goZwiftRun

Training & Updates 2/11 – 2/17

Happy Friday Guys! Seems I’m really good at waiting almost a whole week late to put out an update.. oops!

This past week was a weird one. Work was busy yet again, but then I took Thursday and Friday off to go crazy for a video game expansion release. Other than Tuesday (IT SNOWED and I got out early so of course I ran in it!) I ended up running insanely late on the treadmill every night, which wasn’t terrible mostly. I even felt good running 5 on the treadmill both Saturday and Sunday!

Monday––2.00 miles / 9:41 pace
TuesdayEasy 5 (9:02-9:41)4.78 miles / 9:59 pace (trail)
Wednesday––2.00 miles / 9:32 pace
ThursdayEasy 33.10 miles / 9:34 pace
FridayEasy 33.00 miles / 9:40 pace
SaturdayEasy 55.00 miles / 9:26 pace
SundayEasy 55 miles / 9:20 pace
Total21 miles24.88 miles

I’ve still been rolling like mad to make sure the treadmill doesn’t get me. I got my Addaday roller in and just like I thought it is just what I needed! Its ball rollers get MUCH deeper than my old grooved stick roller. I’m definitely a fan!

Speaking of recovery, I ordered a pair of slide Oofos because I LOVE my flip flops, but I am a socks-at-all-times kind of person so I needed ones I could wear socks with for maximum coolness. I’m hoping they come in before the Hyannis Half the 24th!

My last bit of running news is just a reminder that I have all my product and race discounts listed on my discount page! I personally love getting little discounts on products/races I’ve been meaning to try so I just wanted to be sure you guys knew!

In Other News

My boyfriend and I finished up our first week of Hello Fresh and seriously love everything about it so far! I will DEFINITELY be doing a write up on it!

One last new thing I did this past week was to finally purchase a sunlight lamp. I’ve been debating it for awhile since my house and office both have sub-optimal window placement so I definitely get less light than in the past and I feel like it’s affecting me mentally. I went over a friends and she had one and was telling me how it actually helps her so I decided to give it a shot!

Run Streak Day: 29

What are your favorite recovery tools?

Have you ever tried a sunlight lamp? Did you like it?

Training & Updates 1/28 – 2/3

Happy Friday Guys!

My second week of marathon training (first full week) was another good one! I was able to stick with my streak, again without it feeling like a lot of effort 🙌 I also was able to steal my boyfriend’s tablet to finally run my first Zwift run(s) on my treadmill! I didn’t realize how much visuals help make a run less boring until I started running facing my basement wall lol It felt SUPER weird and off to just have sound to distract me. Having Zwift’s visuals so I can look around the environment as well as seeing/competing against other runners, bikers, and AI walkers is SO MUCH better! There’s how my week went compared to my training plan:

Monday––3.20 miles / 9:33 pace
TuesdayEasy 2 (9:02-9:41)2.04 miles / 9:50 pace
Wednesday––2.00 miles / 9:37 pace
ThursdayEasy 32.00 miles / 10:59 pace
FridayEasy 33.00 miles / 10:00 pace
SaturdayEasy 33.03 miles / 9:22 pace
SundayEasy 44.07 miles / 9:20 pace
Total15 miles19.24 miles

So I didn’t realize I was actually going slower than planned until now. Somehow I got 10:02 in my head as the slowest pace 🤷‍♀️ (No idea what was up Thursday.. I want to say I logged the time wrong without realizing, but can’t seem to find any of my data from that run to fix it. Oh well!) Either way I’ll just have to pick up the pace from now on, but I am still happy I’ve been taking it easy as I get into running daily. I’ve never had much luck with treadmill running so the fact that my legs still feel good is a good indicator I’m doing something right! I’ve also been making sure to stretch and roll TONS as well. No matter how much I dislike stretching and rolling, I have to say at this point I would recommend suffering through it to anyone with any sort of leg issues. It’s insane how much of a difference it can make.

In other news, I’ve been crushing the step competition! Oh I also found the Adventure feature in the Challenge section of Fitbit and I LOVE it! If you don’t know about it/haven’t tried it out I’d definitely recommend! You choose a path to virtually walk through cool places (right now Yosemite seems to be the only one, but I’d assume they have more at different times) and when you hit certain points you get fun facts and BEAUTIFUL panoramas of the area! You can also do it in Race mode and race friends. Anyway, that was my week! Hope all your’s were good ones too!

