Track Time Yet Again

Again I struggled a bit with the track workout this week, but did much better than last week and though I didn't hit the goals I was pretty close! Good enough for this work stressed girl!

Goal was:
8 x 800 @ 2:50(85) with 85 sec recovery, 3 mins recovery, 4 x 200 @ 38 with 90 sec recovery

Work ran over and I did not have enough time to get down to Kent to run with the CED crew so I unfortunately had to do this one solo. Clearly the paces are getting faster and company would be great, but in a pinch I can get it done on my own!

I ended up running outdoors at a local track en route to the indoor track we have been using. Traffic was taking forever and my bladder was ready to explode, curse that tiny bladder! Apparently I was very well hydrated yesterday.

It didn't go too badly. I was really stressed from work and in tears for a bit on the drive over so considering that I think I did pretty darn well calming myself down and almost hitting the paces. It was dark and I probably looked at the watch a bit too often the first half of the workout (checking 200/400/600) which lost a few seconds each repeat but after the fourth I just went by effort and checked the watch at the 600 only.

Other than my brain and hands feeling like they were frozen by the end the temps were actually pretty good, about mid 40s with a bit of wind, I can't wait for more daylight though!

I was pretty wasted after this effort, I had to walk half of most of the recoveries for the 800s and I was definitely digging in aerobically on all of the 800s, but never felt like I was damaging any muscles or pulling anything too tight etc. I just jogged 200 between each of the 200s so I could roll into them, these were on my toes pumping my arms essentially all out with everything I had left.

2:55.80 (85)
2:49.95 (85)
2:53.07 (86)
2:51.15 (85)
2:52.57 (85)
2:52.64 (85)
2:52.15 (85)
2:49.91 (2:57)
39.32 (84)
39.78 (84)
39.15 (83)
38.75

I saw Keyes this morning after my shake out and he said that my left calf has a little bit of tibial stuff (sp?) going on and that if I don't watch it that could lead to shin splints, that's the pain I felt Sunday. I ran with compression socks on last night just to give it a bit extra support.

I see Karalyn Friday night and I am going to start alternating weeks that I see each of them so that I am not getting treated so much hopefully. I think one treatment a week on top of physical therapy should keep all these weird things at bay. My left hip/pelvis was way out of whack and Keyes adjusted me this morning.

I definitely need to focus more on getting in the PT and those calf stretches etc. from now on, the work stress really detracted from that the past two weeks. Hopefully that will die down a bit here!

How's that for a waaay too detailed track run down? :)

Anna Sun

Turn up the volume and check out this video by Walk the Moon!



They were freaking fantastic live on Sunday. So stoked my friend G hooked me up with tickets to see YTG at the Beachland, if you aren't from Cleveland Beachland is a small ball room so seeing YTG and WTM up close and personal was truly a treat. Just a really fun feeling vibe and I was most certainly bouncing around to these guys Sunday despite being absolutely exhausted!

Not going to lie when they came on stage with their facepaint I thought, hmmm, half way through the first song I was thinking WOW!

Week 3 Rundown


Great venue to see YTG up close and personal! (Sorry for poor image quality, I have been photo uploading to the computer slacking, no time these days it seems for important things like blogging!)

I thought it was interesting that coach hasn't been titling these weeks "Week 1 Boston Training" and I found out why Sunday. I'm not "racing" Boston. I guess I am ok with that though after a PR 5k last weekend and my body coming along the temptation to really race is undeniably there. We'll see how things go! In the meantime mileage and paces are ramping up and I am starting to have to think about planning each week rather than letting the miles fall where they may. Last week was crazy what with working pretty much every hour of the work week in addition to some weekend hours, living out of a suitcase, and commuting a lot. Not sure how I managed to get most of it in and not be a complete bag of crap by the end of the week!

Goals for the week were:

Total Mileage 65 - 70.

Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track, 4 x 1200 @ 4:18(86) with 2:30 recovery, 4 x 400 @ 82 with 90 sec
recovery.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 3 x 2 miles(12:50) with mile @ 7:00 between sets, warmdown.
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:05
16 miles @ 7:30

How it played out:

66 miles
Monday off (PT Routine)
Tuesday 3 mile shake out plus track
Wednesday 8 easy
Thursday 11 with tempo
Friday 7 easy with strides
Saturday 16 at around 7:23
Sunday 12 at 7:05

DC/FFX was amazing, but wish I had more fun time while there, closed out the week by painting the living room and dining room and seeing Young the Giant and Walk the Moon at the Beachland! Not a bad week in the life of E, though a crazy hectic one!


