Tag Archives: fitness

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
Reply

OK, I know it’s no longer morning, but I’m finally getting around to last week’s recap. It was an up and down week with some great workouts, a tough 5k and an awesome trail relay run!

Monday: My legs were feeling real heavy after Saturday’s speed session and Sunday’s race, but I pushed through three easy miles along the W&OD after work.

Tuesday: P90X in the morning followed by teaching early morning boot camp.

Wednesday: Thanks to a work-from-home day I got my run in during my favorite time of day to run turning lunch into runch! I put in 6X400s along the trail with a 400 recovery between each. I was so pumped when I got home and saw I’d done each one progressively faster working my way down from a 6:57 pace to a 6:16 one. Here are the splits: 1:44, 1:40, 1:39, 1:37, 1:36, 1:33

Thursday: P90X in the morning followed by teaching early morning boot camp and a quick strength workout of my own.

Friday: Another day of getting in my P90X routine before teaching boot camp in the morning followed by the Crystal City 5k Friday race at night. Recap coming soon!

Saturday: I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge marathon relay with fellow Oiselle teammates and had so much fun out on the trails! Recap on this one coming soon too.

bibs

Sunday: I had good intentions of getting a run in, but turned into a lazy, recovery day that I really needed and felt great!

Race Recap: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

Posted on by
4

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE this race! It is an awesome course, an extremely well organized race and this year the we even got to take in the cherry blossoms at peak bloom!

cherryblossomrace5

After work Friday I took the metro in to D.C. to the National Building Museum to pick up my packet. I was able to zip in and out without waiting in any lines for my bib or my t-shirt. I went with the regular cotton shirt instead of paying for the upgrade and thought this year’s was a pretty cool design.

Saturday, I kept the race weekend fun going by meeting up with fellow Oiselle teammates for a day before lunch at Vapiano. I seriously love being a member of this team – such an incredible group of women!

I was up at 5:15 Sunday, had a quick breakfast and headed out the door to drive to Rosslyn where I could metro in to the starting line. With 50-degree temps and no wind on tap I wore my Oiselle rogas, singlet and arm warmers.

cherryblossomrace4

I got in to D.C. well before the race started and made my way to the bathroom lines which were a whole lot shorter and easier to access than at Rock ‘n Roll a month ago. Bag drop was a breeze and then I got in a solid warm-up before getting into my corral. I probably got in a bit early and ended up having to stand around for 15 or 20 minutes before we started.

Shortly before the race there was an accident on the course that forced them to change the course at the last minute. Race management did an incredible job of communicating this change and the race still went off on time completely seamlessly. Between miles four and six they ended up cutting out about a half of a mile.

cherryblossomrace3

We set off down Independence Ave and out and back over Memorial Bridge. I promised myself I wouldn’t start out too fast for once and made myself stay behind the 8-minute pacer for the first mile. I felt really good and strong. The miles ticked by as we ran out on Rock Creek Parkway and back toward Hains Point. Miles four through six especially flew by!

By mile seven my legs were definitely starting to feel the fact that although I’ve been doing a great job working on speed, I haven’t been running much more than three or four miles at a time. I felt like I was crashing hard. I tried to pump my arms hoping my legs would follow, but around mile eight the 8-minute pace crew caught up to me. I did my best to keep them in my sights and tried to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossom trees lining the road.

I was really relieved to hit mile nine and leave Hains Point behind and head to the finish line. I always think of the last mile in terms of just having to run four laps around the track, so I loved that they had signs signifying the last 1200, 800 and 400 meters! I also love that the final sprint to the finish line is a slight downhill!

I crossed the line in an unofficial time of 1:16:28 for roughly 9.5 miles averaging just over an 8-minute pace. They are still re-measuring the course to come up with an official distance and will give us projected finish times, but I’m fairly confident I would have made it under 1:20.

I was so pleased with this time. It’s still a little bit off my PR on this course, but so much better than I’ve been doing and I really feel like my speed is coming back. I’m so close to getting back to where I want to be and seeing where I can take it from there!

cherryblossomrace2

The mile-by-mile breakdown:
Mile 1 – 7:50
Mile 2 – 7:44
Mile 3 – 7:50
Mile 4 – 7:55
Mile 5 – 8:03
Mile 6 – 8:04
Mile 7 – 8:11
Mile 8 – 8:37
Mile 9 – 8:28
Mile 10 (.5 miles) – 7:44 pace

After I crossed the line I grabbed a water and made my way back to bag check. They were so well organized that they spotted my bib number as I was walking up and had my bag ready by the time I was at the table. I changed into a dry shirt and a hoodie and headed back to the finish line to see friends cross, but there were just so many people there I finally gave up and headed home.

cherryblossomrace

Instead of dealing with the metro I took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked back down the Mall, over Memorial Bridge and into Rosslyn where my car was parked. I went straight to my favorite bagel place in Courthouse – Brooklyn Bagel Bakery where I enjoyed an everything bagel with egg and cheese and a hot chocolate! Pretty good way to start off a Sunday!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
2

This week got off to a slow start, but ended strong. I am really close to being back to where I want to be and feel like my speed work is paying off. Now I just need to keep turning it up a notch in the speed department and slowly build up my endurance as well.

