1/21-1/27 Week in Review

After my blistering run on Monday, the cold front came in.  And it was cold, yo! 

Tuesday was no problem, just an easy 30 minutes on the elliptical.

But Wednesday?  Hill repeater day?  It was 15 degrees out when I started my run.  I warmed up a mile (ha!  Warm-up!) ran 10 hill repeaters and cooled-down for a mile.  To tell you the truth, my body never really felt warm. 

And then came Friday.  Which was an easy 5-miler.  If you want to call 20 degrees easy.  It looked like this:

Yes.  That's me.  Actually, the run turned out to be quite fun.  That jacket is quite cozy and I sort of moved along in my own little bubble of warmth.  Sort of like the warm spot in the pool.  But without the pee.

Saturday's long run was a chilly, hilly 13 miler.  My IT band was really acting up, and I only averaged a 10:35 pace.  Did you know the human nasal cavity can literally produce buckets of snot in two and a half hours?  Seriously.  Buckets. 

And because I was feeling frisky, I threw this bad boy in around mile 11.  Though it's really no different than the ones at miles 6-10...

Bad Blogger. Baaaaaad.

I haven't been blogging.  I have utterly failed at the blog challenge, lol!

On the otherhand, I have been doing all my workouts (yes, Katie!  Even the cross-training!) And am starting to see results.  My coach wanted me to shoot for an 8:45min/mi on my Tempo loop yesterday.  Let me just tell you about my Tempo loop.  It's a real bitch.  It's 6.75-7 miles long (Depending on if I start from my house or somewhere actually on the loop.)  One entire side of it is rolling hills, the other is loooong gradual hills.  Depending on which way you run it, you have your choice of running up the steepest side of all the hills but a mostly downhill gradual finish, or the easy side of the rollers, but a long gradual mostly uphill finish.  Both suck equally. 

Anyways, the fastest I've ever run it is an 8:59 pace.  I know that at that point, the 15 second difference is mostly mental.  So I prepared myself and went for it.  It was tough.  I knew that my body was physically strong enough, but pushing myself hard is not something I do easily.  I generally finish all my races knowing I could've gone a little harder.  I kept asking myself  "You can, but WILL you?"  Well, long story short, I didn't make it.  But I came damn close!  7 miles, 8:47 pace!  Yay, me!

Today is a cross-training day.  As soon as the 3 year-old goes down for a nap, I will hit the ellipse machine for 30 minutes, then do some abs and IT band exercises. 

I have my eyes on that Half in February.  I may not get sub-2, but not for a lack of trying!

January 15. Cross Training Day

I'm taking full advantage of my rest week!  I did an easy 30 minute spin on the stationary bike, some IT band exercises and push-ups.  Easy-peasy.  Rest, rest, rest.  Next Monday I'm going to hit my Tempo the hardest I've ever gone...

January 14. The missed Tempo.

Monday mornings are tempo mornings.  Generally the hilly 7 mile loop around my neighborhood, more if I'm in a marathon training cycle.  Today was 59 degrees, and lightly raining.  Perfect conditions to kill a tempo run.  Yeah.  Not so much.  I think I was still fatigued from last week's 33 miles, because I just could NOT get my pace up to 9 minute miles.  It just was not happening.  I had the idea in the back of my head to try for my big goal of 2013, a sub-2 half.  I'm beginning to doubt if it's going to happen.  It's okay, I have plenty of half marathons in my schedule this year... I just think this first one is the flattest of the bunch. 

7.2 miles, 9:21 pace.

January 13. The one where I rest.

I'm exhausted mentally and physically.  My IT band hurts, and I'm taking a hard-earned rest day.  At most, I will do some leg strengthening exercises with my resistance band.

I'm very proud (and quite jealous) of all my running friends that completed the Goofy Challenge today.  Congratulations guys!  You all totally rock!

January 12. The one where I grow a beard.

I probably should have taken today off and done my long run tomorrow.  I'm quite burnt out after exercising everyday this week.  But, I really wanted Sunday off, so I could try to nail Monday's tempo run. 

It was foggy and misting when it got light enough for me to see outside.  Le sigh.  The weather was warm enough for shorts and long-sleeves and I was out the door by 9.  It was really, really wet.  And a bit chillier than I thought.  My hair was quickly soaked and I was dodging puddles to keep my shoes dry. 

