Long run song of the day:
So today's long run was...epic. And awesome. And hands down the best long run of my life - I am not joking. What the hell is it about the combination of pouring rain, gusting wind, and general nastiness that turns me into some kind of run-dominating beast? I spent most of yesterday and this morning debating whether I even should set out for 22 miles in the craptastic weather - I seriously don't think I've ever been so unhappy about the prospect of going for a long run in my life. 22 miles just seemed so. long [okay well...it is...but yeah] and throwing the weather on top of that didn't help. But since this was really a KEY workout I had planned in my training schedule - 22 miles on the actual marathon course - I knew I had to just suck it up buttercup and get out there.
So I did - and I think once I realized that it wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be, I knew everything was going to be okay. I wasn't planning on really worrying about the pace, so I just fell into something that felt comfortable and easy and got into the groove. You know those days when things just fall into place and you find that sweet spot of pace where you feel like you could literally keep running forever? That was me today. Running on the course, as always, was a great plan because while there weren't a ton of runners out there, it seemed like everyone who was was a) wearing some kind of neon jacket or shirt that made them like a beacon of light in the endless gray of the rain and b) was equally happy to see a fellow runner partaking in this madness and would give a wave, hi, or at least a smile. Seriously, every runner I saw gave me an extra shot of energy - knowing I'm not alone, and that we're all out there for a reason, is such a boost.
It actually took me kind of awhile to notice that I was cold or wet. I think I had on enough layers that the gradual soaking-through process took about an hour haha. I stopped at the Marathon Sports on the course in Wellesley to grab a Gu and some water - perfect timing because I was getting really hungry and had the feeling I was on my way to being pretty dehydrated as well. Tried the new flavor of Gu - Jet Blackberry - it pretty much tasted the same as the Tri Berry, but I think it has more caffeine...anyway, after a few minutes in the store coming back into the deluge kind of sucked, and that was the first time I noticed the cold. And then I just kept trucking through Wellesley. There seemed to be a lot of hills [I really wouldn't notice that as much on the way back, maybe because anything that was uphill running the course backwards would be downhill going the right way]. I got nerdily excited when I saw the 14 mile/water mark with the BAA unicorn on the road, waved gleefully at a fellow runner on the opposite side of the street, and had to kind of laugh at the random empty Gu packets strewn around randomly on the sidewalk. [Definitely don't advocate littering...but it was just kind of funny...like, gee, do you think a lot of marathoners run out here or something?]. Generally I just continued to enjoy myself, finally reaching my turnaround point at Bacon Street [which...I seriously picked because I thought I would want some bacon at that point in the run. I really don't know what's going on in my head sometimes haha]
So I started the long trek back towards Boston, and honestly I kept waiting for my legs to do their usual seizing up/dying act that they always seem to do at the end of long runs, or for it to start feeling hard, or something...none of those feelings ever came. It just simply felt easy. Seriously, I don't know if there's magical fairy dust scattered all over the course or what, but every time I've run out there over this training cycle, it's been an incredible, effortless run...fingers crossed that the magic still works when I have to share it with 25,000 other runners. :) Also, my thought on this new part of the course that I hadn't seen before: really, not that many bad hills. It's funny because at first I thought "yes, well, you'll be running this at mile 12-20 of a marathon"...but then I realized that this section of the course was at mile 12-20 of my long run too...which was obviously the point haha. I guess the impression I get is that the course is never REALLY flat...but that you also spend more time running downhill than you do running up...and yes, that is the definition of a net downhill course, which Boston is, so sorry for stating the obvious haha. The one hill for me that was sort of a beeyotch, actually moreso than Heartbreak, was the one that comes right after the turn onto Comm Ave, at around the 18 mile mark. It's sort of a long hill that seems to drag, and I think since you've just had a big downhill it's kind of like...aww...a hill? Wah wah. But then there's like a mile of basically downhill before you have to deal with Heartbreak...I don't know, maybe it was just because my run went SO well on the course today, but I was left feeling a lot more confident about running a good race on this course than I was before.
You'll notice that I've only mentioned the crazy-ass weather once in this epic description of this run so far...really, I didn't pay much attention to it, and what thoughts I did give to it were basically along the lines of "this is so effing awesome. I am kicking so much ass right now. If the marathon was today, I would probably run a PR. I am so freaking glad I didn't skip this run. I love the rain". So the "song of the day" came on my ipod just as I had crested Heartbreak, and was headed onto the GIANT downhill through BC. Everytime I run that downhill, I want to put my arms up and yell like a little kid on a rollercoaster haha...it's like..I MADE IT! Combine that with The Who screaming about rain and the fact that there are less than 2 miles to go of a 23 mile run, and you have yourself a pretty amazing moment. I was also pretty impressed at how the run absolutely FLEW by...normally I get so sick of running by about 2:15 into a long run that the last 30-45 minutes are just a death march...but this time, probably since I was feeling good, it was totally no big deal.
Probably the funniest moment of the run actually happened after I finished. I finally made it back to my door, thrilled to be done, thrilled at how I was feeling, basically just on this massive runner's high...oh yeah, and also completely drenched and dripping a puddle into the foyer of my apartment building. My hands were COMPLETELY frozen, so I struggled for like 5 minutes to get my key out of my pocket...then struggled to actually get it in the door...and THEN once I got it in the door, I couldn't grip my hands enough to turn it...FAIL! I was just attempting to use the two-handed grip approach and looking like a giant idiot when a neighbor came in behind me and was like...uh...are you okay? [he probably thought I was trying to break into the place or something!] Just then I got the door open and let him in, and I was like oh, yeah, I'm fine, I just ran 22 miles though and so my hands are really cold, I couldn't get the key to turn. The guy was like oh...and then was like..wait...you ran 22 miles...TODAY? You have issues... Kind of reminds me of my boss who commented yesterday that "looks like you won't be getting any miles in this weekend". I'm pretty confident that 99% of the population [my mom, grandma, and boyfriend included!] think that what I did today was borderline insane...but seriously, having that great of a run in this disgusting of weather gave me such a HUGE mental boost - like whatever raceday throws at me, I'll be able to get through it. Maybe more importantly, it gave me the confidence that my training is actually working - that the higher miles and workouts and things I've been doing that I've bitched and moaned about really HAVE made me stronger, much stronger, than I was going into Baystate. Being able to hit 8:15 pace [haha, guess I didn't mention that I was actually running kind of fast for a LR...] for that long of a run without going downhill into my usual "run for a few minutes...legs tighten up...stop....stretch...start again" act that I usually wind up doing for the last 5 miles or so of any long run, was a total eye opener to me. And it was my longest run EVER...coming in at 22.9 miles [and yes, I kind of wish I had run around the block to get in that extra .1 mile, especially since I was feeling so good. Oh well!]
Sooo I will stop boring you all now with my epic account of my long run haha...I'm just really pumped about it and I feel like it's been so long since I had a run where I just wanted to run around shouting from the mountaintops about how awesome it was, that I had to let myself get a little excited about this. :) Running on the course was a great idea and one I'm going to continue to incorporate for the next few weeks...and probably for the rest of the time that I live near it too, since like I said, I think it might be magic. :)
Well, now I am comfy and warm [well, as warm as is possible in my apartment, where we don't pay for heat but the heat is also almost never on...], the rain is still blasting outside, and I enjoyed a delicious plate of pesto pasta, a Magic Hat #9, and some Ben & Jerry's as a post-epic-run treat. I actually have a lot of random things bouncing around in my head to post about, more musings than actual day-to-day running stuff....but I think this post is long enough, so maybe I'll just actually post more than once this week!
Oh...and it's a little late...but happy pi day! :P Thanks MarathonMaiden for reminding me :)
Showing posts with label boston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boston. Show all posts
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Friday, March 05, 2010
Give me back that filet o'fish, give me that fish
This has absolutely nothing to do with..well...anything...and the last time I had a Filet O'Fish was probably sometime in the 90s...but this commercial just cracks me up for some reason
Other things that start with F...February...as in, February Training Recap!
Total miles: 227.7
This was JUST OFF my all time mileage PR of 229.1, set in September '09. I'm pretty much giving it to myself as my highest mileage training month ever though, since February is a short month so in terms of miles/day, it was definitely a high!
Days off: 5
Workouts: 8 [3 fartlek, 2 tempo, 1 mile repeats, 1 progression, 1 race]
Longest run: 20.6
Weekly mileage range: 49.6-61.9
Wow, I usually despise February with all of my heart and soul, but this was probably the best month of training I've ever had. No offense to my home state, but leaving the Wisconsin winter behind was definitely a pretty fantastic thing as far as running was concerned. The winter out here has been super mild by my standards - there really haven't been any days when I've been like "oh, hell no am I running outside in that...", and really the only time I took my workouts to the TM was for the sake of knowing my pace. I really can't think of any god-awful runs in February either. I hit pace for every workout, set a big 10K PR, my long runs went reasonably well and I've been running them faster than last training cycle, and I've already got 2 20 milers under my belt. I guess my only concern at this point is that my training is going TOO well...as in, I really don't want to peak too early. That might have something to do with the fact that during my last training cycle, I was running a lot but I wasn't really "training" until like...7 weeks out from the race. So the plan at this point is to just stay tuned in to my physical/mental state as March, ie, training month from hell, progresses, keep an eye on an possible signs of overtraining, and other than that, just continue to rock it out!
Speaking of training, is it weird that lately I have been anxiously looking forward to my speed workouts, and absolutely dreading my longer easy runs? Seriously, why am I totally excited to run fartleks or tempo intervals on the treadmill, with a long warmup and cooldown, and yet an 8-12 mile easy run is something I just dread? I can't quite figure it out. I guess its GOOD that I get excited about speedwork though haha - never really thought I'd see the day when that would happen! I think it's because my quality workouts have been going really well in general, as far as hitting my paces and not feeling like I'm going to die at the same time. They've served as really great confidence boosters and kind of stand in my mind as a testament to the fact that I actually AM getting faster and stronger through all of this training. The easy runs just kind of "are" - some days I'm feeling it, some days I'm not. 12 miles is pretty long, but not long enough to be a "long run", but still takes a long time, you know what I mean? Well anyway, maybe if I start thinking of my easy runs as "3 mile warmup, 6 miles easy, 3 mile cooldown" I'll like them better. Haha.
Training aside, here are a couple of random things I've really been enjoying lately [aside from the Filet O'Fish commercial, haha]...mostly food. Because who doesn't love food?
Is it really Friday already? Guess I should stop whining about my 12 miles and just Get. It Done! Have a great weekend!
Other things that start with F...February...as in, February Training Recap!
Total miles: 227.7
This was JUST OFF my all time mileage PR of 229.1, set in September '09. I'm pretty much giving it to myself as my highest mileage training month ever though, since February is a short month so in terms of miles/day, it was definitely a high!
Days off: 5
Workouts: 8 [3 fartlek, 2 tempo, 1 mile repeats, 1 progression, 1 race]
Longest run: 20.6
Weekly mileage range: 49.6-61.9
Wow, I usually despise February with all of my heart and soul, but this was probably the best month of training I've ever had. No offense to my home state, but leaving the Wisconsin winter behind was definitely a pretty fantastic thing as far as running was concerned. The winter out here has been super mild by my standards - there really haven't been any days when I've been like "oh, hell no am I running outside in that...", and really the only time I took my workouts to the TM was for the sake of knowing my pace. I really can't think of any god-awful runs in February either. I hit pace for every workout, set a big 10K PR, my long runs went reasonably well and I've been running them faster than last training cycle, and I've already got 2 20 milers under my belt. I guess my only concern at this point is that my training is going TOO well...as in, I really don't want to peak too early. That might have something to do with the fact that during my last training cycle, I was running a lot but I wasn't really "training" until like...7 weeks out from the race. So the plan at this point is to just stay tuned in to my physical/mental state as March, ie, training month from hell, progresses, keep an eye on an possible signs of overtraining, and other than that, just continue to rock it out!
