hills

2015 Marathon Training – Week 1

June 1, 2015 by Kristy 2 Comments

Someone told me that May is on record to be Philly’s second hottest May. Ever. I haven’t done any fact checking to see if he’s right but it sure feels like it. We went from really cold to really hot in an instant. Which makes acclimating to the heat a real bitch. It was a wring-the-sweat-outta-your-shorts kinda week.

Monday
9 miles total with 3 x 1600m at 10K effort with 800m recovery (7:42, 7:44, 7:32)
pre-hab

I like doing speed work by effort, rather than pace, for 2 reasons: (1) if it’s hot and humid it’s impossible to maintain your 5K/10K pace from the cool, crisp Fall. Why set yourself up for failure? Instead, stick with effort and you’ll still get the full training benefit. And (2) I don’t know what my current 5K or 10K pace is 🙂 It was a little humid on this run so I kept the effort to 10K. The last repeat felt amazing, for some reason. I was not pushing it and was really surprised by the time.

Tuesday
AM: 7 miles easy (9:25 avg pace)
PM: 3 miles easy (8:50 avg pace)
pre-hab

I usually do two-a-days on Tuesdays. I coach a track workout on Tuesday nights – sometimes I do the workout and sometimes I just stick to an easy run. When you’re coaching or teaching, that’s your focus. Not getting your own workout in. And, come 6:30PM, I’m pretty spent! So I like to add in some extra miles in the morning. My PM run was a little fast – that’s not my standard easy run pace. I got caught up in part of the workout (suicide fartleks!).

Wednesday
Rest day and zoo day!

lions, tigers, and bears

Thursday
AM: 8 miles total with 2 miles at 7:35 (7:40, 7:34)
PM: 1 hour yoga
prehab

Not much to say about this run other than the humidity was creeping up. My shorts were sticking like glue after mile 1. Ick.

Yoga! This was amazing! It’s been way too long since I took yoga and this class was just what I needed. A nice flow class – outdoors (!) – taught by my yogi (and runner) friend Katie. Seriously – how amazing is this view?!

Friday
strength train

I was short on time (Fiona didn’t nap very long) and was feeling a bit run down, so I kept it short and sweet. A few walking lunges, squats, a barre ab video, and some arm exercises. My arms were sore on Saturday so I definitely did enough!

Saturday
13 miles (9:37 avg pace)

Sneaky humidity. It was one of those runs where it felt OK in the beginning and then you get smacked in the face later on. I ran an out-and-back and stopped at the halfway point to text a client and could barely keep my iPhone dry – the sweat was pouring off me. The run back to my car was brutal. I was depleted. I should have kept the pace a lot slower on the way out but instead positive splitted my way back to the car. I was glad to reach 13 miles and be done.

Sunday
1 hour barre

Barre kicked my butt! In all good ways though. I know I say this all the time but barre is the best strength training for runners. I modify most of the leg work since there is always lingering fatigue from running.

Week 1 done! Total weekly mileage was 40 which isn’t much different than pre-marathon training. The intensity was there so I’m fine with it. I’m just hoping for a break in the humidity or acclimation to occur ASAP!

pre-training

May 25, 2015 by Kristy 1 Comment

Happy Memorial Day!

It’s been 4 weeks since I stopped MAF training and today begins marathon training (officially)! I plan on doing weekly updates but feel the need to update on the “in between” (if you care) and where I’m headed with marathon training (again, if you care).

I’m feeling better about training overall since my last post. I’m going to take it one day at a time and make a decision closer to the race about goals. There’s no way I can pinpoint a goal right now.

My body is getting used to speed work again. Over the past 4 weeks I slowly worked it back in…beginning with strides and building up to mile repeats. In fact, I did those dreaded mile repeats last week and this week! They’re not as bad as I remembered.

I’m definitely not as fast in regard to track work. No surprise. MAF training wasn’t intended to help out there (not directly at least). That doesn’t concern me so much since the base is there and I just need to stress the right systems to get faster. I have 16 weeks for that!

