Tag Archives: Boise

Week 4 of 16 Recap — July 24 through 30

I cannot believe another week of training has passed. When is this shite going to get easier? Here’s the breakdown:

Monday: Nada, zip, nothing. I wrote last week’s summary on Monday night instead. Yes, I could have gotten up early to complete my 3 miles, but I’m using the excuse of the concert and that the late night made me tired (#truth). Excuses are lame. You play, you pay. Suck it up and do it anyway. But I didn’t. (Now, how many conversations do you think I have with myself during the day?)

Tuesday: 5 miles. I think I need to start writing out my thoughts on a daily basis as my runs are starting to blend together. I cannot remember for the life of me if this was a good run or if it sucked, but I think I got up early for it. Which means it was probably a really good run as I do my best in the morning. A shame I can’t start my job later.

Strange plant. It thinks it’s fall.

Wednesday: 5 miles. I think this one was done in the evening. I ran 2 on the treadmill while it was cooling off, and then 3 outside once I knew the temperature wasn’t going to down me. Ah-ha! The memory is starting to come back.

Thursday: This was a cross-train day. However, the boys were leaving for a road trip; I went into work early so I could leave in time to say goodbye to them. And then it was girl’s time… ohhh yeahhhh.

There are some things only a GIF can explain.

Friday: 5 miles. You bet, why not. As the boys were gone, I had nothing else happening. Can I get an awwwww… poor thing?! I’m joking of course. The short runs are important and aren’t to be missed. So I say today. But I still had happy hour!

Saturday: Rest day. And total movie day!! I got to watch three (3) chick flicks without being interrupted! Do I know how to live or what?!!

Sunday: 11 miles. Once again, the weather cooperated with me. I’m feeling quite blessed on my Sunday long-run days! It was overcast and cool, with a slight breeze. I was supposed to do 12, but I missed a calculation, or something, and came up short a mile. By then I was at my front door and I was in no mood to go out and get another mile. I was done.

I am starting to freak out about the mileage climbing up into territory I’ve never done before. That is detrimental to one’s mental game, so instead of listening to my normal music, I downloaded a couple of podcasts. I had to get out of my head, and listening to someone else talk was the best way to do it. It worked, but I wasn’t too keen on the podcasts I downloaded. I need something funny to keep me smiling… so the hunt is on to find something good before my very first 14-miler this coming Sunday.

(Son of a gun… I just realized I have a half-marathon in 41 days that I need to PR, then another one 2 weeks later, sandwiched by two 20-milers. Wow. The nerves are really coming at me hard. Insert panic here.)

Weekly Total: 26 miles/41.84 km

Total Mileage So Far: 88 miles/141.6 km

Total Miles for July: 91 miles/146.5 km

As I said, the boys took a road trip. They went to Boise to visit Grandpa for a long weekend. I couldn’t go because, well, squirrel! Yes, squirrel apocalypse has begun early and all the rescue centers are battening down the hatches and preparing for our upcoming guests. I wrote about it last year here, even kept track of how many we were admitting but gave up around 100. Anyway, more on that later, I’m sure. (For my new followers … I hate the word followers… for my new blogging friends, I work at a wildlife rescue and rehab center.)

Anyway… I really just wanted to share a couple of pictures of the boys having a good time. Stay tuned to James’s site, 50 in 50 Marathon Quest, as I’m sure he’s going to write a nice little report about a killer trail run he went on while there. If I would have been with them, I would have turned around and ran back to the truck and waited. With the A/C on. I don’t run on trails that are only 6 inches wide and full of boulders.

Have a great week!

FitOne Boise Race Recap

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I started this blog back in July when I had just begun training for the FitOne Boise Half-Marathon. There are quite a few of my blogging friends who have followed me through this journey from the beginning, and a few of you have come along at a later time, but I really want to thank all of you for the encouragement and keeping me going at even the worst of times!! This past Saturday was the day that I had been working towards for 12 long and trying weeks, and it was worth every minute of it!

