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Speedy Tempo

February 8, 2011 by Kristy 2 Comments

2/8/11

8 miles

1:09

8:37 avg pace

The training plan called for some nonsense like 3×1-mile repeats at 7:15 pace. I loathe mile repeats. Since I didn’t feel like running a 5K this morning and my legs haven’t 100% recovered from Sunday’s 18-miler, I changed things up. I’ve wanted to do this workout for awhile now…

1 mile warm-up
2 miles at 10K pace – 7:53. Since I haven’t run a 10K in about 10 years, I have no idea what pace this would be…so I estimated just under 8:00.
2 miles at half marathon pace – 8:13. My half marathon time last September was 1:49 (8:19 pace).
2 miles at goal marathon pace – 8:46.
1 mile cool-down

There you have it…a speedy tempo. I’m definitely doing this run again. I really enjoyed it.

This is my last run on the treadmill this week, all my other runs will be outdoors in San Francisco! Woooohoooo! Hello 60+ degrees and sunshine!

Week 5 Recap

February 7, 2011 by Kristy Leave a Comment

Week 5 of NJ Marathon training…

MON: rest
TUE: 7 tempo + yoga
WED: 6 speed
THU: rest
FRI: 8 easy
SAT: ~~lazy~~ rest (should have went to yoga)
SUN: 18 long (duh)

Total of 39 miles. Finally getting up there.

Heading to a power yoga class at RYAH tonight!

Birthday Cake and 18 Miles

February 6, 2011 by Kristy 4 Comments

2/6/11

18 miles

Sorry peeps, I don’t have split times and an average pace for you today. I had a Garmin malfunction, caused by me. The wind was blowing my earphones out of my ears (good times) and around mile 3 I stopped and readjusted my iPod. I stopped my Garmin and then never started it again. Thankfully, I’m obsessed with watching my pace and noticed that the numbers weren’t moving about a mile later. It could have been worse (devastating, I know). I think my average pace was around 9:20…at least that’s what the Garmin kept saying throughout my run. Since I ran 17 and 20 miles the last 2 weekends at Kelly Drive, I estimated where the turnaround would be for 18 miles. Not a bad run, MUCH better than last week, only had to slow to a crawl for a few icy spots.

Onto more fun things! Last night my family got together to celebrate the February birthdays. We celebrate early since my snowbird parents head to the Florida Keys in mid-February. Usually it’s my birthday (2/9), my mom (2/24), and my nieces Catherine (2/28) and Sarah (3/9) but we have an addition this year…Hawk! Our buddy turns 1 on 2/23! After dinner we headed back to our house for cake and ice cream. The delicious cake from Bredenbeck’s (seriously this cake is amazing, if you need a cake in the Philly area go here!)…

Yes, that’s what the cake said. When I called Bredenbeck’s I warned the woman that I was going to ask for something different to be written on the cake. Apparently they get strange requests all the time. So this is perfectly normal.

Some more pics…

Hawk sniffs the cake to make sure it's OK

Hawk is clearly over the cake and would rather play with his toys.

“The Others” also enjoyed the cake. In fact, we have leftovers and I think cake would be the perfect post-run fuel right about now…

PS – I’m on Twitter! And I have no idea what I’m doing! If you are a twitter-er (tweeter?), please follow me!

Saturday vs. Sunday

February 4, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

2/4/11

8 easy peasy miles

1:17

9:37 avg pace

Mother Nature is being quite the bitch lately. I normally do my long runs on Saturday but tomorrow’s forecast looks like this:

A “wintry mix”. All day long. Since I don’t want a repeat of last week’s slippery run I’m moving my long run to Sunday. Bleh. I know I should just go with the flow and not complain since Sunday will be a nice day but I LOVE my Saturday morning long runs. Why?

1. I’m a creature of habit and routine. I’ve always done long runs on Saturday.
2. It fits my schedule. In rarely have plans on Friday night (and if I do they are low-key) so I can get a good night’s sleep and still get up early for my run. Pushing the run to a Sunday means I have to watch my Saturday night shenanigans (going to bed early, not drinking too much, etc.). I’m a real party pooper.
3. I like to get it over with. If I wait until Sunday I think about it and dwell on it.

Sorry that I complain so much about the weather. This winter has been brutal though. I have never used the treadmill so much.

Let’s switch topics a little and talk about long run prep. That’s right, preparation. I’m never able to just get up and go, even in the summer. Aron at Runner’s Rambles wrote about this last week. It’s nice to see that other people also plan, plan, plan their long runs.

