Don't let the title fool you. I have no intention of blogging every single day of my training. I'm going to try to do weekly updates at least, and then blog particular training days when I feel like it. It just so happens that today...I feel like it.
So today I ran 2 miles on the treadmill in 26:01, avg pace 13 min/mi. I'd run 5 mins at 5mph, then walk for 1-2 mins at 3.5-3.7 mph, and repeat. Not great, not even by my standards. I thought treadmills were supposed to be easier. It wasn't even a mental challenge to stay motivated today. I really think, and I'm not trying to make excuses here, that the treadmill must not have been calibrated correctly. I was sweating buckets after 5 minutes with the speed set to 5mph on a 1% incline. I can run a mile at an 11+ min pace no problem. Color me confused.
Anyway, regardless, I did the first day. Tomorrow, God willing, I'll make another mighty return to yoga. Pretty excited about that. I haven't been in months, but it's something I absolutely love.
Anyway, that's it. I just wanted to vent about the treadmill. If it's not wrong, if I really was overexerting myself at a 12 min/mi pace...that confuses me, but I'll take it. 26 minutes of pure sweat ain't nothing to gloss over. The end.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Where do we go from here?
Alright. So the 5K is officially conquered, after over a year of trying. The next logical step is to attempt a 10K, I would guess. Hal Higdon's Novice 10K plan seems to be the right fit for me. If I stick to my plan, I'll complete it by 7/21.
Atlanta is pretty hot in mid-July, not great for racing 6.2 miles. There's the obvious Atlanta favorite, the Peachtree Road Race, but aside from that 10Ks are slim pickings. I don't have any plans to register for one at the moment. Instead, as soon as I finish that training, I'll jump into half marathon mode, as I attempt to run the Athens Half Marathon again, to benefit the summer favorite, AthFest.
Basically what it boils down to is that I've created a 22 week half marathon training plan. I'm going to work at it for about 6-8 weeks before I commit to running the half. By week six I'll be running 5 miles, something I wasn't able to do last year. If I can get that far, I feel like I'll be ready to commit. If not, I'll continue running for fun and training for a 10K in the fall. I don't want to set my sights too high and get burnt out too quickly like I did last year. I'm trying to be more realistic. We'll see how to goes. For now, here's my training plan.
So wish me luck, I guess.
Atlanta is pretty hot in mid-July, not great for racing 6.2 miles. There's the obvious Atlanta favorite, the Peachtree Road Race, but aside from that 10Ks are slim pickings. I don't have any plans to register for one at the moment. Instead, as soon as I finish that training, I'll jump into half marathon mode, as I attempt to run the Athens Half Marathon again, to benefit the summer favorite, AthFest.
Basically what it boils down to is that I've created a 22 week half marathon training plan. I'm going to work at it for about 6-8 weeks before I commit to running the half. By week six I'll be running 5 miles, something I wasn't able to do last year. If I can get that far, I feel like I'll be ready to commit. If not, I'll continue running for fun and training for a 10K in the fall. I don't want to set my sights too high and get burnt out too quickly like I did last year. I'm trying to be more realistic. We'll see how to goes. For now, here's my training plan.
So wish me luck, I guess.
Brookhaven Bolt 5K Recap
Well. The big day finally came and went. And it was awesome. But let's go back to Friday night, first.
Kate and Ward came into town around 6:00, just in time for dinner! I made your standard pre-race spaghetti meal, and we drank a some wine and had a grand old time. We were joined by my best friend, Kristy, who gave us lots of encouraging words in lieu of her presence at the actual race.
Once Eric came home, he and Ward set about making signs to inspire us along the course.
I drank a few glasses of water and went to bed around 10:30. Kate followed suit shortly after, but the boys stayed up until close to 1:00, perfecting their race day signs.
We were all up and out the door by 7:15 Saturday morning. Once we arrived, it was a short walk from the MARTA station down to Bolt-central. Kate and got our bibs in no time, and decided to hit the Porta-Potties before the race. This is a small, local, neighborhood oriented affair, so there were only about 1200 participants. However, felt like 4 or 5 Porta-Potties weren't nearly enough.
