| Location: Phoenix,AZ, Member Since: Jul 23, 2007 Gender: Female Goal Type: Boston Qualifier Running Accomplishments: 5K: 22:15 (January 2005); 10K-48:40 (November 2005) Half-marathon: 1:50:25 (, March 2006); Marathon: 3:54:16 (January 2006)
Short-Term Running Goals: BQ Finish half marathon in January 2010 Run consistently Lose pregnancy weight + 10 pounds
Long-Term Running Goals: Complete an Ironman triathlon; run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa (55 miles) Marathon: sub 3:30 Half marathon: sub 1:40 10K: sub 42 minutes 5K: sub 21 minutes
Find out what my potential is and reach it.
Personal: I've been running since high school (mid-1990s) and do pretty well when I'm focused on a goal. My main problem is running consistently when I'm NOT training for something specific. I'm an attorney, and I've been married to my husband, also a runner, for 5 1/2 years. We live in Phoenix, Arizona. We had a beautiful baby girl, Caroline, in August 2009. |
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 573.19 | 49.80 | 0.25 | 0.28 | 0.00 | 623.52 |
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 3.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.80 |
| I ran outside in the Phoenix heat tonight. It was muggy! I ran on a dirt path near my house when it was getting dark, so I had to avoid potholes, etc. My pace has been averaging around 9:00 per mile lately, so I was very happy with my performance. I stopped at stoplights to catch my breath, and I stopped one other time. It was a great run! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Well, tonight was a different story. It was warmer than last night, 93 degrees, which is actually very cool for a Phoenix summer night. So my husband and I decided to run outside again. I kept the 9:00 pace for the first half, but barely. Then I had to WALK. Hubby had the watch, so I don't know my exact time, but I ended up walking about a mile. Back to the treadmill!! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| It poured outside today, so the temp was down to the mid-80s, but it actually felt a little cooler, so I was able to run outside! I did 5 miles in 45:20, a 9:04 pace. I'm finally getting back down to my "in-shape training pace." I always try to run the second half faster than the first half. Tonight I ran my first half in 22:18 (first mile in 8:30) and the second half in 23:02. The first half felt really easy, even though I seem to be running faster now, which is good, I guess. I need to work on staying strong for the second half. My heart rate came down fairly quickly. I was down to 120 bpm after about 6 minutes. I'm always going for 5 minutes. Overall, I'm very happy with my progress lately. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.25 |
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Well, it's been an interesting weekend. I didn't run on Thursday because I had something to do after work (I need to be a morning person!!). Friday my husband and I traveled to Colorado intending to do a long run in the mountains on Saturday. Our flight was cancelled, they lost our luggage, and we didn't get to CO until midday Saturday. Our luggage arrived Saturday night, so we had no running shoes or clothes until then.
We were finally able to go today. We went hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Forest with family members who don't run. We had intended to do about 6 miles, but it started POURING on us. I ran back down the mountain. Once I got going, my body heated up enough to where I wasn't cold, even though I was soaked. It was actually very liberating. |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Back to Phoenix today, with the intention of lots of running this week to prepare for our trail 10K this weekend in northern AZ (and burn off all the junk food from the family reunion!).
It was frustrating to not be able to run, especially because it was out of our hands! Next time I fly, I'm carrying on my running shoes and clothes!
Thanks to those of you who posted comments.
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 2.70 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.70 |
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We ran 1.1 miles outside and decided to complete our run in the gym because a HUGE storm was coming. It ended up being a good decision. The outside portion of the run went fine, but once we got to the gym, I felt awful. I did some pushups, ab exercises, and squats at the end.
Pace: 1.1 miles outside: 8:21. 1.6 miles inside: 9:06. Average pace: 8:47
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 3.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.30 |
| I ran on the treadmill tonight and felt generally bad. Last week was a great week, until the end, and this week is just not going well. I ran for 30 minutes at about a 9:00 pace. I can't imagine that a few unintentional days off would set me back that far. Maybe I'm exhausted from the weekend. If anyone can offer insight, feel free! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
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Another mediocre run on the treadmill. My heart rate was around 180 at the end of my run, and five minutes later was still well above 120. I ran a 9:05 pace the whole time. Some of you have sent me suggestions as to why I'm not feeling well this week-thank you!. I feel like I drink enough water, but maybe I haven't been lately. My workload has dramatically increased this week to a level where I expect it to stay. Maybe my body needs time to adjust to a higher level of stress. My husband is feeling out of sorts also. We are leaving for a week-long vacation in one week in Connecticut. I'll be running at sea level, in cool weather, with no work-related stress-yeah! It will be interesting to see how that week goes.
Tomorrow will be a rest day, and then a 10K in Flagstaff Saturday morning! | |
| Race: |
Machine Solutions Trail run (6.2 Miles) 00:00:00 | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
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Today my husband and I ran a trail 10K in Flagstaff, Arizona. I ran the race two years ago, so I was familiar with the course. Last time, I was four minutes off my goal time, given the high altitude (7000 ft), steep hills, and rocky terrain.
Before the race started, my Garmin froze up and wouldn't work. At the starting line, the announcer said there were no clocks or mile markers along the course, so I figured I would listen to my body and see what happened: uncharted territory for my type-A self!
The first mile is slightly downhill and on a packed gravel trail, so it was pretty easy. The big hills are in the second and third miles. After what felt like about 4.5 miles, I asked a volunteer how much further, and he said three miles. I wanted to cry. A little while later, a girl with a functioning Garmin passed me, and I asked her. She said we'd gone about 5 miles (yeah! I was right!) and told me our pace (bad, bad). I typically have a pretty strong kick late in my runs/races, and I think I was able to make up some time between miles 4 and 5.5 (estimates!), but I wasn't able to kick in my characteristic finish line sprint. As I approached the finish line and saw a number I had never seen before in a 10K, I wanted to cry. We drowned our sorrows in excellent Swedish oat pancakes at breakfast, though.
I have read that one can expect performance to suffer by about 10% when running/racing at high altitude. I had wanted to run the race at marathon race pace (8:24 for Boston!). I ended up running about 10% slower than that, so I felt a lot better about my performance after doing that calculation. However, I will have my work cut out for me this training season. I'm hoping that last week was just a bad week and that I'll be back to my easy sub-9:00 pace 5-milers and weekend 9:00 pace 10-milers this week.
I'm also trying to lose some weight. I'm 5'8" and have been at 135 lbs for the last several years but have gained 10 lbs, more or less, over the last eight months. I know the extra weight is affecting my performance, but I also need the calories to run well. Since I've started keeping track of my calories, I find that I eat 1300-1400 calories a day, but I'm not losing weight. Maybe that's too few calories to keep my metabolism going...I'll have to play around with that.
Another week, a fresh start! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Yeah! I am back! Tonight I ran with my husband on the Phoenix Bridle Path, one of our favorite places to run. It was very humid, but much cooler than normal (about 85 degrees). We finished in 45:13, a 9:02 pace overall. I finished the first half in 22:41 and ran the second half in 22:32. I always try to run the second half faster, and the bridle path is slightly uphill on the return. Anyway, my heart rate was around 170 at the end and back down to 120 within about 4 minutes.
Interestingly, I "overate" today. I had a bunch of trail mix and wasn't hungry for lunch. I finally ate lunch at 3:00 pm. I wonder if the extra food helped my energy level. Thank you to everyone who commented on my entries-the tips are helping! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Tonight I ran 5 miles on the treadmill because it was pretty hot outside. I had a great run: 5 miles in 44:35, averaging 8:55. I ran the first half in about 22:45 and kicked it up to finish the second half in 21:50. I ran the last mile in 8:19, a little faster than marathon race pace.
I felt really good throughout the run. In the middle of my run, I checked my heart rate, and it was about 160 (right where it should be). After the last mile at 8:19 it was around 180 but fell back to 120 pretty quickly. In the next 2 1/2 weeks, I'd like to get to the point where race pace feels a lot easier so I can begin my official marathon training feeling strong.
After the run I did 3 sets of pushups and 3 sets of crunches. I really need to do more strength training, but it will be hard to fit it into my running, especially as the runs get longer. |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Tonight I did 5 miles on the treadmill (106 degrees outside) and felt great. I ran it in 45:02, so just over a 9:00 mile. I started out at a 9:05 pace for the first mile, went up to 8:57 for the next three miles, and ran the last mile in 8:49. Heart rate at the end was 170 and down to 120 within about 4 minutes.
Feeling good, and hoping to keep it up!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Ran 4 miles on the treadmill (hot day again) in 36:45 (about a 9:10 pace). I felt great for the first three miles but got felt a little queasy after that, so I decided to cut the run short at 4 miles. I've run 5 miles per day for the last three days, so I'm fine with it. My heart rate was a little lower than normal and returned back to 120 very quickly. Wonder if it was something I ate...
We leave for vacation tomorrow night. I'm going to try and squeeze in a run after work (our flight leaves at 11:30 pm). The real challenge willl be keeping up the running on vacation. My husband and I usually go, go, go on vacation and are too tired to do anything but crash, and then sleep late. This will be a more low-key vacation (I think) with the majority of the time spent with my family on the beach. So, we're taking lots of running clothes and hoping for consistency. I think I'll have Internet access on my mom's laptop, so you all will see how I do! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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We arrived at Groton Long Point, Connecticut yesterday afternoon, and this place is beautiful! Our flight was delayed (bad luck with flying lately!), and we hardly slept on the plane at all, so we are still recovering from jet lag.
I basically didn't sleep at all Friday night, slept 9 hours last night, and just woke up from an hour and a half nap! My husband is still asleep.
My mom's new house here is right on the beach, and there is a boardwalk that stretches around the sound. I'm looking forward to running there. There is also a state park nearby with a lot of trails. The town in general is runner-friendly. There are not a lot of cars, and there are people on bikes everywhere. We plan to run tomorrow when we are fully recovered from jet lag. We also have kayaks, so we plan on exploring the area that way as well.
In the meantime, we're eating very well! Last night, my mom's husband cooked clams, shrimp, and lobster. We each had our own personal lobster, which I've never had before, so it was quite the experience!
We had fully planned on running today, but we still have no energy! I guess it takes a while to catch up when you basically miss an entire night's sleep! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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We ran 5 miles in 46:41 (9:20 pace) along the beach in CT. It was a beautiful day: about 70 degrees but humid! We actually ran on the boardwalk or the sidewalk adjacent to the beach. We ran a little slower than usual, but my heart rate came down very quickly. Of course, it was my first run in three days, so it will probably take a couple of days to get back up to speed. My husband and I have heard conflicting things about running in the sand. I've heard it's good for you (I've done it, and it's very difficult), but he heard it's bad for you.
