Marching On: running thread

[GLC1968]

Hey - I get to start the thread this month! That's a first! ;)

Did my first longer run since I tweaked my foot a week and a half ago. I actually ran 4.25 on Friday (that was February though!) and had to call my husband to come pick me up because I had mis-remembered my route and I was still too far from home and I didn't want to over do it. Then yesterday, I did 8.3 miles. My plan had 9 miles on it, but I figured I was close enough considering how light I've been in miles lately. My foot held up well, so I'm hopeful that I'm now back on track!

Weather was typical for this time of year (upper 30's and rain, pouring at times) but I've been so spoiled with dry weekend days lately that it felt like a huge drag. I'm glad I got it done.

[skhill]

I haven't managed to run since Saturday-- but that was March! It was a busy day and I'd overslept, so I only got in 5 miles, outside on a beautiful morning. Sunday it was raining, Monday snowing, and today 10F with snow and ice covered sidewalks. But tomorrow I will definitely run, even if just on the treadmill...

[OakLeaf]

So. Once again I looked at the speed workout my coach had sent me for today and thought, "No way can I do this. Just no way." He said that it was supposed to be a strength workout as well as speed, so I comforted myself with the idea that a strength workout is supposed to be working to failure, so I wasn't actually supposed to hit all the numbers.

The other part of it is that it was 1.5 mile repeats, and while I'd been doing all my speedwork up until now on a nearby MUP, there's only about 1.25 mile between intersections, and I definitely didn't want to be crossing traffic. So I drove up to the public track, and I was kind of apprehensive about that too, since it had been a Very Long Time since I'd been on a track, never for anything approaching this distance or intensity, and I expected that boredom would make it hard for me to focus.

Instead ... I found my experience mirrored one of the women in my yoga class, who's a high school PE teacher, who told me that she liked track work because she found it meditative. Yeah, I kind of did too. No struggle with boredom at all.

Unfortunately it turned out my watch was reading long, by nearly 30 m a lap, and I had no way to edit the workout on the fly. I figured that was close enough for marathon training ...

but the good news is that I hit or slightly bettered my 7:20 pace target all four repeats. Holey moley. I'm still apprehensive that I'm not doing enough endurance work on this plan, but good grief.

[Catrin]

7:20 mile? Nice! I won't say how far my 6 minutes took me yesterday :) your experience on the track is interesting. Sounds to my like you are doing great!

[yellow]

Wow, Oak, that's awesome! :D

And GLC, I am glad your foot is mo' bettah!

[GLC1968]

Great job, Oak!
And thanks, Yellow!

Managed to eek out my long run yesterday. 10 miles on the nose. It only rained once (pretty hard, but only for a minute or two) and the rest of the run was quite pleasant. I was a tad overdressed, but not bad. I went for a 20 mile bike ride in the pouring rain on Saturday because I wanted to get one in, but it really fatigued my legs. I think I was pushing too hard up hills (because of the weather) and I could really feel it on my run on Sunday. Oh well, call it a muscle building opportunity! ;)

I will say that I'm getting more than just a bit annoyed with my amphipod belt. It used to stay seated on my hips, but it doesn't any more. Even if I put it on really tight, it now works it's way up to my waist (which I hate). I don't get it. I'm hopeful it's because I'm carrying less water (weight) and that it'll still be OK when it gets warmer and water is more essential? I'm really not interested in searching for ANOTHER hydration belt/solution! Grrrr....

[GLC1968]

Went out for 3 miles at lunch today. I didn't want it to end! I'm not sure if that is a reflection of my job or of my running but I'm going to pretend it's just about the running. ;-) Weather was gorgeous - 45F and SUNNY!!

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off so that my husband and I can go for a ride together. It's supposed to be 60F and sunny. Yay! (I'll probably run in the morning and ride with him in the afternoon).

[GLC1968]

I'm having a good running week, so I"m gonna keep posting even if it's only to myself! ;-)

Yesterday it was gorgeous out. I took the day off, had a nice breakfast with my husband, and then went for a run. It was fabulous! One of those runs that just make you realize how happy you are and how good life can feel!! It's actually a 'rest' week for me, so my plan had me running 5 miles with no speed/time/pace goals, so that's what I did. 5 miles, no goals, just enjoy the morning... so awesome!