Anyway. We had enough time to catch back up with the boys, joined now by Eric and Kate's sister, Lilli, and drop off our things. We lined up and waited for the starting gun. Kate asked me (again*) how hilly the course was, and I reassured her that it was pretty gradual uphills, followed by some lovely downhills. The worst part of the race is at mile 3, right before the finish, there's a pretty steep uphill.
The starting gunshot or buzzer or whatever it was happened and we were off. Kate and I kept with each other for all of 3 minutes before I realized I was going far too fast to maintain. I slowed down and moved to the right, trying to focus on my breath. When I hit mile 1 (after a pretty steep climb) I felt pretty good. Good enough that I wanted to keep going, but I knew I had to take a walking break. I wanted to finish strong, so I had to hold myself back at the start. I walked for about 30 seconds, and then sped up again.
I came to the water station and decided to drink about half a cup. Another walking break (and did I mention another hill?). Sped up again until I hit mile 2. I walked for maybe another 30 seconds, and feeling good, started a pretty steep climb. I ran almost until the end. Another hill, right before the final one, I had to stop. Maybe 15-20 second. My ankle started bothering me, so I shook it out and finished the climb. Turned to run over a bridge, and then the final hill. Kept at my running pace all the way. As soon as I hit the top, I turned right for the final stretch. I saw Eric, Ward, Lilli, Kate (who finished with 33:17 - awesome!), and unexpectedly, Claire! They were busy deciding which signs to hold up now, so I leaned towards them and yelled "CHEER ME!" So they did. As I got closer to the finish line, I saw the clock reading 38:xx and I knew I would PR. I felt a bolt of adrenaline and sprinted across the finish line. My "gun time" was 38:09, but my chip time was 37:33, beating my previous PR by 5:04.
I know that a 12:06/mile pace isn't terribly fast by most standards, but it's downright speedy for me. I'm so dang proud I can't stand it!
-------------------
*So clearly I didn't remember anything about the terrain of this race from last year. Kate asked me when she signed up how hilly it was, and I told her it wasn't that bad. She asked again last week after she PR'd in a 5K in Louisville. Apparently that course was very flat, so she was nervous about this one. I was all "no, it's totally easy breezy". Sorry, Kate! I have a horrible memory!
-------------------
After the race, we all headed back to the apartment, made a delicious brunch, drank mimosas, and then I took an epic 4 hour nap. That's how it's done, ladies and gentlemen.
------------------
I'm feeling pretty good about myself now, so I'm giving myself a new goal. More on that in my next post.
Woohoo!
Kate and Ward came into town around 6:00, just in time for dinner! I made your standard pre-race spaghetti meal, and we drank a some wine and had a grand old time. We were joined by my best friend, Kristy, who gave us lots of encouraging words in lieu of her presence at the actual race.
Once Eric came home, he and Ward set about making signs to inspire us along the course.
I drank a few glasses of water and went to bed around 10:30. Kate followed suit shortly after, but the boys stayed up until close to 1:00, perfecting their race day signs.
We were all up and out the door by 7:15 Saturday morning. Once we arrived, it was a short walk from the MARTA station down to Bolt-central. Kate and got our bibs in no time, and decided to hit the Porta-Potties before the race. This is a small, local, neighborhood oriented affair, so there were only about 1200 participants. However, felt like 4 or 5 Porta-Potties weren't nearly enough.
Anyway. We had enough time to catch back up with the boys, joined now by Eric and Kate's sister, Lilli, and drop off our things. We lined up and waited for the starting gun. Kate asked me (again*) how hilly the course was, and I reassured her that it was pretty gradual uphills, followed by some lovely downhills. The worst part of the race is at mile 3, right before the finish, there's a pretty steep uphill.
The starting gunshot or buzzer or whatever it was happened and we were off. Kate and I kept with each other for all of 3 minutes before I realized I was going far too fast to maintain. I slowed down and moved to the right, trying to focus on my breath. When I hit mile 1 (after a pretty steep climb) I felt pretty good. Good enough that I wanted to keep going, but I knew I had to take a walking break. I wanted to finish strong, so I had to hold myself back at the start. I walked for about 30 seconds, and then sped up again.