After our run, we kayaked in the ocean for about an hour. It was really fun and a good workout. We kayaked over to another beach and found two giant dead horseshoe crabs. they look a little bit like stingrays but with hard shells.
Tomorrow we're going to visit friends in the Hamptons. Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in a run down there. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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We did 5 miles along the beach again today-beautiful run! It was not as humid as our run on Monday, and we finished in 44:40. We ran the first mile in 9:20 and got to the halfway point at 22:28, so we picked up some speed to about 8:50. We ran the second half in 22:10, and our pace varied a bit, from 8:28 to 8:50, according to my Garmin. Our average pace was 8:56 with my heart rate around 160.
Our marathon training plan is based on heart rate and time spent running, rather than mileage, for some of the runs. So, we have to figure out our max heart rates before we start. I know that the 220 minus your age won't be accurate for me, because my heart rate can go up to about 200, and I'm almost 30. I found some articles on the subject, so we'll be doing some scientific tests when we get back to AZ! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Today we ran along the Charles River in Boston. What a beautiful city! Our hotel was in a very good location, right off Beacon Street on the Freedom Trail, but we had a hard time finding the river. We probably walked a good 1-1.5 miles to find the trail. We ran for about 48 minutes. My Garmin said we went 5 miles, but I think we went a bit farther, because the time was a little off, and the Garmin has a hard time keeping the signal with so many trees.
This afternoon, we went on a bike tour of Boston. We had signed up for a guided tour on bikes, but we greatly underestimated how long it would take to get to the bike shop, so we missed the tour! We rented the bikes anyway and did our own self-guided tour. It was scary at first, riding in the traffic, but we got the hang of it after a while and ended up really enjoying ourselves. We rode for almost 3 hours, and I have no idea how far we went! All I know is, I am all fired up about running the Boston marathon after seeing it on foot and bike!
I wasn't able to run as much during our vacation as I wanted to. Most of our vacations are whirlwind tours where we don't have any time or energy to run, so this was actually better than most. And I am so spoiled now after running in the beautiful weather. Time to fire up the treadmil again! I feel good and well-rested for next week! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 2.75 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.75 |
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Tonight was my first run back in Phoenix on the treadmill. I was feeling out of sorts, as you can probably tell by my distance. I finished in 24:50, a 9:01 pace. I got almost no sleep Saturday night because of our traveling home from Boston, and I think my body was still a little off today. It's probably a good thing, though, because I am going to run tomorrow morning. I have commitments after work tomorrow and Wednesday, so I'm trying the morning thing. As I have said before, I am NOT a morning person, so we'll see how it goes.
After the run, I did some weights: several ab exercises, seated row, pushups, etc. I tried to do some lunges, but my legs felt like jello. I know I need to strength train, but it's so hard to find the extra time. Also, many times I find that I'm so sore I can hardly run the next day. Has anyone incorporated strength training into marathon training without spending every spare moment working out? |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Well, I did it...barely! We got up at 5:30 and ran outside on the Central Ave. Bridle Path, which was packed. We started out at our normal pace or faster (9-minute mile) and were barely slogging 10-minute miles by our turnaround point. I ended up running for 40 minutes and walking the rest. It was discouraging, but I think it will take time to get my body used to running in the morning. Plus, we just ran last night. I'm hoping to get to bed earlier tonight (I got 7 hours of sleep last night) and do better tomorrow morning. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Well, it's been a stressful week. I have my first arbitration tomorrow and have been holed up at work. When work gets stressful for me, everything else (including exercise) tends to go out the window. I know things will get easier once I've been practicing law longer, but things like this tend to eat up all my time now. I know it gets better, because I sometimes run with a whole group of attorneys who obviously have time and energy to train for marathons!
So, hopefully my preparation for tomorrow will pay off, and I expect that it will go fine. Luckily, busyness at work comes and goes in spurts, so I won't be this busy all the time. I'm looking forward to running after the arbitration is over! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Today is officially the start of my marathon training program. It's an advanced program that I got from active.com. It consists of moderately high mileage with 1-2 speed sessions per week after the first month or so, lots of running at marathon race pace, two 20-milers, and one 22-miler. I've done two 20-milers in training before, but never more, and never anything over 20 miles, so that will be interesting! Luckily, it starts easily, with only 8 easy miles this weekend.
Another interesting feature of this program is that most of the weekday runs are laid out by minutes running, rather than miles.
My husband and I did just under 5 miles this morning (45 minutes). We got up at 5:45, a little later, because my schedule allowed it today. It is SO HARD to get up-have I said that?! My husband leaves today for most of the week on business, so I knew our run would be the last time we would spend together for most of the week. That helped me get out the door! Anyway, I felt like I slowed WAY down in the second half of the run, but I finished in 45:51. My slowdown of almost a minute was significant, but not as bad as I thought. Now that I am officially in training, there are NO more excuses to skip runs, not even a crazy work week! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.55 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.55 |
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Tonight I ran on the treadmill for 50 minutes. The training plan called for one hour of running with 4-6 surges of 30-60 seconds each: a fartlek workout, I guess. I did four surges for one minute each at 8:19 pace, and the rest of the time I ran at a 9:05 pace. I started getting tired after about 42 minutes, but I held out until 50 minutes, and then I was DONE! There was no way I was doing the last 10 minutes. My heart was racing, and it took over 10 minutes to get back down to 120, which worried me a little. I ate normally today, but I probably didn't have enough carbs with lunch. And I had a stressful day at work (seems to be the norm these days!).
My husband is in Texas, and he had quite the obstacles to running tonight! It was super hot and humid, so he opted to run on the treadmill inside the hotel, but when he got to the fitness center, it was empty! (it was fine last night). So he decided to run outside anyway. He tried to get water, and the hotel was out (!), so he took some money on his run so he could stop at a gas station. He forgot his watch, so he took his cell phone with him to keep time! But he ran for an hour, hills and all!
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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I did a Pilates video at home, which felt SOOOO good! I haven't really done it on a regular basis. When I ran the PF Chang's marathon in 2005, I did Pilates twice a week for about the last six weeks of training. I don't know if it improved my running, but I saw visible results very quickly. And it sure feels great!
Visible ab muscles, here I come! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.02 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.02 |
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Tonight I ran on the treadmill. I finished the run in 45 minutes, so I averaged just under a 9:00 mile. I felt surprisingly good, given the fact that I had just been bowling for 3 hours and ate pizza. Our whole office went bowling, which was fun. I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow! Anyway, the run felt good.
I'm following the training plan, which calls for cross training on Wednesdays. So, yesterday I did Pilates. It felt really good, but I don't know if the schedule will work for me. It calls for running on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, and Saturday, and cross training on Wednesdays. But, since I usually run at night, I would be running on Friday nights and then turning right around and doing long runs the next morning. I'm going to tinker with the schedule a bit and figure out what is best for me. |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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I ran 8 miles outside this morning. It was hot, but the heat didn't seem to bother me. The battery in my Garmin went out, so I had to rely on someone else's watch. According to him, our total time was 1:17, which is MUCH slower than I need to be. I don't know how accurate the time is, though, because we stopped for a bit to wait for someone, and I don't think he stopped his watch.
Today I officially enter a new age group (30-34)! I'm glad I began my 30's doing something healthy...and then I had In n Out Burger for lunch! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Today I did 5 miles on the treadmill in 45:45, a 9:05 pace. I felt really good throughout the run, until the end when I started cramping a bit. I attribute that to the giant salad I ate for lunch too soon before the run! I powered through and did fine, though. I finished off with a few squats, lunges, pushups, etc.
I got the new Garmin 305 for my birthday, and I can't wait to use it! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.06 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.06 |
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We ran on the canal this morning. It was very nice outside, surprisingly. Unfortunately, my performance was terrible. It was all I could do to keep a 10-minute mile. I did 4 pick-ups for a minute each. The first two were at 8:45-8:50 pace, the third was 8:20-8:30, and the fourth was barely below 9:00. I think some of the reasons for the poor performance were: restless sleep last night, running yesterday afternoon at 3:00 (not enough rest/recovery), followed by one set each of squats and lunges (I'm sore!), and no food before I ran this morning. Total running time was 59:50, which was an average pace of 9:52. It was really discouraging, and I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.
I ran with my new Garmin, but the heart rate monitor didn't work! I'll have to play with it tonight and see if I can figure it out.
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Now I know why I don't strength train! I did one set each of squats and lunges with no weight on Monday afternoon, and I can barely walk today, much less run! I went to bed at 9:45 last night with the intention of running at 5:45 this morning. When 5:45 rolled around, I couldn't get out of bed! So annoying!
Maybe I'll try to walk around my neighborhood tonight after dinner and see if I can shake some of this soreness |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Ran this morning, and, once again, it did not go well. I was supposed to go 45 minutes and could barely eke out 38, with lots of breaks! When I got back home, crying, my husband suggested that maybe I put too much pressure on myself regarding my running performance to the point that I don't enjoy running. I think he definitely has a point. When a run goes badly, it affects my whole day, especially when I run in the morning. If an evening run goes badly, I'm annoyed only until I go to bed!
I realized this morning that running in the morning makes me dread running. I don't like feeling that way, so I'm going back to nights (except for long runs)! I really think that my body just doesn't function as well in the mornings! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 9.02 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.02 |
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I did my group long run this morning at 5:30. It's funny that I can't seem to drag myself out of bed on weekday mornings, but I'm fine with it on Saturdays. It helps that I can take a nap today and that my husband is on the way to get breakfast burritos as we speak!
I felt pretty good today. Total time was 1:24, a 9:19 pace. My goal is to increase my long run pace to 9:00, except when I'm running at goal race pace (8:24). I probably went too fast today-I was trying to keep up with the group. My heart rate was way up at the end, but I attribute some of that to cardiac creep. Miles 4-7 were done much faster, for some reason. I took a Gu at mile 5, which helped, and helped myself to some Gatorade at a random cooler later on. It was a good run, overall-I feel like I am improving.
