Kristy, Author at Run The Long Road Coaching

Impromptu Long Run

February 24, 2011 by Kristy 11 Comments

2/24/11

13 miles

1:56

8:55 avg pace

So what prompted me to knock out 13 miles after work on a Thursday?! Let me walk you through the inner dialogue I had with myself this morning (don’t be scared)…

OK, long run on Friday morning. Need to check weather. Crap, 100% chance of rain all day and lots of wind. Well maybe I can run 13 miles on the treadmill? Oh that will really suck. I could barely stand 8 miles on Wednesday.

I can’t move the run to Saturday morning since I’m going to Sarah and Aidan’s basketball games (my niece and nephew). I could run after the games but I know that will set me up for a bad run.

I could do it really early on Sunday morning and come home, shower super quick, and head to brunch (I have plans to go to brunch with my friends). But I want to sleep in on Sunday…

WAIT. I can do it today after work. 13 miles is practically a short run these days. Weather is perfect too.

And there you have it. Please tell me other people think this much about their running schedule!

I had a really good run. Which was surprising, given my dislike for running after work. My training plan called for 9:00 average pace but I really wanted to keep it under 9:00. I’m pleased 🙂

This is a drop-week in my training plan, meaning my long run (and thus overall mileage) is decreased to allow my legs to rest. The intensity is still there – I still had a speed and tempo run this week – but the mileage is lower. It’s very similar to tapering before a race. But it’s back to business on Monday.

For the rest of the night, I’ll be doing this:

Matt took this picture after the Philly Rock n’ Roll Half last September. You would have thought Hawk ran the race too!

Happy Birthday Hawk

February 23, 2011 by Kristy 3 Comments

Today Hawk is 1 year old! Here are some pics from his birthday celebration. It was crazy, let me tell ya. He’s partied out.

DSCN0019 — It's my birthday and I do not look happy about it

DSCN0021 — My birthday present - a SJU collar (my namesake)

DSCN0054 — No more pictures, please. Let me enjoy my cookie.

Check Me Out!

February 23, 2011 by Kristy 3 Comments

Today I was featured on Healthy Living Blogs’ “Workout Wednesday”! Check it out here. Pretty cool 🙂

The timing is actually funny since I wrote about how I may be a believer in speed work after all this week (read about it here).

Tempo Wednesday

February 23, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

2/23/11

8 miles tempo

1:11

8:52 avg pace

I woke up at 5:00AM not really wanting to do this workout. Most of that had to do with running on the treadmill. I’m so over it at this point and can’t wait to get back to running outside in the mornings.

1 mile warm-up, 3 miles @ 8:24 pace, 3 miles @ GMP (8:45 pace), 1 mile cool-down

I’m glad it’s done and out of the way because….

today is Mr. Hawk’s birthday! Our little furball is turning 1! We have some birthday activities planned tonight so I’ll be back later to post some pictures.

I May Be A Believer After All…

February 21, 2011 by Kristy 4 Comments

2/21/11

6 miles speed

I get nervous every time I do speed work. I worry that I won’t hit my splits and that I’ll never get faster. I tell myself that I’m built for endurance, NOT speed. I’ve said numerous times that I was on the fence as to whether speed work makes a difference. I’m giving it a real, fair try this training cycle to see what happens. In the past, speed work has been very taxing on my body. I tend to take longer to recover and often my tempo and long runs suffer because of it. I was just reading in Brad Hudson’s Run Faster that runners whose strength is speed generally recover faster from speed work and runners whose strength is endurance (me!) recover faster from longer runs. The converse is also true which explains my prolonged recovery after speed work and my speedy recovery after 20-milers.

Today’s speed work called for 6×800 at 3:33 (7:06 pace). I did 5×800 (the 6th one so wasn’t happening…I was exhausted). My spilts: 3:34, 3:34, 3:33, 3:32, 3:32! Woohoo! Why was I so happy? Let me explain:

1. I have never done 800s this fast before. I generally hover around the 3:40 range. I was surprised I was so consistent too.

2. For the past 7 weeks, I’ve been doing speed work on the treadmill because of the weather. Today I went to the track (yeah!) but I was concerned about my ability to adequately pace myself. It’s so much easier on the treadmill – just set the pace and stick to it. The track is much harder.

3. I did a 20-miler 2 days ago! Now I’m wondering what my splits would be with fresh, rested legs!

So maybe all this speed nonsense is helping?! Could it be that I’m a believer in speed work? Nine more weeks of speed work plus a little bit of confidence in myself and who knows what’ll happen?

I’ll leave you with this picture from SF (technically Stinson Beach, CA). This is how I felt after my run today…

I Love Yoga and Week 7 Recap

February 20, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

This morning I went to the wonderful Candace’s vinyasa class at RYAH. I feel amazing; like I never ran 20 miles yesterday. I did lots of stretching and tiger tailing post-run and chugged some chocolate milk within a half hour of finishing. I think the combination of those things plus yoga are responsible for me feeling so good.

Anyhow, here’s how week 7 of NJ Marathon training shaped up:

MON: rest (flew back from SF)
TUE: 5 miles speed
WED: 7 miles tempo
THU: rest
FRI: 6 miles easy
SAT: 20 miles
SUN: 75 min yoga and 3 miles easy (just to put me at 41 miles for the week!)

41 miles this week. Finally. Seems like it took me forever to get to 40 miles. I’m generally happy with the FIRST training plan because I only do quality runs and my legs are fresher overall compared to previous training cycles. I just can’t shake the low mileage thing. I need to get over this. I’m happy with where I am and should focus on that. I feel stronger and faster than I did last training cycle. I need to believe in the training, believe in the training…