Monday: 6 miles on Underwood with WARP
250-200-150-100-100 [i was seriously sore for 4 days after this...its been a long time since i last sprinted]
Tuesday: 4 miles with WARP
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 5 miles tempo on underwood
2.5 easy to work PM
Friday: 8 miles to Jacobus and back
Saturday: off
Sunday: Capitol Mile!
the cap mile honestly went better than i even could have imagined. i wasn't even sure i was going to race, having gotten almost no sleep after a night out the night before. but i figured since i had been somewhat lazy the past week and my mileage wasn't that high anyway, that i might as well at least do a race. i volunteered basically the whole morning, and my race wasn't until 3:45. i did a bit of a warmup with claire but neither of us were exactly hardcore going into the race. we got to line up on the line with a former irish OLYMPIAN, which was pretty sweet. and i have to say, this was probably one of the better distance races i've run. i ran EVEN SPLITS...that never happens to me. but i went through the 400 in 90 sec, the 800 in 3:01, the 1200 in like 4:32, and then finished in 6:02...by FAR my fastest mile ever. and not to mention, i felt pretty damn good doing it! i know if i had kicked a little earlier i probably could have broken 6, but we'll save that for another day haha. i was like laughing around the half mile mark because dallas and nick were dancing around and screaming like "WTCCCCC WOOOOO!" haha. not to mention, i ended up 1st in my age group, and 3rd overall in the open women's race....and i won $50! (and i didn't even know there were cash prizes...haha) so overall, DEFINITELY glad i ended up racing. a fantastic day overall.
yesterday: 10.2 miles in the blazing heat, was not fun at all but hey, i didn't do a long run on sunday so i felt like i needed to. and its even hotter today, so i'm glad i don't need to run as far now. less thatn 2 weeks until the half marathon....eek!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
doubles, humidity, and taking it easy
tuesday: 3 miles PM w/ middle schoolers
7.3 (approx. 7:45 pace) PM
i randomly stumbled across some pretty sweet trails through the woods that run on the other side of the river from the trails i usually run on along the parkway. running through the woods always makes me feel faster and the time goes by more quickly. once again i don't really have much of a grasp on the meaning of "easy" running, and with the humidity at about 75% this was pretty rough.
wednesday: AM workout with warp: hard/easy ladder going 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 for a total of about 5 miles (with warmup)
PM: 3.5 miles (lamplighter) with the track camp
the workout that j-lo gave me for the warp high schoolers was tough, even for me. but at the same time, it felt GOOD and is definitely the kind of thing i need to do to get my speed and endurance up at the same time. i feel like i definitely need to to something similar it a few more times this summer, especially as a cc base workout. i promised myself i wasn't going to do any more doubles since my legs have definitely been starting to feel it, but i just couldn't say no to getting paid to run again at track camp. so i did it. it was insanely humid again, so it wasn't exactly a breeze, but in the end i was glad.
thursday: 3 miles easy AM with middle schoolers
friday: 5 miles easy AM with warp
the nice thing about running with middle schoolers and slower high school runners the past couple of days is that it has FORCED me to run slow. like, 9 minute or above mile slow. which is actually really good, because my legs have seriously been feeling shot from all this two-a-day business, which i suppose comes with the territory of having to run with my campers in the morning and then wanting to do my own workout later. one thing is for sure: my mileage this week is going to be INSANE. i'm already at almost 35, and tomorrow i'm doing a 12 miler...so its looking pretty likely that i'm going to hit 50 miles this week. insanity.
7.3 (approx. 7:45 pace) PM
i randomly stumbled across some pretty sweet trails through the woods that run on the other side of the river from the trails i usually run on along the parkway. running through the woods always makes me feel faster and the time goes by more quickly. once again i don't really have much of a grasp on the meaning of "easy" running, and with the humidity at about 75% this was pretty rough.
wednesday: AM workout with warp: hard/easy ladder going 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 for a total of about 5 miles (with warmup)
PM: 3.5 miles (lamplighter) with the track camp
the workout that j-lo gave me for the warp high schoolers was tough, even for me. but at the same time, it felt GOOD and is definitely the kind of thing i need to do to get my speed and endurance up at the same time. i feel like i definitely need to to something similar it a few more times this summer, especially as a cc base workout. i promised myself i wasn't going to do any more doubles since my legs have definitely been starting to feel it, but i just couldn't say no to getting paid to run again at track camp. so i did it. it was insanely humid again, so it wasn't exactly a breeze, but in the end i was glad.
