Unfortunately my schedule and those that could and/or are willing to run my tempos with me are not alligning right now so I was on my own for last nights tempo. I could run at lunch and have company for some of the run but then I have to deal with marginal winds, and getting in the whole tempo during lunch hour is a bit nutty. I guess solo is the lesser evil!
I haven't really been struggling with the tempos or the paces lately (knock on wood) so I wasn't too worried about running by myself. But, I had an 8 mile progression run on tap. 4 at 6:30, 3 at 6:20, and last one at 6:10. No matter how you slice it being focused for 8 straight miles is a bit mentally taxing even when your legs feel great. 6:30s are just fast enough to require attention but just easy enough that I tend to slack mentally and I easily fall off the pace :)
Went from tank top weather on Wednesday to pretty darn chilly last night and I did not bring the proper attire. I settled for buns, a tee, and long sleeve. I was hot enough to strip the long sleeve but really could have used some gloves and an ear band. By mid tempo my hands were frozen and I am pretty sure part of my brain was too.
Despite all that my legs actually did feel pretty good and physically the tempo went great. Nailing the paces and staying focused was not an easy task and for some reason this was one of those nights where time seemed to slow to a halt. Perhaps this is because I have stopped looking at the watch so much, but some of these miles seemed like 3 :) I am sure the windy segments didn't help with nailing pace but somehow each mile came out right in the end which is always nice!
Glad to have that one done!
6:25, 6:28, 6:29, 6:32, 6:17, 6:15, 6:15, 6:00
6*1000, 6*200
1000s or Ks depending on what you want to call them! I seem to love 1000s. Just long enough to be semi comfortable, but short enough that pace can be relatively fast and still bearable. I finally made it to the group workout last night and I don't know if it was the cool temps, the company, or just the fresh legs after a day off but the workout went really well.
Goal was 3:32 I think for each 1000. Coach said 84/85 for the 400s and I just went with the flow and was open to 86 and being a little slow if that felt better as that was Lizzie's target.I felt really smooth and actually was a bit mentally disengaged. I looked at the watch once and the rest of the workout just ran by feel. I had Passion Pit's Sleepyhead in my head and it obviously seemed to work for me as I got a bit faster each repeat.
Coach neglected (I am guessing intentionally as he usually only has us do more if we are looking good) to inform us we would have more to do after the 6*1k and I begrudgingly followed up my seemingly kick ass ks with a sufferfest of 6*200. 200s and I just do not get along and man my calf was tight during these. Ouch!
I think with this workout I can fairly say my speed is about back to where it was at my peak which makes me a very happy camper this early in the year!
Goal was 3:32 I think for each 1000. Coach said 84/85 for the 400s and I just went with the flow and was open to 86 and being a little slow if that felt better as that was Lizzie's target.I felt really smooth and actually was a bit mentally disengaged. I looked at the watch once and the rest of the workout just ran by feel. I had Passion Pit's Sleepyhead in my head and it obviously seemed to work for me as I got a bit faster each repeat.
Coach neglected (I am guessing intentionally as he usually only has us do more if we are looking good) to inform us we would have more to do after the 6*1k and I begrudgingly followed up my seemingly kick ass ks with a sufferfest of 6*200. 200s and I just do not get along and man my calf was tight during these. Ouch!
I think with this workout I can fairly say my speed is about back to where it was at my peak which makes me a very happy camper this early in the year!
| Reps | Distance/Time | Goal | Actual | Rep rest | ||||
| 1 | 1000 Meters | 3:32 | 3:30.87 | 2:00 | ||||
| 1 | 1000 Meters | 3:32 | 3:30.77 | 2:00 | ||||
| 1 | 1000 Meters | 3:32 | 3:29.7 | 2:00 | ||||
| 1 | 1000 Meters | 3:32 | 3:28.92 | 2:00 | ||||
| 1 | 1000 Meters | 3:32 | 3:27.73 | 2:15 | ||||
| 1 | 1000 Meters | 3:32 | 3:24.87 | 4:00 | ||||
| 6 | 200 Meters | 39 | 38.32, 37.64, 37.96, 36.92, 39.00, 36.30 | 200 |
Sweet Tides
The Cleveland Public Library has proven to be an awesome place to get to know some more tunes recently. I usually listen to Pandora or Spotify but after being introduced to some new groups I just got online and requested a ton of CDs and was pleasantly surprised to find they had most of what I was looking for. I love this song by Thievery Corporation and have been grooving to it the past month or so!
Week 7 Rundown
Goals for the week were:
Total Mileage 75 - 80.
Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track. 4 sets of 800m, 600m, 200m
Each set consists of:
800m at (84 secs per lap, 02:48 for 800m), 84 secs recovery,
600m at (81 secs per lap, 02:01 for 600m), 81 secs recovery,
200m at 39
Rest between sets: 2 mins.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:20 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: 4 x 2 miles @ 12:40 with 3 min jogs after each 2 miles
Weekend:
14 miles @ 7:10
20 miles (10 miles @ 7:30, 5 Miles @ 7:15, 5 miles @ 6:50)
My alternative to the 20 miler was to help out CED teammate Lizzie with her 16 miler @ 6:35
How it played out:
76 miles for the week, 1 double, 1 short 20 minute swim
I opted for the fast 16 and felt fantastic (note I ran the 14 the day before over a minute per mile slower than instructed so I was feeling pretty rested and fresh)!
Perhaps the 16 was so fast thanks to the sweet new kicks from Fleet Feet and Nike?
Track and tempo also went well this week so I am feeling optimistic that I am indeed getting back to the fitness I had before Philly, this time with a much healthier body though!
On a bad note I ate out every day last week. I need to be better about planning some meals at home, not just for the sake of my bank account but also for the sake of eating a bit healthier!
