Tag Archives: training

Resolution Check-In

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Seriously, how is it July already? Seeing as we’re now more than halfway through the year, it’s time to take a hard look at how I’m doing on my New Year’s Resolutions.

I’m still staying healthy and that’s awesome. With four trips last month and more to come, one thing that has really helped is having a portable roller known as The Stick. Ian got it for me as a gift and it helps keep my muscles in good shape even when I’m on the road. It’s nice to get back from a trip and not have the first time back with the foam roller be super painful. You know that involuntary tears kind of painful…never good, so I’m glad to be avoiding it now!

thestick

 

A stronger core was another one of my New Year’s resolutions that will also help keep me healthy and injury free. It was also my focus for the month of June. I actually let these slip a little with all the craziness of traveling, moving and wrapping up my job before I start a new one next week. I actually had to go back and look at last month’s post to remember what I’d put. I still do a good job of getting planks in most days, but I’m definitely not doing enough and need to get back to my full P90X Ab Ripper routine.

I had good weeks and bad weeks with drinking soda last month. I just stocked up on Tri-Berry Nuun though, so I’m going to turn to that this month when I’m looking for a drink with some flavor rather than gulping down a soda!

My final goal/resolution is my Boston Qualifier. I’m still working hard to get in shape for this and even managed to get long runs in on two of my recent trips to Portland and Montreal so I can keep on pace for this! It’s hard to believe it’s officially fall marathon training season and it’s getting closer to making this really happen. I’m still working on my speed as well as my endurance too and have two speedy races coming up this month including a 4-miler and my first-ever track race for a one-miler.

I’m looking forward to a good month and am making cross training my big focus for this month. I only do it two days a week, but I’m going to make sure I get quality cross and strength training workouts in all month.

So how are you doing on those resolutions this year? Have you checked any off the list yet?

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.

skyline

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week was another solid week of base training. I didn’t have any great workouts, but didn’t have any bad ones either. As much as I love the heat and prefer running in it over the cold, even I have to admit that it slows me down. This was especially obvious at the track and on my long runs this week. Hopefully it’ll just make me tougher for a fall marathon though.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class.

Tuesday: 7 mile run plus 4 striders after work. I got absolutely poured on during my run, but it just reminded me how much fun it is to run in the rain when it’s warm out.

Wednesday: Today I got in a 30-minute strength workout with a focus on legs and a lot of single leg squats.

Thursday: I hit the track at American University for a 2X1 mile and 3X1000 meter workout hitting my splits in 7:22, 7:34, 4:44, 4:42, 4:41.

AUtrack

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 9.65 miles starting at 10 a.m. along Mt. Vernon Trail with temps in the high 80s and close to 70 percent humidity. It’s definitely time to start getting my runs in earlier. As I passed through Gravelly Point Park on my way back and was struggling a little, a random lady yelled, “love your newtons, good job!” It totally made my run, put a smile on my face and got me moving along for the last couple miles. Runners are the best!

Sunday: I didn’t make it up early enough to get my run in before the day started and felt completely unmotivated all day. I finally got myself to the gym close to 9 o’clock at night and slogged through a slow 5-miler on the treadmill. It wasn’t a good run, but I’m sure glad I got myself to do something.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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I started off this week in a total funk and my one-week recovery after the half marathon turned into more like 2 weeks. A busy week at work and coming down with a cold midweek didn’t help my motivation any, but I finally broke out of things with a good Friday evening workout, a better than expected 5k after 2 weeks off of running and a good Sunday run.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: Track workout with my  new running coach. I did a 2-lap warm-up and dynamic warm-up drills with the group and then worked on my form while others did their workouts for the week. More to come on this later.

Thursday: Unplanned rest day. Today was a great example of why I shouldn’t put workouts off. I had to go into work early and was sure I could get in a lunch run, but ended up working through lunch.

Friday: Elliptical for an hour followed by a strength workout

Saturday: I ran the National Police Week 5k, and while it was a bit off my best performance, it was much better than I expected after a nearly 2-week layover from running. Recap coming tomorrow.

National Police Week 5k

National Police Week 5k

Sunday: I put in a strong 5.03 mile run averaging sub 8-minute miles on a beautiful afternoon through Arlington and D.C.

Book Review: PRE The Story of America’s Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

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I cannot believe I have never read this book. If you’re a runner or a competitor, you will love it.

Tom Jordan tells the story of Pre’s life from his beginnings in Coos Bay, a mill town on the coast of Oregon through his brilliant, but short career. As a runner, I’ve always known who Pre was and obviously heard the stories about how great he was and how his life was tragically cut short in a car accident. I honestly didn’t know much more than that though and loved every page of this book.