I came to the water station and decided to drink about half a cup. Another walking break (and did I mention another hill?). Sped up again until I hit mile 2. I walked for maybe another 30 seconds, and feeling good, started a pretty steep climb. I ran almost until the end. Another hill, right before the final one, I had to stop. Maybe 15-20 second. My ankle started bothering me, so I shook it out and finished the climb. Turned to run over a bridge, and then the final hill. Kept at my running pace all the way. As soon as I hit the top, I turned right for the final stretch. I saw Eric, Ward, Lilli, Kate (who finished with 33:17 - awesome!), and unexpectedly, Claire! They were busy deciding which signs to hold up now, so I leaned towards them and yelled "CHEER ME!" So they did. As I got closer to the finish line, I saw the clock reading 38:xx and I knew I would PR. I felt a bolt of adrenaline and sprinted across the finish line. My "gun time" was 38:09, but my chip time was 37:33, beating my previous PR by 5:04.
I know that a 12:06/mile pace isn't terribly fast by most standards, but it's downright speedy for me. I'm so dang proud I can't stand it!
-------------------
*So clearly I didn't remember anything about the terrain of this race from last year. Kate asked me when she signed up how hilly it was, and I told her it wasn't that bad. She asked again last week after she PR'd in a 5K in Louisville. Apparently that course was very flat, so she was nervous about this one. I was all "no, it's totally easy breezy". Sorry, Kate! I have a horrible memory!
-------------------
After the race, we all headed back to the apartment, made a delicious brunch, drank mimosas, and then I took an epic 4 hour nap. That's how it's done, ladies and gentlemen.
------------------
I'm feeling pretty good about myself now, so I'm giving myself a new goal. More on that in my next post.
Woohoo!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Back on the Wagon...Again
Hi, again. Yeah, I went to the NRA Show in St. Louis for work and it was simultaneously the most soul-crushing and career rejuvenating experience of my life.
I didn't run for 2 weeks.
Then I didn't really have the motivation to start back up.
Then Eric's sister rightly called me out on Twitter for being lazy.
Then I went for a run.
Then I didn't for another week.
Then I did.
And again.
And then yesterday I ran the fastest 3 miles of my life. Avg Pace: 12:46. That is pretty subpar when compared to even your average runner, but for me? It's pretty spectacular.
How it happened.
I left work with a goal of running 2 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect for a run, and it's not sticking around for long. When I got home, I puttered around for about 2 hours, waiting for the temps to drop just a little further. Right up until about 6:45 I was debating whether or not I still wanted to go. But something just clicked and I knew I had to run. Kate and I are running in a 5K next week, and I really want to keep up with her for as long as possible.
So, I got dressed, laced up my sneakers, and was out the door just before 7:00. I decided since the weather was incredible, it'd be a good time to try to run a little further than normal. My route was measured perfectly, 1.5 miles out and 1.5 miles back, exactly. My warm up is usually just walking to the gates of my community, and up the hill to the road (about 3-4 minutes). Once I started running, my body revolted for a few beats. It was as if it was saying "Hey. I thought we were done with this! What are you doing?" I made a deal with myself that if ran for a 1/2 mile, I could take a walking break for as long as I needed. Made the 1/2 mile mark and I ended up walking for about a minute. Ran another 1/4 ish mile, and started cramping up. Let myself walk for a little while longer, and then I ran the rest of the 1.5 miles. It was somewhat hilly, but I started feeling really good. I told myself I could walk again after I got to the turning point, but once I was there, I felt like I could keep going. It was down hill for a good tenth of a mile or so, but I'd say I ran maybe another 1/2 mile before my next walking break. Walked for about 30 seconds, ran to the next stoplight. Turned onto the road back to my apartment, and walked for a moment. As I was running the final stretch to my apartment, I started to feel a little tired. It was weird - I wasn't out of breath and my legs weren't hurting. I just wanted to stop. So instead I pushed harder. There's a spot about 100 feet from the entrance of the complex where I usually grab my phone to stop the timer. All I wanted to see was a number less than 39. I wanted my avg pace to be less than 13 minutes. I've run a few 5Ks in the past and never come in under 42 minutes, so I knew 39 might be a challenge. But I grabbed my phone from my arm, looked down and saw 37! So a bolted. Ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and stopped right as the timer hit 38.
I'm not a speed demon, but damn. That felt fantastic. It's a personal achievement that I'm incredibly proud of. It makes me want to work harder, run faster, and go for longer. Last night was very exciting for me, and I'm hoping it just carries me to bigger and better goals.
