Four by Four

Last night was supposed to be a "straights and curves" workout on the track. What does that mean? Basically it means you go fast on the straight parts of the track and you jog easy on the curved parts of the track.

Unfortunately the track is still closed.

Well, technically it's open but since the university is back in session they were using it for a soccer game (or maybe practice?) last night so it wasn't open to the public.

So Coach Holly had to improvise. It had been awhile since we'd done any intervals or anything truly speedy so she started us out easy. Two mile warm-up with drills followed by four (or six) 400s. The sidewalks that form the boundary of the university are almost a quarter mile on each side so it's easy to do 400s on them.

My goal was to do them at between a 7:30 and an 8:00 minute pace since my legs weren't used to short bursts of speed. Granted, I did run the River Run for Ryan at an 8:11 pace, but still.

The warm up felt good and I was able to pick up a little speed at the end. The 400s felt tough. I wasn't sure how fast to go because I couldn't really see the "finish line" of each quarter mile. Still, I managed to hit my goal pretty consistently:

1st 400 - 7:37 pace
2nd 400 - 7:58 pace
3rd 400 - 7:53 pace
4th 400 - 7:29 pace

Okay, maybe not that consistent.

Anyway, I decided to only do four instead of six 400s since my legs have been feeling pretty beat up recently.

Instead of doing a fourth lap with speed intervals I just did a cool down mile for a total of 4.8 miles for the evening.

And then I rode my bike home (oh, did I forget to mention I rode my bike to the track) where I promptly forgot to stop my Garmin. Meaning I apparently had the most epically slow 3 mile bike ride ever. Not that I can show you, though, because my Garmin decided it didn't want to upload my run or bike data to my computer. Stupid technology.

Steady as She Goes

Wednesday night we did another steady state run. Last week Coach Holly commented on my blog post to tell me I should speed up, not slow down during these runs. We input some conservative times into the MacMillan Pace Calculator and came up with a steady state run pace of 9:40. Meaning that the run should feel like an effort but not so much that I'm out of breath or my legs are burning.

I did my warm-up mile with another running club board member so we could talk "business". She is faster than me so I discovered that I accidentally ran my warm-up mile at the pace I was supposed to run my workout. Oops!

Warm Up by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Then it was straight into the workout of 40 to 50 minutes at that 9:40 pace and I found myself alone. Somehow I'd lost all the people who were my pace. Okay. That will help me work on pacing myself, I thought.

I did pretty well the first two miles. 9:38 and 9:37, respectively. Except that if you look at my pace chart it's all over the place.

Steady State Run by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

I'm just no good at running the same pace for any period of time straight. I think it's one of the reasons I've always found running on the treadmill to be so much more difficult.

Or maybe my legs just wanted to speed up. I can't see how, though. They felt like ground hamburger. Sore, stiff, and heavy. Too many days of hard workouts, I guess.

In spite of the lack of a flat line on the graph, I am getting pretty good at saying what pace I'm going to run and then actually hitting it or getting within a few seconds.

Perfect 10

Wednesday night was another alternate "track" workout. The track is actually closed because the university is installing a new football field.

So once again we ran around the block. It's almost exactly a mile but it works out well since right now we're mostly just running for time and not for distance.

Last night's workout was a one-mile warm-up followed by 40 minutes of marathon pace running.

I'll be honest, though. I think I was running a little faster than marathon pace. Well, considering my last marathon was such a hot slog-fest I don't know if I consider that an accurate portrayal of my marathon pace. Almost 12 minute miles? If my hope of breaking 5 hours is going to come true, that had better not be my marathon pace this year!

So I've been aiming for between 10:00 and 10:30 minute miles. Okay. Last night I ran perfect negative splits starting with the warm-up and finishing with the last mile. 5 miles total with an average pace of 10:01 for the last 4 miles.

But I don't think that was the point of the workout. Next week I think I'll work on slowing down. My muscles didn't burn (although my knees were a little achy) but my legs felt a little more tired than I would have liked. So maybe next week I'll see if I can keep my pace closer to 10:30. It's rough being the slow kid in the group and it's crazy to think about having to run slower, but if that's what's going to get me to my goal then sign me up.

Warm-Up by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Steady State Speedwork by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Now for Something Completely Different

Okay, it's not really that different. It's still running, after all.

But our track coach is having us try something new to a lot of us: base building.

Instead of just continuing to run faster and faster on Wednesday like hamsters on a wheel, we're going to try approaching our training with a little bit more strategy.

Sure, speedwork is great. It has helped me. But my speedwork times have not translated to my race times and my endurance still isn't where I want it to be. So for the next four weeks I'm going to focus on running a steady, easy-ish pace for a certain number of minutes instead of running all out for short bursts at a time.