Lonely Tempo
Tuesday night we went to see the Black Keys at the Q. They put on a pretty good show though the venue left something to be desired for them I think. Trisaratops and EH tagged along for the fun and thankfully I clicked over to Sara's blog before my tempo last night because Lonely Boy was apparently the perfect pace to nail my tempo intervals last night despite doing them on a softer surface (towpath) and it being rather hot (80!)! I love it when it just seems to fall into place like that without forcing it.
Goal was 4 sets of 2 miles at 6:20 pace with 3 minute jogs between each set. How I love those 3 minute recovery jogs!!!
Managed to hit every one except the first and was even close on that one!
6:24.48+6:17.95
6:15.21+6:17.89
6:15.70+6:18.82
6:17.42+6:11.64
I was very grateful the fountains were on and I was able to hydrate between the second and third set!
Ran this one solo though I did have a few spottings of Camp the Champ as she headed out after me with a friend to get in her much speedier tempo intervals!
Goal was 4 sets of 2 miles at 6:20 pace with 3 minute jogs between each set. How I love those 3 minute recovery jogs!!!
Managed to hit every one except the first and was even close on that one!
6:24.48+6:17.95
6:15.21+6:17.89
6:15.70+6:18.82
6:17.42+6:11.64
I was very grateful the fountains were on and I was able to hydrate between the second and third set!
Ran this one solo though I did have a few spottings of Camp the Champ as she headed out after me with a friend to get in her much speedier tempo intervals!
The Wilhelm Scream
I had to do some "googling" to figure out who this was by. I love it. Very appropriate for this morning too as I was up extremely early for a shake out run and pretty sure I was still dreaming, and most definitely was in a haze for the first few miles of the run. So much so that I was back asleep post run with no issue. Loving that with the higher mileage I am once again a sleep lover, but man there are not enough hours in the day for everything I want to do!
Well How About That Track!
I overslept this morning for my planned EARLY track workout with Stina (Black Keys and Arctic Monkey tonight!!!). I rallied and got my butt to the local track before work to run solo but the legs clearly needed a little more wake up time. The first set was not too promising and I was pretty much resigned to go by effort this morning but I guess my legs just needed to ease in because somehow I managed to hit most of the paces this morning after the first set and I think the workout in it's entirety ended up pretty close. Though clearly an ideal world would be nailing every rep at the right pace, getting faster with each one was pretty fun :)
Goal was:
4 sets of 800m, 600m, 200m
Each set consists of:
800m at (84 secs per lap, 02:48 for 800m), 84 secs recovery,
600m at (81 secs per lap, 02:01 for 600m), 81 secs recovery,
200m at 39, Rest between sets 2 minutes
How it played out:
2:55.69
2:05.30
38.62
2:48.55
2:03.00
37.87
2:46.32
2:00.78
38.22
2:43.68
1:58.35
36.26
Glad to have that done and glad my legs rallied and that I found a little speed this morning!
Cheesy note of the morning I was singing "Right Here Right Now" to myself on these reps, and sadly it really did help to get me focused :)
Goal was:
4 sets of 800m, 600m, 200m
Each set consists of:
800m at (84 secs per lap, 02:48 for 800m), 84 secs recovery,
600m at (81 secs per lap, 02:01 for 600m), 81 secs recovery,
200m at 39, Rest between sets 2 minutes
How it played out:
2:55.69
2:05.30
38.62
2:48.55
2:03.00
37.87
2:46.32
2:00.78
38.22
2:43.68
1:58.35
36.26
Glad to have that done and glad my legs rallied and that I found a little speed this morning!
Cheesy note of the morning I was singing "Right Here Right Now" to myself on these reps, and sadly it really did help to get me focused :)
Week 6 Rundown
Goals from coach for the week!
Total Mileage 70 - 75.
Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track 5*1600 with 90 sec rests
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:20 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: 6 miles starting @ 6:50 and increasing 10 sec faster each
mile
Weekend:
12 miles @ 6:55
18 miles @ 7:30
How it played out:
73 miles
Monday-Off
Tuesday- Track
Wednesday- Double- easy runs
Thursday- Double- tempo at lunch, easy evening
Friday- easy with strides
Saturday- 12 at 7:02 with CED crew
Sunday- 20 at 7:11 with Michigan speedsters, fun hilly course!
I felt pretty run down Monday through Friday AM this week. I was pretty much resigned that due to the higher mileage returning I was doomed to start feeling like this most days. But I think I must have just been fighting something off combined with adjusting to day light savings and the unseasonably warm weather as I started to feel like my speedy spunky self sometime Friday afternoon. Thank goodness!
The legs aren't feeling crazy good, but I think we are starting to make progress on the puzzle that is my body and I had a really good massage session Friday night where we narrowed down some of my issues and we are working towards figuring out how to stay on top of problems before they arise.
Mission loosen my left psoas, left glute, left hip has begun as well as mission strengthen my shins to keep up with the increased calf strength that was inevitable with the return to real training! We really think if we can solve this left hip issue the left heel will finally get back to 100%!
I Promise I am Not a Garmin Freak
Ok so let's touch a bit on my last two race reports and let me assure you I, really, am no Garmin freak (Though I do find this song very entertaining!). The truth is I live in NE Ohio and in this running scene it is well known that most of the shorter local road races are not certified. In fact a few of the races are gossiped about being short so much so that I have friends that shoot down your PR before you can even let them know if the course was legit. Most of the time if I don't care about the result or time I won't even wear the garmin as I'd prefer to be oblivious if the course is a hair short. But to be quite honest I like the feedback post race and a lot of times courses either don't mark a mile or they misplace markers etc. Volunteers are just that, they aren't professional course markers and they are human and make mistakes. It's nice to have a relatively reliable feedback during the race if one of those situations arises and you are gunning for a certain time.
