Run The Long Road Coaching

personalized coaching for distance runners

Kristy

The First 20

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1/29/11

20 miles

3:04

9:12 avg pace

I was looking forward to this run all week, mostly because I had a goal…to run sub-9:00 min miles.  I knew I could do it.  But Mother Nature didn’t cooperate.  I headed to my go-to place, Kelly Drive, which is always plowed.  Turns out it wasn’t so plowed.  I guess there was just too much snow for them to keep up with it.  They were actually plowing as I ran but the bottom 2 inches were just ice/snow/slush that remained on the ground.  Waaaaaah!

So this is how the run went:  run fast, hit snow, run slow, run fast (yeah! no snow), hit snow, slow down ($%&^!).  I included my splits below and you can see I was all over the place.

I know I’m being hard on myself – 9:12 avg pace is pretty good for all that snow.  I keep reminding myself that I’m only in the 4th week of training and I have many, many long runs ahead of me 🙂

Splits:
M1 – 9:58
M2 – 9:14
M3 – 9:01
M4 – 9:14
M5 – 9:03

M6 – 9:08
M7 – 9:08
M8 – 9:11
M9 – 9:07
M10 – 9:14
M11 – 9:07
M12 – 9:18
M13 – 8:58

M14 – 9:31
M15 – 9:09
M16 – 8:44
M17 – 9:00
M18 – 9:29
M19 – 9:30
M20 – 9:45

Some pics from today’s run:

Pretty, but awful to run on
Boathouse Row
Well hello Rocky!

Tonight is date night and Matt and I are heading to dinner.  Can’t wait for much needed beer and a good meal (with dessert)!

Mm Hmm

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1/28/11

60 min yoga

Snowstorm #86 brought a ton of snow.  All in all, I think we got around 15-16 inches.  I wanted to get some easy miles in today but decided to hold off on that until Sunday when I’ll have access to a plowed trail.  So instead I went to RYAH for a lunchtime vinyasa class.  The class was OK but the teacher kept saying “mm hmm” the whole time.  I noticed it early on and became fixated on it…then it began to drive me crazy.

“Downward facing dog to high plank, mm hmm”

“Breathe in, flat back, mm hmm”

“Hold it right there for 1 more breath, mm hmm”

Ahhh!  Make it stop!

Thankfully she refrained from “mm hmm” during savasana.

Moving on to running-related stuff…

I have a 20-miler tomorrow…yeah!  This is my first of 5 (yikes) 20-milers.  I usually do 4 during a training cycle so 5 should be interesting.

A few weeks ago I bought a Tiger Tail Rolling Muscle Massager to help with some of the tightness in my right hamstring (which, thanks to yoga, has all but went away).  I really like it.  I use it on my hamstrings after my runs and I find it more effective than stretching.

I took some pre-yoga pics today to show you how I use it (because it’s so difficult to figure out).

Mm Hmm
Can you spot the cornflake stuck in Hawk's mush?
Finished!

Snowstorm #85

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1/26/11

7 miles tempo

1:01

8:43 avg pace

I retract what I said about the hourly forecast on weather.com being a runner’s best friend.  It failed me big time this morning.  I woke up happy to be able to fit in my 7 mile tempo outside before snowstorm #85 began this afternoon.  I walked downstairs to put Hawk out and saw this…

Not pretty

It was actively snowing hard and continued through the afternoon.  To say I was grumpy was an understatement.  Since I have a treadmill in my basement, there was no escaping this tempo run.  Thankfully, my DVR was stocked with good shows (if you consider True Life, Teen Mom 2, and I Survived to be quality TV.  I do.).

The good ‘ol plan called for 5 miles at 8:24 pace with a 1 mile warm-up and 1 mile cool-down.

Splits:
M1 – 10:00 (I know, I was delaying the inevitable)
M2 – 8:29 (easing in)
M3 to M5 – 8:20
M6 – 8:06
M7 – 9:30

The tempo miles felt surprisingly easy.  Not sure if it was the treadmill or the thrilling episode of True Life (or…the speed work paying off)?

Getting prepared for snowstorm #86.  Tomorrow is a rest day but I hope to get some yoga in.

