track fan

somewhere between 3.5 and 4 miles (certainly wasn't running sub 8 min pace but probably faster than 9 min pace) 31:34 -- really easy run. Last of the "down week" -- about 44/45 miles this week.

Next week marks the beginning of my race specific speed training ... cruise intervals, more tempo runs, and some fast finish long runs. I am both excited and somewhat nervous about what these workouts will show in terms of fitness. September is going to be tricky, a little more intense running and a whole lot of work travel (with early mornings and all day meetings).

Tomorrow we are planning to run in Mill Creek and then on Monday do a hiking/running combo somewhere near East Canyon - it is time to really enjoy our new home!

1:47:28 - ran on Jeremy Ranch Road -- what a great place to do a long run. Reminded me a lot of Magnolia Road in Boulder (except that it is downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back - and Magnolia road is the opposite).

Ended up running way too fast on the way out (when I realized there were some mile markers it was between mile 3 1/2 and 4 and I was running about 8 min pace) -- this was not good as I died on the last 2 miles -- it got hot and I was a little oxygen deprived (it is about 1500 ft higher than what I am barely "used" to in Salt Lake City). My return portion was nearly 2 mins slower than the going out and I felt really sick to my stomach (I think I was a little dehydrated). I really was not able to judge my pace well, despite Randy warning me that it was slightly downhill, I think it was in part because I LOVED the surface and got carried away and in part because there was a really strong headwind on the way out and I thought *that* was the reason I was breathing harder than I should have!

Anyway, I think next time we will drop water at the turn around point, and I will be more careful. All and all I really like the run and am trying not to judge my fitness level too much on one lousy run.  Very appreciative of Randy for pointing this place out to me!!!

ran for 50:17 -- probably a long 5.5 miles, but not quite 6 miles.  Ran to Liberty park did 1.5 laps on the grass (outside perimeter of the park). 

Legs felt suprisingly good after my horrid run yesterday.  I think I am losing my heat adaptation after leaving Nashville and running so early in the morning during the week.

Dean and I decided not to go hiking today - I really have too much work to do ...

1:28:37.

Ran Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Dry Creek Canyon up to just above the water tower/Terrace Hills trailhead. Felt pretty good, but it was pretty warm today -- I have gotten spoiled by the cooler mornings of last week, the past few days have been on the warm side. It is made even warmer by the fact that I am still wearing a brace on my wrist - I fell on this same route 2 weeks ago and cracked my wrist.  The swelling in my hand has gone down, and my arm is no longer black&blue, but my arm is still a little deformed.  The wrist brace feels weird and I hate to wear it, but until this heals I can't take the risk of falling on it ... so I am just going to have to live with it. 

Funny tidbit, upon reflection of my blog from Sunday - where I compared the Jeremy Ranch Road to Magnolia Road in Boulder -- well, not only is Magnolia road more uphill going out and downhill coming back, it is also much steeper, and at 8000ft versus 6000ft -- I guess really the only way that these two courses are the "same" are the fact that they are both dirt roads!

I am having track withdrawals ... after 9 wonderful days of 2 hours (or more when I had time to watch my wcsn coverage) of track per day ... alas, no more track on TV.  The womans marathon was pretty cool -- they said it was over 80F and "humidity through the roof" at the start!!  I guess it was cooler than the mens marathon though. 

On another note, the USATF 20K championships this weekend saw the debute for Greg McMillan's new post-collegiate running team (http://www.mcmillanelite.com/) --  with two of the athletes on the team coming in 11th and 14th; congrats to them and the champions Dan Browne and Alicia Shay (formerly Craig)!

Results can be found here: http://www.newhavenroadrace.org/NH20K07.htm and the USATF write-up here: http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2007_09_03_10_17_59.

Today is my standard day off ... I used to run every day with sporatic days off, I did not get faster, all I got was more tired.  So, now I take a day off every week ... my body generally appreciates it (and I can schedule really early morning meetings!!). 

