Week in Review

60 Miles
3x2 Mile Workout
14 miles with 2x4 miles @ 5:50-6:08
1 Day Off
0 Doubles

I'm really behind on my blog, so here's the recap in three sentences.  I took an unexpected day off due to an Open House at Duke for their Cross Continent MBA Program, forcing my mileage to be a bit lower.  Then I hopped on a plane for a 36-hour weekend in NYC for Jay's birthday bash.   I got to cuddle (and run) with Meagan, drink wine with Jay (and Meagan) and eat delicious homemade birthday cake.

2x4 Miles in NYC

Goal:
2x4 Miles...First set at 6:10, 1 mile moderate rest, 2nd set at 6:00-6:05

Actual:
4.5 mile warmup
4 miles in 609, 602, 555, 558
1 mile slow rest
4 miles in 556, 556, 549, 549
.65 mile cool down for 14 miles total

My goal half in DC is next weekend, but even despite that, both Terry and I agreed that the big picture goal is Cal International.  So, we had two pretty big workouts on tap, with 3x2 Mile on Wednesday, and then this workout on Saturday.  Somehow Jay thought it would be fun to pace three girls to a long workout (which is the exact same workout he paced Sarah in last weekend). Mind you, the whole reason why I'm in NYC is to celebrate his 30 years of life.  Regardless, we went to the WSH and ran along the path, which of course was ridiculously crowded.  The first 4 miles was just Meagan and me with Jay, and it felt pretty easy.  We didn't have any collisions with other pedestrians or cyclists.  On the second set, Sarah jumped in for her final marathon workout and she not only man-handled a pedestrian by literally grabbing his backpack and moving him, but she also almost (with full intention) ran straight into an 18-wheeler that had inconveniently gotten in our way.  On the fourth set, I just tucked in behind Sarah and Jay and let them do the work while I waited for my legs to get tired.  They didn't really get too tired and I was surprised at how great they felt, especially since I had taken the day off on Friday.

I went to the Duke MBA Open House yesterday and absolutely loved it. I can't wait to get my interview completed so that I can find out if I was accepted...Just three more weeks and I should know!

3x2 Mile in Dilworth

Goal:
3x2 Mile with 2:00 Rest at 5:55-5:50

Actual:
2.8 warmup
3x2 with 2:00 rest in 5:55, 5:54, and 5:47 averages
3 mile cool down for 12 miles total

Just like last week, I had Laurie and Eric for company again on the Dilworth speed loop. My legs felt pretty sluggish, but the company made it easy to get it done.  Laurie took off on the last mile, and I hung back again because my legs just didn't have that extra gear to go any faster.  It was just one of those workouts where I got it done for the sake of getting in the work, but I didn't have any real pleasure while doing it.

Week in Review

76 Miles
4x1.5 mile with 800m rest @ 5:55 ave
12 mile MLR
17.6 miles with 4 miles @ 615-608, 2 miles @ 6:00
7 Runs, 0 Days off

This was a very solid week.  I hit a slightly higher mileage while also nailing all of my respective workouts that Terry gave me.  I was hoping to go a bit faster on the long run tempo, but my legs just didn't have it. I'm not surprised given that I'm only six days from my mile race last weekend.

4x1.5 Mile in Dilworth

Goal:
4x(800m rest @ 3:30-3:45, 1.5 miles @ 5:50...8 mile average should be ~6:10

Actual:
8 miles in 47:21 with splits of 605, 544, 510, 542, 605, 544, 605, 546
13.2 miles total

This workout went great.  Thank goodness for Laurie and Eric because they really pulled me along. This was just one of those days when everything just clicked. I felt good and the rest seemed way too easy, so we of course didn't maintain that pace.  Most of our rest times were between 3:15-3:25 and then we had a pretty quick first .5 mile of our "on" portion.  Laurie pulled away from me on the last interval, but my legs could still feel some of the lingering effects from the mile race so I let her go.

NC One Mile Championships

Goal #1: Top 3
Goal #2: sub 5:05

Actual:
3+ mile warmup
1 mile race in 4:53, 1st place, $350
~6 mile cool down for 10.5 miles total

As you can see from my goals above, I had no idea what kind of mile shape I was in. I have not been doing any workouts remotely close to mile speed, let along 5k speed.  I knew that I had run a 5:09 opening mile at the Hot Summer Night's 5k back in August, so I figured low 5:00 would be within a reasonable window.  After a nice afternoon hanging out with Garrett, Michelle and Thomas at their house, we drove to the race together and warmed up.  I scoped out my competition comprised mainly of former NC State runners Kris Vegh and Andi Cozzarelli.  Of course, a mile race is a total gamble because someone that isn't typically a factor in a longer race could totally blow my wheels off in this short of a race.  I dediced the best bet was to just run as hard as I could since it was only going to be five minutes of pain.

