Recovery Days, Lucy Shorts, Marathon Plan, and Monkey Boy

Here I am on week three of my Pfitzinger plan and today is a recovery day!  After a non-stop day yesterday of trying to fit in 13 miles in addition to all my parental duties of carting kids around, running errands, doctor visits, meeting up with friends and still remembering to eat, I felt like all I did was run.  I am welcoming my measly 5 miles that I have on the schedule.  Giddy really.  And I'm extra indulging in this recovery day by not even planning on my run until this evening.  At that point I will probably go outside and just plod through it at a very slow and sweet pace and not even take my Garmin with me.  


Just a few reasons why I'm loving recovery days:

1. More time with my kids.  Instead of heading to the gym or turning on Seasame Street so that I can fit my run in, I can spend more quality time with them  write a blog post.  
2. I actually put on make up and wear normal clothes instead of spend my day in workout clothes and looking like crap.  On days that I have longer runs to fit in, I usually end up wearing my workout clothes for most of the day until I can fit in my runs and find time for a shower.  It's funny the look I got this morning when I dropped off my kids without running tights and a workout hat on.  
3. More time to sleep.  I usually end up sleeping in a bit since I'm in no rush to fit in my longer runs and all the other stuff that comes with the day. 
4. I don't feel as much pressure to go to sleep as early the night before since I don't have a ton of miles or a hard workout staring me in the face for the next day. I enjoy staying up later since that is my kid-free time.  
5. More time in general!  More time to read for fun, catch up on blogs, have one-on-one time with my kids, talk to friends, etc.  
6. Running slow can be so fun sometimes!  

Oh, and in addition to a recovery day today, my son slept in until almost 9.  I'm tempted to use exclamation points throughout this whole blog post today.  Can you tell I'm happy?  !!! But I'll try to use periods and save my exclamation points for most appropriate places so I don't overdo the !!!. !  This was my facebook status this morning:

"AMAZING the time I have on my hands when good ol' Sam sleeps in late.  Still sleeping.  Usually by now he's already knocked over a few chairs, spilled some water, made me pull out a few hairs, put a few dents in my table, poked some random holes in my coach cushions, crashed a few cars into his sister and serenaded us with his loud loud 2 year old voice.  Gosh, I love that little man.  But it surely has been nice having some quiet reading/breakfast time with my little girl.  Thanks little guy."

Marathon Plan

So far so good with the Pfitzinger plan.  I'm on week 3 of the 12 week plan.  Honestly, I don't think I'll ever follow a plan to a T.  But I think that is the way it should be if we are being responsive and adapting to our personal needs. Our plans are simply a framework to go from, right?  Playing my own coach means making changes as I see necessary.  The biggest reason why I switched to The Advanced Marathoning Pfitzinger plan was because I felt like I'd missed so much with my Hudson plan with my injuries, time not specifically training, etc.  I just felt lost. I wanted a fresh start to a more linear plan.  And I like the way his plan looks all typed up in his book. His book also captured my interest a bit more. I have to say that I have learned a ton through this process of reading so many books and watching running videos on youtube.  I could see being able to actually write my own plan in the future and not be so overwhelmed.  In the meantime, gosh I'm thankful for some really wise and dear friends who seem to know their stuff!  My new doctor seems pretty darn wise too and he gives plenty of advice when it comes to the training.  

Things I'm digging about this plan:

• I can see a very linear build up of how I will get from here to where I need to be.
• Plenty of easy long runs but a few good marathon paced runs that I think are good for me if I can find a race to use to be more successful with them.  
• Plan seems pretty uncomplicated.  Just fitting in the mileage. However, I have to break his plan when it comes to the medium long runs longer than 11 miles because I just don't have the time to fit these runs in.  I try to do a longer run of like 10 or 11 miles with a shorter run later in the day to make up the mileage.  This will have to do.  
• Silly little thing but I like how the weekly mileage numbers are written at the end of each column so I can see the progression without counting them up.  

Lucy Shorts

Not too long ago I received these Catch Me If You Can Lucy running shorts.  Have to say, I really do like them even though they are not a short that I would rave rave rave about. I think they are a quality item worth buying if you like them. At first I didn't know what I would think since I already had a pair of shorts that looked like this but it is clear that these are a much more quality short than the ones I own like this.  They run around $35. 

Pros:

• Great fit.  They don't bunch or blouse out around the crotch area like some shorts this style.  
• Light and great to run in in warmer weather (like Hawaii)
• They fit really well around the thigh...I think they are good "make your legs look good" shorts.  
• The fabric feels good. 
• I like the little orange Lucy tag on their clothes.  :)
• I like that I don't have to roll the top to get the right length.  These shorts lay nicely on the top of my hips unlike my Nike tempo shorts.    

Cons:

• I would prefer more pockets.  Like maybe one more so that they would be better for racing in or going longer distances.  
• I like the key pockets to go horizontal instead of vertical so that my keys don't dig into my leg.  

Okay, onto my day.  Gotta get to the bookstore to get a couple of books and spend some time with this little monkey of a boy of mine that is currently holding on to my back jean pockets like they are monkey bars.  Pretty sure my butt crack is showing as I stand in a sort of chair position to brace myself as I type on the kitchen counter.  He's really swinging now....These are expensive jeans so I better go so he doesn't rip the pockets off. Weeeeee...

1. Random here but anyone know the author Cathy Lamb?  Just found out that she will be coming to our next book club.  This means I really must find time to read her new book.  
2. Are you as excited about recovery days as I am? 
3. Anyone have any good 2 year old boy stories for me to make my child look more normal??  

Amanda