Speaking of training, is it weird that lately I have been anxiously looking forward to my speed workouts, and absolutely dreading my longer easy runs? Seriously, why am I totally excited to run fartleks or tempo intervals on the treadmill, with a long warmup and cooldown, and yet an 8-12 mile easy run is something I just dread? I can't quite figure it out. I guess its GOOD that I get excited about speedwork though haha - never really thought I'd see the day when that would happen! I think it's because my quality workouts have been going really well in general, as far as hitting my paces and not feeling like I'm going to die at the same time. They've served as really great confidence boosters and kind of stand in my mind as a testament to the fact that I actually AM getting faster and stronger through all of this training. The easy runs just kind of "are" - some days I'm feeling it, some days I'm not. 12 miles is pretty long, but not long enough to be a "long run", but still takes a long time, you know what I mean? Well anyway, maybe if I start thinking of my easy runs as "3 mile warmup, 6 miles easy, 3 mile cooldown" I'll like them better. Haha.
Training aside, here are a couple of random things I've really been enjoying lately [aside from the Filet O'Fish commercial, haha]...mostly food. Because who doesn't love food?
- Coconut Water! I had heard about this from some other blog or something, that it's supposedly this big deal in sports drinks because it naturally has a ton of electrolytes [especially potassium] and some sugar, without the obscene dose of fake sugar and dyes that you get in Gatorade or whatever. I really don't go one way or the other on the whole natural eating thing, but I saw this at Whole Foods and was intrigued. It was AMAZING! It comes in a bunch of flavors - I tried the VitaCoco tangerine and peach/mango flavors. I was kind of wary because I don't really like the taste of coconut that much, but the fruit purees that they added [the only other ingredient besides the coconut water itself] really added a nice, light fruity flavor. Totally not the super sugary, almost syrupy taste you sometimes get with sports drinks. The peach/mango was my favorite. As for it's properties as a good sports drink, I haven't tested that one yet - I had it for breakfast haha. I'm doing an 18 miler this weekend, 13 of which will be with a friend, so I'm planning on grabbing one for the last 5 miles and see how I feel!
- Australian Yogurt! I LOVE yogurt. For breakfast, for a snack, for dessert...don't care, I think it's delicious. During my last WF visit I wasn't too impressed with the flavor selection or price on their "generic" brand yogurt, so I figured I would spend the extra 20 cents per carton and try something new - enter Wallaby Australian Yogurt. What is Australian yogurt? I'm still kind of trying to figure out the difference haha. As far as ingredients, I think they use a slightly lower percentage milkfat milk than like, Yoplait [1.5% instead of 2%?] and use organic cane sugar. I'm not sure if there's some sort of difference in the culturing process, all I know is the yogurt is super smooth and very light. It comes in some pretty tasty and interesting flavors that you don't see in regular yogurt [I mean, I love blueberry and strawberry as much as the next person...but sometimes that gets a little boring]. And I absolutely LOVED their fruit on the bottom flavors. Like, half the carton is fruit! I had the grapefruit one, which sounded weird but ended up being totally delicious. I think for the fact that this stuff is natural, comes in fun flavors, and not as uber-sweet as other yogurt tends to be, it might be worth the extra couple bucks to buy it instead. Yum!
- Sweet Potato Fries! I think I got this idea from someone's blog too...and it has quickly become a go-to snack/side for me! So easy: cut up sweet potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, toss with pepper, seasoned salt, and whatever other seasonings you desire, and bake for 15-20 minutes...and there you have GOODNESS! It's a great way to eat something salty/tastes kind of unhealthy, but really it isn't! Yay for good-for-you food! :)
Is it really Friday already? Guess I should stop whining about my 12 miles and just Get. It Done! Have a great weekend!
Monday, February 22, 2010
8 weeks to go...
8 weeks sounds way shorter than 2 months, FYI. Wow, I should really try to post more than once a week haha. Now I have all SORTS of stuff to ramble about and this entry is going to be looong...oh well, bear with me. :)
First up, the boring weekly numbers:
Runs: 5
Workouts: 2
Longest run: 20.5 miles
XT: 1 hour yoga....annnd that's about it :)
Total running miles: 56.3
You'll notice that I only ran 5 times this week...yes, I succumbed and took an unplanned day off on Thursday. I had 6 miles on the schedule, but I ended up working a 9 hour day instead of the usual ~6, then was exhausted and hungry by the time I got home, was super sore from Tuesday's workout, and the final straw was that the BF tempted me with fajitas. Sooo I felt really guilty for awhile - does that happen to anyone else? I feel like when I get to this level in my training I really beat myself up if I miss a run for a reason other than being really sick or injured. In this case though, I think it really ended up being a MUCH needed mental/physical health day...and also, I don't think I would have been able to run 40 miles in the back half of the week if I hadn't taken the day off.
This week was CHALLENGING! Of the days I ran, 4/5 were in the double digits, and 4/5 were either workouts or moderate days. I also backloaded my week like crazy and so ended up doing 40 miles from Friday-Sunday...something I don't really want to ever do again. I had some really fantastic workouts that boosted my confidence though. Tuesday we got some gross slushy snow/rain, so I wound up doing my fartlek workout on the treadmill.
Confession: I really like doing fartleks on the treadmill. I think it's the one and only kind of workout that I can be OK with running to nowhere, because I really enjoy knowing that I'm actually running the pace I'm supposed to be running, and having to change the pace every few minutes makes the time fly. I really can't believe I actually ran 11+ miles on a TM buuut I guess there's a first time for anything? Anyway, the workout was 10 miles with 2 minutes @ 10K pace every 5 minutes....orrr just 10 miles of 2 minutes @10K, 3 minutes easy. I originally got scared off by the speed/distance combo and figured I would warm up for 10 minutes, then do ~13 sets of the fartlek for a total of about 8 miles fartlek, and then do a 10 minute cooldown. It was kind of hilarious doing this at the gym, because I swear at least 3 sets of people came in, did their entire workout, and left in the time that I was on the treadmill. Luckily we don't have time limits so no one gave me a second glance...except one guy next to me who kept peeking at my treadmill to see how fast I was going, lol. I actually felt really, really good. I put the TM on 7:03 for most of the 10K sections, only dialing it down to 7:08 when I was reeeeally feeling it. Before I knew it I was at my 13th interval and of course, being me, I thought what the hell? I can totally actually make it to 10 miles of this. So I finished it out, including a sprint to the finish after the last 2 minute 10K interval. I got off the treadmill and thought I was pretty much going fall over haha. BUT - I had made it!! This was one of those workouts that had totally terrified me and I was SO proud to have completed it and completed it strong! Hopefully I can channel this in a few weeks when I have the same workout on the schedule...except the times are reversed...gulp!
I had a fun tempo run experience at the Fresh Pond race on Saturday...EVERY single Saturday, there's an informal race around the reservoir - either 1 lap [2.5 miles] or 2. There were about 25 or so people racing and something about it I just really enjoyed - you show up, someone says "ready set go", you run, and then when you're done they take down your time. It was the perfect stimulus for a solid tempo effort - not like an all out race where you're really shooting for a PR, but also a little something extra to push you more than just being out there by yourself. The first lap I felt really smooth and just cruised - I had no idea how fast I was running but the effort seemed about right. I came through the 2.5 mile at 18:29, which I knew was a little fast for the "HM-MPace" that I was supposed to be running, but whatever. The second lap definitely got harder, but still under control. I was sort of pacing off a couple of men who were also doing the 5 miler, so it was kind of nice to have someone to keep my eye on. I wound up finishing in 37:01, so I hardly slowed down at all the second lap - a very evenly paced tempo run, which is EXACTLY what I wanted to get out of this workout! It wound up being 7:24 pace, which is probably a little faster than was necessary but not too bad. The funniest thing was, I ended up winning the 5 mile race for the women [out of probably...3 or 4] and technically I suppose I set a new PR since I've never run a 5 mile race before! How often do you get to do all that on a random tempo workout? I really enjoyed the old-school, low key feel of the races, and since they have them EVERY Saturday I can definitely see myself using them for workouts in the future. Plus, the added challenge of dodging/hurdling off-leash dogs adds some extra entertainment to the workout. :)
So then yesterday was my lovely long run. I had 18 on the schedule but in true HurdlingHam fashion, I managed to accidentally-on-purpose miscalculate my route and ended up running 20.5. From the start, my legs just felt crappy, and when I feel crappy I generally need familiar territory to mentally get me through the run. So I scrapped my meticulously planned 18 mile route and wound up running laps around Chestnut Hill Reservoir for...a long time. Like almost 2 hours. Try as I might I just never found that groove through the first 15 miles of the run. I spent a lot of time doing math in my head, trying to figure out how many laps I needed to do to get to the distance that, with adding on the ~6 mile loop I was going to do after, would add up to 18. Obviously my math skills while in the midst of a long run are kind of sketchy because not only did I underestimate the distance I had to run after, buuuut I also added on an extra 1.5 mile loop around the reservoir. Whoops. By the time I got off the loop, I was feeling pretty awful. I bought a Gatorade and drank/ran for the next couple of miles - seriously, miraculous. All of a sudden it was like I could FEEL the sugar and hydration hitting my muscles, and my legs suddenly didn't feel so crappy. Then the song "Shots" came on my ipod, and I was just inspired haha. The last 5 miles or so I wound up picking it up to just under 8 minute pace, and my legs felt STRONG - I was thrilled! So, it was a good long run. I have to say I was pretty pumped to see that 20. I felt pretty bad for about an hour after the run, but with the help of recovery socks + red hook winter ale + Bluestone pizza [the BEST PIZZA EVER!!] I was feeling much better by the time I went to bed.
OK, boring workout recaps OVER! Annnnd now I can't even remember what else I was going to say haha. I can't believe there are only 8 WEEKS UNTIL BOSTON!!! That is crazy, terrifying, awesome, exciting...all of the above.
First up, the boring weekly numbers:
Runs: 5
Workouts: 2
Longest run: 20.5 miles
XT: 1 hour yoga....annnd that's about it :)
Total running miles: 56.3
You'll notice that I only ran 5 times this week...yes, I succumbed and took an unplanned day off on Thursday. I had 6 miles on the schedule, but I ended up working a 9 hour day instead of the usual ~6, then was exhausted and hungry by the time I got home, was super sore from Tuesday's workout, and the final straw was that the BF tempted me with fajitas. Sooo I felt really guilty for awhile - does that happen to anyone else? I feel like when I get to this level in my training I really beat myself up if I miss a run for a reason other than being really sick or injured. In this case though, I think it really ended up being a MUCH needed mental/physical health day...and also, I don't think I would have been able to run 40 miles in the back half of the week if I hadn't taken the day off.
This week was CHALLENGING! Of the days I ran, 4/5 were in the double digits, and 4/5 were either workouts or moderate days. I also backloaded my week like crazy and so ended up doing 40 miles from Friday-Sunday...something I don't really want to ever do again. I had some really fantastic workouts that boosted my confidence though. Tuesday we got some gross slushy snow/rain, so I wound up doing my fartlek workout on the treadmill.
