Boldly running where I've never gone before

February, like the month before it, was warmer than usual here in Northern Illinois.  Temperatures  were above average probably 90% of the time and, even though it was windy and/or rainy quite often, it was much better running weather than is usual for this time of year.  Now I must disclose there exists a version of Murphy’s law that says: “on Lianne’s days off it will be cold/snowy/windy /otherwise-ugly while on days she works the sun will shine and the breeze will practically kiss your cheeks.”  And that held true last month, as always, but I was still able to get outside a fair amount and got my Long Run distance up to 7.5 miles.

February started off with my running club’s first circuit race of 2017 which was put on by another club in Kankakee, Illinois.  The Winterfest 5k is held on streets surrounding a local park and consists of two loops around it followed by a massive pizza buffet in the park’s field house. I ended up slower than I wanted to be (41 minutes for the 3.1 miles), but I hadn’t actually focused on speed training very much yet so that was quite understandable.  January entailed mostly getting back in the rhythm of a training plan and trying not to lament that most of it was on the treadmill.  So it was still a nice outing for the time of year — sunny, snow-free and 42 degrees — and well worth the effort, regardless of my paltry pace or unimpressive age-group standing.  And I ate a ton of delicious pizza afterwards.

I made decent progress in February with my strength training  as well, getting weights up to 8-12 repetitions at 80% of my One Rep Max by the end of the month.  For me that meant doing squats with a 90 lb. barbell, deadlifts with 73 lbs. and leg press with 64 lbs. on Leg Day along with bench pressing 50 lbs., barbell rowing 61 lbs, and bicep/tricep /shoulder work with anywhere between 10 and 15 lb. dumb bells on Upper Body days.  Even though I’m still a chunky monkey, I have gotten a lot stronger since I started the winter strength project back in November.  The quest to shed fat and reveal this newly acquired musculature has not gone as stellarly however.  The truth is that:  yes, I can work like a field hand but unfortunately I am also inclined to eat like one too. <sigh>  February’s training calendar is shown below (work days are shaded in grey – mostly 12 hour shifts):

I closed out the month with a trip to Jamaica for an educational seminar related to my job.  It was sunny and beautiful with temperatures topping out in the upper 80s at the lovely ocean front resort where the conference was held.  It was a pleasant break from the norm in a place I’d never been and I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the ambience.  But by the third full day (and eve of my return home), I was claustrophobic from being enclosed on the resort and having nothing to do but eat, drink and enjoy the sunshine.  I know this says something terrible about my psyche but it’s true.  I felt like I was on a lockdown ward at the Rehab Clinic for Type A Personalities.  I wanted to escape and go do something, anything, besides lay around and absorb life’s carnal pleasures when I wasn’t spending that meager 4 hours a day in class.  Isn’t that twisted?!  I guess I really am a lot weirder than I thought I was.  But alas, ’tis too late to change that now. LOL

And that’s pretty much all I have to report for February 2017.  With March being upon us now, transitioning into spring is the next bright light on the horizon and that will bring more outdoor running, the start of my vegetable garden, the waning days of my strength training project and whatever else is waiting out there.

Until next time…