Even MORE Treadmill Miles!

Monday already?

My weekend went by in a blur! I ran 20 miles on Saturday, and my friend Carly came to visit us later in the afternoon. She was planning on staying until Monday.

I had performance #8, and then we went out to Brouwer's Cafe in Fremont with JW and the rest of his band friends as they bragged to us about how they got to meet/talk to/become best friends with Joel McHale.

2012

I suppose I can't complain, since I met him last year, but I mean COME ON. Can't we be best friends already? Le sigh. (Also, I used to have a pixie cut, yep.)

Sunday was kind of a scary day because on my way to rehearsal, I got a call from someone telling me that Carly had been in a car accident in Seattle and was hurt badly, and needed someone to come to the scene and take her to the hospital. I couldn't get away from my performance, so I spent some time trying to get JW on the phone so he could go and get her - meanwhile, I had no idea exactly how injured she was or if it was a dire situation. All the guy who called me said was "She's conscious", which was probably not the best choice of words for the situation.

In reality, she was hit on the passenger's side pretty hard - and all she has to show for it is a black eye and some scratches. She's fine, but a little shaken. I struggled through Sunday's performance - all I cared about was that my friend was okay! I'm so glad she is!

Since her car is totaled, she's staying with us for an extra night before she goes back. I'm so happy to spend an extra night with my friend, even though the circumstances were quite unfortunate!

Back to Monday. I was planning on going outside to run, as it was cloudy but the forecast said it would clear up some, and as I was putting on my shoes, I looked outside at the TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR. What!! Ugh, the universe must have wanted me to go on the treadmill. FINE. To the treadmill I went!

6.24 Miles on the first go, then 1.76 Miles on the second leg.

Watching Project Runway - shout-out to my girl Molly, the best model on that show!

I'm rooting for her to make it to the finale! You go girl!

Conan, natch.

The run was okay, considering how bad Saturday's run was. By the way, I'm feeling a lot better about it, but of course during it I felt the worst. Now that I've had time to reflect, I realize it was just a bad run and that just because this one was bad, that doesn't mean that the rest will be terrible. Positivity!!

Next up is an NTC Workout which I am determined to complete, and on Wednesday is a tempo run. Feelin' good!

20 Miles: Rain and Roosters

I would have started this post with, "I did it! I ran 20 miles!" but for some reason I'm really feeling the negativity today. In my mind, I just barely completed the 20 miles... barely... I had to stop at mile 6, mile 10 (halfway point), mile 14, and mile 16, and had to force myself not to stop from miles 16-20. This is the first run that this thought has run (hah) through my head: "I hate running. Why am I doing this?" Also, it rained. The ENTIRE. time.

Before: Scared. Taken around 5:30am. 

Maybe it's because I'm in the middle of a run of a show that's physically demanding and mentally exhausting. Maybe it's because I had a busy week, with my mom visiting. Maybe it's because I did all my lower mileage runs on the treadmill. Maybe it's because I didn't do any NTC workouts this week. Maybe the universe was like, "Too much positivity! RUN IN THE RAIN FOR 3 HOURS AND FEEL MY WRATH."

Middle: Done with it. After 10 miles of running. But I was 10 miles away from my car...

Animal count: 2 bunnies, COUNTLESS slugs, and 2 roosters (??!?). They were just hanging out on the side of the trail. One of them even ...called? Cock-a-doodle-doo-ed? as I passed. I wondered if my bright pink shirt looked like the coming of the sun to them but I was too freaked out by fowl on the side of the road that I didn't think about it too much.

Stock photo of a white rooster. You're welcome.

During the run, I listened to my music for the first time in a while - I've been really liking listening to my audiobook, but it's certainly not making me any faster. I'm not sure if the songs that came up (I have it on shuffle) were slow, or if I just really wasn't feeling it, but I wasn't getting any motivation from my music, either. I only felt it once while I listened to Thrift Shop. That song is awesome, y'all. Seattle represent.

Somewhat pretty scenery... when it wasn't raining.

Because I didn't have exciting music, my mind started wandering. The topics it came up with weren't very awesome. Thoughts of my warm bed came floating to my mind, and a shower, and "Why am I doing this?" was also present. But also my mind decided to take me through every embarrassment, every wrong decision, every fight -- SUPER negative. What was wrong with me today??