Then my husband and I rode about 30 miles in the afternoon in short sleeves. Spring ROCKS! :)

[yellow]

No short sleeves here yet (on the bike anyway) but it's definitely drying out and the trails have been good in spite of rain every few days. I had a rough run on Tuesday but, thankfully, after a rest day yesterday and some more substantial food (pho and salad, which seem to be what I am eating these days, really are not good fuel foods!), I had a good run in the dark this morning. The best thing about running the trails in the dark is that I am forced to slow down, which makes for a pleasant, relaxing run. We're off to an area called the San Rafael Swell tomorrow morning to do some running and mountain biking for a couple of days. I am looking forward to getting out of SLC and off the grid (the place we are going is quite remote :) ).

[OakLeaf]

Have fun, yellow! Nice work, GLC.

I kind of had a breakthrough today. My race pace run has been parked at 10 miles for the past five weeks and getting less intimidating for sure, but still pretty hard. Normally it's my Saturday workout, but this week I'm booked solid tomorrow, and I had a lot of stuff on the calendar for today as well (normally my day off running), so I'd talked with my coach about probably doing my tempo run Sunday. But I thought about it (not least about how close to Monday's long run I really wanted to do my tempo run), realized I was recovered enough though by no means completely from Wednesday's 3 x 2 miles :eek:, decided to blow off this morning's activities, and just went and did it. And wasn't wrecked the rest of the day.

Yay.

[Catrin]

Sounds great everyone! I really want to run outside tomorrow, but am so busy that might not happen. I suspect the trails are still really muddy anyway. I will likely just do my prescribed drill tomorrow at the inside track at my gym prior to my planned workout!

[yellow]

I did my first hill repeats of the season and did not die. :p

I didn't do repeats much last year (maybe once or twice?) because of my hammie. It was a little twingy at first today but that went away. I figure that it was just waking up after a 1.5 year nap.

[skhill]

Yesterday I ran a route I rarely use, due to the hellacious 1st mile. Mostly uphill to one degree or another, with a short steep downhill thrown in for variety. The reward is that the 2nd mile is a gentle downhill. Only went 4.5 miles in total, and I keep reminding myself how nice it is to be running outside again after this awful winter.

Saturday's my first race of the year, a 5k. Not expecting to go all that fast after the little running I've been doing lately, but that's fine.

And today we had a big announcement: we're having a local marathon in 2015! First here since one in the late 70s! And as it's about 14 months out, plenty of time to train.

[OakLeaf]

That's exciting skhill! Good luck on Saturday.

Yellow, yay for hill repeats! <wheeze, puke, trip>

I did downhill repeats yesterday, a workout I'd asked my coach for, since the descent out of Hopkinton threw me off so badly last year. It went much better than I was expecting. I think a lot because it turned out that some of the same form focuses I'd been working on, on the flats, turned out to be really useful with balance and leg turnover descending, too. Landing on all four corners of the feet (a cue from my yoga teacher that has been just IMMENSELY useful in regaining foot function), then bending my knees and lifting my heels behind me and "feeling the wheel" as in the Roadrunner cartoons (a Chi Running cue).

I got all the way through the workout before it occurred to me that at race start, I *will* want to be putting the brakes on and holding back my speed, and so biomechanically it might work out much different from what I was doing yesterday. Ah, well.

Five weeks out and I'm *finally* starting the mileage buildup in my long runs. :eek: So far it seems like this training plan is actually working. My longest run this cycle before Monday had been 14 miles, and on Monday I did 17, and not only wasn't it excessively hard, but it wasn't even hard the way 17 has often been a slog for me in the past. We'll see what happens with 20 miles this coming Monday ...

[Catrin]

Sounds great everyone! Oakleaf, I am seriously impressed by your just casually being able to run 17 miles!!! That is awesome and SKHill, "only" 4.5 miles? That rocks as well! I am cheering everyone on!

I think I need to separate my running from my hard gym days. I've been running on the track inside after my hard group training sessions, but the 7 minutes I ran Tuesday I think had repercussions because of what my body was submitted to the previous hour. Still though, I managed 7 minutes and didn't have any real problems with that. I THINK that was a bit over 6 laps, and 8 laps = 1 mile, so I am progressing.

Winter keeps giving here - they are calling for flurries next week :mad: That being said, it is supposed to be around 60 tomorrow! I am taking the day off due to my second round of diagnostic tests, so depending on how I feel afterwards, I think it is time to finally take my brand new trail running shoes out of their box and get them dirty :) It will be interesting to see how much longer I can run on the trail over the track - though I will try to keep it in 7 minute increments with 5 minutes of walking in between. If I can do at least two of those tomorrow without problem or pain then I will be a happy woman!

I will start the day with a good KB workout at home, but probably not my 500 swing workout - I will save that for Saturday :)

[skhill]

Well, the race wasn't fast but it's done. With how little I've been running and the rising pollen count I set a modest goal averaging a sub-9 min mile, and did. Barely. It was a very small field so I was running on my own most of the way; didn't really feel like a race. This is how small the field was: I was 5th overall and 3rd among girls/women, despite being so slow. But it was a beautiful morning and I'm glad I ran.