I am battling plantar facitiis  ... a soft night splint (when I remember to wear it) works wonders, as does the painful tennis ball self massage ... but sometimes after I have been sitting at my computer for a while and I get up, I can't even put my foot on the ground.  I can't really tell if there is a specific shoe (running-wise) that seems to be worse than the others.  I rotate 3 pairs of shoes, going  from really low/lightweight trainers to moderate pronation control (Mizuno Inspire - for roads/sidewalks and after long runs when my legs are tired and lazy!).  I am a bit nervous to go back to my racing flats tomorrow - when I go to the track for my first speedwork in over a year!  I have done hill repeats and fartlek work, but I have not done anything faster than tempo pace in so long!  I can't seem to find any good articles that talk about what type of shoes might be "worse" (e.g., low profile versus more cushy) in terms of inflammation ... I am hoping someone on the blog might have some experience they would like to share.

1:30:13

  6 x 1000 w/200 recovery
(4:34, 4:30, 4:31, 4:31, 4:28, 4:31)
(average 7:12 pace)

3 x 200 w/200 recovery
(:52, :53, :49)

26:10 wu (my office to East High track)
23:38 cd (this was uphill mileage, very slow - took a slightly different route back to the office, evidently the shorter route!)

Not sure if the speed was threshold or speed -- somewhere in between I imagine (Greg calls these cruise intervals).  First time I have run faster than 1/2 marathon pace in over a year!!  Was a little nervous this morning, mainly because I did  not know what to expect. 

My schedule called for 6 - 8 x 1000 + 3 x 200, I wanted to do 7, but gave myself the option to do 6 if I felt like I was red-lining.  The pace was supposed to be around 10K pace (or a little slower 4:25-4:31 wo altitude adjustment) -- I was shooting for 4:37 high (adding in a little altitude adjustment - more like 3 sec/lap, working out to ~ 2%/mile based on NCAA altitude adjustment tables)  - somehow forgot what the final 1K split was supposed to be by the time I was on the track and thought 4:34 was slow (I did have my first 100, 200 and 400m splits right but did not do the math past that - I am a statistician not an accountant!!!) ... whoops. Ended up with 6 x 1K and then 3 x 200

 On my way to the track I was telling myself, "it is ok if you don't run fast, you don't have to race, you can just run to stay in shape - it is not as though you are headed for the olympics or anything" ... As I was finishing up my last K a PE class came out to the track.  The teacher/coach told me he had a class that was going to do 50m's - I asked if I could finish my last K and he said no problem.  I finished and was doing my 200's on the opposite side of the track from where the class was sitting ... I would run 200 and then jog back to my start.  Well, on my last one the class started doing their "warm up" lap -- the were about 30-40m's on me when I started my last 200.  I did not see it, but I was bound and determined not to let any of them pass me -- so here I am an woman with 34 years on most of them (at least) running like heck not to let them pass me, even though my legs felt like lead.  I am happy to say that: 1) they did not pass me - I still had about 20 meters on the closest kid, and 2) I guess my competatitve nature is not gone yet ;-).  silly, but I am sure it was funny to see the stupid determination on my face!

Anyway - I feel ok about the workout.  I am happy that I was able to run that fast for the first time in over a year, but I realize that it was probably a little faster than I should have been running (for this workout) -- I need to focus on slower pace for more time, next time!!

40:17 easy -- probably a little more than 4.5 miles, but certainly not 5.  Super slow and easy run on Bonneville Shoreline Trail towards Emmigration Canyon.  Fell again -- wasn't wearing my wrist splint because this trail is generally so easy -- but today I was scouting out new "trails" and somehow got on a steeper slope than I have been on, somehow my ankle turned and down I went.  I was so scared about protecting my wrist that I almost fell off of the trail and down the side of the hill!!   I think I successfully protected my wrist, but my hand is messed up (again!).  I really feel like a klutz ...

Work has been pretty tough the past couple of days, I am mentally exhausted ...

Have a great weekend everyone!

1:03:07

Ran down to Liberty Park and did 2.5 laps on the outside of the park.  Kept it really really easy.  I am very excited - this is the first week I have hit 50 miles with some "faster" miles.  It took about 1.5 miles to loosen up, my legs are a little tight.   All in all, feeling pretty good.  My hip hurts from my fall yesterday - and so does my arm - I might have to go in and see someone, just to make sure I did not do much more damage to it yesterday -- I am still kind of mad about it (the fall).  

 Have a lot of work to do today -- but my hope is if I get a lot done today I can take tomorrow off from work, enjoy my run and relax!!

 Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

 

1:47:40  Jeremy Ranch Road.