Much needed coffee break while painting the living room!

More Track Fun


Breakfast for space cadets who leave their chobani in the fridge despite repeated reminders to themselves not to forget breakfast.

I made the executive decision that the tempo run had to get done before work today or it was likely not to happen. Working out of the mothership in Fairfax has been fun, but it is intense and the hours are crazy and by the time I get "home" after an 11 hour or so day the last thing I want to do is throw on the shoes, even though once I do I am ecstatic and feel like I could run all night.
So I gave myself three options this morning. Very early metro, semi early metro, and last metro you can take and still get back to the office at a respectable start time. My lazy butt opted for the third and I just barely made the train and in my rush forgot breakfast (I have to say Chobani and granola are much wiser breakfasts than a pay day from the machine, but it was ok in a pinch!) and my headphones. (It's going to be a quiet day at the office and a quiet commute home without Pandora!) Doh!

I also did not eat anything, caffeinate, or hydrate because you can't eat or drink on the metro! And I was cutting the timing close after having to shoot off some work emails before heading out for the run. The nice thing about the crazy commute is I had 30+ minutes of work done before I even got to work or started the workout!

I opted to go back to the track I found Tuesday because the terrain here is hilly as heck and traffic is kind of crazy, I didn't have time to find a really good tempo route so the track it was!

Goal was 3 sets of 2 miles at 6:25 pace with 7:00 miles in between each set.

Got in about 1.5 miles of warm up and started the first set from the road, did about a half mile on the road then the rest on the track. A little slow to start but got the pace down by the end. The 7:00 stuff felt nice and smooth, the 6:25s were work but doable. Given how tired I was, how I hadn't eaten and really could have used a coffee I was very pleased with how it went. I knew the paces would feel better on the track than roads and I was glad to find that was the case despite the stressful week. I'd much rather do this workout on roads, but the track is great for pacing, kind of mindless, just crank out 96 over and over and over again! I certainly didn't feel perky but everything was doable. I ran the first 3 miles in one direction and then switched directions after each 7:00 mile to try and keep the hips/core allignment happy.

6:29, 6:20, 7:02, 6:23, 6:19, 7:02, 6:16, 6:10

The warm up and cool down (1.5 each) were a little longer than I would have preferred, but that is the life of a runner on the road I guess!

In order to keep my mind from getting stressed like it did Tuesday I picked a great little tune to keep me from getting anxious and to keep my mind off of everything but the run (Another Runs on Beer recomendation, though I was a fan I just didn't know it, Lisa H. is the female vocals on all of Damien Rice's early stuff!). It has been really hard this week to not focus on work every second of the day and I found my mind drifting to my to do list a few times despite my best efforts.

Vampires

Runs on Beer turned me on to Thievery Corporation and I have been grooving on their stuff on this weeks Metro ride from DC to FFX each day. It's great stuff. This one seems appropriate given I am staying in DC this week. Fun groove as well. Alas I did not find a great vid to go along with todays tunes. Such is life some days!

Track Insanity

Sometimes winging it works for me, sometimes it blows up in my face. This FFX trip came up on me very quickly and I did no prep to figure out where I would train etc until I got here. I literally pulled up a google map yesterday and scanned the aerials to find the nearest track. I emailed the coaches and got clearance to run there after work knowing I needed to be back in time to catch the last shuttle to the metro, it would be tight even if everything was smooth sailing.

Well I didn't look really closely at that map and didn't realize I couldn't actually get to the track on foot as quickly as I thought. After a wrong path taken followed by realizing the road I needed to take was a highway I gave up and decided I would just run and do track the next day. Then I pulled up the map on the I phone again and thought maybe if I did the first 1200 on the road I could get there and get most of the workout in and still make it back with a few quarters on the road too. Ever the optimist! I started into the first 1200 with no official warm up knowing I just didn't have time. It was slow and hilly and in the middle of it I actually found a track and just went there as it was closer, I finished out the first 1200 on the track in the wind.

My stomach was a mess and the bathrooms were locked, I was looking at the watch and stressing about making it back as I started into the second interval and it just felt sluggish and was really slow, even slower than the road interval. Not good!

I calmed my mind and just committed to working hard the next 1200 and worrying about timing after that one. I had to work hard but I got close to the goal on this one. Last one I decided I could do on the track too as long as I headed straight back from there. I nailed that one finally and then headed back to the roads to finish out the quarters.