For all of you Valley of the Sun people, I have helped organize a race that is next Sunday, September 16 at 7:00 am in Tempe. It's called Race Judicata, and we have a 5K, 1 mile, and kid's dash. The proceeds go to the various community projects that the Maricopa County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division participates in. You can register on active.com. By the way, the t-shirts are awesome! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Today I did 4 miles on the treadmill. It's mid-September and still 105 degrees outside! I felt OK but kind of lethargic. I was wondering why, and then I realized that I hadn't eaten in almost 5 hours! I also had just been to the dentist and had a fluoride treatment where you can't drink water for a while, so I was probably a little dehydrated too. I ended up cutting the run a little short. I ran a 9:05 pace. I'm glad I cut it short because I'm going to run tomorrow morning, and I want my legs to feel fresh.
I bought new shoes, my first pair of Asics, the other day. Today was my first run in the new shoes. I've been getting blisters lately, and I thought it was the shoes. But I got them today too! I just need to break down and buy enough cool-max socks to last all week. They're expensive! Not as much as the $100 running shoes, but still! I like the shoes, though. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 7 miles, yeah! I don't know what got into me, but it was good! I ran a 9:05 pace on the treadmill to finish in 1:03:45. I felt great the entire time, and my heart rate stayed low. I was well hydrated and had eaten well throughout the day, and my mp3 player was playing good music. I love runs like this-they make my day! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.60 |
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Tonight I ran outside. I just checked the weather, and it said it was 99 degrees, but it felt cooler. Or maybe my body is actually getting used to the heat, just in time for it to cool down! Anyway, I did an easy recovery run. It was good but a little scary in the dark. The path is a dirt path, and it's pretty bumpy. I had to rely on the cars driving by to illuminate it. Hopefully I'll get a headlamp for my birthday. If not, I'm going to buy one. I twisted my ankle badly several years ago running in the dark (6 weeks before my first marathon, which I couldn't do because of the ankle), so I'm very careful about it now.
Good run, overall. |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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I did 10 miles on the canal this morning with my normal group, although I ended up running alone most of the time. The rest of the group is faster than me right now. I started out with a friend doing about a 9:15 pace, and I felt like I was going WAY too fast, so I dropped back. I met up with the group a little before mile 4. They turned around, so I met up with some other people who I ran with until my turnaround at mile 5. They were running 20 miles, and I think we were doing well over 10-minute miles. I hit 5.1 miles right at 50 minutes, so my splits for the first half were about 10 minute miles overall.
I felt a little better on the way back and decided to pick up the pace. I ran the second half in 47:30 (9:30 pace), and I'm glad I was able to speed it up. There were SO many people out there by then, which translates to a lot more water and Gatorade stops. I was glad for all the Gatorade, because I didn't have any Gu today.
I feel good, but I need to get my long run pace down to 9:00 miles. I'm confused about my slow pace today, especially since I did 7 miles the other night at 9:05 pace with no problem. I felt fine today, but I just couldn't go any faster. But, I've starting my marathon training a full month earlier this year, so hopefully I'll be up to speed in a couple of weeks.
I have a 5K tomorrow morning! I've helped organize the race, and I'll run it if my legs feel fresh. Actually, I plan on jogging it as a recovery run. BUT, we'll see what happens when I actually get out there. I won an age group prize last year, so my competitive juices might get flowing once I'm at the starting line! | |
| Race: |
Race Judicata (3.1 Miles) 00:26:20, Place in age division: 3 | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 3.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.10 |
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Today I ran the race that I have helped organize for the past 9 months. I woke up at 3:45(!) to get to the race site to help set up, and the race started at 7:00. It is still hot this time of year in Phoenix, and this morning was no exception.
I started at the back of the pack and had to pick through some runners. I know that's bad and wastes energy, but I tried to keep the darting around people to a minimum. The course makes several sharp curves for the first quarter mile, so it's hard to pick up any real speed. I ran the first mile in 8:10 and hoped to gradually speed up. I didn't really have a time goal, but I hoped to beat my time at this race last year, which was an 8:11 pace. One weird thing was that I kept passing people, even though I slowed down to an 8:30 pace after the first mile.
In my entire history of running, I have never worked out the day before the race (except maybe in high school), so I didn't really know what it was like to race on tired legs. However, yesterday I not only worked out, but I did a long run of 10 miles. So I was TIRED today. I'm not thrilled with my time, but I can cut myself some slack because of the workout yesterday and my lack of sleep! My heart rate recovered quickly after the race.
So, I ran the entire race at an 8:23 pace, which I hope to be my marathon pace. Gotta pick it up! I think we start more serious speed training this week. I'll tell you all right now, I'm taking tomorrow off-my legs need it! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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What a BEAUTIFUL morning. I think it was under 70 degrees!! I did 5 easy miles in 49:34 (9:54 pace). I am now officially backing off my quest for Boston and will wait until later next year to give it a try. My fitness just isn't where it needs to be now. I am going to take Sasha's very specific advice and do 5 miles a day at a 10:00 pace.
I thought running slower would drive me CRAZY, but it actually was a relief. I felt SO good this morning. My heart rate was low, and my whole body felt strong. I also have a new iPod with new music, so that helped too! My husband is doing great! I miss running with him, but I'm proud of him for doing so well.
It's hard on the ego to swallow my pride and dial down the intensity. But, if it will make me a better runner, I'll do it. I always have to remember that this is not the sport for instant gratification!
Anybody know of a cure for blisters? Or how to avoid them? The Coolmax socks don't seem to be working for me. I tend to get them on the tips of my toes (weird, because I buy shoes one size bigger than my normal shoes) and on my instep. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Another beautiful morning. I did 5 easy miles again, 3 seconds faster than yesterday. I ran the first half slower than yesterday but picked up the pace slightly to finish the second half 30 seconds faster than the first. Average pace was 9:54, and average heart rate was 152 (love my new Garmin!). I felt really good, except for my blisters! I put Vaseline on my toes (thanks, Chad and Sasha, for the suggestions), but I'm going to need something more for my instep (weird place to get blisters!).
Tomorrow I'm meeting friends at the track. My husband is going to come along and do a max heart rate test. I told them I'm running SLOW, so the plan is to not get caught up in their speed, but maybe just do one mile at a faster pace.
I went to bed at 9:00 last night! But, I didn't really get to sleep until around 10:00. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.25 |
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Well, this was an interesting run. I met friends at the track and ran 5 miles....around and around and around. It was another beautiful morning. I didn't want to keep track of my laps, so I wore my new Garmin, which has been pretty accurate so far (I think). But, after a while, it seemed to be a whole lap off. At then end of my run, it said I had run 5.36 miles. But, based on my time (49:54), I think I just did 5. Maybe I was going faster, I don't know. Maybe running around in circles confused Mr. GPS in the Sky. Oh well. I felt good, and my blisters are getting better!
OK, I'm changing my entry to 5.25, thanks to advice from ArmyRunner, that my Garmin wasn't a whole .36 mile off! Which means I averaged a 9:30 pace. I'm supposed to be running 10:00 pace-oops! Because I thought I'd only done 5, I really picked up the pace at the end to get under 50 minutes total, so my true average is probably more like 9:40.
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 8.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.25 |
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Today was an interesting day (it's all about the positive mindset!!). I had just planned on 8 miles, but then I met a girl while I was running, so I ran with her and chatted. I turned around at 4.5 miles, intending to go 9 miles. I averaged a 10:09 pace, but it felt VERY labored for most of the run, and my heart rate was way up. I actually stopped when I got to 8.25 miles and walked the rest of the way back. I wasn't supposed to go over 8 miles, so I figured I shouldn't push it, especially when I was feeling so tired. I was really upset about it when I finished, but I"m over it now. I figure I either didn't eat enough carbs this week, or I just had an off day. I'm having a party tonight, so the planning is distracting me now.
My friend/former colleague and mentor moved to San Diego and invited me out to run a half marathon with her in mid-November! I think that will be perfect timing to test my fitness and give me enough time to build up. I'm excited!! And, as a bonus, I get to see my friend and hang out in San Diego.
A weird thing happened about 30 minutes after the run. As a background (maybe it has nothing to do with what happened), my neck has been really hurting all week. At first, I figured I just slept wrong, but it still hurts after 5 days. My reaction to pain is generally to ignore it and suck it up until it goes away-horrible, I know! :-) Anyway, on the way to breakfast I started to have really sharp pains in my torso every time I inhaled. It hurt the most in my back but kind of came around the side to my chest too. It kind of felt like heartburn, but in the back. Anyway, it was excruciating to the point where I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital (and call off my party-oh no!!!!!). My husband, thankfully, was very calm, and told me it was probably a back spasm that would go away. And, of course, it did go away after about 10 minutes. So now I'm fine. Hopefully it was just a spasm! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| So far I have not run today. I have pretty bad neck pain and some back pain. I'm just wondering if anyone has some advice on whether I should run today. I really don't want to skip my workout today, but I also don't want to cause more problems in my neck. I'm going to see if I can get into the chiro or massage therapist today. Hopefully I'll get to edit this entry with a 5-mile run! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I'm back in the saddle! I feel 80% better after my chiro treatment yesterday-no more sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself!! I did 5 miles tonight in just under 50 minutes. It felt good, but my heart rate was a little high.
My sister gave me a headlamp for my birthday that I tried out for the first time tonight. It wasn't superbright, but it helped. My husband was driving home from his workout on the track and saw me from over a block away. So, I guess it worked, and I didn't twist an ankle! In 2000, I was training in Flagstaff for my first marathon and twisted my ankle badly 6 weeks before the race. I was running in the dark and stepped off a curb! So, I missed the race. Ever since then, I have been super-paranoid about running in the dark. Hence, the headlamp in urban Phoenix!
Because I'm doing the same run every day now, MOTIVATION is the name of the game! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I ran tonight after work, with the headlamp again. I ran faster tonight, maybe because I didn't want to run in the dark longer than I had to. Or maybe because I wanted to make sure I would get home in time for Grey's Anatomy (I did). Anyway, my average pace was 9:44, and it varied from 9:24 to 9:55. Heart rate was up, but I felt good.
It was a good run overall, but I need to be consistent!!!
We have a new addition to the blog, my friend lorenzpsu. She is a triathlete. Tell her hello! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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Today is a beautiful day! And I'm stuck in the office...Oh well, I had a great run this morning! I finished 10 miles in 1:39:53, just under a 10-minute mile. It's funny-ever since I started running long distances, I would run the first half MUCH slower than my goal pace but would always make up for it in the second half. I thought I would be able to keep up a constant pace now, because I'm running at an easier pace, but I still run the same way! Here are my splits:
10:06; 10:15; 10:20; 10:20; 10:18; 10:05; 9:47; 9:50; 9:28; 9:24.
