Looking for some spring running gear? Check out some tips from yours truly and a few other local runners in this post from Minneapolis Running. Let me know if you have any other spring running tips, I’d love to hear them!
I’m so excited for my running friends who are out in Boston for tomorrow’s race! There are about 15 people from my running club there this year, and I’m hoping they all have amazing experiences. Good luck runners!
I’ve got a long way to go if I ever want to get to Boston myself. I’m 33 years old, so the qualifying time will be 3:40 very soon, which is somewhat more attainable than the 3:35 qualifying time that it is now. Cheers to getting older I guess!
Anyways, another week of training for Grandma’s Marathon is complete!
Here’s how things went:
Monday: Easy run with my running club. 7.5 miles
Tuesday: Run club again, this time for a threshold workout: 1000m repeats at a 7:40 pace, 1 minute recovery in between. 7.5 miles total
Wednesday: 6.3 miles in the morning with my friend Kelly, pure barre after work. I purchased a recent Groupon for pure barre because there’s a new location very close to my office- super convenient. I went there a few time with my Class Pass and enjoyed it, so I jumped on the Groupon opportunity.
Thursday: Speed workout- 400m repeats at a 6:45 pace. Whew! These repeats were super short, but at a very fast-for-me pace. It was a bit of a struggle, but I made it through. Afterwards our running club had a pasta party at Pizza Luce to send off the Boston runners.
Friday: Easy 4 miles in the morning with Matilda
Saturday: 17.5 mile long run with run club. My coach had me do 7 miles in the middle of this at goal marathon pace. It seems like a lot of the coaches that my friends are using do a lot more goal marathon pace within the long run, versus just doing the long runs easy.
Sunday: Easy 6 mile recovery run with Matilda.
Total: 55 miles, 1 barre class…no yoga.
Matilda is a 6 year old vizsla, and vizslas are a very lean breed by nature. Our vet has said she likes to see a bit of ribs on a healthy vizsla- not a lot of ribs, but just a bit. And Matilda has always been lean! We have never had an issue with her weight; we run with her a lot and she gets a lot of dog park time and walks. But somehow she got a little chubby! She used to weigh only 45 pounds. On Friday, I took her in to get a canine flu vaccine and she was up to 52 pounds. Yikes! We are cutting back on her meals and no more treats….time to lose that winter weight, especially in time for the Fast & Furry 8k on May 30th!
FYI, dog owners- our vet recommended that we get the flu vaccine as a safety precaution. There are no reported cases of dog flu yet in Minneapolis, but there are a lot in Chicago which is not too far away.
Lots of running this week, but I did have time for a birthday celebration for a friend on Saturday. Her party theme was “Part Animal:” part animal, part cocktail attire. I found our masks on Etsy and was very pleased with them! I love a themed party.
That’s it from me this week. Stop by later this week for a “Where to Run in Chicago” guest post!
Beautiful dog and those shorts look lovely on you!
I’m sure you will get a qualifier one day; how close are you?
Thanks! I am going to review the shorts on the blog and will definitely give you a shout-out as my point of inspiration! I bought a sports bra from Sweaty Betty too that I really like.
I ran a 3:54 marathon…I am pretty far away from Boston qualifying. My goal for my next marathon is 3:45. I need to work my way down! 🙂
I also love the shorts you are wearing in the photo with Matilda! Super cute!
Our Vizsla typically puts on a little extra ring of thickness during the time when we are calving, so late Feb through early April. He eats a lot of “barnyard jerky,” as we call it. I won’t go into details. But it always comes off quickly as soon as he’s not eating so much extra stuff! With as active as you guys are, I’m sure Tilda will be back to her old shape in no time! 🙂
Oh boy, barnyard jerky sounds interesting, hah!
I’m sure you’re right, Tilda just gained a little winter weight..it happens to the best of us 🙂 I just want to make sure she’s healthy, and the vet was concerned about the gain, so I am too.
Oh absolutely! I would be the same way! I just looked at your photo of Matilda again and she is so, so beautiful! Vizslas are the best!!! 🙂
Sounds like a really strong week of running! I have yet to run a full marathon, but I don’t foresee a BQ in my future based on my current pace. Nevertheless, I’m so inspired by watching Boston and cheering on blogger friends and family who are running it 🙂
Hi Jess! Just added your blog to my BlogLovin. Great pictures 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. I totally agree about Boston- I’m not sure if/when I’ll ever qualify, but it is so inspiring to cheer on those amazing runners who are running today!
Dang, girl — impressive pace on your 400 repeats!
Thanks Hyedi- only for a 400m 🙂
Aww, our last visit to Westgate resulted in Breck being on a diet too! Our entire household is on a lose the winter weight diet right now!
Oh, poor Breck! This winter was tough on all of us….hopefully the pounds will melt off as we all become more active this spring and summer. We definitely hope to go hiking more this summer to some of the places you recommended last year. Maybe a few dog park dates too for Tilda and Breck!