Raise your hand if you love taking cold showers in the morning? Okay, just me, I guess… I’ve tried mini-stints of cold showers in the past, and have never lasted longer than three days in a row, but I just took cold shower number eight, so I think it was day four that was the threshold. Once I lived through that, I knew I was never going back. They’re chilly and brief, but invigorating.

**Moments after FINISHING the 10 Day Challenge.**

As promised in this week’s post I am going to reveal the workout by workout breakdown of my 10 miles a day for 10 days run challenge. Spoiler Alert, I did it!! (See gleeful photo above). Furthermore, I figured the most genuine way to share the experience was to lift them directly from my log, as well as a “Today’s Take” section to lend any further thoughts on each workout since I’ve had some distance from them by now. However, I am not going to share specific speeds of how I ran because this isn’t Strava, and I only feel comfortable with one other person on the planet knowing all of those details, my coach, Hillary, but I will share the mileage counts and thoughts and feelings after each workout.

Before I lose many of you who are not at all interested in these stats (totally fine), I want to recommend/implore ALL of you to watch the amazing show on Apple TV, Ted Lasso. Dad, I’m talking to you.:) It is such an incredibly well-written, acted, and heartfelt show that I am annoyed I did not watch sooner, yet thrilled that I am only one episode into Season 2, because I have a lot to look forward to. It is so, SO good.

Alright, onto how and why I ran 10 miles a day for 10 days!

Day 1: 8.3

AM Run: 6.22 miles
Log Notes: Super chill pre-swim run.

Swim: 3,000 yards

PM run: 4.01 miles
Log Notes: Chill, yet hilly post-swim run.

Today’s Take:
This first day of the challenge was nice and smooth.

Day 2: 8.4

Swim: Master’s swim workout

10.02 miles

Log Notes: Since it was an early morning, and I have speed work tomorrow, I went up to the trails today and practiced my 'kind of, sort of" improving trail running skills, and working towards being "slightly nimble" by the time Backbone camp rolls around in November. Also, this route out and back route is crazy hilly, and both ways are tough, but it was fun.

Today’s Take:
There are a ton of non-technical trails close to where I live, which is awesome, but I have only barely run on them in the nearly fifteen years we have lived in our house. I prefer not running slowly, but running carefully is necessary while running on trails, and very helpful in building strength and enjoying beauty, so I chose to embrace my surroundings for this challenge and boosted my trail running average by over 300%. Also, the Backbone camp I referenced is our Biscay Coaching lead trail running camp that is taking place in November, when we will be trouncing all over the legendary 68-mile Backbone trail that traverses the Santa Monica Mountains. Come join us!

Day 3: 8.5

AM Run: 9.04 Miles

Treadmill:
20 min easy build warm up.
30x30 sec fast/ 30 sec off. 5 @ each speed: 9.8/ 9.9/ 10/ 10.1/10.2/ 10.3.
10 min @ 8.1 to finish.

Log Notes: This run felt GREAT!! Even with the oxygen deprivation (mask) it was a blast! True, I will be very happy once I can breathe freely on a TM again, BUT the mask mandate does ratchet up the mind-fuckery/purpose of running on a TM, therefore I will be a stronger runner because of it. #silverlining

**Getting psyched up to run HARD while wearing a mask on a motorized rubber belt.**

Bike: Two hour easy ride: 32.62

PM Run: 3.11 miles

Since technically I "ran" 7-8 miles vs. 9 on the TM because of the 15min. "off" from the 30-seconders, and I wanted to make it a legit 10 miles for the day, I ran a 3 mile out and back off the bike. Thankfully even in Hades-esque conditions, I held a steady pace and felt pretty good.

Today’s Take:
Like I have said a million times before, I love running on the treadmill. However, running with a mask does make it tougher/labored breathing is not my favorite sensation, I still crave these workouts, and have complete faith that they are bringing my “quick” running legs back to life.