Confession: I really like doing fartleks on the treadmill. I think it's the one and only kind of workout that I can be OK with running to nowhere, because I really enjoy knowing that I'm actually running the pace I'm supposed to be running, and having to change the pace every few minutes makes the time fly. I really can't believe I actually ran 11+ miles on a TM buuut I guess there's a first time for anything? Anyway, the workout was 10 miles with 2 minutes @ 10K pace every 5 minutes....orrr just 10 miles of 2 minutes @10K, 3 minutes easy. I originally got scared off by the speed/distance combo and figured I would warm up for 10 minutes, then do ~13 sets of the fartlek for a total of about 8 miles fartlek, and then do a 10 minute cooldown. It was kind of hilarious doing this at the gym, because I swear at least 3 sets of people came in, did their entire workout, and left in the time that I was on the treadmill. Luckily we don't have time limits so no one gave me a second glance...except one guy next to me who kept peeking at my treadmill to see how fast I was going, lol. I actually felt really, really good. I put the TM on 7:03 for most of the 10K sections, only dialing it down to 7:08 when I was reeeeally feeling it. Before I knew it I was at my 13th interval and of course, being me, I thought what the hell? I can totally actually make it to 10 miles of this. So I finished it out, including a sprint to the finish after the last 2 minute 10K interval. I got off the treadmill and thought I was pretty much going fall over haha. BUT - I had made it!! This was one of those workouts that had totally terrified me and I was SO proud to have completed it and completed it strong! Hopefully I can channel this in a few weeks when I have the same workout on the schedule...except the times are reversed...gulp!
I had a fun tempo run experience at the Fresh Pond race on Saturday...EVERY single Saturday, there's an informal race around the reservoir - either 1 lap [2.5 miles] or 2. There were about 25 or so people racing and something about it I just really enjoyed - you show up, someone says "ready set go", you run, and then when you're done they take down your time. It was the perfect stimulus for a solid tempo effort - not like an all out race where you're really shooting for a PR, but also a little something extra to push you more than just being out there by yourself. The first lap I felt really smooth and just cruised - I had no idea how fast I was running but the effort seemed about right. I came through the 2.5 mile at 18:29, which I knew was a little fast for the "HM-MPace" that I was supposed to be running, but whatever. The second lap definitely got harder, but still under control. I was sort of pacing off a couple of men who were also doing the 5 miler, so it was kind of nice to have someone to keep my eye on. I wound up finishing in 37:01, so I hardly slowed down at all the second lap - a very evenly paced tempo run, which is EXACTLY what I wanted to get out of this workout! It wound up being 7:24 pace, which is probably a little faster than was necessary but not too bad. The funniest thing was, I ended up winning the 5 mile race for the women [out of probably...3 or 4] and technically I suppose I set a new PR since I've never run a 5 mile race before! How often do you get to do all that on a random tempo workout? I really enjoyed the old-school, low key feel of the races, and since they have them EVERY Saturday I can definitely see myself using them for workouts in the future. Plus, the added challenge of dodging/hurdling off-leash dogs adds some extra entertainment to the workout. :)
So then yesterday was my lovely long run. I had 18 on the schedule but in true HurdlingHam fashion, I managed to accidentally-on-purpose miscalculate my route and ended up running 20.5. From the start, my legs just felt crappy, and when I feel crappy I generally need familiar territory to mentally get me through the run. So I scrapped my meticulously planned 18 mile route and wound up running laps around Chestnut Hill Reservoir for...a long time. Like almost 2 hours. Try as I might I just never found that groove through the first 15 miles of the run. I spent a lot of time doing math in my head, trying to figure out how many laps I needed to do to get to the distance that, with adding on the ~6 mile loop I was going to do after, would add up to 18. Obviously my math skills while in the midst of a long run are kind of sketchy because not only did I underestimate the distance I had to run after, buuuut I also added on an extra 1.5 mile loop around the reservoir. Whoops. By the time I got off the loop, I was feeling pretty awful. I bought a Gatorade and drank/ran for the next couple of miles - seriously, miraculous. All of a sudden it was like I could FEEL the sugar and hydration hitting my muscles, and my legs suddenly didn't feel so crappy. Then the song "Shots" came on my ipod, and I was just inspired haha. The last 5 miles or so I wound up picking it up to just under 8 minute pace, and my legs felt STRONG - I was thrilled! So, it was a good long run. I have to say I was pretty pumped to see that 20. I felt pretty bad for about an hour after the run, but with the help of recovery socks + red hook winter ale + Bluestone pizza [the BEST PIZZA EVER!!] I was feeling much better by the time I went to bed.
OK, boring workout recaps OVER! Annnnd now I can't even remember what else I was going to say haha. I can't believe there are only 8 WEEKS UNTIL BOSTON!!! That is crazy, terrifying, awesome, exciting...all of the above.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Week 6 training...almost halfway to taper!
Since in my eyes, taper starts 2 weeks before the race, that means there's 6 weeks down, 7 weeks to go of the "meaty" part of Boston training. Kind of hard to believe, actually. But week 6 was definitely a good week, and one that gives me a lot of confidence going forward into the second half of the cycle.
Runs: 6
"Workouts": 2
Longest run: 19.1 miles
XT: 2000 yds swimming, half hour yoga, 1 upper body lifting session
Total running miles: 59.9 [ahhhh so close to 60!! If I had known, I absolutely would have run around the block at the end of my long run. Seriously.]
Can I just start off by saying [again] how overjoyed I am to have speedwork in my life this training cycle? Yes, you read that right. I am giddy about mile repeats and fartleks and all of those things that I whined about when the whole point of my training was to go fast and not all that far. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE being able to go long now, and the fact that 6-8 miles is a "short" run, and that 10-12 is just a "medium". My endurance is way higher than it's ever been and that's amazing, but I missed the feeling of blazing around the track, feeling like I could fly. In general I've actually started looking forward to my workouts that involve running at 10K pace or under, because I know I can make it through them and I'll feel totally badass when I'm done. :)
I did have a really nice long run yesterday! It was a beautiful day [yes, I can appreciate 35 degrees as beautiful...don't judge]. The first half I ran with my running buddy Kelly, we ran along the Charles River path in Watertown which was really pretty and a nice change of scenery from my usual routes. We always have plenty to talk about, which makes the run fly by, and she always has some great insights to share about training - she's older and has been racing distance a lot longer than me, and actually was my club coach for a couple years back in Wisconsin, which is how we know each other. I was telling her that I was kind of amazed at how well my training had been going, and how I felt much stronger than I did training for Baystate, even though I had a couple of months where I basically did nothing in between. She said that some people say it takes a year to really run a good marathon, because your training cycles build on one another and you learn more about how to train and race. All of that past training has an impact on what you're doing now, and that can help to bring you to the next level. She had an experience that pretty much shows exactly that - her first marathon, she ran around 4 hours, then she ran another in 3:45 or so, and then ran a 3rd in 3:39, all within about a year. We were also talking about how marathon training/higher mileage training can really set you up for a solid 5K/10K, there's just a certain amount more of speedwork you need to do to put the icing on the cake.
I really like the idea that every training cycle you do feeds into the next one, that somewhere within you is every mile and every race you've ever run. I know I'm a LOT stronger of a runner right now than I was a year ago. Hell, last year at this time, I ran a 5K at the same pace I ran for 10K last week. Something about marathon training I think has really pushed me to the next level in every aspect of my running, and I feel like as strong as I felt going into and finishing Baystate, that only was a set-up for how strong I feel now. I don't think my time "off" with my IT band issues really ruined anything - in fact, it's possible that those couple of months of lighter/easier running gave my muscles time to absorb all the miles I'd put in the previous 3 months and come out on the other side stronger and more ready to conquer this training cycle.
This is all just random musing - I really don't know. Bottom line is I'm feeling really strong and happy with how my training is going, and excited to extend this feeling to other distances and races and such. That's about it. :)
That was a long tangent haha. 19.1 miles was the perfect way to start off Valentine's Day! The BF and I then went out for coffee, bought some beer for dinner, and went out to lunch at our favorite local restaurant - which is apparently changing management, so all of the beer was on sale - score! $4 for some beers that we were drinking for $7 last week? Sounds good to me! We then headed to Whole Foods to shop for the dinner we had planned - scallop & spinach stuffed pasta with sundried tomato cream sauce. This was our first foray into cooking without a recipe, and we must be pretty good because it. was. AMAZING. The BF even watched the pairs figure skating short program with me....what a guy. :) There was a US couple who skated to music from Love Actually and it made me SO HAPPY!! Apparently it was their first major international competition, and they scored a personal best for the short program. Even though they only ended up in 10th it was cool to see them so pumped about the performance. Much better than the Ukrainian couple who were both in shiny blue spandex bodysuits, and all I could think of when I looked at the man was Gob Bluth from Arrested Development....lol. He was kind of awkward...
Did I mention I love the Olympics? Especially figure skating? It's totally my dance background hehe. So don't be surprised if you see more commentary from me in the next couple of weeks haha. Well...it's Monday again. Off to enjoy my day off of running hehe. Have a good one!
Runs: 6
"Workouts": 2
Longest run: 19.1 miles
XT: 2000 yds swimming, half hour yoga, 1 upper body lifting session
Total running miles: 59.9 [ahhhh so close to 60!! If I had known, I absolutely would have run around the block at the end of my long run. Seriously.]
Can I just start off by saying [again] how overjoyed I am to have speedwork in my life this training cycle? Yes, you read that right. I am giddy about mile repeats and fartleks and all of those things that I whined about when the whole point of my training was to go fast and not all that far. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE being able to go long now, and the fact that 6-8 miles is a "short" run, and that 10-12 is just a "medium". My endurance is way higher than it's ever been and that's amazing, but I missed the feeling of blazing around the track, feeling like I could fly. In general I've actually started looking forward to my workouts that involve running at 10K pace or under, because I know I can make it through them and I'll feel totally badass when I'm done. :)
I did have a really nice long run yesterday! It was a beautiful day [yes, I can appreciate 35 degrees as beautiful...don't judge]. The first half I ran with my running buddy Kelly, we ran along the Charles River path in Watertown which was really pretty and a nice change of scenery from my usual routes. We always have plenty to talk about, which makes the run fly by, and she always has some great insights to share about training - she's older and has been racing distance a lot longer than me, and actually was my club coach for a couple years back in Wisconsin, which is how we know each other. I was telling her that I was kind of amazed at how well my training had been going, and how I felt much stronger than I did training for Baystate, even though I had a couple of months where I basically did nothing in between. She said that some people say it takes a year to really run a good marathon, because your training cycles build on one another and you learn more about how to train and race. All of that past training has an impact on what you're doing now, and that can help to bring you to the next level. She had an experience that pretty much shows exactly that - her first marathon, she ran around 4 hours, then she ran another in 3:45 or so, and then ran a 3rd in 3:39, all within about a year. We were also talking about how marathon training/higher mileage training can really set you up for a solid 5K/10K, there's just a certain amount more of speedwork you need to do to put the icing on the cake.
I really like the idea that every training cycle you do feeds into the next one, that somewhere within you is every mile and every race you've ever run. I know I'm a LOT stronger of a runner right now than I was a year ago. Hell, last year at this time, I ran a 5K at the same pace I ran for 10K last week. Something about marathon training I think has really pushed me to the next level in every aspect of my running, and I feel like as strong as I felt going into and finishing Baystate, that only was a set-up for how strong I feel now. I don't think my time "off" with my IT band issues really ruined anything - in fact, it's possible that those couple of months of lighter/easier running gave my muscles time to absorb all the miles I'd put in the previous 3 months and come out on the other side stronger and more ready to conquer this training cycle.
This is all just random musing - I really don't know. Bottom line is I'm feeling really strong and happy with how my training is going, and excited to extend this feeling to other distances and races and such. That's about it. :)
That was a long tangent haha. 19.1 miles was the perfect way to start off Valentine's Day! The BF and I then went out for coffee, bought some beer for dinner, and went out to lunch at our favorite local restaurant - which is apparently changing management, so all of the beer was on sale - score! $4 for some beers that we were drinking for $7 last week? Sounds good to me! We then headed to Whole Foods to shop for the dinner we had planned - scallop & spinach stuffed pasta with sundried tomato cream sauce. This was our first foray into cooking without a recipe, and we must be pretty good because it. was. AMAZING. The BF even watched the pairs figure skating short program with me....what a guy. :) There was a US couple who skated to music from Love Actually and it made me SO HAPPY!! Apparently it was their first major international competition, and they scored a personal best for the short program. Even though they only ended up in 10th it was cool to see them so pumped about the performance. Much better than the Ukrainian couple who were both in shiny blue spandex bodysuits, and all I could think of when I looked at the man was Gob Bluth from Arrested Development....lol. He was kind of awkward...