There was lots of traffic so I just focused on giving an 80-90 second effort and running really freaking hard :)

This was not my best workout and I clearly didn't nail the paces, but it was a good mental challenge and at the end of the day I put in the work and got most of it done albeit not with an ideal warm up and cool down.

Workout goals were:
4 x 1200 @ 4:18(86) with 2:30 recovery, 4 x 400 @ 82 with 90 sec recovery

I was around 4:30, 4:35, 4:19, 4:18 and then between 80 and 85 on the quarters.

Week 2 Rundown

Total Mileage 60 - 65

Monday: Easy
Tuesday: Track or TM, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 @ 5K(90) pace withhalf the effort rest
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday
Thursday: warmup,8 at 6:50, warmdown
Weekend:Chili Bowl + miles
15 miles @ 7:25

I got in about 64 miles and 7 runs. Race went great and I most certainly need to post about that but I am working in FFX this week pretty much every hour of the day so we will see if I can squeeze that in. I feel like my mind and body were about a week ahead of the schedule right now but I am sure at some point here I will have to work a little harder to hit these goals again as life settles into a schedule again!

Rainy Morning Run

This morning the goal was 8 at 6:50 with warm up and cool down. Despite the legs being a bit tired and sore I ended up being a bit fast. Story of my road to come back life ;) I did set out to actually run the pace this morning, I swear! I nailed the first mile and then I just stopped paying attention to the watch. Last mile I looked down and saw the average was around 6:37 so I took the last quarter mile easy and averaged about 6:42 I think.

It was rainy and high 40s and for some reason I just loved it!

Great day for a run.

Work is crazy town right now so posts here may be lacking in content and quantity for the next week or two. Bear with me :) Trust me the running will get done! First race since Philly this weekend!!!

Hotter With the Lights On Track Workout

I love when Kim posts alternative lyrics to her post :) So I am stealing that idea today as my entire indoor track workout this song was running through my head last night. Last week we got spoiled and half the lights were off cooling it off a bit. Not the case last night! Lights were on, I got real sweaty, and the lungs definitely felt like they had a real indoor track workout!

How the workout played out!

Distance/Time Goal Actual Rep rest
400 Meters 90 90 45
800 Meters 3:00 2:56 90
1200 Meters 4:30 4:26 2:15
1600 Meters 6:00 5:54 3:00
1200 Meters 4:30 4:24 2:15
800 Meters 3:00 2:52 90
400 Meters 90 80



My Track Version of the lyrics ;)

You're so fine (so beautiful)

Top of the line (so unusual)

Words can't define,

You're running through my mind all day

I'm so happy you're mine (so beautiful)
Top of the line (so unusual)

Now I think it's time,
hey Indoor
I hope you don't take this the wrong way

Track you are cooler with the lights off,
Cooler with the lights off ooh

Track, you are cooler with the lights off,

Cooler with the lights off ooh
Cooler with the lights off

Hey US Track, what you look so bright for?
Track time , you only live one time

So put your goals on flash forward

Like gone speed me up, got a deadline, cause you need me done
I hate your type, I love you too,
I run your turns, cause I wanna do you
Can't blame you track

Love hugging your tight curves, you make me fast.
5k pace, right like that,
that lalala, Make your eyes roll back
I mean you already fine though,

I just wanna see you with the lights off
Every star wanna know how it is To clap off the lights and turn 90 to 76.

You're so fine (so beautiful)
Top of the line (so unusual)

Words can't define,

You're running through my mind all day

I'm so happy you're mine (so beautiful)
Top of the line (so unusual)

Now I think it's time,
hey Indoor
I hope you don't take this the wrong way

Track you are cooler with the lights off,
Cooler with the lights off ooh

Track, you are cooler with the lights off,

Cooler with the lights off ooh
Cooler with the lights off

Start up to round the curves to have a good pace.
Shit was right so I didn't have to race.
You look fast girl, what you wanna do girl?

Stick to my pace cause it's only me and you, girl.

I'm testing you out, you had me put my speed on

Acting too speedy saying you ain't going back slow

I'm like wow, Whatever you say,
but whatever you plan gotta be done at 8 Next Stop.
Party at my place, of course you welcome speed,

You ain't taking up space

We get there, and Speedy still looking right,

Track attacked me, but wait let me dim the lights

You feel different, no way to stop it

Naw, I ain't playing actually you more poppin.

