Girl In Motion

75 degrees and 83% humidity when I left the house at 6:30.  What a bowl of soup.

Today’s adventure was 9 miles w/5×1000 at 5K race pace w 2 min rest between.  During the 3 mile warmup I saw my friend Joe out running, so that was a cheery start to the morning.  Along with my pal sighting, there was a huge pack of army kids dressed up in full camouflage regalia; longsleeve jackets, pants, boots, heavy gear on their backs, doing some running and walking on the bike path, so that quelled any complaining I might have done.

My goal for today’s intervals was the same one I’m using throughout this cycle, 7:15 5K pace, based off goal marathon pace.  Last week, my initial interval was sluggish, and though I caught up after that, today I aimed to be even-steven throughout.

Now, the problem with me is my big fat stupid ego.  A faster runner, or one with more experience, would have either done less intervals or done them slower to account for the weather.  I know this because I’m always reading speedy runner’s accounts on the Marathon Training Forum and it is the common advice.  But when you’re at my level (which I know a bunch of you are), you figure you gotta do the workout as-is or you’ll hate yourself, feel like a loser and be ashamed to write about it on your blog.

So I did the workout as planned (7:12,7:13,7:12,7:14,7:14…avg.7:13) though the test of V02max is “could you do another one when you’re done?”  If you’re doing them right, you’re supposed to have enough left in the tank for one more.  I suppose if someone threatened to stick bamboo shoots in my fingernails and a steel spike up my ass, I could have come up with one more, but otherwise, foggedaboutit, I was cooked.

But I feel good about it, it’s done and now I can revert to my slothful ways for the rest of the day.  What’s next?  Supposed to be off tomorrow then 5 recovery on Saturday, but it looks like there’ll be some tail-end hurricane action Saturday (rain and 27 mph winds), so I think I’ll do the recovery tomorrow to get it out of the way.

And on that exciting tidbit of future ponderings, I have a bowl of cereal here that needs attacking, must go in the for the kill now, so I’ll see you later, folks!

Sunday’s 22 was surprising in that my legs felt great afterwards and I had no soreness at all.  I expected DOMS yesterday but…nothing.  So I was feeling ready for today’s 8w/5×600s at 5K race pace.  What I didn’t take into account was that the 22-miler topped a peak week of 57 miles, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when once I got outside, all I wanted to do was travel at a snail’s pace.

My goal was to hit the same as last week, 7:15 avg, since that’s McMillans corresponding 5K pace for a 3:40 marathon. I begin the intervals and my first one is 7:26…hrmph!  That sucks.  OK, time to start paying attention!  Got it together and did the deed.  Intervals splits were 7:26, 7:14, 7:09, 7:12, 7:08…avg. 7:14. So it ended up ok, though I’d have preferred even pacing.

Funny though, afterwards I felt really energized and instead of my usual apres-interval-poopedness where it’s all I can do not to walk home, I continued on to run 4.5 more miles at 9:01 avg. pace, leaving me with a total of 10.5 for the morning.  This is good because I’m having to rearrange my schedule to accommodate Monday’s race and toploading the week will allow me to get a mini-taper in there.

Meanwhile, I’m having little shivers of anticipation for the race.  It’s an automatic PR because it’s my first 4-mile race, but I want to do well.  On the other hand, with marathon training it can go either way - you have tired legs so short races might not be up to par, then again, you’ve been improving fitness, so it could be a good time.  I don’t race a whole lot, so it’s hard not to want to set an aggressive goal.

I think the way I’ve figured is to take my 7:52avg. from last week’s 7 mile tempo, convert it to 12K, then input that as a race into my Daniels’ spreadsheet, which predicts a 30:19 (7:35 pace) for a 4-mile race.  Since I’m basing it off a tempo, it shouldn’t leave me redlining.  Then again, I don’t know the course at all, it’s in a different town - though I must say, Google Street View was very helpful in this regard.  I was able to “travel” a good chunk of the course that way, so it’s not a complete mystery.

My main thing is, I need to stop making races (especially little ones like this) so “oooh, big deal” in my head.  I think the way to do that is to do more of them so when they suck, it just gets absorbed into the mishmash of race outcomes.  Here’s to a future of mucho racing and carefree attitudes!  Yeah, right, haven’t I said this before?