It's a confidence booster for me to pick it up at the end. My heart rate averaged around 160, which was a little high, but OK. My goal for next week is to be more consistent. Either next weekend or the weekend after, we are going up to Flagstaff (7600 feet), one of my favorite places. OK, I grew up there, so I am partial. but it's also a great place for altitude training! I'll be interested to see how my long run goes up there! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Tonight I ran an entire run with my husband! We haven't done that in quite a while. He had the watch but accidentally reset it during the run, so we don't know our time. That's fine with me, though-it's nice to do a run without worrying about time every once in a while. Today was kind of cloudy and yucky, but once it got dark, it was beautiful! It felt very much like October!
I'm getting up early tomorrow morning!!!!! I'm announcing this publicly, so I HAVE to do it! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 3.85 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.85 |
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Yeah, I did it! I got up at 4:45 am and met two girlfriends at the canal in the DARK! We ran very slowly, kept stopping to stretch, etc., so I didn't have time to go any further. That is fine, because I did 5 miles last night, and I knew 10 miles in less than 12 hours with minimal sleep would be rough.
The timing was perfect. My friend sent me a text message right after I logged off the blog last night asking if I wanted to meet them, so I jumped at the opportunity, knowing that it would ensure that I would get out of bed! I also knew I would have to get to bed soon, so I did not even start watching the Bachelor (a guilty pleasure), because I knew if I started it I would watch the whole thing and not even start to get ready for bed until 10:00! Killer self-discipline, except for the half-bag of chips I ate right before my run last night. I was so full I didn't eat dinner-oops! Maybe next week I'll give up sugar and white flour! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I met my two friends on the track again today. They did speed work and ran stairs while I ran 5 miles around the track. It's actually not boring with my iPod. I was trying to run a 10:00 mile but got to 2 miles in 20:40, so I had to pick it up at that point. I finished in 49:24, 9:53 pace. However, that includes a last mile in about 9:00, 7:00 pace for the last curve around the track, and a full-on sprint at the end (which felt awesome, by the way!).
I'm finding that I have to concentrate more to hold the 10:00 pace, and that's not as automatic as it was last week. I'm not sure why that is. It still feels good, but it's a change that I have noticed.
For all of you traveling to St. George today (if anybody), have a safe trip! GOOD LUCK in the marathon, although I'm sure everyone will be blogging before then! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
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First of all, I have to tell you all how much of a miracle that there is an entry for me today. I love running-it's on my top 5 list of my favorite things in the world. However, early mornings are in the bottom 5. So, it's VERY hard to drag my butt out of bed early in the morning, unless I'm meeting someone. So, this morning, the plan was for my husband and I to run together. The alarm went off at 5:30, and my husband rolled over and said, "I think I'm going to skip the run today. My legs are sore." But guess what-I got up and ran-BY MYSELF at 5:30 am!!!!! And I enjoyed it! I always do once I'm out there, anyway.
The plan was to do 5 miles, but I felt good, so I kept going. I finished in 55:23, a 9:53 pace. My splits always seem to be either 10:10 or 9:50. I can never seem to run straight 10:00 miles. I picked it up at the end until I got below 8:00 pace, according to Garmin.
I'm so proud of myself for getting up!!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 11.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
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Today I ran with my group along the canal. It was actually chilly when we started at 7:30! The run went really well, and I finished in 1:49:05, a 9:55 average. My splits were:
9:47, 10:01, 10:00, 10:14, 10:04, 10:03, 10:01, 9:59, 9:46, 9:46, 9:26.
And, I ran 30 miles this week. My goal for October will be to average 30 miles per week. I'm on my way!
GOOD LUCK to everyone running St. George tomorrow! I'm looking forward to reading your race reports!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.10 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
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Soooo, I've been trying to follow Sasha's recommendation of running 5 miles per day at a nice easy pace of 10:00 per mile for the last 3 weeks or so (granted, one week I only ran 4 days). So, this evening I started my run, nice and easy, thinking I'd better pick it up because I was going way too slow. So, imagine my surprise when I look down at Mr. Garmin, who says I'm running 9:30! I keep running, keep running, and still 9:10 to 9:40. So, I decide to do 5.6 instead of my normal 5. I swear, for most of the run, it felt too easy!! My splits were: 9:36, 9:45, 10:02, 10:00, 9:55, 8:53 (.6 mile), for an average pace of 9:45. Total time was 54:38.
I think I mentioned last week that it was starting to feel not quite so easy to maintain 10:00. Improving by 15 seconds per mile to the point where it feels easy is very encouraging! I'm very excited to see what my body will be able to do after a month of running 30 miles per week consistently! I'm getting up at 4:45 again tomorrow to do an easy run with my friends. Let's hope that tonight's run has become the rule, rather than the exception!
Congrats to EVERYONE who ran St. George over the weekend. You all inspire me to run my heart out and set challenging goals for my running! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.40 |
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Today was an early, easy run in the dark with two friends. I ran with them last week, but today we ran faster, about a 10:30 pace, down from 11:00. One of my friends, the one who is new to running, is improving. She was able to pick up the pace from last week and didn't stop to walk at all! The blog is the next step!
I am in a world of hurt with these blisters. I have one on the outside of my big toe, where my shoe rubs. My toe is slightly callused there, and I'm afraid it's going to turn into a bunion. It doesn't hurt while I run, but it kills in my pointy work shoes (which are actually pretty comfortable)! I'm afraid that my shoes might be the culprit, but I just bought them! Luckily, they don't bother me much during the actual running! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Tonight's run was a testament as to how a run can just make your troubles go away. I was very stressed out at work today, to the point where I was crying (breaking the #1 work rule!), and I just wanted to come home and cry some more. But I made myself go out for a run, and I'm so glad I did! I forgot all about my stressful day and thought about how much I like the blog instead!
I finished in 49:35, and my splits were: 9:56, 10:09, 10:06, 9:59, and 9:26. Average heart rate was 158, however, it steadily crept upward. It's a mystery....
I got a chiropractic adjustment and massage today. It felt great, but MAN! I have some tension or something in my shoulders! My chiropractor is funny-he makes fun of my job and my running. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 2.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Today was 5 miles on the treadmill. I got home at 6:00 and didn't want to do the whole run in the dark. And I REALLY wanted my iPod, so I went to the gym. I don't know if I would characterize the middle 3 miles as marathon race pace, because I don't know my goal marathon race pace right now. But my splits were: 10:00, 8:57, 8:57, 8:57, 10:00, all at 1.0 incline, which is the same as running on level ground outside. The middle 3 miles felt harder than a 9:00 felt to me just 6 weeks ago, but I didn't feel any more tired than normal at the end of the run. It was fun to change it up a bit.
Off to Grey's Anatomy! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 11.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
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I ran by myself this morning. My group is running tomorrow instead, so I was on my own, just me, Mr. Garmin, and iPod. I made it to the turnaround point (6 miles) in 59:57. I think I even got the runner's high on the way. :-) Haven't felt that in a long time! Soooo, I turned around, planning to pick it up a bit. I was cruising along at about 9:45, stopped for Gatorade, and saw two men pass me. They looked pretty hardcore, with their fuel belts and all. I started running again and found myself right with them, doing 9:15-9:30, and I decided to keep up the pace with them. Then, one of the guys and I almost got hit by a car (not as bad as it sounds). I found out he was doing 10, and it would be his farthest run ever! He's training for PF Chang's in January. So, appearances aren't everything!
When I hit 9 miles, I decided to really pick it up, and I just kept it going, faster and faster. Turns out, I ran the second half over 4 minutes faster than the first half!! Yeah! My splits were: 10:00, 10:10, 10:07, 10:00, 9:48, 9:52, 9:39, 9:29, 9:37, 9:16, 9:11, 8:43. I feel really good now.
When I looked in the mirror, I had 2 bugs stuck to my face-ew! I ran through a couple of swarms of bugs, closed my mouth, and held my breath! Luckily I didn't swallow any bugs-I have done that before!
I'm feeling a lot stronger. The question now is: do I (a) start increasing my weekday mileage next week, (2) increase the pace slightly, (3) do both, or (4) keep doing what I'm doing? I have a half marathon coming up on November 11. One caveat: next weekend I will be in Flagstaff, at high altitude. I'm not sure I will be able to complete over 10 miles at that altitude. Any advice regarding the next step in my training would be appreciated. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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I'm increasing my mileage now. My husband and I were able to run together, so that was nice for a change. He tweaked his program a bit to run with me. :-) The whole run felt very easy, except for dodging potholes in the dark! It's hard, even with the headlamp.
Total time was 59:39, a 9:57 pace. My splits were: 10:06, 9:50, 9:56, 10:07, 9:58, 9:43. Even with adding a mile, the run didn't feel any harder than normal, so I guess that's a good sign! I'm anxious to get back down to a 9:00 pace for my easy runs, though. I'm being patient! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
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It was DARK on my run tonight (guess that's what happens when the sun goes down!). I had the headlamp on after the first mile. I ROCKED it tonight. I decided to pick up the pace a bit. It still felt fairly easy, although my body could definitely tell it was going faster. I finished in 53:21, averaging 9:32. Yeah!!!! My splits were: 9:45, 9:27, 9:35, 9:39, 9:36, 8:51 pace for the last .6 mile. The weather was so beautiful.
I talk about my running at work, and everyone there knows about it. Soooo, about a mile or so into my run, I saw my boss on the trail (I've never seen him while running). Well, I can't let my boss think I'm a slow runner, after all my talk at work! So that might be a reason for the faster splits.
Then, when I was almost home, I saw a big black dog. Now, I am scared of most big dogs. There is one big black dog on my street that has snapped at my husband or me several times, so I am VERY scared of big black dogs in my neighborhood. So, I saw one between me and my house and thought, Thanks for ruining my awesome run! But the dog started barking like crazy and running away from me! It probably saw my little headlamp and thought I was some weird creature. It made me laugh! (I'll still probably be scared of that dog, though!) | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
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Another good run on the Bridal Path, in the dark again. Average pace was 9:40. I picked it up a little again, but plan to take it easy for the rest of the week, so I can do my 14 miles in Flagstaff this weekend.
