Blossom Time 5.25 2012

I knew this probably wasn’t going to be the breakthrough race it was for me two years ago and I was pretty confident it wouldn’t be as smooth as Chili Bowl and Boston this year. But I put on my racing flats and gave it a go :) You never know when you might get lucky!

It was hot on the warmup and I showed LJ and my boyfriend a bit of the course as this was their first Blossom. Noted that a few fast local women were there and made it the goal to stay as close to them as possible. It was muggy and hot, but not nearly as hot as it has been here the past few years.  I figured best case scenario was probably 5:55 pace for this one and more likely between that and 6:15 pace.

The first two miles of Blossom are mostly uphill and LJ and I managed to cruise through mile one easily in 6:05. I was pleasantly surprised by this and we were sitting in 3rd and 4th after getting by 3 or 4 other ladies who went out a bit faster. I pulled away from LJ in the second mile at some point and did my best to hold the gap between myself and 2nd. A bit before mile two you finally crest the hill and I instructed myself to pick up the turnover. I surprised myself with a 6:06 this mile which was actually better than 2 years ago. It certainly didn’t feel like I was flying, but it felt solid.

JS ran with me and helped me focus on 2nd place, at some point between 2 and 3 after catching a pack ahead of us he motioned that it was time to close the gap on 2nd, but my legs had no response. I was sitting steady in that 6-6:08 pace range and the legs weren’t going anywhere. I watched as JS easily caught the 2nd and 1st girls before picking up speed to get in a decent training day. I focused on trying to stay with the pack that included my friend JK hitting mile 3 in 6:08.

Mile 4 is tough, a lot of sun and you have a nasty climb towards the end of it. I focused on a few males this mile and hit 4 in 6:00 thanks to BD helping me push that incline before the end of the mile. After that it was mostly a survival to the finish. BD coached me to use my arms and encouraged me to do a  better job on the hills, I just had no fire.

I let three guys pass me that I normally would have been competitive with. I just didn’t have that extra “juice.” I knew I’d have to fight if I wanted to sneak in a PR and hitting mile 5 in 6:06 I was sure it was close but a little shy. That extra gear didn’t show up on the final kick and I managed to get to the finish in 31:54, over a minute behind 1st and 2nd! Ouch! But only 16 seconds slower than two years ago here.

Based on the way I felt I’m happy with it. It was a really even and solid effort. I’m glad I was able to keep the effort high despite being far out of contention and knowing a PR was not likely.  I’d like to think if 1st or 2nd had been closer I might have found some extra drive, but truthfully I was working hard out there. It just wasn’t one of those days where I felt “like a boss.” And both the gals that came in 1st and 2nd ran much faster than normal here. Kudos to them! I’ve got my work cut out for me this year!

Quarters

The past few weeks we have started doing the track workout a bit later which is great for me, less stress and I don't have to leave work before everyone else and feel guilty about it.

Last night was our staple quarters workout followed up by an 800. A bit less rest than usual but otherwise the norm. Goal was 85 though coach made it clear we should be faster based on the early groups results. Not my fastest quarter workout ever but it was solid and worlds better than I felt the past two weeks at the track. I'll take it!

Set	Reps	Distance/Time	Goal	Actual	Rep rest	Set rest
1	8	400  Meters	<85	82.12, 81.87, 82.03, 81.18, 82.47, 82.82, 82.02, 82.80	60	2:00
2	8	400  Meters	<85	83.40, 81.63, 81.97, 82.70, 82.63, 82.23, 82.19, 81.74	60	2:30
3	1	800  Meters	Hard	2:41.60

Run

Great song, great lyrics, it was about time for another Snow Patrol video ;)

Week # 4

Another week, another weekly rundown. This one was not stellar! My left calf tightened up significantly during Tuesday's track workout and a planned 70-75 miles turned into just shy of 30 with only one partial workout and one race.

No tempo, busted track workout, 2 days off, 4 runs, one ART session, one race, and one bike ride.