thursday: 3 miles easy AM with middle schoolers
friday: 5 miles easy AM with warp
the nice thing about running with middle schoolers and slower high school runners the past couple of days is that it has FORCED me to run slow. like, 9 minute or above mile slow. which is actually really good, because my legs have seriously been feeling shot from all this two-a-day business, which i suppose comes with the territory of having to run with my campers in the morning and then wanting to do my own workout later. one thing is for sure: my mileage this week is going to be INSANE. i'm already at almost 35, and tomorrow i'm doing a 12 miler...so its looking pretty likely that i'm going to hit 50 miles this week. insanity.
Monday, July 16, 2007
so i lied...
about not doubling up today. i apparently have now become the distance coach for the high school track camp i work at as well, and ended up doing 3.5 miles with them at what i would definitely call tempo pace. we were cruising...and if the definition of tempo is "comfortably hard", well that was definitely what this was. didn't have a watch with me so i'm not sure of exact pace, but as far as exertion levels went it was pretty hardcore.
so, 8.5 miles on the day for monday, not too shabby. with the help of my high school coach, i've come up with something pretty brutal for my cross country camp kids on wednesday. lets just say i'm not looking forward to doing it with them...but its definitely the kind of workout i need to do.
so, 8.5 miles on the day for monday, not too shabby. with the help of my high school coach, i've come up with something pretty brutal for my cross country camp kids on wednesday. lets just say i'm not looking forward to doing it with them...but its definitely the kind of workout i need to do.
race report, etc.
thursday: 2.5 miles am w/ middle schoolers, 8 miles easy [with a few walking breaks due to be completely lost]
friday: off
saturday: alex devinny memorial 4k, kenosha, wi.
sunday: 7.1 easy
monday: 5 easy
thursday's run taught me an important lesson: make SURE you know your route well if you're planning on running in a new place, especially the complicated twisting neighborhoods of brookfield, wi. i had planned on doing an easy 5.5 miler, partially because i still felt like crap from wednesday's speed workout, and partially because i wanted to take it easy before the race on saturday. i pretty much felt like crap from the very beginning but figured i'd be fine. as it turns out, i missed a turn completely, and then decided to take a different road that i figured would eventually take me back to the same place i wanted to go...unfortunately, whoever planned brookfield decided it would be a good idea to include lots of dead ends and circular roads, which is how i ended up running/walking in circles for about 15 minutes, only to finally come out about a mile and a half further away from my start than i had wanted to go. needless to say, i was not at all pleased with the situation...my legs were shot anyway, and so much for saving it for saturday. ah well, next time i know to memorize my route before i leave.
so race report! the alex devinny memorial 4k, held at the parkside cross country course in kenosha. this was one of the races that i absolutely was determined to do for a couple of reasons: one, because parkside was the site of my first cross country race ever, and also because the girl who the race was in honor of was a phenomenal runner [i saw her race when i was a sophomore and it was just amazing] who died very young of an eating disorder, and the money made from the race went to promote eating disorder awareness/research...which i think is a great cause, to mention it seems like a fitting tribute. anyway...digression. it was also fun because my friends nicole and claire, along with a couple others from the club were racing - nice representation of the wtc!
