Run The Long Road Coaching

personalized coaching for distance runners

speed work

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 5 Recap

by 13 Comments

7/6/11
7 miles easy / 1:07 / 9:34 avg pace

Week 5 went surprisingly well, especially after a weekend of bachelorette festivities.  The lack of sleep did me in and I practically dragged myself out of bed for each run.  But, as always, once I got moving I was fine.

MON:  6 miles speed
TUE:  6 miles tempo
WED:  8 miles easy
THU:  rest
FRI:  18 miles (so happy about this run!)
SAT:  4 easy miles at the shore
SUN:  rest

42 miles for the week (it’s a drop-back week).  I’m hoping to hit the big 5-0 this week.

So here’s a really random, so-not-related-to-this-post question:  when you wear running tights (or yoga pants), do you wear underwear?  I’ve gotten asked this question a few times (I don’t) and I have pretty strong feelings on this one.  First off, why would you?  I can’t think of anything more uncomfortable.  And unsightly.  I’ve been behind women in races and all I can see is panty lines.  If you do don the underwear, I would love to hear why!

July 4th Weekend

by 11 Comments

7/5/11
7 miles speed
6 x 800m in 3:28.  Actual times: 3:26, 3:27, 3:27, 3:25, 3:24, 3:24 <– fastest 800m I ever ran! 

Another weekend, another weekend down the shore!  We spend the majority of the weekend at my parents house with the exception of Saturday night.  My friend Michelle is staying in Wildwood for the week with her family so we headed there for a night of (sensible) drinking!

The weekend in pictures…

At Coconut Cove in Wildwood.  Most of the bar has a sand floor.  So nice to take your shoes off and let your feet sink into the sand!

We love Key West.  For our 30th birthdays, we did a big group trip down there.  Those pictures will not be posted on the blog 😉

Next stop was Keenan’s…always a favorite.

Sunday was a BBQ at my parents’ house.  Hawk hammed it up for the camera.

My sister and sister-in-law.

My niece Catherine.  Hawk got lots of attention this weekend.

My niece Sarah (aka, mini-me).

A crazy thunderstorm rolled in at night.

Back to the grind today but fortunately it’s a short week!  Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 3 Recap

by 7 Comments

6/21/11
8 miles tempo / 1:10 / 8:45 avg pace
*2 miles easy, 4 miles at 8:00 pace, 2 miles easy 

Last week was a little rough. I was sick on Monday which threw my schedule off. As a result, I had to run Tuesday through Friday…with Friday being 17 miles. Ugh, my legs were feeling it. I generally like to take the day before a long run as a rest day, but that’s not always possible. I did manage to eek out 45 miles for the week though!

MON:  sick
TUE:  7 miles speed
WED:  8 miles easy
THU:  5 miles easy
FRI:  17 miles
SAT:  rest
SUN:  8 miles tempo

I have a similar problem this week since I’ll be down the shore over the weekend (leaving Friday!). I’ll be doing 20 miles on Friday and then recovering by dancing and drinking large amounts of beer. I’ll let you know how that goes!

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 2 Recap

by 5 Comments

6/14/11

7 miles speed

Back to the track this morning!  After laying around on the couch sick for 2 days, I wasn’t sure how this speed session was going to go.  On my schedule was a ladder workout, where I get slightly faster with each interval.  The 1.5 mile warm-up was interesting.  I felt like an old lady dusting off the cobwebs on my joints.  I decided to not worry about pace today and instead just keep myself in the no talk/5K zone for each interval (knowing full well that my pace today wouldn’t be consistent with my normal 5K pace).

1200m at 7:06 pace* — 7:09 actual; not too shabby!
1000m at 7:00 pace* — 7:07 actual
800m at 6:58 pace* — 7:26 actual; that was ugly and really slow
600m at 6:55 pace* — 7:23 actual; clearly I’m tired
400m at 6:50 pace* — 6:44 actual; did that just happen?!  I actually beat my time?!  Maybe there is some sprinter in me after all!
1.5 mile cool-down
*400m rest between each interval

LVM Week 2 Recap
MON:  7 miles tempo
TUE:  6 miles with hill repeats + 1 hour strength training class (yeah!)
WED:  5 miles easy
THU:  8 miles easy
FRI:  yoga FAIL.  Got stuck working through lunch and never made it to the class.
SAT:  15 miles
SUN:  rest/sick/bummed knee

A total of 41 miles for the week.  I love the increased mileage and running 5 days a week.  Also happy that I ventured out of my comfort zone for a ST class.

Ugh

by 12 Comments

After the knee fiasco on Saturday things got better and then got worse.  I had a great time at the wedding (more on that later) but tossed and turned all Saturday night because my body just ached.  Not long run aches, flu aches.  I was so uncomfortable I barely slept.  I woke up feeling awful, kinda like the flu – achy, feverish, chills.  I took some Advil and we made our way back home.  We got home, I slept for a few hours, parked myself on the couch, and watched TV.  I also begged Matt to get me a DQ Blizzard (hey, there was nothing wrong with my stomach).  Since I know I can’t have the flu, I’m chalking it up to the damn tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis vaccine.  Not only does my arm hurt, it made me feel crappy…for two days!  I’m home from work today because I still don’t feel good.  This needs to end now.  I hate being sick.

Onto more fun stuff!  The wedding was a good time and Camille never looked happier.  Some pictures…

The new Mr. and Mrs.
With Amy and Albert (also friends from grad school)
A little flashed-out but a good table pic nonetheless

Something New

by 7 Comments

6/7/11
6 miles with hill repeats / 58:32 / 9:45 avg pace

To go along with my “if you keep doing the same thing, you’ll get the same results” theme, I’m doing two things today that are new and one of them is outside my comfort zone.

Scary thing #1 – hill repeats
I’m alternating my speed work this cycle between track workouts one week and hill repeats the next week. In the past, my hill work simply consisted of running on a hilly course. To my surprise, it was very effective. Imagine what hill repeats can do! Today’s workout was pretty informal.  I warmed-up for 1.5 miles and picked out 3 hills along my run.  I did 5 repeats on the 1st hill, 3 repeats on the 2nd, and 4 repeats on the 3rd hill.  I would run up the hill as fast as I could, and then jog back down.  Not so scary at all.  In fact, it beats a track workout any day.

Scary thing #2 – strength training class
Scary thing #2 hasn’t happened yet (12pm). But I’m putting it out there in the blog world so I can’t back out. My yoga studio has a whole body strength class that they offer a few times a week. I can’t tell you the last time I strength trained; it’s pretty sad actually. My focus has always been run, run, run. Strength training is crucial to making you a more balanced runner (literally and figuratively!). I’m taking the “all levels” class so I don’t make a fool out of myself. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow, provided I’m not too sore to type.

What have you done recently that was new or scary?