Use it or Lose it

HW on treadmill:  1 mile warm-up then

6 reps: 1/4 mile, 6%, 6mph
(recoverys were 1/4 mile, 1-1.5%, 4-5 mph)

Then finished running at an easy pace.  2 sets of postrunning stretches.

This workout was HARD!  Upper limit of my anaerobic capacity for sure.  Initial plan was to do 4-6 repeats, and I barely eeked out the 5th and 6th ones.  Had to ask myself during the reps "Do I have to stop?" or "Do I just want to stop?".  I kept going and didn't cave in, but boy it was hard...  Whew! 

Gotta plan a long run for Saturday; hope it's somewhat nice outside!  :)  

8 mile outdoor hilly loop to capital, up city creek past the 1.5 marker, then back home for 3  more miles on the TM.    Pretty cold outside when I started running this morning, but I warmed up nicely after a mile or two.  A little breezy, but I was very happy there wasn't any sleet, hail, or stinging ice crystals coming down!!! 

Did 2 leisurely sets of post running stretches.  Saturdays are nice! :)

SW today.  Warmed up a mile, then

6 reps: 1/4 mile @ 7 mph, with 1/8 mile recoveries

3 reps: 1/2 mile @ 6.5 mph, with 1/4 mile recoveries

Finished running ~ 5.5 mph

I felt good running today, but was short on time so I didn't do any stretching afterwards.  Hope I don't pay for that!!

Tempo run: Warmup mile (5 mph @ 4%).  Then 5 miles where I adjusted the speed each mile: 6, 6.1, 6.2, 6.1, 6 mph. (TM @ 1.5).   1/4 mile cool down, then off to take the kids to the dentist.  No time for stretching :(

This is the run that almost wasn't!  I couldn't figure out why my "easy" warm up mile felt soooo  sluggish, and really didn't feel like progressing into the tempo workout I had planned.  Finally I looked at the display after my first mile and saw that my daughter had set the incline to 4%!!  Ah ha!  Setting it back to 1.5% instantly felt much much better, and I finished my run as planned - except for a quick water break, a longer pit stop, and a quick phone call.  (I hate looking at all the green and red led lights on the display, so I normally keep the display covered with a piece of cardboard such that only the distance and speed settings show.  I guess I should check the settings before I start running!!

5 mile loop past the capital and back - nice morning for running here in Salt Lake City! :)

No time for postrunning stretches.  :(

Ran along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Terrace Hills until the intersection with the dry creek & limestone kiln trails.  Most of the trail was pretty good, but about 10% was really pretty muddy from the heavy snows earlier this week.  It was a warm and gorgeous day to be running - very nice to run in nature, even with the muddy spots!  Hope all my fellow bloggers had a wonderful day as well!

Not much time to run this morning: 1 mile warmup, then 6 reps (1/4 mile, 7 mph), with 1/2 distance recoveries between reps. Then finished my run and did a few stretches afterwards.

Decided to run a warmup mile, then do some light stretching, then run some more.  Unfortunately when I stretched my calf I got a sudden pain along the inner upper tibia.  This has happened a couple times before while stretching, and normally the pain completely subsides after a couple minutes.  Not today, though.  I tried several times to start running again, but wasn't able to, and decided to give it a rest until tomorrow.

I still have a dull pain along the top inner right tibia.  I think when I stretched my calf yesterday I put too much weight on my back leg (the one being stretched) and also hyper extended the knee a bit. I think this might have inflamed the tendon that connects to the upper inner tibia? This has happened a couple times in the past, but the pain always went away almost immediately those times. It was uncomfortable walking at work, so I took 2 Aleves, hoping to reduce any swelling and allow whatever was causing the problem to heal.  (Normally I don't  take much ibuprofen or naproxen.) I've already signed up to run the Salt Lake 5K this weekend, so hope the pain goes away soon.

I decided to run in the Salt Lake 5k even though I'd missed my last couple training runs.  I warmed up for about a mile, then went looking for the POPs, couldn't find them (#!@#!), so ran off 3-4 blocks to find a place and then ran back (add another 1/2 mile warmup!). By then the starting chute was way crowded (this was a big 5K).  Normally I don't start way up front because I'm not that fast and don't want to hinder faster runners, but I don't like starting at the very back either!  I found some gaps between people and eased my way up a bit anyway.  It still took about 3 1/2 minutes to get to the starting line once the gun went off!

First 1/2 mile I had to do a lot of weaving to get past people, and was probably running a titch harder than was smart. Finally got past the worst of the crowd and didn't have to zig zag as much.  I was in a good 2-1 breathing pattern and tried to hold on.  The course started fairly flat, then had a 3-4 block down hill section towards the turn around.  Then had to go back uphill for 3-4 long blocks, before a fairly flat last mile to the finish.  It seemed to take forever to get to the finish line; I don't think I slowed down any, but didn't have much kick left in me either.  I was pretty dismayed at this point because my watch showed me going a good 1-2 minutes slower than I thought I would be going.

