Thursday night was the 3rd annual Twilight Trail 8k race. The past two years I have run this as a female team with Amie and we came in 2nd and then 1st last year. This year Amie is injured and since I was planning to race Perfect 10 I wasn't sure about doing Twilight Trail. I didn't want to pair up with anyone and hold them back since I knew I couldn't run myself into the ground. I have been training with NC the past few weeks and she asked if I would pair up with her. I decided she was fast enough that hopefully I wouldn't hold her back. Trails are usually my forte so I thought I could hold my own and help repeat the win.
Well we got to the race and there was a ton more people this year! Including a few new female teams that would definitely give us a run for our money. This event is special in that it has a staggered start based on age and sex and your final time is not your actual race time, but your staggered time. The race is for charity and in order to raise more money you can pay to move up one sex stagger. Last year I didn't pay and ended up running the fastest female split but coming in second because I started a minute behind the leader. Since we didn't know if the other teams were paying to move up we decided we better pay just in case they had, plus it is for charity. As a bonus moving up a stagger for us puts us in with the younger gals and gets rid of the backlog at the stream and hill that we would have to deal with if we started a minute later.
The race got off to a late start due to all the new faces. No worries this is a fun run mostly anyways. (As a side note if you have not done any of the clevelandplaysracing races this year you are missing out. Kate Pophal does a great job and these races are competitive but still lighthearted and fun and well run.) I decided to try and run with my partner as long as I could hold on. We took off and there was four of us together, Frank, NC, SAI, and me. SAI had a fantastic run at Muddy Paws so I figured she was in my league and that we could all work together. At the stream she started to take off the wrong way and the three of us start screaming right right right. She got back on track quickly and caught us shortly after the stream.
We headed up the monster hill and I tried to ease off the pace but in retrospect I should have eased off a bit more. We got to the top and my legs were toast. Apparently being on your feet all day at Cedar Point and doing a hard track workout on Tuesday equaled legs that were not up for long steep hills by Thursday. I did my best to try and catch back up to the group but never got my foothold.
The group passed a man running with his dog and I politely called out passing on the right. He didn't move so I called out again and he proceeded to ask me why I wanted to pass on the right. Frankly he was taking up the whole trail with his dog and I did not want to get tangled up in the leash, it wouldn't be hard for him to move an inch to his left while I don't think me communicating "on the left" to his dog was going to be very effective. I just said I was afraid of dogs to move things along, this is a freaking race after all and he proceeds to lecture me about how I need to get over that.
Whatever I passed on the right and tried to get my legs back. I am still a little irritated about this though. I know this guy and he is a nice guy has a very nice daughter, but if you are going to run with your dog in a race and someone asks you to let them pass you should be polite and let them do so. And even though I am not really afraid of his dog if I was that is a perfectly acceptable fear considering I have been jumped on by a dog while running and was left with bruises so big a guy at the gym thought it was a tattoo. And I also have many friends who were attacked by dogs while running. It is just natural for a dog to what to chase you, while most probably aren't a problem, you just never know how an animal may react to you. If I had just been out for a run I would have had time to ask if the dog was nice, give clearance etc, but this was a race situation and if you are being passed, dog or not, it is just polite to move over when someone requests it.
I lost a little ground on the group here and knew there was one more hill to deal with before I could get my legs back and try to catch up. I pushed through passing runners from the early staggered starts and cheering them on. I just never completely got my legs back. TM caught me about half way through and I couldn't get my legs to respond and go with her. I got excited before mile 3 thinking there would be water only to realize it was just a few kids cheering. They yelled out that they hoped I won, I said not likely. They replied that they believed in me. Too fun. Now if only my legs would believe it too!
I hammered the downhills down to Squire Castle and could see that NC had a huge lead on me and that SAI and Frank were a little ahead of her. I cheered for her as I made my way around the castle. Made the mistake of looking over my shoulder to find that a young guy and KG were coming up on my quickly. I know KG is faster than me, but having her pass me when I had a 60 second head start still isn't good for the ego. I tried to go with her, but just didn't have the juice. I knew I needed to hammer it in though in case her partner was right behind me. I also knew Frank was going to need to push as this young guy was coming up quickly. Frank is tough though and he held out for the win!
I did my best to hammer it in, thanking Kate for another great race as I made my way to the finish. Ended up running 34:55 compared to my 34:21 last year. Not bad but would have liked to have at least run the same time as last year given I am obviously in much better shape. But last year I was on the trails a lot and this year I have hardly run trails at all. In the end the effort was good enough for our team to pull out the win. Very glad I didn't hold my partner back, I would have felt bad if we lost because of me.
It was another fun night and I got in a good hard effort run which is the goal on Thursdays. Hung out with my friends chatting about the race after as they gave out awards. First place was good enough for $125 for our team. Not too bad for 35 minutes hard work. Finished things up with a beer and headed out to DQ for blizzards. A good way to end the night.
Once the race posts photos I will try to update with a few. Great job to NC and Frank! Daisy and GP also had a good team run! TM pulled out the female win again and ran much better than last year, girl is one tough cookie!
Elephant
Uggh I hate those moments in life where you realize you probably could have made a better choice and there isn't an ideal way to fix the issue so you just have to take the route you deem most appropriate and hope the fodder of it all has minimal impact on all those around you involved.
I should be celebrating a great race performance yesterday but instead there is a big elephant in the room so I am going to air that first and tomorrow or later in the week hopefully I will be able to write up a good race report that isn't tainted with controversy.
This weekend was the perfect 10 mile race. Coach had tasked me with a goal of running 65 minutes or 6:30 pace. That seemed aggressive to me but doable and although it was in my thoughts I didn't really have much time to plan or think about it because I was busy with a lot of other things last week. I didn't even know what time the race started or where it started until Saturday night around 9 pm when I called GP to find out if I could carpool with her on my way home from Michigan. Obviously I was not as prepared as normal for this but sometimes there are other important things going on that take precedent.
Keeping all that in mind I joked with my friend Thursday night that I could use his help pacing me on Sunday if he was willing to slow his roll a bit for me and wasn't intending to race all out. He said he would consider and I didn't think much about it after that, until I got to the line yesterday and he was there waiting to help me (I literally got to the line about 30 seconds before the start and had time for one stride and for coach to tell me to go out in the 6:20s and not freak out about it). I was there by a few of my fast girlfriends and I told them it looked like we could work with my pacer since he was there.
Little did I know we would all be vying for top places in the race and that having help may have been a factor in the results. I had no intentions of placing in this race and my only goal was to meet the time goal coach had set out for me. If I had any idea I could be in contention I never would have asked my friend to run with me and help me run my time.
Needless to say I ran very well and I have been wracked with guilt about it since. So today I emailed the race director and asked that they disqualify me and remove my name from the results. My only goal was to run a certain time and I really don't care about my place or prizes so this does not bother me at all. I just feel badly that I didn't think to do this directly after the race yesterday. And I also feel badly that any other runner may have let this affect their personal race as that was obviously not my intention.
On top of that I feel badly that I can't seem to relish in my good performance the way I should be able to. Pacer or not I ran well and worked very hard. I feel that performing well is a testament to my coach, my family, my friends, and my running club and I am sorry that I put myself in a position where I felt I had to take that away from myself and them.
Lesson learned. I am fast enough now that I can't run with friends anymore in order to achieve goal times, had I been a few minutes slower or had there been women there who ran a few minutes faster I would just be celebrating running a good race today instead of apologizing and trying to make amends. Now I know and won't put myself in that situation again.
I should be celebrating a great race performance yesterday but instead there is a big elephant in the room so I am going to air that first and tomorrow or later in the week hopefully I will be able to write up a good race report that isn't tainted with controversy.
This weekend was the perfect 10 mile race. Coach had tasked me with a goal of running 65 minutes or 6:30 pace. That seemed aggressive to me but doable and although it was in my thoughts I didn't really have much time to plan or think about it because I was busy with a lot of other things last week. I didn't even know what time the race started or where it started until Saturday night around 9 pm when I called GP to find out if I could carpool with her on my way home from Michigan. Obviously I was not as prepared as normal for this but sometimes there are other important things going on that take precedent.
Keeping all that in mind I joked with my friend Thursday night that I could use his help pacing me on Sunday if he was willing to slow his roll a bit for me and wasn't intending to race all out. He said he would consider and I didn't think much about it after that, until I got to the line yesterday and he was there waiting to help me (I literally got to the line about 30 seconds before the start and had time for one stride and for coach to tell me to go out in the 6:20s and not freak out about it). I was there by a few of my fast girlfriends and I told them it looked like we could work with my pacer since he was there.
Little did I know we would all be vying for top places in the race and that having help may have been a factor in the results. I had no intentions of placing in this race and my only goal was to meet the time goal coach had set out for me. If I had any idea I could be in contention I never would have asked my friend to run with me and help me run my time.
Needless to say I ran very well and I have been wracked with guilt about it since. So today I emailed the race director and asked that they disqualify me and remove my name from the results. My only goal was to run a certain time and I really don't care about my place or prizes so this does not bother me at all. I just feel badly that I didn't think to do this directly after the race yesterday. And I also feel badly that any other runner may have let this affect their personal race as that was obviously not my intention.
On top of that I feel badly that I can't seem to relish in my good performance the way I should be able to. Pacer or not I ran well and worked very hard. I feel that performing well is a testament to my coach, my family, my friends, and my running club and I am sorry that I put myself in a position where I felt I had to take that away from myself and them.
Lesson learned. I am fast enough now that I can't run with friends anymore in order to achieve goal times, had I been a few minutes slower or had there been women there who ran a few minutes faster I would just be celebrating running a good race today instead of apologizing and trying to make amends. Now I know and won't put myself in that situation again.
Week 14 with the Coach
Another light week due to the race on Sunday.
August 10th-16th 53 miles
Monday-4.7 miles easy on trails with Daisy before heading to Cedar Point
Tuesday- 7.5 miles including track workout
Wednesday-8 miles easy with Daisy
Thursday-9 miles with Twilight Trail 8K (report to come)
Friday-4.4 miles easy (supposed to do 6-7 but just not enough time)
Saturday- 4 miles easy with Dad on his bike
Sunday- Perfect 10 miler (report to come) plus 2 mile warm up and 3 mile cool down
Only one key "workout" this week since I ran the Twilight Trail 8K Thursday and the Perfect 10 miler Sunday. I was whipped most of the week from Cedar Point and female issues. Sunday after the race I took two naps totaling over 4 hours. I was just beat.
Track-
Ran 4*1200 aiming for 4:35, 4:30, 4:25, 4:20
This workout was tough and almost met the goals but not quite, just couldn't get it done despite the 3 minute rests.