Right now any races I do are serving as a direct feedback into where my fitness is at and that plays into my coaches decisions on my training and what I am capable of. Sure I am also using these to practice my mental tenacity and to get my racing legs back under me, but mostly these are reality checks right now. I know how to race, I know I will race well, so the clock time is important feedback to tell me where I am at and what reasonable goals I should be making in the near future and for this year.
How does that apply to my reports as they were written? Well I made it clear that I believe neither course was legit. I'll give the 5k a waiver of doubt and say it was probably pretty close, close enough for me to be confident that my 5k fitness is at least where it was the last time I raced a 5k, and perhaps a little better. But it was definitely not a fitness breakthrough (though there was a nice mental breakthrough for me!) and I don't feel comfortable calling it my PR (How I wish I would have raced on the track that day!!!).
The 5 mile on the other hand gives me no real indication of where I am at for that distance because it was significantly short and the course wasn't my kind of course. There were some rollers, a lot of downhill, and a significantly climbing mile, followed up by a fast downhill finish that was cut short.
Had I not wore the Garmin I possibly would have walked away from this race believing I was in 28:50 shape. There was no 4 mile marker and my pace the first 3 miles was fast, actually faster than the 5k I just ran (you'll have that when the first 3 miles are mostly downhill!), my effort was pretty high and I might have believed I held that third mile pace through the hill. But I did wear the garmin and while it may be a little inaccurate, that 4th mile was nowhere close to the 5:46 I would have had to run to make my finish time legit. It was around 6:37 kids, so yeah, that fourth mile was TOUGH! I run marathons faster than that pace.
Point being thanks to my garmin (and every other garmin map online, and every fast runner without a garmin who knows what they are currently capable of) I know what I was capable of running for about 4.8-4.85 miles on that course. And it wasn't the pace I wanted :) I was hoping my fitness was a little higher right now. Had I not wore the Garmin I might have believed I ran 5 at that pace and coach may have bumped up my workouts this week and I can assure you I would not have hit the paces, I would have fallen off, and I would have been frustrated. Hell as my log shows I didn't even hit the paces I was assigned this week :)
The garmin is certainly not the end all be all when it comes to races or workouts. I raced hard at both of the above mentioned events, and I competed at pretty much the same level at both. They were nice efforts on tough courses. But they weren't fitness breakthroughs yet, these races put me solidly where I left off before the injury woes of last year and training still isn't quite back up to where it was at its height. And that is where the Garmin is handy, it is a good indicator of whether or not a course is what it says it is and on making sure I base my workouts off of my real current fitness. It says nothing about the course that day, the conditions I ran in, about the field I raced, or how hard I worked on any given day, it just gives me relatively consistent feedback that I can compare to all of my other efforts to ensure I am training properly and continue to get faster without going back down the injury rabbit hole.
I decided at some point last year that I would not base my personal bests on race times any more. I can honestly tell you Philadelphia was the best marathon I have ever run. I worked harder that race than I ever worked to get to that line and though it was not a PR it was clearly my best effort and result. I honestly believe had I been on a course more my style that day I could have PR'ed, but my PR is still 2:49:53 :)
My best 5k to date was actually one of my slower ones last year. I ran the Hyde Park Blast and got my ass handed to me by all the fast chicks in the state, but I ran as hard as I could that day in those conditions all the way to the line. I can tell you I worked harder in that 5k than any other and if it had been flat and cool most certainly it would have been a PR kind of day. But the truth is every day is not a PR kind of day and that is what makes PRs so very special! And as a competitive female I need to be very careful that I don't rate myself by my PRs. My worth as a runner and a female are not tied up into my race times. And most certainly not by what my Garmin tells me on any given day. I am a strong woman and a tough little runner. And trust me when I say on the days I bring my best to the line, I don't give two shits what the garmin or the race clock says :) But right now when I am building fitness and setting goals, I like to know about what ball park I am in!
Right now any races I do are serving as a direct feedback into where my fitness is at and that plays into my coaches decisions on my training and what I am capable of. Sure I am also using these to practice my mental tenacity and to get my racing legs back under me, but mostly these are reality checks right now. I know how to race, I know I will race well, so the clock time is important feedback to tell me where I am at and what reasonable goals I should be making in the near future and for this year.
How does that apply to my reports as they were written? Well I made it clear that I believe neither course was legit. I'll give the 5k a waiver of doubt and say it was probably pretty close, close enough for me to be confident that my 5k fitness is at least where it was the last time I raced a 5k, and perhaps a little better. But it was definitely not a fitness breakthrough (though there was a nice mental breakthrough for me!) and I don't feel comfortable calling it my PR (How I wish I would have raced on the track that day!!!).
The 5 mile on the other hand gives me no real indication of where I am at for that distance because it was significantly short and the course wasn't my kind of course. There were some rollers, a lot of downhill, and a significantly climbing mile, followed up by a fast downhill finish that was cut short.
Had I not wore the Garmin I possibly would have walked away from this race believing I was in 28:50 shape. There was no 4 mile marker and my pace the first 3 miles was fast, actually faster than the 5k I just ran (you'll have that when the first 3 miles are mostly downhill!), my effort was pretty high and I might have believed I held that third mile pace through the hill. But I did wear the garmin and while it may be a little inaccurate, that 4th mile was nowhere close to the 5:46 I would have had to run to make my finish time legit. It was around 6:37 kids, so yeah, that fourth mile was TOUGH! I run marathons faster than that pace.
