Week in Review

Better late than never . . .

Week in Review
50 miles
1 double
1 workout
16 mile long run

Last week didn't turn out quite as expected. There were two days in which I logged zero miles. Monday it was raining, and I talked myself out of running. Then, on Friday, we didn't run either. Although we had every intention because we were scheduled to race ta 5k on the track that day. I was excited for this race because it was going to be my first outdoor track race in almost 2 years! Realistically, I felt ready to run close to 17 flat again because we had a really good workout on Tuesday. We looked up the weather, and thought everything looked okay to go to the Mizzou Relays in Columbia, MO. It started to rain before the event right before ours, so we waited, and we waited, and we waited. About and hour and half later, it was still raining, so we decided to beg for our money back and head home. Columbia is about 2 hours away, and we didn't want to be driving home really late at night.

We had a great workout on Tuesday, getting on the track and running some quarters. For some reason, by the end of the week, I was feeling very lethargic and felt like something just wasn't right. By the last mile of our run on Saturday, I was crawling. I was running slower than Friday (my day off) pace. Unfortunately, the feeling continued on Sunday long run. By mile three, I was ready to be done, but still had several miles to go. By mile 11 I was done, and the last 5 miles consisted of a run/walk back to the apartment. It was unlike anything I've ever felt before. Everytime I tried to take deep breaths, I ended up wheezing and getting more out of breath (I wonder if that's what asthema's like). It's like I wasn't processing oxygen. Anthony seems to think I may have an iron deficiency, so I've started taking my vitamen's again.

Tuesday - 8x400m
2 mi w/u
Goal: 8x400 @ sub 76 with 400 meter recovery
Actual: above
3 mi c/d

It's been a very wet spring so far this year. The first half of this workout was run in a light rain. I've put in a lot of runs since this workout, so I can't really comment on it too much because I can't remember. I know that they were fast, and the full 400 meter recovery was enough that I could maintain a fast pace for the entire workout. I'm proud to say that we closed this workout with a 71. . . for those that don't know my running style very well, this is pretty impressive for me ;) I'm not known for my foot speed. The only reason we chose to do Q-tips (quarters till I puke. . . I'm not sure who came up with this acronym, but I think it was John Stoecker from my high school?) was to get some speed for Mizzou. Sadly, we didn't get put the quarters to the test.

We drove to all the way to Columbia so we could photograph this rainbow during the weather delays.

Week in Review

Week in Review
65 miles
1 double
2 workouts
16 mile long run
2 weights


Tuesday - 2 x 3 miles
1.5 w/u
Goal: 2 x 3 miles with 5 min recovery @ sub half marathon pace
Actual: above
1.0 c/d

Thank goodness for daylight savings time because Anthony and I ran this workout after I got out of class on Tuesday. I get out at 5:50, so we were at the trail and running probably by 6:20. Both of us have been feeling a bit tired the past couple days. We are at our peak mileage before the Rock the Parkway Half Marathon in April (only 4 weeks away! Yikes!). I swear, no matter how hard I train, I never feel ready. It's like all these races keep sneaking up on me.

It's been the same story for the past handful of workouts. . . We don't feel fast, but somehow manage to pull through and run goal pace. The plan was to run the first 3 mile repeat 15 seconds faster than the second one. Turns out, we ran almost the same exact time for both. After the first repeat, I was feeling really good because we closed with a pretty fast mile (5:49), so I was a little disappointed that the second repeat was no faster. It was starting to get late and dark, so that may have had a little to do with it. Also, it's amazing how bad the gnats are already. I guess that's what happens when you don't get a winter. I think I'd rather have it this way though, I could just wear sunglasses and that takes care of the bug problem. We were lucky that the wind had died down some, making this workout much more attainable.

I believe that I wore shorts EVERY single day this week! Almost unheard of for March. Not to mention it was in the upper 70's most days. But warm weather this early brings crazy winds with it. Good thing I just bought several (maybe I got a bit carried away) new summer running clothes :)

Sunday - 10 mile tempo (incorporated into long run)
3 mi w/u
Goal: 10 miles at 6:20 pace
Actual: above
3 mi c/d

Anthony had his board exams Friday - Sunday, so I ended up running this long run/tempo all by my lonesome. Gulp. This was the longest I've ever run by myself. I woke up at 6:45 am, talked with Anthony to see if he was even going to be able to run with his knee pain. We had discussed the previous night whether I would run this workout with him or alone. He assured me that he wanted to try, so I told him I would wait for him to get home (around 12:30 to run) and he left to go take his test. Well, I lied. By 7:40am I decided that I didn't want to try and run this workout when it was 77 degrees and 20+ mph winds. There would be no way I would be able to run goal pace. I felt that it was important that I do this workout because I wanted to test out my new racing shoes (did I mention I bought a ton of new running stuff?) I learned the hard way at the Bass Pro Half Marathon that you should test your shoes out before you wear them. I wore my Brooks Green Silence and ended up with two really nasty blisters. I had worn these shoes before for 5k's, but nothing longer. I'm confident that with my new Brooks Launch's that my feet will be fine in these shoes for a half marathon.