Mileage. Hmph. I go back and forth on this one. I truly believe in running high mileage (“high” being relative to the runner…one runner’s high mileage is another runner’s low mileage and vice versa). I’d love to max out at 65-70 mpw but that’s unrealistic for me right now. Especially since I’m turning up the intensity this cycle – I don’t want to manipulate too many variables at once. And I want to focus on “extras” – extras that take up time but are vitally important. It’s worth sacrificing a few miles for them. So I would imagine this training cycle being a low mileage one (40s/50s) for me.

Speaking of extras – I’m talking about pre-hab (I plan to do a whole post about this one), strength training, and barre. Ideally, I want to drop down to 4 days a week of running (I always run 5) to accommodate the extras but that might not always happen, especially when my mileage picks up.

I guess that’s where I stand. Of course this could all change! I’m finding that pregnancy (blame it all on pregnancy!) has made me very indecisive and I’m constantly changing my mind about everything. That’s why training will be taken one day at a time 🙂

MAF Training Update

February 20, 2015 by Kristy 6 Comments

I’ve started this post a million times in my head and I’m finally sitting down and putting pen to paper. I’ve been training via the MAF method for the past 11 weeks….meaning all my runs have been at my MAF heart rate (i.e., easy). I’ve been a diligent student too – no cheating – except for strides.

So how do I really feel about MAF training? The first 6 weeks? I hated it. The past 5 weeks? Amazing. I’ll elaborate.

The first 6 weeks
I ran slow. Very slow. On some runs my heart rate monitor would beep incessantly (meaning I was above my MAF heart rate and needed to slow down). This, in turn, would make me pissed and then my heart rate would spike even more…a vicious cycle. I had (and still have to on occasion) walk up hills. Sometimes I had to walk up inclines. Frustrating, to say the least.

I generally run by myself but I do coach a track night on Tuesdays. It’s awkward to explain a workout and send everyone off while you mosey behind at a comfortable pace and explain how you are doing low heart rate training blah, blah, blah.

I love hill workouts. I haven’t done any hill workouts since MAF training. I miss them. It’s eye-opening to notice how quickly your heart rate skyrockets when running uphill. I could do hill workouts, I would just have to walk them.

I wasn’t seeing that much progress. You are supposed to “test” every 4 weeks. Four weeks into MAF training, I was about 10 seconds faster per mile. I also take testing days with a grain of salt – it’s a snapshot of your progress on that day. There are good days and bad days and good weather and bad weather.

The past 5 weeks
Right after I wrote my last post I got a nasty upper respiratory infection requiring antibiotics. Then the antibiotics caused side effects. I started to feel better and then got sidelined with food poisoning. I spent a solid month being sick. I ran but not a lot. I was so worried that all my MAF progress would be reversed.

Then it was like a miracle. I had a week where my average pace on all runs was around 9:30. (For reference, when I started MAF training, my average pace was 10:20.) I still wasn’t feeling 100% so I was pretty shocked by the numbers. I wrote it off as a fluke (maybe I was well rested after a few weeks of low mileage?).

That 9:30 average pace stuck around consistently for the next 3 weeks. Now I’m seeing 9:15s and the occasional 8:50 pop up. All at my MAF training heart rate. It’s pretty unbelievable. (Side note: I feel the need to clarify that I’m not obsessing about pace – you can’t when MAF training – or you’ll drive yourself nuts. Pace isn’t even a field that I can see on my Garmin right now. But I could not help but notice my average pace drop in my training log…consistently.)

So now I’m really drinking the Maffetone Kool-Aid and plan to do so until I plateau. I hope I can make it a full 6 months training this way. The only race I have planned for the Spring is the Philly LOVE Run. That’ll be with 4 months of MAF training under my belt. I’m excited to see what I can do!

18 miles of thoughts

October 14, 2012 by Kristy 14 Comments

What I love about long runs is the uninterrupted time to think and sort through “stuff”. I took Friday off from work (the key to the best day ever) and started off my day with a 18-miler. I got to “sleep” in, not run in the dark, and had the trail all to myself. Perfection.

I thought a lot about my running “progress” over the past year. I can pretty much divide the past year into pre-50K and post-50K training.

I was extremely discouraged while training for Boston. Dropping my MP from 8:30 to 8:20 seemed impossible and so did that sub-3:40. Turns out, it didn’t matter much come race day.

so happy. so hot.