There's a science to this that eludes me but I'm going to trust Coach Holly. Besides, I'm marathon training, not 5K training. And that means I need to worry more about my mileage as opposed to my pace.

So on Wednesday the goal was to run for 30 minutes at a pace between my marathon and half-marathon pace. Since my marathon pace is based on a sample size of one, I decided to run between my half-marathon pace and my goal marathon pace. Which meant 30 minutes at 10:00 minute miles. Plus a one mile warm-up.

It was tough to not speed up. I kept waffling between too fast and too slow. Thankfully it evened out in the end and I ran a 10:01 pace for 30 minutes. Right on target! I definitely felt like I could have kept going but it's not like I just took a walk around the block. I think that's where I was supposed to be.

Warm Up by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

OPRC Track Workout by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Then on Thursday I took a "me" day and stayed home from work. I slept in, answered some emails, mowed the grass, futzed with our apparently broken dishwasher, and then decided to go to the gym. I debated: ride my bike to the gym or run to the gym.

Well, I added up what I expect my running mileage to be this week and decided to run to the gym. 3 miles round-trip and I did the second half carrying a bagel. Hey, I needed one for Saturday morning and there's a bagel store next door to the gym! Multitasking at its finest.

Run to Gym by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Run Home From Gym by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

And now I rest. At least until Saturday morning.

In Threes

I guess I have three runs to update about, huh?

This is what happens when I don't blog on the weekend. Oh well.

Monday night I wanted to get in more than the usual 5.5 miles but since it was our Run of the Month we had post-run plans for dinner at my favorite restaurant. I invited Jason to join us for dinner since I figure he's an official club member (he holds our gear at races and takes pictures). So I ended up running 2 miles to the club run starting point and then doing 5.5 miles with the club for a total of 7.5 miles. Worked out pretty well! My first two miles were quite speedy compared to the rest of them. Not really how it's supposed to go. At least the rest of the miles were fairly even? Anyway, it was a pretty good run for this time of year. It was warm out, but not stifling. I took my handheld water bottle and Jacob shared margarita flavored Shot Bloks.

Monday Night OPRC Plus by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuesday I did a three mile run at lunch. The sun was blazing but at least there was a cool breeze off Lake Michigan. Still, I took it easy and we stopped for water twice. The boys did the full 4 mile route but us gals just did 3. That's really all I wanted to do, anyway. My legs were pretty tired from running 7.5 miles less than 24 hours before. 10.5 miles in 18 hours? You'd think I was running a relay or something!

Lunch Run North by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Then on Wednesday I tried something a little different. Wednesday is normally our track workout day but this is our "by" week. Of course, I can't leave well enough alone so I took a look at the FIRST marathon training plan on which I based my marathon training plan to see what was on the schedule for this week. The result? 4x800 @ 8:05 minute/mile w/1:30 minute rest intervals. So I decided I'd do it on the treadmill in the gym at work so that I could get it out of the way and maybe lift weights in the evening.

I did a 1.5 mile warm-up and then cranked the treadmill up to 7.5 MPH at a 1.5% incline. Woof. That first half mile felt rough. I took a 2 minute rest break instead of 1:30 and then tried again at closer to 8:20 minute/mile. Still rough. Not sure what was up with that. Too fast? Legs too tired? This cold I seem to be fighting off? I took a quarter mile rest break and then tried one more time. I only made it a tenth of a mile before I called it quits. I just wasn't feeling it. But, I'm guessing that sometimes it's smarter to end a workout early instead of pushing through when you're fatigued. I ended up doing 3 miles total on the treadmill and was sweating in places I didn't know I could sweat. So 2x800 instead of 4x800. I think the treadmill and I do better on 400 meter intervals. I'll have to remember that for next time.

Too Hot to Trot

As you may or may not be aware, Chicago is currently in the middle of a crazy heat wave. We're talking almost 90 degrees by 8:00 AM and heat indexes in the 100s. Most of the running training programs in the area canceled their workouts for this week and, after initially just deciding to make our Wednesday night track workout shorter, Coach Holly decided to cancel it.

What did we do instead of running? We went and got ice cream at a local ice cream parlor!

Well, actually, I did do the workout. 2 mile warm-up, 4x400 meters w/400 meter jog intervals, 1 mile cool down. I just did it on the treadmill at the gym instead. Hey, look, ice cream is my food vice so I wanted to enjoy it guilt-free. And I wanted to get the running miles in.

I've decided that the worst part of doing a speed workout on the treadmill is the cool down. The warm up is boring but I can handle it knowing that I'll get to break it up with some intervals in a little bit. The intervals, of course, are fine since you're constantly changing it up. The cool down, though? I just want to be done! Especially when post-cool down you know you get to really cool down with ice cream!

