Tag Archives: track

Race Calendar Updates

Posted on by
2

At the beginning of the year I wrote a post with a calendar of my races for 2013. The problem with trying to plan things out a year in advance as I like to do is that I often have to make changes. I’ve already had to do some rearranging due to conflicts this month. I was extremely bummed to miss the Four Courts Four Miler since I’ve never been able to do it, but it coincided with a noon Syracuse game against Georgetown at the Verizon Center that I was going to. I knew with the 9 a.m. start time there was no way I could get back down the hill to Rosslyn, showered and ready in time for enough pre-game fun. Turns out there were not enough pre-game drinks to make that game watchable, but at least we got our revenge in the Big East Tourney.

Before I digress too much, which tends to happen when I talk Syracuse hoops, I did find a replacement race this month for the Four Courts Four. I’m running the Rev3 Run Rogue 5k in Fairfax this Saturday. It’s a fun race that I also ran last year and it supports an awesome cause – brain and breast cancer research.

I’ve also made a couple other additions. I added a sprint triathlon in June because I finally found one that lets me do the swim in a pool! I also added my first-ever track race in July. After reading about the Bring Back the Mile Campaign and seeing one of their events was right here in Arlington, I decided why not give it a shot. I have no idea how to run in a track race so I’ll probably get smoked, but I’m still pretty excited! Any advice you all have would be appreciated.

One final tweak is more of a hope at this point. During the first week of January, I impulse-registered for the Honolulu Marathon on December 8. They had a one-week only $55 entry fee deal for the normally very expensive race. Looking at last year’s Hawaii travel packages offered through Marathon Tours, it might be more affordable than I originally thought, so this may actually happen! It’s too soon after the Marine Corps Marathon to actually race it. I raced two marathons in October of 2011 and don’t have any desire to take on that pain again, but sounds like it’d be a breathtakingly beautiful run.

I also might throw in a 10k around Hains Point (either the Run for the Parks 10k in October or the Veterans Day 10k in November) to try and reach my goal of breaking 44 minutes on a nice flat course. I’m hoping to volunteer at packet pick ups or race day for a few others like the Crystal City 5k Fridays and the GW Parkway 10 Miler, so hopefully I’ll see some of you out there. Let me know how your race calendar is shaping up as we finally (hopefully) start to get some spring-like weather soon.

2013 Race Calendar

February 10 – Love the Run You’re With 5k

March 9 – Four Courts Four Miler

March 23 – Run Rogue 5k

April 7 – Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

*April 28 – Nike Women’s D.C. Half Marathon*

June 2 – Reston Sprint Triathlon

July 24 – DC Road Runners 1 Mile Track Championships

July 27 – Crystal City Twilighter 5k

*October 27 – Marine Corps Marathon*

December 8 – Honolulu Marathon

December 8 – Jingle All the Way 8k

*Goal Races*

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
Reply

I’m only two weeks into training for the Nike Women’s D.C. Half, but I’m getting more excited for this race everyday! I had a great run at the track and a solid tempo run so I’m feeling really good about my speed training. I ran 28.7 miles last week. Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class in the morning followed by a lower body workout as soon as I got home.

Tuesday: I was back at the track this week for my speed session. My total workout was 7.4 miles with roughly a 2.5 mile warm-up, seven 400-meter repeats on the track with 100-meter recovery jogs, and about a 2.5 mile cool down. I compared my times to my last 400-meter repeat track workout just about a month ago and was thrilled with the progress!

Wednesday: Today was another cross training and strength day so I got in another spin class at Revolve in the morning followed by a lower body workout and 45 minutes on the elliptical in the afternoon.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill at my apartment gym for an early morning 7.3 mile tempo run. For the second straight week I felt really strong on this. I started off with a one mile warm-up at an 8-minute pace then started the tempo pace at 7:47 increasing the speed every five minutes. I hit a 7:03 pace for my last five minutes before cooling down for a quarter of a mile back at an 8-minute pace. I stayed on the treadmill at a walking pace for a bit until my heart rate came back down, and stretched before heading off to get ready for the day.

Friday: Rest Day. It’s funny how used to exercising your body gets. It’s really hard for me to take a whole day off, but I’m really trying to train smart this time around!

Saturday: I was lacking motivation this morning, but finally got myself out on the roads around 10 for an out and back along the Custis and W&OD Trails. I’m glad I got myself out there. I made it 11 miles at an average 8:38 pace with the last 5 miles of the run all progressively faster ending with a 7:40 mile. The downhills on the way back definitely helped me out with that!

