Pacific Crest Trail

Sunday: Rest

[Tweet “Rainy runs, hiking the PCT, and Leavenworth via @thisrunrecipes #fitlfuential #sweatpink #thatpnwlife”]

Questions of the Day:
How was your week of training? Did anyone race?
Do you wear shorts or capris/leggings when it gets cold and rainy outside?
Do you watch Supernatural? What TV shows are you obsessed with right now?

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16 Responses

  1. I was actually talking to someone the other day about if we would rather live where there are snowstorms or constant rain. I think the rain would depress me a bit, or at least the lack of sun. But then again I go pretty crazy during the winters over here too! But you are right, at least you don’t have to worry about ice.

  2. That mountain picture is beautiful! So is the tree picture, though. I love how the leaves change color there and makes for a pretty run.

    I never run in pants or capris. I do own some and wore them twice last year, but this is Charleston and it’s pretty warm, and always warm enough for shorts pretty much. It does rain a lot here, though (raining now).

    My friend teaches a kettlebell class and I’m going to try it soon. Pretty excited about that.

    1. Thank you! The leaves stay colorful so long here – it’s been at least six weeks! I can imagine Charleston stays warm enough for shorts weather all year round – I hope it does here as well!

  3. Glad you had a great time with your mom! Love that you got to show her around your new home. Looks like some beautiful sites she got to see. I like capris when it gets colder out. My legs feel like bricks when they’re cold so it helps to keep them covered a bit. It has been in the 30s here for my runs lately so Capris/tights have been worn for sure! Hope you have a great start to your week, Laura!

    1. Thank you! It was fun to show her around here, especially because she lived on the Eastside of Seattle 30 years ago so some of it was familiar for her. The 30s is cold and definitely leggings weather! I hope you have a wonderful Monday, Angie!

  4. I totally know what you mean about the capris and leggings thing in this cold rain. I wear shorts right now too. I wear a long sleeved shirt under a jacket but I’ll wear shorts. The chill on my legs keeps me moving at a solid pace. Your treadmill workout looked tough! Nice job.

  5. I am the same way – sometimes I start out not feeling it and think I will only do a certain amount of miles but then I reach that point and feel great and continue. I have to realize that most of the time, I feel best a bunch of miles in than at the beginning. And yeah, it’s dark early! It’s dark even before 5 here – soon its more like 415-430. Makes for a long night!

    1. I’m glad I’m not the only one who takes miles to actually feel like running! The early darkness and long nights make me want to go to sleep so early – it was already as early as 4:45 today when the sun set!

  6. Wow, your photos are gorgeous! I’m so happy to hear that November is the heaviest rain month because I was really sad when I looked at the forecast today and saw ALL rain 🙁

    1. Thank you, Lauren! You would love Leavenworth – so beautiful! We’re getting SO much rain – and it snowed in the mountains this weekend! I had to look up which month was the worse after days and days of rain last week. On the bright side, we only get about 6 inches of snow total every winter!

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