I'm probably a bit paranoid with the left calf, but I think erring on the side of safety for a little while may be smarter than forcing anything and ending up on the sidelines completely again!

Walking on a Dream

I think this may belong in the category of my "guilty pleasures" but I love this song and I imagine if I actually ran with music I would like running to this tune ;)

Track = Bust

Well last nights track workout was a bust. My left calf knotted itself up in a little ball that wouldn't let go and I decided to stop the workout rather than seeing if I could really make it angry. It was the right decision as it is sore today after icing and massage last night.

Goal was 2400 at 5:50 mile pace, 2:30 rest, 1600 at 5:45, 2:00 rest, 800 at 2:48, 2:30 rest, 1600 at 5:45

What happened was 2400 at 5:50 pace and then 1600 at 5:59 (first lap was on but then the foot/calf and lack of focus dragged the pace down) before deciding it wasn't in my best interest to force it anymore.

Blah! This whole tight calf/tight heel nonsense is getting old ;) If anyone is looking for me I'll be on the bike tonight wishing I was running and hoping a few days of cross training and PT will appease this darn left leg and get me back on the training wagon :)

Week 3 Rundown

Legs seem to be coming around. I felt perky for the first time in what seems like a long time this week thank goodness :) Perhaps due to adding back in nightly iron pills and OJ? Or maybe just finally getting recovered from the marathon effort.

Didn't quite hit the goal mileage this week but the mini vacation was a much needed trade :)

Goals for the week:
Total Mileage 70 - 75.

Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: 8 miles @ 6:35
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:00
15 miles @ 7:30

Actual:

63 miles, 8 runs (one double), no 15 miler (replaced with a 10 mile trail run in Hocking Hills Friday)
a few hours canoeing, 1 PT session, 1 massage, and an easy/short swim

Though not posted about the "tempo" went well. I felt sluggish warming up and thought it would be a bust so I just ignored the watch, ended up pretty much nailing it and finishing with a nice last mile around 6:08!

Track Ladders

The last time I did a similar workout I managed to rally and hit the paces. The last time I did that workout it also wasn't 85 degrees and a few weeks post marathon :)

The workout got modified a little bit and was 4 sets of 800, 600, 400 (82 seconds recovery, 80 seconds recovery, 2 minutes between sets) Goals were 2:50, 2:04, 80. The 600s were not even close and pretty much after the first set I just had to settle for effort, there just wasn't any more speed to be had in these legs last night! Good workout even if it was slow!

2:53.56
2:04.93
80.94

2:51.00
2:08.45
82.57

2:55.10
2:10.98
84.52

2:53.18
2:08.77
82.91

Ambling Alp

I like a lot of Yeasayer's stuff, unfortunately not many of the songs I like have a You Tube Video! But this one's pretty good :)

Week 2 Rundown

Pretty sure I angered the coach gods as my coach doesn't seem interested in a longer recovery period despite work screwing up last weeks training and me generally feeling lackluster. Goals for the week were:

Total Mileage 70.

Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday Thursday: 8 miles (6 @ 6:45, 2 @ 6:30)
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:10
16 miles @ 7:30

After slacking off Monday I decided to just suck it up and do the week despite not really feeling like myself yet. I got in the miles and the workouts but still not feeling perky. Quads are sore every day and my legs just feel tired. Hopefully working out all the junk here and moving back into the fun part of running soon!

 68 miles, 7 runs, one double, 1 ART session

6*6:45, 2*6:30

Ahh marathon recovery workouts, when long run paces become tempo paces, and they feel like it :) No matter how you slice it or what pace it is at I am finding an 8 mile tempo effort is a long one. Today went better than I anticipated, last night I could barely run 9 minute pace so I wasn't too optimistic about running 8 miles under 7. Thankfully the legs seemed ok and the paces weren't unbearable. But they definitely aren't as easy as they would have been a few weeks before Boston!