My splits were: 9:44, 9:36, 9:52, 9:52, 9:39, and 9:01 pace for the last .6 mile. Total time was 54:07, an average pace of 9:40. I ran the second half about 7 seconds slower than the first half. I almost got hit by a car too! Even the headlamp can't avert all disasters!
There must be something going around on the blog. I didn't sleep well last night either! I woke up several times and could not get back to sleep! Hopefully tonight will be better.
Well, I have exceeded my goal of 30 miles per week so far this month. So, now the goal is at least 35 miles this week, and increase by 10% every week until I hit 40. Once I hit 40 miles per week, I will reassess if I want to keep increasing mileage. This is exciting, because I have only run this kind of mileage in the late stages of marathon training (although high school cross country is probably an exception). I am looking forward to seeing how consistent 40-mile weeks changes my fitness level (and hopefully my dress size too!). | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
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Well, this morning I was dragging. I ran a little faster than normal last night, waited less than 12 hours, and ran again. I don't think my body is used to running every 12 hours. It's funny that I can do 12 miles at a time on the weekends, but not as two separate runs during the week.
Anyway, it was COLD out this morning! It was still really dark when we started, and after hearing all the scary stories on the blog last night, I was a little creeped out. So I made my husband run the same route as me, even though he went ahead in front!
Total time was 56:15, average pace 10:03. My splits were 10:19, 9:54, 10:04, 10:02, 10:08, 9:43 pace for the last .6 mile. I haven't run that slowly in a long time. But I'm not beating myself up over it-I'm proud of myself for running twice in 12 hours.
I hope to get up tomorrow and run early again. BUT, I have a big morning in court tomorrow, so it will depend on how much I get done today in preparation. Tonight we get to pack for Flagstaff! Can everyone tell I'm excited to go??!?! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 13.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.20 |
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Oh goodness! What a run! I am very proud that I was able to run that far in Flagstaff. We ran really slowly and felt great for the first 8 miles, despite a brutal headwind. We stopped to refill our water at 8 miles and then continued. I started feeling tired around 10 miles, and it went downhill quickly from there. By 11 miles, I was hurting. It was all I could do to turn around and start back. The goal was 14 miles. I really wanted to stop at 12 miles, but I decided I would run a half marathon and walk the last .8 miles. So, I made it to 13.2 and walked. Average pace was 11:15. It was obviously much slower than normal, but I'm glad we made ourselves go slowly, because I don't think we would have made it the whole way if we had tried to do our normal pace.
The terrain was beautiful! The leaves are changing, so there was color everywhere. Running in Flagstaff always brings back a lot of memories, from high school cross country runs, to training for my first marathon, to falling down in the dark 6 weeks before my first marathon and having to skip it, etc. I did a lot of challenging trail runs when I lived here. Once I ran up Snowbowl Road and back down. Fun stuff!
My body feels like it went 20 miles! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Tonight I ran on the treadmill. To keep it interesting, I kept changing the pace for each new song on my iPod. I ran the last mile in 8:41, a tad faster than my goal marathon pace for my next marathon. Whether that's a realistic goal, I don't know. But it felt good. I finished in 56:32, an average pace of 9:25.
Days like this make me love running more than ever. I've been so stressed about work that I haven't slept well in a week, even when I was "relaxing" in Flagstaff. I was freaking out this morning, but I buckled down and had a fairly productive day. I left work at 6:00, knowing that it is imperative that I have an even more productive day tomorrow to meet my deadline. I was dreading the run, but, wouldn't you know it, I am now completely recharged and ready to kick it at work tomorrow. I also knew that I would be extremely grouchy if I didn't get my run in for the day.
And, I have to say, if it weren't for the blog, I very well might have skipped today's run! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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I felt kind of icky on my run tonight. I had GI issues and just generally did not feel 100%. I finished in 59:57. My splits were: 9:58, 9:53, 10:07, 10:14, 9:59, and 9:46. Maybe my body just decided to take it easy, since I picked up the pace last night.
On the plus side, I finished work a little earlier than normal tonight and got started on my run while it was still light out! I didn't have to turn on the headlamp (aka the endless source of ridicule) until over halfway through the run! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Tonight was another somewhat icky run. Total time was 59:31, average 9:55 mile. The Garmin was off by .03, though. I ran until it said 3.0, turned around, and it logged 5.97. I have the new 305, and it hasn't done this before. Oh well. My splits were: 10:08, 10:00, 10:06, 10:14, 9:56, and 9:26.
I'm somewhat confused by two nights in a row of sub-par performance. I'm getting the same amount of sleep, eating lots of carbs, and staying somewhat sane at work. I remember when training for past marathons that I was supposed to cut the mileage back every 4th week. This will be my 4th week of 30+ miles. Maybe I'm overtraining a bit???....Any advice or insight would be much appreciated. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Well! So much for feeling icky! I decided to kick it up a notch and see if my body would respond in the same way it does to a 10:00 mile, and it did! It almost felt easier, in a way. I made a point of focusing on my pace the whole time and really engaging my mind as I ran. Total time was 56:52, with an average pace of 9:29. According to Garmin, my max pace was 4:42! Ha! My splits were: 9:40, 9:33, 9:33, 9:34, 9:31, and 9:04. Yay! My heart rate recovered quickly.
It's getting darker earlier every night. I needed the headlamp for almost the entire run. I saw my boss again on my run, but this time he was driving. Thankfully, he saw me and didn't almost hit me with his car-that would have been awkward! Then, I got hooted at by guys in cars TWICE. It's really obnoxious, but I gotta admit, an ego boost too.
I have decided to change my goals. I bet my potential goes beyond what I posted as my original goals, so I'm going to give it a whirl. If I run 2008 miles in 2008, I should blow past my original goals!
So, I just tried to change my goals, but I had trouble accessing the text. Then I made changes, but they were not saved! I'll be the first to admit that simply having figured out how to blog is a technical miracle in my world! Any technical help would be appreciated. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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Well, today I crashed and burned, and it was entirely on account of my own stupidity! First, I decided to sleep in and start my run at 9:30. On any other weekend, it would have been fine, but it has been hot in Phoenix all week, and the high today is supposed to be back up in the mid-90s. So I knew it would be warm, but I was prepared.
So, I started my normal run on the canal, stopping at water stops, not thinking about the fact that, because it was later, the coach people would come and pick up their coolers! I had planned on running 12 miles on an out-and-back course along the canal, but when I got to about 3.5 miles, I decided to mix it up. So I ran into a residential area. I wasn't sure where I was, but then I came across the street where my mother grew up. So, I thought, yippee! I'll run down memory lane, all the way to her old house. So I did, and it was beautiful. It's a wonderful older neighborhood full of character (and trees and grass!) with a great view of Camelback Mountain.
Anyway, I was running along, it was getting warmer, and I finally realized that (1) my water was very hot, and (2) it was almost gone. And, has everyone ever had a hot Gu? It is disgusting-don't ever do it! It took me almost to my turnaround point to realize: there is a reason I stay on the canal-water! I never think about it, because I just top off my water bottle at every stop, so I always have a full bottle. Oops!
I realized the 12 miles was not going to happen. I made it to 8 miles, and then I had to walk. I walked one mile to the gas station, called my husband to come get me, and walked one more mile to where he picked me up and took me to my car. He, on the other hand, ran 16 miles at a great pace! I guess that's what happens when you run early and hydrated! Oh well. I still ran over 30 miles this week, and I WILL NOT sleep in next Saturday!!!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Tonight was 6 miles with my husband, which was fun. We ran it in 59:47, average 9:58 pace. The laps got messed up, so I don't really know my splits. I don't wear the heart rate monitor on the run, but I measured at the end, and my heart rate was down to 130 within less than a minute. We talked for the first 4+ miles, which was fun, and also a good measurement of fitness. We were able to talk easily without huffing and puffing. Good start to the week! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Tonight was a great run. I ran without the iPod. I consciously went faster. My body knew it was going faster, but I didn't really feel more tired, if that makes sense. I think I'll run at this pace a couple times a week, see if it affects my running on other days, and gradually pick up the pace until I'm running this pace all the time. I changed my Garmin to give me my splits every half mile instead of every mile, and I liked it.
Total time was 55:51, a 9:19 pace. My mile splits were 9:26, 9:17, 9:20, 9:28, 9:23, and 8:55. Yeah!
The rest of this week, and next week, are going to be challenging to keep the running going as I start big-time trial prep and....TRIAL. I've been keeping up the running schedule, and it has really helped me stay focused at work, so the plan is to continue! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
I ran on the treadmill at the gym tonight, because it was already dark by the time I left work. On the plus side, I didn't have to wait for a treadmill. Everyone is apparently out celebrating! Total time was 58:18, a 9:40 pace. The whole run felt very easy (great sign!). I kept the same pace going for the last mile. Usually I pick up the pace quite a bit for the last mile. Tonight the last mile felt so easy, I felt like I was barely moving! My heart rate was very low at the end, too.
Work has been stressful lately, but I've been making a point to keep up the running. It is helping me deal with the stress tremendously.
I ran over 150 miles this month-well over my goal! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Yippee! I decided to add an extra mile in celebration of being relieved of major upcoming workload, and it felt great. I got started a little earlier and didn't have to turn on my headlamp until 4.2 miles into the run, although I left the residential area for a more commercial area after about 3 miles (my usual turnaround point). The sidewalk there is much more even than the dirt path, but there is also more traffic.
Total time was 1:08:39, average 9:48 pace. The whole run felt very easy, so I'm definitely feeling improvement in my fitness level. My mile splits were 9:37, 9:50, 9:54, 9:56, 9:50, 9:45, and 9:43. I need to be careful, though. I'm planning some big runs this weekend (including one with Lybi and Mik'L!), which will put my mileage for the week over 40 miles. That's a big jump from 34 last week, and I have a half marathon coming up next weekend.
I passed my husband coming the other way on the run. He almost got hit by two cars, and he got bitten by a dog! Rough night for him! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 16.18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16.18 |
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AM-Easy run this morning with my Saturday group, although we all got separated. We always start out too fast (about 9:15), and then I drop back after about a mile. I especially didn't want to push it this morning, because I'm meeting Lybi and Mik'L for 5 more miles this afternoon. Total time was 1:40:50, with an average pace of 9:54. One person in our group ran 22+ miles! I feel 100% fine now, but I am a little tired. On Friday nights we usually have sushi, and then go to Barnes and Noble and sometimes get lattes. Last night, we got what we thought were decaf lattes. 1:30 am rolled around, and I was still wide awake! My husband didn't sleep well, either. If I take a little nap, I should be fine for this afternoon.
