Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 7.04 @ 9:08/mi PLUS one mile stroller walk to preview the hills for tomorrow's 10KTuesday course
I only had four on my schedule, but I couldn't pass up a chance to run long on a holiday morning, with two of my best runner friends, in pretty awesome weather. Oops.
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| Happy Memorial Day! |
I was a liiiittle nervous about running with both Shelly and Brandi, since they're normally 9flat milers, but figured I could hold them to 9:30s.
 |
| HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. |
Halfway through, we realized we were going prettttty fast, and decided to make it a "back and out" run, with the first half being faster than the second. That didn't last long. Soon enough, we'd picked the pace right back up. I think we all noticed, but never actually felt like we were going too fast. I think I even joked at one point that, "well, so much for that second-half-slower bit, but, really, we're not going to get a sub-9 mile here". See Exhibit Lap 7, above.
Oh, and I also sprinted the last bit to avoid racing the hill tomorrow.
Feeling really strong today, and excited for marathon season. :)
Tuesday
Scheduled: 7PRO
Did: #10KTuesday, hilly version-- 6.25 @ 9:46/mi
Eek. I've deviated from my training plan for the second day in a row... You can't very well to a progression run when you have hills like this:
Despite the elevation madness, I actually really enjoyed this run. We modified our normal 10KTuesday route to include hills on the backside of my neighborhood (outbound and inbound, which meant we had an excruciating hill in the last quarter mile--- see that really, really steep last peek? YEAH. THAT.) as well as the Hills of Haynes Bridge (#itsathing).
As much as I hate the reasons some of my 10KTuesday comrades weren't 100% and were slower than usual or opted out of the last ~mile of hills, being one of two people to run the whole course as designed was pretty motivating for me. I felt a need to perform better, and knowing I wasn't "last" really helped with that.
Even if my pace didn't, my effort certainly progressed throughout the run, so I'll call this a "kind of followed my training plan" kind of day.
Wednesday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 2mi on the treadmill, a few hours apart @ 9:46 and 9:29/mi, respectively
Strikes Against:
1) Rough day at the office... and I wasn't even IN the office
2) Slept poorly night before: home from chorus at 11pm, in bed by midnight, up at 3 with H, even though J was taking care of him, I woke up, then up with H at 5:30, and right into the day
3) Started with one deadline at COB, and, by 11am, had THREE deadlines by COB
I knew by 10am that I wasn't going to get to do my stroller run with H after work, so I "got dressed" in running clothes and decided to give myself a few ten minute breaks on the 'mill. No pace goal- just a much-needed refocusing time during a stressful day.
Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi jog, 8x800/200, 1mi jog
Did: 1mi jog, 8x800/200, 1mi jog
You know what really motivates me? The idea that something's "hard". I think I enjoy running so much because it sets me apart from the non-runners in my life because they think it's crazy to get up at 4:30am to go run seven miles before work.
Yesterday, while doing his own speedwork on the 'mill, Jerry commented that anyone who could do the workout as prescribed (8x800 at target pace) would be amazing. All of my running crew has been talking about this workout all week- the madness of EIGHT 800m repeats instead of the usual six, and the fact that we only get 1/4 of the hard distance to recover; none of us has ever done anything with only a 200m recovery beyond the 400m.
When even C opted for 6x800/400, I wondered if I shouldn't do the same thing. Jerry's comment kept me on the original path, though; I figured I could always increase the recovery or bail out early if I wasn't able to hit my times.
I felt like such a badass on this workout. Part of it was knowing I was challenging myself. Part of it was the fact that I was OWNING it. I usually walked about half the recovery and slow-jogged the rest, but I did it. I hit all but one of my splits, and I killed the rest of them by so much that I don't care I was 2s slow on ONE interval, especially since I wasn't in Lane 1 the entire time, which means I'm sure I have 2s in those two laps somewhere.
TOTAL BOSS.
When we finished our cool-down, the #10KTuesday crew had a good talk about pushing ourselves, inspired by the fact that I got TWO new distance PRs during today's workout.
5K: 23:33 (race PR: 25:10)
10K: 51:52 (race PR: 54:09)
We talked a lot about how we're all capable of more than we believe we are, and that a race effort should hurt. This doesn't mean you should push yourself to pain or injury, but that, in the moment, you should feel your lungs burn a bit, your legs ache, and let that surge of adrenaline take over. Train in the discomfort zone.