I knew that I was going to be running slowly (long run pace) and I decided to make the run as hilly as possible.  I have some really hilly half marathons coming up.  Around mile 5 I decided to take a potty break.  I took a peek in the mirror to see how wet my hair actually was and was *shocked* to see my face.  Almost every peach fuzz hair on my face had a tiny drop of water hanging off of it, I looked like I had grown a full beard!  And apparently I need to wax my upper lip, because I was also sporting a moustache.  Plus there were little drops hanging from my eyebrows.  Very attractive. 

I finished up at 12.33 miles, 10:40 pace.  I'm exhausted.  I ran 33 miles this week and can NOT wait for tomorrow's rest day.

January 11. The one where I just put some miles behind me.

Today's run was an easy run, simply 45-60 minutes.  I just did a little 4.5 mile around the neighborhood.  10:02 pace.  I've been working really hard this week.  Tomorrow's log run will probably be tough.

January 10. The one where I slay my workout.

So today was a dreaded speed day.  GAH!  I had a 1 mile warmup, 1 mile at a 9:10 or better pace, .5 mile recover, repeat 2x more, and a cool down.  I really wanted to try to relax my body and concentrate on moving my legs until they burned.  It totally worked.  Speed mile 1 was an 8:45, 2 was an 8:37, and 3 was a whopping 8:31!  That is super fast for this old girl!

Tomorrow is just 45-60 minutes, easy easy pace.  I'm going to drive somewhere pretty and just enjoy myself!

January 9. The one that goes up & down, up & down, up & down.

Which is worse?  Hill work or speed work?  Personally I struggle more with the speed.  I have a real mental block when it comes to pushing myself all the way to maximum.  I almost wonder if I'll ever reach my full potential.  Not because I don't do the training, but because I don't do it hard enough. 

I was thankful that today was a hill day.  1 mile warmup, hill repeater x12, 1 mile cooldown for a total of 4 miles.  I'm sorry but you just can't NOT feel like a badass after sprinting up a hill 12 times.  I kinda dig it.

January 8. The one where I grumble and workout in my underwear.

Today was a cross-training day for me.  The post I put on Facebook read something like this:  "I really should go workout. **eyes elliptical machine hatefully**".  That pretty much sums up how I feel about doing anything other than running outside.  I'll grumble and complain and put it off.  Then I do it anyway.

I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical and did leg stregthening exercises.  And yeah, since no one was around, I did it in my undies.  What?

January 7. The one I cut short.

I knew this 7 mile tempo run was going to be a problem in less than a quarter mile.  #1.  I'd run 11 miles the day prior, and had no recovery day.  #2. The veggie pizza I'd eaten the night before was NOT sitting well, if you know what I mean. 

My tempo runs are supposed to be at a 9:20 or faster pace.  I felt tight and tense even after my warmup, so I was doubtful I'd hit that goal pace.  Interestingly, the first two miles were a 9:00 and 9:11, even though they were hilly.  Then the tummy rumbling started.  By miles 5 & 6, I was running 10 minute miles.  It's hard to relax and run when your butt cheeks are squeezed so tight a slip of paper couldn't slip between them. 

At mile 6.6 I was done.  Like really, really done.  I was only a half mile from my house, but I knew if I ran another step I was going to do something that would cause me to have to throw away a pair of Lululemon crops.  And I am very attached to my Lululemon crops.  Let's just say I walked.  I made it, and let's leave it at that, shall we?

January 6. The one where I reveal my torrid love affair with my running coach.

Okay, maybe not an actual love affair, but she is pretty awesome.  Let me tell you why I am a better, stronger, faster runner...

On April 1st 2011 I started the Couch to 5K program, worked through Bridge to 10K and by early 2012 I was training for my first half marathon in May and had registered for my first full marathon (the Marine Corps Marathon) in October.  I'd done this all on my own, logging the miles recommended by the apps and later Hal Higdon for the half marathon training.  I slimmed down from a 14 to a size 6 and was proud of my progress. 

Then that whole Half incident happened.  It was hot, it was hilly, it was a longer run than I'd ever attempted.  I'd registered to have my splits posted on Facebook automatically, and my friends watched my splits get longer and looonger.  I do not even remember miles 7-12, I must've been walking and running after the crowd like a skirted zombie runner.  It was awful and my finish time was 2:42:55.