Jordan details Pre’s career from high school through college at the University of Oregon to the Olympics, running overseas and his run-ins with the AAU. He talks about his training, his interaction with teammates and others, and his races. There are brief blurbs throughout from people whose lives Pre touched that give you a fuller picture of who Pre was. His work ethic, drive and intensity were unbelievable and unmatched. What really stood out for me was his connection to “his people” in Oregon.

A few of my favorite excerpts:

Bill Dellinger, University of Oregon assistant cross country and track coach at that time, remembers his first glimpse of Pre at that meet. ‘I was standing on a hill. I had my binoculars, and I was probably a good half-mile or 700 yards away from the start. And I saw this guy that had the start position, but it was the look in his eyes, from a half-mile distance, the intensity in his face as the gun went off. I thought That’s got to be Pre.'”

Training was not always all that much fun, as Pre himself admitted. ‘It really gets grim until the competition begins,’ he once said. ‘You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.'”

‘It seemed,’ said Rick Riley, ‘that those of us running in the meet were only minor performers and that any minute the Star would appear and the crowds would roar to life, athlete and spectator giving and taking whatever it I that each needs and wants. I stood there on the track near the finish but he did not appear. The magic was gone forever.'”

Seriously, read this book – you won’t regret it.

PRE

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift.” -PRE

Resolution Check-In

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I know I say this every month, but how is another done already?! With the beginning of the month here it’s time for me to check in on how I’m doing with my New Year’s Resolutions, and choose what my focus will be for this month.

Even with a lot of running so far this year I’ve been staying injury free. I’ve spent a lot more time stretching, foam rolling and icing than ever before, so I’m sure this is playing a major role. Building a stronger core was also a major part of this and I’ve been doing great with that. I’m on day 124 of my consecutive days streak doing my P90X ab ripper workout and also completed a 5-minute plank challenge last month. The craziest thing about the plank challenge was that I wasn’t sore the next day – so this core thing must be working!

Drinking less soda was April’s focus since I was reintroducing it to my diet after giving it up for Lent and didn’t want to overdo it. I had a few bad days with this when I was tired and traveling and craving caffeine, but overall I’m getting a lot better about not drinking too much soda. Definitely still something I need to work on though.

My last resolution for this year was more of a goal – Boston Qualifier. As I’m sure you can imagine and as many others feel, I want this more than ever now. My marathon isn’t until late October so I won’t be able to get in for 2014, but I hope to be there cheering on next year’s runners knowing I have my ticket punched for 2015. I just hired a running coach thanks to a Zozi deal, and am really excited to have someone to work with to help me navigate my training plan and hold me accountable. I think this will be a great step towards getting my BQ this year!

May’s focus is going to be all about strength. My goal is to do at least 3 strength workouts per week to work on toning and strengthening my upper and lower body, which will only help me become an even better runner.

What are your goals for this month? How do you plan to get to them?

Rough Day Running: Nike Women’s DC Half Marathon Race Recap

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My race day started off with a 4:44 a.m. alarm, and unlike I usually do when early alarms go off, I popped right out of bed. Exhausted from a long week of travel for work I actually went to bed early Saturday night and didn’t feel like I needed the snooze button Sunday morning. All my race gear was laid out, so I was quickly ready to go.

The first sign of a bad day struck when I grabbed my Garmin. The display screen was blank. I had just charged it the night before, but I think it went into it’s protected mode which I’ve had trouble with before. I pulled up the email from Garmin support on how to bring it back to life, but after I did it beeped that the battery was low. NOOOOOO! I had a minor panic attack before Ian calmed me down and assured me this wasn’t the end of the world. I was going to have to wear a regular stopwatch for the race and not have instant feedback on my current pace or beeps with mile splits at all the markers. I haven’t done an outdoor run without my Garmin or before that my Nike Plus wrist band in years. I convinced myself not to worry about it and headed toward the metro.

I was really early, so there was barely a line for the porta potties. I was one of the first people in the 6:30-7:29 pace corral, which turned out to be pretty sparse. I had to go to the bathroom again, but stressed out about whether or not I’d have time so I decided not to go. I think I might drink too much water on race morning sometimes. This was a bad decision and would come back to haunt me as I really couldn’t hold it anymore and had to find a porta potty just past the 10k-mark wasting about 90 seconds.

Other than that little bit of TMI, everything seemed perfect for the start of the race. Temps were in the low 50s, so I wasn’t freezing like at the start of the Cherry Blossom, but it wasn’t going to be too warm to run in either. The Nike trainers kicked things off with some fun active stretches to get everyone warmed up and pumped up, and then to top things off they introduced Shalene Flanagan and Joanie Benoit Samuelson. The two both sporting Boston tees were going to “jog” the race with us.

At the start, ready to go.

At the start, ready to go.

