Tag Archives: speed

Workout of the Week

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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?

Speed Work off the Track

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This week I took my speed work off the track. This is something I used to do a lot when I worked by Hains Point, which was mostly flat, straight and long enough to get my various workouts in.

This week’s speed workout however, took place on the Mt. Vernon Trail, which has a lot more ups and downs and twists and turns. I incorporated half mile repeats into my run after a one-mile warm-up. I’m not sure what it is about doing these off the track, but they seemed SO MUCH harder.

I took advantage of the interval setting on my Garmin so that it would beep down the last few steps of each half mile, and then beep the last 5 seconds of my one-minute rest between repeats letting me know it was time to get moving again. It’s a really great feature and keeps me focused on running hard rather than staring at pace or distance on my watch to see if I’ve gone far enough and fast enough.

I ran hard for all eight repeats and looking at my times after I was a bit all over the place. I think that had a lot more to do with the changing terrain though, not necessarily different levels of effort. Despite the seemingly much longer than normal half miles, I felt really great after finishing this workout and proud that I upped my mental game to push through.

Do you like taking your speed workouts off the track? Does it make it easier or harder for you?

Footprints: Monday Recap

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Wow, so this is my 200th post! It’s hard to believe I’ve written that many since starting. Hope you’re enjoying reading along with my journey. Let me know what types of posts you enjoy and what you’d like me to write more about!

Now, on to the recap! Last week was another strong week along the way to training for Marine Corps Marathon. I had to make up a couple of the previous week’s workouts at the beginning of last week, so I again pushed some of last week’s into this morning, which worked out well since I had the day off and plenty of time to work out. More on that in next week’s recap though.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class – Real Ride at Revolve. Core Workout

Tuesday: I split my longer mid-week run from the previous week between an easy 3.5 miler in the AM and a tougher 6.6 miles after work. I also got in a morning track workout, which felt great. My goal was 5X1000 with a 4-minute jog recovery at 4:16 each. I was tight on time so I cut the recovery jogs down to 3-3:30 each and still nailed all my splits: 4:13, 4:16, 4:11, 4:12, 4:12.

Wednesday: Rest day for my team bocce playoffs. They did not go well. Fun season, but lets just say, I will not be missing a workout next week for round 2.

Shopping Spree! So much new Oiselle goodness arrived this week!

Shopping Spree! So much new Oiselle goodness arrived this week!

Thursday: Rest day today because I hit snooze one too many times meaning I had to hit the track early the following Monday before spin to make it up.

Friday: I was out of work early, so I met up with new friend/Oiselle teammate Stephanie on Friday afternoon so we could get our long run out of the way before the weekend really started. We put in a great 18 miles despite the heat and humidity.

Saturday: I tried out a new yoga studio for a 75-minute hot yoga class. I really loved this class and boy was it challenging.

Sunday: I again set out in the midday heat and humidity (I’ll never learn) and slogged along for 10.1 miles along the Custis and W&OD trails. I stopped at a water fountain to fill my bottle at one point with another 4-5 miles to go still and found myself so sweaty I couldn’t grip the bottle well enough to open it. Thankfully a biker on his way by was able to help me out, so I didn’t have to go without water for the second half of my run!! I always appreciate when random people are kind.

Race Recap: Such A Rush

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Last Wednesday I ran my first-ever track race at the DC Road Runners Track Championships as part of the Bring Back the Mile Tour. It was so much fun and made me sort of wish I’d run track in high school, although I wouldn’t want to give up all the great softball memories and friends I have either.

Rocking my Oiselle stipe tank and distance shorts with CEP compression socks.

Rocking my Oiselle tank and distance shorts with CEP compression socks.

Ian and I drove up to the track about an hour early so I could get signed up for my heat, watch some of the earlier races to see how things were done and get a full warm-up in. My coach gave me a goal time of 6:30 so I ended up signing up for the under-7 minute heat. After my warm-up I was feeling good and made my way toward the start to wait for them to call our heat. I was pretty surprised at how nervous I was for a one-mile race… I mean I’ve done 26X this multiple times.

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Once the starting call was given the nerves were gone and the adrenaline was pumping. It was such a rush and I loved every second of it. I jumped out quick so I wouldn’t get tied up with others near the start and led almost to the 200 mark before the speedsters in my heat took over. I spent most of the race in 4th place. Clocks were set up at the 200 and 400, but somehow I managed to instantly forget my splits. Ian’s pictures gave me a pretty good idea though, and it looks like I ran my first and last laps the fastest with the 3rd one being the slowest.

During lap four I moved up a little and ran with fellow DC Running Coach teammate Michelle. We dueled our way down the final straightaway to the finish. I felt like I was flying. Obviously my pace was nowhere near the elite heats that would go later, but it was still a pretty quick mile for me! We crossed the finish line at almost the same time. They gave me third in 6:21, but to be honest, it was a pretty close call and probably could have gone either way. The pictures are great – we match each other step for step to the finish.