4:36.09 (2:59.98)
4:29.06 (3:02.62)
4:24.18 (3:03.01)
4:23.39
August 10th-16th 53 miles
Monday-4.7 miles easy on trails with Daisy before heading to Cedar Point
Tuesday- 7.5 miles including track workout
Wednesday-8 miles easy with Daisy
Thursday-9 miles with Twilight Trail 8K (report to come)
Friday-4.4 miles easy (supposed to do 6-7 but just not enough time)
Saturday- 4 miles easy with Dad on his bike
Sunday- Perfect 10 miler (report to come) plus 2 mile warm up and 3 mile cool down
Only one key "workout" this week since I ran the Twilight Trail 8K Thursday and the Perfect 10 miler Sunday. I was whipped most of the week from Cedar Point and female issues. Sunday after the race I took two naps totaling over 4 hours. I was just beat.
Track-
Ran 4*1200 aiming for 4:35, 4:30, 4:25, 4:20
This workout was tough and almost met the goals but not quite, just couldn't get it done despite the 3 minute rests.
4:36.09 (2:59.98)
4:29.06 (3:02.62)
4:24.18 (3:03.01)
4:23.39
Week 13 of coached training
Followed up last weeks low mileage week with a bit more mileage this time around. Mostly due to getting in a medium long run Monday (guilt of no weekend running) and the first 20 miler to get ready for Columbus (and pacing at Akron). Had a good hard effort on Tuesday and Thursday and despite majorly tired legs had a nice 20 mile effort.
Monday August 3rd through Sunday August 9th-74 miles
Monday- 12.5 easy 8:26 pace
Tuesday- am: 6 Easy pm: Track 7 miles
Wednesday- 6.5 easy 8:11 pace
Thursday- 9.5 miles with tempo
Friday- 6 easy 8:47 pace
Saturday- 20 miles 8:13 pace
Sunday- 6.5 recovery 8:40 pace
Key Workouts:
Track:
Coach had a mile time trial on tap plus 2*800 and 4*400. Don't think I got in quite enough of a warm up but managed to PR the mile time trial in 5:35.2. Took it out way too fast trying to chase my "pacers" in 80 and 81 and finished it out with 88 and 86. paced BB on her final lap of her TT in 94 then we did our workout aiming for under 3 on the 800s and under 85 on the quarters.
2*800
2:58.95 (2:31.45)
2:58.44 (2:33.87)
4*400
1:24.93(1:59.59)
1:21.59 (2:00.22)
1:21.80 (2:04.25)
1:19.04
Tempo:
Ran this one with NC at NC, aiming for 6:52ish with the last mile the fastest (ended up going for most effort as we ran a little too fast most of the workout) for 7 miles. Either the mile markers are a wee bit short on some of these or it was just a nice night and easier to run with company. We did out and back 2.5 than out 1.5 and back 0.5. The first, 4th, and 5th mile are pretty rolling so I was surprised at how well we did those.
06:41.1
06:53.6
06:31.0
06:37.4
06:34.8
06:41.3
06:38.3
Total 46:37.5
Long Run:
Took it a bit easier and ran with company. We decided to run from NC on the roads and did a very hilly route with three significant killer climbs. The last two miles we picked it up aiming for 7:20s but went a little fast in 7:10 and 6:54. The hills were zapping my already tired legs early in the run but around mile 17 on the last large hill I finally found my groove. I felt really strong the last two miles like I could have kept up the effort for at least a few more. Finally starting to feel like a marathoner again!
Monday August 3rd through Sunday August 9th-74 miles
Monday- 12.5 easy 8:26 pace
Tuesday- am: 6 Easy pm: Track 7 miles
Wednesday- 6.5 easy 8:11 pace
Thursday- 9.5 miles with tempo
Friday- 6 easy 8:47 pace
Saturday- 20 miles 8:13 pace
Sunday- 6.5 recovery 8:40 pace
Key Workouts:
Track:
Coach had a mile time trial on tap plus 2*800 and 4*400. Don't think I got in quite enough of a warm up but managed to PR the mile time trial in 5:35.2. Took it out way too fast trying to chase my "pacers" in 80 and 81 and finished it out with 88 and 86. paced BB on her final lap of her TT in 94 then we did our workout aiming for under 3 on the 800s and under 85 on the quarters.
2*800
2:58.95 (2:31.45)
2:58.44 (2:33.87)
4*400
1:24.93(1:59.59)
1:21.59 (2:00.22)
1:21.80 (2:04.25)
1:19.04
Tempo:
Ran this one with NC at NC, aiming for 6:52ish with the last mile the fastest (ended up going for most effort as we ran a little too fast most of the workout) for 7 miles. Either the mile markers are a wee bit short on some of these or it was just a nice night and easier to run with company. We did out and back 2.5 than out 1.5 and back 0.5. The first, 4th, and 5th mile are pretty rolling so I was surprised at how well we did those.
06:41.1
06:53.6
06:31.0
06:37.4
06:34.8
06:41.3
06:38.3
Total 46:37.5
Long Run:
Took it a bit easier and ran with company. We decided to run from NC on the roads and did a very hilly route with three significant killer climbs. The last two miles we picked it up aiming for 7:20s but went a little fast in 7:10 and 6:54. The hills were zapping my already tired legs early in the run but around mile 17 on the last large hill I finally found my groove. I felt really strong the last two miles like I could have kept up the effort for at least a few more. Finally starting to feel like a marathoner again!
Upcoming Events
I just realized I really haven't posted anywhere about my specific racing plans for the year. This is partially due to the fact that my training isn't really geared towards one event right now, but mostly because I have been swamped. The goal of my coach right now is to get me faster at all distances, and while I have a goal marathon this October and a current goal time, that time isn't set in stone and the real goals lie a few years down the road. Everything I am doing right now is really just a building block for future marathon performances in a few years.
With that said my goal marathon this year is Columbus. I'm looking forward to racing a flat marathon again and with all of the recent PRs I am hoping to raise the bar quite a bit on my marathon performance.
In the meantime though I will be busy training, pacing, and racing the next 10 weeks until Columbus.
This week I am racing Twilight Trail with my new training partner NC. I won't be running all out, just treating it like a hard tempo.
This Sunday (August 16th) I will be racing the Perfect 10 Mile. I'd like to take the PR up a level. I have PR'ed every distance run so far this year, but they are all pretty much in line with each other. It would be nice for the 10 mile to step it up a notch.
August 30th I am pacing the 1:40 group at the Columbus Spirit Half Marathon
September 13th I am racing the Buckeye Half Marathon
September 19th I am pacing the 1:40 half marathon group at Air Force Marathon
September 26th I am pacing the 3:40 marathon group at Akron Road Runner Marathon
Not much time between all of that so pretty much every weekend I am not pacing or racing I am getting in a 20 miler. It will be a busy 10 weeks for sure!
With that said my goal marathon this year is Columbus. I'm looking forward to racing a flat marathon again and with all of the recent PRs I am hoping to raise the bar quite a bit on my marathon performance.
In the meantime though I will be busy training, pacing, and racing the next 10 weeks until Columbus.
This week I am racing Twilight Trail with my new training partner NC. I won't be running all out, just treating it like a hard tempo.
This Sunday (August 16th) I will be racing the Perfect 10 Mile. I'd like to take the PR up a level. I have PR'ed every distance run so far this year, but they are all pretty much in line with each other. It would be nice for the 10 mile to step it up a notch.
August 30th I am pacing the 1:40 group at the Columbus Spirit Half Marathon
September 13th I am racing the Buckeye Half Marathon
September 19th I am pacing the 1:40 half marathon group at Air Force Marathon
September 26th I am pacing the 3:40 marathon group at Akron Road Runner Marathon
Not much time between all of that so pretty much every weekend I am not pacing or racing I am getting in a 20 miler. It will be a busy 10 weeks for sure!
Week 12 (A lighter week on the running front)
As is becoming the norm for this time of year I headed up an aid station for the Burning River 100 mile race on Saturday August 1st. This resulted in no runs for the entire weekend, I was just exhausted, and despite two days off running (after 31 straight days of runs, my first month streak) my legs are toast. Apparently being on your feet from 8 am to 1:30 am is still hard work. So the mileage was light, but still some quality days. Track workout was tough, no company this week, but tempo went great.
Monday July 27th through August 2nd
42 miles for the week
Monday: 6 miles easy, 8:40 pace
Tuesday: AM 4 miles easy, PM Track 8 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles easy, 8:30 pace
Thursday: 10.75 miles with tempo
Friday: 6.5 miles easy, 8:40 pace
Saturday: Push mowed lawn at 8 am, worked aid station from 10 am to midnight, tore down course markings and hiked 4.1 miles until about 2 am.
Sunday: Rest
Key Workouts:
Track:
Short fast stuff, not my forte. It was windy and I struggled with the quarters. We were aiming for low 80s, but when you run the first 200 in 43 into the wind every time, that is really freaking tough to do. Going to start focusing on getting my knees up, incorporating some exercises into my regular routine to promote that.
workout:
4*200 jog/200 stride: quarter times (200 stride)(1:42(?),1:45 (40),1:51 (42), 1:51 (39))
400 EZ 4:43
8*400 with 100 jog/80 second rest
83.39 (84.83)
83.40 (86.96)
83.90 (81.17)
84.12 (80.98)
84.85 (80.22)
84.16 (81.64)
83.44 (82.03)
83.28 (49)
400 recovery 2:37
800 meters jog curves stride straights 3:41.04 approximate 100 stride times: (20,19,20,19)
Tempo:
Borrowed GPs Garmin for this one, just too complicated to hit these paces on my own on the road. Nailed the workout, very happy with the effort.
1.22 miles warm up easy
3 miles aiming for 7:10, 6:40, 6:40
7:10.66
6:43.09
6:36.32
2:03 rest/jog
2 miles aiming for 6:40 on both
6:37.73
6:36.14
2:04 rest/jog
3 miles aiming for 6:40, 6:40, 7:10
6:38.45
6:40.88
7:06.27
1.16 miles easy cool down
Monday July 27th through August 2nd
42 miles for the week
Monday: 6 miles easy, 8:40 pace
Tuesday: AM 4 miles easy, PM Track 8 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles easy, 8:30 pace
Thursday: 10.75 miles with tempo
Friday: 6.5 miles easy, 8:40 pace
Saturday: Push mowed lawn at 8 am, worked aid station from 10 am to midnight, tore down course markings and hiked 4.1 miles until about 2 am.
Sunday: Rest
Key Workouts:
Track:
Short fast stuff, not my forte. It was windy and I struggled with the quarters. We were aiming for low 80s, but when you run the first 200 in 43 into the wind every time, that is really freaking tough to do. Going to start focusing on getting my knees up, incorporating some exercises into my regular routine to promote that.
workout:
4*200 jog/200 stride: quarter times (200 stride)(1:42(?),1:45 (40),1:51 (42), 1:51 (39))
400 EZ 4:43
8*400 with 100 jog/80 second rest
83.39 (84.83)
83.40 (86.96)
83.90 (81.17)
84.12 (80.98)
84.85 (80.22)
84.16 (81.64)
83.44 (82.03)
83.28 (49)
400 recovery 2:37
800 meters jog curves stride straights 3:41.04 approximate 100 stride times: (20,19,20,19)
Tempo:
Borrowed GPs Garmin for this one, just too complicated to hit these paces on my own on the road. Nailed the workout, very happy with the effort.