i got to the course at around 8:15, registered and warmed up with nicole and claire. it was really fun to have the true cross country race atmosphere as opposed to just a road race, plus wearing spikes was exciting. :) the overwhelming majority of the runners were high school and college age, which was also cool and definitely gave it more of a cross country feel. the parkside course is one of the hardest courses i've ever raced on, pretty much the entire first 800 meters are uphill, and the last 1200 meters involves going up and down hills through a back forest...not exactly fun. i immediately started feeling it within the first 200 meters of the race that it was going to be pretty painful, but once i made it up the first monster hills kind of went into cruise mode for awhile. passed a few people around the 1200 mark, and i actually have no idea what my mile split was since i forgot my watch and apparently the guy calling splits was wrong, but oh well. claire caught up to me soon after the mile mark and i managed to run with her while passing people for another 1200 or so. i was actually feeling pretty good going into the last 3/4 mile of the course, but that's where it hit the fan, just as it did 3 years ago the first time i ever raced there. the hills in the last part of the course absolutely KILLED me, and i was so frustrated as i watched claire pulling further and further away with each hill. my legs felt absolutely shot. despite that, the only people who passed me besides claire in those backwoods were a girl and a guy, who at first i was really angry because they passed me and they were talking, like having an easy conversation...except for then i realized that the girl runs for wisconsin, and i assume she was basically running the race as an easy workout. frustrating, yes, but i'm no d1 distance runner. i also had absolutely NO finishing kick, which was frustrating because that's usually where i'm pretty strong. i still finished in 17:55 or 56, which is only a couple seconds off my 4K pr, and that was run on a MUCH easier course, and at the end of a full cross country season, not in the middle of a summer of half marathon training. i ended up 6th in my age group (claire was 3rd, and was only like 20 seconds ahead of me) and 61st overall, so not too bad. and it was a lot of fun going back to the 4K distance, although seriously, i feel like every race is equally painful. 4k..5k...6k...4 miles....no matter the distance, its going to hurt. a lot. and if it doesn't...you're not really running hard enough. i guess my only complaint is that my pace was just about the same as it was for the 4 miler...which is kind of stupid...i mean, you'd think that my pace would be faster over only 2.5 miles? but i guess i have to look at the circumstances...i've been sore this entire week, and of course there are the hills to consider.
i feel like for this cross country season, i need to work on my pacing/race strategy. i seem to have this barrier, no matter the distance, that i canNOT go under 7:05/mile. i really think i'm capable of holding sub-7 pace over a 5K at least...i mean, if i can run 4 repeat miles with the slowest being 6:54, i feel like there's no reason i can't run 3 7 minute miles back to back. i think it has a lot to do with two things: my first mile, and my extreme slowdown usually in the second mile somewhere. i think if i'm going to get to where i want to be, i NEED to learn to control my first mile. yes, eventually going out in 6:45 will probably be a good idea (maybe even by the end of this cc season? i hope so.) but for now, i feel like going out a few seconds slower might help me in the long run. but maybe not...maybe i'd slow down the same amount so it wouldn't help at all. ah cross country...painful painful painful, and the only way you can fix your mistakes is by racing again.
this race got me excited about the upcoming cross season though. some of the races we're doing might be 6k, which kind of sucks because 6k is a damn long way, but having done the 4 miler i feel a bit better about being able to hold a decent pace.
and other than that, running has been going decently. i was irritated yesterday because i couldn't get in as long of a run as i wanted to because of family stuff, but oh well. i decided not to double up today just to give my legs a bit of a break, but i'll be back into it hardcore this week. racing saturday i think reignited my motivation, so hopefully the midsummer slump i've had the past couple of weeks is over. :)
friday: off
saturday: alex devinny memorial 4k, kenosha, wi.
sunday: 7.1 easy
monday: 5 easy
thursday's run taught me an important lesson: make SURE you know your route well if you're planning on running in a new place, especially the complicated twisting neighborhoods of brookfield, wi. i had planned on doing an easy 5.5 miler, partially because i still felt like crap from wednesday's speed workout, and partially because i wanted to take it easy before the race on saturday. i pretty much felt like crap from the very beginning but figured i'd be fine. as it turns out, i missed a turn completely, and then decided to take a different road that i figured would eventually take me back to the same place i wanted to go...unfortunately, whoever planned brookfield decided it would be a good idea to include lots of dead ends and circular roads, which is how i ended up running/walking in circles for about 15 minutes, only to finally come out about a mile and a half further away from my start than i had wanted to go. needless to say, i was not at all pleased with the situation...my legs were shot anyway, and so much for saving it for saturday. ah well, next time i know to memorize my route before i leave.
so race report! the alex devinny memorial 4k, held at the parkside cross country course in kenosha. this was one of the races that i absolutely was determined to do for a couple of reasons: one, because parkside was the site of my first cross country race ever, and also because the girl who the race was in honor of was a phenomenal runner [i saw her race when i was a sophomore and it was just amazing] who died very young of an eating disorder, and the money made from the race went to promote eating disorder awareness/research...which i think is a great cause, to mention it seems like a fitting tribute. anyway...digression. it was also fun because my friends nicole and claire, along with a couple others from the club were racing - nice representation of the wtc!