End: I LOOK BEAUTIFUL.

Ugh. How am I going to complete 26.2 if I can barely complete 20??? I'm so, so, SO nervous now. :(

So much red. :(

I guess it was pretty cool that Miles 10-12 were the exact same pace? All I can say is I've eliminated every expectation for the marathon and now I just hope I finish.. whatever time that may be. Ack.

Words of encouragement?

More Treadmill Miles

5 more miles on the Treadmill yesterday. I just wasn't really feeling going outside for a run, you know? Who knows.

5.8mph to start, then bumped to 6.0, 6.3, 6.5 to Mile 3. Then back down to 6.0 to the end.

A little bit of walking at the end to round it out to 5.2 miles.

Nike Running and the Treadmill finally agreed! Just trying to get mentally ready for 20 miles on Saturday...

7 Viral Miles

Maybe it's the weather constantly changing, maybe it's being around so many people constantly, maybe it's just bad luck. While my mom was here, JW came down with something viral that made his throat hurt and feel awful.

I caught it around Tuesday morning, so I decided to forego my morning run (despite my best efforts, pictured above) and try to do it around the afternoon. I didn't feel too bad - I was just uncomfortable.

I decided to conquer the treadmill once again.

First 5 Miles

Last 2 Miles

I paused my Nike Running app when it said I had gotten to 5 miles, and didn't pause the treadmill until it said I had run 5 miles. Then, I unpaused it and ran the last two miles. So, the distances are FINALLY similar, but who knows how far/fast I actually ran.

I felt awesome during the workout. Not sick or anything. I started out around 5.5mph and just kept bumping it up. My fastest was 6.5mph, which I maintained for a while- I thought that was pretty impressive!

I went to the doctor on Wednesday morning and found out that it was just a viral infection - figures - and there was nothing to be done about it. I took the rest of the day to rest (no NTC workout for me!) and after a good night's sleep I feel much better! So maybe that's the end of it??

5 Miles on Thursday, and 20 Miles on Saturday. My longest training run before the marathon.. SO NERVOUS!!

Shakedown and 15 Miles

Back from my brief hiatus! My mom left yesterday afternoon - we had a lot of fun, had tons to do, and now our fridge is stocked to the brim with leftovers and my drawers are super organized! I will say, I'm gonna miss having fresh coffee and eggs ready for me as soon as I wake up!

I miss you already, Mom!

Let's back up.

Last Thursday, I was supposed to complete an NTC workout but man I just wasn't feeling it. So I pushed it to Friday morning. Because what's the REAL difference between an 11pm workout an a 9am workout? It was the Advance Get Lean Shakedown, and I didn't really hit it HARD, but made a good enough effort. I used 8lbs dumbbells.

7 Minute Warm-Up

8.5 Minute Set

9.5 Minute Set

5 Minute Cool-Down

That night, I had my fourth performance, which went pretty well! My mom got in that night and I came home to her chatting with my fiancé. Good to know they can get along on their own ;)

Jolene, in all her glory.

On Saturday, I woke up around 5 to knock out 15 miles before my Voice Lesson recital.

It was an early start, but I was rewarded with beautiful views!

My Trail :)

I wasn't worried about my pace - I listened to my audiobook and just kind of cruised.

More catching up to come!

A Brief, Visitor-Induced Hiatus

Woo! New week already?

This a short post just to let y'all know that my mom is in town (yay!) so I won't be posting till Wednesday.

Enjoying a sunny day in Bellevue!

Here's a little summary of what I've done so far since I last posted:

Friday: Performance #4, NTC Advance Get Lean Shakedown (30 minutes) (post to come!)
Saturday: 15 miles (post to come!), a Voice Lesson Recital, Performance #5
Sunday: Performance #6, leading an audition for 120 high school girls, and a late night audition
Monday: Rest day! Wedding Dress Shopping! Going to the EMP museum!

This, of course, has all been accompanied by lots and lots of eating.

Pumpkin Cheesecake. YUM.

It's been a GREAT weekend, and it's still not over, but I figured you guys deserved an explanation for why I wasn't posting as much :)

Cheesin' at the EMP Museum!

See ya on Wednesday!