Point being thanks to my garmin (and every other garmin map online, and every fast runner without a garmin who knows what they are currently capable of) I know what I was capable of running for about 4.8-4.85 miles on that course. And it wasn't the pace I wanted :) I was hoping my fitness was a little higher right now. Had I not wore the Garmin I might have believed I ran 5 at that pace and coach may have bumped up my workouts this week and I can assure you I would not have hit the paces, I would have fallen off, and I would have been frustrated. Hell as my log shows I didn't even hit the paces I was assigned this week :)
The garmin is certainly not the end all be all when it comes to races or workouts. I raced hard at both of the above mentioned events, and I competed at pretty much the same level at both. They were nice efforts on tough courses. But they weren't fitness breakthroughs yet, these races put me solidly where I left off before the injury woes of last year and training still isn't quite back up to where it was at its height. And that is where the Garmin is handy, it is a good indicator of whether or not a course is what it says it is and on making sure I base my workouts off of my real current fitness. It says nothing about the course that day, the conditions I ran in, about the field I raced, or how hard I worked on any given day, it just gives me relatively consistent feedback that I can compare to all of my other efforts to ensure I am training properly and continue to get faster without going back down the injury rabbit hole.
I decided at some point last year that I would not base my personal bests on race times any more. I can honestly tell you Philadelphia was the best marathon I have ever run. I worked harder that race than I ever worked to get to that line and though it was not a PR it was clearly my best effort and result. I honestly believe had I been on a course more my style that day I could have PR'ed, but my PR is still 2:49:53 :)
My best 5k to date was actually one of my slower ones last year. I ran the Hyde Park Blast and got my ass handed to me by all the fast chicks in the state, but I ran as hard as I could that day in those conditions all the way to the line. I can tell you I worked harder in that 5k than any other and if it had been flat and cool most certainly it would have been a PR kind of day. But the truth is every day is not a PR kind of day and that is what makes PRs so very special! And as a competitive female I need to be very careful that I don't rate myself by my PRs. My worth as a runner and a female are not tied up into my race times. And most certainly not by what my Garmin tells me on any given day. I am a strong woman and a tough little runner. And trust me when I say on the days I bring my best to the line, I don't give two shits what the garmin or the race clock says :) But right now when I am building fitness and setting goals, I like to know about what ball park I am in!
Wishing I was Superwoman Tempo
One of these days I will learn some lessons about tempos. Today was not that day :)
The workout on tap really didn't seem too hard. We've been doing 8 mile tempos for a few weeks and last weeks 8 at 6:25 was pretty relaxed. So today's 6 starting at 6:50 and getting down to 6:00 seemed like a pretty doable challenge.
And here is where we impart some wisdom for ourselves to learn from.
1) I am always a bit tired on Thursdays. Paces that feel easy on Sunday are challenging on Thursday. This is the way it has always been for me, and despite the new found happiness and change of attitude it hasn't changed. I am still a bit tired and rundown on Thursdays.
2) Given #1 I should learn to set myself up for success on my tempos. This would mean running a course that is not as challenging the second half as the first or running with the right people to help pace. Instead I seem to set myself up for failure quite often in the hopes that it will somehow make me tougher if I succeed despite the added challenges.
3) It is windy in Cleveland and that wind is almost always coming from the west.
4) When it is that windy stop targeting the paces and target the effort. It is near impossible to run certain paces into the Marginal wind on the best of days, let alone on Thursdays!
All that said here is how it played out :)
6:34.20 (This was laughably easy, I was holding a very animated conversation and not working hard at all, this should have been a sign of what was to come!)
6:37.23
6:30.28
6:19.62
0.51 at 6:19 pace
I was absolutely wiped out at this point and falling way off pace so I took a 2:30 jog to recover and then ignored the watch and just ran hard for 1.5
6:29.65
0.50 at 6:08 pace (This was downhill assisted and extremely painful, absolutely wasted at the end)
All in all, not bad, wish I would have stopped looking at the watch after the 4th mile and just went by effort so I could have backed it off a bit and not taken the break. I for some reason discount the wind while I am in the heat of the tempo and start wondering if I am dealing with exhaustion or being a pansy etc. I need to give myself more credit than that and chalk it up to reality, it was really windy and it juiced me, end of story.
Next time I run a progression run in Cleveland mark my words I will not run East on the way out no matter how tempting it is to have company! Solo would have been better today and running with the wind at my back on the back half would have been a fun bolster whereas dieing into the wind on the way back was just a suffer fest!
The workout on tap really didn't seem too hard. We've been doing 8 mile tempos for a few weeks and last weeks 8 at 6:25 was pretty relaxed. So today's 6 starting at 6:50 and getting down to 6:00 seemed like a pretty doable challenge.
And here is where we impart some wisdom for ourselves to learn from.
1) I am always a bit tired on Thursdays. Paces that feel easy on Sunday are challenging on Thursday. This is the way it has always been for me, and despite the new found happiness and change of attitude it hasn't changed. I am still a bit tired and rundown on Thursdays.
2) Given #1 I should learn to set myself up for success on my tempos. This would mean running a course that is not as challenging the second half as the first or running with the right people to help pace. Instead I seem to set myself up for failure quite often in the hopes that it will somehow make me tougher if I succeed despite the added challenges.
3) It is windy in Cleveland and that wind is almost always coming from the west.
4) When it is that windy stop targeting the paces and target the effort. It is near impossible to run certain paces into the Marginal wind on the best of days, let alone on Thursdays!
All that said here is how it played out :)
6:34.20 (This was laughably easy, I was holding a very animated conversation and not working hard at all, this should have been a sign of what was to come!)
6:37.23
6:30.28
6:19.62
0.51 at 6:19 pace
I was absolutely wiped out at this point and falling way off pace so I took a 2:30 jog to recover and then ignored the watch and just ran hard for 1.5
6:29.65
0.50 at 6:08 pace (This was downhill assisted and extremely painful, absolutely wasted at the end)
All in all, not bad, wish I would have stopped looking at the watch after the 4th mile and just went by effort so I could have backed it off a bit and not taken the break. I for some reason discount the wind while I am in the heat of the tempo and start wondering if I am dealing with exhaustion or being a pansy etc. I need to give myself more credit than that and chalk it up to reality, it was really windy and it juiced me, end of story.