1.22 miles warm up easy
3 miles aiming for 7:10, 6:40, 6:40
7:10.66
6:43.09
6:36.32
2:03 rest/jog
2 miles aiming for 6:40 on both
6:37.73
6:36.14
2:04 rest/jog
3 miles aiming for 6:40, 6:40, 7:10
6:38.45
6:40.88
7:06.27
1.16 miles easy cool down
11th Week of Coached Training
After a week of feeling somewhat sluggish this past week I felt fantastic up through Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday my quads were thrashed, but overall a great week.
65 miles for the week.
Monday: 8 miles EZ 8:15 pace
Tuesday: 8 miles track
Wednesday: 4 miles EZ treadmill
Thursday: 9.5 miles EZ 8:25 pace
Friday: 10 miles with 7 at Tempo
Saturday: 7.5 miles EZ 8:28 Pace
Sunday: 18 mile long run 7:57 pace
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Track:
Mile warm up: 7:50ish
4*100 strides
workout: 1600 aiming for 6 to 6:05 then each set faster pace for 1200, 800, 2*400, lap rest then mile at hard pace effort, not quite as fast as everything else.
1600: 5:56.60 (3:06.22)
1200: 4:23.89 (2:31.98)
800: 2:51.94 (2:04.53)
400: 1:22.90 (1:30.33)
400: 1:18.75 (2:44.27+1:05.41)
1600: 6:15.06
versus last time for the same workout (May 28th)
1600: 6:15.67 (3+ recovery)
1200: 4:35.77(3:23.79 recovery)
800: 2:58.59(2:42 recovery)
400: 1:26.02(1:54 recovery)
400: 1:22.46(4:28 recovery)
1600: 6:19.38
Yeehaw!
NC who came in 5th on Sunday at Johnnycake came and did the workout with me. It was so nice to have some company! Don't know if it was her influence, the good weather, or finally throwing on some lighter shoes, but I was in such a great groove for this workout.
Thursday Tempo:
Aiming for 7 miles at 49 minutes or faster.
Well I am definitely consistent. Ran the same course as the 7 a few weeks ago, and ended up with the exact same time, although it is getting a wee bit easier (and I even did the run at 6 am, which is killer for me). 48:41.6. Temps were good but the wind was tough on the 4th, 5th, and 7th miles.
Sunday Long Run:
My quads were thrashed after Friday's tempo and Saturdays easy run didn't flush all of that out. Hills were a little rough Sunday but overall my energy felt good and I was able to push the hills a little bit. Same pace as I have been holding for the 15 milers. I'm starting to feel like a marathon runner again now that the mileage is getting a bit higher and my long runs are going over 2 hours. I need to start waking up earlier for these because my stomach has become an issue late in the run lately.
Saturday Easy Run:
Not a key workout but it was a nice little change of pace for me. Headed to Chagrin Falls, ran some hills and trails with my SERC buddies and afterwards we had a picnic by the river with mimosas and cheese and crackers. What a great way to kick off the weekend!
Mimosa Toasting Great Running Friends
Mmm Brie!!!
65 miles for the week.
Monday: 8 miles EZ 8:15 pace
Tuesday: 8 miles track
Wednesday: 4 miles EZ treadmill
Thursday: 9.5 miles EZ 8:25 pace
Friday: 10 miles with 7 at Tempo
Saturday: 7.5 miles EZ 8:28 Pace
Sunday: 18 mile long run 7:57 pace
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Track:
Mile warm up: 7:50ish
4*100 strides
workout: 1600 aiming for 6 to 6:05 then each set faster pace for 1200, 800, 2*400, lap rest then mile at hard pace effort, not quite as fast as everything else.
1600: 5:56.60 (3:06.22)
1200: 4:23.89 (2:31.98)
800: 2:51.94 (2:04.53)
400: 1:22.90 (1:30.33)
400: 1:18.75 (2:44.27+1:05.41)
1600: 6:15.06
versus last time for the same workout (May 28th)
1600: 6:15.67 (3+ recovery)
1200: 4:35.77(3:23.79 recovery)
800: 2:58.59(2:42 recovery)
400: 1:26.02(1:54 recovery)
400: 1:22.46(4:28 recovery)
1600: 6:19.38
Yeehaw!
NC who came in 5th on Sunday at Johnnycake came and did the workout with me. It was so nice to have some company! Don't know if it was her influence, the good weather, or finally throwing on some lighter shoes, but I was in such a great groove for this workout.
Thursday Tempo:
Aiming for 7 miles at 49 minutes or faster.
Well I am definitely consistent. Ran the same course as the 7 a few weeks ago, and ended up with the exact same time, although it is getting a wee bit easier (and I even did the run at 6 am, which is killer for me). 48:41.6. Temps were good but the wind was tough on the 4th, 5th, and 7th miles.
| 07:09.0 |
| 06:57.7 |
| 07:06.1 |
| 06:51.3 |
| 06:59.5 |
| 06:45.0 |
| 06:53.1 |
Sunday Long Run:
My quads were thrashed after Friday's tempo and Saturdays easy run didn't flush all of that out. Hills were a little rough Sunday but overall my energy felt good and I was able to push the hills a little bit. Same pace as I have been holding for the 15 milers. I'm starting to feel like a marathon runner again now that the mileage is getting a bit higher and my long runs are going over 2 hours. I need to start waking up earlier for these because my stomach has become an issue late in the run lately.
Saturday Easy Run:
Not a key workout but it was a nice little change of pace for me. Headed to Chagrin Falls, ran some hills and trails with my SERC buddies and afterwards we had a picnic by the river with mimosas and cheese and crackers. What a great way to kick off the weekend!
Mimosa Toasting Great Running Friends
Mmm Brie!!!
Johnnycake 5 Mile Race Report
Last Sunday I was prepped to redeem my lackluster performance at the Aurora 4th of July 5k. Everyone has bad races, I am no exception, but I definitely didn't want that to set a precedent for the rest of the year. Based on workouts and coaches goals for the 5k I set a pie in the sky goal of sub 31 for Sunday and a realistic goal of around 31:25, worst case scenario goal was sub 33 or a PR. In an effort not to repeat the mistakes I made before Aurora I made sure to eat plenty during the week following the race and the day before. This was tough since I spent all of Saturday either at the Buckeye 50k supporting runners, at the movies, or at a late dinner at Winking Lizard.
We took the running easy Friday and Saturday and I felt TONS better on the warmup Sunday than I had at Aurora so that was a good sign. Found my gals and got in a couple of easy miles but picked up the pace a little this time which was a much better plan for me. Did 4 or 5 strides and headed to the start.
Weather was perfect and the field was stacked. I had intentions of trying to gauge my performance off KG if I could but didn't see her at the start so I ended up going with my own feelings and running what felt "right." I wanted to be aggressive and my mantra was "Fast Feet, Compete, Relax." If it felt hard I wanted to push and go faster. I knew that the second mile would be slow thanks to advice from my friend EH, so I wasn't going to worry about what the splits were the first two miles, just going by feel.
The race started and I was following Salty. I knew she was going for a PR and that was in the range of my "pie in the sky" goal time so I stayed tucked behind her and on the right side of the road. The pace didn't feel quite aggressive enough for me though and I saw a few runners I knew run well and decided to pass Salty to push just a hair harder. I was feeling pretty good, and the first mile was fast. 5:58ish. I knew the next mile had a hill but wasn't sure where. I kept waiting to see some faces I knew. Sure enough half way up the hill a few gals caught me (still not the greatest strength runner) but I decided not to try and go with them and to conserve my energy until I got over the top. In retrospect I should have tried to stay closer to them as I think the hill zapped my turnover a bit and I could have kept it higher by pushing just a wee bit harder in mile 2.
Second mile was slow as predicted around 6:32. Par for the course I somehow ended up in a gap all by myself. Not sure if this has to do with the fact that I am just in a barren pace range or if I just don't do a good job of sticking to a pack (probably both). I tried to focus on reeling in the group in front of me or at least holding the gap. My pace started to falter a bit from what I would have liked to have seen but I was still running aggressively. Mile 3 was 6:20 and 4 was 6:26.
Salty caught me around mile 4 and I tried to go with her. Mentally instructing my legs to push, but I just had no juice. The last mile is a straight shot to the finish and they have every quarter mile marked. Some people like this, I was not a fan as it was just a reminder of how much further that finish line was than I thought it should be. I was trying to pump my arms, keep everything up and down, and move my feet. Pretending I was on the track, where I have been cranking out some good splits, but my body was moving through quicksand. I hoped to eek out a 6:10 but in the end was satisfied with a 6:17. Getting blown by a gal at the finish line didn't help the ego any, but I assuaged myself with the fact that she is 4 years younger than me and at least not in my age group :) Finished in 31:35.3 for an almost 2 minute PR, 11th female and 2nd in my age group. I am very happy with the effort and pleased I was able to fix a lot of the things I let go wrong at Aurora. Next time I will know though that at that race it is better to go out a little less aggressively and save something for the finish since it is a straight shot and a great place to run some people down if you have anything left.
Finish Line Photos Getting Passed by Two "Young-ins"
We took the running easy Friday and Saturday and I felt TONS better on the warmup Sunday than I had at Aurora so that was a good sign. Found my gals and got in a couple of easy miles but picked up the pace a little this time which was a much better plan for me. Did 4 or 5 strides and headed to the start.
Weather was perfect and the field was stacked. I had intentions of trying to gauge my performance off KG if I could but didn't see her at the start so I ended up going with my own feelings and running what felt "right." I wanted to be aggressive and my mantra was "Fast Feet, Compete, Relax." If it felt hard I wanted to push and go faster. I knew that the second mile would be slow thanks to advice from my friend EH, so I wasn't going to worry about what the splits were the first two miles, just going by feel.
The race started and I was following Salty. I knew she was going for a PR and that was in the range of my "pie in the sky" goal time so I stayed tucked behind her and on the right side of the road. The pace didn't feel quite aggressive enough for me though and I saw a few runners I knew run well and decided to pass Salty to push just a hair harder. I was feeling pretty good, and the first mile was fast. 5:58ish. I knew the next mile had a hill but wasn't sure where. I kept waiting to see some faces I knew. Sure enough half way up the hill a few gals caught me (still not the greatest strength runner) but I decided not to try and go with them and to conserve my energy until I got over the top. In retrospect I should have tried to stay closer to them as I think the hill zapped my turnover a bit and I could have kept it higher by pushing just a wee bit harder in mile 2.
Second mile was slow as predicted around 6:32. Par for the course I somehow ended up in a gap all by myself. Not sure if this has to do with the fact that I am just in a barren pace range or if I just don't do a good job of sticking to a pack (probably both). I tried to focus on reeling in the group in front of me or at least holding the gap. My pace started to falter a bit from what I would have liked to have seen but I was still running aggressively. Mile 3 was 6:20 and 4 was 6:26.