Also, I love transition runs off the bike, so this mini-3-miler was a fun top off to the day.

Day 4: 8.6

AM Run: 6.01 aka, 7 miles

Log Notes: Full transparency, this run was actually 7x miles, but I thought my watch started and it didn't, so I lost the first mile. Since I was planning on taking every mile today super chill, I thought an extra mile wouldn't be too nutty, and I want these 10 mile runs to be "official".:)

Swim: 3,900 yards

PM Run: 4mi.

Log Notes: I ran this right after the swim, and even considering the first two miles are uphill, they were slow and steady. The fun part, and what I LOVE about these kinds of volume blasts that promote adaptability, is that once I shook off the swim, I settled in just fine, and the last two miles felt steady and cruisey.

Today's Take:
This was the day I knew my body was absorbing the miles well.

Day 5: 8.7

Bike: 67.5 miles

10.01 miles.

Log Notes: So, I'm pretty happy with this run. I ran a 2+ mi. out and back on Malibu Rd. twice, adding a bit of mileage on the first lap to work in a pit stop on PCH. I didn't run with water because the air temp was so heavenly (it was probably the first time I have run in sub 95+ temps since pre-IMCDA), so I stopped at my van after the first lap to drink some H2O, eat a gel, and take some salt. My goal was to stay within 8:00-9:00min. mi. from start to finish, but then I thought a sub 8min. mi. for mile 5 and 10 would be fun, and then I'd just aim to stay comfy for the other miles. Oddly, or not-so oddly, I did not feel any fatigue in my legs from all of the running this week, and just focused on keeping my form efficient, and then increasing my effort for those fast miles. I plan to run some trails tomorrow, which will be glacial, so these quick miles were fun.

Today’s Take:
This run was by far my favorite of the entire 10 days. I felt better than I thought I would after the ride (my longest since IMCDA), and it felt SO good to run in cool conditions. Absolutely priceless. Also, this run gave me a glimmer of hope that my quick-ish running days were not completely behind me.

Day 6: 8.8

10.01 miles

Log Notes: Sheesh, so many hills! SO MANY HILLS! I explored another trail today and found some nice steep bad boys that were slow to run up, and pretty slow to run down. I was a little creaky for the first mile, but then I felt good.

Swim: 2,700 yards

Today’s Take:
This run was an ego equalizer, aka, it struck down the confidence I felt from the run in Malibu the day before, or rather made me realize that trail running requires so much patience and zero ego.

Day 7: 8.9

AM Run: 7.5 miles

Log Notes: Hilly, glorious AM run! Except there was one little wrinkle... I lost/had my phone stolen. It was completely my fault, I use a Flip Belt, and my new gigantic phone case destroyed it, but I thought it could hang for one more run... No. The kicker is I didn't notice it fell out, even when my airpods disconnected, I stopped to take them out, and just figured they were cooked, and assumed my phone was still in the belt...

Anyway, I noticed it was gone nearly at the turn-around point, I wanted to run a full 8 miles, but figured I should back track as soon as possible to see if I could find it, even though I knew it was gone, and I didn't find it, so then it became a mission of getting back home to disconnect it as soon as possible, so this run was 7.5 miles. Honestly, it didn't bother when it happened, and doesn't really bother me now. I hope whoever grabbed it will get some $ for it, and my replacement is on its way. However, now FOR SURE I will only bring my phone on super long runs where I have my hydration vest, and use my lame mp3 player for the shorter runs. Good times.:)

Bike: Easy 30 miles

PM run: 2.5 miles

Log Notes: I snagged these 2.5 miles off the bike, and although it took a mile to find my legs, I started to feel really good near the end.