I had company for the first two and at least had some people to watch ahead of me for the next three but the last three were solo.

6:38.61
6:42.95
6:42.69
6:38.99
6:43.42
6:40.06
6:18.49
6:17.76

And with that I actually achieved two workouts this week :) We'll see how that recovery run tomorrow goes!

1200s

Another surprisingly speedy track workout on Tuesday while still not feeling quite right. I have no idea what it means, but I suppose it is better than a surprisingly slow track workout :)

5*1200 goal 4:15-4:19 with 2 minute rests. Nailed the first one and managed to hold it together for the rest thanks to the help of fellow CED teammate JS! If he hadn't been there I definitely would have fallen off, this was not one of those workouts where I felt light and speedy!

4:16.37
4:15.05
4:16.21
4:16.60
4:12.83

Now if I can line up a tempo and a decent long run too I will call it a good week. Just feeling a bit rundown and not sure if it is because of the crazy work schedule, a little less sleep, or motivation. To hedge my bets I'm going to take some iron and get some more sleep!

The Way I Am

Fun little feel good song and cute video concept by Ingrid Michaelson.

Week One (Of what???) Rundown

First planned week of workouts post Boston was a bust.

The coaches plan:

Total Mileage 60 - 65.

Monday: Easy.
Tuesday: Track.
Wednesday and Friday: Easy miles @ 7:40 or slower, 6 x 30 sec strides on Friday.
Thursday: warmup, 8 miles @ 6:50 miles,warmdown.
Weekend:
12 miles @ 7:10
16 miles @ 7:30.

What really happened:

42 miles over five runs (Friday and Saturday were spent working with no runs) and basically merged the tempo, 12 mile, and 16 mile runs into one 15 mile effort on Sunday. Not ideal! But that's life I suppose! Lots of late nights at work and not much sleep = not really recovering very well right now. Let's hope it is better this week!

No Tempo

I cannot remember the last time I let work get in the way of training but I find myself this week working day and night literally on a deliverable and the weeks workouts just aren't going to get done. Trying my best to just accept this as extra unplanned recovery, but I can't lie I want to get back to the training routine here soon! Let's hope this does not become the norm around here! I am not used to missing complete days of running just because I literally didn't have the time! Not this energetic girls style! Here's hoping I get this deliverable done and don't have to miss all the weekend workouts too! For those following along with the training the plan the workout was supposed to be 8 miles at 6:50 on Thursday! My hopes of getting it in on Friday were dashed and it isn't looking too promising for today either!

Nobody Knows Me At All

I defy you to watch this and not smile.

On the Track Again

As coaches email stated this week, the party is over and we are back to work. What? I want to keep partying! :(

Track workout went better than expected. Left heel is a little peeved, but nothing out of the ordinary for me this past year (seriously PF you can go away any time now!).

Easing back into workouts and goal was 2*800 with 2 minute rests, 4*400 with 80 second rests, and 8*200 with 200 jogged rests. Everything was a little faster than the goal and felt relatively smooth though it was definitely not easy.

2:53.42, 2:45.80
83.07, 81.85, 79.80, 78.33
38.57, 39.96, 39.08, 38.46, 38.40, 38.05, 37.91, 36.68

Weekly Rundown Week 2 Boston Recovery

After a week of no running I eased back into things starting Tuesday. Coaches orders were easy miles, total miles up to me. Not going to lie I really didn't feel very good on any of these runs. Tuesday night was ok, but the quads were still tender. Wednesday I forced myself out the door really quickly while dinner was cooking. Thursday I made the mistake of trying to self massage my tight glute which resulted in the entire run consisting of shooting pain down my left hamstring. Friday was better but not 100%. I took Saturday off and Sunday just did 30 minutes easy on the trails. Hopefully I am just working out the last of the marathon junk and the body is cranky from the forced rest. I'd like to start training again soon :)

27 miles running, 1600 meter swim, one ART session