Salty caught me around mile 4 and I tried to go with her. Mentally instructing my legs to push, but I just had no juice. The last mile is a straight shot to the finish and they have every quarter mile marked. Some people like this, I was not a fan as it was just a reminder of how much further that finish line was than I thought it should be. I was trying to pump my arms, keep everything up and down, and move my feet. Pretending I was on the track, where I have been cranking out some good splits, but my body was moving through quicksand. I hoped to eek out a 6:10 but in the end was satisfied with a 6:17. Getting blown by a gal at the finish line didn't help the ego any, but I assuaged myself with the fact that she is 4 years younger than me and at least not in my age group :) Finished in 31:35.3 for an almost 2 minute PR, 11th female and 2nd in my age group. I am very happy with the effort and pleased I was able to fix a lot of the things I let go wrong at Aurora. Next time I will know though that at that race it is better to go out a little less aggressively and save something for the finish since it is a straight shot and a great place to run some people down if you have anything left.
Finish Line Photos Getting Passed by Two "Young-ins"
Week 10 with the Coach
Start Line Johnnycake 5 Mile (CV, Salty, and I striding out pre start)
Gotta make this a quickie. I've just been swamped with work and kept myself busy this past weekend volunteering at the Buckeye 50k all day Saturday then raced Sunday morning and did some work and rocked out. The weekend went by far too quickly and it is already Tuesday.
This week ended up at 57 miles
Monday- 6.8 at 8:34 pace
Tuesday- 7 on the track
Wednesday- 9 miles 8:24 pace
Thursday- 8.65 in the am with tempo, 4.75 at lunch easy 8:24 pace
Friday-6 miles 8:28 pace
Saturday- ~1.5 miles actually running easy on the trail, plus whatever I did running back and forth with runners at the aid station.
Sunday- About 2.8 miles on the warm up plus 4 or 5 strides.
5 Mile Johnnycake race: New PR, report to follow shortly
Cool down 5.59 miles 8:30ish pace
Did not feel stellar most of the week. Girl stuff. But by race day was much perkier (thank goodness!). Slacked off completely on my core work (only worked on it at the track Tuesday). Need to make it more of a focus this week!
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Track:
5*1000 with 2 minute rests aiming for 3:45 (rests got a little screwy as on every other set I tried to start off with the guys doing 1600s). Just wasn't feeling it, tried to focus on form but was informed the instant I started into any repeat I start to slouch, hunch over, and bring my arms up. I was tired so obviously just need to focus a wee bit harder tonight.
3:39.60 (2:06.98)
3:43.77 (1:58.72)
3:47.45 (2:01.34)
3:46.75 (2:49.35)
3:42.84
Thursday Tempo:
5 miles aiming for 7 minute pace. I did this on the track before heading to work. I did not feel stellar and wanted to quit multiple times but finished it out. The wind has been crazy on the track the past few weeks and Thursday morning was no different.
| 07:04.2 |
| 06:58.3 |
| 06:57.5 |
| 06:56.7 |
| 06:54.8 |
| Total 34:51.5 |
Redefinition and Weekly Run Down
This past week I have been focusing on posture every day. I have done core work, upper body work, and stretching every day. I have also tried to focus while at my desk, while on my runs, even when I lay down for bed on my posture. I have been a chronic sloucher for 27 years (yes I slouched even as a kid, ask my cousins) and let me tell you this task is going to take awhile. I have been relatively successful this week, but the few occasions I was exhausted (Thursday after my tempo run, Tuesday during my last mile repeat) I fall back into my old ways and realize this is not going to be easy.
The hope is that if I can focus on this for a few months that it will become natural. I am realizing more and more all these little things I will need to change to improve my running, beyond running more miles and doing more speed work. My form will never be perfect, but perhaps if I can exaggerate the opposite of all the little things I do wrong I will at least improve.
Add to this the fact that I need to improve my mental running tactics and I have a lot to think about on my runs these days. It's a bit overwhelming but I am confident it will all pay off.
This week ended just over 62 miles.
Monday- 5.8 miles easy with Janet 8:40 pace
Tuesday- Track 8.4 miles
Wednesday- 7.9 miles easy with Janet 8:36 pace
Thursday- 9 miles with tempo. average 7:40 pace
Friday- 7.75 miles with Jim Klar 8:04 pace
Saturday- ~8.8 miles trails. We got lost and the weather got crazy so I settled for 90 minutes rather than 10 miles. It was probably around 8.8 miles, maybe 9.5 max. Lots of hills
Sunday- 15 mile loop 7:57 pace, felt good
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Track:
Dreaded one mile repeats.
Aiming for sub 6 first mile, 6:05 second mile, sub 6 third mile
mile warm up 7:24.92
3*1600 (rest/400 m)
5:47.40 (3:57.62)
6:08.91 (5:08.74)
5:58.68
Credit definitely goes to Frank on that first mile pace, as soon as I lost him the back stretch into the wind was just killing me. I was trying to focus on my posture throughout the workout, don't know if it made a difference or not.
Thursday Tempo:
7 miles tempo aiming for under 49 minutes. Finished in 48:42. Struggled a bit and upped the effort whenever it felt like I was dragging, I definitely felt the effort the last three miles, but got it done. These workouts always sound so much easier on paper than they are to execute.
Saturday Trail Run:
Went and watched the muddy paws trail race. Afterwards I headed out with some trail pals to get in 10 miles. About halfway through the run the skies opened up and the trails quickly turned into rivers. It was absolutely nuts, but fun despite getting drenched to the bone. After getting turned around we settled for ending the run at 90 minutes after cresting sound of music hills to lightning we had had enough!
Sunday Long Run:
Again started off easy this week behind the group and once again I felt much better. Ran most of the run with AS and kept a pretty even conversational pace. 15 mile loop has some rollers so I was glad to keep it consistent towards the end. Feeling much less run down post Sunday run this week. Hopefully that is a good sign.
Post Trail Run Saturday. Seriously Drenched
The hope is that if I can focus on this for a few months that it will become natural. I am realizing more and more all these little things I will need to change to improve my running, beyond running more miles and doing more speed work. My form will never be perfect, but perhaps if I can exaggerate the opposite of all the little things I do wrong I will at least improve.
Add to this the fact that I need to improve my mental running tactics and I have a lot to think about on my runs these days. It's a bit overwhelming but I am confident it will all pay off.
This week ended just over 62 miles.
Monday- 5.8 miles easy with Janet 8:40 pace
Tuesday- Track 8.4 miles
Wednesday- 7.9 miles easy with Janet 8:36 pace
Thursday- 9 miles with tempo. average 7:40 pace
Friday- 7.75 miles with Jim Klar 8:04 pace
Saturday- ~8.8 miles trails. We got lost and the weather got crazy so I settled for 90 minutes rather than 10 miles. It was probably around 8.8 miles, maybe 9.5 max. Lots of hills
Sunday- 15 mile loop 7:57 pace, felt good
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Track:
Dreaded one mile repeats.
Aiming for sub 6 first mile, 6:05 second mile, sub 6 third mile
mile warm up 7:24.92
3*1600 (rest/400 m)
5:47.40 (3:57.62)
6:08.91 (5:08.74)
5:58.68
Credit definitely goes to Frank on that first mile pace, as soon as I lost him the back stretch into the wind was just killing me. I was trying to focus on my posture throughout the workout, don't know if it made a difference or not.
Thursday Tempo:
7 miles tempo aiming for under 49 minutes. Finished in 48:42. Struggled a bit and upped the effort whenever it felt like I was dragging, I definitely felt the effort the last three miles, but got it done. These workouts always sound so much easier on paper than they are to execute.
Saturday Trail Run:
Went and watched the muddy paws trail race. Afterwards I headed out with some trail pals to get in 10 miles. About halfway through the run the skies opened up and the trails quickly turned into rivers. It was absolutely nuts, but fun despite getting drenched to the bone. After getting turned around we settled for ending the run at 90 minutes after cresting sound of music hills to lightning we had had enough!
Sunday Long Run:
Again started off easy this week behind the group and once again I felt much better. Ran most of the run with AS and kept a pretty even conversational pace. 15 mile loop has some rollers so I was glad to keep it consistent towards the end. Feeling much less run down post Sunday run this week. Hopefully that is a good sign.
Post Trail Run Saturday. Seriously Drenched
Week 8 with the Coach
Another training week in the bag. The week started off promising, fizzled in the middle, but ended with a nice comfortable long run.
I felt tons better Sunday than I have been feeling, I think the combination of starting a bit slower and pigging out Saturday made the difference. Going to be better about making sure I eat enough on the weekends to sustain my long run efforts.
Saturday and Sunday I also added in an ab workout, I am going to start doing abs and push ups everyday to work on my core strength, and thighs, hips every other day to prevent any itb issues etc. Really going to try hard to pay attention to my posture all day long, this will take time undoing 27 years of slacking on my posture!
57.75 for the week
Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 7.3ish miles on the track
Wednesday- 9 miles 8:20 pace
Thursday- 12.2ish @ 7:55 pace
Friday-6 easy ~8:30 pace plus 4*100 strides/100 recovery
Saturday- ~7.6 including warm up and cool down and Aurora Fun Run 5k
Sunday- 15 at 7:59 pace
Tuesday Track Workout:
As usual 1 mile warm up and 4*100 strides then we did 3 sets of 800, 2 minutes rest, 600, 3 minutes rests followed by one last 800 to get in 5000 total. With the extra long rest the goals were to hit 3:00 on the first 800 with the 600 at same pace and the last 800 was to be 2:50 or better (getting slightly faster each set up to that)
The first two sets actually felt good, but the last set and final 800 were work. Felt good to hit the times coach wanted though.
800 (rest) 2:59.92 (1:59.76)
600 (rest) 2:15.13 (3:01.37)
800 (rest) 2:54.37 (1:59.37)
600 (rest) 2:09.53 (2:59.23)
800 (rest) 2:52.04 (2:02.13)
600 (rest) 2:07.84 (3:12.75)
800 2:49.95
Thursday Medium Long Run-
I was just not in the mood for a solo 12 miler Thursday. It was storming like crazy in the morning so I held off to do the run after work. With no Garmin and more storms threatening I decided to just do the run on the treadmill. That lasted all of 4 miles before I was ready to crawl out of my skin so I headed outside to get in the rest and promptly got drenched in a quick 5 minute downpour. Ran to the track to get the rest of the miles in which was good for practicing pace, but not mentally stimulating at all. At least I got it done!
Rewarded myself with a Hoegarden and ice cream at dinner.
Saturday Aurora Fun Run 5K-
Well you can't have a PR race everyday and Saturday just wasn't my day. I try to look at bad races and use them as lessons learned so that I don't repeat the same mistakes in the future.
I didn't eat very well Friday and I really didn't spend any time mentally planning for the race, I was basically winging it, and that is evident by the result. Felt sluggish on the warm up and my strides but was still shocked to hear 6:10ish for the first mile after a hard effort. Mentally just shut down after this, no drive to catch anyone and no drive to up my pace or effort, my form was suffering, my legs felt toasted on the inclines and I just didn't have that extra race day gear to tap into. Definitely left something on the course, and next time I will be driven to work harder. 19:46, 6th female, 1st in age group. 5ks are tough on a good day, and Saturday just wasn't a good day for me. Oh well, it's over and I had a great time the rest of the day partying with friends and relaxing.