Nice workout today - 8 miles w/5×600@5K race pace. Seeing as how I haven’t done a 5K in a few months, I used my goal marathon pace equivalent for the 5K (with some help from McMillan’s calculator) which is 7:15.

I split it up by doing 4 miles at the top of the workout, then the intervals, which magically averaged 7:15 (splits were 7:18, 7:15, 7:13, 7:13, 7:17), then the remainder for cooldown. I’m feeling very satisfied with it since the last time I did 600s was in April and they were slower, yet the temps were 17 degrees cooler.

Now to correct this week’s schedule in the previous post. Thanks to one of my gal friends on the Women’s BQ thread who took a cool poll yesterday of how many 20s people are doing for their marathons, I learned that my 5-6 was on the highest end (I think one other person is doing 6). The plan I’m following calls only for 3, but I know I’ll feel better to add more, so I’m going to make it five 20+ runs total - no need for 6.

Since this is a cutback week, I’ll stick with the plan as written and do 14 for my LR this Sunday (instead of the 20 I’d planned), but I’ll make it a hill workout on my favorite Mile Hill, so I’ll still get a little extra sumpin’ sumpin’ out of the deal. Next weekend it’s a scheduled 20 that I’ll stretch to 22.

Don’t you feel so much better now that I’ve clarified my schedule? I thought so. Later, my lovelies.

The Broad St. 10 miler is just about here. I’m looking forward to it - though thanks to about 16,999 other runners, I’m dreading the wall of people guaranteed to clog the start. It’ll be an automatic PR since it’s my first 10M race, but I’d still like a fighting chance to do my best.

So I’m thinking of doing things differently this race. Instead of my usual scurrying/weaving around slower people at the beginning, I would like to not waste that energy, instead keeping myself contained, then speeding up as an opening occurs. The problem with that is I don’t trust myself to be able to surge later and make up for lost time…will I have the energy? This method scares me but I’m sure it’s the best way to run the race.

Cluster-fuck in mind, I have two goals; one that I can live with and one I think I could get if everything went hunky-dory. Here’s hoping either of those occur.

Meanwhile, my ankle thing that made itself known exactly a month ago (and which I’ve finally accepted as my first real injury) has just now stopped being a source of worry. It’s a tendon strain that didn’t want to heal, which wasn’t helped since I wouldn’t take 2 consecutive days off in a row. I finally got more serious with icing and ibuprofen (600 twice a day for 4 days) and started wearing an ankle wrap at home so I wouldn’t inadvertently point my foot, which aggravated it.

My plan was to get through Broad St. and then if I needed to see a doctor, do it right afterwards since my racing season would pretty much be over anyway (save for one Garmin-less 5K I’d like to do mid-May). Looks like that won’t be necessary (whew!) but with every little niggle and twinge I’ve been dealing with, it’s made me insanely grateful for the fact that I can run at all. Every step is a beautiful thing.

So as far as running, last week after my nice tempo run, I took it pretty easy. I managed to get a 13-miler in last Sunday, which because of races and ankle crap, was the longest I’d gone in all of April! This was unusual for me, because I really enjoy going longer, but I had to be prudent.

In the end, I came out with 44 miles for the week, 10 less than I’d originally scheduled, but the most I’ve run this month. It’s a pain in the ass to be hobbled!!

Yesterday I did my last pre-race speed session (ala Tinman), whose advice I highly respect (though I’m only following the last week of his advice). So I did 4xmile at race pace, but added a minute to the recoveries since that advice was given to a faster runner. It was fun to do them at 10M pace, like doing tempo intervals, so it didn’t feel anything like a speed session.

Today and tomorrow I’m up for 6, then Friday has 5 with 3 200m strides and then a day off.

Lara and I will hit the expo on Friday where we’ll each get an exciting bonus gift since the race is sponsored by Blue Cross and Lara and I are both members. OMG…it’s a free pair of Blue Cross socks! Can’t wait.

Then Saturday it’s pasta dinner with a lovely group of forum friends (oh, how I love those forum get-togethers) and Sunday, the race. But I’ll pop in here before then. Who knows, those Blue Cross socks might deserve an entry of their own.