Next time I run a progression run in Cleveland mark my words I will not run East on the way out no matter how tempting it is to have company! Solo would have been better today and running with the wind at my back on the back half would have been a fun bolster whereas dieing into the wind on the way back was just a suffer fest!
Age of Adz
Another band that Runsonbeer turned me onto, I have been seriously grooving to some Sufjan Stevens the past few weeks. I am not sure what it is that draws me to this song, but I cannot get it out of my head :) Check it out. Bummed there wasn't some rad video for this, it should have a rad video for sure!
1600s!
Well this workout has become a staple of Coach Glenn's. 5*1600 at 10k effort with 90 second rests.
Tonight I wasn't really feeling it, I can't lie :) Felt really exhausted yesterday and just didn't have that extra gear tonight. Pretty amazed I managed to tackle the first 3 repeats on pace, disappointed with my lackluster 4th repeat, but managed to rally a hair and at least salvage a sub 6 the 5th by ignoring the watch and running an honest hard effort for whatever it was! Not sure but I think had coach been there he probably would have pulled me after the 4th mile, I was just feeling a bit toasted tonight.
I've nailed this workout in the past, and I have also blown up big time, so I will call tonight a wash. Would have liked to have kept that 4th repeat faster, but given just two weeks ago I barely did 8*800 at 2:52s, doing 5*1600 tonight close to that same pace is good enough for me :) Let's hope I am perkier next week though!
5:50.87 (90.76)
5:49.46 (90.86)
5:49.54 (91.25)
6:04.60 (90.86)
5:56.58
Tonight I wasn't really feeling it, I can't lie :) Felt really exhausted yesterday and just didn't have that extra gear tonight. Pretty amazed I managed to tackle the first 3 repeats on pace, disappointed with my lackluster 4th repeat, but managed to rally a hair and at least salvage a sub 6 the 5th by ignoring the watch and running an honest hard effort for whatever it was! Not sure but I think had coach been there he probably would have pulled me after the 4th mile, I was just feeling a bit toasted tonight.
I've nailed this workout in the past, and I have also blown up big time, so I will call tonight a wash. Would have liked to have kept that 4th repeat faster, but given just two weeks ago I barely did 8*800 at 2:52s, doing 5*1600 tonight close to that same pace is good enough for me :) Let's hope I am perkier next week though!
5:50.87 (90.76)
5:49.46 (90.86)
5:49.54 (91.25)
6:04.60 (90.86)
5:56.58
A Tale of Two Road Races
Blog slacker alert alert alert. Yes it has been weeks since I have posted a race report and I have indeed toed the line in three races and did indeed race two of them while training through a third.
Let's finally post about the two I raced!
It's spring, I am recovering from some injuries and some over training and some life stuff. So expectations were not very high for anything special. Hence coach told me to skip the indoor track scene and head to the roads. (Despite my expressed wishes to race on the track!)
For my first rust buster I toed the line at an old race I used to do way back when it was run on the west side! The Chili Bowl 5k* (~3.09 on the garmin)!
I went into the race knowing it would be pretty low key, so I was quite surprised (pleasantly) to find there were a few ringers there in the women's field and I would actually have to work for a win if I wanted one. I was fired up and found that once we headed out I did, indeed, want to win! Not only that but I found myself seeing a clock time not previously seen for a 5 k. Realistically I know it wasn't a real PR, but it was pretty darn close and given the previously mentioned status I was elated with the performance.
I took it out pretty casual and sat behind my friend Payton who kicked my butt at last years Ohio City Bar Crawl 5k (also short). He is pretty steady and I knew I couldn't be trusted to behave the first mile so I used him as my rabbit. My boyfriend was right there with Payton and I chided him at the mile "What are you doing up here boyfriend?" He did indeed back off a hair and I pushed ahead of both the guys during a flat out and back second mile. The third mile has a nice climb and some wind as you head back into the city. I definitely lost some ground on the uphill and with about a half mile to go thought to myself that I may have tapped the well too early. But something clicked and I just decided that no, there was more in there, and I was going to find it. I knew I had a good chance to run a decent time and that if I hammered I would win so I hauled ass to the finish. It felt great to have a small mental breakthrough and to run such a solid 5km so early in the season. (Garmin splits show the downhill, flat, uphill trend of the course 5:24, 5:50, 6:08, 26)
I was pretty much bouncing off the walls at the awards ceremony where I traded in my first place winnings of $10 to Fleet Feet for a coveted age group chili bowl with the race association after they ensured all the age groupers got their bowls. Funnily enough 2nd place female did the same as she is not a Fleet Feet runner it would be a little odd using that gift certificate. Hermes kindly let us trade our winning's for the fun chili bowls. I still stick to my stance that if a race is going to give awards, they should be awards you can use. As the winner of the Chili Bowl 5k, I most certainly wanted to take home a Chili Bowl not a rock that says first place, thankfully my boyfriend didn't have to sacrifice his age group award to appease my desire for the bowl. (Now I reserve the right to totally go against this statement when it comes to those Punxsutawney 50k rocks, that rock is one of my favorite awards and sits proudly in my garden!)
Next up was the St. Malachi 5 mile* (~4.84 on the Garmin)
For some reason I wasn't quite as fired up for this one despite similar perfect weather. It was a more competitive field and CED was out in force which made it fun, but I just didn't have that extra bit of fire on the back half of the course. Note this may have been mostly because it was uphill and I was alone, but no excuses, I probably could have eeked out 20-30 seconds had I just fired myself up a bit more those last 2 miles!
