Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are. ~Kurt Cobain

Sorry this post is a few days late. Between work, my birthday, and taking care of my husband’s sprained ankle I only had a few minutes at a time to draft this.

Coming out of the Sufferfest Knighthood on Sunday and leading into my birthday week I felt so strong, and empowered by the amazing people in my life. I did rest and sleep extra at the beginning of the week after the Knighthood but I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t continue pushing myself anyway.

First, I present to you:

You may now address me as ‘Dame Fun Size Ultra Badass’

Here’s the week of February 1-7, 2016:

• Monday, February 1: Rest day! I felt surprising great today after riding for 10 hours on Sunday. I’m going to say that yoga is the key for me lately. Cobra Camp twice weekly at Tough Love Yoga has completely changed my core strength and recovery I think. I really enjoyed sleeping in (which amounts to sleeping until 6:30am) and not having anything scheduled outside of work. This evening we saw the documentary, ‘The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young’ at Plaza Theater with GUTS. If you want to be inspired/terrified by the most insane trail race in the world, I highly recommend this film.
• Tuesday, February 2: Jump rope, Indoor Cycling. Every day I complete about 140 jumps in the morning. This is approximately the amount of jumps I can do in a minute. Next week I’ll add another 30 seconds. Cobra Camp is off this week so luckily I got a second “sleep in” day. I was back on the bike that evening less than 48 hours post Knighthood and it felt good. I was even able to ride at my full power.
• Wednesday, February 3: Jump rope, Mizuno shoe testing, Mizuno Bootcamp. Jump rope in the morning. This evening I took part in a Mizuno shoe test opportunity at the Atlanta Track Club office. I tested 5 pairs of shoes for 5 minutes each and ran 3 miles. I then headed to West Stride for another week of Bianca’s Mizuno WedneZday Bootcamp. 45 minutes of “fun.” On the plus side, a few of us went to the Ok Café for a late dinner.
• Thursday, February 4: Jump rope, Run.  Jump rope in the morning. Coaches Dave and Larry had a 6 mile descending speed run in TrainingPeaks for me. However, due to schedule issues today I opted to run commute home from work, 5.43 miles. No descending miles but I was carrying a 13lb backpack (winter clothes way a lot!).
• Friday, February 5: Jump rope, yoga, shakeout run. I was feeling kind of antsy today. Even though it was supposed to be a rest day I opted for a quick 3 mile shakeout run around the neighborhood and then headed out to Wine’d down yoga (yoga class followed by a glass of wine) at Tough Love to start my birthday weekend off right!
• Saturday, February 6: Hearts & Soles 5k followed by 7 additional training miles. Another awesome Atlanta Track Club half marathon training day! We changed things up this week and had the program meet at the Atlanta Track Club Hearts & Soles 5k, part of their grand prix series. Check out my review of Hearts & Soles on BibRave. Everyone ran the 5k and then we had a 7 mile marked route to make our 10 mile training day. I don’t run many 5k races but 1) it was cold, 2) I was feeling positive about my birthday weekend, so I started in the front of my wave and pushed myself the entire way. Boom, PR by 1min 3o sec! Awesome but ouch! I still had to lead my 11 minute pace group for the remaining 7 miles (which turned out to be very hilly). Somehow we all made it and had a great time. I even arrived back at base camp after the 7 additional miles to find a surprise birthday brunch! There’s something about runners that just makes me heart burst with joy.

My fabulous friend Tina who made my birthday crown ‘Dame Fun Size Ultra Badass’

Flying at the start of the Hearts & Soles 5k (I’m all the way on the left)

• Sunday, February 7: My birthday and the Red Top Rumble! This is one of the most popular trail races in the area. It was another cold but clear day and, even though I pushed myself on Saturday, I had a strong race and beat my previous course time. Check out my review of Red Top Rumble. I think the back-to-back runs are going to be key to break through the fatigue I’ll have at Death Race. This week will be an interesting test of that theory as I have 5 days in a row of planned running, ending with a trail marathon on Sunday. Keep Moving Forward.