I begin stalking weather.com on the Tuesday prior to my long run. Not sure why since I can’t change the weather. I continue to stalk until I can see the hourly forecast (usually on Friday morning). Then I plan what I’m going to wear and lay everything out.

Then I gather all the stuff that I need to take with me. I used to carry all this stuff to the car by hand. Then I got smart and started throwing it in a bag.

Obvious items: iPod, Garmin, hand-held water bottle, towel
2 pair of gloves: when it’s really cold I’ll change my gloves halfway through the run.
Shot Bloks in Black Cherry: love ’em. On runs over 15 miles, I eat 3 (half the pack) every 4-5 miles.
Blue water bottle: chocolate milk for post-run fuel! I only fill it about halfway. And you better believe I think about that ice cold chocolate milk waiting for me in my car during the final miles.
Gum: can’t run without it.
Aquaphor: I smother my lips in this stuff during the winter. If I don’t they get terribly chapped. I even use it around my eyes. My eye area tends to be dry and the sweat just aggravates it.

You should see my marathon checklist..one day I’ll post about it. Shockingly, it’s pretty thorough 🙂 Laugh if you want but I’ve never forgotten anything. Prepared is my middle name!

Why Speed Work?

February 2, 2011 by Kristy 3 Comments

2/2/11

6 miles speed

What the plan called for: 5x1000m (approx .62 miles) @ 4:28 pace (approx 7:12 min/mile)

What I did: 5x1000m at 7:30 min/mile. I started at 7:12 pace and didn’t have enough kick in my legs. So I dropped my pace to 7:30 so that I could complete 5 repeats. Lesson learned: when doing tempo and speed work on back-to-back days, do the speed work on day 1 and tempo on day 2 (or better yet, DON’T do them back-to-back).

Why do we torture ourselves with speed work? Doesn’t it seem silly to train for 26.2 miles by doing 800m repeats? Does that really help? For me, the jury is still out on that one. I’ve done speed work in the past and off and on recently. I decided to pick it up again this training cycle. We’ll see if it helps me come May but for now I hold more stock in tempo and marathon-paced long runs.

Speed work (aka track workout) improves your VO₂max. What is VO₂max? I found a few good definitions…

From good old Wikipedia –> VO₂max is the maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and use oxygen during exercise.

Or for you visual people:

The point at which oxygen consumption plateaus defines the VO₂max or an individual’s maximal aerobic capacity (source).

Most of the time speed work is done at current 5K pace. This is an appropriate pace for marathoners since it will provide a stimulus for improving your VO₂max but still leave your legs fresh for your other training runs. For runners training for shorter distances, speed work can be done slightly faster than 5K pace.

Speed work is usually done in intervals ranging from 400m to 1600m, although I know in the near future I have a 3200m interval on my plan (ouch!). The amount of rest time in between intervals varies. My current training plan allows for very little rest in between intervals. In the past, I’ve rested half the distance of that interval (for example, 800m repeats with 400m rest interval). Jogging or walking for beginners is acceptable for “rest” time.

There you have it – speed work explained. It’s definitely not my favorite choice but I can see why speed work has its place in training.

Off to watch Buried with Matt. Did anyone see it? It’s supposed to be good and (the best part) Ryan Reynolds is in it 🙂 I love me some Ryan Reynolds. RR + psychological thriller = a good night.

Motivation

February 1, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

2/1/11

7 miles tempo

1:01

8:43 avg pace

Splits:
M1 – 10:00
M2 to M5 – 8:06
M6 to M7 – 9:30

…and I felt great the whole time. Exactly 3 months to the NJ Marathon 🙂

Let’s talk motivation. My motivation for writing this post came from Elizabeth Waterstraat. Her blog is awesome, she’s hysterical. Her post yesterday was called No Excuses. Please read it because it’s very good!

It’s no secret that I love running. Running has become as habitual as brushing my teeth and (almost) as enjoyable as ice cream. I love to push myself and my body. I like to set goals and work hard. I find it extremely rewarding.

I don’t find myself lacking motivation to run too often..mostly due to my slight running addiction 🙂 My motivation is most likely to wane post-marathon. Maybe it’s burn out or my mind’s way of telling me to take it easy. So that’s what I do and then I start to crave running all over again.

Some days it’s hard to get out the door. I think of it this way: you always feel better after a run. I have never regretted a run. Never. But I sure as hell regretted skipping a run.

Stop making excuses! Elizabeth’s post talks a lot about this. My favorite part of her post is “the excuse is always the easy way out…bucking up and getting the work done, that’s the hard stuff”.

Or, in the words of Nike, Just Do It.