PM-I met Lybi and Mik'L for the first time, and we ran a 5-mile loop around Tempe Town Lake. They were also the first bloggers I have met in person. It's very cool how the blog brings people together who never would have met otherwise....I have run several races in the general area but had never run around the lake. There were some spots of really deep sand, which made for some very challenging running. Before the run, my legs felt surprisingly fresh, but I was feeling pretty tired by the end. The 16 miles took its toll on my legs! In summary: a great run with great company! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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OK, bloggers, I need some advice (I am going to run this evening). I have a half marathon coming up on Sunday in San Diego. My mileage lately has been my highest ever before a half marathon. I set my PR of 1:50:25 eight weeks after a marathon in 2006. However, all of my runs lately have been at a very easy pace (avg. 10:00, but faster lately), with VERY few faster miles thrown in here and there. So, I have two questions:
1) What kind of pace would be realistic at the race? I am willing to push myself, but I am still training for a marathon, so I don't want to overdo it and get injured. Is a sub-1:50 in the cards?
2) How should I train this week? Do I need to taper, or do a tempo run or two? I'd like to keep my mileage for the week at 40+, but not at the expense of injury.
I guess that's officially more than 2 questions...I am usually very precise with my goal race pace, but I have been training differently and don't quite know what my body is capable of right now.
PM-I did 7 miles in 1:08, 9:45 average pace. At the beginning, it felt like I was walking, it was so easy. I left work early, so it was light out for most of the run. I had a piece of banana bread right before my run because I was hungry, and with 1.5 miles to go, I really thought I was going to throw up. Not a good feeling, but I still finished strong. My mile splits were: 9:34, 9:46, 9:48, 9:51, 9:52, 9:56, and 9:20. Now that I see my splits, I realize how much I slowed down, until the last mile. I need to work on more even pacing. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Well, I hate it when this happens. I promise, I had very good intentions. When I didn't drag my butt out of bed this morning, I went back home in the middle of the workday to get my running clothes, planning to make an appearance at happy hour (with my running group, ironically), and then hit the treadmill. Well, happy hour turned into dinner and dessert, and I finally got home at 9:30! I know things come up periodically, but I'm still really disappointed that I didn't get in a run today. Oh well-to quote my favorite movie, "[Dramatic music] Tomorrow...is another day!" |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.28 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.28 | 0.00 | 7.56 |
| Tonight I did 7 miles in 1:07:41, a 9:40 average, and then 4 strides with 1-minute recovery after each. I messed up with the Garmin, so I don't know my exact splits, but I do know that I ran mile 7 in 8:46. The whole run felt easy, and the strides felt great. It's been about 45 minutes since I finished the run, and I'm feeling some tightness in both Achilles tendons. I hope it goes away! I'm getting really excited about my race this weekend! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Tonight my legs felt a little tired, just slightly. My body probably isn't used to strides, which I did last night. Total time was 1:07:48, a 9:41 average. My mile splits were 9:38, 9:48.5, 9:55, 9:46.5, 9:45.5, 9:40.5, and 9:20. Miles 3 and 4 are usually the slowest for me. During mile 4, I concentrated on keeping the pace up, and it looks like it worked. I'm glad I kept increasing my speed during the second half. I think I'll just do 5 miles tomorrow, so I'll feel fresh for my race Sunday. I'm not running on Saturday, but it will be an active day at the expo and the beach! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 3.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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I'm logging this on Saturday. I ran on the treadmill at the gym before I went to the airport because it was still almost 90 degrees outside. I had salmon, rice, veggies, and a salad for lunch about two hours before, and my stomach reminded me of it immediately into the run. I had planned to do as Sasha suggested (4 miles warmup, 3 miles at 8:20 pace), but I only had time for 6 miles, because of my flight. So I warmed up for 3 miles, at 10:00 pace, which felt super-easy. However, I had to stop after that to address the GI issues....I got back on the treadmill to start the hard miles. Once I got into it, I realized my stomach was rebelling, and only one mile at that pace was in the cards. So, I did one mile at 8:19 pace. It was hard, but a lot of it was my stomach. And, there was a girl on the treadmill next to me going 2.0 mph and talking on a cell phone! What a workout! Being able to finish the workout would have been quite the confidence booster, but I'm OK with not finishing it, especially with the GI issues.
Today (Saturday), my quads are pretty sore. My body isn't used to going fast! I'm hoping it goes away tomorrow. I'm excited....Thanks for all the well wishes!! | |
| Race: |
Silver Strand Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:51:29, Place overall: 421, Place in age division: 21 | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
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Race results are finally up, 50 hours after I finished! I ran 2 seconds faster than I thought. I'm happy with my place divisions too: top 25% overall, top 12% of women, and top 15% of females 30-34. The results also list my age grade: 58.64%, which I hope to greatly improve to whatever my maximum potential is.
It was about 60 degrees at the start, with some wind. Sometimes I psych myself up too much for a race, so I felt kind of "off" all day Saturday (scratchy throat, unstable stomach, etc.). But I woke up feeling great on Sunday. The race starts on Coronado Island and runs past the beautiful Hotel del Coronado in the first mile. There's a slight downhill, and an uphill before mile 6 (overpass). At mile 9.5, the race does an out and back to 12.5, and then heads to the finish. There is a short, but somewhat steep hill at about 10.5, which was brutal, but then we immediately got to go downhill. There was a .5 mile straightaway to the finish, which was kind of frustrating because it was still so far!
I ran with Amanda for the first 10K. She called out our pace, because she was prepared and had her Garmin! Here are my splits, up to mile 12. It got messed up after that. 8:39, 8:40, 8:44, 8:45, 8:35 (hill), 8:41, 8:29, 8:38, 8:25, 8:31, 8:01 (hill), 8:33, ???? I'm not sure about mile 12 either, because I think the mile marker was wrong. I was SO CLOSE to a PR, and to breaking 1:50. I look at my earlier splits and wonder if I could have gone a little faster then, but I truly know that I gave 100%. I tend to start conservatively and make it up later on. I don't know if it's the best racing strategy, but I love picking up the pace late in a race! When I ran the 8:01 split, I was really encouraged, but it turned out that I wasn't able to hold that pace, even on the downhill. At the end, my lungs felt fine, but my legs were shot. So, I need to work on the anaerobic component of my running.
Overall, I am very encouraged by my time, ESPECIALLY when I'm doing all easy mileage in my training. Based on my current fitness, I think I'll be able to PR (sub-3:54) at my January marathon-yippee! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Well, tonight was a monumental struggle. I'm not sure if it was (a) residual soreness/ tiredness from the half marathon; (2) trying to get back in the groove after 2 1/2 days of not running; or (3) all the junk food I had today and last night. I think it's a combination of the three. Someone at our office is filling every jar, bowl, etc. with CHOCOLATE! It's everywhere, and I can't avoid it! Help!
Anyway, tonight was much slower than normal. I finished in 1:09:51, a 9:59 average. My mile splits were 9:48, 10:06, 10:09, 10:17, 10:03, 9:56, and 9:36. I had twinges here and there, probably from the race. I'm hoping tomorrow I'm back to (or close to) normal.
More good news about the race: I figured out that I ran the last 1.1 mile at a 7:55 pace. I had run mile 11 at 8:01 and slowed back to 8:33, I think for 12, but I was able to pick it up even more for the finish, which probably includes the sprinting at the end. I'm sure people everywhere are making fun of me for the sprinting part!
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| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Tonight felt much better, but I'm still not back to 100%. I'm still a little bit sore. My quads started hurting a bit at mile 5, and I could really feel everything after stretching. Thinking back, though, I have never run a half marathon as part of marathon training, where I had to immediately jump back into high mileage after the half. So, although I wish I had recovered faster, I'm glad to be doing 7 miles again already.
Total time was 1:08:29, a 9:47 average. My mile splits were: 9:55, 9:53, 9:48, 9:51, 9:47, 9:50, and 9:26. I ran negative splits of one minute. I'm happy that my splits were not all over the map tonight. They were pretty close together, except for the usual "turbo" last mile.
I plan on getting up early and running tomorrow morning. I'm attending continuing education for work all day, and I don't have to be there until 8:30! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Well, this has been a weird week. I think the race took more out of me than I thought. I've been exhausted all week, so I didn't get up yesterday morning to run. My next big mistake was wearing stilettos yesterday. I wear high heels almost every day, but I had to walk a lot yesterday (from parking garage to continuing ed course to lunch and back, etc.). Sadly, my husband's oldest friend's father died this week. Last night was the viewing. I wore the same shoes and stood for 1 1/2 hours.
The funeral was this morning at 10:00 am. I was supposed to do 18 miles this morning, but given my sluggishness this week and my ACHING legs from the stilettos, I was worried something might go wrong, and I'd get stuck 9 miles away and miss the funeral! So, instead of just doing 10 or so, my lazy butt stayed in bed.
Lesson learned: half marathons require more recovery than I thought! I'm glad I did it now and not 3 or 4 weeks before the marathon. They can also cause a temporary zap in motivation! I'm looking forward to next week! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Tonight's run felt great! I was very surprised that I felt so good after my horribly slothful weekend, but I did. I was scared to death by a man who passed me, though. I was in the zone with my iPod (I know, BAD) and didn't hear him at all!
Total time was 1:08:23, a 9:46 average. My mile splits were: 10:11, 9:53, 9:51, 9:45, 9:45, 9:40, and 9:17. About halfway through the run, I started concentrating on my form by trying to kick each foot behind me after it touched the ground. I don't think I pick up my feet enough when I run. If you saw my shoes and how quickly they get dirty, you would probably agree. Anyway, I think it helped tonight because I ran faster, and running faster felt just as easy.
I'm looking forward to some nice runs this week during the holiday! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Tonight's run felt really good. I went to the grocery store at 4:30 pm (very scary place on Thanksgiving eve!) and was dying to get some peaceful time to myself, so I was very much looking forward to the run. Tonight was the first time since last winter that I have felt cold in shorts and a tank at the start!