I may have taken it out a little hard. I sort of tested the waters hanging with the first 3 females for a half mile or so. 1 and 2 pulled away quickly and I stuck as close to 3rd as I felt was reasonable. All three women have kicked my butt in 5 mile races before, but the hope is always that you will get closer every time! Somehow I managed to get myself into no mans land after the hairpin turn around 2.5 miles. It wasn't too bad as I ran around the stadium because there were plenty of cheers from friends making their way to the turn, but once I headed up the dreaded hill behind the Browns stadium things started to get tough. I finally lost sight of 3rd as she rounded the corner and from there I honestly wasn't even sure if I was going the right way. We headed under the highway ramp and down into the flats and 3rd had a major gap on me despite trying to force myself to rally on the downhill.
I never saw the 4 mile mark and glanced at the garmin to see a depressing average pace and even without doing the math I knew a PR was out of the question at that point. We made our way up the west 10th hill and then a sharp right onto the bridge, I was losing steam fast but finally two guys caught me and I rallied and paced with them over the crest of the hill and started to hammer past them on the downhill as hard as I could. Made the final turn thinking there had to be a good ways to go but saw the clock and sprinted in and was caught completely off guard as three guys blew by me at the finish. The clock time made absolutely no sense and sure enough my garmin had 4.84 miles (Splits: 5:37, 5:37, 5:50, 6:37 ouch!, 5:09). I was pretty peeved as my time would have been slower than I wanted and being a new course I really didn't have anything to compare the effort with. I was a bit consoled when most of my friends admitted to that 4th mile being abysmally slow. But I would have loved to have had a bit of extra juice to either cling to 3rd for longer or to have had the mental wherewithal to push a little harder on my own that 4th and 5th mile!
Though the course was short and tough the after party was tons of fun! (To be quite honest I usually just come to this race to cheer and party!) SERC and CED all did very nicely for the first real road racers race of the season!
*These races are not certified and both were short. The 5k was close according to the semi trusted Garmin, the 5 mile was not even in the ball park. I am looking forward to finding either a track 5k or a certified 5 mile road race to run this year and really test out the legs :) I am so ready for some legit PRs!
Let's finally post about the two I raced!
It's spring, I am recovering from some injuries and some over training and some life stuff. So expectations were not very high for anything special. Hence coach told me to skip the indoor track scene and head to the roads. (Despite my expressed wishes to race on the track!)
For my first rust buster I toed the line at an old race I used to do way back when it was run on the west side! The Chili Bowl 5k* (~3.09 on the garmin)!
I went into the race knowing it would be pretty low key, so I was quite surprised (pleasantly) to find there were a few ringers there in the women's field and I would actually have to work for a win if I wanted one. I was fired up and found that once we headed out I did, indeed, want to win! Not only that but I found myself seeing a clock time not previously seen for a 5 k. Realistically I know it wasn't a real PR, but it was pretty darn close and given the previously mentioned status I was elated with the performance.
I took it out pretty casual and sat behind my friend Payton who kicked my butt at last years Ohio City Bar Crawl 5k (also short). He is pretty steady and I knew I couldn't be trusted to behave the first mile so I used him as my rabbit. My boyfriend was right there with Payton and I chided him at the mile "What are you doing up here boyfriend?" He did indeed back off a hair and I pushed ahead of both the guys during a flat out and back second mile. The third mile has a nice climb and some wind as you head back into the city. I definitely lost some ground on the uphill and with about a half mile to go thought to myself that I may have tapped the well too early. But something clicked and I just decided that no, there was more in there, and I was going to find it. I knew I had a good chance to run a decent time and that if I hammered I would win so I hauled ass to the finish. It felt great to have a small mental breakthrough and to run such a solid 5km so early in the season. (Garmin splits show the downhill, flat, uphill trend of the course 5:24, 5:50, 6:08, 26)
I was pretty much bouncing off the walls at the awards ceremony where I traded in my first place winnings of $10 to Fleet Feet for a coveted age group chili bowl with the race association after they ensured all the age groupers got their bowls. Funnily enough 2nd place female did the same as she is not a Fleet Feet runner it would be a little odd using that gift certificate. Hermes kindly let us trade our winning's for the fun chili bowls. I still stick to my stance that if a race is going to give awards, they should be awards you can use. As the winner of the Chili Bowl 5k, I most certainly wanted to take home a Chili Bowl not a rock that says first place, thankfully my boyfriend didn't have to sacrifice his age group award to appease my desire for the bowl. (Now I reserve the right to totally go against this statement when it comes to those Punxsutawney 50k rocks, that rock is one of my favorite awards and sits proudly in my garden!)
Next up was the St. Malachi 5 mile* (~4.84 on the Garmin)
For some reason I wasn't quite as fired up for this one despite similar perfect weather. It was a more competitive field and CED was out in force which made it fun, but I just didn't have that extra bit of fire on the back half of the course. Note this may have been mostly because it was uphill and I was alone, but no excuses, I probably could have eeked out 20-30 seconds had I just fired myself up a bit more those last 2 miles!
I may have taken it out a little hard. I sort of tested the waters hanging with the first 3 females for a half mile or so. 1 and 2 pulled away quickly and I stuck as close to 3rd as I felt was reasonable. All three women have kicked my butt in 5 mile races before, but the hope is always that you will get closer every time! Somehow I managed to get myself into no mans land after the hairpin turn around 2.5 miles. It wasn't too bad as I ran around the stadium because there were plenty of cheers from friends making their way to the turn, but once I headed up the dreaded hill behind the Browns stadium things started to get tough. I finally lost sight of 3rd as she rounded the corner and from there I honestly wasn't even sure if I was going the right way. We headed under the highway ramp and down into the flats and 3rd had a major gap on me despite trying to force myself to rally on the downhill.