I do need to work on my posture and form though. I have got to stop slouching and swinging my arms all over the place, this is more pronounced when tired which was the case Saturday. If you see me slouching get on my case!!!
Also I don't think the warm up worked for me Saturday. I need more than 2 easy miles and 4 strides. Next time 30 minutes easy and perhaps a mile of that closer to marathon pace before the strides.
Sunday Long Run-
Took it out easy and just enjoyed the run, it was great weather (although still humid as evidenced by my entire shirt being soaked) and I had fun running with BB, S, and new gal R. I was definitely feeling the buns and thighs workout at the top of Hawthorne Hill but was still feeling perky when I finished out the run in just under 8 minute pace. Much better than the last few weeks!
I felt tons better Sunday than I have been feeling, I think the combination of starting a bit slower and pigging out Saturday made the difference. Going to be better about making sure I eat enough on the weekends to sustain my long run efforts.
Saturday and Sunday I also added in an ab workout, I am going to start doing abs and push ups everyday to work on my core strength, and thighs, hips every other day to prevent any itb issues etc. Really going to try hard to pay attention to my posture all day long, this will take time undoing 27 years of slacking on my posture!
57.75 for the week
Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 7.3ish miles on the track
Wednesday- 9 miles 8:20 pace
Thursday- 12.2ish @ 7:55 pace
Friday-6 easy ~8:30 pace plus 4*100 strides/100 recovery
Saturday- ~7.6 including warm up and cool down and Aurora Fun Run 5k
Sunday- 15 at 7:59 pace
Tuesday Track Workout:
As usual 1 mile warm up and 4*100 strides then we did 3 sets of 800, 2 minutes rest, 600, 3 minutes rests followed by one last 800 to get in 5000 total. With the extra long rest the goals were to hit 3:00 on the first 800 with the 600 at same pace and the last 800 was to be 2:50 or better (getting slightly faster each set up to that)
The first two sets actually felt good, but the last set and final 800 were work. Felt good to hit the times coach wanted though.
800 (rest) 2:59.92 (1:59.76)
600 (rest) 2:15.13 (3:01.37)
800 (rest) 2:54.37 (1:59.37)
600 (rest) 2:09.53 (2:59.23)
800 (rest) 2:52.04 (2:02.13)
600 (rest) 2:07.84 (3:12.75)
800 2:49.95
Thursday Medium Long Run-
I was just not in the mood for a solo 12 miler Thursday. It was storming like crazy in the morning so I held off to do the run after work. With no Garmin and more storms threatening I decided to just do the run on the treadmill. That lasted all of 4 miles before I was ready to crawl out of my skin so I headed outside to get in the rest and promptly got drenched in a quick 5 minute downpour. Ran to the track to get the rest of the miles in which was good for practicing pace, but not mentally stimulating at all. At least I got it done!
Rewarded myself with a Hoegarden and ice cream at dinner.
Saturday Aurora Fun Run 5K-
Well you can't have a PR race everyday and Saturday just wasn't my day. I try to look at bad races and use them as lessons learned so that I don't repeat the same mistakes in the future.
I didn't eat very well Friday and I really didn't spend any time mentally planning for the race, I was basically winging it, and that is evident by the result. Felt sluggish on the warm up and my strides but was still shocked to hear 6:10ish for the first mile after a hard effort. Mentally just shut down after this, no drive to catch anyone and no drive to up my pace or effort, my form was suffering, my legs felt toasted on the inclines and I just didn't have that extra race day gear to tap into. Definitely left something on the course, and next time I will be driven to work harder. 19:46, 6th female, 1st in age group. 5ks are tough on a good day, and Saturday just wasn't a good day for me. Oh well, it's over and I had a great time the rest of the day partying with friends and relaxing.
I do need to work on my posture and form though. I have got to stop slouching and swinging my arms all over the place, this is more pronounced when tired which was the case Saturday. If you see me slouching get on my case!!!
Also I don't think the warm up worked for me Saturday. I need more than 2 easy miles and 4 strides. Next time 30 minutes easy and perhaps a mile of that closer to marathon pace before the strides.
Sunday Long Run-
Took it out easy and just enjoyed the run, it was great weather (although still humid as evidenced by my entire shirt being soaked) and I had fun running with BB, S, and new gal R. I was definitely feeling the buns and thighs workout at the top of Hawthorne Hill but was still feeling perky when I finished out the run in just under 8 minute pace. Much better than the last few weeks!
Week 7 of Coached Training
Starting to get in a bit of a groove here. It may be all in my head but it feels like my body composition is definitely morphing. All I know is by the time my Sunday long run comes around I don't feel like the endurance junkie I used to. The long runs don't feels quite as easy now and I am sure that is because I have added in the speed work and tempos and they are slowly building me up but leaving me a bit more fatigued. High humidity, work stress, and lots more yard work this year probably adds to that Sunday fatigue. But I am getting it done and I think I am getting over a little week 7 plateau in fitness as we start week 8 and looking forward to racing this weekend.
My Garmin is still toast as I cannot locate my warranty receipt, got to get on that. So mileage/pace are estimated from my friends Garmins, track was calculated using the known distances and an average slow pace for recovery jogs, and Fridays trail run pace was estimnated based on how I felt and a small section where I knew the mileage. Can't believe I used to log miles like this all the time, the Garmin just makes the log book so much more straight forward.
June 22nd through June 28th ~59.75 miles
Monday 6.9 miles 8:30 pace
Tuesday ~9.64 miles including tempo
Wednesday 8.1 miles averaged 8:50ish pace overall but most miles were 8:25-8:35
Thursday 7.2 miles including track
Friday 82 minutes on the bridle trail, I am guessing 8.7 miles+ based on taking a pace on the last section where I knew approximate mileage
Saturday 6.2 easy in Aurora 8:50 pace
Sunday 13.1 8:06 pace (I jogged the last mile because I was feeling run down and my stomach was upset, the rest was 7:50ish)
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Tempo:
Aiming for 5 miles under 35 minutes with the last mile at 6:40 or better. Did this on the same route I have been so thankfully I knew the turn around point and used Janet and Christina's watches to mark the mile and 2 mile in order to get my splits, started with them the first two miles then was on my own the rest.
Ran the usual course but did it in the morning early (it was humid but cool compared to how it would have been at lunch).
Thursday Track:
The track has been getting busy with fall athletics teams doing summer practices. We were going to do 600s but instead did 400s so that coach wouldn't have to run through a field of football and soccer players to give us splits.
It was humid but not too hot as a storm front was moving in. I was absolutely toasted by the end of the workout, praying coach only planned 8 quarters, but thankful for 10 rather than 12 :) Ran these by myself this week since SH was in CA.
We were aiming for 1:25 on all but I obviously faded a bit at the end of the workout:
As usual one mile warm up and 4*100 strides than 10*400
1:25.20 (1:18.51)
1:23.58 (1:22.66)
1:23.39(1:10.57)
1:23.87(1:10.67)
1:23.55(1:09.38)
1:24.33(1:11.24)
1:25.01(1:17.01)
1:25.38(1:11.89)
1:26.33(1:09.38)
1:26.25
Sunday Long Run:
I had intended on doing 15 miles Sunday but by 9 it was clear that 13 would be plenty. Just wasn't feeling very perky and the hills were draining me. My form was pretty poor and I ended up jogging in the last mile because my stomach was upset with a slight push in pace the 12th mile.
8:06 pace for the run including 2 minutes walking to get my stomach under control.
It was cool but humid and I think having run and done some yardwork in the afternoon sun the day before had drained me a bit. Took the next day off and I am feeling much perkier now.
My Garmin is still toast as I cannot locate my warranty receipt, got to get on that. So mileage/pace are estimated from my friends Garmins, track was calculated using the known distances and an average slow pace for recovery jogs, and Fridays trail run pace was estimnated based on how I felt and a small section where I knew the mileage. Can't believe I used to log miles like this all the time, the Garmin just makes the log book so much more straight forward.
June 22nd through June 28th ~59.75 miles
Monday 6.9 miles 8:30 pace
Tuesday ~9.64 miles including tempo
Wednesday 8.1 miles averaged 8:50ish pace overall but most miles were 8:25-8:35
Thursday 7.2 miles including track
Friday 82 minutes on the bridle trail, I am guessing 8.7 miles+ based on taking a pace on the last section where I knew approximate mileage
Saturday 6.2 easy in Aurora 8:50 pace
Sunday 13.1 8:06 pace (I jogged the last mile because I was feeling run down and my stomach was upset, the rest was 7:50ish)
Key Workouts:
Tuesday Tempo:
Aiming for 5 miles under 35 minutes with the last mile at 6:40 or better. Did this on the same route I have been so thankfully I knew the turn around point and used Janet and Christina's watches to mark the mile and 2 mile in order to get my splits, started with them the first two miles then was on my own the rest.
Ran the usual course but did it in the morning early (it was humid but cool compared to how it would have been at lunch).
| 07:03.5 |
| 07:05.9 |
| 06:56.2 |
| 06:41.9 |
| 06:29.3 |
| Total 34:16.8 |
Thursday Track:
The track has been getting busy with fall athletics teams doing summer practices. We were going to do 600s but instead did 400s so that coach wouldn't have to run through a field of football and soccer players to give us splits.
It was humid but not too hot as a storm front was moving in. I was absolutely toasted by the end of the workout, praying coach only planned 8 quarters, but thankful for 10 rather than 12 :) Ran these by myself this week since SH was in CA.
We were aiming for 1:25 on all but I obviously faded a bit at the end of the workout:
As usual one mile warm up and 4*100 strides than 10*400
1:25.20 (1:18.51)
1:23.58 (1:22.66)
1:23.39(1:10.57)
1:23.87(1:10.67)
1:23.55(1:09.38)
1:24.33(1:11.24)
1:25.01(1:17.01)
1:25.38(1:11.89)
1:26.33(1:09.38)
1:26.25
Sunday Long Run:
I had intended on doing 15 miles Sunday but by 9 it was clear that 13 would be plenty. Just wasn't feeling very perky and the hills were draining me. My form was pretty poor and I ended up jogging in the last mile because my stomach was upset with a slight push in pace the 12th mile.
8:06 pace for the run including 2 minutes walking to get my stomach under control.
It was cool but humid and I think having run and done some yardwork in the afternoon sun the day before had drained me a bit. Took the next day off and I am feeling much perkier now.
Team Sunset and Moonshine Race Photos
All Business
Probably Pissed because I missed her finish
Awards Time
Week 6 with the Coach and Whiskey Island Race Report
Friday Night Social Time with My Long Lost Trail Girls (Who I miss very much!!!)
In general this week I have just felt a bit tired. I am sure this is just the miles piling up consistently every week. Adding quality to the mileage was bound to leaving me feeling a little less perky eventually. Making a large effort from here on out to keep my easy and recovery days easier.