With so few people in my corral and even fewer in the one ahead of us, I was very close to the start line. I didn’t have any issues with overcrowding or weaving in and out of people at the start, which was awesome. I’ve heard some rumblings on social media that this was a bit of an issue for others further back however. We headed out for the first mile that led us through a tunnel with drummers and strobe lights reverberating off the walls pumping up the energy. From there the course was very similar to the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler running along the Mall, out and back over the Memorial Bridge, past the Kennedy Center and through Hains Point.

Coming out of the tunnel at mile 1

Coming out of the tunnel at mile 1

Right from the start something didn’t feel right. It was hard to breathe even during mile 1 – like that out of shape, out of breath I’m running way too hard feeling. I wasn’t running way too hard though. I ran my first mile right on pace in 7:30 and my second at about 7:27. It felt hard though. Really hard. I desperately tried to stay positive though, and told myself it was good that I wasn’t going out too fast. I didn’t want to let my mind beat me when I’d trained so hard for this race.

My next two miles slowed to about a 7:50 pace even though I felt like I was pushing to keep at my 7:30 goal. Again I told myself to stay positive and that I still had energy in the tank to make up for it. This was not a fun way to run. I wasn’t taking in any of the sites or enjoying the bands and cheer sections along the course that were all really great.

I entered the long, lonely stretch that is Hains Point and told myself this was my spot to make up some time. I’ve been running these roads so much this year and there was actually no major headwind to deal with on Sunday…this never happens at Hains

Point! Instead I got even slower. Nike did a great job of filling this four-mile-stretch with motivational signs that I tried to use for motivation. By mile 9 though, when I realized I’d slipped well below an 8-minute pace and was only slowing more, I almost broke down and cried.

Leading from start to finish...wow!

Leading from start to finish…wow!

Mile 10 brought the first real hill up an on ramp, but it wasn’t even that tough of a hill when you think about the course for the National Half Marathon also here in D.C. At this point I wanted to just run off the course and hide somewhere to stop the struggling. Mile 11 brought us back through the tunnel and into the final stretch down to the Capitol Building and back towards the finish on Pennsylvania Ave. I swear that loop around the front of the Capitol took days. I saw Ian just after the 20k mark and tried to smile as I ran by, but just wanted this race to be over.

Just get me to the finish line!

Just get me to the finish line!

You can see the finish line of this race from a long ways away. The fact that I didn’t have any energy to even kick to the finish made it seem like I was never going to get there! I did finally cross the line though and got high fives from Shalene and Joan Benoit – the highlight of my day. I broke down a little when I saw my friend Lindsay who was handing out water at the finish and told her I felt awful and had a terrible run. Being a runner she just gave me an understanding hug and told me there’d be another chance for a PR.

Only highlight of the race...getting high fives from Shalene Flanagan and Joan Benoit Samuelson at the Finish!

Only highlight of the race…getting high fives from Shalene Flanagan and Joan Benoit Samuelson at the Finish!

I kept moving through the finish area collecting my Tiffany’s necklace from the ROTC guys in tuxedos and then grabbed my super cute finisher’s tee. Well done Nike. I met up with Ian and immediately lost it and started sobbing in his arms. I realize this is a ridiculous reaction to not getting the time I wanted, but I was exhausted emotionally and physically and it just came out. I’d trained so hard for this race and was really disappointed that I’d had such a bad day. It wasn’t just that I was mad about my time on a day and a course that were tailor made for a PR, but that I’d hurt for the whole race and hadn’t enjoyed any of it like I usually do on race day.

ROTC guys getting ready to hand out Tiffany's necklaces to the finishers

ROTC guys getting ready to hand out Tiffany’s necklaces to the finishers. Kudos to Ian for getting them to do the prom style picture!

Finishers Tee and Necklace

Finishers Tee and Necklace

I had a goal of finishing in 1:38 and ended with a time of 1:47:48 putting me in 812 place overall and 236 out of 3,744 in my division. It’s funny how relative running can be. A few years ago I would have been over the moon with that time, but after the training I put in, I know I could have done much better. In the grand scheme of things it’s just a race time. Nobody other than me really cares what time I come in. Even my goal time wasn’t going to win me any awards. I finished another half marathon and that’s something to be proud of.

Also, one of the best things about running is that there’s always another chance. I’m thinking about adding in another half marathon to give it another shot, but am trying to give myself a few days to see how I feel before jumping into a new race. I’m looking at the half in Alexandria on Memorial Day weekend or the Zooma half in Annapolis on June 1. Has anyone done either of these? What are your thoughts? How do you deal with a tough race?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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I ran 20.6 total miles last week in my half marathon week. Everything about the Nike Women’s DC Half Marathon was great except for my performance, so I was a bit disappointed, but what can you do?!