I drove to the trail head at Nall and set out for a 3 mile warm-up. The wind wasn't too bad and it wasn't too hot yet. I changed shoes, laced up my new shoes, took a couple calming breaths, and headed out for a 60+ minute tempo. The shoes felt really light and fast! The first two miles were sub 6:20, I was feeling confident and fast. Then I had mile 3 which was into the wind. I didn't really think it was that windy, but obviously it affected me. My pace unintentionally slowed this mile, but picked right back up to sub 6:20 for miles 4 - 6. The first 6 miles went by really fast and I thought the workout would be over before I knew it. . . but then it got hard when I turned around to head back to the car. Again with the wind. I dropped a 6:28, then a 6:26, then a 6:24, and managed to get the last mile back under 6:20. Longest. Four. Miles. Ever. I actually got back to the car at 9.5 miles and considered calling it good, but then my competitive drive kicked in and after longingly looking at the car, I continued on by for another 3+ minutes of running. The 10th mile appears better than it actually was. The only reason it was so fast was because I really sprinted the last .15 miles. I knew I would be upset with myself if I ran all that way and didn't get the goal time of 1:03:20. And guess what. . . the Garmin beeped off at 1:03:19. . . :)

I was pooped! I gulped down about half my water bottle, procrastinating the 3 mile cool down. After changing my shoes, I decided I had put off the inevitable long enough and started the 3 mile shuffle. Almost 2 hours I had started, I was finally done! Yes! Time for a nap.

Shake your Shamrocks

1st place female
4 miles @ 23:11
Gift card to Dick's sporting goods
Results

Yesterday I ran in the Westport St.Pat's 4 mile run. This brings out all sorts of crazy runners. It doesn't start until 10am, so even those that like to sleep in can still make it. Anthony and I got up at seven, and he headed straight out the door to get his run in. He opted out of racing this weekend, so I was going to be going through my race routine solo this time around.

We arrived downtown with about an hour until race time, and followed the sea of green runners to the packet pickup. I dropped my stuff of at the car, and headed out for my warm-up. It's been so long since I've raced by myself, that I forgot what it was like to warm-up and prepare for the race by myself. I didn't have Anthony there to give me a pep talk and get me excited. However, I found some comfort in being able to think positive and give myself my own sort of motivation.

After warm-up, I dropped back by the car to change shoes and attach my festive shamrocks for the race. Anthony assumed one of his normal roles as "spectator on a bike" and we headed towards the start. I saw a handful of familiar faces, including Meagan Earney, and headed over to start next to her. We settled in behind all the super fast guys, and waited for the countdown.

I didn't have as much green as everyone else

Off we ran. This was my second year to run this race, and I forgot how challenging of a course it is. I had wanted to open up with a sub 5:40 mile in hopes of breaking 23 minutes again, but ended up splitting a 5:45. That's okay though, that's still a good pace. However, the course continued to get harder. I found myself amongst a group of 4 guys, and just tried to hold onto them. By the time I got to 1.5 miles, I couldn't believe that was all. That isn't even halfway, and already I was struggling on the KC hills. Still, I managed to hold on to another 5:45. Crap. That wasn't any faster. And the third mile continued to climb. I accidently dropped a 5:56, my slowest split of the race. Somewhere in the third mile, even after feeling like I was crawling, I managed to pull ahead of my group of four and zoned in on two more guys not too far ahead of me. During the fourth and final mile, there was some relief. About the last 1k was a slight downhill finish. I just hope that I put enough distance between me and the 4 guys I passed so that they wouldn't catch my on the home stretch. I didn't want to look back (then they'd know I was worried!) so I ran scared to the finish line. Despite the challenge of the course, I still felt strong, and felt like I had a great finish. I managed to get my last split down to a 5:44, but couldn't quite catch the two in front of my. I really like the finish of this race. The spectators line about the last third mile to cheer you on home.

Not sure where. Maybe somwhere around half way?

I crossed the line four seconds slower than last year, high-fived Aaron who was watching everyone else finish. I got a couple pats on the back and fist pumps from random spectators as I made my way to find Anthony and head to the water station. Aaron Hohn is super fast and one of the fastest guys in KC, I'm pretty sure he finished in the top five. That's a great finish since the race brought in about 3500 runners.

I always make a list (sometimes just mentally) of little goals for each race. I fell short of a few, but I thought they were very challenging goals.