Here’s the day by day breakdown:

Monday: Travel day – took a complete rest day.

Tuesday: I taught early morning boot camp followed by my own strength workout and my p90x core workout. I also put in three easy miles along the W&OD trail.

Wednesday: Today was supposed to be a speed workout and turned into a full rest day.

Thursday: I taught morning boot camp and got in a few miles taking them off site on a run. I had good intentions of getting another run in on my own but that didn’t happen. I did get in most of my p90x core workout though.

Friday: Another unplanned rest day, but I did make it in to D.C. to get my packet for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler!

cherryblossomrace5

Saturday: I got up early and finally got that speed workout in planned for Wednesday and it felt great. It was a windy, but beautiful morning for 200s along the W&OD. I did eight repeats with a 200 recovery jog – the first four were in to the wind and the last four I had a tailwind. I ran the repeats in: 49, 48, 49, 49, 43, 46, 43, 43.

Sunday: I ran one of my absolute favorite races on a perfect day in D.C. and had a great Cherry Blossom 10 Miler!! Well, it was actually a 9.5 miler, but I’ll explain that in tomorrow’s race recap. I ran just over an 8-minute pace and felt great!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
4

Once again I’ve been MIA for awhile, but I’ve been busy with lots of good things happening. This week started off awful with no runs Monday through Wednesday, but then I had a strong end of the week, so I’ll focus on that for the recap!

Here’s the day-by-day breakdown:

Thursday: I taught morning boot camp then got in my P90X core workout. After work I put in just under 4 relatively quick, but still felt easy miles along Four Mile Run & W&OD trails. I was motivated for this run thanks to the arrival of my new Oiselle tool belt roga shorts and wazelle halter tank – the near 70 degree temps didn’t hurt either!

newoisellegear

Friday: I put in a speedy out and back negative split run along the W&OD for 4 miles.

Saturday: I was up early and all bundled for a very easy nearly 4 mile shake out run along Four Mile Run & W&OD. After 70 degrees two days earlier, a feels like of 22 felt awful!

Sunday: I ran the B&A Trail Half Marathon up in Annapolis and had a pretty good race – more to come soon. I also got in my P90X core routine and a Pure Barre class with my fellow DC Oiselle teammates in the afternoon. Pretty good day for working out!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
4

Last week was a fall back week that turned into an even easier than planned week in part due to weather and also a bit of travel. I flew back from New Hampshire on Monday and then was off to Syracuse on Friday morning. Both very cold visits, but very fun also!

I put in 4 runs for a little over 20 miles. Here’s the day-by-day breakdown.

Monday: Travel day – did not make it to the gym after getting back.

Tuesday: Unplanned rest day. I ran out of energy to battle the cold by the end of today and decided to just head home after work.

Wednesday: I was up super early to teach a 6 a.m. boot camp in Bluemont Park. It was about 19 degrees, but 5 brave souls made it out for the morning workout so I had some fun with it and did my best to keep them moving and warm the whole time. I put in a 5-mile run at the gym after work plus a brief upper body workout and my P90X core routine before heading home and crawling into bed before eating dinner I was so tired. I do not know how I used to teach 6AM and 6PM boot camps every day on top of my regular 9-5 job!

Thursday: I put in a great 5 mile run along the Mt. Vernon trail after work. It had snowed that morning, but warmed up to the low-30s that evening and the trail had been cleared making for a great run followed by a fun happy hour with the Oiselle crew!

Friday: I had great intentions of getting up at 5 a.m. again and hitting the gym before my early flight to Syracuse, but it just didn’t happen!

Saturday: Facing a tempo run in single digits, my Mom saved the day and got me into the local Y with her where I got in a great 45-minute tempo run!

The crazy big snowbanks in the Y parking lot in Fayetteville near my parent's house.

The crazy big snowbanks in the Y parking lot in Fayetteville near my parent’s house.