I said shocking. No that's really raw.

I don't know baby, but even with the lights on...


You're so fine (so beautiful)
Top of the line (so unusual)

Words can't define,

You're running through my mind all day

I'm so happy you're mine (so beautiful)
Top of the line (so unusual)

Now I think it's time,
hey Indoor
I hope you don't take this the wrong way

Track you are cooler with the lights off,
Cooler with the lights off ooh

Track, you are cooler with the lights off,

Cooler with the lights off ooh
Cooler with the lights off

Blower's Daughter

Not sure why but I can't get this song out of my head this week. I think it is time to watch Closer again! I just adore Damien Rice's voice. Gets me every time!

Week 1 Rundown!


There's nothing quite so nice as a cup of warm coffee after a very chilly trail run!

Apparently I am now off the road back and into training again :) It's good to be back!

Goals for the week:

Total Mileage 55 - 60

Monday: Easy
Tuesday: Track, 12 - 16 x 400 @ 93 sec with 90 sec recovery.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:50 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 6 miles @ 7:00, 2 miles @ 6:45, warmdown.
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:30
15 miles @ 7:50

Pretty much nailed all of that minus the 12 at 7:30. Ended up with 58 miles for the week and Saturdays planned 12 at 7:30 turned into 10.5 through a foot plus of snow on the trails at around 9 minute pace. I was wiped out after that run. Phew! Time to make sure I am eating better and getting in enough iron to sustain training load again! I was exhausted by the time my head hit the pillow Saturday night!

In addition to all the running I did manage to get in a little workout in the pool this week as well as an ART session, and official PT session where we focused on the calf and foot, and of course lots of PT stuff on my own!

The foot/calf were a bit pissy after Tuesday and Thursday but for some reason they really are feeling good after the weekends long runs, so maybe just focusing on these exercises for the calf and foot will be the last key to keeping everything happy! (Fingers crossed!)

Back on Track

How I forgot to post about Tuesdays workout I'll never know :) I'm a busy bee, and I guess the blog is one of the first things to slip right now!

Tuesday I made the journey back to the track! I think I haven't been on a track since September!!! That is a long time boys and girls. I basically stopped all track workouts then because the speed seemed to agitate my calf and my foot to the point of barely being able to hobble after. It was pretty ugly.

So Tuesday was the first test. The workout wasn't extreme in terms of pace or mileage. Just 12-16 quarters at 93 a piece with 90 second recovery jogs. Easy peasy ;)

We were lucky to get access to a nice local track that is 200 meters indoor and had it mostly to ourselves. I was late to the official CED group run, but I was doing my own workout anyways so it wasn't a big deal. I got to start my first quarter with Lizzie as she was supposed to run 2 miles at 90 for her quarters so I just tucked in behind her to get a nice smooth start and not run too fast. That one was pretty much right on in 92. After that every two quarters I'd flip the direction to keep the hips and calves as happy as possible and I seemed to settle into an 88 rhythm for the most part, coach G was pretty buys with those doing their real hard core workouts so I didn't get chastised for being a little fast. I was very conscious of keeping it smooth and pretty easy. The calf got a little tight but I made sure to try and relax it between each quarter.

Because the pace wasn't insane I did not get my usual track lung thrashing for the first time back and I wasn't even too sweaty of a mess. It was a nice night to just get in a bit of hard work, and the track, though small, was great for the first time back for me. I decided to go with 12 quarters in the end to try and behave a bit and justified picking it up a hair the last 3 by telling myself I was running less than prescribed :) I focused on getting up on the balls of my feet the last three and trying to run more from the core than my calves, and easily the pace dropped to 85 and 83 and the last one I ran almost full on effort consciously telling myself that I wanted to end this one feeling like I could do one more at the same effort. Thankfully coach missed the split as I probably would have got chided for finishing that last one out in 76. But man did it feel good to move a little bit, and though I know 76 isn't flying, it sure feels like it on a tiny 200 meter indoor track in the dark! :)

Not going to lie I wasn't happy that the calf was tight at the end of this one, but on the positive side it did not knot up at all. So I foresee lots of calf exercises and calf and foot pampering in my near future every day for awhile. Fingers crossed that's all it take to get back up to speed on the track workouts here soon! But if not I am dedicated to whatever I have to do to get in these anaerobic workouts, even if it means deep water running or, god forbid, the elliptical!