My Garmin bit the dust Tuesday during my track workout so I have gone back to my old mileage calculation methods which include mooching pace from my friends garmins, and running known mileage routes. Surprisingly my pacing instincts seem pretty good without the watch, but be sure I am trying to find the receipt/warranty so I can get it in and fixed. Tracking mileage and pace is so much simpler with that dang watch.
June 15th through June 21st- 61 miles
Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 7.2 track
Wednesday- 7.4 easy 8:48 pace
Thursday- 12.5 miles ~7:53 pace
Friday- 7.5 miles ~8:29 pace
Saturday- AM 4.5 miles easy
PM 7 miles including 3 k cross country race
Sunday- 15 miles ~7:53 pace
Key Workouts:
Track:
Usual warm up one mile at 8 minute pace followed by 4*100 strides
Workout was 1600 followed by 3 minutes rest then 4*400 with one minute rest follwed by 3 minutes rest and 1600
Goal for the first mile was even pace for 6:10 or better. Pace was way off with a 1:34 followed by 1:35, picked it up to try and get back aiming for 1:30s the last two since 6:10 was the goal. Instead over compensated and ran 1:27 and 1:25 for a 6:01 total. Ooops. Not how I would have liked that to go, definitely went anaerobic the last lap making the rest of the workout harder than it should have been.
400s we were aiming for 1:25-1:27
1:25.38 (58.84)
1:25.95 (1:00.25)
1:25.52 (1:03.93)
1:24.64 (3:12.98)
Last 1600 was supposed to be faster than the first. I was pretty toasted but managed to eek out 6 flat.
Medium Long Run:
Since I was feeling run down after racing last week coach took tempo off the plate this week and instead had a medium long run aiming for around 7:50 pace. With my Garmin fried I decided to just run home from work which I know is about 12.5 miles. I mapped the route on USATF Americas Running Routes to get an idea of a few of the mileage markers to keep an eye on relative pace. I didn't feel stellar but my pacing instincts must be pretty good as I was just over 7:50 average for the run.
My legs were feeling pretty thrashed so I opted for an ice bath after the run. Never fun but I am thinking it was necessary.
Whiskey Island Sunset Relay:
Saturday morning I went to try out a treadmill I decided to purchase and then I headed over to Whiskey Island to check out the race course I was running that night. It was a cross country relay race that I was doing with Salty. Ran the course twice and figured coach's goal of 5:50 pace or better was a little aggressive given the course lay out. The first mile wasn't bad, some rough grass and one mini steep hill, a few yards of sand, and a bit of pavement. But the last 1400 was filled with 4 short steep hills and what felt like a gazillion sharp turns. Did the course in about 16-17 minutes each loop that morning and figured I could shave 3-4 minutes off that while racing it.
The race was a relay and money race. Prizes for top three female teams, coed, and male. Since Salty and I both ran sub 19s at Flag Day I figured we had a good chance of winning the female teams. I opted to go first since Salty is a much better competitor than me. We decided to match and wore my bright pink Under Armour Tanks. Pretty comfy, and despite it being incredibly hot and humid the tanks were comfortable and worked well.
The chip system here was interesting. We got stick on Velcro and the bib velcroed to our shirt then as I came in I remove the bib and hand it to Salty to Velcro onto her outfit and go back through the chute to activate the second leg.
A quick survey of the start showed that all the other fast chicks were paired up with male competitors and were running the second leg. Looks like I will be racing the boys. Sure enough by the first turn it is clear there are no women around me and a handful of super fast guys bounding ahead. One guy was right next to me and was not holding a straight line, making it difficult to fall into a rhythm. I thought oh great, but thankfully I pulled ahead of him shortly after the beach section. I reeled in one more guy who had gone out too fast as I crested the first hill. The ground here was very uneven but thankfully no problems. We headed down a steep hill and a sharp left at the bottom onto pavement, almost bit it but thankfully did not.
As I headed out the lead males were heading back on this section of pavement led by local tri stud AJB. I gave a shout as I passed, not sure he had a clue who I was. Brian S was in close pursuit and looked strong. As I made my way back it was apparent that none of the female teams would catch me. There was a water station as we headed off the pavement and I opted for a quick sip since it was so humid.
Caught up to one more male as I passed the mile marker and headed into the tougher section of the course. I did my best to keep my effort high and push up the hills, but it was apparent my pace was slowing. I just don't corner well and it has been too long since I ran cross country. I could tell the lead guys had a huge gap on me as they were coming out of the woods that I still needed to run around to get into to. No one was around me anymore so I was just running hard to the finish. Into the woods and out of them, then back in again before you head to the finish, but you aren't done quite yet you have to go past the finish, around a tree and then back through the chute. I tore off the bib a bit early, and it was good I did because my velcro came off too and I needed to peel them apart before handing off to Salty. Finished in 12:25 and was happy with the effort. I probably could have gone harder the second half, but it was a good hard run and I had left Salty with at least 2 minutes on our next female competitor. (A quick look at the watch later showed 5:51 for the first mile, so obviously the last 1400 meters were slow!!!)
Headed out to cheer on Salty. Got a little worried when I saw a female in front of her, but got confirmation she was on a coed team. It's too bad she didn't start first actually because she ran a 12:35 obviously we could have pushed each other to better times. I missed Salty's finish but we handily snagged 1st female team. The next team had splits of 15+ and 16+. A couple speedy chicks were there but were teamed up with some fast men so we were able to sneak in a win and grab $100 each for our efforts. Not bad for 12:25 minute work.
The race was run by Clevelandplaysracing. Their events are awesome and they are relatively new in Cleveland. Check them out if you haven't already.
Long Run:
Woke up exhausted Sunday. Not sure if it was still left over from partying too hard Friday night or just the mileage building up on me. Still yawning after the 30 minute drive to Solon I was grateful for the small group which in turn usually promotes an easier pace. This was indeed the case and was very much appreciated as I slept ran my way through the run. My stomach was not happy and the humidity was making me lethargic but I survived my planned 15 with company (who thankfully gave me a gel which was a nice energy boost!) in about 7:53 pace.
Week 5 of Coached Training
This week was adjusted to accommodate the Flag Day 5k Wednesday night. Coach hadn't planned for any tempo like effort Friday but I pushed him to give me something to do with Salty. I pushed a little hard on Thursday during the easy run and my quads are definitely barking at me. Note to self, you aren't invincible. Took it easy on the long run to try and recover a bit but still get in the mileage for the week.
Officially decided I am racing Columbus this fall, but we aren't going to focus on marathon training yet. Still need to build up my strength so I can handle quality and mileage.
57.5 miles for the week
Monday-7 miles easy, 8:25 pace
Tuesday-4 miles at the track including one mile warm up at 7:30 and 4*100 strides, the rest easy
Wednesday- Almost 8 miles with the warm up, cool down, and race
Thursday-8 miles, 8 minute pace, worked a bit on the hills, probably shouldn't have!
Friday-10 miles, 7:23 pace with 8 in the middle aiming for 7:20 or better with the last two miles progressively faster (7:19 7:13 7:04 7:05 6:59 7:01 6:50 6:53)
Saturday-5.25 miles 9:26 pace
Sunday- 15 miles, 8:09 pace
Etc.
Thursday night did yoga and Sunday worked in the yard planting and mowing etc. Nasty sun burn, ouch! I need to start adding back in pushups and core work, I have been slacking.
Key Workouts:
Flag Day 5k:
I think the race went well. First sub 19 is in the bank. Hopefully it will just get faster from here.
Progression/Tempo:
This workout kicked my butt. I don't know if it was residual soreness from yoga, the race, and Thursday or what but this workout was harder than it should've been. Ran at NC with Salty so maybe it was a bit of the rollers too, but the last two miles I felt like I was going to fall apart, actually surprised I finished the workout in one piece given how I felt at mile 6 (like toast). The uphill finish was excrutiating.
Long Run:
Just ran relaxed. Let the group go so I wouldn't be tempted to run harder and just had a nice conversational long run. It's amazing this run happened with the morning nonsense before it. I forgot my shoes (thankfully had old shoes in the trunk I have been meaning to take to good will), my garmin locked up (and died at mile 9) and I hit the snooze way too many times.
Officially decided I am racing Columbus this fall, but we aren't going to focus on marathon training yet. Still need to build up my strength so I can handle quality and mileage.
57.5 miles for the week
Monday-7 miles easy, 8:25 pace
Tuesday-4 miles at the track including one mile warm up at 7:30 and 4*100 strides, the rest easy
Wednesday- Almost 8 miles with the warm up, cool down, and race
Thursday-8 miles, 8 minute pace, worked a bit on the hills, probably shouldn't have!
Friday-10 miles, 7:23 pace with 8 in the middle aiming for 7:20 or better with the last two miles progressively faster (7:19 7:13 7:04 7:05 6:59 7:01 6:50 6:53)
Saturday-5.25 miles 9:26 pace
Sunday- 15 miles, 8:09 pace
Etc.
Thursday night did yoga and Sunday worked in the yard planting and mowing etc. Nasty sun burn, ouch! I need to start adding back in pushups and core work, I have been slacking.
Key Workouts:
Flag Day 5k:
I think the race went well. First sub 19 is in the bank. Hopefully it will just get faster from here.
Progression/Tempo:
This workout kicked my butt. I don't know if it was residual soreness from yoga, the race, and Thursday or what but this workout was harder than it should've been. Ran at NC with Salty so maybe it was a bit of the rollers too, but the last two miles I felt like I was going to fall apart, actually surprised I finished the workout in one piece given how I felt at mile 6 (like toast). The uphill finish was excrutiating.
Long Run:
Just ran relaxed. Let the group go so I wouldn't be tempted to run harder and just had a nice conversational long run. It's amazing this run happened with the morning nonsense before it. I forgot my shoes (thankfully had old shoes in the trunk I have been meaning to take to good will), my garmin locked up (and died at mile 9) and I hit the snooze way too many times.
Fun May and June Photos
Finally Attached the Rain Barrel to the Garage. Completely full after one storm.
Front Bed full of Pansies and my pots I am attempting to start seeds in.
The neighbor saw me using my push reel mower and gifted me a manual edger so I went to town on the edges of our yard.
Before
After
That is a lot of lawn that was hanging over the sidewalk!
College friends came to visit Ohio for the weekend
HB Telling stories
HB and LP
Me and HB. I miss them already!
David and I after the flag day race. I threw my race shirt on because I was all sweaty and we realized we both had flags on!
Flag Day 5K Race Report
Last night was the Flag Day 5k. Unlike the Cleveland half coaches orders were to race, this wasn't a run or workout, it was time to get down to business. We had a goal of sub 19 and I was supposed to try and run 6 minute pace which would be an 18:40. Despite running better than that pace at my track workout last week I was still nervous. 6 flat sounds a lot more intimidating than 6:07 (which would be an 18:59). My PR race (19:23) was back in December 2007 at Reindeer 5K, a pancake flat perfect weather kind of day. Flag Day 5k is not flat, has lots of turns, and it's usually hot and humid!