Lots and Lots of Running: Hills and Sprints

The past two days have just been a blur of running.

After I ran 5 miles on Tuesday morning, I had choices to make. On the planner were 3 miles of hills and 8 easy miles, all taking place before Thursday. I could either run 3 more miles on Tuesday, or push everything back.

JW came home from rehearsal around 9:45, and said he was going to go to the gym for his Insanity workout. I decided to go with him and complete 3 more miles on the treadmill, just to get it out of the way.

3 Miles of Hills: 1 mile warm up, 8 X200m uphill sprints, topped off with a 1 mile cool down.

Since the workout called for "Uphill Sprints",  I bumped the incline to 3.0 and the speed to 6.1. I decided there needed to be an equal amount of cool down time between sprints, so I tacked on another 200m "Downhill Jog" after each sprint by choosing a 1.0 incline and 5.4 speed. After the mile of warm up, it looked like this:

1-1.12 miles: 1st Uphill Sprint
1.12-1.24: Downhill Jog
1.24-1.36: 2nd Uphill Sprint
......(etc, etc)
2.7-2.82: 8th Uphill Sprint
2.82-3.21: Cool Down

At least the Calories Burned are similar?

I was pretty spent!

On Wednesday, my legs were still pretty tired from the 9 miles I had run over the course of the previous day. I wasn't sure when I was going to tackle 8 miles, but it gave me comfort that the instructions told me that I should take it easy.

Around 2, I decided that I would try a sunset run at the park. I knew I had to get there before 6 so I would still be running while the sun was up. I updated my iOS during the day and played through it - some cool features, but ultimately I wasn't jumping up and down about it - but I never plugged it back in to charge before I left.

At 6, I was still sitting in my apartment. I had about 5 minutes of intense vacillation while I decided whether I should just go now and run in the dark for a little bit (sunset was slated to be at 7:15- it's setting so much earlier now! I'm not ready for it!), or postpone for Thursday.

A little voice in the back of my head piped up: Why did you run twice yesterday if you were just going to get behind schedule again the next day? And it was absolutely right - my efforts would have been for nothing if I put off another run. I quickly got dressed and left, braving through the 6pm traffic, and arrived at the park at 6:30. 30 minutes off my mark, but at least I was there and doing it!

I listened to my audiobook while I ran since I wasn't really worried about my pace - I was more worried about when the sun would set, running in the dark, and now a new worry crept into my mind: if my phone was going to die midway through my run. It was at about 30% before I started, and I'd be running two apps simultaneously: Nike+ Running and Music. I had to get this finished as quickly as possible!

I didn't start out with a sprint, but with what felt like a pretty fast pace. I disregarded it. Last time I tried to guess my pace, I overshot it and thought I was running in the 9s when I was really in the mid-10s. Wake up call! I decided not to think about it.

I forgot that I had turned off the voice updates for each mile, and that it would come on in the middle of the run and tell me how fast I had been going. (I can't decided if I like this or not.) It came on all the same at 4 miles and said that I was running at an average pace of 8'05''. What!!

That gave me a little boost of motivation just to see how fast I could end up going.

A "slow" first mile, with a boost of confidence at Mile 5 and a surging last mile.

I am SO happy with how I ran! It felt effortless and I felt like I was just flying along, putting one foot in front of the other. So much for taking it easy... but whatever, I felt awesome.

Harvest Moon

I snapped this picture of the moon and my phone immediately died. Hah! Here's a better picture (not mine):

Beautiful!

Next up: an NTC workout and an "easy "15 miles on Saturday. Eep!

5 Miles of Conan

On Monday, I felt so blegh. I woke up to type up yesterday's post, and then continued to sit on my ass all day and do nothing. No running, no cleaning for when my mom arrives, no laundry, no shower, no taking my car to the shop. Nada.

JW called me around 4 and asked if I wanted to go to IKEA when he got home, since neither of us had rehearsal that night. We had just been talking about how to make our apartment feel like our apartment rather than just an apartment we both live in (there is a distinction, I promise) and the IKEA bug had bit him at work. I figured he'd get home between 5 and 6, we'd go to the gym to get our work outs in (I had 5 miles that I convinced myself I'd only do on the treadmill at this point, and he had his Insanity workout for the day), and then we'd clean up and go to IKEA before it closed at 9.