I didn't run for 2 weeks.
Then I didn't really have the motivation to start back up.
Then Eric's sister rightly called me out on Twitter for being lazy.
Then I went for a run.
Then I didn't for another week.
Then I did.
And again.
And then yesterday I ran the fastest 3 miles of my life. Avg Pace: 12:46. That is pretty subpar when compared to even your average runner, but for me? It's pretty spectacular.
How it happened.
I left work with a goal of running 2 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect for a run, and it's not sticking around for long. When I got home, I puttered around for about 2 hours, waiting for the temps to drop just a little further. Right up until about 6:45 I was debating whether or not I still wanted to go. But something just clicked and I knew I had to run. Kate and I are running in a 5K next week, and I really want to keep up with her for as long as possible.
So, I got dressed, laced up my sneakers, and was out the door just before 7:00. I decided since the weather was incredible, it'd be a good time to try to run a little further than normal. My route was measured perfectly, 1.5 miles out and 1.5 miles back, exactly. My warm up is usually just walking to the gates of my community, and up the hill to the road (about 3-4 minutes). Once I started running, my body revolted for a few beats. It was as if it was saying "Hey. I thought we were done with this! What are you doing?" I made a deal with myself that if ran for a 1/2 mile, I could take a walking break for as long as I needed. Made the 1/2 mile mark and I ended up walking for about a minute. Ran another 1/4 ish mile, and started cramping up. Let myself walk for a little while longer, and then I ran the rest of the 1.5 miles. It was somewhat hilly, but I started feeling really good. I told myself I could walk again after I got to the turning point, but once I was there, I felt like I could keep going. It was down hill for a good tenth of a mile or so, but I'd say I ran maybe another 1/2 mile before my next walking break. Walked for about 30 seconds, ran to the next stoplight. Turned onto the road back to my apartment, and walked for a moment. As I was running the final stretch to my apartment, I started to feel a little tired. It was weird - I wasn't out of breath and my legs weren't hurting. I just wanted to stop. So instead I pushed harder. There's a spot about 100 feet from the entrance of the complex where I usually grab my phone to stop the timer. All I wanted to see was a number less than 39. I wanted my avg pace to be less than 13 minutes. I've run a few 5Ks in the past and never come in under 42 minutes, so I knew 39 might be a challenge. But I grabbed my phone from my arm, looked down and saw 37! So a bolted. Ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and stopped right as the timer hit 38.
I'm not a speed demon, but damn. That felt fantastic. It's a personal achievement that I'm incredibly proud of. It makes me want to work harder, run faster, and go for longer. Last night was very exciting for me, and I'm hoping it just carries me to bigger and better goals.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Plan: 4/2-4/8
Monday 4/2: C25K W6D3; Walk 15 minutes
Tuesday 4/3: Yoga
Wednesday 4/4: C25K W7D1; Walk 15 minutes
Thursday 4/5: Walk 30 minutes (weather permitting)
Friday 4/6: C25K W7D2
Saturday 4/7 and Sunday 4/8: C25K W7D3, Yoga, Walk 30 minutes
Goals:
1. Walk J-dog at least 3 times/week.
2. Stay within WW daily points + activity points. Try to use as few weekly points as possible.
2. Lose 2 lbs.
I guess I hit a threshhold with WW, because they dropped my daily points from 30 to 29. Next week I have a business trip, so I want to focus on a little more loss this week so I can just maintain next week. I imagine getting workouts in and eating healthy will be difficult when working 18 hour days. :/
Tuesday 4/3: Yoga
Wednesday 4/4: C25K W7D1; Walk 15 minutes
Thursday 4/5: Walk 30 minutes (weather permitting)
Friday 4/6: C25K W7D2
Saturday 4/7 and Sunday 4/8: C25K W7D3, Yoga, Walk 30 minutes
Goals:
1. Walk J-dog at least 3 times/week.
2. Stay within WW daily points + activity points. Try to use as few weekly points as possible.
2. Lose 2 lbs.
I guess I hit a threshhold with WW, because they dropped my daily points from 30 to 29. Next week I have a business trip, so I want to focus on a little more loss this week so I can just maintain next week. I imagine getting workouts in and eating healthy will be difficult when working 18 hour days. :/
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