I love that I'm still new to this sport. Being new means I still have so much untapped potential that I haven't trained up to. It means I haven't hit my natural ability plateau. When I got pregnant last year, I'd just started training, truly training, with speedwork and tempo runs, where every workout had a purpose. It was working (I mean, I won a race, right?). Then I had to take about a year off from progress to grow a potato. ;)
Now I'm back, and I'm stronger, and it's so much fun to be able to put in this work and reap these rewards. One more week until Braves. One more month until Peachtree. One more season until Chicago. Let's go crush some PRs.
Friday
Scheduled: off
Did: survived, also walked about a mile for car repair stuff :P
On my way out of town for a professional organization thing, I ran my car off the road and blew out some tires. Bright side: the deer that jumped out in front of me is totally fine.
Saturday
Scheduled: 7 easy + 4 hills
Did: 7 easy WITH THE STROLLER @ 9:54/mi, one hill repeat @ 6:45/mi, two bonus miles at 9:37/mi with a Level 3 trainee
Awww, yeah. Today turned out to be so much better than I'd thought it would!
7 on the Greenway
I've never run more than five miles with the stroller, and that was a bear of a task, so seven was really daunting. I parked at the greenway entrance close to the Peachtree Training site so I could swing by afterwards, and purposely planned a route that took me out and back for three miles one way, passed the car, and then out and back for another four. I knew I wouldn't stop after just three, and that, mentally, it would help me to break the run up like that.
This was baby boy's first run in the stroller without the infant carseat. While I appreciated the lighter load, I really missed getting to see him during the run. When I took him for runs with the carseat, he faced me, and I always felt really connected to him. Today, I had a little mom guilt, feeling like I was just strapping him in and making him come along for the ride because I wanted to run. He was totally fine- looked around for a bit, fell asleep, and then looked around some more, but I still don't like running with him facing outward very much.
The run itself went pretty well. As with any "long" distance, I had times where I felt great, and times where I felt awful. I considered stopping after 5mi, but remembered I'd told a friend (Shelly) I was planning on 7 this morning-- a friend I was going to see at training afterwards, who was surely going to ask how my run went. I wanted to be able to tell her that I, too, had done seven this morning, as scheduled, so I continued.
I think stroller running messes with my form a bit. I felt my calves tighten up A LOT in-run, and wished I had some compression gear to put on afterwards. I took a few breaks to check in on the potato, including one to refill my water bottle (so glad the greenway has pitstop locations every ~2mi), and realized about halfway through my run that I hadn't had breakfast. Smart. >_< I downed my bag of honey stingers, but found myself absolutely starving after the run. Fortunately, I was heading to training and could grab a granola bar there.
ITFP Training
When we got to training, I checked in at home base, then headed out with a blanket and some food, planning on having a "picnic" at the top of the hill repeats near the end of the course. I arrived just as the first groups of runners were coming through, and got asked by Shelly (who's also a participant) to run her last hill repeat with her. That felt awesome. Someone wanted ME to help THEM! Especially awesome is that this is the runner who paced me through my current 10K PR about a month ago. Now, I got a chance to pay a little of that back. :D :D :D
We jogged down to the base of the hill, chatting about our kids and such, and then turned around and headed up the hill. To my surprise, it felt easy to me. After seven miles with the stroller, less than 1000ft without it was a breeze. I was able to encourage her the whole time, and help her hit her fastest hill repeat of the day by 20s. If you would have asked me what pace we were running, I would have guessed high-7. Nope. Try 6:45/mi. BOOM.
After that, I figured I'd be parked on the hill with the potato, cheering for the rest of the runners. Nope. One of the Level 3 (longer distance) participants was looking for someone to run his bonus two with him. Neither of the other Run Leads there was particularly excited about it, so I swapped places with Jerry and let him watch the baby while I led the L3 participant up and back for two miles. Fortunately, he was "only" looking for about a 10min/mi. I could keep that, and it felt great to be able to be a run leader again. I've missed it a lot!
...and that's how I hit my longest mileage day in... um... a really long time. :)
Sunday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 4 easy @ 9:11/mi (!?!?!)
I slept in this morning instead of heading down to the river for SundayRunday... and regretted it when I realized I'd have to interrupt the rest of my day to make time for a run. With thunderstorms in the forecast (that NEVER came), Jer and I opted not to take H out and instead played relay with our runs, with one of us staying home while the other did our traditional 4mi route.
When I finally got out, it was after 11. Oof. I'm not a fan of mid-day runs, even if it's overcast, drizzly, and not too warm. I told myself to take it easy, and even changed my watch display to HR only, so I couldn't see how fast I was going or how far I'd run. I kept myself under 170 the whole time, and was really excited that, when I finally checked my pace at the end of the run, it was low-9. So cool! :D
Weekly Totals
Miles: 35.63 (first time over 30 since before baby-- starting to look more like I'm in-training for a marathon!!!)