Finished in 30:17, which is a lot slower than I had expected.  I saw a friend who finished around 22 minutes, and he was dismayed by his time as well because he felt he was running really well.  Someone with a Garmin told us the course was long - that their Garmin measured 3.23 miles.  So, anyway who knows. 

Then I walked down a few blocks and watched some of the 1/2 marathoners coming in. Then I saw the first place marathoner come in with a police escort, and . . . it ended up being someone named Fritz from the FRB!!!!!

I went home still feeling somewhat demoralized over my time and then ran a ways up City Creek canyon to get a few more miles in.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day for running! And I discovered that the water fountains have been turned on up in City Creek Canyon - YEA!! 

Just checked the internet, and found the results posted for the 5K (3.23 miles?).  By chip time I was 3rd in my age division out of 63 other people.  I missed 2nd place by only 1 second! The 2nd place lady started 8 seconds back from the starting line, whereas I started over 3 minutes back - ow!!!  The 1st place finisher in our division waxed us both by a good 3 minutes!  (I still wish I had a faster chip time, but am happy I placed because I usually finish about a 1/3 of the way back in my age group.)

Anyway, I hope everyone has had a good Saturday, with good running weather.  And good luck all you Boston bound folks!!

Easy pace run @ 5.5 mph.  Carefully stretched afterwards - no pain in leg! :)

5 @ 5.5 mph, then a slower 1/4 mile to cool down.  Did some careful stretching! :)

Then showered and went to start a load of laundry before heading to work and CRUD! somehow the laundry detergent jug had gotten tipped over and now there's several cups of laundry detergent behind, to the side of, and underneath my washing machine!!  Criminey - got that mess to look forward to when I get home today; and that stuff is expensive!!

5.25 @ 5.5, then a 1/4 mile progressively slower cool down.  Stretches & off to work.

Cold, rainy, and snowy morning, and so passed another boring TM run.  (Especially boring as I purposely didn't do any speed or hill workouts this week, opting instead to do 4 mildly aerobic runs in a row.)  Did a lot of thinking about how I should plan my training runs for the coming weeks, though. 

Speedwork - running 1/4-1/2-3/4 mile repeats is great training.  But tempo runs are good speed workouts, too.  Hillwork - I usually run with a hard effort at 5-7% incline for a 1/4 mile, then do a slow jog recovery at a lower incline. This is great for strengthening my legs.  But it might be nice to sometimes do hill workouts that more closely simulate outdoor races; and in races you don't run really hard up a hill, only to start jogging slowly once you've reached the top and are on flat ground again!  I would like to try a "hilly tempo" workout where I run a comfortably hard pace for a while on a "flat" incline, then increase the incline 3-7% while simultaneously slowing down a little to keep the "effort level" constant, then after a while reduce the incline but speed up again, etc., repeating a few times over varying distances.  (This type of "hilly tempo" running would be great to do on the Bonneville Shoreline trail - if it ever dries out that is!)   

Realistically I can't fit in two speed workouts, two hill workouts, 1-2 recovery runs, and a long run into each week (my body needs longer to recovery after hard workouts than it used to, and it seems to max out at 4-5 runs per week!).  So I think I'll start alternating speed workouts and hill workouts each week.  For example, if I run repeats for a speed workout, then I'll incorporate a "hilly tempo" run later that week.  The following week I'll do a tempo run for my speed workout, and run "hill repeats" later in the week. 

I'll try this plan for a couple weeks, and see how I like it.  (Will probably need to be somewhat flexible.)

Hope everybody is having a good Earth Day 2010!

Whew! Was planning on a nice cool early morning run, but then had a chance to go horseback riding, so . . . Anyway, had a lot of fun riding - in a bareback pad with lots of trotting and cantering! It really is so much fun, but you need to use a lot of inner thigh to grip the horses so you don't fall off, and, boy my inner thighs are starting to get sore! I stayed at the stables quite a while to help groom several of the horses - they are shedding their winter coats like no tomorrow!

Finally came home and went running mid afternoon - up to the Capital, then to the City Creek guard shack, then home to add a bit more on the TM to round it out. I am pretty tuckered out right now; I think I could zonk out and go right to sleep, but better shower and start dinner first!! 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend - we have absolutely beautiful weather today and will be sending it your way!  :) 

eeyikes. ouch ouch. inner thighs still way sore from horseback riding and feel like they are getting sliced with each step.  Managed one very slow mile and decided to wait another day. :(

My inner thighs are still tight, but much less sore than yesterday.  Still feel a bit disjointed from the hb riding, but not bad.  Light stretching afterwards.

Still feeling a bit disjointed around the groin area.  (I hope I'm not invited to go horseback riding again this weekend - it was way fun, but disasterous for my running!!).  I had good energy this morning, and quickly got into a tempo pace of 6.1 mph.  Stopped around 4 miles to get some water, but then had trouble with groin area (not reallly painful - just felt slightly disjointed and uncomfortable) when I started to run again.  Decided not to continue the running, and instead walked at 10% to get a bit more exercise.  Light stretching afterwards.  I'm thinking (hoping) I should be back to normal by tomorrow. :)