Sunday: I decided to swap my long run out and put it off to early next week when I’m back in D.C., so Mom and I made another trip to the Y and I put in a tough, progressively faster five miler.

syracusesnowbanks2

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
Reply

Marathon training week five was a mix of good and bad. The good – I got to do most of my runs in warmth and sunshine since I spent Christmas down in Florida with my family! It felt so great to run in shorts and a tank again. The bad – while I’m getting my miles in my paces just aren’t where I want them to be. I’m hoping that changes once I completely shake this cold, but I’m definitely not there yet. I also missed one of my runs this Sunday. All together I put in just under 40 miles for last week and am looking forward to working on pushing the pace this week.

Here’s the day-by-day breakdown:

Monday: I used all of my motivation to run 6 easy miles after work in the cold, freezing rain and dark. It wasn’t pleasant, but was one of my best runs of the week.

Tuesday: Rest day. I spent most of Tuesday traveling – thank goodness for Gogo internet!

Wednesday: I headed out in the heat and humidity Wednesday afternoon and loved every bit of it! I had planned to run to the track and get my interval run in, but it was all locked up. Instead I explored the streets and put in a little over 6 miles.

week3half2

Thursday: I put in 7 Christmas miles sticking close to the neighborhood we were staying in.

Friday: Even though the track was locked up, I made my way over to the high school here and put in five 1000 meter repeats on the empty roads around the school. Phew, that is a long way to go when pushing the pace. I’m not exactly looking forward to this week’s 1200s, but I felt so pumped when I completed the workout!

Saturday: After a bit too much to eat and drink on Friday night I was not super excited for my long run, but knew I had to get it in. Luckily I packed my Nathan Hydration vest for the trip as it was another hot and humid one. It was a bit slower than I would have liked, but I got all 12 miles in and took in some great views when I ventured down to the Boardwalk by a marina.

Sunday: I ran out of motivation today after stacking all of my hard runs at the end of the week and ended up passing on today’s tempo run. I’m hoping to get it in on Monday morning though!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
4

I just wrapped up my fourth week of marathon training and so far I’ve done a great job of staying on track. I’ve completed 22 of my 24 planned workouts and am almost completely recovered from my cold/flu that disrupted most of last week. My paces are still not where they need to be at all for tempo and track workouts, but the endurance is definitely back. I’m hoping when I reassess in four weeks that I’ll be feeling better about the pacing. All in all I would call this a pretty good week. I tallied nearly 45 miles and felt pretty strong doing it.

Here’s the day-by-day breakdown:

Monday: I ran home from work Monday putting in nearly 7 miles. I kept it at an easy pace and felt good. This also marks the 3rd run a stranger told me I looked like I was lit up like a Christmas tree. I’m never really sure how to answer that, so I just smiled and said thanks, I’m trying to get into the holiday spirit, haha.

Tuesday: Rest day.

Wednesday: I had planned to put in my interval workout on my run home today, but my stomach was feeling off all afternoon so I decided to just do another one of my easy runs. I made it the nearly 7 miles home from work, but it did not feel good at all. On top of my stomach pains I didn’t dress nearly warm enough for the cold temps and strong wind so I was absolutely freezing by the time I got home. This was really my only bad run of the week though and I’m glad I battled through it. It does help when that is your only way home!

Thursday: We had our holiday lunch at work on Thursday and then got to leave early. I was so excited about the chance to run in daylight on a weekday that I still did my tempo run despite having three kinds of pasta for lunch! I put in 8 miles total with 6 at tempo pace. Similar to last week, my tempo pace is still not where it needs to be, but I felt like this was a good, soild run and I will keep working on bringing the times down. The run was also followed with a Oiselle holiday treats happy hour and dinner at Shake Shack (Ian’s blog is back with a review of Shake Shack – check it out!!), which makes any day great!

Oiselle

Friday: I made up for that missed speed workout on Tuesday and put in 7 total miles along the Mt. Vernon Trail. After a 1.25 mile warm-up, I cranked out 6 half mile repeats with quarter mile recovery jogs in between. My paces were a bit all over the place, but made sense when factoring in hilly sections. My fastest ones were right where I need to be, which pleasantly surprised myself a bit. Now I need to work on consistency.

Saturday: I was up early for an easy 8 miler and had a great run with some sunshine along Four Mile Run & W&OD Trails.

Sunday: Today was basically a repeat of Saturday with 8 easy miles. No sunshine today, but it was a few degrees warmer putting the feels like in the 30s instead of the 20s! I headed in the other direction for this run that took me along the W&OD and Custis Trails.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
Reply

Week one of marathon training is in the books! I got off to a good start on my training plan over Thanksgiving week putting in 38 miles. I’m following the Hanson’s Program and week one called for all easy paced runs. Next week I’ll start working in some speed work.