Anyway, I managed to do the entire workout with the incline on the treadmill set at 1.5. I did my first 400 at 7.6 MPH (approx 7:53 mile), the middle two at 7.5 (approx 8:00 mile), and the last at 7.6 again. I probably could have gone faster but I'm trying not to wear myself out on the track and not have anything left for races and long workouts.

So, five miles total followed by ice cream. And, yes, I ate ice cream before dinner. So sue me. I'm adult. I can do that.

Two by Two

Almost a year ago we had some serious rainstorms that caused quite a bit of flooding. One of the casualties of the flooding (other than all my college textbooks) were the lights at the track where we do speedwork. They stayed off for the rest of the summer. Made for some interesting track sessions in September and October.

Last week a sign went up on the track entrances informing the public that the track would be closed for repairs from July 5th through August 12th. I honestly don't know what they're repairing but I'm hoping it's the lights!

But in the meantime, what does a team do when they need to still get in some speedwork?

Cue the sidewalk. Last year when we couldn't use the track we ran on a path through the park across the street. One "loop" of that area was about .33 miles. Last night, though, we did something different.

The sidewalks around the perimeter of the campus the track is on equal just shy of one mile. So, why not run miles instead of parts of miles?

And that's what we did. 2x2 miles to be exact. With about a quarter mile recovery in the middle. Well, first I rode my bike to the track (a little over 3 miles) and we did our warm-ups and moving drills in the parking lot. Then we did a 1 "lap" warm-up before moving into the main workout.

The goal was to run half marathon pace. I ended up running with our resident ultramarathoner who is actually pretty speedy at "shorter" distances. Which meant I ran a tad faster than my current half marathon PR pace. I was definitely pushing it toward the end but I never felt too uncomfortable. Especially considering it was pretty warm outside.

When we finished we did a half mile cool-down. By that time I had to hop on my bike and get home otherwise I would have stayed for the strength workout. Coach was herding people toward the monkey bars at the playground next door when I left. I'm bummed I had to leave! Although, my arms were pretty sore already (from the tetanus shot on Sunday and a killer gym class on Tuesday) so I suppose it's probably not a bad thing.

Sometimes doing speedwork can feel like a chore. You know it will help but sometimes it's so miserable while you're doing it. Last night's workout didn't feel that way. Although, my quads were pretty trashed when I got on my bike to go home. Fingers crossed I feel better on Sunday! I've got another duathlon to do!

Alternate OPRC Track by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

The Track is Back

Last night was our first "official" track workout of the season. A mixture of old and new faces showed up to learn how to get smarter, swifter, and stronger. Coach Holly put together a workout to get the newbies accustomed to the stretches and drills some of us had been doing all winter.

Of course, I parked at the track entrance that was locked so I got a short warm-up jog as I made my way to the open entrance to rendezvous with the group. We have quite a diverse assortment of runners. From an ultramarathoner who runs 50 and 100 mile races down to former college 800 meter runners we have it all. On the plus side, if Maribeth has to miss a session I'm bound to have someone else as my rabbit. On the downside, I feel for our Coach who is being bombarded with a plethora of needs, expectations, and personalities. Still, I have faith in Coach Holly and am excited for this year!

After doing all our stretches, we started out with a 12 minute warm-up done in a 5-4-3 fashion. That means we ran 5 minutes easy, 4 minutes a little faster, and 3 minutes even faster.

Next it was on to 20 minutes of running drills. Side gallops, karaoke, high knees, butt kicks, and strides. I like strides. My right knee and left adductor/hip flexor didn't love the running drills. Or at least that's what they told me later. I may need to back off next week. We'll see how I feel after my races this weekend.

Anyway, after all that it was almost 8:00 PM and I needed to get home. I wish I could have stayed for the cool down but I got a few minutes on my own as I ran back to my car.

Overall I did about 4.5 miles (if you count my jog from the car to the track for which I forgot to turn on my Garmin). A nice way to ease back into speedwork after a few weeks off.

OPRC Speedwork by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Et Two?

My legs felt shredded from my Wednesday night strength session.

I was still tired from hosting an all day conference on Tuesday.

It was colder outside than I originally thought.

But I decided that running on sore legs is good practice. And that running would give me more energy. And I had a jacket so what did I care about the cold?

So I went out there and pushed through a seemingly easy workout.

But it wasn't easy. No way.

We started with our usual drills (including push-ups!) and did a 2 mile warm-up. Then, after we decided who was doing what, we started our workout. For me, that meant 5 repeats of 2:00 minutes at one mile pace. Recovery meant jogging back to our start point.

Now, I'm not sure what my one mile pace is (I'm hoping to find out next week) since I've never run one single mile all out. So, I just pushed it hard. By the start of the 5th repeat I was pretty tired of this whole thing. Which I think is a good sign.

