12 Weeks from yesterday I run Chicago. I'm pretty stoked about it, now that I'm within the 3-month mark, it seems like it's really getting up there.
It was a pretty slow-going week. I had a big (fun) event on campus at Nike that prevented me from really getting my proper mileage and tempo for my midweek runs, so I tried to make up the mileage on Saturday with a quick little warmup before my strength class, but to be honest, I just couldn't pull off the tempos this week that I was hoping for. I always remind my clients that progress is never linear, and we all get those days when it feels like we're putting in our all and just not getting the "oomph" we need, but ...it's just never fun or encouraging to suffer through those workouts. In times like that my mantra is "Money in the bank." The money being the miles, and the bank is the marathon. Even the shitty miles add to the strength I'll rely on come October 12.
Yesterday I ran my first 20 of the training cycle, and since I prefer hills to stoplights, I ran up Cornell (almost 1000 foot gain from my house to Skyline), headed downtown, then headed back up Vista to near Council Crest, adding another 800 feet of elevation. Uphill was slow-going, but I had a couple nice cruises downhill, which was quite nice.
I re-read a quote this weekend that always resonates with me when I come across it, and I drew on that while slogging up Vista: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."
Monday, July 21, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Chicago Week 13
Training is going well, with 13 weeks and change until Chicago. First of all, I believe already that the addition of the barefoot training day is making a difference. Once a week I am doing 5 minutes of jump rope, deep squats, tube walking, skipping drills, and bounding. All barefoot.
Today I did one of my favorite speedwork workouts. I don't love the track work, although I appreciate its efficacy. My favorite speed drills tend to be ones that have some sort of visual component, or some sort of math that I can wrap my head around. I ran 1200 meters, 1000, 800, 600, and 400, all with a 200 meter rest interval (just walking today, although sometimes an easy jog). This plus a 1.5 mile warmup and a half-mile cool down. This workout is easy to get behind, because the intervals get shorter as you go along. I beat my projected time on the first and last, hit it spot on for the second, and was 6-10 seconds too slow on the 3rd and 4th. Consistency is something I'm working on. But, I did it. Sunday I have 17 miles, and I will have to go out early and slowly, since it's supposed to be something like 95 degrees.
Here's another good track workout, one I love because a) it's easy to remember where you are in the workout, b) the pick-ups are all 400-ish meters, and c) it's very challenging, then gets a little forgiving at the end. After a warmup, run the inside loop of the track at a challenging, but improvable pace. Time it. Rest about 90 seconds, then move to lane 2, and meet that same tempo. Repeat for lanes 3, 4, and 5, then work your way back down from 5-1 again. That's 2.5 miles of actual speed (same as the workout I did today), not counting the warmup and cooldown. I think it's a good intro to speed work, if you've never done track work before. Physically challenging without being too much to think about.
Today I did one of my favorite speedwork workouts. I don't love the track work, although I appreciate its efficacy. My favorite speed drills tend to be ones that have some sort of visual component, or some sort of math that I can wrap my head around. I ran 1200 meters, 1000, 800, 600, and 400, all with a 200 meter rest interval (just walking today, although sometimes an easy jog). This plus a 1.5 mile warmup and a half-mile cool down. This workout is easy to get behind, because the intervals get shorter as you go along. I beat my projected time on the first and last, hit it spot on for the second, and was 6-10 seconds too slow on the 3rd and 4th. Consistency is something I'm working on. But, I did it. Sunday I have 17 miles, and I will have to go out early and slowly, since it's supposed to be something like 95 degrees.
Here's another good track workout, one I love because a) it's easy to remember where you are in the workout, b) the pick-ups are all 400-ish meters, and c) it's very challenging, then gets a little forgiving at the end. After a warmup, run the inside loop of the track at a challenging, but improvable pace. Time it. Rest about 90 seconds, then move to lane 2, and meet that same tempo. Repeat for lanes 3, 4, and 5, then work your way back down from 5-1 again. That's 2.5 miles of actual speed (same as the workout I did today), not counting the warmup and cooldown. I think it's a good intro to speed work, if you've never done track work before. Physically challenging without being too much to think about.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Foot Traffic Flat
So my PR for the half marathon was July 2013. I was pretty good at getting 1:40-somethings in pretty much every halfie I did, with a previous PR of 1:40:08. I really really really wanted to get a 1:30-ANYTHING, and hoped to win the big prize at last year's See Jane Run in Seattle. As race day approached, I decided I was a little slower and heavier than I needed to be to get it, so I made the decision to hang out and enjoy Seattle and not put pressure on myself to get my PR. The point is, I was just a little hung over when I arrived at the starting line. However, conditions were perfect, and I ended up squeaking out a 1:39:58. I was surprised, but delighted.
So today, when things started to go wrong, I started making excuses for myself early on, which I know is bad news. And stupid, because my best was under less-than-ideal circumstances. I set the alarm for 4:30, but apparently failed to switch to "alarm 2", so the alarm went off at 5:30, like it does on work days. The thing is, the race started at 6:30, so I scrambled to get to the starting line. I got there just fine, but did not have time to use the facilities before the race started. I got an extra .15 miles the first mile by weaving around the runners to get to where they were running my pace. Still, it was a really nice day, and the crowd was great, and I was enjoying it until about mile 8. I was shooting for a 1:41-anything, since I need 1:42:00 or less to qualify for the New York Marathon. Around mile 9, I started to lose ground, and started making excuses - I felt like the rush of adrenaline I got from waking up an hour late started to crash, and I slowed to an 8-minute pace. Around mile 11 I started to pick up again with a little positive self-talk, but ultimately I wasn't able to pull off the qualification time.
When all is said and done, however, it was still a good experience. I feel like in a way, it's good not to meet a goal every now and again so that you know your bar is set high enough. I ended up with a 1:42:54 - a 7:45 pace overall, which is good for me. I have a couple more chances this year. Also, it's a nice, strong tempo run for my 14-weeks-to-Chicago training.
So today, when things started to go wrong, I started making excuses for myself early on, which I know is bad news. And stupid, because my best was under less-than-ideal circumstances. I set the alarm for 4:30, but apparently failed to switch to "alarm 2", so the alarm went off at 5:30, like it does on work days. The thing is, the race started at 6:30, so I scrambled to get to the starting line. I got there just fine, but did not have time to use the facilities before the race started. I got an extra .15 miles the first mile by weaving around the runners to get to where they were running my pace. Still, it was a really nice day, and the crowd was great, and I was enjoying it until about mile 8. I was shooting for a 1:41-anything, since I need 1:42:00 or less to qualify for the New York Marathon. Around mile 9, I started to lose ground, and started making excuses - I felt like the rush of adrenaline I got from waking up an hour late started to crash, and I slowed to an 8-minute pace. Around mile 11 I started to pick up again with a little positive self-talk, but ultimately I wasn't able to pull off the qualification time.
When all is said and done, however, it was still a good experience. I feel like in a way, it's good not to meet a goal every now and again so that you know your bar is set high enough. I ended up with a 1:42:54 - a 7:45 pace overall, which is good for me. I have a couple more chances this year. Also, it's a nice, strong tempo run for my 14-weeks-to-Chicago training.
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