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: 3 miles at my race pace on an indoor track at the Chicago Hilton where I was staying for a work trip. I didn’t look at my watch once the whole time and felt like I was keeping an easy pace – was actually surprised when I saw I’d hit my race pace for the run.

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: Interval workout on the treadmill back at the hotel gym (which was pretty awesome). One mile warm up followed by 6x400m repeats at a sub-7 minute pace for a total of 3 miles.

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Rest Day. I had the day off from work (just had to check emails) after traveling back from our Convention late the night before, but didn’t really spend my day relaxing. I was up early for a dentist appointment then had to get over to the other side of Arlington to have routine blood work done, and spent the afternoon/evening volunteering at the race expo.

Saturday: 1.5 mile easy shake out run at a 7:48 pace

Sunday: Race Day. Conditions were absolutely perfect for a PR and yet I struggled from start to finish and never felt good. It kept me from enjoying what should have been an awesome race. Full recap to come tomorrow, but I finished well off my goal of 1:38 in 1:47:48.

Only highlight of the race...getting high fives from Shalene Flanagan and Joan Benoit Samuelson at the Finish!

Only highlight of the race…getting high fives from Shalene Flanagan and Joan Benoit Samuelson at the Finish!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Sorry this is so late. I’m in Chicago for work this week, so I’m only blogging when I get the chance. I ran 16.8 total miles last week in another lackluster training week. A tough training week seems pretty trivial in light of last week’s events in Boston though. As I enter my taper week and get ready to race on Sunday I hope that the strong foundation I built in the earlier weeks of training will be enough to carry me through. No matter what happens next Sunday, there is one thing I know for sure. I will run my heart out and leave everything on the course. I’ll run for Boston. I’ll run for everyone that has supported me through my training. I’ll do it to prove to myself that I can always be better. And, I’ll run my heart out because that’s just what runners do on race day, and no terrorist will ever change that.

Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class. I had a personal training session in the AM, so I couldn’t make my usual morning class and went after work instead. I was fighting back tears before class started after following the news out of Boston all afternoon and almost skipped the class, but was really glad I went.

Tuesday: Rest Day.

Wednesday: Interval workout on the treadmill. One mile warm up followed by 6x800m repeats at a sub-7 minute pace for a total of 4 miles.

Thursday: 50 minutes on the elliptical.

Friday: Rest Day. Work got crazy today and I ran out of energy to get myself to the gym by Friday night. Good reason to make sure I get my runs in first thing in the morning.

Saturday: 12.8 miles. I needed this. More to come in a later post, but the DC Capital Striders put together a great Run For Boston group run out of Dupont Circle.

Sunday: Another unplanned rest day after traveling to Chicago and sitting though 6 hours of meetings. I didnt have it in me to get in my 3 miler after our staff dinner, so I put it off till Monday morning when I discovered we have a super awesome hotel gym!

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Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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I ran 28.75 total miles last week, and to be honest, none of them felt great. It was not my best week of training. I’m not sure whether or not to attribute it to coming off of the race Sunday, running out in the heat for the first time, having too many things on my plate this week or maybe it was just a bad week. Anyways, here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: 20 minutes of easy biking and a 2.5 mile easy-paced uphill run.

Wednesday: Unplanned rest day. I got myself to work 2 hours early so I could get a run in midday and still leave a few minutes early to get to my CPR Certification course that night. When I got ready to run at lunch I was very unhappy to realize I forgot my sneakers. By the time I got home close to ten that night I went straight to bed with no thoughts of a late night treadmill run.

Thursday: I put in 6.25 total miles as part of my interval run around Hains Point. I warmed up for a little over a mile before doing 4, 1-mile repeats with 1/4 mile recovery jogs and a short cool down. My mile repeats were slow and sluggish yet I felt like I was going as hard as I could. It was not a fun run. The last couple fell well below even my goal race pace.

Friday: I headed out to Hains Point again for a tempo run today, and again felt slow and sluggish. I don’t like doing back to back speed days, but forgetting my sneakers Wednesday kind of forced me into it. I was really proud of myself for completing this run though because I was pretty tempted to just stop and walk back to work, but I made it for 6.85 miles including my warm up and cool down.

Saturday: I was up and out early for my long slow run and it was just that…long and slow. I hoped to meet up with a running group about 3 miles in, but my tired legs were running slower than 9 minute miles to start, so I didn’t quite time it right and ended up doing my run alone. It was a beautiful day for a long run though, and I got in 13.15 miles along the Capital Crescent Trail. I followed up the run with an hour outdoor yoga for runners class in Clarendon that I actually really enjoyed.

Sunday: I still had a 5-mile pace run on my schedule for the week, but after 3 tough days in a row I decided it was probably best to take a day off. Hoping this decision pays off and gets me on track for a solid week this week.

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