[OakLeaf]

Nice work skhill!

In other news: 20 miles still feels like 20 miles on my legs, but the mental game is just a whole lot different this time around. For one thing, the long run is definitely not the hardest day of my week :eek: - the speedwork and long tempo runs put the long run in a different perspective than I've had before. And then, even though I pretty much knew from week to week what my long run distance would be when I was making it up as I went along, it feels different to just get my training plan from my coach and say to myself, "Okay, that's what I'm going to do."

Still pretty sore at the moment, though. :p

[skhill]

Looks like a treadmill week-- 3 miles yesterday (it was 22F) 3 miles today (heavy snow falling); tomorrow's going to be frigid, so treadmill again. Sigh. At least on the treadmill I'm not planning routes to avoid that nasty pollen from maple trees....

Oak, I find the mental part of long long runs the hardest too. Once it gets more than 2 hrs, it's so hard for me to stay engaged. I do enjoy speedwork, maybe I'm not going hard enough!

[TrekDianna]

Hello all, I logged in for just a few minutes and of course I am totally jealous of all the running and biking going on. I am currently in Beijing, China and today has been the first day in awhile that I could actually go outside other than to work and back. It's been 435 or so out of 500 for the pollution (air quality index) and that's the hazardous range where it can cause death in old/young and serious breathing issues in others. I am finally heading for home tomorrow and not only am I going to be thrilled to breathe the fresh Oregon air, I don't care how tired I am, I am going for a long run to get all this junk out of my lungs -- a nice long air exchange.

[OakLeaf]

Wow TrekDianna ... Welcome home and hope you get a good run in nice fresh air!

One more 10-mile tempo run for me, in 88% humidity ... though overcast skies made it much easier, it still took a lot out of me, especially since I'm spring cleaning and spent the rest of the day either climbing up and down the stepladder, or on hands and knees scrubbing the floor. I am seriously hoping this was my last one of these this cycle. I am so ready to taper, I just hope I'm going to be ready to race.

In other news, I'm registered for NYC. :rolleyes: My half marathon time in Columbus last fall was good enough to get me into the time qualifier lottery, and I just put my name in because it's on so many people's bucket list, it seemed rude not to ... I'm not really sure I want to run it though, not this year at least. One thing about New York, I can defer until next year, though I'd still lose the registration fee. I just need to get through Boston before I can even think about it (let alone discuss it with DH, ha ha).

[yellow]

Wow, Dianna. Breathe deeply when you get home! It really makes you appreciate what you have, huh?

Oak, methinks you will do NY :p

I had a rough week last week but today was a better run, so I am optimistic that last week was an anomaly. It's kind of a rest week for me by default anyhow, and I think it will be good for me. I am going on a backpacking trip with some friends and, no, I am not going to run while I am on this trip. I will be scrambling through red rock to go see arches, reading pictographs and petroglyphs, staring at the sky from a sandstone perch, and playing Pass the Pigs over a collection of flasks.

I am currently signed up for a trail marathon, my first race of the year, on April 19. As of last week, I was ready to bail and just stay focused on my June event, which is really what I am training for. So far I have not bailed, but I can if it gets closer and I am still battling with my legs. It's out of town and we had planned to camp, so we'll probably go regardless. If I don't run, I'll just mountain bike all weekend. Either way I am (1) away from work, (2) in a beautiful place, and (3) with hubs and my pooch. Doesn't get much better than that!

[katluvr]

Oakleaf, you are doing fantastic! Can't believe how you are sticking to that training plan.

I have been running in March, just not posting (not sure why). It has been a great month of trail runs. I did an awesome 10K at the start of the month. Actually pretty happy with my overall time. Last weekend did a 15k, it kicked my butt, but I finished. My legs were a bit tried from a 48 mile bike ride the day before. I have one more trail run at the end of April. Then no more trail rans/races, get's to hot and buggy here in the summertime. I will miss them. This next race is 10 miler Xterra. Since there are no mountains or elevation changes these races are on single track or up and down berms or steam crossing. They throw in dirt or sand mounds to go over. So it'll be a bit of a challenge. So I started April off with a good run...guess I should start an April running thread!

[TrekDianna]

I got out two days in a row. First day I ran a bit over 5k and spent a lot of time bent over hacking junk up. I can't believe that 10 days in the Beijing pollution caused that much crud. Yesterday I got out for another 5k and then an 8 mile hike and felt much better.