2.05 mile warm up - 10:02 pace
1st 2:00 - 7:10 pace (.28 miles)
2nd 2:00 - 7:04 pace (.28 miles)
3rd 2:00 - 7:12 pace (.28 miles)
4th 2:00 - 6:57 pace (.29 miles)
5th 2:00 - 6:54 pace (.29 miles)
1.22 mile cool down - 9:38

Total mileage: 6.34

Riverside Speedwork by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Now, these paces might look amazing (and they are, don't get me wrong), but a little fancy math (okay, the Cool Running race pace calculator) shows me that they really aren't all that much faster than I was running 400s last summer.

Well, okay, maybe they're a little faster.

Aside from marveling at my relative speediness, I have to say my favorite thing about running with this group is how supportive everyone is. Our "coach" truly believes in every one of us and is so encouraging. We all know one another's goals and look forward to seeing everyone achieve them.

And hopefully next week we will actually be able to SEE each other. Daylight saving time, here we come! Let's bury those headlamps!

Start Being Awesome

Last night's speedwork was, in a word, AWESOME.

I think for the first time in my life I ran negative splits during mile repeats. And that's WITHOUT being able to see my Garmin.

I had no idea how fast I was going. All I know is that I was supposed to be hitting my goal 5K pace or thereabouts. Hmm, okay. I'll do my best.

Although I did whine that I'd just done that on Sunday at the 5K race.

But, I have to say, I did even better last night.

The workout consisted of our usual drills and a 2 mile warm-up. Then it was on to 3x1 mile w/5 minute recoveries.

Remember, I can't see my Garmin so I have no idea how fast I was going. Also, when I have it in interval mode it doesn't show me my split times so I had no idea how fast each mile was until I got home and uploaded (downloaded?) the data.

The first mile I took it a little easy. I did manage a sneak peak at the Garmin and it said I was doing an 8:40 pace. Okay, that's a little TOO easy. I picked it up a bit but made sure not to run too hard.

The second mile was a little rougher but at least that one was slightly downhill. Still, I wasn't totally wiped at the end even though I pushed it.

The third mile felt tougher but about a quarter from the end our fastest guy peeled off from his last recovery jog and started running next to me. I was breathing hard and my legs hurt but he pushed me through to the end.

Then it was off for our 1.5 mile cool down and some stretching. When I got in the car I checked my Garmin activity history.

Mile 1 - 8:03
5 minute recovery
Mile 2 - 7:52
5 minute recovery
Mile 3 - 7:49

OPRC Riverside Speedwork - Mile Repeats by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Holy crap! Even during my cool down I felt like I was flying. And the best part? No leg pain! I think I was on an adrenaline high for the rest of the night.

Actually, I might still be riding that high. Now that's what I call a good run!

In a Blur

Source


Last night I returned to our group interval workouts. The shin felt pretty good, all things considered. In fact, the only thing that made it really hurt were the high knee drills we did. So I skipped those.

Our workout was a change up from our usual stuff and something I've never tried before. Nx1:00 minute at FAST.

What the heck does that mean?

Essentially, we were to run fast, but not all out, for 1:00 and then jog back to our starting point and do it again. Do that as many times as you feel comfortable, but not more than 12. At least for the first time doing them.

And what is fast exactly? Well, there was some discussion about that. It kind of depends. Apparently fast can be anything from your dream 5K pace to your 10K pace depending on your race goals.

I decided to run mine at my goal 5K pace. I figured I want to break 25 minutes so why not aim for a 7:50 pace?

Except, you know, it's dark and you can't really see your Garmin and they're not always that accurate for such a short distance anyway.

So, I just ran hard. Some of the intervals felt easy and some felt more difficult. Could I have sustained some of those paces for an entire 5K race? I have no idea. I think so much of my running road blocks are mental and I'm notoriously bad at being able to "feel" what pace I'm running.

Which may be why my paces were a teensy bit faster than I had planned.

1st 1:00 - 7:03 pace
2nd 1:00 - 7:06 pace
3rd 1:00 - 7:01 pace
4th 1:00 - 7:15 pace
5th 1:00 - 7:30 pace
6th 1:00 - 7:13 pace
7th 1:00 - 6:50 pace
8th 1:00 - 6:15 pace
9th 1:00 - 6:34 pace
10th 1:00 - 6:38 pace

Plus warm-up and cooldown

Total mileage: 5.8

Uh, yeah.

But, like I said, some of those felt pretty easy. Which amazes me. Only a few of the last ones felt rough at the end of the minute and I could definitely feel the burn in my quads toward the end of those.