i got to the course at around 8:15, registered and warmed up with nicole and claire. it was really fun to have the true cross country race atmosphere as opposed to just a road race, plus wearing spikes was exciting. :) the overwhelming majority of the runners were high school and college age, which was also cool and definitely gave it more of a cross country feel. the parkside course is one of the hardest courses i've ever raced on, pretty much the entire first 800 meters are uphill, and the last 1200 meters involves going up and down hills through a back forest...not exactly fun. i immediately started feeling it within the first 200 meters of the race that it was going to be pretty painful, but once i made it up the first monster hills kind of went into cruise mode for awhile. passed a few people around the 1200 mark, and i actually have no idea what my mile split was since i forgot my watch and apparently the guy calling splits was wrong, but oh well. claire caught up to me soon after the mile mark and i managed to run with her while passing people for another 1200 or so. i was actually feeling pretty good going into the last 3/4 mile of the course, but that's where it hit the fan, just as it did 3 years ago the first time i ever raced there. the hills in the last part of the course absolutely KILLED me, and i was so frustrated as i watched claire pulling further and further away with each hill. my legs felt absolutely shot. despite that, the only people who passed me besides claire in those backwoods were a girl and a guy, who at first i was really angry because they passed me and they were talking, like having an easy conversation...except for then i realized that the girl runs for wisconsin, and i assume she was basically running the race as an easy workout. frustrating, yes, but i'm no d1 distance runner. i also had absolutely NO finishing kick, which was frustrating because that's usually where i'm pretty strong. i still finished in 17:55 or 56, which is only a couple seconds off my 4K pr, and that was run on a MUCH easier course, and at the end of a full cross country season, not in the middle of a summer of half marathon training. i ended up 6th in my age group (claire was 3rd, and was only like 20 seconds ahead of me) and 61st overall, so not too bad. and it was a lot of fun going back to the 4K distance, although seriously, i feel like every race is equally painful. 4k..5k...6k...4 miles....no matter the distance, its going to hurt. a lot. and if it doesn't...you're not really running hard enough. i guess my only complaint is that my pace was just about the same as it was for the 4 miler...which is kind of stupid...i mean, you'd think that my pace would be faster over only 2.5 miles? but i guess i have to look at the circumstances...i've been sore this entire week, and of course there are the hills to consider.
i feel like for this cross country season, i need to work on my pacing/race strategy. i seem to have this barrier, no matter the distance, that i canNOT go under 7:05/mile. i really think i'm capable of holding sub-7 pace over a 5K at least...i mean, if i can run 4 repeat miles with the slowest being 6:54, i feel like there's no reason i can't run 3 7 minute miles back to back. i think it has a lot to do with two things: my first mile, and my extreme slowdown usually in the second mile somewhere. i think if i'm going to get to where i want to be, i NEED to learn to control my first mile. yes, eventually going out in 6:45 will probably be a good idea (maybe even by the end of this cc season? i hope so.) but for now, i feel like going out a few seconds slower might help me in the long run. but maybe not...maybe i'd slow down the same amount so it wouldn't help at all. ah cross country...painful painful painful, and the only way you can fix your mistakes is by racing again.
this race got me excited about the upcoming cross season though. some of the races we're doing might be 6k, which kind of sucks because 6k is a damn long way, but having done the 4 miler i feel a bit better about being able to hold a decent pace.