I was at a low point, intimidated by the marathon distance I had in front of me, and had lost all forward momentum.  I hired Katie at Off Da Couch Training the next week.  She asked me a gazillion questions about my running history & goals.  She formulated a plan made just for me, taking into consideration my current capabilities.  But most of all she believed I could do it.  No question was stupid to her, and she answered every single one of them.  I'm pretty crazy and OCD about running, so it couldn't have been easy either. 

I did complete my marathon, and yes, it was hard.  Yes, it was a long way to run.  But I never once doubted that I'd finish, because Katie had given me all the training, confidence and support I needed to succeed.  And I came out of it eager to sign up for my next marathon.  Richmond Marathon 2013, woo-hoo!

Oh, and I also came out of it a LOT faster.  In December I completed a half marathon on a course in the same city as my first and encompassing many of the same major hills (if not a few more).  I completed it in 2:11:31, over thirty minutes faster than the one 7 months prior.  To me, that's huge. 

If you've been considering a coach to help you with your running goals, whether it's to just finish a certain distance from 5K-Ultra or to improve your PR, you should really look farther into it.  And I'd be remiss if I didn't plug my own personal coach, because she's totally killer.  Katie at www.offdacouchtraining.com, thank you for all you've done to help me achieve my goals.  Oh, and do you think you could coach me all the way to Boston?  Kthxbye.

For the Janathon challenge:  this morning I logged a happy, sunny, fun 11 miles.

January 5. The one where I make something up.

Today was technically a rest day.  In the interest of doing some sort of exercise everyday I enjoyed a brisk shopping trip, including at least a mile between Kohls and Best Buy.  Plus, I did go to the gym today.  It was to cancel my membership, but... whatever.

January 4. The one where I learn I can't add.

Today's run was one mile pick-ups.  Basically, I started at a 10:15 + pace, then picked up the pace by 15 seconds each mile.  Looking at my training plan, I realized I had to run 6 miles plus a 1 mile cool-down.  Perfect!  My community has a 7 mile loop around a lake.  I even wrote a list of the goal pace for each mile on the palm of my hand.  It was around mile 3 when I realized that there were actually only paces for FIVE miles written on my hand, somehow or another I counted the cool-down as a training mile.  *sigh*  So much for a loop.  I turned around and headed back to my truck. 

I really struggled with the early miles of this run, as I tend to be the type of runner who runs the first coupe of miles WAY too fast.  Negative splits are going to be a hard lesson for me to learn.  6.25 miles, 9:52 min/mi.

January 3

Today was just a hard day. My husband's friend and employee lost his battle with mesothelioma on Christmas Eve and today he was laid to rest. This time last year he thought he had a bad cough. He was 36 years old. Watching parents bury a child, even an adult child, is one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed.

 It was not a run day for me, and even if it had been, I'm sure I would've skipped it. I did manage 30 minutes on my spin bike. While spinning I watched the move Vegucated. Very eye-opening, and a topic for a whole different post.

Safe journey Greg. You will be missed.

January 2.

You know what? It's really freakin' cold out there. I must be a very dedicated runner because I was NOT feeling the love today. Today's workout was simple. 5 minute warm-up, then a 35 minute speed workout with one minute speed bursts 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes. It was over really fast. 9:48 average pace, but I had to walk for 30 secs to a minute after the sprints. The sprint pace hit between 7:30 and 8:00, so... lots of work to do. There was one small incident where a man I know pulled alongside me in his truck to chat. It happened at around 29 minutes in, when I was really working hard. Okay, hi! Nice to see you! I'm...ummm... kinda busy? Sheesh.

January 1

I woke with a sense of purpose this morning. Last year I ran a whopping 1,110 miles and I'm absolutely determined to beat that this year. I am currently working with a running coach (she trained me for the Marine Corps Marathon last year). My goals this year are definitely speed related. I'd like to run a sub-2 half marathon and a sub 4:30 full marathon. She sends me my weekly workouts and I do them. Today was a 6.75 mile tempo on the road that goes around the lake in my neighborhood. It's a hilly beast of a road and the fastest I've ever run it is a 9:10 pace. I'd made up my mind to go for a sub-9 pace, though I knew it would be really pushing myself. I TOTALLY DID IT THOUGH! 8:59 pace! Close, but still sub-9. I'll take it!