Picked up Iron G and headed out to Mentor. We got there early and picked up our packets then it was off to warm up. Did about 20 minutes with 4*30 seconds strides at the end. Finished up around 6:50 and changed into my race shoes. Salty and Evie were all pep chatting away, I was mostly nerves. Since I hadn't run at lunch like usual I was a bottle of energy ready to explode. I knew I was physically capable of the goal, but 5ks are hard and I wasn't sure how it would play out or feel. Thought we had timed the warm up well but things got off to a later start and we stood around at the start line until almost 7:10. I tried to keep "warm" (I was drenched in sweat after the warm up, temps were good around 70 but it was humid!) bouncing around and noted Salty was all calm no jitters.
Finally the anthem and the start. We had lined up just behind the leaders since this is not a chip race. The race goes down hill right away around a large curve. I took it out and tried to focus on how it feels on the track. My turnover felt good and once we reached the bottom of the hill I heard my husband cheer, I gave a wave and then it was back to focusing. I focused in on my breathing and tried to keep it in every two steps and out every two. That seemed to help my rhythm and I felt good as we made our first turn. Salty was on my shoulder the whole way and I was glad for some company. It seems like I am always in no mans land and other than her and a few men who had obviously shot out too fast we were in a gap behind the leaders. My previous PR mostly resulted from me staying on the shoulder of JP (good racer and great at pacing 5k appropriately), last night I knew I would have to rely on my own pacing and racing insticts to get the time I wanted, I wasn't going to get a free drafting ride this time around.
Heard cheers from Iron G and Evie through here as we made our way back towards the area we started. I had told Salty before the race we would likely be dueling for 2nd and 3rd (1st gal is a consistent low 17 and high 16 5k runner) and it looked like that was how it would play out. We hit the mile marker and the split called out was 5:48 which was right on target for me if I ran the course similarly to the past (The first mile here I am always about 20-30 second faster than what I will run the 2nd and 3rd miles). I held a thumbs up to show Salty I was pleased and we were doing well.
We climbed our first hill as the male leader Fred Kieser made his way back down it on course record pace. My hill skillz are lacking lately but I felt pretty good climbing up. Just churning and waiting for the hairpin turn that will take us back downhill. I mused what Salty must be thinking when she saw my old lady hairpin turn skillz, let's just say I don't corner well. Again get to see our friends coming up hill as we head back down and cheer. I felt strong and I felt like I was pushing. I tend to slack the second mile and I was making a conscious effort to not slow down and keep pushing.
I could feel Salty falling a bit back from me and thought that meant I was doing well with the pace. As we made a sharp right and hit the 2 mile water stop I was dismayed to here SG calling out 12+ splits. I really thought I was doing well with the pace and that I would hit this under 12. At first I thought maybe he was lying to get me going but alas I saw the finish line clock and that it was the truth. Hit the second mile in 12:07.
Some quick mental math as I passed my husband cheering again (listening for him to cheer for Salty hoping she was hanging tough). I knew I needed to step it up to clinch sub 19. Another sharp right and then a left as we push uphill into the woods. We were gaining on a man here and I pushed to pass him on the hill only for him to sprint ahead. Salty caught me towards the top of the climb (girl has been working the hills!) and I tried to go with her but knew I would have to save the push for the top and the descent, my legs were starting to feel tapped on the climb and I knew I needed to get a second wind to push.
I let Salty and the man pull a bit ahead as we reached the top of the hill and turned to start our descent. Got a grip on myself and convinced myself if it hurt I had to push harder and go faster. Started to close the gap as we finally got back to where we had started the race and curved down the final hill. I honestly can't tell you if I caught that guy or not. I assume I must have passed him in the final stretch because of where I ended up in the shoot but I was focused on one thing and one thing only, the clock.
I had promised myself before the race I would not stare at the damn clock as I came into the finish. Too many times I have watched as that clock rolled over my goal. But alas I just can't help myself. I pushed as hard as I could and watched in fear as 18:50 went by, 18:51, 18:52, push push push, 18:53, 18:54, 18:55, 18:56 Done. Literally ran into Salty in the shoot and looked at my watch to see 18:56. Sub 19 achieved. Took a few minutes to retrieve my breath and then I was ready to cool down with Salty.
We cheered in our friends Barb (New PR 21:14 at age 58!) and Iron G, Evie kicked some butt placing 1st in Ag with baby in tow. It was a great night, Fred Kieser broke his own record. Salty and I both got our desired sub 19s. Barb Pr'ed and Evie had fun and kicked butt. Iron G duked it out with a grunter and won, and was an awesome cheerleader even from the race course.
I can't lie I wish that second mile would have gone better. But I am super stoked to have broken 19. It is hard to believe that just over a year ago I was on cloud nine to break 20 (You would be too if it took you eleven years from a 20:03 to finally get sub 20!). The first 5k back is always tough for me, it is just hard to nail a 5k. I am glad it is out of the way and hopefully this is an indicator of more PRs to come this year!
Picked up Iron G and headed out to Mentor. We got there early and picked up our packets then it was off to warm up. Did about 20 minutes with 4*30 seconds strides at the end. Finished up around 6:50 and changed into my race shoes. Salty and Evie were all pep chatting away, I was mostly nerves. Since I hadn't run at lunch like usual I was a bottle of energy ready to explode. I knew I was physically capable of the goal, but 5ks are hard and I wasn't sure how it would play out or feel. Thought we had timed the warm up well but things got off to a later start and we stood around at the start line until almost 7:10. I tried to keep "warm" (I was drenched in sweat after the warm up, temps were good around 70 but it was humid!) bouncing around and noted Salty was all calm no jitters.
Finally the anthem and the start. We had lined up just behind the leaders since this is not a chip race. The race goes down hill right away around a large curve. I took it out and tried to focus on how it feels on the track. My turnover felt good and once we reached the bottom of the hill I heard my husband cheer, I gave a wave and then it was back to focusing. I focused in on my breathing and tried to keep it in every two steps and out every two. That seemed to help my rhythm and I felt good as we made our first turn. Salty was on my shoulder the whole way and I was glad for some company. It seems like I am always in no mans land and other than her and a few men who had obviously shot out too fast we were in a gap behind the leaders. My previous PR mostly resulted from me staying on the shoulder of JP (good racer and great at pacing 5k appropriately), last night I knew I would have to rely on my own pacing and racing insticts to get the time I wanted, I wasn't going to get a free drafting ride this time around.
Heard cheers from Iron G and Evie through here as we made our way back towards the area we started. I had told Salty before the race we would likely be dueling for 2nd and 3rd (1st gal is a consistent low 17 and high 16 5k runner) and it looked like that was how it would play out. We hit the mile marker and the split called out was 5:48 which was right on target for me if I ran the course similarly to the past (The first mile here I am always about 20-30 second faster than what I will run the 2nd and 3rd miles). I held a thumbs up to show Salty I was pleased and we were doing well.
We climbed our first hill as the male leader Fred Kieser made his way back down it on course record pace. My hill skillz are lacking lately but I felt pretty good climbing up. Just churning and waiting for the hairpin turn that will take us back downhill. I mused what Salty must be thinking when she saw my old lady hairpin turn skillz, let's just say I don't corner well. Again get to see our friends coming up hill as we head back down and cheer. I felt strong and I felt like I was pushing. I tend to slack the second mile and I was making a conscious effort to not slow down and keep pushing.
I could feel Salty falling a bit back from me and thought that meant I was doing well with the pace. As we made a sharp right and hit the 2 mile water stop I was dismayed to here SG calling out 12+ splits. I really thought I was doing well with the pace and that I would hit this under 12. At first I thought maybe he was lying to get me going but alas I saw the finish line clock and that it was the truth. Hit the second mile in 12:07.
Some quick mental math as I passed my husband cheering again (listening for him to cheer for Salty hoping she was hanging tough). I knew I needed to step it up to clinch sub 19. Another sharp right and then a left as we push uphill into the woods. We were gaining on a man here and I pushed to pass him on the hill only for him to sprint ahead. Salty caught me towards the top of the climb (girl has been working the hills!) and I tried to go with her but knew I would have to save the push for the top and the descent, my legs were starting to feel tapped on the climb and I knew I needed to get a second wind to push.
I let Salty and the man pull a bit ahead as we reached the top of the hill and turned to start our descent. Got a grip on myself and convinced myself if it hurt I had to push harder and go faster. Started to close the gap as we finally got back to where we had started the race and curved down the final hill. I honestly can't tell you if I caught that guy or not. I assume I must have passed him in the final stretch because of where I ended up in the shoot but I was focused on one thing and one thing only, the clock.
I had promised myself before the race I would not stare at the damn clock as I came into the finish. Too many times I have watched as that clock rolled over my goal. But alas I just can't help myself. I pushed as hard as I could and watched in fear as 18:50 went by, 18:51, 18:52, push push push, 18:53, 18:54, 18:55, 18:56 Done. Literally ran into Salty in the shoot and looked at my watch to see 18:56. Sub 19 achieved. Took a few minutes to retrieve my breath and then I was ready to cool down with Salty.
We cheered in our friends Barb (New PR 21:14 at age 58!) and Iron G, Evie kicked some butt placing 1st in Ag with baby in tow. It was a great night, Fred Kieser broke his own record. Salty and I both got our desired sub 19s. Barb Pr'ed and Evie had fun and kicked butt. Iron G duked it out with a grunter and won, and was an awesome cheerleader even from the race course.
I can't lie I wish that second mile would have gone better. But I am super stoked to have broken 19. It is hard to believe that just over a year ago I was on cloud nine to break 20 (You would be too if it took you eleven years from a 20:03 to finally get sub 20!). The first 5k back is always tough for me, it is just hard to nail a 5k. I am glad it is out of the way and hopefully this is an indicator of more PRs to come this year!
Week 4 of Coached Training
Still working on getting speedy and so far so good. Had a good track workout this week and tempo run. Not sure if it was the nice weather or a mini fitness breakthrough but everything was faster without additional effort.
Run Down June 1st through June 7th(59 Miles)
Monday: 7.66 miles 8:10 pace
Tuesday: Track 8.13 miles
Wednesday: 7.17 miles 8:03 pace
Thursday: Tempo Run total 8.12 miles 7:26 pace
Friday: 7.78 miles 8:00 pace
Saturday: Rest (Cleaning House and Partying with College Friends)
Sunday: AM 15 Mile Long Run 7:39 pace
PM 5.38 recovery run 9:12 pace
Key Workouts:
Track:
5 by 1000 aiming for 6 minute pace or better. What coach didn't tell me is that if I hadn't hit paces I would have had to do a hard mile at the end. I did hit the paces but assumed I would have the mile at the end so he let me do a tempo mile instead of straight to a cool down since I felt fine, but he didn't want me to push it.