and other than that, running has been going decently. i was irritated yesterday because i couldn't get in as long of a run as i wanted to because of family stuff, but oh well. i decided not to double up today just to give my legs a bit of a break, but i'll be back into it hardcore this week. racing saturday i think reignited my motivation, so hopefully the midsummer slump i've had the past couple of weeks is over. :)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
back at it
friday: 4.5 miles VERY easy with high schoolers
saturday-monday: off
tuesday: 2 miles easy in the morning with my middle schoolers, 5 miles afternoon in a torrential downpour
wednesday: 1.5 miles easy in the morning
afternoon:
1 mile warmup
3200 @ 14:47 (10K race pace...ish)
2 x 1600 @ 6:54, 6:59 (approx. 5K race pace)
2 x 800 @ 3:18, 3:16 (sub-5K race pace)
half mile cooldown
after 3 days completely off spent lounging by the pool, shopping my face off, and eating ridiculous amounts of incredible food in vegas, its been a little difficult getting back into the swing of training, but i think after today i'll be over the hump. tuesday i ran in a torrential downpour and was reminded of just how fantastic running in the rain is...it seriously makes me feel so free. as the song says, "everytime it rains, i know its good to be alive"
today's workout almost killed me, i have no idea exactly why i felt so bad, but i was dragging like crazy. my legs just felt like bricks, and the second mile interval especially was just downright killer. i'm hoping that its just the residual effects of taking a pretty easy week followed by a few days completely off combined with the fact that it was a pretty damn hard workout to begin with. on the positive side of things though, whatever was driving my knee insane appears to have backed off. it was still bothering me while i was in vegas, but at the moment it seems to be completely fine...keeping my fingers crossed.
up for the rest of the week is mostly some easy running leading up to a 4K race that i'm doing in kenosha on saturday. sunday will definitely be a long run day, i'm hoping to make it 12. race day is only a month away, so its time to start turning up the heat.
oh, and as a disclaimer, i hardly remember writing the last post. but apparently, even when drunk, i feel compelled to make updates on my life as a runner. :P
saturday-monday: off
tuesday: 2 miles easy in the morning with my middle schoolers, 5 miles afternoon in a torrential downpour
wednesday: 1.5 miles easy in the morning
afternoon:
1 mile warmup
3200 @ 14:47 (10K race pace...ish)
2 x 1600 @ 6:54, 6:59 (approx. 5K race pace)
2 x 800 @ 3:18, 3:16 (sub-5K race pace)
half mile cooldown
after 3 days completely off spent lounging by the pool, shopping my face off, and eating ridiculous amounts of incredible food in vegas, its been a little difficult getting back into the swing of training, but i think after today i'll be over the hump. tuesday i ran in a torrential downpour and was reminded of just how fantastic running in the rain is...it seriously makes me feel so free. as the song says, "everytime it rains, i know its good to be alive"
today's workout almost killed me, i have no idea exactly why i felt so bad, but i was dragging like crazy. my legs just felt like bricks, and the second mile interval especially was just downright killer. i'm hoping that its just the residual effects of taking a pretty easy week followed by a few days completely off combined with the fact that it was a pretty damn hard workout to begin with. on the positive side of things though, whatever was driving my knee insane appears to have backed off. it was still bothering me while i was in vegas, but at the moment it seems to be completely fine...keeping my fingers crossed.
up for the rest of the week is mostly some easy running leading up to a 4K race that i'm doing in kenosha on saturday. sunday will definitely be a long run day, i'm hoping to make it 12. race day is only a month away, so its time to start turning up the heat.
oh, and as a disclaimer, i hardly remember writing the last post. but apparently, even when drunk, i feel compelled to make updates on my life as a runner. :P
Friday, July 06, 2007
d-r-u-n-k
my running has been shitty lately, on account of various things not limited to: vacation to las vegas starting tomorrow through monday night, something seriously fucked up in my right knee that does not allow me to bend it into any position that remotely resembles twisted, and currently, alas, my state that allows alcohol to be the most prominent feature in my mind/thoughts.
anyway, this week sucks running-wise. i might get in 25 miles if i'm lucky, but we'll see about that. next week its back to hardcore training. and hopefully i'll run into this jerry character again....
anyway, this week sucks running-wise. i might get in 25 miles if i'm lucky, but we'll see about that. next week its back to hardcore training. and hopefully i'll run into this jerry character again....