My shin felt fine afterward and when I woke up this morning but then I had to run to catch the train and now it's bothering me again. I also seem to be developing a touch of plantar fasciitis on that same leg. Sigh. Can I just get a new left leg, please?

Regardless, it was a good, fun workout and I'm glad I was able to go. Not sure I did exactly what we were supposed to do pace-wise but I bet I'll get that figured out soon.

Thursday Night Light

Have I ever talked about my hat light? I can't remember. Either way, that's it up there. Isn't it cute? I get a lot of compliments on it. It's been coming in pretty handy on Thursday nights when we do our intervals. The streets we run on don't really have street lights and last night there were still some snowy areas.

Yes, I ran outside Thursday night. After the blizzard. In the single digit temperatures. Believe it or not, it wasn't half bad.

Only three of us were able to brave the elements for various reasons so I ran by myself for much of the time. We warmed up together and then I was on my own for the first 3 intervals. The plans? 4x5:00 minutes at 5K pace w/3:00 minute rest intervals.

My goal according to our leader? Work on my cadence. Move my feet faster without necessarily working harder. By the way, this is just as difficult as it sounds. Still I ended up with the following times:

Warm Up - 2 miles @ 10:03 pace
1st 5 minutes - 8:00 pace
3:00 recovery jog
2nd 5 minutes - 8:09 pace
3:00 recovery jog
3rd 5 minutes - 8:26 pace
3:00 recovery jog
4th 5 minutes - 8:04 pace
3:00 recovery jog
Cool Down - .5 miles @ 10:09 pace

Total mileage: 6.14

A HUGE thanks to our leader who hung back with me during that 4th interval. She pushed me hard, gave me encouragement, and basically made it so that I almost matched my last interval to my first one. Otherwise, as you can see, the trend was to slow down.

Also, in case you're curious, this is what you wear when it's single digits outside with a possible windchill of below zero -

2 pairs of socks
1 pair of capris
1 pair of tights
1 pair of windpants
1 tank top
2 long sleeved tops
1 jacket
1 neck gaiter
1 pair of mittens
1 fleece ear band

Winter running sure does equal a lot of laundry. Thankfully the adrenaline rush is worth it.

Hardcore

This time two years ago I wasn't doing speedwork. Two years ago I wasn't running with the Oak Park club. Two years ago I would never run outside in temperatures below freezing (except for that one race I did in 2008).

But last night I did all three. I purposely avoided looking at the weather after packing my running clothes but I'm pretty sure it was in the low teens with a windchill in the single digits.

I met up with a group of OPRC runners and we drove to the quiet street in a nearby town where we've been doing these speedwork sessions. First we commandeered the town's train station lobby for our standing drills and we worked on learning to be less bouncy when we run. Apparently bouncy is not good. Too bad.

Then off we went on our warm-up loop incorporating our skipping, galloping, high knees and butt kicks. I have to wonder what the people who live in the houses along our route think when they look out the window.

Somehow I accidentally turned the "warm up" option off on my Garmin interval workout so I'm not sure how fast or far we went. It took my lungs and my muscles awhile to warm up and at first I thought this was going to be one yucky workout. The cold combined with the heavy weight lifting I did the night before left my legs feeling like lead. At the end of the estimated 2 mile warm up, however, I felt pretty ready to go.

The plan? 4x4:00 minutes w/3:00 minute rests. Those first two four minute intervals felt like the longest four minutes of my life. The third one didn't feel so bad and the last one I pushed it as hard as I could. I tried to focus on the things we talked about during drills: leaning forward, pushing off behind me, landing with my feet underneath and not out in front. I'm not sure how well it worked.

1st 4:00 interval - 8:03 pace
2nd 4:00 interval - 8:06 pace
3rd 4:00 interval - 8:14 pace
4th 4:00 interval - 7:38 pace

Well, that's why the third one didn't feel so bad! I was going slower! Things you don't realize when it's dark and you can't see your watch.

And while it was cold out my core was perfectly warm. I wore one of my thicker sports bras, a tank top, my Underarmor top, and my jacket on top. On bottom I wore a pair of capri tights under my Underarmor tights. My butt was still the coldest thing on me, though. I suppose that's not bad for running 5ish miles in sub-freezing temperatures.

Now we'll just have to see how I do tomorrow on my 11 mile run. Here's hoping I don't turn into a meat popsicle!

Can't Slow Me Down

An unplowed parking lot. Snow on the streets. Flurries in the sky. Cold that takes your breath away. None of these kept us from doing our speedwork on Thursday night. Sure, we had to pause for a few more cars than usual while doing our drills but overall it was a great workout.