3 laps easy
one mile warm up 7:31
4*100 strides
5*1000 with 2 min rest aiming for 6 minute pace or better (3:45) Ran with Hawthorne
3:43.35 (2:03.65)
3:42.24 (2:01.87)
3:43.08 (2:06.68)
3:41.54 (2:02.74)
3:40.41 (5:48.69)
One mile tempo: 6:54.84
3 lap cool down
Tempo: (Or you know you are getting fit when you almost PR your 5 mile during a tempo workout)
Ran on Marginal with CV. Temps were perfect! The wind was absolutely nuts on the way out but at our backs on the way back for once :)
Aimed to make the 3rd and 4th miles faster (we did 2.5 out and 2.5 back) From mile 3 on CV pulled ahead, she ran around 6:20 for the 4th and 6:24 for the last with slowing down the last 50 meters.
I'd give most of the credit for the faster pace to the wind but we did do 3:15 on that first half of mile 3 into the wind...
800 splits:
3:30.91
3:31.10
3:27.25
3:24.61
3:15.10 (still into the wind!)
3:14.04
3:12.38
3:10.14
3:16.94
3:15.50
Mile totals:
Total time: 33:18 Only 5 seconds off my 5 mile PR at Malachi :)
Long Run:
Definitely had a few too many Saturday night with my friends and I was feeling it for Sundays long run. I brought my handheld to help hydrate and just got it done. Started to feel better later in the run but wasn't quite able to keep up with the group this time around. A little slower than last week but still under 8 so a good workout.
Run Down June 1st through June 7th(59 Miles)
Monday: 7.66 miles 8:10 pace
Tuesday: Track 8.13 miles
Wednesday: 7.17 miles 8:03 pace
Thursday: Tempo Run total 8.12 miles 7:26 pace
Friday: 7.78 miles 8:00 pace
Saturday: Rest (Cleaning House and Partying with College Friends)
Sunday: AM 15 Mile Long Run 7:39 pace
PM 5.38 recovery run 9:12 pace
Key Workouts:
Track:
5 by 1000 aiming for 6 minute pace or better. What coach didn't tell me is that if I hadn't hit paces I would have had to do a hard mile at the end. I did hit the paces but assumed I would have the mile at the end so he let me do a tempo mile instead of straight to a cool down since I felt fine, but he didn't want me to push it.
3 laps easy
one mile warm up 7:31
4*100 strides
5*1000 with 2 min rest aiming for 6 minute pace or better (3:45) Ran with Hawthorne
3:43.35 (2:03.65)
3:42.24 (2:01.87)
3:43.08 (2:06.68)
3:41.54 (2:02.74)
3:40.41 (5:48.69)
One mile tempo: 6:54.84
3 lap cool down
Tempo: (Or you know you are getting fit when you almost PR your 5 mile during a tempo workout)
Ran on Marginal with CV. Temps were perfect! The wind was absolutely nuts on the way out but at our backs on the way back for once :)
Aimed to make the 3rd and 4th miles faster (we did 2.5 out and 2.5 back) From mile 3 on CV pulled ahead, she ran around 6:20 for the 4th and 6:24 for the last with slowing down the last 50 meters.
I'd give most of the credit for the faster pace to the wind but we did do 3:15 on that first half of mile 3 into the wind...
800 splits:
3:30.91
3:31.10
3:27.25
3:24.61
3:15.10 (still into the wind!)
3:14.04
3:12.38
3:10.14
3:16.94
3:15.50
Mile totals:
| 07:02.0 |
| 06:51.9 |
| 06:29.1 |
| 06:22.5 |
| 06:32.4 |
Long Run:
Definitely had a few too many Saturday night with my friends and I was feeling it for Sundays long run. I brought my handheld to help hydrate and just got it done. Started to feel better later in the run but wasn't quite able to keep up with the group this time around. A little slower than last week but still under 8 so a good workout.
Team UA Runs
As runners we all love our free schwag. Well one of the perks of pacing for Jim has been some sweet gear and shoes for most races I have paced. I haven't bought a pair of running shoes in two years between the shoes I received for pacing and the few won racing trails. I certainly can't complain, the pacing gig has been good for my running wardrobe. Although it's funny I haven't had the same pair of shoes or brand of shoes in quite awhile so I do feel a little lost now that I am going to be in need of a new shoe soon, so many to choose from!
This year Jim got the pacing team a sweet gig with Under Armour. In a push to promote their running line UA created Team UA Runs with about 600 athletes of all levels promoting and racing in UA gear. (I even got featured in one of their blog posts for pacing!) As pacers we received some team uniforms and credit to purchase some additional gear and I have to say everything is fantastic!
UA just started making running shoes so I was a bit nervous about them but I wore my pair of UA apparitions for the Cinci Flying Pig marathon with no issues and I am alternating those with another pair of shoes as my main training shoes right now. I've been using the apparitions for track workouts and my long runs with no problems. I like teh footseleeve and found it similar to the New Balance trail shoes I have and adore. I'm not that picky about shoes though so go check them out yourself and see what you think!
I just wanted to highlight a few of the items that I am absolutely in love with here in case you are looking to stock your summer running wardrobe. I love these pieces so much I actually purchased a few additional pieces after using up my credit in different colors. UA technical clothes really are top notch! Guys these are really all womens pieces, but I am sure their mens line also offers some awesome technical gear.
My favorite piece of gear so far is the Women's UA Momentum Tank. It is a fitted tank with an awesome comfy sports bra inside and a zipped pocket on the side. It is so comfy. The length is great, no riding up. I just love it. I got one in black and blue.
I also like the Women's UA Momentum Sleeveless. Also got great length (no donut flashing) and it's cute and light. I have two in hot pink (didn't realize it was the same thing that came with our UA Team gear). I raced in this at the Run for the Border and looked totally hot with my teammate also done up in hot pink!
Since I have been running pretty much everyday I was really in need of some additional sports bras. I ended up getting two orginal sports bras and one of their duplicity bras and I love them all. I managed to score the duplicity in hot pink but it looks like now they only have blue. Ladies if you don't need a ton of extra support up top (A/B) check out these sports bras and fitted tanks. I just love them.
The other item I really like is their Women's UA Momentum 2" Short just the right length and quite comfy. I raced the Cleveland half in these and loved them. Only complaint is no key pocket, but there is a pocket in the back and when worn with my fitted tank I don't need the additional key pocket.
Anyways I've been meaning to share this exciting news for awhile but I have just been swamped getting caught up around here. Suffice it to say I have felt pretty spiffy running around town in all the new technical gear this spring.
This year Jim got the pacing team a sweet gig with Under Armour. In a push to promote their running line UA created Team UA Runs with about 600 athletes of all levels promoting and racing in UA gear. (I even got featured in one of their blog posts for pacing!) As pacers we received some team uniforms and credit to purchase some additional gear and I have to say everything is fantastic!
UA just started making running shoes so I was a bit nervous about them but I wore my pair of UA apparitions for the Cinci Flying Pig marathon with no issues and I am alternating those with another pair of shoes as my main training shoes right now. I've been using the apparitions for track workouts and my long runs with no problems. I like teh footseleeve and found it similar to the New Balance trail shoes I have and adore. I'm not that picky about shoes though so go check them out yourself and see what you think!
I just wanted to highlight a few of the items that I am absolutely in love with here in case you are looking to stock your summer running wardrobe. I love these pieces so much I actually purchased a few additional pieces after using up my credit in different colors. UA technical clothes really are top notch! Guys these are really all womens pieces, but I am sure their mens line also offers some awesome technical gear.
My favorite piece of gear so far is the Women's UA Momentum Tank. It is a fitted tank with an awesome comfy sports bra inside and a zipped pocket on the side. It is so comfy. The length is great, no riding up. I just love it. I got one in black and blue.
I also like the Women's UA Momentum Sleeveless. Also got great length (no donut flashing) and it's cute and light. I have two in hot pink (didn't realize it was the same thing that came with our UA Team gear). I raced in this at the Run for the Border and looked totally hot with my teammate also done up in hot pink!
Since I have been running pretty much everyday I was really in need of some additional sports bras. I ended up getting two orginal sports bras and one of their duplicity bras and I love them all. I managed to score the duplicity in hot pink but it looks like now they only have blue. Ladies if you don't need a ton of extra support up top (A/B) check out these sports bras and fitted tanks. I just love them.
The other item I really like is their Women's UA Momentum 2" Short just the right length and quite comfy. I raced the Cleveland half in these and loved them. Only complaint is no key pocket, but there is a pocket in the back and when worn with my fitted tank I don't need the additional key pocket.
Anyways I've been meaning to share this exciting news for awhile but I have just been swamped getting caught up around here. Suffice it to say I have felt pretty spiffy running around town in all the new technical gear this spring.
2009 Race Schedule
Trying to plan out the year so that racing and training are the most productive they can be. I've already had to bag on my planned ultra in July but if that is what it takes to get fast right now I am okay with it. The trails aren't going anywhere. Here is how things look right now. If anyone has input on the marathon choice my ears are open. My preference is for local and cheap. I don't want a repeat of Richmond last year, if for some reason weather is a major factor I'd like to be able to bag the race or turn it into a training run rather than waste myself trying to achieve the unachievable and then having no back up races to follow it up with.
June:
Wednesday June 10th- Flag Day 5k
Sat June 20th- Whiskey Island Cross Country Relay 3K
July:
Saturday July 4th- Aurora Run 5k
Saturday July 19th- Johnny Cake Jog 5 Miler
August:
Possible Cross Country 5k or 8k early/mid August
Sunday August 16th- Perfect 10 Miler
Sunday August 30th- Possibility of pacing a half marathon
September:
Sunday September 13th- Buckeye Half Marathon
Saturday September 19th- Pacing Air Force Half (1:40, 7:38 pace)
Saturday September 26th- Pacing Akron Full Marathon(3:40, 8:24 pace)
October/November:
I'm debating the fall marathons. I'm really tempted to race Elyria November 1st because that gives a few extra weeks this summer to focus on speed, and it is more time between Akron and the fall race. But I can probably be persuaded into Columbus on the 18th of October and I think Towpath is iffy since it is 2 weeks after Akron and the soft surface isn't conducive to max speed, Columbus would be 3 weeks out, and Elyria 5 weeks.
I'd like to do the fall classic half November 22 depending on how the marathon goes.
June:
Wednesday June 10th- Flag Day 5k
Sat June 20th- Whiskey Island Cross Country Relay 3K
July:
Saturday July 4th- Aurora Run 5k
Saturday July 19th- Johnny Cake Jog 5 Miler
August:
Possible Cross Country 5k or 8k early/mid August
Sunday August 16th- Perfect 10 Miler
Sunday August 30th- Possibility of pacing a half marathon
September:
Sunday September 13th- Buckeye Half Marathon
Saturday September 19th- Pacing Air Force Half (1:40, 7:38 pace)
Saturday September 26th- Pacing Akron Full Marathon(3:40, 8:24 pace)
October/November:
I'm debating the fall marathons. I'm really tempted to race Elyria November 1st because that gives a few extra weeks this summer to focus on speed, and it is more time between Akron and the fall race. But I can probably be persuaded into Columbus on the 18th of October and I think Towpath is iffy since it is 2 weeks after Akron and the soft surface isn't conducive to max speed, Columbus would be 3 weeks out, and Elyria 5 weeks.
I'd like to do the fall classic half November 22 depending on how the marathon goes.
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