Well friends, he didn't get home until 7, and after a lot of debating, I decided to further postpone my workout so we could get to IKEA before it closed. Of course we spent two hours there looking, debating, and getting ideas, and left the store empty handed. Of course. And of course, we were both dying of hunger by the time we left so we ended up doing the only thing that seemed sensible at the time: go to Jack in the Box.

So, if you're keeping tally at home, that's fast food PLUS no running PLUS no new furniture PLUS no cleaning, etc etc. I sure felt like a rockstar of a human being!

Jolene is a rockstar. That wig is a rockstar.

But then I realized... this is just my body telling me that I needed a proper rest day. What about my "real" rest day, on Sunday? I spent 3 hours in performance-mode, not resting. When was my last rest day, REALLY? I checked my calendar to find out. If you don't count Whale Watching on September 6, (I don't, since we woke up really early and were walking around all day), I hadn't had a full rest day (no rehearsal, no teaching, no running) since AUGUST 23! That's 3 and a half weeks of constant movement and no resting! No wonder I was feeling burnt out. I needed a break.

And you know what, even after the fast food and no running, I still weighed the same as I did yesterday, and the day before that. So there.

This morning I got myself out of bed feeling refreshed, but still couldn't muster up the energy to physically go outside to go run. I fell back to my original plan and went to run on the treadmill.

5 Miles in 45:53. Not bad!

I bumped that sucker up to 6.0 for the whole run!

As always, Conan keeps me going.

Lots of conflicting numbers. Who knows how far or fast I ran? I tried to change the calibration on the app to reflect what the treadmill said, but then it suddenly said that I didn't have negative splits anymore. So I decided that the app was actually right and the treadmill was the one that was wrong. So I suppose I ran 5.44 miles instead of just 5?

I'm feeling more motivated today. I have the laundry running, about 10 unread magazines have been purged from the apartment, and one of the counters has been dusted. Progress, y'all!

The Longest Weekend Ever (18 Miles)

I'm so sorry I didn't post all weekend! It was CRAZY with opening weekend, running 18 miles (!), and just general exhaustion. Fortunately I got 12+ hours of sleep last night so I feel all shiny and new and ready to update!

Where did we leave off? Ah yes, opening night!

Friday night was our opening! I was supposed to do 15 minutes of an NTC workout that day, but decided to nix it. The performance still felt like a dress rehearsal, as we were still getting the kinks out, but we got a good response from the audience. It was nice to be able to see what jokes were landing and what the audience actually responded to! I'm certainly enjoying my time in the French Riviera!

The Female Ensemble of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

After we opened, we went to a local bar in University Village and I stayed for a drink. It was nice to relax and unwind for a bit with my cast-mates. Back in Bellevue, my other friends were bar hopping and dancing so I decided that if I found parking, I'd drop by for a little bit. It was fun, but I had 18 miles on the brain and  didn't stay long.

Dancing at Blue Martini

I ended up going to sleep around 2am, knowing it was a mistake, but I had to get the run in early enough so I wasn't exhausted for the performance on Saturday night.

Redmond to Woodinville and back!

So slow :)

Bleh, it was slow, but I knew it would be. I listened to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while I ran since I knew it wouldn't be very speedy. I'm glad that it was close to a 10 minute mile, but I still feel like I could have been faster!

I also turned off the voice feedback for this run. It came on to tell me what my halfway point was and when I ended the run, but no more 1 mile updates. I thought I was going pretty fast in the beginning (sub 10 for the first half!) but I thought it was in the 8s, not the 9s. I guess I don't have a very good idea of what 9s and 10s feel like in my body just yet.

I was soooo tired after the run. I came home, went to California Pizza Kitchen with JW, ate a whole pizza (yum!), and then took a nap for 2 hours while JW watched Alabama vs. A&M. It was awesome and exactly what I needed, but I woke up a little groggy and not feeling ready for the show that night.

Somehow, I survived Saturday's performance as well as Sunday's matinee performance, and now I'm here on Monday morning, recovering and getting ready to run 5 miles. The weekend FLEW by, and I couldn't be more happy about it ending!

Next week my mom is coming to town!! I can't wait!! :D

How were your long runs this weekend?