Run Streak Day: 14

How do you survive treadmill running mentally and physically?

How’s your training plan going?

Zwift Virtual Running Product Review

Disclaimer: I received a Zwift Running Footpod to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

If you’re a highly competitive person who sometimes needs to run on a treadmill (or cycle indoors) then you need to try Zwift. I originally didn’t think much of it but figured I’d give it a shot since nothing could possibly make treadmill running worse.

Zwift is an app (for running and biking) that allows you to hook up to your indoor equipment and run virtually with others using it. You need a phone or tablet to view your adventure and either can hook up to a Bluetooth treadmill or their footpod for reading your pace. You can then see your avatar running along with others in a virtual world full of interesting scenery! (I ran through volcanoes one run!)

IMG_20181218_195458650.jpg

My avatar resting after my run 👍

You’d think avatars on a screen would be completely different than real people on the roads, nope, my brain went straight into race mode and I upped my speed to pass anyone I could see just like on road runs/races 😅 It was CRAZY motivating and highly entertaining for me. I hadn’t cared to run so fast on a treadmill in FOREVER (or ever, I’m not sure)! It’s also helpful on the other end, where while it keeps you entertained, it takes actual action to increase your speed, so you can’t pick it up without noticing and ruin a planned slower run/interval.

I ran two different types of runs with Zwift: a 5K race (kinda free for all mode where you just go run) and then a workout with intervals. The race was really neat and brought runners I “know” from all over the world together, but the workout was what really kind of blew my mind. I am someone who SUCKS at staying on pace for workouts so doing one on a treadmill where your pace is set for you is AMAZING. I still had to manually change the speed by pushing buttons, but that was easy enough and then I got to just run without thinking. It also alerts you when to change speeds and what you should set it to! I honestly will probably be running more workouts than necessary on a treadmill with Zwift now that I know how magical it is.

With Zwift allowing me to enjoy a treadmill run now, I finally ordered myself a treadmill the other day. I’m excited to have no excuse on days with extreme New England weather when it’s dangerous to run outside and I can’t get to the gym. I’m glad I found Zwift to add to my 2019 training arsenal and think it will be a big help making the year amazing!

Training & Updates 12/17 – 12/23

So I may have had a mini crisis over 2018 after thinking the year over the other day (I’ll go into detail in another post once the year actually closes out) and decided to step up my game for the last little bit of the year. I’ve always wanted to do a streak and a few of the reasons for my crisis could have been helped via run streak, so I decided to start a 2019 goal early! I actually started the 16th, but am happy to report I ran 2 miles or more everyday this past week! Since my previous mileage had been super spotty I took it nice and easy on most of the days, which is fine because the goal is just to get out there consistently. My week ended up looking like:

Monday – 4.01 miles / 11:09 pace

Tuesday – 2.70 miles / 9:02 pace

Wednesday – 2.30 miles / 10:58 pace

Thursday – 6.54 miles / 9:51 pace

Friday – 2.04 miles / unknown

Saturday – 3.36 miles / 8:27 pace

Sunday – 2.01 miles / 10:58 pace

Total – 22.96 miles

Weirdly, I ran on a treadmill everyday except one. Normally I avoid treadmills like the plague but I’ve also been too lazy to put in the extra effort it takes to stay super alert while running at night. Tuesday was another Zwift run, which was super fun! But unfortunately the WiFi at my gym won’t let me make every treadmill run a Zwift one. It’s making me thoroughly debate finally getting my own treadmill. I definitely felt a bit of tired and achiness in my legs/feet toward the end of the week when standing at my desk (this was also the first week I had my standing desk ❤️) but doing less Friday and Saturday fixed that by Sunday.

In other news:

I am a Tiux Ambassador again for 2019! Feel free to use the code SAMRTIUX for 20% off purchases from their site.

I am also a Rhode Races Newport Ambassador this year! I’m super excited since I love the Rhode Races series and their Newport race is my absolute favorite half marathon! If you’re a 50 stater I’d definitely recommend this race for Rhode Island and if you have any questions feel free to ask me 🙂 I don’t have a discount code yet, but keep an eye open for that soon!