1. Win the race
2. Break 23 minutes
3. Beat Ken Moran

I was close to number 2, but fell WAY short of number 3. Ken and I first met at the Northface Endurance Challenge last August, where he managed to stay about 5 seconds ahead of me the entire race. I couldn't quite hang with him. We then raced again last month at the Love 2 Run (Blog Recap) and it was my turn to beat him. Number 3 was actually a goal I made up at packet pick-up when I saw him. He took off right from the start and wasn't even in my line of sight until we got to a long stretch somewhere around mile 2.5. No matter though, he was WAY to far ahead. The funny thing is, Ken has no idea that there is even a friendly competition between us. lol. It's just for my own sake to humor me. Truth is he's actually quite a bit faster than me.

Week in Review
60 miles
2 weights
1 workout
1 race
16 mile long run

Another good week in the log! This was our longest long run of the year so far. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't fun and it wasn't easy. We had the brilliant idea that we wanted to run a hillier route since we've been staying on the trail. This morning also brought rain. Which wasn't so bad until it started raining harder a mere 5 miles in, then getting soaked, then my hands freezing the last 4 miles :( It also felt way earlier because of daylight savings. No races next weekend. Anthony had his 2nd and 3rd board exams, so everyone needs to be sending him good luck vibes for Friday-Sunday! He gave out a few business cards this weekend at the race. Hopefully he gets someone to call back that needs treatment. He's a student at Cleveland Chiropractic College and needs to get patients to graduate!

Blustery Track Workout

1.5 w/uGoal: 2 sets of 4x800 with 200 recovery between reps and 400 between sets @ 2:40 or faster
Actual: Will not mention splits
             4x800; 4x400 with 200 recovery
cool down to 6 miles total

Okay, so the plan was to bust out some 800's, but things don't always go as planned. First, Anthony had patients all day, so we didn't even get to the track until after 5:00 pm. Second, winds were still blowing at 25 mph with gusts in the upper 30's mph. Last, it got dark before we finished the workout. With that being said, we decided that we would at least try to do some of the 800's.

I didn't feel like the first one was too bad. In fact, I felt rather strong despite the split that will not be mentioned. It was the last two that gave us the trouble. Not that we really slowed down, but we had the wind pushing us down the back stretch and it was like running into a brick wall down the home stretch. I looked over at Anthony at one point, and couldn't help but laugh at his form. His arms looked like he was swimming, and the wind was so strong it looked like he was running in place. It was at this point that we decided to drop down to 400's due to the wind and neither of us could see our watches because there are no lights on the track. The 400's proved to be no easier. I'm not sure if it is even possible, but it seemed that as the night went on the wind got stronger. We managed to finish up the last two with surprisingly fast splits (76 and 75).

This was by far the longest 6 miles of my life. Actually, if I rack my brain I could probably come up with worse. . . in the winter of 2008 Jamie thought it would be a brilliant idea to meet at Abbey's house to run. We got there and it was freezing and windy, and any skin that was exposed hurt so bad! I'm pretty sure every girl on the team was thinking mean thoughts, and I didn't know if everyone would have all their fingers and toes by the time we got back. Maybe it wasn't that bad, maybe it was. From a running standpoint, I will never forget or forgive! lol

Not the best, but it could have been worse. . .

Got my new uniform kit in the mail today!

Week in Review

48 miles
1 workout
2 days no running
2 blisters
15 mile long run

Anthony and I didn't quite make it to our goal mileage this week. I had a hectic week at school, so there were 2 days this week that I logged zero miles. I can't even remember the last time I had a day where I didn't run, let alone two in the same week. Rather than leaving me feeling refreshed, it was a struggle to finish out the week strong. This is in part because I got a new pair of shoes this week. They are not being nice to my feet, usually I can get by with just about any pair of shoes, but not these. I got a blister on the side of my foot and the back of my heel. Finally after about 50 miles on the shoes, they are starting to go away, so I should be for the Saint Pat's Westport Run this weekend.

Our workout this week was incorporated into our Sunday long run.

3.5 w/u
Goal: 8 mile tempo @ 6:20 pace
Actual: above
3.5 c/d

We did this tempo at the Frisco Trail in Springfield, since we went to visit my parents this weekend. After a rough week, running wise, both Anthony and I were a little concerned about how this tempo was going to be. We got up early to beat the crazy wind, and set out down the lonely trail. This tempo was an out/back, so we knew we were going to really have to work the turn around miles and push until we got through Willard. Sure enough it was our slowest mile, but even our slowest was still at goal pace. Anthony challenged me to a fast last mile, which I gladly accepted and we ticked off our fastest mile of the tempo. After high-fiving and congratualating ourselves on an awesome run, we started the long journey back to the car.

Up next week, we are thinking about doing something fast, on the track possibly. I need to gently remind myself that workouts @ sub 6:00 pace do exist. It probably won't be as fast as we like because the weather man is calling for winds @ 25 mph! I will have to focus more on effort rather than time. Next week I'm also going to be racing, with a goal of running faster than I did last year. I'm not sure if I'm going to dress up this year. Last year I managed a PR and a win while wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra. haha.

2011 St.Pat's run