Goal:
12-13 miles
Actual:
12 miles at 7:10 pace
Today, Megan Hovis was kind enough to drive all the way from her home near McAlpine to join me for a long run (medium run for her!) on the concrete sidewalks of uptown and Myers Park. She had just come off a solid tempo run with Bill Shires and I had just come off a solid day of absolutely no running. However, my weak marathoner body was still sore from my weight lifting session with Mark Kane, where he gave me a lifting regime to do 2 times a week. I can barely get below my hips when doing a squat and we determined it stemmed from a weakness in my abs! If you stop by Pura Vida Fitness, you'll see me doing "stir the pot" and "inch worms." Gotta love the names of exercises.
Back to my long run this morning, Megan and I both agreed that we needed to take it easy, which we did for the first mile: 7:46. After our legs woke up, we began rolling at 6:50s-7:00s the rest of the way home. The conversation was so good that I never even looked at my watch to see what kind of pace we were going. Before I knew it, we had already passed through the entire Sugar Creek Greenway and covered the 3 mile Booty Loop!
I was most happy with how easy and relaxed running 7:00 min pace felt for 12 miles. The goal for the next three months will be to increase this pace for some of my steady state long runs and, based on today's effort, I don't believe I will have any problem accomplishing that. Overall, it was great to catch up with Megan and to hear about how her training is going. As always, she is peppy and ready to run many miles in 2011!
On another note, I found out that both Megan AND Ruth will be running the USA 25k Champs in May. Now I just need to convince Meagan Nedlo to skip the track season and meet us on the roads. Regardless, it looks like the three of us will have a lot of fun racing in Grand Rapids, Michigan in just 3 months!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Start of the New Training Cycle...SUCCESS!
Goal:
10x1 min with 1:15 rest
Actual:
6.31 miles warmup
8x1 min with 1:15 rest (had to adjust because I had to be home in time to make a massage) at 5:00-5:30 pace
1.88 miles cooldown
Hoorah! Hoorah! While 8x1 min is a minuscule workout in comparison to those workouts I will be doing in the near future (ex: 4x9 min with 2 min rest), this was a great way to start off my training cycle for the USA 25k Championships. I recruited Matt, Will, and Eric to join me for this light workout and, after staging meeting areas at three different locations, the four of us managed to find each other to begin our workout together at JCSU.
We began the minuters above the track on the road and made our way into the cemetery and up the road toward the NC Music Factory. The four of us worked together really well on the first four repeats, as we clustered together to shelter ourselves a bit from the nasty headwind. I felt fresh and relaxed as we cruised from 5:18-5:28 pace for the first four. Matt must have felt the best of all of us because he bested all of us on one of the intervals that ended with an uphill.
Once we entered the last 4 intervals, I began to feel even better. My breathing was controlled, my rhythm was in sync, and my stride was getting longer. Even with a slight incline, we managed to run 5:00-5:13 pace for these final four. Either my garmin was wrong, or we really were running at what I consider a blistering pace. It's a blistering pace considering I ran 32.6 miles last week! I don't know if I've ever run that speedy on a minuter workout, so I'll take it! It was really helpful to have the guys there to push me through, especially considering the wind and the hills that we conquered. While my regular training buddy Jordan is off frolicking in California, Matt is coming around the corner and getting back into shape rather quickly, which is good for both us.
It was exciting to start off my new training cycle with such a positive experience in my first workout. The next big goal in sight is to run 6:00-6:05 pace at the USA 25k Champs. Considering that I ran a marathon in 6:10 pace and a 15 mile simulation run at 6:11 pace, I think that this goal is realistic and will be an indicator of whether my fitness level has increased over the past six months and will allow me to assess my goal for the Olympic Trials.
10x1 min with 1:15 rest
Actual:
6.31 miles warmup
8x1 min with 1:15 rest (had to adjust because I had to be home in time to make a massage) at 5:00-5:30 pace
1.88 miles cooldown
Hoorah! Hoorah! While 8x1 min is a minuscule workout in comparison to those workouts I will be doing in the near future (ex: 4x9 min with 2 min rest), this was a great way to start off my training cycle for the USA 25k Championships. I recruited Matt, Will, and Eric to join me for this light workout and, after staging meeting areas at three different locations, the four of us managed to find each other to begin our workout together at JCSU.
We began the minuters above the track on the road and made our way into the cemetery and up the road toward the NC Music Factory. The four of us worked together really well on the first four repeats, as we clustered together to shelter ourselves a bit from the nasty headwind. I felt fresh and relaxed as we cruised from 5:18-5:28 pace for the first four. Matt must have felt the best of all of us because he bested all of us on one of the intervals that ended with an uphill.
Once we entered the last 4 intervals, I began to feel even better. My breathing was controlled, my rhythm was in sync, and my stride was getting longer. Even with a slight incline, we managed to run 5:00-5:13 pace for these final four. Either my garmin was wrong, or we really were running at what I consider a blistering pace. It's a blistering pace considering I ran 32.6 miles last week! I don't know if I've ever run that speedy on a minuter workout, so I'll take it! It was really helpful to have the guys there to push me through, especially considering the wind and the hills that we conquered. While my regular training buddy Jordan is off frolicking in California, Matt is coming around the corner and getting back into shape rather quickly, which is good for both us.
