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no speed work, no problem

September 16, 2012 by Kristy 18 Comments

Balls to the wall.

I decided that would be my mantra late last week.  Since the Philly RnR was not my goal HM this Fall (the Philly HM is), why not go balls to the wall and put it all out there?  The worst that could happen is I blow up during mile 10 and have a miserable race.  I’m so conservative sometimes, I just wanted to run like a lunatic and ignore my gut telling me to slow down.

So that’s exactly what I did.  I wanted a 1:45 finish time (8:00 average pace) so I went – balls to the wall – out at 8:00 pace at mile 1.

Splits:
image

Official time:  1:45:12

That’s a 2-minute PR from last November!

At mile 10 I realized I could make 1:45 if I sped up a bit.  I could not get over how good I felt.  I haven’t done speed work since May – could this really be from ultra training?  Absolutely.

A runner’s speed is limited by their aerobic capacity.  But after 10 marathons over 8 years, I didn’t think I could further improve my endurance (significantly improve, at least).  Endurance was always my strong suit while speed was my Achilles heel.

That’s a small reason why I wanted to train for an ultra.  If my aerobic capacity could be improved, ultra training would do it.  And if my aerobic capacity improved, I may be able to run faster – despite doing no speed work.

So my ultra training turned into a little side experiment for me – with excellent results!  The weather was also a factor in my performance today as was my no expectations mentality.

But on to better things…

Today my niece (she’s only 17!) and my sister-in-law became half marathoners!

rnr_1

Congrats girls – I am so proud of you!  Enjoy the post-race high…you earned it!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aerobic capacity, Philly Half Marathon, philly rock n roll half marathon, speed work, ultra training

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Celia says

    September 16, 2012 at 3:49 pm

    CONGRATS! That’s awesome! I agree with you about ultra training. I watched a friend of mine go from a 3:19 marathoner, then run a 100 miler in July and run 3:04 in NYC that fall!

    Reply
  2. Lisa says

    September 16, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    Nice work!!!!

    Reply
  3. Beth @ RUNNING around my kitchen says

    September 16, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    Wowzers, great job! There’s not much else that tops an unexpected PR 🙂 So what’s your plan now – more ultras or PRing is shorter races?

    Reply
  4. bethp262 says

    September 16, 2012 at 5:33 pm

    That’s awesome!!! And congrats to your niece and sil, too!!

    Reply
  5. Kelly says

    September 16, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    hoooray! Kristy, that’s so awesome – congrats! I love your idea of running like a lunatic and going all out. I’m often too conservative too, and it must have felt great to just go out there and kick ass. Nice work, lady 🙂

    Reply
  6. Kara says

    September 16, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    Congrats on the PR! Ultra training is what made me faster too, it sure wasn’t track work haha

    Reply
  7. Cindi says

    September 16, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    AWESOME! Balls to the wall indeed! Looks like you went a bit crazy on mile 2! 🙂 Love it! Congrats to you and to the relatives for their half marathons. Such a fun day for all of you!

    Reply
  8. Meggie says

    September 16, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Awesome job! I love experiments – running is science! Well, sometimes. Anyways, nice job and YOU enjoy your post race high!

    Reply
  9. Ruth says

    September 17, 2012 at 9:02 am

    Wow, Kristy! this is amazing! Way to go, girl!

    Reply
  10. Alyssa says

    September 17, 2012 at 9:34 am

    That is fantastic! I love the mantra. I do the same thing where I chicken out and slow down at the beginning. I think your blog is my only source of confidence about my upcoming marathon, haha. So when will you be signing up for a 50 miler?

    Reply
  11. Abby @ Have Dental Floss, Will Travel says

    September 17, 2012 at 10:14 am

    Woohoo! See – trail training works wonders 🙂

    Reply
  12. Megan (The Runner's Kitchen) says

    September 17, 2012 at 10:48 am

    Nice job!! It’s great that you PR’d after your season of ultra-training. Clearly, it’s working. 🙂

    Are you running anything between now and the November Philly half?

    Reply
  13. Terzah says

    September 17, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    WONDEFUL, Kristy! Great job–sometimes risk-taking pays off!

    Reply
  14. Sandy says

    September 17, 2012 at 4:23 pm

    Nice PR! I just found your blog today and really like it! I look forward to following you.

    Reply
  15. Kate @ NaturaStride says

    September 18, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    YES!! Congrats on the PR!!! So awesome. Enjoy your PR high 🙂

    Reply
  16. Katie says

    September 18, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    Awesome race, Kristy! Your ultra training has really paid off! I knew you would do great! Congrats!

    Reply
  17. Rachel says

    September 19, 2012 at 10:00 am

    You are AMAZING!!! I knew you were going to PR. You do know I am definitely hiring you next year when I run a marathon, right? I want to come in under 4 hours and you will be my coach.

    Congrats to you again and to your family you are now half-marathoners (and perhaps marathoners soon!).

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. hit-or-miss - runthelongroad.com says:
    September 23, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    […] these past 4 weeks.  I’m hot…then cold.  Up…then down.  I’m not too stressed after last weekend’s PR and the fact that this is supposed to be my downtime.  But, I do have 2 races coming up and I want […]

    Reply

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