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I’m really loving the shorter races lately and being on the track with people cheering and seeing you run the whole way was a blast. I’ll absolutely look to do another one of these soon.

Have you ever run a track race? What did you think?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Holy heat wave Batman! Last week was Hot and Humid – in a much worse than usual kind of way. I’m talking triple digits with the heat index and really high humidity. I somehow managed to still get a lot of runs in outside, but the heat definitely made a difference. I’m running a lot slower than I want to be, but am trying to listen to my coach that it’s just the heat and I’ll see improvements when it cools down.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Mostly a rest day with a little bit of core and strength work.

Tuesday: On a scorching hot night I ran home from work getting 9 hot and hilly miles in. It was a straight into the shower with my clothes on when I got home kind of run!

Wednesday: Rest day with a bit of walking.

Thursday: Track workout. 102 degrees with the heat index. I can’t tell you how thankful I was for the cloud cover that came in right as we finished our warm up. I started off with a 2-miler and was a bit off the mark – mostly slowing down on the second mile. After a 10-minute slow recovery jog I went right into a 1-miler that was also a bit slower than my target. I told my coach about my concerns about my times on recent runs and feeling like I was breaking down, so instead of calling it a night he had me do two more 400s. This was a huge confidence boost as I felt a lot better and much more speedy finishing the second even faster than the first.

Friday: Spin Class at Revolve – feels so good to be spinning again!

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Saturday: Despite  knowing that it was going to already be in the high 80s at 6 a.m., I hit snooze one too many times then dragged my feet about getting going so I finally started my long run at 11. Great time of day for a super hot and humid long run. I made it 15 miles though so I felt pretty good about it. I was wiped for the rest of the day though for sure. I downed some chocolate milk when I got home, took a long shower and then headed out with Ian for a big lunch at Fireworks.

Sunday: 45 minutes on the treadmill.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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It was another hectic week that started in Montreal for work and ended with a trip to NYC! Some of my runs felt better than others as I was pretty exhausted for some, but overall it was a pretty decent week. My long run got pushed to today, so you’ll see that in next week’s recap.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Fartlek run around the streets of Montreal for 3.75 miles

Wednesday: Rest/Travel Day

Thursday: It took all of my energy to get myself to the track tonight, but I’m so glad I did. I love how good I feel after those workouts. I did 4X1 mile repeats with a minute break in between and hit my splits at: 7:18, 7:23, 7:22, 7:21.

Friday: 7.35 mile run plus 4 striders around the Mall and Hains Point.

Saturday: 3.65 hilly miles before heading out to Hoboken/NYC!

Sunday: Strength workout with a focus on core/arms.

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Turn Up The Heat!

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Happy National Running Day!

I’ll be hitting the track today to celebrate. It’s not my normal track day, but I’m heading out of town after work tomorrow, so I decided to fit it in tonight so I could still meet up with a group rather than go it alone. I’m really enjoying the group track workouts with DC Running Coach. We all have our own workouts, but it’s still nice to feel like you’re in it together with the others.

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Last week was one of my first really hot track workouts of the summer. Temps were still close to 90 when we started warming up around 6:30 and the sun was beating down. I’ll be the first to admit that I love the heat and I even like the feeling of running in it a lot. I know… crazy. I will concede, however, that it does make me slower and last Thursday was definitely proof of that.

My workout for the week was 2X1 mile at 7:25 and 3X1000 meters at 4:38. With the heat my coach suggested aiming for a 7:30 mile instead. I showed my lack of pacing ability and did the first one in 7:22. This normally wouldn’t be very difficult for me, but I was breathing – in his words, “like I just finished a 5k.” Not ideal! He told me to shoot for 7:35 on the second one, which I did hitting 7:34, but it still felt tougher than a mile at that pace should.

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He told me to aim for about 5 seconds slower on the 1000s and really focus on my breathing. I did just that and stopped paying attention to the watch. It made a huge difference. My splits came in at 4:44, 4:42 and 4:41 and I felt a whole lot better than I did on that first mile. I still pushed myself, but I’m learning it’s all about adjustments to make sure you get the best you can out of a workout!

How do you adjust to running in the heat?

Haunting Workouts

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I’ve done my last couple of interval speed workouts at Hains Point rather than the track. It’s pancake flat so I’ve found it to be a pretty good substitute for the track if you can deal with the winds that always seem to be strong there. It’s a nice change of pace for me too since it’s close to my office because I can sleep in but still have my speed work done at a decent time – either on my lunch break or I plan to run home on my cool down as soon as I’m done with the repeats so I’m still finished before dinner time.