We added a minute to our faster intervals meaning that we did 5 repeats of 3 minutes at 5K pace followed by 3 minutes of recovery jogging. At work on Thursday I watched a little video on the Garmin website in order to learn about the correct way to use my Forerunner 405 to do intervals. My attempt at self education worked and my Garmin behave itself the entire time. I was even able to log most of our warm-up lap!

Edit: Here's the video I watched


It's been so long since I actually raced a 5K that I'm not even sure what my 5K pace is. If I base my current workouts on my almost-year-old 5K pace then I'm going way too fast. Although, truth be told, back then I could hold a sub-8:00 pace for one mile of a 5K but that was it. Yet, I can do sub-8:00 during speedwork intervals no problem. Maybe it's just mental? I guess I'll find out in either February or April!


But back to last night. My paces last night were more consistent than the previous week and even though we added an additional minute to each interval I actually managed to run the 5th one faster than the previous four. Take that, snow and bitterly cold temperatures!

1st 3:00 interval pace: 7:52
2nd 3:00 interval pace: 7:57
3rd 3:00 interval pace: 7:55
4th 3:00 interval pace: 7:46
5th 3:00 interval pace: 7:35

So, yeah, pretty happy about that! Let's just hope it translates into something amazing for my goal races.

Need for Speed

When I was coming up with the title for this post I immediately thought of the movie Speed. And then I immediately thought of one of my favorite Simpson's lines ever.



I think it was called "The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down"

Of course my post has nothing to do with the movie or the hilariousness that is Homer Simpson. So why am I posting about speed?

Because last night was the return of group speedwork!

Yes, it's dark. Yes, it's cold. But some of us are hardcore. Some of us are training for Boston. And some of us just like the camaraderie of running with a group. I'll let you guess which group(s) I fall into. Hint: it's not Boston.

One of the group members who has raced for a Fleet Feet team and who has worked with a local running coach took it upon herself to organize a Thursday night speedwork outing. She found a 1.7 mile loop in a nearby town that has little traffic and very few intersections and came up with some workouts and drills for us to do.

So, decked out in our reflective gear, blinkers, and headlamps we did a warm up loop (which I did not time). Then it was on to drills. We all decided we were glad it was dark because we probably looked like morons skipping, side-galloping, high knee-ing, backward running, and striding across the parking lot for the village swim club while waving our arms in the air. We did a few standing exercises to work on foot placement and then it was time for the workout.

We decided to do 5 repeats of 2 minutes at 5K pace followed by 3 minutes of easy jogging. I set up my Garmin for those intervals and it worked okay. For awhile. I'm not sure what happened during the 5th interval. I'm sort of bummed it apparently screwed up during that last fast interval because that's then one where our "coach" told me to work on increasing my cadence. From behind she told me it looked like I took off but I'd love to have the numbers to back up that observation.

But here's the numbers I do have:

1st 2:00 interval: 7:26 pace
2nd 2:00 interval: 7:51 pace
3rd 2:00 interval: 8:02 pace
4th 2:00 interval: 7:50 pace

Obviously I went out a little fast. And, like I said, I'm not sure what happened during the 5th one. All I know is that the Garmin says I ran the last 3:00 minute rest period at an 8:04 pace. Uh, okay. You can see the full workout stats here: OPRC Riverside Speedwork by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

I had so much fun being out there with the group. I'd never done intervals just for time so that was a nice change as well. Plus, when I'm running in the dark just waiting for my watch to beep it actually makes me push it harder. No finish line in sight. No counting laps. Just running my heart out. In the end I did just under 5 miles. I'm looking forward to doing more of these!

December Wrap-Up

Source

Due to a series of events I missed my opportunity to run my last run of 2010 outside. I'm a little bummed about that but I made up for it by doing 2x800 and 2x400 on the treadmill at the gym AFTER doing some strength training and BEFORE doing some ab work.

I started my treadmill workout with a .5 mile warm-up at 6.0 MPH then did half a mile at 8:00 min/mile pace, followed by another half mile at 6.0 MPH and then another half mile at 8:00 min/mile pace. Then I switched to 400s and did .25 miles at 6.0, .25 at 7:30 min/mile pace, .25 at 6.0, and .25 at 7:30. All that added up to 3 miles.

Which means that even though I felt like a total slacker for all of December, I ended up running a total of 51.96 miles!

Like November, December was sort of a "blah" month in terms of running. However, I did manage to finally join the running group for a Saturday morning run and I ran in a snowstorm so I suppose there were some highlights.

I'm looking forward to 2011 (already signed up for three races!) but first I need to do my year in review post and come up with a few resolutions. Do you do resolutions or goals for the new year?

Treadmill Thursday

I had such grand plans for Thursday. I packed my gym bag figuring that I would either run at lunch or, if no run materialized, I would do a strength training workout in the little scary basement gym at work. Brilliant, right?

What was not so brilliant was forgetting my running shoes at home.