I hadn’t got much sleep the night before, but I’m not sure anyone sleeps well the night before a race, do they! We got to the start line without a hitch. There were 4 of us running it… my husband James, my father-in-law Rick who just turned 70 four days before, his running partner Roberta, and me. This was Rick’s very first half-marathon, and having just turned 70, what a fabulous way to celebrate!! Anyway, we were all lined up at the start line, I was doing my normal freaking out (per usual) and eating my Shot Bloks, but when I bit down on my Shot Blok, it completely lifted a crown off one of my back molars. Thankfully I wasn’t in any pain. I was more shocked that it happened than anything… and really kind of irritated. Ten minutes before the gun was to go off! Are you freaking kidding me?!!

No worries. I sucked it up and put my crown in my belt to deal with later. We all managed to cross the start line together, said our goodbyes, and off everyone went. James was leading the pack, then Rick and Roberta, and I followed up from behind. I’ve never really said how slow I actually run, but my goal was to get this done in 3-1/2 hours.

The race was fabulous as I knew it would be. The scenery was gorgeous. We started off in downtown Boise, ran through a few beautiful neighborhoods of big historic houses, through the Old Idaho Penitentiary Site, across the Boise River down to the Greenbelt (which I had run back in July), up through downtown Boise a different way near the capitol building, up a mother of a hill, and down on into Ann Morrison Park to finish it off. Okay, so I’m not the best at details, but if you ever want to see the heart of a city, run a race to get a close look at the beauty.

James and AJ at the finish line!

Jamesy finished in 1:47:57, a screaming finish and a great confidence boost for Chicago! My father-in-law and Roberta, so proud, finished it in 2:22:03!! And I came close to my 3-1/2 hour goal at 3:32:18. I was only 2 minutes off, but I consider this race a huge success!! First and foremost, I finished and got my bling!! I’ve also knocked off another state in my “50 in 50” quest (James still needs Idaho for his marathon).

I know I still have some things I want and need to improve. My breathing for one… I need to increase my VO2 max so I can become a more efficient runner. That is one of my downfalls, my breathing. My legs are strong, but my breathing gets me in the end. And I also need to work on getting stronger with hills. But don’t we all, hehe!

Next up is Maui in January with a goal for me of 3:15:00! And that’s going to be one helluva runcation!! Bling, family time, and snorkeling all in the same trip! I just don’t think life could be any better!

Not only did Rick receive the normal bling, he placed 2nd in his age group and got extra bling for that! Wow!

Week 4 training… done! Yowsa!

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I have to say, going to Boise definitely presented all kinds of challenges with the running plan this weekend! The constant go-go-go can leave one feeling exhausted, not to mention all the mileage The Motivator talked me into running! I ended the weekend with what was supposed to be a quick 3-miler on Sunday (the day after my 7-mile run on Saturday). However, I only had it in me to complete 2-1/2. The Boise heat and the sun… total energy zappers! I was feeling pretty grim about it until The Motivator told me was having the same issues. He did manage to run 5 miles on Sunday (the day after his long run too), but it was a very hard 5 miles thanks to the aforementioned heat and sun.

The run on Sunday was along this greenbelt in Nampa, ID.

A great excuse to take a walk break… ducks!!

We’re back home now at sea level in a nice normal temperature (it’s all of 64 degrees F right now, ahhhhh). I’m looking forward to starting my week 5 training in the morning with a nice cool run in the 50s. This next week I’ll be running 3-4-3 and then a big 8 next Sunday! Again, at least I’ll be cool, and what doesn’t kill us (like that freaking heat) makes us stronger, right?!

On the up note, during our quick trip down south, James and I stopped at an REI in Kennewick, WA. Looky what he bought me! I have a super wonderful husband indeed! After the numerous syncing and re-syncing issues we had with it, I think it’s finally working properly and living up to its hype! I have it linked to Garmin Connect, Strava, My Fitness Pal, my email, my texts, my music, my weather, and my elevation! I also have it set for intervals! Brilliant! If it weren’t for this brand new watch, I’m thinking my 7-miler and 2.5-miler probably wouldn’t have happened this weekend. One thing’s for sure… he does know how to motivate me. 🙂

Boise Trial Run

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These are the only trees I saw in the “City of Trees.”

