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Duluth, MN - half marathon

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

First Long Workout of the Season

June is quickly approaching, so I decided I needed to do a longer workout this weekend mixed into our long run.

3 mi w/u
Goal: 4 x 2 mile w/half mile recovery @ 5:55 (half marathon pace)
Actual: above
3.5 mi c/d

I keep waiting for my legs to start feeling fresh, it's to the point now that I can't keep blaming it on all the driving/traveling. I'm managing to make it through my workouts fine, but my regular runs are nothing but sub par. After a 10 mile run on Saturday and standing on my feet for several hours afterwards, we didn't really know if this workout was going to happen. We made a deal that we would at least do 3 of the 4 repeats.

After rain all Saturday, it was a calm beautiful morning on Sunday. We ran this workout on the Firsco trail so that it would be fairly flat and fast. After a big internal battle with myself, we ended up doing all 4 (of course). Haha. Our thrid one was the fastest around 11:30, it was hard not to end on a high note!

Week in Review
58 miles
2 workouts
16 mile long run
NO MORE PT SCHOOL!!

Not to shabby of a week considering I didn't run on Friday. That's my goal for the next week, to be more consistent with my running and get back into a good routine. Now that I'm out of school and graduation isn't for a couple more weeks, this is as good of time as any to hit the ground running (pun intended).

This next week, I'll be back on the track and then racing a 5k on the weekend.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Back to the Track

I got wrapped up in the end of school and all sorts of stuff that I can't even remember where I left off with my running. I'll just pick up starting this week, and re-cap the workout Anthony (or Marshall as he likes to be called now) and I did on Wednesday.

2 mi w/u
Goal: 6 x 1k @ sub 3:20 w/400m recovery
Actual: above
2 mi c/d

I was looking forward to this workout, it had only been about a week since I've been on the track, but for some reason felt longer. Anthony, on the other hand, hadn't been on the track in nearly 6 weeks, so we touched paces that he hadn't experienced until he ran his 5k last weekend.

Surprisingly, we were very consistent with this workout. Jumping right in and right on pace. We were just finishing up the second one, when the Missouri State track team started their practice. Lucky for us, I think it was the field event athlete and sprinters and we were able to work around each other. It's nice being on a track with other people who know track etiquette. 

Having feeling sluggish the past 2 weeks, which I'm blaming on all the traveling I've been doing, I thought I had reached my limit after only 4 repeats. This one had slowed down a bit, and was hard to close at the end. None the less, still on pace. At this point, a local runner had come over to talk to us, as he recognized Anthony from the Poker Run Series we did in February earlier this year. I silently celebrated this extra long break and gathered myself enough that I figured I could do one more. Anthony bargained with me, that if this one was a good one it could be the last one. I then asked what would happen if it was bad, and he laughed and said this would be the last one either way. Haha, either way was a win for me. 

I did surprise him by telling him that I was going to do the 6th and final 1k. The longer break after the 4th one gave me my second wind and we were able to close with an impressive 3:15.

REVIEW
I'm going to start finally increasing my miles and incorporate longer workouts to get ready for a couple half marathons in June. A couple little 5k's here and there, then I'm ready for the big races! I'm looking forward to warmer weather and enjoyable runs.

I'm finally getting ready to graduate the 19th grade, so I get a little time off then come June start a pretty intense study schedule for boards.

Enjoyed a run down the Katy Trail on my way home from KC.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

I'm trashed

I'm trashed. . . it was a wild weekend (running, of course)

Saturday 3/30/13
1.5 mi w/u
Goal: 5 x mile @ sub 5:40 with half mile recovery
Actual: above
.5 mi c/d

9 miles total

I'm glad to have my running buddy back for this workout! After spending nearly three weeks in Kansas City, I was hope for a longish Easter break. This workout was done Saturday afternoon. With the way the warm-up felt, I'm surprised we were able to hit our goal times with relative ease. Some miles were harder than others depending on terrain and direction of the wind. No matter how fast I start out, Anthony always like to jump ahead then lets me pull even to finish up. While I grumble at the time, I'm content to just tuck in behind him and let him pull me through at a fast pace.

I'm glad we had a short cool down, because my legs were toast after this workout. This was longer than many of my recent workouts. I've been getting on the track thinking I need some speed, but now I have the GO! St.Louis half marathon that has snuck up on me. We were fairly consistent, dipping as low as 5:30 for a couple of them. Good confidence builder for next weekend.

Week in Review
62 miles
11 mile long run
2 workouts
3 weeks left of school!

The weekly mileage was a little high as my long run from last week was pushed to Monday because of snow! So I did my final long run before my half of 16 miles on Monday. This pushed my hill repeats back to Wednesday. Do to the snow, I couldn't use my regular hill. I settled for what I thought was going to be a tough hill, however, it only took about 20-30 seconds to get to the top. I wanted each repeat to be about a quarter mile, so the hill repeats were basically a 20-30 second uphill push, then a flat 60ish second sprint on flat ground. Not ideal, but always looking for the positive, it taught me to continue to push once I crest the top of the hill.

I usually don't get hurt, but I had a bit of a scare this weekend. After our "long" run on Sunday my knee started to hurt. I self diagnosed myself with acute patellar tendinitis and allowed myself to sulk the rest of the day. I can't think of anything in particular that brought this on. . . there was not trauma and I even stretched while I was waiting for Anthony to finish up a couple more miles. The knee didn't hurt during the run, it wasn't until we got home and I started to climb the stairs up to our apartment. Bizarre.

I thought for sure I would wake up the next day (Monday) and feel completely normal. Not the case, I felt worse. Always jumping to the worst conclusion, I immediately made an appointment with my chiropractor, Dr. Reed at Ultimate Health and Rehab. He agreed to see me Monday afternoon and after about 15 minutes of active release technique (ART) and some kinesio tape, the knee felt some-what better,and my gait felt more normal. Right after he treated me, I went for a test run. I was able to complete only 4 miles, but must admit, when I woke up the pain was enough that I thought there was no way I would be able to even run! That ART is good stuff. So this brings me to today. Now in Kansas City, I couldn't get ART, but still am wearing the kinesio tape. I was a little apprehensive for my run today because I still had knee pain with ascending and descending stairs. However, much to my surprise, I felt normal on my run today! I tried to stick to a flat route (hills also hurt), stretched afterwards, used the stick, and put ice on it. Hopefully, this little set back is not enough to cause me to have a bad run this weekend at the GO! Saint Louis half.

Kinesio taping to my left knee
 
Special thanks to Dr. Reed