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
firecracker four
hmm...what to say about this race. i didn't run quite as well as i had hoped/expected, but i think i'm still pretty happy with my performance. my time was 28:51 (although by my watch i was at 28:46), so not too far over my goal, and definitely at around my 5K PR pace. i actually guarantee that if this race had been a 5K i would have run a pr, which is thrilling! i would say my downfall was going out too fast....6:29....why would i do that for a race that's 4 miles? i mean, if i do that next week that's okay (when i'm only running 2.5 miles), but not in the longest race i've ever been in. i was frustrated because i kept getting passed, especially in the 3rd mile, which was where i slowed down a lot...it was pretty awful. it was basically all i could take just to keep going...that classic half to 3/4 point of a race where you basically just want to die. its funny how that translates to basically any race...3rd lap of the 800 indoors/back curve of the 400/back straight of the 800 outdoors/2nd mile of a 5k, etc. you can't escape the death portion of the race where the finish isn't even in sight yet, but that's really where the race is made or not. that's the part of the race i need to work on pushing through. i definitely picked it up the last mile though to stay under 29 minutes. so overall, a pretty tough race, but decent. it looped through just a lot of neighborhoods...tons of people sitting out on their lawns and turning their sprinklers on the streets which was nice since it was incredibly humid, luckily the sun didn't come out until after the race. and while i'm not overly thrilled that i didn't quite make my 7 minute mile goal, i definitely feel like that would be doable at a shorter distance [ahem....5K]. so overall, i would say today was a success.
28:51
10/33 women 18-24
23/206 women
162/632 overall
28:51
10/33 women 18-24
23/206 women
162/632 overall
Monday, July 02, 2007
hills!
2 miles easy
hill workout downtown - 4 x short steep hill, 2 x long gradual hill
the warp girls wanted to go run hills downtown so we did - it was a pretty good workout and even though i didn't get much distance in for the day, i feel okay about slacking a bit...i really want to run well on wednesday! i have the feeling my mileage is going to suffer a bit this week what with traveling to vegas for 3 days and all, but eh, it happens. a few days off never hurt!
hill workout downtown - 4 x short steep hill, 2 x long gradual hill
the warp girls wanted to go run hills downtown so we did - it was a pretty good workout and even though i didn't get much distance in for the day, i feel okay about slacking a bit...i really want to run well on wednesday! i have the feeling my mileage is going to suffer a bit this week what with traveling to vegas for 3 days and all, but eh, it happens. a few days off never hurt!
Sunday, July 01, 2007
firecracker four goal
first of all, after rereading the previous 2 posts i realized i re-stated basically the exact same thing in both...guess my long run left me a little out of it...
but then i decided i want to actually put a goal on paper for wednesday, so here it is: sub 7 pace. i have no idea how this will work out, since i've never managed to go sub-7 for a 5K, let alone 4 miles, but like i keep saying, i've been training harder distance-wise than i ever have and i feel like its going to pay off. so we'll see what happens!
but then i decided i want to actually put a goal on paper for wednesday, so here it is: sub 7 pace. i have no idea how this will work out, since i've never managed to go sub-7 for a 5K, let alone 4 miles, but like i keep saying, i've been training harder distance-wise than i ever have and i feel like its going to pay off. so we'll see what happens!
LSD
today: 11.2 miles in 1:29:16
= average slightly under 8 minute mile pace!! i ended up with 43.5 miles total on the week, the most mileage i've run in a week ever in my life, and i'm feeling awesome. i've had 3 completely fantastic workouts this week and i definitely feel like i'm probably in the best shape i ever have been. my blister is finally mostly healed so i've been running in the new shoes again and they feel great. i'm pretty pumped for the firecracker four on wednesday - i think i might surprise myself with how i run. definitely pumped! i'm also totally right on track where i want to be for the half marathon...actually, maybe even better than i thought i'd be at this point! awesome.
and its a good thing i've been running so much with all the beer and fried cheese products i've consumed over this glorious summerfest weekend. :)
= average slightly under 8 minute mile pace!! i ended up with 43.5 miles total on the week, the most mileage i've run in a week ever in my life, and i'm feeling awesome. i've had 3 completely fantastic workouts this week and i definitely feel like i'm probably in the best shape i ever have been. my blister is finally mostly healed so i've been running in the new shoes again and they feel great. i'm pretty pumped for the firecracker four on wednesday - i think i might surprise myself with how i run. definitely pumped! i'm also totally right on track where i want to be for the half marathon...actually, maybe even better than i thought i'd be at this point! awesome.
and its a good thing i've been running so much with all the beer and fried cheese products i've consumed over this glorious summerfest weekend. :)
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