Tuesday July 20, 2010

Workout: 30:00 cross training + strength

Weight: 124.0

Huh, not sure why I haven't been blogging as regularly in recent weeks... Saturday morning I ran a good 8 miles. I felt good for most of it - up until the last 2 miles when I had some digestive issues and needed to stop frequently to walk. The last mile was about where my body felt overrun, too. It was a good run - the best long run I've had in a while, I think.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles on the treadmill because we stayed up late on Sunday watching a movie and I did NOT feel like getting up at 5am to run. It was an easy run in the respect that it was on the treadmill, but I consider it a Pace run because I ran the whole thing at 9:30 pace, which I really hope I will run the race in.

This morning I went to the gym for the first time in a while (June 14th?) and did some cross training and hated it. I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike and purposely did not push myself to have a hardcore workout. I think my heart rate was in the 120's for most of the time. I feel like the time goes so slow in the gym, so it felt like the neverending workout. I also did upperbody strength machines. I decreased my weights by 10lbs and did 3 sets of 15 reps, which ended up being a nice strength workout.

Thursday July 15, 2010

Workout: Swallow Cliff stairs

Time: 60:00+

Weight: 124.4

Two years ago

Went to the stairs with Michelle this morning and I'm pretty sure she had it in her head that her goal was to kill me.

I haven't done the stairs in over a year and forgot how difficult it is. You think: stairs, big deal. And then you start up them and remember: stairs, ugh. 126 uneven stairs, very steep. Horrible humidity. Bugs. And then she added a 1 mile run at the top after every two rounds. I ran with her the first time and then bowed out of that situation... I needed a break from running because my legs from the ankles to the knees are so incredibly tired. I stuck to the stairs and ran in the parking lot, which was probably closer to a 1/2 mile, but flat as opposed to hills.

I will say, though, that while she was challenging me with the run, I had to challenge her on the stair climbing and get her to go a little faster and a little harder.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles and it was terrible. I walked a lot of it and really feel like I need a break from the running. How great is that in week 2 of my training? My legs are struggling right now and the humidity is nearly impossible to run in. I'm glad to hear that Cornbread is having the same struggles so I don't feel like I suck so badly. We both realized that training for this race is going to be more difficult than the previous one because most of the training is in the hot, summer weather. So good luck to us.

Monday July 12, 2010

Workout: 4.87 miles

Time: 49:47

Pace: 10:10

Weight: 123.8

Two Years Ago

Went out this morning for 5 miles. I'm going to have to add a little bit to that route on Wednesday when I go so I can get to 5 or more.

The run was horrible. I slept poorly last night. I also went to a wine tasting last night and should have stopped at the 4th wine. And after the wine tasting we got sandwiches and ice cream. All of that combined for some abdominal pain that made most of the run miserable. By the time I was ready to give up, I was too far from home so I had to continue. It was bad, though, and I took quite a few walking breaks that were pretty long. All in all it was just a horrible run - my stomach hurt, my body was tired, I was laboring most of the time.

Unpleasant.

Saturday July 10, 2010

Scheduled workout: 7.5 miles

Actual workout: 8.87

Weight: 122.6

Two years Ago

I actually got up this morning to do my run, but went to change my clothes and realized that all of my running clothes were soaking in the washer. So I couldn't run this morning. I went back and forth all morning about when I would run - a) on the treadmill whenever I wanted, b) tomorrow morning, or c) in the afternoon after Cornbread came home from the office.

Problems with each of them:
a) 7 1/2 miles on the treadmill without a book to read = horrific

b) Sunday is the only morning that we don't set the alarm, and I really enjoy getting up, going downstairs, making coffee, getting the newspaper and reading all morning.

c) it was 85 degrees and 50% humidity this afternoon and I likely would be running around 1:30/2:00 - worst time of day.

I went outside and worked on the yard a bit and didn't think it was too hot and felt a nice breeze. At one point the clouds covered the sun and the weather was perfect. The sky had some big fluffy clouds, so I thought that perhaps my run would be partly shaded and cooler... so I went out.

And it was horrible. By the time I got to the running path (1 1/5 miles) I was pretty miserable, but thought I'd be a little better once I got back on the street and back into the breeze. Wrong. At that point I decided to pack it in and go home. At some point I decided I would finish on the treadmill, which I did.

