RunCLE- whirlwind weeks

The last two and a half weeks have been nothing short of crazy, but it’s all been worth it because we got an offer on our house!  Hooray! So, pending all legal stuff and inspections it’s a done deal. It’s a very mixed bag of emotions for me leaving that house, but all of the hard work has finally hopefully paid off. I spent pretty much every free day of the summer and fall painting, working on the basement and cleaning everything out. And getting the house in show worthy condition with my adorable little tornadoes is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreo cookies! But, it was worth it! So, please excuse my absence, I have been working on house stuff that took up a lot of my time. 

Besides all of that fun, I have been able to get in some decently solid-ish running. Running is my happy place and there were days that I had to stay at work and not run at lunch and I was just craving a run. It really can calm me down and de-stress me like nothing else. I’m looking forward to the whirlwind to be calmer and to get to focus on running more. 

Here is how the last two weeks panned out.

Week of 2/9- 19.2 miles

Monday- 3 easy miles at lunch

Tuesday- a 5k on the track, for less than 2 minutes saying 5k is way better than 3 miles!  But, there are days that 2 minutes can make or break me getting back on time. 

Friday- 3 miles a lunch

Sunday- 10 miles on the track with Lynanne

Week of 2/15- 18.2 miles

Monday- Core class

Thursday- 3.2 at lunch

Saturday- 9 miles with Lynanne,

Sunday- 6 miles running in my hometown, soon to be my new town again at a good pace and great weather! Even stopped by my grandparents old house that has a million and one memories. 

I'm really looking forward to getting to focus back on my running more than the house and get my miles higher in the next few weeks! 

I also wanted to show you guys a fun gift I received! One of my running buddies just opened an Etsy shop and is making these awesome coasters! Check them out! 

And don't worry, this is a color copy of my bib from last year, not the original! But what a cool way to remember a special race! Check out his other stuff here!

Happy running guys!

RunCLE- and the winner is

After my best week ever in blogging, I had a really awesome week running too! I seemed to have a little more motivation and having nicer than normal February Ohio weather made it easy to get some longer runs in during the weekend too! So, yay for that! 

I had a really good conversation with one of my friends Rachel too about what mileage I should be aiming for while training and it helped a lot! She helped me determine that I should be doing two runs on the weekend because during the week I really don’t have the time to commit to anything longer than 5ish, maybe 6 on a lunch run. The new goal is to hi 20-25 miles per week for the next month, and then up it to 25-30 miles per week in March, and then 30-35 miles per week in April.  Then up to 40 a week before my taper. It seems pretty high, but I’m excited to have someone else’s input on my plan of attack. The goal this year is to be faster than last year, which should be fairly achievable. Also, (shameless plug) but Rachel is not only a fellow Ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon, she’s a certified trainer, so you can get her help too if you need some advice on how to tackle your next race too. 

Here is how last week went:

Total: 21.8 miles

Monday- I did a 30 min core class that was more of a core cardio and it was killer, but awesome and ran a mile after before I high tailed it back to work

Wednesday- got in 4 solid miles on the track at lunch

Thursday- 2 miles on the track and then knee pain struck, so hot up the elliptical for another 1.5 miles

Saturday- It was a busy morning with the kids but got a solid 6.5 miles in outside in some really nice weather

Sunday- 8ish miles with Lynanne who was freshly back from the Florida sun!  it wasn’t quite Florida weather, but outside in Mid-February in Ohio, I’ll take it!

Now, for what you are probably waiting for, or maybe you already scrolled down to find out the winner of the race giveaway is Amy L! (I used the miniwebtool/ random-name-picker to choose). 

Congrats to Amy for winning!!!! I can’t wait to see the shirts and Medal this year too Amy! 

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and be sure to follow the other Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors to check out the other race giveaways that are happening each week!  Follow these guys for some awesome inspiration too!  These people are incredible!

Here's to another great week of running!

RunCLE- best week ever!

This is it!

The Crème de le crème of weeks in blogging!  Just as I finished my workout today I saw that the Cleveland Ambassador of the week was posted and it’s me! Honestly, this is year 2 as an ambassador for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon and I still pinch myself! I am truly honored to be in the presence of some of the most dedicated and driven athletes I have ever met. And to be completely honest, at first I thought when I met these people that I wouldn’t fit in because I’m just a mom that runs for fun.  I don’t always stick to a strict schedule of training but boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong!  These people are not only bomb ass runners, but unwaveringly supportive, caring, and kind. I am so lucky to be able to just be ME and call these people my friends! 

So, if you are lacking any kind of motivation, please check out their blogs, IG, and FB pages and you will not be sorry. 

The other super fun thing about this week is that I officially have a new blog name!

Since I have really been blogging more about running than anything else the last few years, I just thought it was kind of fun to make it different and re-invent the old blog a little bit. So, Running with Jazzhands it is! I hope you like it as much as I do!

Last week was a good one training wise and I had little to no knee pain so I’m taking that as a HUGE win! Also, I’m pretty excited to start getting more miles in. I looked at my Nike app and it looks like I’m right on track to where I was last year. 

Monday- 3 miles on the track at lunch

Tuesday- 1 quick mile and 10 minutes on the rowing machine (that left a nice little blister on one hand, but it was a good arm workout) and some core

Wednesday- 3 miles on the track at lunch 

Friday- 4.5 miles after work on the track

Sunday- 4.5 miles outside in the beautiful weather!

So, now the part you are all excited about! This week I’m so excited to give away one entry to any distance of your choice: 5K, 8K, 10K, Half Marathon or Full Marathon, just not the challenge series. If you are already registered I can’t give you your money back, but I can meet you at the start line for a high five and to throw some glitter at you! Please share with our friends that you’d like to peer pressure into running with you! Because running with a buddy makes it even more fun!

To enter to win:

1.       Comment below on why you like running in Cleveland! (mandatory)

2.       For a bonus entry (or 2), share my IG or FB post about this blog post and tag me in it. I’m mbix66 on IG and Running with Jazzhands on FB

Please enter by noon on Monday February 8^th when I will post this week’s recap and will announce a winner!