Did I mention I love the Olympics? Especially figure skating? It's totally my dance background hehe. So don't be surprised if you see more commentary from me in the next couple of weeks haha. Well...it's Monday again. Off to enjoy my day off of running hehe. Have a good one!
Saturday, February 06, 2010
That was a crazy fartlek workout....& pre-race jitters!
That was a crazy fartlek workout
My legs were fried
But someday I'll be back again
Even though I kind of wanted to die...
[To the tune of OAR's Crazy Game of Poker hehe]
Haha ok, I hope you enjoyed my awesome song. The crazy fartlek workout I'm talking about is 10 miles, with 30 seconds at around 5K pace every 3 minutes. I spent a lot of time going back and forth on the workout over whether it was going to be hard, or not so bad, or just long, or what. I was planning on doing it on my way to work [such a huge time saver] and leaving around 3:15. Then I get this phone call around 2:
Co-worker: "Hi, can you come in a little early? My knees are killing me, I think I'm going to go to the doctor"
Me: "Ummm...sure...how early?"
Co-worker: "Well, whenever you can get here would be good"
Me: "OK...um...well...I need to run 10 miles today, and I was planning on doing it on my way to work...so I can leave in a few minutes, instead of when I would usually leave, and I think I'll get there around 4?" [my normal shift started at 5]
Co-worker: "You are insane. Do you know how cold it is outside?"
Me: "Yeah...."
Co-worker: "Wow. OK yeah, just get here whenever you can"
Clearly, we know where my priorities lie...:) Because I didn't want to look at my watch every 3 minutes [talk about making a workout go by sloooooow], I made a playlist of ~3 minute songs, and then just did the 30 second interval at the start of each song. It was actually really nice, and I grabbed some music I hadn't listened to in awhile which made things extra fun. At the start I felt OK - the 5K pace stuff felt kind of hard, and the easy parts felt really easy. Strangely, the further I got into the run, the more I enjoyed the 30 second bursts and the more unpleasant the 2:30 in between them became - weird, right? So it was definitely by no means an easy workout, and it didn't help that I ran it on a pretty hilly route. But honestly, I really liked it! Having to speed up every 3 minutes really kept me focused and involved in the run, as opposed to just kind of cruising, and it really kept things interesting. Was it hard? YES - 10 miles is no joke, especially when you add speedwork into it for the entire distance, and by the end my quads were begging for mercy. But overall I felt really strong, and ended up with a 7:33 pace overall, which I'm pretty sure is the fastest pace I've ever logged over 10 miles...so that was pretty cool, and I guess means I didn't slow down to a snail's pace on the recovery/easy parts, which is good! So thanks Brad Hudson, for yet another interesting workout that I never would have come up with on my own, but ended up enjoying!
Some favorite tracks from yesterday's workout mix:
To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts - Matt Nathanson
I LOVE Matt Nathanson, and this was a song that somehow got lost in my mess of an iTunes library...I adore it and find it to be a perfect running anthem.
Stand Out - Powerline
Uh...it's from A Goofy Movie. Pretty much enough said. LOL.
Night - Bruce Springsteen
I was taught to love The Boss at a young age because my dad is a HUGE fan...there were a lot of bands that he tried to get me to like/appreciate as a kid, and Bruce was one of the couple that actually stuck. [The Who being another] But Bruce Springsteen...damn. I got to see him in concert a couple years ago and it was just straight up incredible..I can only imagine what the man was like in his younger days. Born To Run is probably one of my favorite albums of all time, and this was a song I didn't really appreciate until recently. But I love it now!
Well, other than that, the Super Sunday 10K is tomorrow and I'm actually getting quite nervous. I haven't race in what feels like FOREVER...usually by this point in the school year, I would have 10-15 races under my belt and a road race would be just a diversion between track meets. But now road races ARE my track meets, and I really would like to actually throw down a good time tomorrow. Based on my 5K track PR, the McMillan calculator predicts me at a 41:20 10K...annnd also a 3:14 marathon, HAH! Putting in my marathon time gives me a 46:43, which wouldn't even be a PR, so I would NOT be satisfied with that, especially given how I've been running lately. Putting in the 6:10 mile I ran in a workout gives me 44:23 - and also matches up with the 5K time I would imagine I could run right now [21:22]. Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Obviously my #1 MO is to simply PR - that is, beat 46:30. I think I'll cry if I can't do that. But I think I will put my 'A' goal as being 44:30. Probably unrealistic, but hey, you never know until you try, right?
I'm also geeking out about what I'm going to wear!! I really don't want to race in one of my bulkier winter running tops, but I also don't want to freeze my ass off. I think I'm going to test out my lightest possible race outfit on my run today, and if it checks out I'll go with it for tomorrow. I am nervous though - I really want to run well, I feel like I have something to prove to myself that I haven't lost my racing edge, that I can still compete, and that I can push through the pain and run a good race. Guess we'll find out at 10 am tomorrow...at least the Harpoon beer and Legal clam chowder at the end will hopefully drive me to a faster finish time. :)
My legs were fried
But someday I'll be back again
Even though I kind of wanted to die...
[To the tune of OAR's Crazy Game of Poker hehe]
Haha ok, I hope you enjoyed my awesome song. The crazy fartlek workout I'm talking about is 10 miles, with 30 seconds at around 5K pace every 3 minutes. I spent a lot of time going back and forth on the workout over whether it was going to be hard, or not so bad, or just long, or what. I was planning on doing it on my way to work [such a huge time saver] and leaving around 3:15. Then I get this phone call around 2:
Co-worker: "Hi, can you come in a little early? My knees are killing me, I think I'm going to go to the doctor"
Me: "Ummm...sure...how early?"
Co-worker: "Well, whenever you can get here would be good"
Me: "OK...um...well...I need to run 10 miles today, and I was planning on doing it on my way to work...so I can leave in a few minutes, instead of when I would usually leave, and I think I'll get there around 4?" [my normal shift started at 5]
Co-worker: "You are insane. Do you know how cold it is outside?"
Me: "Yeah...."
Co-worker: "Wow. OK yeah, just get here whenever you can"
Clearly, we know where my priorities lie...:) Because I didn't want to look at my watch every 3 minutes [talk about making a workout go by sloooooow], I made a playlist of ~3 minute songs, and then just did the 30 second interval at the start of each song. It was actually really nice, and I grabbed some music I hadn't listened to in awhile which made things extra fun. At the start I felt OK - the 5K pace stuff felt kind of hard, and the easy parts felt really easy. Strangely, the further I got into the run, the more I enjoyed the 30 second bursts and the more unpleasant the 2:30 in between them became - weird, right? So it was definitely by no means an easy workout, and it didn't help that I ran it on a pretty hilly route. But honestly, I really liked it! Having to speed up every 3 minutes really kept me focused and involved in the run, as opposed to just kind of cruising, and it really kept things interesting. Was it hard? YES - 10 miles is no joke, especially when you add speedwork into it for the entire distance, and by the end my quads were begging for mercy. But overall I felt really strong, and ended up with a 7:33 pace overall, which I'm pretty sure is the fastest pace I've ever logged over 10 miles...so that was pretty cool, and I guess means I didn't slow down to a snail's pace on the recovery/easy parts, which is good! So thanks Brad Hudson, for yet another interesting workout that I never would have come up with on my own, but ended up enjoying!
Some favorite tracks from yesterday's workout mix:
To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts - Matt Nathanson
I LOVE Matt Nathanson, and this was a song that somehow got lost in my mess of an iTunes library...I adore it and find it to be a perfect running anthem.
Stand Out - Powerline
Uh...it's from A Goofy Movie. Pretty much enough said. LOL.
Night - Bruce Springsteen
I was taught to love The Boss at a young age because my dad is a HUGE fan...there were a lot of bands that he tried to get me to like/appreciate as a kid, and Bruce was one of the couple that actually stuck. [The Who being another] But Bruce Springsteen...damn. I got to see him in concert a couple years ago and it was just straight up incredible..I can only imagine what the man was like in his younger days. Born To Run is probably one of my favorite albums of all time, and this was a song I didn't really appreciate until recently. But I love it now!
Well, other than that, the Super Sunday 10K is tomorrow and I'm actually getting quite nervous. I haven't race in what feels like FOREVER...usually by this point in the school year, I would have 10-15 races under my belt and a road race would be just a diversion between track meets. But now road races ARE my track meets, and I really would like to actually throw down a good time tomorrow. Based on my 5K track PR, the McMillan calculator predicts me at a 41:20 10K...annnd also a 3:14 marathon, HAH! Putting in my marathon time gives me a 46:43, which wouldn't even be a PR, so I would NOT be satisfied with that, especially given how I've been running lately. Putting in the 6:10 mile I ran in a workout gives me 44:23 - and also matches up with the 5K time I would imagine I could run right now [21:22]. Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Obviously my #1 MO is to simply PR - that is, beat 46:30. I think I'll cry if I can't do that. But I think I will put my 'A' goal as being 44:30. Probably unrealistic, but hey, you never know until you try, right?
I'm also geeking out about what I'm going to wear!! I really don't want to race in one of my bulkier winter running tops, but I also don't want to freeze my ass off. I think I'm going to test out my lightest possible race outfit on my run today, and if it checks out I'll go with it for tomorrow. I am nervous though - I really want to run well, I feel like I have something to prove to myself that I haven't lost my racing edge, that I can still compete, and that I can push through the pain and run a good race. Guess we'll find out at 10 am tomorrow...at least the Harpoon beer and Legal clam chowder at the end will hopefully drive me to a faster finish time. :)
Monday, February 01, 2010
January recap
Where the eff did January go? I swear it was just yesterday I was creating my training calendar for January...and now all of the boxes have been crossed off and it's on to February's thrilling [and higher mileage, and more workout-heavy...] training schedule!
So January...I'm really happy with this month of training. Here are the boring stats:
Total miles: 192.9
Days off: 8 [probably 4 of those were completely off, others with some XT]
Workouts: 7 [2 hill reps, 1 mile repeats, 2 fartlek, 2 tempo]
Longest run: 17.3 miles
Weekly mileage range: 39.4-51.2
I am really amazed and pleased with how I've been able to bounce back into pretty heavy training after 2 months of pretty much failing at running thanks to my IT band problems. Having a training calendar to follow was the BEST thing I ever could have done for this training cycle - I'm totally loving knowing exactly what I need to do and just going out there and getting it done. And since I was only running 5 days a week for most of this month, I was actually pretty surprised to see I got that close to 200. Probably because if I put a given distance down on my calendar, I will without fail end up running slightly further...because I'm kind of a weirdo...yeah. :)
This past week was pretty fantastic in terms of running, my first week over 50 miles since like...early October haha...exciting! I had a few really great workouts...interspersed with some kind of crappy recovery runs, but I guess that's the point of those, right? I had a session of mile repeats on the schedule for Wednesday which I was totally DREADING...like ever since I put this workout on the schedule a month ago I have been looking at it with fear. The workout was 3 x mile at 5K-10K pace, which really isn't even so bad if you go on the 10K end of things, but mile repeats have been something I've detested since the first time I ran them [high school XC senior year...Mondays were long interval days, which we did around this 800 meter loop around a church. I HATED Mondays...]. I was totally thinking about putting it off but since it was like 40 degrees out I just had to throw myself out the door and do it. Didn't feel great on the warm up, so I was obviously still not excited to run fast. Buuut off I went on my first interval and it was like....magic! It felt SO GOOD to run fast...it was like flying. I finished the first mile in 6:10 and practically had a heart attack - I can't even REMEMBER the last time I ran a 6:10 mile!! Like...a year ago? So after that I was pretty jacked to finish the workout. I dialed it back to 6:23 and 6:29 for the last 2 since there was no way I was holding that 6:10 pace...but holy hell! I had no CLUE I could still run that fast! I mean I guess it's not like speed just disappears when you start doing longer distance training, but it was just really thrilling to see that marathon training doesn't mean I have to give up all of my fast-ness :)
That was really my only "speed" workout this week - I had a 10 miler on Friday that was kind of a challenge just because it was SO cold and windy! I'm really not one to whine about the cold - I am from Wisconsin after all and the east coast winter has been sooo mild compared to the crap we got in Madison - but Friday was pretty unpleasant, the wind was just AWFUL! I once again ran to work because its so time efficient, and all in all it wasn't a bad run at all, but I was so ready to be done by the time it ended...my face was frozen and I was sick of running what seemed like endlessly uphill and endlessly into the wind haha.