Sigh.

I still really wanted to get in a run. But that meant the treadmill. Since the treadmill in our basement has been rather suspect since the flood I opted for the treadmill at the gym. Plus, those treadmills are nicer and actually tell me what the incline is.

My treadmill goal? Speedwork! I went back to my first track workout from this summer and based my plan on that. I decided to do a one mile warm up, 4x800, 4x400, and a one mile cool down.

It's been awhile since I've done speedwork so I decided not to push the pace too much. I set the treadmill to a 1% incline and did my one mile warm up at 6.0 MPH (10:00 minute mile). After my warm up I hit the Pause button. The treadmill has a 60 second pause function so I waited until it counted down to 15 seconds and then started it back up.

I did my first two and a half 800s at 7.4 MPH (8:05 pace) with 45 second pause breaks in between each full 800. Strangely, they didn't feel all that hard. Sure, I was huffing and puffing, but I didn't feel like I was going to die. I didn't feel like I wanted to quit. I didn't feel like I wanted to walk.

The last one and a half 800s I did at 7.5 MPH (8:00 pace). And I did three of my 400s at 7.5 and the last one I slowly upped the speed until I was doing 8.0 MPH (7:30 pace). I could tell I was definitely working but I think I could have gone a little bit faster on each of those intervals. Which means I may have some new things to try out on the treadmill this winter.

The only downside to running on the treadmill is that when you change the speed it takes it a bit to get up to that speed. I didn't want to count those seconds spent accelerating towards my actual intervals so by the time I finished my cool down (also done at 6.0 MPH) I had actually run 5.25 miles. Although, I guess that's not really a downside.

But let me tell you: running a cool down on a treadmill is HARD. Not physically. Just mentally. My mind kept wanting to be done but I pushed on and finished the full mile.

And afterward I did 100 various crunches, some leg lifts, and some foam rolling. And then lay panting on the mat.

While I was recovering my running group was out singing Christmas carols at a nursing home. As much as I love my running group I wasn't too sad to have missed it. First, I got home from work later than originally planned so I wouldn't have been able to attend the pre-singing prep meeting. Second (and here's a little known fact), even after six and a half years of choir and performing in several junior high and high school musical productions, I am TERRIFIED of singing in front of other people. Dancing? Sure. Public speaking? Sure. Singing? Count me out.

But running like a fool on the treadmill while mouthing the words to Lady Gaga and Ke$ha? Sure.

Back at the Track

Last summer when I was training for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon I started doing speedwork at a track near my house. I'd go every other Wednesday around 6:30. Every time I'd see a group of people doing their speedwork together and being encouraged and timed by a coach. I always wanted to know who they were but was too shy to go ask. Finally I overheard someone else asking one of the members. Turns out they were a subset of the Oak Park Runners Club! One of the things I was most looking forward to when I joined the club last fall was these summer speedwork sessions.

And last night was our first one. We met at the track around 6PM and practically had to beg to be let in. It seems that the college track team was finishing up their workout and NCAA rules are that no one else is allowed on the track during that time. So, we hung around until about 6:20 or so before we were allowed to start our warm-up.

We did a mile warm-up and you could see right away that there are all different paces. I did my warm-up in about 9:13 which is probably a little fast for me.

Then it was time for the workout. Our "coach" wanted us to run at about 75% of our 5K effort. Well, I'm really bad at figuring that kind of stuff out so I decided to aim for an 8 minute/mile pace. That's what my marathon training program thinks I should do speedwork at anyway.

Our total workout was:

4x800m with 1 min rest intervals
3x400m with 30 second rest intervals

The goal was to do each 800m faster that then previous one and then the same thing for the 400m. Our rest intervals consisted of walking back and forth or standing and waiting for the last person in the group to cross the line.

Apparently I've forgotten how to use the Garmin for speedwork so I don't have ALL my times, but they went something like this:

1st 800m - 3:58
2nd 800m - 3:59
3rd 800m - 3:49
4th 800m - 4:02

Okay, so, not quite negative splits but at least they are all fairly consistent! And right on my time goal.

The "coach" runs part way with various people in the group and then tries to end up back at the start/finish line before everyone else. He stands there with the stopwatch shouting out times and encouragement. Let me tell you, it really does help when you're dragging to have someone (or multiple someones) waving you in.

It also helps to have a group of people to commiserate with. Speedwork is fun but it is also WORK. They don't call it speedlaziness for a reason.

After recovering for a bit we took a vote on how many 400s we wanted to do. The consensus was three. So that's what we did. Again, I fail at Garmin but I think my splits went something like:

1st 400 - Under 2:00
2nd 400 - 1:59
3rd 400 - 2:01

So, again, consistent but not negative.