It was exciting to start off my new training cycle with such a positive experience in my first workout. The next big goal in sight is to run 6:00-6:05 pace at the USA 25k Champs. Considering that I ran a marathon in 6:10 pace and a 15 mile simulation run at 6:11 pace, I think that this goal is realistic and will be an indicator of whether my fitness level has increased over the past six months and will allow me to assess my goal for the Olympic Trials.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Week in Review
32.6 Miles (wowsa!)
4 Days of Running
48 Hours in Las Vegas
12 Hours in an airplane or airport
1.5 hours of TheraBand Exercises
I have never been more proud of a 32 mile week. After taking three days off, I started my running week on Wednesday with an easy 8 miler with Matt, Michelle, and Billy. Before I knew it, my running week would be over after just four straights of running 8 miles a day. I managed to get in an hour of easy running in Las Vegas with Selina, on the beautiful trails of the Red Rock Canyon.
On Friday morning, I ran easy with Justin and Meagan in the 35 degree rain, put in a half day's worth of work, and got a ride to the airport from Matt and Vanessa (not my sister, Matt's girlfriend). After a 4+ hour flight, I was whisked away from the cold, wet, dreary weather and placed in the middle of sunny, dry, beautiful Las Vegas. My sister was kind enough to pick Selina and I up and so began our 48 hour adventure.
Now, most of you would think that I proceeded to enjoy in a weeked of total gluttony. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I spent just over $100 and we went to a health food store to buy $30 worth of groceries so we didn't have to eat out. We got over 7 hours of sleep each night. We also ran and hiked at Red Rock Canyon. All of the above items make it overall a very healthy trip.
On Friday night, the five of us ladies didn't even last until after midnight, and on Saturday night we got home at 1:45am, which is early for Vegas. We were escorted into the clubs both nights because we got in contact with escorts who work for Marketing firms. Essentially, they are paid to bring ladies in for the customers that actually pay lots of money in the Club. With this sort of setup, we would meet the escort at the bar in the casino and then they would escort (aka herd us in like we are going to the slaughterhouse) us to the club, checked our IDs, and left us to play on our own. For those looking for the hookup, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.
While we had a great time, we agreed that Vegas is too busy and crazy for us to go that often. If I ever do go again, I will spend the day at the spa, go to the shows, and avoid the clubs.
on the way to surrender night club
Running at Red Rock Canyon on Saturday
I ended up taking the day off on Sunday because I didn't feel like running along the Las Vegas Strip, which sounded absolutely dreadful. I figure a true down week happens when you take days off when you don't feel like running. I was pleased with how the week turned out, especially considering that my leg is finally getting better.
What to look forward to next week? Running 50 miles, spending FIVE days with Garrett, getting another massage from Byran at Zenriffic Massage and Wellness, taking one day off from running, getting a weight lifting plan from Mark Kane, and going to Trivia Night at Brixx Pizza! A fun filled week for sure.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Three Days Off and Still Busy
After Houston on Saturday, I decided to take three days off from running. With my newly found free time, I have filled it to the point that I haven't had much to time to be at home. On Monday, I scheduled a lunch with my former roommate, Meenal, for 6:30 at Sonoma so we could use up a Groupon that was about to expire. Before I met her, I spent 1.5 hours studying for the GMAT by doing practice problems assigned by my tutor. Once I returned home from dinner, I had just enough time to see Cicero get into John's beer box and then to hit the hay.
On Tuesday night, I had a 1.5 hour massage with Byran at Zenriffic Massage and Wellness with my CRC discount. Starting this week, I will be making massage a regular weekly activity in my training regime. I think this will be a way to help prevent injury as I increase my mileage. By the time I was done with my massage, I barely had enough time to jet over to Trader Joe's before it closed. By the time I had paid for my groceries and had gotten home, it was well after 9pm, and I still needed to eat dinner.
It's funny how you assume that if you aren't running, you'll have all sorts of additional free time, but that's usually not the case because you fill it up with stuff you don't normally get to do. This weekend I jet off to Las Vegas for a quick trip with my sister and some of her friends from Cali. It should be good to see her, but I know that I'll be exhausted upon my return! After that, it's go time! I've fully enjoyed my three days off from running, but I'm definitely ready to get back into the swing of my normal training again. It works out quite perfectly because Jay is just now coming back and we can sync up several of our easy runs together.
On Tuesday night, I had a 1.5 hour massage with Byran at Zenriffic Massage and Wellness with my CRC discount. Starting this week, I will be making massage a regular weekly activity in my training regime. I think this will be a way to help prevent injury as I increase my mileage. By the time I was done with my massage, I barely had enough time to jet over to Trader Joe's before it closed. By the time I had paid for my groceries and had gotten home, it was well after 9pm, and I still needed to eat dinner. It's funny how you assume that if you aren't running, you'll have all sorts of additional free time, but that's usually not the case because you fill it up with stuff you don't normally get to do. This weekend I jet off to Las Vegas for a quick trip with my sister and some of her friends from Cali. It should be good to see her, but I know that I'll be exhausted upon my return! After that, it's go time! I've fully enjoyed my three days off from running, but I'm definitely ready to get back into the swing of my normal training again. It works out quite perfectly because Jay is just now coming back and we can sync up several of our easy runs together.
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