I ended up doing my recovery run between shifts at work on Saturday which was pretty awful, and between that and the whole "double shift" thing I was NOT looking forward to my long run on Sunday. As I think I said some other time, this time around with long runs its not so much that I'm worried about going the distance, its just a big time commitment when I could be being a bum and eating food on the couch hehe. But I got out the door. I was planning on doing an 8 mile loop at the reservoir, stopping at home, and then going out for another 8 miles. By the time I got to the reservoir though, I had fallen into a really easy pace that I felt like I could just maintain forever...soo I decided I would roll with it and just kept running laps around the reservoir until it got dark - ended up being like 10.5 miles from when I started. I'm actually really pleased about this because the thing about running at the reservoir is you don't have to stop for lights or anything, so it's just constant running, and that's really always something I need to work on pushing myself to do - not relying on those little breaks to get me through the run. I did finally get stuck at a light at Cleveland Circle, so I went to tie my shoe...when I looked up, there was a PUPPY sniffing my face! It was a little baby golden retriever, so completely precious. Definitely boosted my mood =) I stopped at home quickly for a gel and some water, then headed back out for my 4.6 mile loop - definitely glad I only had 4 miles to go at that point haha. My first mile was pretty fast, so I decided to just go with it and try to stay sub-8 for the whole last section...the result? 7:49 average pace, woot woot! It wasn't easy or anything, but I really felt surprisingly good for having run 16.6 miles, so that was awesome! Running 5.5 more miles for my 22 miles will be nothing, right?
After I got back, the BF and I headed out for burgers and beers at our favorite neighborhood spot. I LOVE the Wachusett blueberry beer that they always serve with real blueberries...it's way too entertaining to watch them float around on the bubbles hehe. They had the X-Games on, and the event was basically long jumping on a snowmobile...WTF?? Is that really considered a sport? All they did was propel the snowmobile off a jump and see how far it went...that just seems silly. But anyway, it was nice to just devour a bunch of tasty food after a long run!
Well I've been pretty busy with work lately, hence the lack of posting on here! Sometimes I feel like my training and life is just too boring for anyone to want to read haha. But anyway, I'm looking forward to racing the Super Sunday 10K this coming weekend - my first race since the marathon! And oh yeah...the LOST SEASON PREMIERE tomorrow!!! The BF and I are having a mini party with island themed food and of course some "Dharma beer"...hehe. :)
Month #1 of training for marathon #2 - DONE! Let's see what February has in store...
So January...I'm really happy with this month of training. Here are the boring stats:
Total miles: 192.9
Days off: 8 [probably 4 of those were completely off, others with some XT]
Workouts: 7 [2 hill reps, 1 mile repeats, 2 fartlek, 2 tempo]
Longest run: 17.3 miles
Weekly mileage range: 39.4-51.2
I am really amazed and pleased with how I've been able to bounce back into pretty heavy training after 2 months of pretty much failing at running thanks to my IT band problems. Having a training calendar to follow was the BEST thing I ever could have done for this training cycle - I'm totally loving knowing exactly what I need to do and just going out there and getting it done. And since I was only running 5 days a week for most of this month, I was actually pretty surprised to see I got that close to 200. Probably because if I put a given distance down on my calendar, I will without fail end up running slightly further...because I'm kind of a weirdo...yeah. :)
This past week was pretty fantastic in terms of running, my first week over 50 miles since like...early October haha...exciting! I had a few really great workouts...interspersed with some kind of crappy recovery runs, but I guess that's the point of those, right? I had a session of mile repeats on the schedule for Wednesday which I was totally DREADING...like ever since I put this workout on the schedule a month ago I have been looking at it with fear. The workout was 3 x mile at 5K-10K pace, which really isn't even so bad if you go on the 10K end of things, but mile repeats have been something I've detested since the first time I ran them [high school XC senior year...Mondays were long interval days, which we did around this 800 meter loop around a church. I HATED Mondays...]. I was totally thinking about putting it off but since it was like 40 degrees out I just had to throw myself out the door and do it. Didn't feel great on the warm up, so I was obviously still not excited to run fast. Buuut off I went on my first interval and it was like....magic! It felt SO GOOD to run fast...it was like flying. I finished the first mile in 6:10 and practically had a heart attack - I can't even REMEMBER the last time I ran a 6:10 mile!! Like...a year ago? So after that I was pretty jacked to finish the workout. I dialed it back to 6:23 and 6:29 for the last 2 since there was no way I was holding that 6:10 pace...but holy hell! I had no CLUE I could still run that fast! I mean I guess it's not like speed just disappears when you start doing longer distance training, but it was just really thrilling to see that marathon training doesn't mean I have to give up all of my fast-ness :)
That was really my only "speed" workout this week - I had a 10 miler on Friday that was kind of a challenge just because it was SO cold and windy! I'm really not one to whine about the cold - I am from Wisconsin after all and the east coast winter has been sooo mild compared to the crap we got in Madison - but Friday was pretty unpleasant, the wind was just AWFUL! I once again ran to work because its so time efficient, and all in all it wasn't a bad run at all, but I was so ready to be done by the time it ended...my face was frozen and I was sick of running what seemed like endlessly uphill and endlessly into the wind haha.
I ended up doing my recovery run between shifts at work on Saturday which was pretty awful, and between that and the whole "double shift" thing I was NOT looking forward to my long run on Sunday. As I think I said some other time, this time around with long runs its not so much that I'm worried about going the distance, its just a big time commitment when I could be being a bum and eating food on the couch hehe. But I got out the door. I was planning on doing an 8 mile loop at the reservoir, stopping at home, and then going out for another 8 miles. By the time I got to the reservoir though, I had fallen into a really easy pace that I felt like I could just maintain forever...soo I decided I would roll with it and just kept running laps around the reservoir until it got dark - ended up being like 10.5 miles from when I started. I'm actually really pleased about this because the thing about running at the reservoir is you don't have to stop for lights or anything, so it's just constant running, and that's really always something I need to work on pushing myself to do - not relying on those little breaks to get me through the run. I did finally get stuck at a light at Cleveland Circle, so I went to tie my shoe...when I looked up, there was a PUPPY sniffing my face! It was a little baby golden retriever, so completely precious. Definitely boosted my mood =) I stopped at home quickly for a gel and some water, then headed back out for my 4.6 mile loop - definitely glad I only had 4 miles to go at that point haha. My first mile was pretty fast, so I decided to just go with it and try to stay sub-8 for the whole last section...the result? 7:49 average pace, woot woot! It wasn't easy or anything, but I really felt surprisingly good for having run 16.6 miles, so that was awesome! Running 5.5 more miles for my 22 miles will be nothing, right?
After I got back, the BF and I headed out for burgers and beers at our favorite neighborhood spot. I LOVE the Wachusett blueberry beer that they always serve with real blueberries...it's way too entertaining to watch them float around on the bubbles hehe. They had the X-Games on, and the event was basically long jumping on a snowmobile...WTF?? Is that really considered a sport? All they did was propel the snowmobile off a jump and see how far it went...that just seems silly. But anyway, it was nice to just devour a bunch of tasty food after a long run!
Well I've been pretty busy with work lately, hence the lack of posting on here! Sometimes I feel like my training and life is just too boring for anyone to want to read haha. But anyway, I'm looking forward to racing the Super Sunday 10K this coming weekend - my first race since the marathon! And oh yeah...the LOST SEASON PREMIERE tomorrow!!! The BF and I are having a mini party with island themed food and of course some "Dharma beer"...hehe. :)
Month #1 of training for marathon #2 - DONE! Let's see what February has in store...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Do you know the way to Heartbreak Hill?
I messed around with my workout calendar this week because doing a tempo workout inside on the treadmill sounded way more enticing than doing hill reps in the slush [yes, being on the treadmill won out...doubt you'll ever hear me say THAT again!]. I had an XT day scheduled for today, but now that my knee appears to be cool with my ever-climbing mileage, that second XT day is probably on it's way out anyway, and I was in the mood to get my second workout of the week out of the way...so hills it was! I've been planning ever since I put this workout on my calendar to do it on Heartbreak, because despite the fact that I live ridiculously close to the famed Newton Hills, I hadn't actually run out there yet...they kind of intimidated/scared me off with all that talk about them haha.
So I checked out the marathon course map to see where exactly this mystical hill was...now I realize the BAA wants to emphasize the history and all of the landmarks along the course but seriously? Worst course map ever. [Actually, it really is kind of cool, and I'm probably going to print it out and put it on my wall of motivation right now...but anyway...] According to that map, Heartbreak started somewhere near the intersection of Centre and Commonwealth, which I mapped as being ~2.8 miles from my house. OK, no big deal - my warmup and cool down can be a little longer, my mileage-whore mindset is ALWAYS ok with that!
I rolled out the door and instantly I was cruising...just one of those glorious runs where from the moment you start everything just clicks and it all seems effortless. I ran through my usual section of Comm Ave and onward into the Newton Hills...which is where the adventure began. I was filled with glee at the fact that I was running on the Boston Marathon course - this is a GREAT thing because it's the first time since I started training that I've legit gotten excited about the fact that I'm running this marathon. I started out on the sidewalk but switched over to the random frontage/side road pretty fast because apparently the Newton-ites aren't too big on shoveling or salting? The sidewalk was a mess. So I come to the cross street before Centre street, and I'm thinking to myself that I should be running down a big hill...right? But Centre Street comes and goes, and there's not a big, scary, hill to be found. I also tried looking for the famous Johnny Kelley statue...which I also couldn't find. Sooo I kept running until I reached something that kind of resembled a hill...another mile or so down the road. Woo hoo, looks like I'm running 10 miles today! I was feeling so fabulous, I didn't even care.
The workout was nothing too exciting, but I felt strong on my 2 minute hill intervals, running them all around 7:00 pace up a nameless Newton hill that I think I'm going to dub "Heartache Hill"...hehe. :) It wasn't terribly steep but definitely enough to know you were running up a hill. Apparently miles 18-20 of the course are where all the cool people hang at 6 pm on Wednesday nights, because the side road was a sea of runners in reflective vests and spandex. Also, to the person who decided to build a new house along the marathon route? The one with the Porta Potty outside? You are my hero, just fyi. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has taken advantage of this strategic location haha.
Hill workout finished, I headed back homewards. Lo and behold..I FOUND Heartbreak Hill! My impression: not really that steep, but looong. Definitely a climb I could see taking it out of you at mile 20 of a marathon, but all in all? Not too scary. Also, its followed by a long, glorious downhill which has got to be the best thing that can come after a long, hideous, uphill, right? Actually, I noticed the course inbound [the actual course] seemed like way more downhill than the course outbound. I totally felt like I was flying. Would I like to summon some flying feet at mile 20 of the marathon? Umm yes please! Now that I know that there are peeps out on the course day and night, I am going to make it my mission to know the last 10 miles of that course like it's my home. That freaking course is going to be paved with the rubber of my training shoes. I'm lucky enough to basically live on the course of that marathon, so if I didn't use that to my advantage in training, I would just be an idiot. And based on the surge of adrenaline and excitement I got today just BEING on that fabled route, if I can carry that over to the next 12 weeks, well that would just be utterly incredible.
