Tag Archives: recap

Footprints: Workout Recap

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Ah, so I’m a day late with my usual recap. After a weekend out of town and pushing my long run till yesterday after work, there wasn’t much time for blogging! Last week felt good and strong. After a couple of tough weeks, it was just the confidence boost I needed going into taper time. Here’s the day-by-day breakdown:

Monday: I put in five easy miles along the Mt. Vernon Trail after work.

Tuesday: Despite the government shutdown and closing of National Parks, there were no barriers blocking the Mt. Vernon trail and plenty of other bikers and runners there, so I took my speed workout to the trail for the day. After a mile warm-up, I did eight half-mile repeats with 1-minute rests in between followed by a mile cool-down.

Wednesday: Another easy 5-miler along Mt. Vernon after work. I felt stiff and slow, but when looking at my watch at the end actually ran about 20 seconds per mile faster than Monday.

Thursday: Strength workout.

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday:  6.55 miles around Hoboken with the NYC skyline in the background!! I woke up a bit earlier than expected this morning so thought I might go long, but immediately realized that wasn’t going to happen. I’ve run in Hoboken a handful of times, but only really have one main route that I take. I was able to scoot through there once, but they were setting up for an obstacle course race, so multiple loops through there weren’t going to happen. Running the main streets was too frustrating for me with the constant stops, so I decided it would not be a very good long run to end on before taper mode and headed back towards my brother’s place after mile five. While the view is spectacular one things that drives me crazy about running in Hoboken is constantly having to be on the lookout for dog poop everywhere. After dodging it for the first 6.25 miles I managed to step in some in the last few blocks home. Pick that sh** up people!!

NYC1

Sunday: Rest Day. After a super fun night out at my good friend’s wedding and a drive back to D.C., I just wasn’t feeling like running at all, so the long run was put off for one more day.

Race Recap: Love the Run You’re With 5k

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Sunday marked my first race of 2013 and my first real race back from the injured list. I ran in Pacers Love the Run You’re With (LTRYW) 5k for the first time and loved it. I didn’t PR, but that wasn’t the goal for this race, and I was very pleased with my finish time of 22:56. I’m making great progress and am on my way to getting back to where I was at, and hopefully even better!

After hearing about the bone chilling temps from last year’s race I was sure glad how nice of a day it turned out to be. Temps were in the 30s and the sun was shining. I wore my Reebok long sleeve as a base layer topped by my Reebok 1/2 zip jacket and my Nike Pacers Ambassador t-shirt. I also had on an Under Armour hat, a neck gaiter, gloves, Nike pants and Zensah compression sleeves. I was WAY overdressed and started overheating about a half mile in. This does not happen to me often. I’m getting way too used to running in cold weather.

Ian got up early with me to drive me to the race, take pictures and cheer me on – more impressive than usual since we’d gone to a great Mardi Gras party the night before and had a few hurricanes! It’s always nice to have someone waiting for you at the finish line. Champps (that’s how they spell it) opened up for runners before the race so I was able to hang out in there and stay warm until about 15 minutes before start time.

The course was an out and back that started near the Pacers in Pentagon Row right next to the ice skating rink. We ran by the Pentagon Row shops before turning onto Army Navy Drive and going straight up a steep hill. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered from the days I used to run those roads when I worked in Crystal City, but I was certainly breathing heavy. At the top of the hill we were treated to a long, gradual descent (all I could think was oh man, I have to come back up this!), and then some flat and some rolling roads to the turnaround.

My first mile was a bit faster than the rest, but my splits were relatively close to even. I ran mile 1 in 7:13 followed by miles 2 and 3 in 7:22 and 7:26. I finished with a kick to the finish at a 6:23 pace. I was really thankful that I’ve been working on my form both going up and going down hills. I felt like I was flying coming back down the steep hill before turning onto Joyce St. for the final kick to the finish. I leaned forward and let gravity take over, but remembered to land as softly as possible so I wasn’t pounding my legs into the ground.

I crossed the line in 22:56 for an average pace of 7:23 per mile. (My watch was pretty close to that showing a 22:55 finish for 3.14 miles at a 7:18 pace.)That put me in 160th place out of 1,721 overall and 48th out of 1,083 females. I had a blast running this race and will definitely sign up for LTRYW again next year. There were some great costumes and themed running outfits, and free bloody mary’s at Champps after the race topped off a great morning!

Did you race last weekend? Let me know how it went!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week marked the end of my base building phase before I start training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon this week. I felt really great all week and feel like I’ve gotten my fitness back to a good point to start race training. My mileage total was 24.25 miles. Here’s the day-by-day breakdown of where I left my footprints this week:

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: It was a lot easier to get myself out this week with 40 degree temps compared to my 9-degree track workout last week! Track Workout – 2.5 mile warm-up; 6X800m repeats with a 400m jog recovery; 2.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: I hit the gym for a 10-minute warm up on the elliptical followed by a 30-minute tabata workout and some more lower body strength exercises.

Thursday: Early morning tempo run on the treadmill at my apartment gym. I really wish I had room for my own treadmill. 5 miles total – warming up and cooling down at an 8-minute pace and reaching a 7:35 pace throughout the middle. I made it a double day getting in 4.25 after work. I met up with a friend who I went to elementary through high school with for a fun run around the National Mall. We looped past the Vietnam Memorial down to Lincoln and back around to the Capitol Building before splitting off to different metro stops. It was a blast to take in the sights while chatting and catching up along the way.

Friday: Spin Class in the morning and I took a late lunch to head down to the office gym and get in 50 minutes on the elliptical in the afternoon.

Saturday: Spin Class

Sunday: I set out in the morning for an easy-paced 7-miler through Georgetown onto the Rock Creek Park pathway and headed for an out and back along Hains Point before heading home via the Memorial Bridge. I followed the run with an hour body ride spin class at Revolve DC.

Sun setting as we ran down the National Mall Thursday night.

Sun setting as we ran down the National Mall Thursday night.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Training is going great. I tallied 20.5 miles this week. I’m still working on my base, but added a second speed workout this week with a tempo run on Thursday. Here’s the training breakdown by day:

Monday: I had a track workout and spin class on tap for today, but a broken down car derailed my morning plans. I still managed to get to the gym later in the day for an hour on the elliptical and a strength workout.

Tuesday: Boy was it cold out this morning. I so don’t know how I used to survive the Syracuse winters growing up. Track Workout – 2.5 mile warm-up; 6X600m repeats with a 200m jog recovery; 2.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: 1.25 mile easy warm-up on the treadmill followed by a 30-minute boot camp style tabata workout.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill for my first tempo run in months and it felt great! 4.5 miles total – warming up and cooling down at an 8 minute pace and reaching a 7:41 pace throughout the middle.

Friday: Spin Class – Body Ride

Saturday: 3.5 miles easy through Arlington. I started out on the Custis Trail, but it was a bit slick so I hopped off and ran the side streets going up and down some killer hills. I followed up the run with spin class.

Sunday: 4 miles through Georgetown and Arlington ending near the Iwo Jima Memorial. I pushed the pace a little on this run and felt awesome! I headed up to Revolve after my run for my first barre ride spin class – hear more about this in a later post.