I never saw the 4 mile mark and glanced at the garmin to see a depressing average pace and even without doing the math I knew a PR was out of the question at that point. We made our way up the west 10th hill and then a sharp right onto the bridge, I was losing steam fast but finally two guys caught me and I rallied and paced with them over the crest of the hill and started to hammer past them on the downhill as hard as I could. Made the final turn thinking there had to be a good ways to go but saw the clock and sprinted in and was caught completely off guard as three guys blew by me at the finish. The clock time made absolutely no sense and sure enough my garmin had 4.84 miles (Splits: 5:37, 5:37, 5:50, 6:37 ouch!, 5:09). I was pretty peeved as my time would have been slower than I wanted and being a new course I really didn't have anything to compare the effort with. I was a bit consoled when most of my friends admitted to that 4th mile being abysmally slow. But I would have loved to have had a bit of extra juice to either cling to 3rd for longer or to have had the mental wherewithal to push a little harder on my own that 4th and 5th mile!
Though the course was short and tough the after party was tons of fun! (To be quite honest I usually just come to this race to cheer and party!) SERC and CED all did very nicely for the first real road racers race of the season!
*These races are not certified and both were short. The 5k was close according to the semi trusted Garmin, the 5 mile was not even in the ball park. I am looking forward to finding either a track 5k or a certified 5 mile road race to run this year and really test out the legs :) I am so ready for some legit PRs!
Week 5 Rundown
Goals from the coach!
Total Mileage 70 - 75.
Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track. 2 sets of 8 x 400m @ 83 With 75 sec recovery, rest between sets 2 mins.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 8 miles @ 6:50, warmdown.
Weekend:
Saturday: St. Malachi 5 miler (10 miles total with warmup and warmdown)
16 miles @ 7:20
How it played out!
I ended up with 70 miles and I think one day of doubles. The long run was closer to 7:50 but we did the majority of it on trails which was a much needed reprieve from the roads!
A very brief swim and a hectic work week. I got in for ART and we really loosened up my lower back/hip/psoas junk. The left heel (knock on wood) seems to be getting better each day.
I ended up exhausted on Monday so I started off week 6 with a rest day and am hopeful that will be enough to bounce back into things here soon for another 70-75 mile week!
Total Mileage 70 - 75.
Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track. 2 sets of 8 x 400m @ 83 With 75 sec recovery, rest between sets 2 mins.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 8 miles @ 6:50, warmdown.
Weekend:
Saturday: St. Malachi 5 miler (10 miles total with warmup and warmdown)
16 miles @ 7:20
How it played out!
I ended up with 70 miles and I think one day of doubles. The long run was closer to 7:50 but we did the majority of it on trails which was a much needed reprieve from the roads!
A very brief swim and a hectic work week. I got in for ART and we really loosened up my lower back/hip/psoas junk. The left heel (knock on wood) seems to be getting better each day.
I ended up exhausted on Monday so I started off week 6 with a rest day and am hopeful that will be enough to bounce back into things here soon for another 70-75 mile week!
Tempo Recipe
How to ensure your easy tempo (due to a race this weekend) is as tough as possible!
1) Schedule it for 6:30 AM after a late night trail run
2) Eat burgers, fries and wings after that late night trail run
3) Top those off with two beers!
4) Decide an appetizer with goat cheese and raw veggies is just the thing to top all that off at around 10 pm
5) Choose a running locale with no bathrooms
Despite all that the run went pretty well. Got in 10 miles with my buddy MR who is up from Virginia and managed not to peel off into the woods.
Goal was 8 miles at 6:50 and all miles were between 6:20 and 6:53 likely averaging somewhere around 6:45ish.
Went it to see Tim post run and man was my left core out of whack! He loosened all those muscles up and I now longer feel crooked, now I have to follow that up with PT and fingers crossed I will remain that way!
1) Schedule it for 6:30 AM after a late night trail run
2) Eat burgers, fries and wings after that late night trail run
3) Top those off with two beers!
4) Decide an appetizer with goat cheese and raw veggies is just the thing to top all that off at around 10 pm
5) Choose a running locale with no bathrooms
Despite all that the run went pretty well. Got in 10 miles with my buddy MR who is up from Virginia and managed not to peel off into the woods.
Goal was 8 miles at 6:50 and all miles were between 6:20 and 6:53 likely averaging somewhere around 6:45ish.
Went it to see Tim post run and man was my left core out of whack! He loosened all those muscles up and I now longer feel crooked, now I have to follow that up with PT and fingers crossed I will remain that way!
We Will Become Silhouettes
I actually wanted to post up Sleeping In today and it would have been ironic seeing as I was up at 5:30 am and running after a late night track workout last night, but this is an equally good song by Postal Service (my fave is Such Great Heights as previously mentioned many times) and it has an official video whereas Sleeping In does not appear to!
Quarters
Last night I ended up indoors though the goal was to get outside for these. Trying to workout on a track after working all day in downtown Cleveland just leads to stress most Tuesdays for me. Last night was a combination of stress from being a female, leaving work during rush hour (which is never a good idea) and feeling rushed to get the workout done. But somehow as always it did indeed get done.
Literally went to the outdoor track and got out of the car and decided it was too windy and cold and that combo plus it getting dark wasn't going to fly. So we warmed up outside then headed inside to do the workout. Despite getting locked out of the track and being "this close" to tears at that point my awesome boyfriend did manage to get in and let me into the track. I got started on the strides right away while he (yes for real) "played in the sandbox." Apparently I was not in a jovial mood as I did not even notice. Kudos for trying to calm me down though.
I had 2 sets of 8 quarters at 83 with 75 second rests and 2:00 between the sets. Everything went pretty smoothly. BF jumped in on a few for the whole thing, paced my first 200 for a few, and timed me for the rest of them. It was good to have someone to be accountable to after having done these solo for the past few weeks. I'm looking forward to getting outside though, the tight turns combined with the lunar racers had my toes/feet a little cranky by the end despite changing direction every 4 quarters.