Longing for the Track

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1/25/11

5 miles speed work

Oh how I miss going to the track to do speed work!  Until the weather gets nicer and it begins to get lighter earlier, I’m resigned to do my speed work on the treadmill.  Boo.  Today’s plan called for a  ladder workout.  Ladder workouts are increasing intervals (400m, 800m, etc.) and decreasing intervals (1200m, 1000m, etc.).  Sometimes you go up the ladder and back down (for example:  400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m, 1200m, 1000m, 800m, you get the idea).  Today I got to go just down the ladder and for that I was very happy.

Scheduled workout:
Warm-up
1200m in 5:25
1000m in 4:28
800m in 3:33
600m in 2:38
400m in 1:44
Cool-down
*with 200m rest interval in between

This workout is hard to do on the treadmill.  On the track I would know “run a lap and a half in 2:38”.  For the treadmill I had to figure out that 600m roughly equals .37 miles and I should aim to run it at 7:00 pace.  So I had to keep an eye on my distance the whole time, meaning no towel to cover up my misery!  My attention to Gossip Girl was seriously interrupted too.

I’m hoping to get in a tempo run tomorrow, depending on the weather.  Yes, that will make for 2 hard days back-to-back but I have a reason.  I have a 20-miler on Saturday that I’m really excited about.  I want to take Thursday as a rest day and do some easy miles on Friday so my legs are well rested come Saturday.

Off to catch up on The Bachelor.  Can wait to hear more about Brad’s opening up and crazy Michelle’s antics.

 

 

 

Week 3 Recap

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For some  reason I am ridiculously tired today and have an insatiable appetite.  I’m chalking it up to lingering fatigue from Saturday’s 17-miler.  So I’m listening to my body and taking a rest day and hopefully I’ll feel more energetic for tomorrow’s speed work.

On the bright side, my legs felt great on Sunday (and still feel great today) so it looks like I dodged the DOMS!

Week 3 Recap

MON:  7 miles tempo
TUE:  75 min yoga
WED:  rest
THU:  4 miles speed + 2 miles easy + 60 min yoga
FRI:  rest
SAT:  17 miles long
SUN:  5 miles easy

Total mileage = 35 miles.

Off to catch up on Big Love and then bed!

Baby It's Cold Outside

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1/22/11

17 miles

2:37:59

9:17 avg pace

The good old training plan called for 17 miles at 9:30 pace.  I try and do my long runs a little faster and run based on how I feel.  It wasn’t as fast as last week’s long run but it was almost 20 degrees colder.  Yup, the “feels like” temp was about 3 degrees when I started running this morning.  Brrrr.  It took me almost 10 minutes to get dressed.  I had on 2 pairs of socks, running tights with running pants over top, a tank, the wonderful Lululemon Run: Alpine Pullover, and a mid-weight windbreaker over that.  On my head I wore a Dri-FIT baseball hat with a fleece headband.  I felt like Randy (little brother) from A Christmas Story.  But I was so comfortable the entire time – not too hot and not too cold.  All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I even had a running buddy for the first 10.5 miles!  My neighbor, Maximus, joined me.  His name isn’t really Maximus.  I asked him to come up with an alias for the blog and that’s what he said.  Maximus is a triathlete (he does Half Ironmans) who can run circles around me.  He started tagging along on my long runs last summer to get his mileage up.  He’s a great running buddy because (1) he does most of the talking and tells entertaining stories and (2) he let’s me set the pace and just comes along for the ride.   Thanks “Maximus” for braving the elements today!

Splits:

M1 – 9:32
M2 – 9:40
M3 – 9:10
M4 – 9:19
M5 – 9:15 –> Shot Blok #1 (frozen solid, very interesting to eat)!
M6 – 9:23
M7 – 9:14
M8 – 9:27
M9 – 9:12
M10 – 9:12 –> Shot Blok #2
M11 – 9:18
M12 – 9:23
M13 – 9:13
M14 – 9:09 –> Shot Blok #3
M15 – 9:11
M16 – 9:16
M17 – 8:56

After the run, I did a little of this to thaw out.  Hawk was more than happy to join me by the heater.  Please ignore my red, chapped face.  The wind was a little brutal today.

We are in the midst of painting…that orange stripe in the background is not permanent.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite moments from Glee.  This is one of my favorite Christmas songs…and it’s very fitting for today!