Today’s Take:
I still cannot believe I did not feel my iPhone drop out of my Flip Belt. Ridiculous. Thankfully, the entire experience was fairly seamless to resolve, and not crazy expensive because we have insurance for our phones, but the MP3 player I mentioned died on the next day, so I bit the bullet and invested in an iWatch in order to have dependable music and podcast streaming during my runs. Oh, how I miss iPod Shuffles, but the watch is actually pretty cool, and worth it, because although some days I run “naked”, i.e., no music, listening to tunes and interesting content always enhances my runs/adds joy to my life. #moneywellspent

Day 8: 8.10

Swim: 2,700 yards

AM Run: 7.21miles

Log Notes: I ran this first run on my hilly post-swim route, and tagged on a little more road than usual to sneak over 7 miles. I felt good, kept my effort even, it was just up, up, up, and then down. Something I am certainly noticing with all of this condensed running in my 'hood is that hills are everywhere.:)

PM Run: 3.01mi.

Log Notes: This second run was chill and comfy. My legs felt great.

Today’s Take:
It’s true, even though I run these routes routinely, this challenge really hit home how hilly my city, Granada Hills, really is.

Day 9: 8.11

Master’s Swim

AM Run: 5.01 miles

Log Notes: This run was right after the swim, clearly I did not have much pep, and just cruised.

PM Run: 5.01miles

Log Notes: Okay, I've been looking forward to this workout all week!! I got a little creative:)

Miles 1 and 2:
Slightly elevated trails, wearing trail shoes.

Mile 3:
7-8 hill repeats, about 1min. Up, 1min. down on a steep trail wearing trail shoes.

Miles 4-5: Transition into road shoes!

Up and back on a "not as flat as I would've liked" road, where I wanted to pick up the pace, and run between 7:10 - 7:45min., so almost there. I felt good, though.:)

Today’s Take:

The first run of the day after my swim felt awful. It felt like a cement block, but I just kept moving, and snagged those miles slowly. The second run was FANtastic! As you can tell from my mood, I treated it like an adventure, and it was simply a lot of FUN! It also proved what I enjoy and appreciate most about being in good shape, the ability to dream up and then execute gnarly workouts like this.

Day 10: 8.12

AM Run: Treadmill 9.10mi.
20 min easy build warm up.
30x30 sec fast/ 30 sec off. 5 @ each speed: 9.8/ 9.9/ 10/ 10.1/10.2/ 10.3.
10 min @ 8.1 to finish.

Log Notes: This run felt verrry nice.:)

Bike: Easy 32 miles

PM run: 3.23 mi.

Log Notes: And... that's a wrap on the 10 miles a day for 10 days challenge.:) I think I added in enough of a buffer to make it a legit finish, but I'll keep going if you want? Just kidding.:) Seriously, this was a such a treat for me, thank you for humoring me, and I am happy to report that I feel GREAT, no niggles anywhere, plenty of energy, as well as a healthy dose of humility of the runner I am "now" vs. the runner I was a few years ago, aka, "How the eff did I run a sub 3:10 marathon?" But most of all I have an even greater appreciation to be able to run at all, let alone so MUCH. This week marks one year of taking that PB Collagen Building concoction, and although I have no proof that it has regenerative powers, I do give it a BIG thumb's up, and will keep it in my daily smoothie rotation.:)

**I swear this magical elixir helped heal my hamstring.**

Today’s Take:
As you can tell, I was pleased with how the challenge ended, and truthfully, I didn’t want it to end at all, but it served its purpose, and I am fine with that. I hoped it would concentrate my focus, thereby allowing me to let go of the disappointment from IMCDA, appreciate what I can do everyday, and it did just that. It also provided me the space to get to know the runner I am today, vs. wasting time clinging to the runner I used to be; not quite as fast, but much more curious.

**Post track workout last Sunday with my super-speedy friend and teammate, Jess Zaiss. Photo Credit: Jess Zaiss.**

Then again, I surprised myself on both of my run workouts last weekend. I felt good, and ran faster than expected, so I think I’ll take a queue from Ted Lasso and BELIEVE.

The song and video selection this weekend is a live performance of a very cool tune, Tones and I, "Cloudy Day."