Finding February

February 2023 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 371.7

• Jan. 30-Feb. 5: 73.0
• Feb. 6-12: 90.8
• Feb. 13-19: 91.2
• Feb. 20-26: 94.2
• Feb. 27-March 5: projected at...probably 100

Races:

• Feb. 18: Run with the Wind 25k in 1:51:37 for 2nd OAF, 1st masters female, and a pretty poorly executed race.
• Feb. 25: Running from Yeti Marathon in 3:09:34 for 1st OAF - because why not run a tiny hilly marathon that is 20 minutes from your house for 50k training?!

Workouts:

• Feb. 9: 4 x (1200 m threshold, 400 m jog, 400 m harder, 400 m jog) in 11.4 miles total. My running buddies and I were going to do this workout on February 8, but pushed it back a day due to moderately heavy cold rain that morning. February 9 wasn't really any better, with light cold rain and 20-30 mph winds. I took splits on the track but I didn't look at my times during the workout and still haven't, and I think it's better that way considering the weather and that I hadn't worked out in about 3 weeks. I think my effort was correct and I bet my paces were slow!
• Feb. 14: 5 x 1 mile threshold by effort with 1:30 recoveries in 6:07, 6:09, 6:07, 6:05, 6:03. Another day where I didn't look at my watch during the workout, but feeling strong and Casey's encouraging "we are going fast!" when looking at her splits clued me in that I was running well. This was faster than I expected it would be, so yay!
• Feb. 22: 5 x 1 mile progressive with 1:00 recoveries in 6:47, 6:52, 6:47, 6:22, 6:09. We started at Sierra's half effort for 3, then did a "finish strong" 1 and a "faster" 1. I had a really poor night of sleep prior to this and felt that, but it was a nice morning with Sierra and Casey.
• Feb. 25: Running with Yeti Marathon at moderate. This was quite a hill workout!
• Strides: Feb. 2, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 24, 28.
• Doubles: Feb. 13, 16, 20, 27, 28.
• Favorite workout: Feb. 14 - I felt so strong! Plus I used Feb. 25 for my favorite long run.

Prom photos after Cabin Fever, which I run-spectated

The post-finish area was a high-school cafeteria

Finished our long run in time to cheer for the racers

Long Runs:

• Feb. 4:  20 miles (7:54) that felt harder than it should have. I included 20 x 1:00 pick ups, about one per mile, because I knew I was too weak to do a real workout.
• Feb. 5:  16 miles (8:17) that felt better than the day before.
• Feb. 10:  23.4 miles (8:09) that felt a lot better than the 20 miler the week before, even though I'd done a workout on Feb. 9. The 23.4 was just where I happened to be when I got back to my car, but I liked the number (I was aiming for 22+).
• Feb. 11: 16 miles (8:17); I didn't necessarily plan to run this far, but I just kept going with the group and it was good.
• Feb. 18: 19.4 miles total, including the Run with the Wind 25k. Yeah, should have done 20, but I didn't do the math on my warm up + race + cool down until later that day.
• Feb. 19: 17 miles (8:15) that I didn't really think I was going to do, but you know.
• Feb. 25: 28.2 miles, including the Running from Yeti Marathon.
• Feb. 26: 14.2 miles (8:25) that was very easy paced, but felt really great after 28 the day prior!
• Favorite long run: February 25, because it produced one heck of a runner's high!

Running Highlights:

• Snow runs: Feb. 1 and 2.
• From Feb. 5-11, I ran 96.3 miles in only singles, which is definitely the most I've done in a week on one run a day. Daily miles were: 16, 9.1, 10.3, 10.3, 11.3, 23.4, 16. I didn't plan to do this, but these things happen when I don't have a training plan, lol.
• I won a marathon, which I hadn't done since November 2015!

Life Highlights:

• Photos below!

Employee Appreciation Night

Ozark Mountain Ridge Runners
Annual Banquet

Forced photo before her
Winter Homecoming dance

Albani's Science Olympiad team is state-bound

Miles from Mentor game night

Books:

• The Huntress by Kate Quinn
• Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
• Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
• Wish You Were Gone by Kieran Scott
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
• The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman
• Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

Theme for the month:

• Things will always change. I was up and down this month, and it's always easy to think things will never change (get better or get worse, depending), but that's not true. When you're down, things will get better. When things seem perfect, odds are they won't stay that way. Just a reminder to always appreciate the ups and know that you'll get through the downs.