Up until today, I have been kind of...shall we say...not pumped about the fact that I signed up for another marathon. It was like...I vaguely knew that I should be excited about this marathon that I worked really hard to qualify to run. But part of me was kind of like...okay, you worked your butt off so you could qualify to work your butt off AGAIN and then run another long-ass race and try not to die. And I have lamented my loss of speed as I've focused more on marathon training, and whined about trying to find time to run now that I have a job, and just generally got through the workouts but didn't really get jacked about them.
Today was different. Today I had the thought actually cross my mind that if I actually follow this semi-ambitious training plan that I have going, one that actually involves speedwork and pace training and not just aimlessly running all the time, that there is actually a chance in hell that I could race this marathon for a PR. It was like something hit me on that course today - that deep down, I know I'm capable of more in this distance. And as I plowed my way up Heartbreak, hardly even realizing it was THE Heartbreak Hill...it's like my mind figured it out - well DUH, silly, you didn't think you were going to do all this training to half-ass the race, did you?
The way to Heartbreak Hill for me is paved with pace work until I puke, mile repeats workouts that I dread, fartleks until I drop and long runs off into the sunset. But with this thought in my mind, of feeling like I did today, strong and powerful, on this famed hill when I run up it on April 19, I'll get through it. I'll do it. I know the way now, to Heartbreak Hill and beyond to the finish line. And it's going to be one hell of a trip. :)
So I checked out the marathon course map to see where exactly this mystical hill was...now I realize the BAA wants to emphasize the history and all of the landmarks along the course but seriously? Worst course map ever. [Actually, it really is kind of cool, and I'm probably going to print it out and put it on my wall of motivation right now...but anyway...] According to that map, Heartbreak started somewhere near the intersection of Centre and Commonwealth, which I mapped as being ~2.8 miles from my house. OK, no big deal - my warmup and cool down can be a little longer, my mileage-whore mindset is ALWAYS ok with that!
I rolled out the door and instantly I was cruising...just one of those glorious runs where from the moment you start everything just clicks and it all seems effortless. I ran through my usual section of Comm Ave and onward into the Newton Hills...which is where the adventure began. I was filled with glee at the fact that I was running on the Boston Marathon course - this is a GREAT thing because it's the first time since I started training that I've legit gotten excited about the fact that I'm running this marathon. I started out on the sidewalk but switched over to the random frontage/side road pretty fast because apparently the Newton-ites aren't too big on shoveling or salting? The sidewalk was a mess. So I come to the cross street before Centre street, and I'm thinking to myself that I should be running down a big hill...right? But Centre Street comes and goes, and there's not a big, scary, hill to be found. I also tried looking for the famous Johnny Kelley statue...which I also couldn't find. Sooo I kept running until I reached something that kind of resembled a hill...another mile or so down the road. Woo hoo, looks like I'm running 10 miles today! I was feeling so fabulous, I didn't even care.
The workout was nothing too exciting, but I felt strong on my 2 minute hill intervals, running them all around 7:00 pace up a nameless Newton hill that I think I'm going to dub "Heartache Hill"...hehe. :) It wasn't terribly steep but definitely enough to know you were running up a hill. Apparently miles 18-20 of the course are where all the cool people hang at 6 pm on Wednesday nights, because the side road was a sea of runners in reflective vests and spandex. Also, to the person who decided to build a new house along the marathon route? The one with the Porta Potty outside? You are my hero, just fyi. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has taken advantage of this strategic location haha.
Hill workout finished, I headed back homewards. Lo and behold..I FOUND Heartbreak Hill! My impression: not really that steep, but looong. Definitely a climb I could see taking it out of you at mile 20 of a marathon, but all in all? Not too scary. Also, its followed by a long, glorious downhill which has got to be the best thing that can come after a long, hideous, uphill, right? Actually, I noticed the course inbound [the actual course] seemed like way more downhill than the course outbound. I totally felt like I was flying. Would I like to summon some flying feet at mile 20 of the marathon? Umm yes please! Now that I know that there are peeps out on the course day and night, I am going to make it my mission to know the last 10 miles of that course like it's my home. That freaking course is going to be paved with the rubber of my training shoes. I'm lucky enough to basically live on the course of that marathon, so if I didn't use that to my advantage in training, I would just be an idiot. And based on the surge of adrenaline and excitement I got today just BEING on that fabled route, if I can carry that over to the next 12 weeks, well that would just be utterly incredible.
Up until today, I have been kind of...shall we say...not pumped about the fact that I signed up for another marathon. It was like...I vaguely knew that I should be excited about this marathon that I worked really hard to qualify to run. But part of me was kind of like...okay, you worked your butt off so you could qualify to work your butt off AGAIN and then run another long-ass race and try not to die. And I have lamented my loss of speed as I've focused more on marathon training, and whined about trying to find time to run now that I have a job, and just generally got through the workouts but didn't really get jacked about them.
Today was different. Today I had the thought actually cross my mind that if I actually follow this semi-ambitious training plan that I have going, one that actually involves speedwork and pace training and not just aimlessly running all the time, that there is actually a chance in hell that I could race this marathon for a PR. It was like something hit me on that course today - that deep down, I know I'm capable of more in this distance. And as I plowed my way up Heartbreak, hardly even realizing it was THE Heartbreak Hill...it's like my mind figured it out - well DUH, silly, you didn't think you were going to do all this training to half-ass the race, did you?
The way to Heartbreak Hill for me is paved with pace work until I puke, mile repeats workouts that I dread, fartleks until I drop and long runs off into the sunset. But with this thought in my mind, of feeling like I did today, strong and powerful, on this famed hill when I run up it on April 19, I'll get through it. I'll do it. I know the way now, to Heartbreak Hill and beyond to the finish line. And it's going to be one hell of a trip. :)
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Boston Training Week 1 Recap
Runs: 5
"Workouts": 1
Longest run: 12.6 miles
XT: 2000 yds swimming, 2 x 1 hour yoga
Total running miles: 39.4
A pretty solid week to start off my Boston training cycle, especially considering the fact that my highest mileage over the previous 3 weeks was 19.1 miles [only raise your miles by like 10% each week? Yeaahh...I don't really agree with that philosophy I guess]. The big news was, even with an almost 40 mile week I had almost ZERO knee issues...SUCCESS!! I felt a couple of twinges in the first 10 minutes of my long run, but I'm pretty sure that had something to do with it being really cold and my not stretching before heading out [naughty naughty, I know]. I'm loosely following Brad Hudson's level 2 marathon plan from "Run Faster" - basically I'm trying to incorporate the workouts that he suggests into my schedule, but adjusting the easy runs and some long runs so that I don't kill myself or my knee. I was kind of nervous going into my long run since...uh...I kind of haven't run double digits since the marathon? And that was in October? 12 miles sounded kiiinda scary, and then it was cold out, and then I was procrastinating because obviously, what would a long run be without me having to psych myself up for it for 4 hours? It was somewhat productive procrastination though, because I did start up a new long run playlist...and for me, there's no better motivation than good, new music! Some highlights from the new mix:
Time To Pretend - MGMT
This Year - The Mountain Goats
Props to my former RA Alex for both of these songs, which I discovered via his "Song Of The Week" feature on his blog, Chasing Something, which is pretty sweet. I'm pretty obsessed with them both and the chorus of "This Year" - "I'm gonna make it through this year if it kills me" rings pretty true right now because a) it's a new year, duh...and b) it's a new training cycle, and I'm gonna make it through it.
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
I tried soooo hard not to like this song [I think because the music video and Lady Gaga in general kind of terrify me?]...but ahhh it's so addictive!
Inch - Charlotte Martin
I couldn't find the video for this but anyway...I LOVE Charlotte Martin and this is one of my favorite songs of hers, kind of forgot about it until now. It's good for running up a hill..."am I an inch away from heaven? Just a little higher now..."
King of Pain - The Police
This is my current running song obsession! I found it by aimlessly hunting through people's running iMixes in the iTunes store and yeah...I'm kind of in love. Is it the beat and crazy xylophone thing going on in the background? Is it the lyrics? I have no idea but it's been in my head like...nonstop.
OK so enough musical business - I'll keep you all updated on my new running jams though. I'm planning on adding 2-3 new songs to the mix every week, ya know, keep things fresh and exciting! I know there are some people out there who aren't big advocates of listening to music while running, but whatever...I am not a purist, and if listening to music motivates me to get my butt out the door/to keep running hard when I don't want to? That sure works for me! Anyway, the new running mix must have helped because my long run was a success! Ohhh man I was relieved. I tried sort of a random new route which turned out to be the best idea EVER because I started having some stomach troubles around mile 5 and was sort of concerned about the lack of public bathrooms [no way was I running off into the snow - way too obvious to traffic! haha]..and then a long run MIRACLE! I ran past the Chestnut Hill mall...now there are pretty much no public bathrooms anywhere in this city, but at a mall it's pretty much a guarantee...so thanks for being there, mall, and saving my ass, literally. :) The rest of the run was pretty uneventful except I almost added an extra mile and a half on by running around the reservoir again...that would have been such a fail! I was thinking "wow, my legs are really tired, do I seriously have like 3 miles to go? That doesn't really make sense...I've been going for 1:20, I hope it's not going to take that long for me to run 12 miles? Oh wait, I'm actually just an idiot...it all makes sense now"
So I feel much better about my training life now that a) I made it through a ~40 mile week with no knee issues and b) I made it through my somewhat ambitious long run without dying. The rest of this training cycle should be no problem, riiiight? I'm probably going to eliminate one of my 2 XT days sooner rather than later, and maybe do some kind of 3-4 mile recovery run + yoga day instead.
Apparently my body decided that it was cranky at me for running outside for so long on such a cold day, because on Monday I felt like I was coming down with something and Tuesday was hit with a full-on cold - FAIL! I really wanted to do my planned 5 miler, but ended up napping for 4 hours after I got home from work, then definitely feeling like it was a bad idea when I woke up. So my second XT/off day for the week is now used up - luckily I seem to be on the road to recovery as I did a pretty sweet 8 mile workout with 4 miles of fartlek on the treadmill today that went way better than I expected! I have a confession to make: I'm warming up to the treadmill for some speed workouts..ahhh I never thought I'd see the day. But since I don't have a Garmin or any other fancy device that will actually tell me my pace, and I'm not a great judge of effort, for things that say "run HM pace" or "10K pace", it's really nice to know that I am indeed running that pace. Also the treadmill isn't covered with ice or packed snow...which is, you know, kind of nice when you're trying to do a speed workout and not die haha.