I hadn't planned on picking up the pace, but it just kind of happened. It definitely felt a little harder than normal, but I still felt strong throughout the run. Total time was 1:05:07, a 9:18 average. This is a big step for me, because one of my short-term goals is to get down to 1:03 for 7 miles and have it feel easy (actually for any extended run at 9:00 pace to feel easy, like it used to). I wouldn't say tonight was easy, but it definitely wasn't tempo pace or anything like that-yeah! My mile splits were 9:06, 9:22, 9:20, 9:21, 9:26, 9:24, and 9:08. I've noticed that my splits have been very close together lately (except for the first and last miles), which is great!
Crazy story-yesterday I wore my highest stilettos to work (again!). Wouldn't you know it, the building had a fire drill! And, of course, we're on the 17th floor. Sooo, I had to walk DOWN 17 flights of stairs in stilettos. My knees ached for the rest of the day, and my quads were really sore today. It's the curse of the heels!
Happy Thanksgiving,everyone!!!! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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It's a beautiful day! We're eating tonight, so I went for my run at about 10:30, when everyone else was getting ready to eat! Traffic was pretty light, although there were a fair number of runners and walkers out and about. I love running my route during the day-it's so pretty.
Total time was 1:06:30, a 9:30 average. It felt great, although my legs were a little tired. My mile splits were 9:28, 9:32, 9:40, 9:33, 9:36, 9:27, and 9:15. I'm taking it very easy tomorrow!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 17.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
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Whew! I ran with two guys from my running group. We started at 6:00 am. It was still completely dark out, but we had a full moon, so it was really pretty. Overall, it felt OK. After about 12 miles, my lungs felt great, but my legs were starting to feel heavy. There were a lot of people out, and I saw my husband twice! He did 20 miles spectacularly.
Total time was 2:59:11, a 9:57 average. My mile splits were 10:13, 10:14, 10:05, 9:56, 10:06, 10:00, 10:50 (slowing down so friend could catch up after pit stop), 10:16, 10:23, 10:06, 9:55, 10:18 (slowing down to look for a friend, whom we never found), 9:50, 9:51, 9:49, 9:42, 9:24, and 8:25. I'm glad I had the gas in the tank to supercharge it at the end, but overall I think I should have done better. I would have rather run all the miles under 10:00. However, I have had a couple of weeks of less than stellar mileage. It's time to pick it back up! No more mileage under 40 per week! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Brrrrr! I just finished my run, checked the temp online, and it said 58. I know that's wrong-it feels much colder. I know that's nothing to you northern Utah people, but when you're a desert rat like me, your blood gets thinner (my theory, anyway), and you get COLD! I don't mind, though-I run much better in the (relative) cold.
Total time was 1:07:46, 9:41 average pace, with negative splits by about 12 seconds. My mile splits were 9:41, 9:51, 9:40, 9:40, 9:50, 9:35, and 9:30. At mile 4.5, I saw my husband, and we ran home together, kind of. He ended up about a minute ahead of me.
I felt pretty good tonight, considering my challenging 18-miler the other day. I wasn't too sore, but my knee started aching right at the end. And my calves were SO TIGHT! I don't know if that's from the run the other day or the cold.
I'm considering a 22-mile race coming up in 2 weekends. I know I can finish it, but I don't know if it's a good idea, considering I haven't run 20 yet. I plan to run 15 this weekend to gear up for 20 or 22 the following weekend. I've never gone farther than 20 miles in training. I'll see how my body feels at the end of this week and reevaluate then. There's also a local half marathon coming up that would be fun. Maybe I could break 1:50! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.25 | 0.00 | 0.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
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Tonight I ran 7 miles, and it's starting to feel so easy! I never imagined that running 7 miles per day would feel so easy! I think I'm going to keep this schedule next week as well, maybe with an extra mile here and there, and then start working up to 8 miles per day (!).
Total time was 1:07:24, average 9:38 pace. My mile splits were 9:39, 9:37, 9:39, 9:37.5, 9:39.5, 9:34.5, and 9:38. I did 4 x 100 strides when I got home. I consciously did not pick up the pace in the last mile because I wanted to keep the entire run super-easy. I don't know exactly what it means, but I am liking the fact that my splits are so close.
I just about had a heart attack at one point on the run. I heard a noise, turned around, and saw a bike with a light heading toward me on the path about 30 yards back. I turned around again, still there. A little bit later, I noticed there was no light in my peripheral vision, and the bike had not caught up with me. I didn't want to keep turning around, because I was afraid I would trip. I was getting a little scared of scary bike person (possible attacker?). Then, as I was crossing a somewhat big, well-lit, residential street (no cars coming), I hear, "EXCUSE ME!" yelled in my ear. After I picked my heart up from the ground, I turned around and saw an old lady coming toward me on a rickety bike and headphones! I was on the right side of the path, of course, with plenty of room all around, and she had to scream at me like that. As she passed me, I said, "You scared me to death." She either ignored me or couldn't hear because of the headphones. Crazy people! I don't know what it is about colder weather that makes things so creepy! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Another good run, felt easy. Total time was 1:07:15, average 9:37. My mile splits were 9:41, 9:38.5, 9:41, 9:43, 9:38, 9:33, and 9:20. I forced myself to only look at the Garmin when it beeps every half mile and if I have to stop at a stoplight (when I hit the pause button) last night and tonight. I've noticed that when I don't stare at the Garmin every 30 seconds, I actually run faster and more consistent splits. Maybe (gasp!) I'll try a run with only a stopwatch and see what happens!
At the beginning of the run, I felt a shooting pain up the inside of my shin. It felt a little like shin splints, but not in the place where I usually get them (haven't had them in 7+ years). Of course, I told myself to run through the pain (best advice ever *sarcasm!*), and-what do you know!- it went away!
Soooo-I got an email from my best friend today who is training to run her first ever marathon with me in January. She ran 17 miles the other day and SLOWED DOWN to an 8:35 pace! And she wasn't even sore the next day! (I'm not jealous!) All she wants to do is break 4 hours. Heck! She could probably eventually break 3 hours with a pace like that! I'm going to try to recruit her to the blog. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Tonight I ran at the same pace as normal, but it felt more labored. By mile 6, my legs felt like they were running through molasses (or syrup?), although cardio-wise, I felt fine. I'm not sure what that means: maybe slight overtraining? I'm going to do 15 miles this weekend, nice and slowly.
Total time was 1:07:39, a 9:40 average. My mile splits were 9:34, 9:44, 9:43, 9:46, 9:38.5, 9:38.5, and 9:33. I didn't have the extra kick in me tonight. But I took my heart rate when I finished, and it was only 130-135. Within 5 minutes, it was down to 80. Gotta take it easy on the legs... |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.17 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.17 |
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I woke up to nagging lower back pain. I figured it would just go away, so I got ready and drove to my normal spot to go run. It is cold, windy, and rainy today, and I contemplated the treadmill, but 15 miles on the treadmill would have been torture!
Anyway, I started running, and my back hurt so badly. It was affecting my posture and running form, too. I tried to keep going for a bit to see if it would loosen up, and it just kept getting worse. I probably should have tried to go a little longer, but it just hurt too badly.
I'm really disappointed, because this run would have put me at 43 miles for the week! Oh yeah, and I'm concerned about my back too. I figure it will just go away on its own. If not, luckily I already have a chiro appointment coming up in a few days. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Well, my runs are starting to get predictable and boring for everyone to read. I'm loving the consistency, though (except for the blip on Saturday). It's getting pretty cold out! No signs of back pain today, except for a twinge starting at mile 6.
Total time was 1:07:33, a 9:39 average. My mile splits were 9:45, 9:49, 9:44, 9:35, 9:39, 9:39, and 9:20. I'm very happy with the consistency of my pace throughout the run. I'm itching to step up a few runs to 8 miles this week, but I'm a little hesitant, too. I don't want to overdo it with my upcoming half marathon on Sunday, where I am really hoping for a PR. We'll see! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Well, isn't it funny that as soon as the words "consistency," etc., are in my blog entry, I log a big fat ZERO for the day?!?!? I got to bed at 11 pm last night and had plans after work tonight. I just couldn't drag myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning.
I'm justifying it with my half marathon on Sunday, which will still give me 5 days of running for the week, even though Sunday's race will technically count for next week. But, it's still 5 out of 7 days, so I'm OK with it.
One of my friends whom I hadn't seen in a few months told me tonight that I look like I have lost weight! Yeah! Funny-the scale isn't registering the weight loss....I can see and feel a little bit of a difference though... | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Tonight I tried to do a run that Sasha recommended I do before my last half marathon (which I couldn't complete due to GI troubles): 4 mile warmup, then 3 miles at half marathon goal race pace (8:20). So, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Unfortunately, I never got down to 8:20 pace. With all the easy mileage, it feels so much harder to run fast now. I'm going to try and do a similar workout to this every week now, and hopefully it will get easier.
Total time was 1:05:15, a 9:19 average. My mile splits were 9:39, 9:47, 9:50.5, 9:47, 8:58, 8:39, and 8:31.5. Those last 3 miles felt brutal! I'm going to try and forget about it, and hopefully I can still break 1:50 on Sunday.
I had a really stressful day at work. A problem came up that I won't be able to resolve until Friday, because the person I need to talk to is gone until then. It's going to eat at me until it's worked out, and I can't put it out of my mind! I definitely think it's related to my subpar run tonight... | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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I was not sore at all today after my attempted tempo run last night, which I thought was a great sign. The last time I attempted a similar workout, I was pretty sore the next day. Seven miles has started to feel pretty easy, so I thought I'd try 8. I got out of the residential area and was running among skyscrapers. I thought I would hate running down there, but it was really cool! Guess I'm a truly an urban girl at heart. :-)
Total time was 1:17:10, 9:39 average. I was happy that I was able to keep up the same pace with an added mile, even though my splits were kind of all over the place! My mile splits were 9:35, 9:48, 9:40, 9:38, 9:41.5, 9:47, 9:40, and 9:13. My heart rate was low-to-normal at the end and was under 90 within 5 minutes.
1:50, BRING IT ON!!!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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This was an easy run, just to get the blood flowing before the race, and my shortest run in a very long time! It was pretty cold outside (about 45: that's COLD for us desert rats!), but a beautiful morning. I ran on my normal weekday path, and it's usually dark when I run, so it was really nice to run in a beautiful place during the day!