The gun went off and I took off to tuck in behind the leaders.  We formed somewhat of a goose V formation, and I was off the right shoulder of the leader.  After 500m in, we rounded the first of six turns, and without any extra effort from me, I was suddenly ahead of the pack.  I guess that practice of taking turns hard for the Olympic Trials Marathon really helped me out in this race.  I was stunned actually that it was that easy to take the lead. I  eased up even a little bit after the second turn to see if anyone would try to pull up alongside me.  No one did, so I just kept accelerating as much as possible through the turns, and taking them kind of wide to allow for that.  With my in-laws, Garrett, Thomas and Michelle cheering, I had a lot of motivation to finish hard.  With 500m to go, I secretly thought that someone had to be unleashing a killer kick that would knock me of the pedestal.  As if Thomas was reading my mind, he told me that I had at least 15 meters on the next girl.  My finish definitely wasn't pretty, but I finished in a solid time, a PR of 4:53.

After getting interviewed by the news, I gathered some of the other girls and we all cooled down together with Michelle and Thomas.  The awards took forever but afterwards I enjoyed a nice dinner at Whole Foods with G and his parents.  I was one happy lady.

Week in Review

69 Miles
3x(2k-1k) workout
12.5 MLR
1 Mile Road Race PR
7 Runs
0 Days off

I'm so far behind on my blog that I really don't have much else to say.  I ran a mile PR in the middle of half marathon training and with little taper.  That's all I have to say.

3x(2k-1k) on the Speed Loop

Goal:
3x(2k @ 5:50, 60-70 sec rest, 1k @ 535-540, 3:30 rest)

Actual:
2.8 mile warmup
2k in 7:30, 65s rest
1k in 3:31, 3:30 rest
2k in 7:14, 65s rest
1k in 3:31, 3:30 rest
2k in 7:13, 65s rest
1k or 25s fast and 35s slow with Laurie in 3:40
1.7 mile cool down for ~ 12 miles total

You can expect to always find me on the two mile speed loop on Wednesday mornings.  It's been my standard workout place for the past couple of weeks and will continue to be so until December. 

I was slow on the first 2k because I wanted to run with Pezz and Laurie for at least a portion of their wave tempo, so I hung with them until my Garmin beeped at me to slow down for my short rest.  This workout was easy for me aerobically, but I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to go much faster on the 1k.  I still hit the target pace that Terry had prescribed, but I wanted at least one of them to be under 3:30.  I also felt like the rest after the 1k was too long.  If I ever do this workout again, I'd love to do with 2:30-3:00 rest just to put a true test to my fitness gains.

(Down) Week in Review

63 Miles
6 Runs
1 day off
12x1 min
Tempo Fail
17 Mile Long Run @ 6:45 average

It's funny how sometimes the down weeks feel the worst.  Perhaps the reason is two-fold:  the combination of the heat and humidity and the return of my husband to Charlotte.  This week definitely wasn't what I had hoped for from a running perspective.  I ditched a tempo run that was scheduled for Thursday, attempted it again on Friday evening, and stopped after one mile at 6:30 pace.  I even had Garrett alongside me on the bike for added motivation, but that didn't help me.  My legs have felt lethargic and heavy ever since I arrived in DC last weekend, and I just urged them to come back to life. It took them basically six whole days!

My run on Saturday was a glimmer of hope--the legs finally felt light again--and I sensed that my long run would go well the next day.  I topped off an otherwise crappy week with a long run with Laurie and Pezz with five miles at 620-605 pace and a final average of 6:45.  Overall, it's always a hard adjustment for me upon Garrett's return because my sleep schedule is all off (he reads in bed with the light on which keeps me awake).  I'm confident that next week will be different and that my legs will continue to feel better, especially as the fall season blows the humidity away!

Week in Review

70 Miles
4x2 Mile workout
16 mile long run in 6:50 pace
11 mile Medium Long Run
40 Hours in DC

Not much to report here except that I was supposed to do a medium long run or a long run with 8 miles at 6:20-6:40 pace.  That didn't happen because I felt terrible on my long run Friday morning with Laurie and then because it was really hot in DC on Sunday when I ran with a hungover Merry.  I had wanted to get in a good effort on one of the longer runs, but it just didn't work out that way this week, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.  Sometimes it's most important to enjoy time with some of your closest friends in Washington, DC than to fret over the workout you didn't get in.  After all, I'm still putting in good work on my workouts and getting the efforts in that I need to achieve a PR in the fall.