Then I spent the summer running lots of long, slow miles. I ran myself silly and loved every mile of it. A month after my 50K, I shaved 2 minutes off my half marathon PR. It was a mix of ultra training “magic” and having absolutely no expectations.

It occurred to me on Friday that my lack of (speedy) progress while training for Boston was because my endurance plateaued. It didn’t matter how many mile repeats I did or how many MP long runs I ran. Your speed is limited by your aerobic capacity.

Training for a 50K unlocked speed I never thought I had. I will run a 3:30 marathon some day. I just need to keep running ultras too Winking smile

It’s difficult to analyze your training and progress when you are nose deep in it. It’s hard to be objective when you are consumed with training. That’s why running coaches are so great (shameless plug)!

Do you sort through thoughts during long runs?

Ever had an epiphany about your training that would otherwise be obvious if you weren’t so consumed with your own running? Did that question make any sense?!

Laid Back

June 21, 2012 by Kristy 11 Comments

That’s my approach to training for this 50K. More miles at a relaxed pace…no muss, no fuss. Physically, it has been smooth sailing. Mentally, it takes some getting used to.

Hawk, perfecting the art of laid back

I figure out my training for the upcoming week on Sunday, so my plan is created on a week-by-week basis. This allows me to adjust if my legs are feeling especially tired and work my runs around whatever I have going on that week.

The 3 most important things I’m focusing on for 50K training…

Pace
Mentally, this is what I struggle with the most. Compared to my last few training cycles I feel as if someone flipped the switch entirely pace-wise. To put it into perspective for all you numbers people like me, last summer I ran a 22-miler at 8:30 pace and my 17-miler last weekend was done at 9:39 pace. One minute and 10 seconds slower per mile! I have the best intentions at the beginning of a run but find it hard to remain slow once I zone out and autopilot kicks in.

I know I should probably go even slower – no faster than 10:00 pace – but it’s a work in progress. The more I slow down, the more beneficial it will be for me come race day.

Back-to-back long runs
I’m doing a long run on Saturday followed by (at least) a 10-miler on Sunday. My weekend mornings are almost consumed with running, which is OK in my book.

Saturday’s LR is done on the same hilly route I use for marathon training. Sunday’s LR is done on trails.

Volume
I hope to max out hopefully in the 60s for mileage. This will all depend on how my body adapts though. Doing no harsh speed work definitely helps, as this was the reason I never went over 55 miles per week during marathon training.

Here’s what my training looked like last week.

MON: 5 miles, Garmin-free
TUE: 8 miles, 9:22 pace
WED: rest
THU: 5 miles, Garmin-free
FRI: barre rest, I just couldn’t get out of bed!
SAT: 17 miles, 9:39 pace
SUN: 10 miles, 9:42 pace

I see plenty of this in my future, just much slower Smile

And, no, I don’t miss track workouts one bit! Slow and steady wins the race this summer.

3 days are better than 2…

May 28, 2012 by Kristy 14 Comments

Fun and productive…that’s what you get with a 3-day weekend.

I kicked off the weekend with a 15-miler on Friday morning, my longest run since Boston. I did my same hilly, long run route but slowed down the pace significantly. There’s no need for speedy long runs right now and that is more than OK with me. I really missed just getting out there and running, with no agenda.

On Friday night we went to a wedding (see the importance of getting the long run outta the way?!). But first we swung by my brother’s house to see my niece – it was her Junior Prom. She looked beautiful!

To balance out the fun of Friday night, Saturday was all about sleeping in, no running, making up training plans, and a wee bit of shopping (GAP was having an amazing sale).

And with Sunday, we were back to fun – a BBQ at my brother’s house. In the morning I knocked out 6 miles on trails, bringing me to 40 miles for the week.

Monday morning started with 9 miles on the same trails and then extreme productivity. I made a very optimistic to-do list and, as I type this, I have just 1 item left on the list! We leave for London/Paris on Friday night so I’m trying to get as much done as possible early on in the week. And I’m squeezing another 40-mile week into 4 days of running. Fun!

Was your Memorial Day weekend fun and productive?