Hmm...well in non-running related news, nothing too exciting is going on in my life haha...does anyone who reads this watch LOST? I remember when I knew a bunch of people who watched it and I was like..meh...that totally doesn't seem like the kind of show I would ever watch or get into. Well, the BF started watching it online, starting from the beginning, a couple of months ago and once again I was like "OK cool, now you have a show to watch that I don't want to watch, so I can do other stuff while you watch it". But somehow...I don't know how...I got sucked into watching starting from season 1...and WOW I am hooked. It's like mind-blowing and ridiculous but completely awesome. I'm almost done with season 5, just in time for season 6 to start February 2! Since apparently all the other shows I watch decided to go on break until March, or maybe the end of time, it's going to be nice to have an actual show to watch on my fail-cable again. :)
Is it really Friday tomorrow? This week went by fast! Have a good one, hopefully I'll be back with more entertaining [and by entertaining I hopefully mean AWESOME] long run stories this weekend. :)
"Workouts": 1
Longest run: 12.6 miles
XT: 2000 yds swimming, 2 x 1 hour yoga
Total running miles: 39.4
A pretty solid week to start off my Boston training cycle, especially considering the fact that my highest mileage over the previous 3 weeks was 19.1 miles [only raise your miles by like 10% each week? Yeaahh...I don't really agree with that philosophy I guess]. The big news was, even with an almost 40 mile week I had almost ZERO knee issues...SUCCESS!! I felt a couple of twinges in the first 10 minutes of my long run, but I'm pretty sure that had something to do with it being really cold and my not stretching before heading out [naughty naughty, I know]. I'm loosely following Brad Hudson's level 2 marathon plan from "Run Faster" - basically I'm trying to incorporate the workouts that he suggests into my schedule, but adjusting the easy runs and some long runs so that I don't kill myself or my knee. I was kind of nervous going into my long run since...uh...I kind of haven't run double digits since the marathon? And that was in October? 12 miles sounded kiiinda scary, and then it was cold out, and then I was procrastinating because obviously, what would a long run be without me having to psych myself up for it for 4 hours? It was somewhat productive procrastination though, because I did start up a new long run playlist...and for me, there's no better motivation than good, new music! Some highlights from the new mix:
Time To Pretend - MGMT
This Year - The Mountain Goats
Props to my former RA Alex for both of these songs, which I discovered via his "Song Of The Week" feature on his blog, Chasing Something, which is pretty sweet. I'm pretty obsessed with them both and the chorus of "This Year" - "I'm gonna make it through this year if it kills me" rings pretty true right now because a) it's a new year, duh...and b) it's a new training cycle, and I'm gonna make it through it.
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
I tried soooo hard not to like this song [I think because the music video and Lady Gaga in general kind of terrify me?]...but ahhh it's so addictive!
Inch - Charlotte Martin
I couldn't find the video for this but anyway...I LOVE Charlotte Martin and this is one of my favorite songs of hers, kind of forgot about it until now. It's good for running up a hill..."am I an inch away from heaven? Just a little higher now..."
King of Pain - The Police
This is my current running song obsession! I found it by aimlessly hunting through people's running iMixes in the iTunes store and yeah...I'm kind of in love. Is it the beat and crazy xylophone thing going on in the background? Is it the lyrics? I have no idea but it's been in my head like...nonstop.
OK so enough musical business - I'll keep you all updated on my new running jams though. I'm planning on adding 2-3 new songs to the mix every week, ya know, keep things fresh and exciting! I know there are some people out there who aren't big advocates of listening to music while running, but whatever...I am not a purist, and if listening to music motivates me to get my butt out the door/to keep running hard when I don't want to? That sure works for me! Anyway, the new running mix must have helped because my long run was a success! Ohhh man I was relieved. I tried sort of a random new route which turned out to be the best idea EVER because I started having some stomach troubles around mile 5 and was sort of concerned about the lack of public bathrooms [no way was I running off into the snow - way too obvious to traffic! haha]..and then a long run MIRACLE! I ran past the Chestnut Hill mall...now there are pretty much no public bathrooms anywhere in this city, but at a mall it's pretty much a guarantee...so thanks for being there, mall, and saving my ass, literally. :) The rest of the run was pretty uneventful except I almost added an extra mile and a half on by running around the reservoir again...that would have been such a fail! I was thinking "wow, my legs are really tired, do I seriously have like 3 miles to go? That doesn't really make sense...I've been going for 1:20, I hope it's not going to take that long for me to run 12 miles? Oh wait, I'm actually just an idiot...it all makes sense now"
So I feel much better about my training life now that a) I made it through a ~40 mile week with no knee issues and b) I made it through my somewhat ambitious long run without dying. The rest of this training cycle should be no problem, riiiight? I'm probably going to eliminate one of my 2 XT days sooner rather than later, and maybe do some kind of 3-4 mile recovery run + yoga day instead.
Apparently my body decided that it was cranky at me for running outside for so long on such a cold day, because on Monday I felt like I was coming down with something and Tuesday was hit with a full-on cold - FAIL! I really wanted to do my planned 5 miler, but ended up napping for 4 hours after I got home from work, then definitely feeling like it was a bad idea when I woke up. So my second XT/off day for the week is now used up - luckily I seem to be on the road to recovery as I did a pretty sweet 8 mile workout with 4 miles of fartlek on the treadmill today that went way better than I expected! I have a confession to make: I'm warming up to the treadmill for some speed workouts..ahhh I never thought I'd see the day. But since I don't have a Garmin or any other fancy device that will actually tell me my pace, and I'm not a great judge of effort, for things that say "run HM pace" or "10K pace", it's really nice to know that I am indeed running that pace. Also the treadmill isn't covered with ice or packed snow...which is, you know, kind of nice when you're trying to do a speed workout and not die haha.
Hmm...well in non-running related news, nothing too exciting is going on in my life haha...does anyone who reads this watch LOST? I remember when I knew a bunch of people who watched it and I was like..meh...that totally doesn't seem like the kind of show I would ever watch or get into. Well, the BF started watching it online, starting from the beginning, a couple of months ago and once again I was like "OK cool, now you have a show to watch that I don't want to watch, so I can do other stuff while you watch it". But somehow...I don't know how...I got sucked into watching starting from season 1...and WOW I am hooked. It's like mind-blowing and ridiculous but completely awesome. I'm almost done with season 5, just in time for season 6 to start February 2! Since apparently all the other shows I watch decided to go on break until March, or maybe the end of time, it's going to be nice to have an actual show to watch on my fail-cable again. :)
Is it really Friday tomorrow? This week went by fast! Have a good one, hopefully I'll be back with more entertaining [and by entertaining I hopefully mean AWESOME] long run stories this weekend. :)
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Adventures at the gym, hills, & Rocky sighting!
First things first: a new banner for a new year/decade! The picture is from this race, my first foray into the 3000m/"long distance" track events. In case you were wondering, the girl in yellow tripped me ~600 m into the race and I went down hard, but don't worry, I later lapped her. :) Anyway...I don't really know, I was just kind of bored of my old header and there's a fun photo editing program on facebook so I was like...woo hoo I'll make a new one! So there it is..enjoy!
So a few weeks ago, I joined a gym in the hopes of being able to rehab my stubborn IT band issue and have a place to be able to cross train throughout this marathon training cycle, especially if my knee problems start to flare up. To be honest, gyms [and the people who frequent them] generally freak me out...I feel like I'm of such a different mindset than people at gyms who work out just for the sake of working out [as opposed to training] that when I see someone like...doing like 15 seconds of abs and being done, or talking on their phone while meandering on the elliptical it kind of bothers me....yes...elitist running attitude talking, sorry :) But lo and behold, while some of the people are irritating and the whole "gym" concept is still bizzare to me, I can't lie - I really like it. Some things that I have been enjoying/adventures that I've been having:
-personal training: so I get 2 free sessions with my new membership, and I was initially SUPER skeptical - I've heard stories about people going to trainers who are like "don't run so much, running actually isn't that good for you, blah de blah". But it actually was kind of cool! I get the impression that most people who sign up for personal training are really out of shape, because the girl seemed perplexed as to why I wanted to try personal training [because it's free, DUH!]. In my first session I learned a couple things to strengthen my glutes [which apparently are the weakest part of my legs, fail!] and some pretty killer ab exercises.
-yoga class: ummm I'm really nerdily excited about this one. Yesterday I swam 2000 yards [which was pretty ballin' and I was proud of myself, hehe]. There was a random yoga class starting 15 minutes after I got out of the pool and I figured why not? I do enjoy working out for multiple hours a day....well WOW I am totally on the bandwagon. It was so fantastic....I feel like I actually know a little bit more about yoga than I thought I did, because I actually knew quite a few of the poses. It was relaxing at points, but also felt like a bit of a strength workout too - and it was pretty hilarious to see the strength imbalance between my right and left legs...something that I didn't know existed, ummm yeah, it's there. We were doing all these lunges/balance poses and on my right leg it was like..yup, no problem! On the left leg? I was falling over and failing and it was just ridiculous. So...no wonder I got ITBS in my left leg only? Anyway - I really enjoyed the class, and I think I'm going to add it to my weekly routine. Yay for non-dorky group fitness! [sorry Zumba fans, that is sooo not my style...]
-swimming: pretty self explanatory, but the fact that the place had a pool was a big factor in me going there instead of a cheaper place. Swimming is my second favorite cardio activity after running, and I figure I might as well start off my base for my triathlon future now, right? The best thing is when I was younger, I SUCKED at swimming. I didn't get to move up to the next level of swim lessons when I was like 8 because I wasn't good enough [the instructor, Tammy, was also a beeyotch!] But I guess I figured it out somewhere along the line!
-fun toys: there are lots of fun toys to 'play' with at the gym - medicine balls, exercise balls, bosu balls, etc. But my personal fave is [surprise surprise] the magical, all-powerful FOAM ROLLER. Seriously, sometimes I feel like it's worth my $79/month membership just to be able to go there everyday and foam roll the crap out of myself [yes, I realize I could also buy one for like $20...whatevs]. It has worked wonders on my IT band, and I've also been enjoying experimenting with it on the rest of my muscles after a run...it just hurts so gooood.
As far as running is concerned - 4 days in to Boston training and I am so freaking happy - I actually am starting to feel like myself again, as opposed to like my body has been hijacked by a slower, injured, fail-person. On Tuesday I had my first "workout" of the cycle - 2 mile warmup, 6 x 1 minute hill repetitions @ 3K effort, and 2 mile cooldown. So which hill do I pick? Obiviously the MASSIVE one near my house with what I found out is a 10.6% grade...why do I do these things to myself. The workout sounded pretty easy on paper, but a minute lasts a REALLY long time when it's being taken up by running at 3K effort uphill, gah! I used my power hour playlist to keep track of time so that was kind of fun and prevented me from looking at my watch every 4.6 seconds. I also think I may have been scolded by an old man for doing a farmer's blow into a snowbank? Haha I have no idea actually what he said [loud music], but he looked disapproving lol. I actually hit the same pace [6:40] for all the hills and I am amazed by the fact that a) I didn't slow down over the workout and b) that's actuallly vaguely close to my 3K pace! Rockin'.
Wednesday was an XT day, then today I had 8 miles on the schedule. Once again after a 7.5 hour workday, I was sooo not in the mood to run. But since I'm now officially a slave to the training calendar, I had to get out there [color coded calender = best idea ever...I swear it looks at me like that money with eyes in those Geico commercials...all I need is that song haha] And it was such a great run! So....I managed to sort of jack up my OTHER knee over the weekend [I may or may not have jammed it when I slipped in the snow while chasing a dog down a hill at work...true story, ugh] and I was a little worried about how it was going to respond to 8 miles, but it didn't bother me while running...and honestly, if it doesn't hurt when I'm running, it's all good! At one stoplight, I looked across the street and there was this guy in grey sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt bouncing around and doing like...boxing punches while waiting for the light. I almost burst out laughing...he just looked awkward, but then all of a sudden I thought ROCKY! and it made me giggle even harder haha. All we needed was someone to drive by playing "Eye of the Tiger" and we would have been set. My attempt at running slow failed...7:51 pace overall...which is even more of an indication that I'm finally getting back to my true running self. :)
Well I was going to do one of those "decade in review" deals that everyone seems to be doing lately [I totally forgot it was a new decade, then again I DID write my year in review post in a state of extreme sleep deprivation/caffienation so who even knows what I spewed out haha] but this is already pretty long...so I think I'll save that for tomorrow. Happy Friday & Happy Running!