What an interesting speed session. Actually, both last week’s and this week’s were eye-opening, in that both sessions were at goal race pace, a pace that in the past I would inexplicably avoid acquainting myself with until the actual race. I’d do some stuff slower and some faster, but never right on. Stupid, huh?

I have seen the light though, and today’s 5×600 at goal pace w/90sec recoveries was useful in it’s attempt to keep me evenly paced and at a contained speed. I gotta say, I really suck at gauging pace and need to work on it. So my lastest plan is to run a “throwaway” 5K after Broad St’s over, and run it without my Garmin (Oh My God!), just to see how my inner clock handles it. Just like a real runner!!

Back to the present, things are looking pretty good for Saturday’s race (though I no longer take anything for granted). Today’s workout was the same one I did before my last 5K on March 11th and the difference in effort was night and day.

It cracks me up when I look back at my logs and read the derision I used to attach to interval sessions, even in this blog I bitched and moaned about it, but now that I’m used to them and understand you don’t have to spill your blood and guts to improve, it’s a different ballgame.

I think the main thing for me was realizing that if your interval times aren’t what they “should” be (thanks to some goal you’ve put in your head), lose the ego and do them slower till you find the sweet spot. Once you find that, it’s only a matter of time till the goal paces you were dreaming of start peeking out and making themselves known.

Of course, it remains to be seen how these sessions will translate race-wise, but if anything, I’ve done some meaningful preparation these past few weeks, which is infinitely better than my former prerace prep: a few tempo runs and then swinging by the seat of my pants.

Woke up yesterday and the foot was still tender. Figured out that switching between the two pairs of new shoes aggravated my peroneal tendon, which is a tendon you don’t want to mess with, so I took yesterday off, iced twice, ibuprofened twice, even took a rolling-pin to my calves since that’s where the trigger points are, and last but not least, I wore my ole reliable 2120s all day.

Wonder of wonders, woke up this morning and nary a twinge. Nothing! So I decided to go with my planned speed session since it wasn’t going to be short fast intervals, but my favorite interval length in the world (cough, cough), the mile.  Or, as I say around these parts, the goddamn mile seeing as how I hate them so.

My reason for tackling the dreaded mile today was for a better clue of whether I can break 23:00 for my 5K on the 19th, and while my 1/2 mile intervals have been at faster than race pace, they don’t tell me much since they’re relatively short with full recoveries between.

Granted, I also took full recoveries today (1/2 mile jogs), but longer intervals mean longer work periods (aka extended discomfort - my fave!) and I’ve noticed a lot of arm tension in my last two races, so I wanted to deal with that if it arose, but most importantly, I wanted to get acquainted with running my projected goal pace.

Now, looking back at my logs, I’m embarrassed to admit I have never even completed four mile intervals - I always wimped out 3! So today’s workout was satisfying on a couple levels.

Splits were 7:15 (too fast), 7:26, 7:21 and 7:27 for an avg. of 7:22. And this was on the first warmish day of the season, so if I want to be really anal, I can go to the Runango calculator which makes that 70-degree 7:22 a 60-degree 7:16. But that’s just for shits and giggles.

One icebath later, all extremities are feeling fine and dandy, as are the mental meanderings. The windows are open and Spring is all over the house. Going to wallow in this beautiful day since it won’t be long till every day is a sweatfest. And as Nick always says about Springtime in Philly…blink and you might miss it.

Hope you’re all feeling Springy wherever you are, too. Enjoy your Friday, folks!

Had another great interval session today, I’m learning to love these things.

Happily, the UPS guy brought my Mizuno Inspires yesterday, so like the freak I am, before going out I weighed all my running shoes on my digital postal scale. Turns out my Asics and Brooks weigh 11oz, but the Mizunos are 10.3 to that’s what I decide on for the speed session.

It was my usual 6×880, but this time I set the recoveries at a 1/4 mile, so they were quicker than last week’s 3:00 per. My splits for the work part were 3:31,3:35,3:29,3:35,3:36 and 3:36 for an avg. of 3:34 (or 7:08 pace). I’m pleased as punch, progress on these has been steady and oh, so satisfying.

Afterwards, I finally decide to stop and speak to my construction worker boyfriend from this post, and this one because he’s been my cheerleader for months now and is apparently a runner, too from what I’ve gathered during our on-the-run three-word conversations.