But, it's the first night. I can definitely see that I will improve over the course of the summer. Plus, it's just so much more fun to do this kind of stuff with other people. I love all the camaraderie, I love that even though we're naturally split into a few groups that it's not competitive at all. It's just a group of people who love to run and want to do their best.

After all those laps we did four more as a cool down mile. I was definitely dragging during my cool-down and I did it much slower (9:57). But, hey, you're supposed to go slow during the cool down!

Total we did 4.75 miles with warm-up and cool-down. Assuming my math is right.

Can't wait til next week!

Pete Repeat

Originally my training plan had me scheduled for 8 miles last night. Those 8 miles were supposed to include a warm-up, 3x1600 @ 8:31 w/800 jogs, and a cool down. For various reasons I decided to stick to 5.5 miles instead of doing the full 8. I set up an interval workout on my Garmin so it would beep and tell me when to speed up and slow down.

I showed up early to the group run because I'd gotten an email that an area chiropractor's office was going to be doing short assessments and adjustments before our run. Turns out they were doing quick posture checks and foot scans. According to the women who checked me out I bear more weight on my right side, my right hip and shoulder are higher than my left, and my outside "arches" have fallen on my feet. It all sounded rather mumbo-jumbo-y to me. Besides, if I was really going to go to a chiropractor I'd go to my brother-in-law. At least I trust him not to fleece me!

My running buddy Anne and I headed out and she said she'd stick with me through my intervals even though she'd just run 16 miles the day before. We started running and eventually I looked at my Garmin and realized we'd already gone .8 miles. I was only planning to do a half mile warm up! It was then that I realized I'd forgotten to hit the "Do Workout" option and had just pressed the regular "Start" button! Well crud.

So, I did a mile warm-up and then started my mile repeats. Mile repeat 1? 8:25. Okay, a little too fast. We were happy when it was time to jog. Mile repeat 2? Not sure. I always forget that you can hit the "Lap" button to get the Garmin to record an off-set time. Mile repeat 3? 8:38. Okay, a little slow. But still close. Overall, even with the warm-up and the jogs I did all 5.5 miles at an 8:51 pace. Yeah, I think I did alright.

I had to wear my glasses during tonight's run. When I went to take my one and only pair of contacts out of my eyes on Sunday night the right one ripped in half. Argh! So now I'm stuck in my glasses until the contacts I ordered come in. Thankfully my glasses don't bounce. They do, however, steam up when I stop running. Guess I can't stop!


Interesting fact: My glasses are Nintendo brand

I was originally dreading this run. I expected to be doing it all alone while the rest of the running group surged on ahead. I wasn't looking forward to running with my glasses yet I knew I wouldn't see well enough without them. I wasn't feeling up to the speeds even though I totally proved two weekends ago that I can run 3 miles at that pace. But, thankfully, it ended up being a great run. Even my now-blistering burn didn't bother me. Granted, I think that was due to the gauze and medical tape I plastered over it but still.

So, yeah, mile repeats. You've been pwned.

And then I came home and made chicken stir fry, rice, and egg rolls and had dinner on the table by 8:15 PM. I rock.

*Sheepish Look*

I feel so ashamed. I hope you all will forgive me.

I went back to Treadmill.

I know, I know. I said we broke up. I know I said I wouldn't be running with Treadmill anymore. But, last night I had to.

I'm sure you don't want to hear my excuses. I know you don't care that I had a book club meeting at 7:30 and I didn't want to show up late AND sweaty (just sweaty was okay).

But the worst part is that....I liked it.

Don't worry. I'm not taking Treadmill back permanently. But, hey, sometimes a girl just had to get in a run and when Treadmill is the most convenient option what are ya gonna do?

Anyway, last night was speedwork in the form of mile repeats. If I had run outside it would have been 1 mile warm-up, 1 mile at 8:36, half mile jog, then another mile at 8:36, followed by a half mile jog and then a 1.5 mile cool down. Instead I did almost all of that on the treadmill. And, if I say so myself, I did it well.

I still haven't figured out the incline on my treadmill so I pretty much just guess at how fast I'm going using this conversion chart. I know I don't have it on 0% incline so when I tell you that my two mile repeats were done between 7.0 and 7.3 MPH you know I was hitting my paces pretty close.

I persevered through some weird right IT band ache and I admit to holding on to the handlebars for a few brief periods of time. But, overall I did 5 miles in less than 50 minutes (49 and change) which I think is pretty good considering I jogged much of my recovery mileage between 5.0 and 6.0 MPH. I was a freaking drippy sweaty mess when I got done, though.

And I made it to book club on time.

With the snow we're getting today I can't promise this will be a one night stand with Treadmill. I may give in to another fling in the near future. Please don't judge me :-)