Here’s the day-by-day breakdown:

Monday: 6 early morning miles around my old neighborhood that I grew up in. It was mid-50s giving me the unusual chance to run in Syracuse in November in shorts!

Tuesday: I got in another 6 miles around the old neighborhood before working from home for the day.

Wednesday: Rest day.

Thursday: After getting in to Geneva late Wednesday night to celebrate Thanksgiving at Ian’s sister’s place, I slept in a bit before hitting the gym at the hotel for another 6 miler.

GenevaHotelGym

Friday:  I figured I would brave the cold today and set off on the lake path just outside the hotel for a run. Temps were in the 20s, but factoring in the windchill it was low teen’s and the wind was whipping off the lake. I didn’t realize just how windy it was on my way out and absolutely froze on my way back as I turned into the wind, but still managed to get my 6 miles in – mostly because it was the only way to get back to my warm hotel room!

GenevaLakefront

Saturday: I was less brave on Saturday and headed back to the hotel gym, which had 2 nice new treadmills in it. I decided to move my longer run up a day and put in 8 miles.

Sunday: It was an early morning wake-up for 6 on the treadmill before we hopped in the car to head back to Syracuse to my parent’s house.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
2

It was a fun week getting back into daily workouts after a few weeks off for my honeymoon. While my runs were slow, I didn’t lose nearly as much fitness as I would have expected over my little hiatus. That was probably helped by the fact that we were walking between 5 and 10 miles most days as we trekked all over Europe!

Anyways, here’s the day-by-day breakdown:

Monday: Thanks to continued jetlag I had no problem getting up at 5:30 and heading to the gym before work. 45-minute treadmill run. Upper body workout and core workout.

Tuesday: Another early morning at the gym for a 45-minute treadmill run, legs workout and core workout.

Wednesday: Rest day.

Thursday: I worked through my lunch today so I could take off running at about 4:15 and catch the last bit of daylight. I put in about 50 chilly minutes along the Mt. Vernon Trail.

Friday:  I got in a great 50-minute run today, again along the Mt. Vernon Trail, as I raced against the setting sun! Such a great way to start the weekend.

Saturday: Rest day.

Sunday: One mile road race in Old Town Alexandria – more to come on this, but my unofficial finish time was 7:18.

OldTown1miler

Workout of the Week

Posted on by
Reply

Last week I wrapped up week 2 of my half marathon training program. I’m putting it in the books as another successful week and am really starting to feel like my fitness is coming back.

halfweek2b

 

I got in a little more than 40 miles, although technically my long run didn’t happen until this week, I’m still going to count it for the last one! It was supposed to happen on Sunday, but my bachlorette party was also over the weekend and well, let’s just say I didn’t really feel up to running long on Sunday!

halfweek2c

My runs this week took me through D.C. in the early morning, along some running trails I haven’t hit up in awhile and by the waterfront in Hoboken featuring stunning views of the NYC Skyline, so needless to say there was a bit of competition for my favorite workout this week.

halfweek2

Hands down it was my lone speed workout of the week, which took place after work on Wednesday. I made an unfortunate decision to sleep in that morning instead of going to the track. I set up a workout of 400 yard repeats with 400 yard recovery jogs in my Garmin and watched anxiously as I waited for the clock to hit five and saw the skies turning increasingly gray!

It was just sprinkling when I set out for the trail though that leads from the office to my apartment. After roughly a mile warm-up I started my repeats. As I progressed though, so did the rain until it was monsooning and I was getting pelted with rain. It might be the hardest rain I’ve ever run through. My clothes were drenched and my shoes were sloshing with water.

For some reason though I could not stop smiling. Everyone else on the trail was so friendly and seemed to be having the same experience as me – well except for the bikers, they seemed pretty grumpy. There were high fives, laughs and smiles exchanged and jokes yelled out about what a beautiful day it was to run as I passed others along the trail. It was a blast.

I questioned my sanity a bit more when I finished my repeats and got ready to do the roughly 2 mile cool down that would take me the rest of the way home – ALL UPHILL. Fortunately the rain had let up by then and I was able to stop by the Iwo Jima water fountain for a quick sip before the last push.

When I do the speed workouts on a trail on my Garmin, I don’t see the split times as I go along. Instead, I listen for my watch to signal the start and end of each repeat and don’t get to see how long each took me until I finish. I was really pumped with my times and very glad I didn’t resort to a treadmill because I would not have pushed that hard. I was mostly consistent with just a few slow ones in there, but given the rain and the not completely flat terrain I wasn’t worried about them. It was one heck of a workout!

Do you like running in the rain? What was your favorite workout last week?