So a few weeks ago, I joined a gym in the hopes of being able to rehab my stubborn IT band issue and have a place to be able to cross train throughout this marathon training cycle, especially if my knee problems start to flare up. To be honest, gyms [and the people who frequent them] generally freak me out...I feel like I'm of such a different mindset than people at gyms who work out just for the sake of working out [as opposed to training] that when I see someone like...doing like 15 seconds of abs and being done, or talking on their phone while meandering on the elliptical it kind of bothers me....yes...elitist running attitude talking, sorry :) But lo and behold, while some of the people are irritating and the whole "gym" concept is still bizzare to me, I can't lie - I really like it. Some things that I have been enjoying/adventures that I've been having:
-personal training: so I get 2 free sessions with my new membership, and I was initially SUPER skeptical - I've heard stories about people going to trainers who are like "don't run so much, running actually isn't that good for you, blah de blah". But it actually was kind of cool! I get the impression that most people who sign up for personal training are really out of shape, because the girl seemed perplexed as to why I wanted to try personal training [because it's free, DUH!]. In my first session I learned a couple things to strengthen my glutes [which apparently are the weakest part of my legs, fail!] and some pretty killer ab exercises.
-yoga class: ummm I'm really nerdily excited about this one. Yesterday I swam 2000 yards [which was pretty ballin' and I was proud of myself, hehe]. There was a random yoga class starting 15 minutes after I got out of the pool and I figured why not? I do enjoy working out for multiple hours a day....well WOW I am totally on the bandwagon. It was so fantastic....I feel like I actually know a little bit more about yoga than I thought I did, because I actually knew quite a few of the poses. It was relaxing at points, but also felt like a bit of a strength workout too - and it was pretty hilarious to see the strength imbalance between my right and left legs...something that I didn't know existed, ummm yeah, it's there. We were doing all these lunges/balance poses and on my right leg it was like..yup, no problem! On the left leg? I was falling over and failing and it was just ridiculous. So...no wonder I got ITBS in my left leg only? Anyway - I really enjoyed the class, and I think I'm going to add it to my weekly routine. Yay for non-dorky group fitness! [sorry Zumba fans, that is sooo not my style...]
-swimming: pretty self explanatory, but the fact that the place had a pool was a big factor in me going there instead of a cheaper place. Swimming is my second favorite cardio activity after running, and I figure I might as well start off my base for my triathlon future now, right? The best thing is when I was younger, I SUCKED at swimming. I didn't get to move up to the next level of swim lessons when I was like 8 because I wasn't good enough [the instructor, Tammy, was also a beeyotch!] But I guess I figured it out somewhere along the line!
-fun toys: there are lots of fun toys to 'play' with at the gym - medicine balls, exercise balls, bosu balls, etc. But my personal fave is [surprise surprise] the magical, all-powerful FOAM ROLLER. Seriously, sometimes I feel like it's worth my $79/month membership just to be able to go there everyday and foam roll the crap out of myself [yes, I realize I could also buy one for like $20...whatevs]. It has worked wonders on my IT band, and I've also been enjoying experimenting with it on the rest of my muscles after a run...it just hurts so gooood.
As far as running is concerned - 4 days in to Boston training and I am so freaking happy - I actually am starting to feel like myself again, as opposed to like my body has been hijacked by a slower, injured, fail-person. On Tuesday I had my first "workout" of the cycle - 2 mile warmup, 6 x 1 minute hill repetitions @ 3K effort, and 2 mile cooldown. So which hill do I pick? Obiviously the MASSIVE one near my house with what I found out is a 10.6% grade...why do I do these things to myself. The workout sounded pretty easy on paper, but a minute lasts a REALLY long time when it's being taken up by running at 3K effort uphill, gah! I used my power hour playlist to keep track of time so that was kind of fun and prevented me from looking at my watch every 4.6 seconds. I also think I may have been scolded by an old man for doing a farmer's blow into a snowbank? Haha I have no idea actually what he said [loud music], but he looked disapproving lol. I actually hit the same pace [6:40] for all the hills and I am amazed by the fact that a) I didn't slow down over the workout and b) that's actuallly vaguely close to my 3K pace! Rockin'.
Wednesday was an XT day, then today I had 8 miles on the schedule. Once again after a 7.5 hour workday, I was sooo not in the mood to run. But since I'm now officially a slave to the training calendar, I had to get out there [color coded calender = best idea ever...I swear it looks at me like that money with eyes in those Geico commercials...all I need is that song haha] And it was such a great run! So....I managed to sort of jack up my OTHER knee over the weekend [I may or may not have jammed it when I slipped in the snow while chasing a dog down a hill at work...true story, ugh] and I was a little worried about how it was going to respond to 8 miles, but it didn't bother me while running...and honestly, if it doesn't hurt when I'm running, it's all good! At one stoplight, I looked across the street and there was this guy in grey sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt bouncing around and doing like...boxing punches while waiting for the light. I almost burst out laughing...he just looked awkward, but then all of a sudden I thought ROCKY! and it made me giggle even harder haha. All we needed was someone to drive by playing "Eye of the Tiger" and we would have been set. My attempt at running slow failed...7:51 pace overall...which is even more of an indication that I'm finally getting back to my true running self. :)
Well I was going to do one of those "decade in review" deals that everyone seems to be doing lately [I totally forgot it was a new decade, then again I DID write my year in review post in a state of extreme sleep deprivation/caffienation so who even knows what I spewed out haha] but this is already pretty long...so I think I'll save that for tomorrow. Happy Friday & Happy Running!
Monday, January 04, 2010
15 weeks.
Boston Marathon training. Oh dear lord...it's here. 15 weeks from today, I'll be toeing the line in Hopkinton...right now, that's a somewhat terrifying thought. Like really? I want to put myself through marathon training again? And in the middle of winter? WTF? But armed with some superfly new winter running gear and a training plan - which I have written out on a calender and am holding myself to as closely as possible - well...I'm gonna do this. Again.
The plan started inconspicuously enough today with an easy 6 miles. I procrastinated the crap out of it, sitting around playing video games with the BF [don't judge] and eating pistachios and enjoying the warmth of my brand new Snuggie [a gift from my sister and it's Wisconsin themed too, I would judge myself but it's just too damn comfy]. Then BF left for a tax preparation class...aaaand I procrastinated some more. At least this was productive procrastination though - I set up my training calender for the next month on an excel spreadsheet and a calendar I printed out and color coded [yellow for easy, orange for long, there are even separate colors for tempo workouts and inteveral workouts! annnd I'm a loser]. The picture I put on the calendar is from the Pearl Izumi website and says "If you ever want to see who the true runners are, take a peek outside during Mother Nature's next hissy fit". We seem to get a lot of hissy fits here in Boston...I think I'm going to need to keep this phrase in mind haha. But anyway, putting it down on a calendar makes me feel much more accountable for putting in the miles I'm supposed to each day.
So finally, after figuring out exactly what I was going to be doing for the next 4 weeks, I headed out for my 6 miles. I was COLD when I first stepped out the door [always the worst part of a run], but I fought through it and warmed up pretty fast. One thing I love about living in the city, and especially a city like Boston where it seems like just about everyone is a runner, is that you see SO many people running at night - after work or whatever, I suppose - it's just nice not to feel so alone on dark, cold, winter nights. And of course, it's fun to ogle everyone's fancy winter tech apparel too. :) For my part, I am absolutely LOVING my Brooks Nightlife half-zip...it's got neon yellow accents and lots of reflective areas for running at night, and its waaaarm. The 6.3 miles @ 8:05 pace went by fast and felt pretty easy, and my knee showed no sign of getting cranky which is...amazing. I can't even express how glorious it's been as I've eased back into running, not constantly freaking out about my knee.
My basic plan for training looks something like this: I'm basing my plan off Brad Hudson's level 2 marathon program, with various tweaks that I'm making to compensate for a) the fact that as I'm coming back after this IT band crap, I'm only going to be running 5 days a week and b) the fact that my mileage hasn't quite been where I want it to be in the lead-up, so I don't want to pound out 45 miles the first week and kill myself. I'm bascially going with 2 easy runs, one usually 5-6 and one 7-8, which will increase as I get further along. My long run I'm going to try to start at 12 miles - not 100% sure on that, but at the least it will be 10 this week. Then 2 days of cross training a week, at least for this first month, and 2 "workouts" - right now they involve some HM pace work, hill repetitions at around 10K effort, and at the end of the month, mile repeats [my faaavorite]. I think I'm just going to take it day by day, but assuming I make it through the next 3 weeks or so without any issues, I may add another 5-6 day to replace the easy day. The long run is going to be interesting since, uh, I haven't done a lot of those lately..but I figure if I just slow the hell down, take it easy, and get through it, it'll come back.
I walk past the Boston Marathon finish line every day on my way to work. Every day, I'm going to look at that line and it will remind me what I'm doing this for. It's going to be hard, but it's going to be good...I know it.
Plus, I'm from Wisconsin after all. What true Wisconsinite doesn't love the cold? :P
The plan started inconspicuously enough today with an easy 6 miles. I procrastinated the crap out of it, sitting around playing video games with the BF [don't judge] and eating pistachios and enjoying the warmth of my brand new Snuggie [a gift from my sister and it's Wisconsin themed too, I would judge myself but it's just too damn comfy]. Then BF left for a tax preparation class...aaaand I procrastinated some more. At least this was productive procrastination though - I set up my training calender for the next month on an excel spreadsheet and a calendar I printed out and color coded [yellow for easy, orange for long, there are even separate colors for tempo workouts and inteveral workouts! annnd I'm a loser]. The picture I put on the calendar is from the Pearl Izumi website and says "If you ever want to see who the true runners are, take a peek outside during Mother Nature's next hissy fit". We seem to get a lot of hissy fits here in Boston...I think I'm going to need to keep this phrase in mind haha. But anyway, putting it down on a calendar makes me feel much more accountable for putting in the miles I'm supposed to each day.
So finally, after figuring out exactly what I was going to be doing for the next 4 weeks, I headed out for my 6 miles. I was COLD when I first stepped out the door [always the worst part of a run], but I fought through it and warmed up pretty fast. One thing I love about living in the city, and especially a city like Boston where it seems like just about everyone is a runner, is that you see SO many people running at night - after work or whatever, I suppose - it's just nice not to feel so alone on dark, cold, winter nights. And of course, it's fun to ogle everyone's fancy winter tech apparel too. :) For my part, I am absolutely LOVING my Brooks Nightlife half-zip...it's got neon yellow accents and lots of reflective areas for running at night, and its waaaarm. The 6.3 miles @ 8:05 pace went by fast and felt pretty easy, and my knee showed no sign of getting cranky which is...amazing. I can't even express how glorious it's been as I've eased back into running, not constantly freaking out about my knee.
My basic plan for training looks something like this: I'm basing my plan off Brad Hudson's level 2 marathon program, with various tweaks that I'm making to compensate for a) the fact that as I'm coming back after this IT band crap, I'm only going to be running 5 days a week and b) the fact that my mileage hasn't quite been where I want it to be in the lead-up, so I don't want to pound out 45 miles the first week and kill myself. I'm bascially going with 2 easy runs, one usually 5-6 and one 7-8, which will increase as I get further along. My long run I'm going to try to start at 12 miles - not 100% sure on that, but at the least it will be 10 this week. Then 2 days of cross training a week, at least for this first month, and 2 "workouts" - right now they involve some HM pace work, hill repetitions at around 10K effort, and at the end of the month, mile repeats [my faaavorite]. I think I'm just going to take it day by day, but assuming I make it through the next 3 weeks or so without any issues, I may add another 5-6 day to replace the easy day. The long run is going to be interesting since, uh, I haven't done a lot of those lately..but I figure if I just slow the hell down, take it easy, and get through it, it'll come back.
I walk past the Boston Marathon finish line every day on my way to work. Every day, I'm going to look at that line and it will remind me what I'm doing this for. It's going to be hard, but it's going to be good...I know it.
Plus, I'm from Wisconsin after all. What true Wisconsinite doesn't love the cold? :P
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