Literally went to the outdoor track and got out of the car and decided it was too windy and cold and that combo plus it getting dark wasn't going to fly. So we warmed up outside then headed inside to do the workout. Despite getting locked out of the track and being "this close" to tears at that point my awesome boyfriend did manage to get in and let me into the track. I got started on the strides right away while he (yes for real) "played in the sandbox." Apparently I was not in a jovial mood as I did not even notice. Kudos for trying to calm me down though.
I had 2 sets of 8 quarters at 83 with 75 second rests and 2:00 between the sets. Everything went pretty smoothly. BF jumped in on a few for the whole thing, paced my first 200 for a few, and timed me for the rest of them. It was good to have someone to be accountable to after having done these solo for the past few weeks. I'm looking forward to getting outside though, the tight turns combined with the lunar racers had my toes/feet a little cranky by the end despite changing direction every 4 quarters.
| Set | Distance/Time | Goal | Actual | Rep rest |
| 1 | 400 Meters | 83 | 79.8 | 75 |
| 2 | 400 Meters | 83 | 80.88 | 75 |
| 3 | 400 Meters | 83 | 80.83 | 75 |
| 4 | 400 Meters | 83 | 83.93 | 75 |
| 5 | 400 Meters | 83 | 81.96 | 75 |
| 6 | 400 Meters | 83 | 84.70 | 75 |
| 7 | 400 Meters | 83 | 82.41 | 75 |
| 8 | 400 Meters | 83 | 80.33 | 2:00 |
| 9 | 400 Meters | 83 | 81.99 | 75 |
| 10 | 400 Meters | 83 | 81.85 | 75 |
| 11 | 400 Meters | 83 | 81.35 | 75 |
| 12 | 400 Meters | 83 | 82.82 | 75 |
| 13 | 400 Meters | 83 | 81.52 | 75 |
| 14 | 400 Meters | 83 | 80.83 | 75 |
| 15 | 400 Meters | 83 | 81.04 | 75 |
| 16 | 400 Meters | 83 | 78.72 | 75 |
Week 4 Rundown
Playing blog catch up!!! I feel like the rabbit in Alice and Wonderland these days for sure.
Last week went well! I definitely needed the ART session and the massage session to get things back in order but the body (knock on wood) seems to be responding well and I am fortunate to be a part of CED and able to get in for these ART sessions when I need to without worrying about budget!
Goals were:
Total Mileage 70 - 75.
Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track, 8 x 800 @ 2:50(85) with 85 sec recovery, 3 mins, 4 x 200 @ 38
with 90 sec recovery.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:20 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 8 miles @ 6:25 , warmdown.
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:00
16 miles @ 7:25
How it played out:
2 doubles
74 miles
Monday-3 easy
Tuesday-9 with track
Wednesday-double- 5.5 and 6.5 easy
Thursday-11 with tempo with NC
Friday- double- 3 easy with strides, 4 easy, shortened pt routine
Saturday- 12 at 7:01 with CED teammate Lizzie, easy 10 minute swim and some hot tub and steam room time to try and release some back tension
Sunday- 16 at 7ish plus 4 easy at the Mill Creek Classic
I need to get back to making the PT a priority and will be getting in to see Ed as soon as work life settles down! I could feel my left side getting weaker without the daily routine the last two weeks.
Last week went well! I definitely needed the ART session and the massage session to get things back in order but the body (knock on wood) seems to be responding well and I am fortunate to be a part of CED and able to get in for these ART sessions when I need to without worrying about budget!
Goals were:
Total Mileage 70 - 75.
Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track, 8 x 800 @ 2:50(85) with 85 sec recovery, 3 mins, 4 x 200 @ 38
with 90 sec recovery.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:20 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 8 miles @ 6:25 , warmdown.
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:00
16 miles @ 7:25
How it played out:
2 doubles
74 miles
Monday-3 easy
Tuesday-9 with track
Wednesday-double- 5.5 and 6.5 easy
Thursday-11 with tempo with NC
Friday- double- 3 easy with strides, 4 easy, shortened pt routine
Saturday- 12 at 7:01 with CED teammate Lizzie, easy 10 minute swim and some hot tub and steam room time to try and release some back tension
Sunday- 16 at 7ish plus 4 easy at the Mill Creek Classic
I need to get back to making the PT a priority and will be getting in to see Ed as soon as work life settles down! I could feel my left side getting weaker without the daily routine the last two weeks.
Thursdays=Tempo
I think I can finally start calling these Thursday workouts a tempo effort again. This one certainly felt like it :) Goal was 8 miles at 6:25. I thankfully was able to meet up with NC as she is feeling a bit iron deficient and needed to back off the paces this week. I remember the good ole days when I was the dominant tempo-er in our little training pair :) These days she is off and running like a beast (Top Ohioan at the trials baby!) so it is rare I can actually do a a workout with her as I am recovering from injury and slowing getting back into things and she has been on that fast and steady progression into a top notch national caliber runner.
That all said never underestimate the power of a training partner for those hard efforts. Last night was so much easier mentally and physically with her on board. I had an extremely stressful day at work and I really had my doubts I had it in me to do any kind of workout, so it was a pleasant surprise to just roll out with NC and let her be in charge of pace while I just focused on chatting with her, catching up and trying to put a little fun into my day!
8 miles at an average of 6:22 pace later (with one brief bathroom stop at mile 3) I was feeling sooo much better about life! Funny how a good run can do that for you!
That all said never underestimate the power of a training partner for those hard efforts. Last night was so much easier mentally and physically with her on board. I had an extremely stressful day at work and I really had my doubts I had it in me to do any kind of workout, so it was a pleasant surprise to just roll out with NC and let her be in charge of pace while I just focused on chatting with her, catching up and trying to put a little fun into my day!
8 miles at an average of 6:22 pace later (with one brief bathroom stop at mile 3) I was feeling sooo much better about life! Funny how a good run can do that for you!
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