Total time was 47:55, a 9:35 average. My mile splits were 9:41, 9:44, 9:39, 9:36, and 9:14. The quicker pace felt almost effortless compared to the slower miles. However, the cold made the effort seem a little harder, so I need to make sure I'm fully warmed up before the race starts tomorrow. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. :-(
Have a great day, everyone! | |
| Race: |
Runner's Den Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:51:59, Place in age division: 14 | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.50 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.60 |
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Well, the 1:50 guy eludes me again! The race results are still not up on the Internet, so I might be updating later. It was overcast and chilly at the start: perfect running weather. The race was a loop that started and finished in roughly the same place, and very flat. I was feeling very good going into it, but probably not as good as my last half in San Diego. I was expecting to PR, because I've done an 18-mile run since then, so my endurance is even better. Looking back over last week, though, I did a tempo run, added a mile to one of my daily easy runs, and ran 5 miles yesterday. Maybe I overdid it a little bit???
I started slower than I wanted to, as usual. Mile 1 was 8:45 (also, no chip timing, and I crossed the start line about 10 seconds after the gun went off, but the gun time is my official time, so it will have to do). Next four miles were 8:45, 8:37, 8:38, and 8:38, still too slow. I picked up the pace earlier in the race than normal, though. I had about 90 seconds to make up when I hit the halfway point, so I thought I was in good shape. I started picking up the pace a little bit at that point to start making up for some of the lost time and ended up being right on pace, for the most part. Miles 6 thru 10 were 8:30, 8:24, 8:24, 8:31, and 8:16, with a Gu right after mile 6. Once I hit mile 11, though, I just couldn't pick it up anymore. Mile 11 dropped back down to 8:30. When I saw 1:34 at mile 11, I knew that a PR was out of the question (just couldn't go any faster!), but I was hoping I could do at least as well as last time (1:51:29). I had another Gu at 11. Mile 12 was 8:33. I totally lost it, though, and ran mile 13 at my slowest pace of the race at 8:52. Final .1 was 36.5 seconds, a 7:11 pace. Overall pace was 8:34.
This was the first time I have ever run out of gas at the end of a half. I'm not really sure what went wrong. I thought I was doing it right by picking up the pace earlier so I wouldn't have to pick it up so much at the end. Mile 13, and the lack of chip timing, caused my time to be slower than my last half.
It seems that I have hit a plateau in the last month. If anyone has any advice on how to improve from here, I'd love to hear it! Maybe it's time to add tempo runs back into my training.....
This race will officially count for this coming week's mileage, but I'll add it onto last week's mileage, which finally puts me back over 40 miles for the week (40.6)!
Well, this is too funny!!! I will now never know my official time or placing because...the event coordinators messed up. According to the official results online, I ran a 1:25:40 and got 2nd in my age group (behind someone I ran cross country with in high school) and 8th overall!!! That's a 6:30 pace-maybe it can be my long-term goal. Ha!! Actually, it looks like I was 14th in my age group and 77/333 for overall females. They didn't post overall results. Hey, I'll take a mistake like this! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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This was my first run after the race, and I felt surprisingly good. I was hardly sore at all, although my pace was quite a bit slower. Part of that, though, was my apprehension with the state of the running path. It's been raining a lot lately, and there are mud puddles and potholes everywhere now. So, safe ankles took precedence over my normal pace. It was COLD out, too! I only saw three runners, two walkers, and one cyclist. Usually, I see too many to count.
Total time was 1:09:55, a 9:59 average. My mile splits were 10:02, 10:14, 10:09, 9:54, 9:56, 9:53, and 9:45. The first three miles felt SUPER easy, and the last four felt a little closer to normal. I hope to be back to my normal pace tomorrow or Thursday.
I downloaded several classical choral Christmas albums onto iTunes, and they are beautiful! Only two weeks to Christmas!! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 20.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.50 |
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Well, after a dismal record of only run this week, I did the dreaded 20 miles today. It was SO COLD. I think it was close to freezing when I started. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, short shorts, and a hat. For the first eight miles or so, I was wishing I had tights and gloves. At times, I could not feel my legs. I thought that might be good: if I couldn't feel my legs, I could run forever!
This was officially my longest training run ever! It was unintentional, though. I couldn't get up to my desired pace of sub-10:00 for several miles, because of the cold, I think. Total time was 3:21:54, 9:51 average. Here are my mile splits: 10:15, 10:16, 9:55, 10:04, 10:10, 10:00, 10:03, 9:57, 10:00, 10:02, 10:06, 9:40, 9:45, 9:29, 9:36, 9:34, 9:28, 9:37, 9:29, 9:41, and 4:51 for the last .5 (9:37 pace). I felt really good from about mile 10 to 17. Then I started hurting.
The biggest feat of today's run is that I did it all alone!! I'm so glad I got this run finished. Now I'm off to get my hair cut and colored, and then to my firm's Christmas party tonight. Yippee! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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I already know that today will be a big fat "zero" because I am sick and staying home from work today. I have a horrible sore throat that came about from: (1) running 20+ miles in shorts in near-freezing temps; (2) lots of yelling at the white elephant gift exchange at my work party; (3) standing around in the cold for 30+ minutes deciding where to go after the restaurant closed; and (4) not enough sleep for several nights. Not to mention, I am STILL extremely sore from the 20.5-mile run on Saturday. I'm not sure why I am so sore. I haven't been this sore in a very long time.
I'm glad I'm staying home today because something is going on with my family. In the last two weeks, my brother had hernia surgery, my other brother got food poisoning (no hospital stay required), my mom got a horrible nosebleed that required a trip to the ER and some very painful treatment, and my grandfather went to the hospital last night with kidney stones! I'm staying home and locking the door.... :-) | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Well, I'm still sick, so no running. The 15-miler on Saturday should be interesting.... | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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Wow, it's really nice to actually be able to log some miles again! After being sick for the better part of a week, I decided to venture out today. I had planned on 15, but I decided not to push it too much after no running for a week and being sick. I think my underdressing last weekend contributed to my sickness, so I wore pants, gloves, two long-sleeved layers, and a cap today. It was 31 degrees when we started.
I felt my sore throat coming back almost immediately, so I decided to keep it at 10. My husband did 21. I saw him out on the canal, and we ran together for almost a mile. Then I saw another guy I used to run with periodically and ran with him for a while.
Total time was just over 1:36, a 9:37 average. I was happy with that, and it felt pretty easy. I finished the first 5 miles in about 49:30 and picked it up over the second half. My last two miles were 9:25 and 9:05. Those two felt a little more labored than they should have, but hopefully I can get back to normal this week.
My plan for next week is 7 miles per day during the week and 20 next Saturday. Then I will begin a 2-week taper until the marathon! Hope this body holds up, and that the germs stay away!
It's almost Christmas! |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 9.56 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.56 |
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Well, I surprised myself today! I had planned on running 7 miles, but I felt so good after I got started that I decided to run 8. When I got to the turnaround spot, I just decided to keep going. I was running among the high rise buildings by then, and it was fun to run there without traffic and people around. I ended up running almost to my office. I also ran much faster than normal, but it still felt easy (until the last 2 miles or so). I was surprised at that as well, especially after not running at all last week.
Total time was 1:28:38, average 9:17 pace. My mile splits were 9:16, 9:25, 9:21, 9:15, 9:17, 9:21, 9:17, 9:10, 9:17, and 5:00 (8:57 pace) for the last .56 mile.
After all the food I've been eaten, this run was much-needed. It also was a huge confidence booster for the marathon.
Time to cook Christmas food! Merry Christmas Eve!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Unsuccessful attempt at a tempo run. I warmed up in the first mile, ran a slow tempo mile, and gave up when the headwinds approached hurricane strength. I'm frustrated about tempo runs in general, but I will save it for a message board post on another day.
Total time was 36:36, a 9:09 average. Mile splits were 9:13, 8:43, 9:08, and 9:30. I'm very glad I got a run in on Christmas Day.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 7.55 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.55 |
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Brrr! It is 47 degrees now, but it feels much colder. I don't think the temp is right. It felt harder to maintain my pace, and I couldn't feel my legs after about 5.5 miles. I decided to slow the pace down a bit, because the run felt harder tonight. Is it normal for my legs to be numb in 47 degrees? I wore short shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. My upper body felt very comfortable. Weird...
Total time was 1:13:13, a 9:42 average. My mile splits were 9:42, 9:49, 9:45, 9:33, 9:35, 9:48, 9:49, and 5:13 for .55 (9:33 pace).
There is a freeze warning tonight. My husband is outside putting sheets on our ficus trees and other plants. | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I was able to squeeze in 5 miles on the treadmill between work and dinner tonight. It was boring, but I'm glad I got it done. I ran it in 48:10, a 9:38 average pace. It didn't feel as easy as a 5-mile treadmill run should, but it was fine.
We went to a Thai restaurant for dinner (yum!) with family that I had not seen in 15 years, and one family member whom I had never met. It was a fun ending to a LONG day.
Tomorrow will be an intense day at work. I'm hoping I can go home a little early and take a nap to gear up for 20 miles on Saturday! | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 20.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
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My taper has officially begun! It was in the low 30s when I started running at 6:40 this morning. This time I wore pants, a tank top, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and a hat. I felt so much better. I started feeling slightly warm at about mile 16, but at that point, heat was the last thing I was worried about! I ran solo again, with my iPod. I feel so much better right now than I did after my last 20-mile run.
Total time was 3:17:22, a 9:52 average. My average pace is almost identical to last time. My mile splits were 10:20, 10:21, 10:15, 10:06, 9:50, 9:54, 10:04, 10:01, 10:04, 10:03, 9:53, 9:52, 9:43, 9:42, 9:42, 9:35, 9:17, 9:41, 9:45, and 9:12.
This drives me crazy! I NEVER run this slowly. After the first mile, I consciously tried to crank up the pace, and I absolutely could not do it until mile 11! Obviously I can run much faster than 10:20, which shows with the last half of the run. My husband and I discussed the possible reasons: I ate immediately before starting my run (no GI issues, but it probably took a while for the energy to reach my muscles), I rolled out of bed and left from my house (no time for my body to wake up), and the cold. If anyone can think of another reason and has any tips, please let me know. I would much rather run a steady pace.
The highlight of my run was my 3rd and final Gu. It was MINT CHOCOLATE!! I bought an entire box. The packaging has green and red decorations, so it's a special "winter" flavor. It is SO GOOD. Snap them up if you can!!!
Because this is my first two-week taper, I would appreciate any tips on how much to reduce my mileage. Also, should I do strides during these two weeks? | |
| Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | 573.19 | 49.80 | 0.25 | 0.28 | 0.00 | 623.52 |
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