Preppy Runner – Theodora Blanchfield

As Gretchen Rubin says, the years are short but the days are long. 

Ain’t that the truth.

I have no actual idea how it’s nearly March 1, but alas, here we are. Between vacation and being really busy with work lately, I feel a little disconnected from real life, but things should calm down a bit soon. And, oh, I have a ball to attend this weekend. (And have zero idea what the hell to do with bangs + a blowout/updo…)

My half training isn’t quite where I want it to be, but I’m soldiering on, because the half is still coming up, and I’m still running it. It won’t be a PR, but I’d like to try to run a strong race to see where my baseline is now so I can focus on making the Brooklyn Half a PR come May.

Do YOU want to run the Rock ’n’ Roll DC Half Marathon? Of course you do. Truth be told, it’s not an easy course, but it’s scenic and has great energy. I’ve PR-ed on it, so if you’re like me and hills are your friend, it is possible to PR here. I’ve got codes, I’ve got codes.

If you want to run it, use code PREPPYRUNNER15 to get $15 off DC or any RNR race. 

Tonight, I dragged myself to the gym at 8pm (and it was still packed, because, NYC) to hop on the treadmill to get some miles in.

I AM STILL WIRED. 5pm coffee, y’all, is the new pre-workout drink.

I had lots of energy, and I wanted to expend at least some of it so I could maybe sleep at some point tonight. I decided to do a Mile High-esque workout: warm-up, hills, recover, sprints, recover, bam. I left my specific speeds off here so you can modify it to your level, but if you’re looking for baselines, mine were:

Jog: 6.0

70% effort: 6.5

75% effort: 6.8

80%: 7.0

85%: 8.0

90%: 9.0

All-out: 9.2

For the hills, I kept the speed at 6.8; for the hill walk, I did 4.0. I was recovering from speed but still challenging myself uphill. For the recovery between sprints, I think I started it back at a walk and worked back up to a 6.0 jog before heading into the first minute of sprinting.

Good thing I still have lots of energy, because it’s back to work I go to practice a presentation for tomorrow with Bailey. Bails, what do you think about social media metrics? What KPIs are you measuring?

What races are on your calendar? How do you keep from treadmill boredom at the gym? What’s on your playlist right now? I listened to lots of Kelly Clarkson on repeat tonight. Ain’t no shame in my game.