Days Run: 6
Cross-training: none (did 2x last week)
Days Off: 1
Tuesday
Scheduled: 7PRO
Did: #10KTuesday, hilly version-- 6.25 @ 9:46/mi
Eek. I've deviated from my training plan for the second day in a row... You can't very well to a progression run when you have hills like this:
 |
| well, you CAN, but I didn't want to |
Despite the elevation madness, I actually really enjoyed this run. We modified our normal 10KTuesday route to include hills on the backside of my neighborhood (outbound and inbound, which meant we had an excruciating hill in the last quarter mile--- see that really, really steep last peek? YEAH. THAT.) as well as the Hills of Haynes Bridge (#itsathing).
As much as I hate the reasons some of my 10KTuesday comrades weren't 100% and were slower than usual or opted out of the last ~mile of hills, being one of two people to run the whole course as designed was pretty motivating for me. I felt a need to perform better, and knowing I wasn't "last" really helped with that.
 |
| lots of little breaks to wait for friends/traffic lights, but, with the exception of the super fast first downhill and awful "I have to go back up THAT?!?" ending hill, this was a decently progressive run |
 |
| without the hills, I think this would have been a progression run for sure-- last mile under 9?!?! I was definitely drafting off of #BradStrong |
Even if my pace didn't, my effort certainly progressed throughout the run, so I'll call this a "kind of followed my training plan" kind of day.
Wednesday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 2mi on the treadmill, a few hours apart @ 9:46 and 9:29/mi, respectively
Strikes Against:
1) Rough day at the office... and I wasn't even IN the office
2) Slept poorly night before: home from chorus at 11pm, in bed by midnight, up at 3 with H, even though J was taking care of him, I woke up, then up with H at 5:30, and right into the day
3) Started with one deadline at COB, and, by 11am, had THREE deadlines by COB
I knew by 10am that I wasn't going to get to do my stroller run with H after work, so I "got dressed" in running clothes and decided to give myself a few ten minute breaks on the 'mill. No pace goal- just a much-needed refocusing time during a stressful day.
 |
| Treadmill, you've earned your keep yet again. |
Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi jog, 8x800/200, 1mi jog
Did: 1mi jog, 8x800/200, 1mi jog
You know what really motivates me? The idea that something's "hard". I think I enjoy running so much because it sets me apart from the non-runners in my life because they think it's crazy to get up at 4:30am to go run seven miles before work.
Yesterday, while doing his own speedwork on the 'mill, Jerry commented that anyone who could do the workout as prescribed (8x800 at target pace) would be amazing. All of my running crew has been talking about this workout all week- the madness of EIGHT 800m repeats instead of the usual six, and the fact that we only get 1/4 of the hard distance to recover; none of us has ever done anything with only a 200m recovery beyond the 400m.
When even C opted for 6x800/400, I wondered if I shouldn't do the same thing. Jerry's comment kept me on the original path, though; I figured I could always increase the recovery or bail out early if I wasn't able to hit my times.
 |
| Oh, but I did. |
I felt like such a badass on this workout. Part of it was knowing I was challenging myself. Part of it was the fact that I was OWNING it. I usually walked about half the recovery and slow-jogged the rest, but I did it. I hit all but one of my splits, and I killed the rest of them by so much that I don't care I was 2s slow on ONE interval, especially since I wasn't in Lane 1 the entire time, which means I'm sure I have 2s in those two laps somewhere.
TOTAL BOSS.
When we finished our cool-down, the #10KTuesday crew had a good talk about pushing ourselves, inspired by the fact that I got TWO new distance PRs during today's workout.
5K: 23:33 (race PR: 25:10)
10K: 51:52 (race PR: 54:09)
We talked a lot about how we're all capable of more than we believe we are, and that a race effort should hurt. This doesn't mean you should push yourself to pain or injury, but that, in the moment, you should feel your lungs burn a bit, your legs ache, and let that surge of adrenaline take over. Train in the discomfort zone.
I love that I'm still new to this sport. Being new means I still have so much untapped potential that I haven't trained up to. It means I haven't hit my natural ability plateau. When I got pregnant last year, I'd just started training, truly training, with speedwork and tempo runs, where every workout had a purpose. It was working (I mean, I won a race, right?). Then I had to take about a year off from progress to grow a potato. ;)
Now I'm back, and I'm stronger, and it's so much fun to be able to put in this work and reap these rewards. One more week until Braves. One more month until Peachtree. One more season until Chicago. Let's go crush some PRs.