Upbeat Thursday Run

Yesterdays run went well despite the clear mind block on my part that forgot that marginal has a tendency of feeling like there is no wind at your back on the way out and then turning around into a head wind of monsoon proportions when you head East first ;) Bring it mother nature!

Thankfully the paces are pretty easy right now and it wasn't an issue stepping it up a bit on the way back to nail the slight progression run. I actually overcompensated for the winds and hill a bit and ran a little fast the last two miles.

Goal was 6 miles at 7:00 and 2 at 6:45

Ended up with 6 at 6:59ish and 2 at 6:35ish.

The left calf is a little tight still so I had ART on that and the stubborn heel yesterday and this morning at PT had a nice foot and calf massage followed by learning some calf and foot exercises that will hopefully get this entire body on track soon!

Shuffle

It's a good thing this blog isn't a paying gig or I would be in trouble for being tardy ever so often on my Wednesday videos lately!

Here you go a day late and a dollar short!

I have been loving this tune lately. Just fun and feel good. Reminds me a bit of Matt and Kim.

Road Back Week 2 Rundown

Goals for the week!

Total Mileage 50 - 55.

Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: "Speed" 1.5 mile @ 6:50 with 90 sec recovery, 1 mile @ 6:45
with 2 min recovery, 1.5 miles @ 6:50.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:50 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: "Tempo" 8 miles @ 7:10
Weekend:
10 miles @ 8:00
14 miles @ 8:20

How it played out:

6 runs- 53 miles (took Wednesday off because I didn't want to go over miles)

I swam once, trainer ride once, full physical therapy routine 2 or 3 times, lots of house work!

All the workouts went great and for the most part I feel fabulous though that left heel is ever so slightly tender still. I had a massage on Thursday with K. Swope and she said this is the most even my body has ever felt so I think the PT routine is really helping! Granted my glutes and core are sore, but the good kind of sore, the kind of sore that means I am getting stronger and more balanced!

I just heard form my fabulous ART guy and x-rays show no bone spur! So we need to figure out why that little spot in the heel keeps getting irritated. It might be time for heel cushions or orthotics! We'll be doing some more sleuthing at our appointment this week!

I am feeling very grateful to be in such a better mental place right now with my running than I was way back in September and I am genuinely excited to let coach Glenn take the reins and be in charge of my running plans and racing right now. I am very excited to see what can happen now that I am no longer insecure about my goals and completely trusting in the program I am working with.

Thursday Up Tempo Effort

Goal: 8 at 7:10 pace
Actual: 8 at 7:00 pace

Nice chilly morning in Euclid and the sidewalks were clear thanks to this unseasonably warm winter. Not sure if it was the trainer ride last night making my turnover high, my excitement to be working out again, or my unusually high (even for me) energy levels, but I just could not keep this at 7:10 this morning (sorry coach!). I just went by feel this morning and didn't really want to pay attention to the watch, I just planned on using average pace for the whole run and starting slow and ending with the right average. Cue running the first mile in 6:58. I looked at the watch every half mile or so and consciously tried to back off the effort and hit 7:10s but each time I did glance back at it I was closer to 6:55 to 7:05. I'm going to enjoy it while I can because I am sure the workouts will get tougher soon and I will have to be more diligent about not exceeding the goal early in the run to ensure I complete the entire workout as intended. But this morning the effort felt pretty casual and I made sure the body wasn't complaining at all and just went with it!

I canned the warm up and cool down run and instead did a more dynamic type effort on both as I didn't want to go over the weekly mileage. Got in some active house chores and called that a warm up and post run did a quarter mile easy followed by some drills and carrying a bunch of old carpet to the curb! A massage followed by my PT routine is planned for tonight!

Two'fer Wednesday! Buena and Minnesota, Wi

I love finding some old tune that you never heard before that you are suddenly grooving to. This is just a fun little tune, a bit jazzy, a bit bluesy, feel good. I've been toying with picking back up my sax again and I am definitely grooving to any tunes with a groovy sax line right now!

Can't embed so you will have to head over to You Tube to see this one!

So you get your fix here on a vid this week check out this cool little vid below put together to Bon Iver's Minnesota, Wi.

The song is a little more mellow, but does have a bit of sax in there briefly. I like a lot of Bon Iver's stuff so far that I have listened to even though he gets a bit nasally/whiny sometimes. Most of this song is a little less of that high pitched stuff which is more my style.