Sunday: I hit the treadmill at the apartment gym again for a quick 3 miler after a 15-minute warm-up on the stepper. I’ve always been able to run faster on a treadmill than outdoors, but still found my 6:58 pace at a .5 incline very encouraging and felt great after!

Quiet Sunday in the cardio section at my apartment gym

Quiet Sunday in the cardio section at my apartment gym

Resolution Check-In

Posted on by
3

Wow, how is the first month of 2013 already done? I still haven’t gotten used to writing 2013 instead of 2012 yet…I have a feeling this year is going to fly. With the start of a new month, I figured it’d be a good time to check back in and see how I’m doing with my New Year’s resolutions.

My big January focus was core and I had a goal of completing my P90X Ab Ripper workout five times per week. I beat my own expectations on this one, getting through the Ab Ripper workout every day last month. Going back to December I’m up to 34 straight days beating my previous longest streak of 31. It’s becoming a normal part of my daily routine now, so most days I just get up and do it without thinking or stressing too much about it. I’m hoping to keep this up as I know a stronger core will only make everything else I do easier.

Getting healthy was another resolution for the year and I’m off to a great start. I’m officially done with physical therapy, and am on my way to getting stronger. I’m sticking with my strength and stretching routines so I give myself the best possible chance to not end up injured again.

Drinking less soda was also on the list and I’ve had good weeks and bad weeks on this one. I started out the year strong telling myself I wouldn’t drink any soda Monday through Thursday. I made it through the first week and all the way through Wednesday of the following week. It probably hasn’t helped that I’ve been getting up much earlier than normal and exercising in the morning a lot more than I used to, leaving me a bit sleepy when my midday craving for a caffeine boost hits. After several early mornings that second week, I was up even earlier for a 4:30 wake up call to make a group run that Thursday morning, and I caved at lunch giving into my soda craving and falling back into my soda-a-day routine for the most part after that. I’ve tried drinking diet soda since I hate the taste so much thinking that I’d stop drinking it if I didn’t like it, but I just started to get used to the taste…yuck! Oh well, I’ll try again this month!

I obviously can’t realize my big goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon until my October marathon, but getting back my speed is going to be my big February focus. I’ve built a great base of fitness over the last five weeks or so completing mostly easy paced runs and a lot of cross training. Now it’s time to crank it up a notch. My goal for this month is to complete two speed sessions a week whether it’s at the track, running hill intervals or tempo runs.

Smiling after getting home from last week's track workout - need to remember that post workout feeling so I keep getting out there for speed sessions!

Smiling after getting home from last week’s track workout – need to remember that post workout feeling so I keep getting out there for speed sessions!

How are you doing on your resolutions? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on by
Reply

Going strong! I ran a total of 14.25 miles this week and spent a lot of time at the spin studio.

Here’s the training breakdown by day:

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: Track Workout – 2 mile warm-up; 6X400m repeats with a 100m jog recovery; 1.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: Spin Class

Thursday: 4 miles easy – I ran home from work Thursday night completely overdressed since I was expecting freezing temps and snow, but instead it was completely dry and over 40 degrees.

Friday: Spin Class – Body Ride

Saturday: 4 miles easy – Great weather for a Saturday morning run through Georgetown along Rock Creek Parkway and back over the Memorial Bridge past the Iwo Jima Memorial. All was great except for a spill I took near the end ripping up my favorite winter running gloves…better them than my hands though.

Sunday: 1.25 miles easy on the treadmill to warm up for a lower body workout. Spin Class – Body Ride

Speed Session

Posted on by
Reply

One of my favorite parts of running is hitting the track for a speed workout. Some think I’m crazy for this, but I love the feeling of pushing myself as hard and fast as I can around the track. I’m always exhausted at the end of a track session, but I also get a rush that’s not usually matched by my other runs.

I stopped speed workouts even before starting physical therapy so I can’t even remember when my last trip up to the track was, but I started back up today. It was cold, dark and rainy when I pulled up to the track before 6 this morning, but I was excited to be there. I’ve only started adding speed workouts to my training in recent years and noticed huge gains when sticking to them regularly. Today’s track session came after three weeks of easy running, and will be my only speed session this week since I don’t want to do too much too soon. Next week I plan to start adding in a weekly tempo run as well to help pick up my pace and get back to where I was at…or even faster!

On tap for today was a 2 mile warm-up, 6 400 meter repeats with a 100 meter jog recovery and a 1.5 mile cool down. It wasn’t anything too hard or intense, but it felt great to be cranking up the pace again and pushing myself to new levels.

Do you like speed workouts or just endure them because you know they make you better? What’s the toughest track workout you’ve completed? Let me know in the comments!