Friday
Scheduled: off
Did: survived, also walked about a mile for car repair stuff :P
On my way out of town for a professional organization thing, I ran my car off the road and blew out some tires. Bright side: the deer that jumped out in front of me is totally fine.
Saturday
Scheduled: 7 easy + 4 hills
Did: 7 easy WITH THE STROLLER @ 9:54/mi, one hill repeat @ 6:45/mi, two bonus miles at 9:37/mi with a Level 3 trainee
Awww, yeah. Today turned out to be so much better than I'd thought it would!
7 on the Greenway
I've never run more than five miles with the stroller, and that was a bear of a task, so seven was really daunting. I parked at the greenway entrance close to the Peachtree Training site so I could swing by afterwards, and purposely planned a route that took me out and back for three miles one way, passed the car, and then out and back for another four. I knew I wouldn't stop after just three, and that, mentally, it would help me to break the run up like that.
 |
| such a beautiful sight |
This was baby boy's first run in the stroller without the infant carseat. While I appreciated the lighter load, I really missed getting to see him during the run. When I took him for runs with the carseat, he faced me, and I always felt really connected to him. Today, I had a little mom guilt, feeling like I was just strapping him in and making him come along for the ride because I wanted to run. He was totally fine- looked around for a bit, fell asleep, and then looked around some more, but I still don't like running with him facing outward very much.
 |
| I swear, he looked like this the whole run. so. bored. |
The run itself went pretty well. As with any "long" distance, I had times where I felt great, and times where I felt awful. I considered stopping after 5mi, but remembered I'd told a friend (Shelly) I was planning on 7 this morning-- a friend I was going to see at training afterwards, who was surely going to ask how my run went. I wanted to be able to tell her that I, too, had done seven this morning, as scheduled, so I continued.
I think stroller running messes with my form a bit. I felt my calves tighten up A LOT in-run, and wished I had some compression gear to put on afterwards. I took a few breaks to check in on the potato, including one to refill my water bottle (so glad the greenway has pitstop locations every ~2mi), and realized about halfway through my run that I hadn't had breakfast. Smart. >_< I downed my bag of honey stingers, but found myself absolutely starving after the run. Fortunately, I was heading to training and could grab a granola bar there.
ITFP Training
When we got to training, I checked in at home base, then headed out with a blanket and some food, planning on having a "picnic" at the top of the hill repeats near the end of the course. I arrived just as the first groups of runners were coming through, and got asked by Shelly (who's also a participant) to run her last hill repeat with her. That felt awesome. Someone wanted ME to help THEM! Especially awesome is that this is the runner who paced me through my current 10K PR about a month ago. Now, I got a chance to pay a little of that back. :D :D :D
We jogged down to the base of the hill, chatting about our kids and such, and then turned around and headed up the hill. To my surprise, it felt easy to me. After seven miles with the stroller, less than 1000ft without it was a breeze. I was able to encourage her the whole time, and help her hit her fastest hill repeat of the day by 20s. If you would have asked me what pace we were running, I would have guessed high-7. Nope. Try 6:45/mi. BOOM.
After that, I figured I'd be parked on the hill with the potato, cheering for the rest of the runners. Nope. One of the Level 3 (longer distance) participants was looking for someone to run his bonus two with him. Neither of the other Run Leads there was particularly excited about it, so I swapped places with Jerry and let him watch the baby while I led the L3 participant up and back for two miles. Fortunately, he was "only" looking for about a 10min/mi. I could keep that, and it felt great to be able to be a run leader again. I've missed it a lot!
...and that's how I hit my longest mileage day in... um... a really long time. :)
 |
| if only H had been looking up, this picture would have been adorable |
Sunday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 4 easy @ 9:11/mi (!?!?!)
I slept in this morning instead of heading down to the river for SundayRunday... and regretted it when I realized I'd have to interrupt the rest of my day to make time for a run. With thunderstorms in the forecast (that NEVER came), Jer and I opted not to take H out and instead played relay with our runs, with one of us staying home while the other did our traditional 4mi route.
When I finally got out, it was after 11. Oof. I'm not a fan of mid-day runs, even if it's overcast, drizzly, and not too warm. I told myself to take it easy, and even changed my watch display to HR only, so I couldn't see how fast I was going or how far I'd run. I kept myself under 170 the whole time, and was really excited that, when I finally checked my pace at the end of the run, it was low-9. So cool! :D
Weekly Totals
Miles: 35.63 (first time over 30 since before baby-- starting to look more like I'm in-training for a marathon!!!)
Days Run: 6
Cross-training: none (did 2x last week)
Days Off: 1
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