So I stop and he tells me, “Girl, you have lost weight!” which I haven’t, he’s just never seen me standing still, then he asks me what time I’m shooting for at Broad St. and I ask what his goal is, then I ask him where he gets the time to run with all that construction stuff he does, he tells me he runs at the Y on a treadmill. So that was cool. Then he asks my last name so he can “look me up” and with a smile I say, “don’t you be looking me up!” and off I go, speedy in my new Mizunos.

Feeling drunk on it today! It appears my workouts are working.

Got out on this dark, rainy afternoon for a set of 6×880s. Happy to report, I am showing progress, not only in the speed of my intervals, but I also cut 30 seconds off my recoveries and even jogged them a tad faster than before.

Splits were 3:36, 3:39, 3:35, 3:40, 3:38, 3:35. And this includes some indigestion on the run for having eaten left-over Indian food about an hour before departing…because I’m stupid like that.

How satisfying to look upon my calendar and see I have 5 more quality days (3 tempos and 2 intervals or vice versa) until the Clean Air 5K. Add to that two 16-milers, a one-mile time-trial plus a handful of easy days and it all comes out to a useful block of development time before the big day.

And with that, my dear readers, I am on my way to the bathroom where a box of brown hair dye awaits. Yes, after 9 months of being various shades and stripes of blonde, I am going back to the old familiar color scheme. I dreamt about it last night and have been looking at old pictures, getting a little sentimental about that brunette I used to know.

So out with the new, back in with the old. Here I go for my extreme makeover. (Oh, Preference 5A Medium Brown, please don’t leave me looking like a big old bore…)

Just a quickie. Speedwork today in gusting wind by the river, 6×880s. Fastest intervals so far, I didn’t walk once during recoveries, and the whole time I ran, I made a point to talk nicely to myself. I told myself I was fluid, relaxed, like water flowing through the wind and you know what? It made a huge difference in my attitude and physicality.

I’m sold.

I spent the evening perusing old forum posts - looking for info on speedwork and tapering for a 5K. After yesterday’s uninspired tempo run, I thought it’d be great to have the psychological boost of a speed session for some confidence in Saturday’s race.

That said, after reading a zillion posts, I surmised that it’s generally not a great idea to do a full-out interval session the week of a 5K and we all know two quality runs back-to-back aren’t a good thing either, but my legs were feeling fine, so I figured I’d risk it.

I decided on a “light” session, since that gets the OK as long as you do it at the beginning of the week. Not that tapering for a 5K is a big deal, but you don’t want to tire yourself out needlessly.

I posted this morning on the 5K board, “What should I do; 3 or 4×880s or 6 or 8×440s?” My local forum pal JoeMC came up with a great one; 5×600 at race pace with 90 second recoveries. OK, I’ve never done 600s, and 90 seconds recovery sounds short, but it’s a good short VO2 workout, so I programmed it into my Garmin and jogged down to the park.

And this, my friends, marks a pivotal moment in my life. Because I did the workout and actually (dare I say it?) had FUN! I am shocked shitless.

The best thing is that were I do intervals (bike path in the park), I can see the end of 600m from where I start - unlike those pesky 880s that turn a corner, then you have to keep going which makes them seem that much longer. Having the finish line in sight helped make the distance really no big deal.

I will confess to mostly brisk walking through the recoveries, because 90 seconds flies by, but still (as I’ve rattled on about before) walking is “legal” in interval land - so no harm, no foul.

I avg’d 2:43 per 600m (.37 miles in good ole USA terms) which comes out to 7:20/mile - a bit faster than my goal pace. I definitely could have done another, but 3.1 miles of that will be a tad more painful so it remains to be seen what I do on Saturday.

Really, the major thing about the workout was the fact that it was fun. Makes me excited for next week’s session, though I’ll likely be back to 880s, it’ll be nice to switch them up every so often.

Edited to add: Someone just posted in my 5K question thread that he thinks I did “a touch too much”, should have done 6×400 with 400 recoveries between, even adding a little frowny emoticon with the words “but I guess it’s too late now”. C’est la vie. It’s all a learning process at this point and I’m not worried - it’s not a goal race and my legs feel good, as does my brain.