Speed Intervals around Hains Point

Speed Intervals around Hains Point

I’ve made myself do all of my interval workouts outdoors this training cycle primarily because I just can’t get myself to take the time to warm up and cool down properly on the treadmill. By about three minutes in I’m ready to speed things up on those things and get going, and forget about a cool down, I’ll just walk it out for a few minutes after my last repeat. Also, even though I can run faster on a treadmill, I feel like I push myself harder outside and get a better measure of where I’m at since I’m not forced to keep up with the speed of the belt.

I was all smiles (at least when I was done) after the last two week’s repeats around Hains Point.

All smiles after I finished!

I couldn’t help but think back to my last speed workout on Hains Point when I headed out last week though. It was last summer. I normally love the heat and would rather sweat than shiver any day, but that particular day I headed out on a late lunch break around 3 p.m. on a 98-degree, 90 percent humidity day. I was dehydrated, hadn’t had the healthiest lunch and downed a coke with lunch instead of a water. You might say I wasn’t all that well prepared.

I had eight 600-meter repeats on tap that day and it seriously felt like I stepped into a wall when I walked out of my office into the heat. It was hard to even breathe. Somehow it was still windy along Hains Point, but it was by no means a nice breeze coming from the water – it was just more hot air. I pushed my way through a very ugly and not so speedy speed workout. I was proud of myself for not giving up early and calling it a day, but it was not fun and I definitely was not smiling afterwards. I still shudder when I think about that workout.

How about you – do you have any workouts that haunt you?

Resolution Check-In

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Wow, another month has flown by so I wanted to take a step back and see how I’m doing with my New Year’s Resolutions. It’s always good to check back in and remember what I’m working for.

Building up my core strength and staying injury free are key goals for me this year. I made core strength my January focus and managed to keep going strong through February doing my P90X Ab Ripper workout everyday. Going back to last year I’m at 63 straight days! I’m sticking with my stretching and foam rolling too to do what I can to stave off any injuries.

February’s focus was speed and I feel like I made great strides on this. (Yes, pun intended!) I reached my goal of two speed workouts per week though track workouts, hill repeats and tempo runs. My times have come way down since my first speed workouts back from physical therapy in January and my pace is steadily improving.

I got to register early for the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon through my deferment from last year, so now that race is officially on the calendar. So far I feel like things are right on track to get my Boston Qualifying time this October!

My focus for March is going to be nutrition. To run and workout as much as I do, I need good food to fuel me. I’m going to really try to up my fruit and veggie intake this month. I’m usually pretty good with fruits, but I’ve spent most of my life avoiding veggies so I’m trying to get better at that. I’m also going to focus on my nutrition on the run, and plan to try out some new things to fuel along the way on my long runs.

Are you still on track with your New Year’s resolutions? Tell me about your successes and challenges!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Week three on my training schedule for the Nike Women’s D.C. Half was a fall back week so it was a bit easier than normal weeks and it came at a good time. I came down with a little bit of a cold so I wasn’t feeling great and I also had travel plans over the weekend, so it was nice not to have to worry about a couple tough runs over the weekend. I ran 12.43 miles last week. Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class in the morning followed by a strength workout. Those early morning classes sure are a lot easier when you have the day off and can come home and go back to bed afterwards!

Tuesday: I was up early to get in a speed session running hill repeats before an early morning personal training session with a client. Fortunately it wasn’t too cold out as I charged up the Wilson Boulevard Hill from Rhodeside to Four Courts seven times in the middle of my 5.25 mile run.

Wednesday: Today was supposed to be a cross training day, but I had another personal training session planned for Thursday morning that was going to get in the way of my tempo run so I gave back-to-back speed days a shot. This was tougher than I expected and I struggled through just a 30-minute tempo run mid-afternoon at the office gym. I got in 4.08 miles starting at an 8-minute pace and reaching a 6:58 pace by the end. I usually don’t count my first 8 minutes at an 8-minute pace as part of my tempo pace, but just wasn’t feeling it today and let it count as part of the 30 minutes. I followed the run up with a strength workout.

Thursday: My PT session ended up getting cancelled, so instead of biking there and from there to work as the day’s cross training, I decided to hit my apartment gym early and put in 30 minutes on the stepper.

Friday: Rest Day.

Saturday: 30 minutes on the elliptical in my parent’s basement. This made me crave a treadmill in my own apartment even more – so nice to not have to go elsewhere to workout especially when you’re not feeling great.

Sunday: My Mom got me a guest pass to the Y she belongs to. It’s an awesome gym just down the road from their house and I’m always bummed that it wasn’t there until after I left for college. I was planning on 3.1 today and knew I couldn’t go as fast as usual since I was still a tad congested, but got a pretty good run in starting at an 8-minute pace and working my way down to 7:19  by the end. I’m ready to get back into the full swing of things next week after a good recharge week.