Grandma Sheila and Grandpa Rick

James and I are visiting Boise for the weekend, picking up our child who just spent a week with his grandparents, which in turn gave us the perfect opportunity to do a trial run for the Fit One race happening in September. It is hot and dry here compared to where we live, so we had a very early start this morning (5:30 Idaho time/4:30 Washington time). James and I ran with his dad Rick, and Rick’s running partner and friend, Roberta. We ended up running the Boise River Greenbelt.

Rick and Roberta had 6.2 miles to complete, I had 7, and James had about 15. I had my normal pre-run breakfast of tea, but I decided on a Honey Stinger Waffle instead of GU as my miles are increasing. The Honey Waffles are fabulous!

The first couple of miles went along well for me according to Strava and Garmin, but then I hit the 3rd mile, the sun came out, and it got hot, hot, hot. That was when I realized I left my S-Cap in the truck. If you’re not familiar, S-Caps are a combination of sodium, potassium, and magnesium. They’re great to take when you are running in very hot conditions and are sweating a lot. They keep your electrolytes in check. They also help with any potential cramping issues you may have during long runs.

Anyway, no S-Cap, 80 degrees with intense sun rays… I felt hot, tired, and doomed. We also felt the elevation was wreaking havoc with our run… James and I train at sea level, and Boise is at 2704 feet. Didn’t realize how much of a difference a couple thousand feet make. James and I both struggled with our runs today, but we completed them. It may not have been anything pretty (well, James’ run was still pretty, they always are), but we got them done and we got a taste of what we’re up against in September. Regardless of today’s run results, Fit One Boise is a great event, lots of fun, and I’m still going to enjoy every minute of it!

As for Rick and Roberta who actually live in Boise… they made great time and had a great run, even if this was the furthest my father-in-law has ever run… so far.

Roberta, Rick, James

And how was your day?

First and only week of pre-training… done!

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I loved the Fit One Boise event so much that I’m making it my premium race this year. Last year I ran the 10K; this year will be the half. There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about it… the course was gorgeous, the people and volunteers were ultra-friendly, the post-race snacks were fabulous (all the chocolate milk a girl could want), and the bling was everything a bling should be, sparkly and big!

So, tomorrow begins the countdown and training for this super fun event, and today, I finished my only week of pre-training to dust off the cobwebs. And boy, do I hurt because I let my training slide. There’s not a muscle in my legs that don’t say ouch, WTH!

For this upcoming cycle, I will be using one of Hal Higdon’s plans, the Novice 2. I figure it fits as this is my second year in. I also like it because the mileage in the middle of the week is doable, and the LSR’s on the weekend gradually increase each week to where I’ll be running 12 miles the week before Boise. It’s important to me that I get that long mileage in so my body is aware of exactly how much pain it’s going to be in when it crosses the finish line.

My next three training runs will be 3 miles long each, and I have this wicked loop in my neighborhood that’s uphill both ways, with another killer hill smack dab in the middle of it. See picture below. I’ll measure my progress on this one particular loop as I will always have a 3-mile run each week of my training. Today was a test run… not even worth posting a time. Okay, so I walked a lot of it. Did I mention it was hot! I guess I really shouldn’t complain… The Motivator is training for the Chicago Marathon and had to run 9 miles today in the heat. We should’ve gotten up earlier…

On top of the hill looking down… it’s even worse going up!

Never A Dull Bling

The trials and tribulations of a 40-something novice runner

Tag Archives: Boise

Week 4 of 16 Recap — July 24 through 30

Have a great week!

FitOne Boise Race Recap

Week 4 training… done! Yowsa!

Boise Trial Run

First and only week of pre-training… done!

Have a great week!

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