So I ran 4.37 miles outside at a 10:30 pace with A LOT of walking and then ran 4.5 miles on the treadmill at a 9:25 pace with the incline between .5 & 1%. I had figured that my outside portion was possibly 3.5 miles if I was lucky, so I thought I'd do 4 on the treadmill, but then that turned into 4.5 based on the time and wanting to finish a song. I was pretty surprised when I mapped my outside run at 4.37 miles.

I checked a book out of the library called Core Performance: endurance. I read a review of it and it is a training plan that is built around working out smarter and more efficiently, not harder and longer. I'm intrigued and hope to get through it this weekend.

I really hate long runs :)

Friday July 9, 2010

Workout: Intervals

Time: 37:34

Distance: 4.0

Pace: 9:22

Weight: 122.6

Two Years Ago

Intervals were 1/4 mile at 6.0 / 1/4 mile at 7.0 with a cool down at 6.3 for 7:34 (to finish the chapter in my book).

Finally put my training plan together for Holland. Training was supposed to start on Monday, but I've been kind of floundering throughout the week trying to decide which plan to follow - Hal Higdon's advanced or intermediate plan. Neither one suited me well. The advanced plan was a little too much and the intermediate was not quite enough. So I combined the two along with the plan we had for Indy. I'm happy with it.

M/W/S = running

T/F = cross training with strength training (could substitute intervals for the cross)

TH = circuits or hill repeats

The plan starts at 21-24 miles/week and ends at 27-30 miles/week. The beginning weeks are actually probably slightly less than what I've been running in the last month already.

I'm glad to finally have something in writing so I know exactly what I need to do every day. I'm not sure if I'm going to set a time goal for myself or not... I'm definitely running faster and I'm doing intervals and hill repeats for variety but also for speed training. I think perhaps my goal is just going to be that I want to finish faster than 2:12, which was a 10:02 pace.

Sunday July 4, 2010

Workout: Long Run

Distance: 7.57 miles

Time: 1:19:47

Pace: 10:30

We're in Grand Rapids this weekend and Cornbread and I took the opportunity to let the girls sleep in Nana and Papa's room last night so we could go running together this morning. I mapped out a 9.1 mile run that began at Calvin and went around Reed's Lake and ended by running around Calvin's campus. We mistakenly chopped off 1.5 miles while running, which I'm disappointed about, but it was still a good run.

The route was really, really nice. Calvin's campus is a bit hilly, but the path around the lake was flat - for the most part. Most of the run was in the shade and it was littered with other runners, walkers and bikers. It was fun to be back here and it was fun to run together.

Training begins tomorrow. Going to have to think about that and whether to postpone or skip the first day since we'll be here and not at home. Will decide that tonight.

Wednesday July 1, 2010

Workout: 6.0 miles

Time: 56:47

Pace: 9:30

Weight: 123.4

Went running with Michelle this morning. I really did not want to go. I really wanted to sleep and hit the treadmill later, but honestly, I wouldn't have fallen back to sleep. I knew that, but I still didn't want to go running. I just didn't feel like it. My body was tired. Michelle said she didn't want to go either, but we went and it was good and it was a lot of fun.

I like running with her. Since I'm running with her, I don't stop to walk at all and the time passes quickly because we're talking the whole time. She doesn't push me to go faster and is happy to go at whatever pace I'm going at. Its really nice and we should do it more often.

She was wearing her Garmin - GPS watch thing - which said that we ran 6 miles, but every time I map out the route, it says 6.29 or 6.33. I'm wondering if she stopped the tracking while we were walking from the drinking fountain back to the street... just checked that out, and that had to be what she did. That makes me feel better - I was worried that my times and paces were wrong this whole time.

One really nice thing about running with her is that I don't stop after running up a hill. There were a few hills that I felt miserable about while I was going up and felt like I had a really hard time recovering from once I got to the top, and I normally would have stopped to catch my breath, but because I was with her I didn't. Thats a big help - I know I can do it now, I just need to push myself.

I'm so glad I went out and didn't sleep in, but I'm going to be exhausted by 3:00.