Felt much better than last week.  First of all, I told myself I wanted to negative split the route, so I wanted to go so slow on the way out that there was no way I couldn't negative split, and secondly it was much cooler!  We dropped water today, which also helped a lot.  I did not negative split, but it was mainly because the first uphill section on the way back had a serious headwind ... I am talking a serious headwind, odd really because there was a headwind at the start but it kind of turned into a tailwind as the road went out ... luckily, I was feeling good and it did not really hurt me much (except for time ... 52:30 out, 55:01 back with last 3 miles nice and strong).

48:20 probably longer than 5.5, but not quite 6. 

It was almost cold this morning!  because of the weather I had to really concentrate on taking it easy so I wouldn't run too fast.  Legs were a little tired, but overall things were great!

1:15:57 (might have been a little shorter than 9 did wu and cd on the trails, some of which were pretty steep)

28:34 wu

12 x :25 about 3K race pace w/1` recovery

29:24 cd

Had a choice to run 60`-75` easy or do this workout -- decided that my legs felt pretty fresh and decided to do the workout - for next couple of months I can choose between some very short bursts of speed on Tuesday or easy runs -- I plan to do as many of these as possible.  These workouts are supposed to help leg turnover lactic acid tolerance ... so they are really good training for just about any training distance (Greg wrote an article about this in Running Times last year) - they sound pretty easy, and for the most part they are, unless you do the first few too fast, in which the last ones are pretty hard!!  The best part is they are short enough that there is no real penalty for doing them, they don't really trash your legs.  When you do them in the middle of the run they also seem to give you the added stimulus of running when your legs are a little fatigued.

It was so BEAUTIFUL today - perfect weather! Dean saw a tarantula yesterday afternoon on the trail!! yuck! he even poked it with a stick to see if it was alive!!!  I guess it would be cool to see, but I am afraid it would scare me -- and then I would fall off the trail!!

probably a little longer than 8.5, but not quite 9.

8 x :60-:65 sec hill repeats (~10% grade) up Federal Point Dr (?) -- about 200-225 m long

pretty hard, did first 2/3 way too fast and it made the last 2 hurt way bad.  first time I had done hill repeats since moving here ... feel so-so about the workout, much harder than I wanted it to be, but I finished and had a nice cool down (30` wu 22` cd).

45:00 ... a little longer than 5 (I had to add a little to make a bathroom stop). 

my "run up hills" muscles are pretty sore.  I have to say I dread seeing "recovery day" on my schedule, it usually means the run will be both slow and unpleasant - today was no exception to this rule.  In hindsite, yesterday I should have looked for a lower percent grade hill  (5-6%)and run for a longer time (90s) ... these short bursts of speed up a higher grade (~10% for 65s) are really more for 5K training ... but, with my general lack of speed right now I guess any increase in speed will be helpful. 

I believe that Lydiard used hill repeats as a way to transition from base training to speed/stamina training, and I had done a month of these in Nashville just before I moved here ... but yesterday I had the option of doing hill repeats or doing an aerobic capacity workout on the track - and I chose the hills because I thought it would help me measure where I am versus where I was 2 months ago.  But, the hill I used yesterday was quite a bit steeper (and Dean pointed out to me last night) so it really is not a fair comparison.  During the workout (especially the very painful last few meters of the hill) I wondered why I had chosen this workout !!  Anyway -- despite the pain, both physical and emotional ;-) -- I am hoping to eek some benefit from it down the line. Today was about recovery so that is what I tried to focus on ...

I will be traveling a lot over the next couple of weeks (including the fair city that is the home to Randy) -- this will be a challenge for training and in health - as the stress of travel, lack of sleep and dietary challenges is always difficult for me ... so the focus will be on staying healthy.  I have uploaded a picture (though a couple years old it is all I have right now) so if Randy sees me on the Rock Creek or C&O trail sometime the week after next he will say "hey Bonnie" ...

Have a good weekend -- good luck to all that are racing!

1:03:45 - long 7

 Legs are feeling a little tired today, might be because we slept in and I was hungry even when I started ... also, started out a little fast because I had to chase down the mailperson!

added on about 1/4 mile today, so it was a long 12 - 1:49:13

 Ran at Jeremy Ranch Road again -- had one of those runs that really tested myself -- winds were gusting (weather.com said 24-32 from the SW) the whole way after the turn-around.  This meant that not only was I running mainly uphill -- it was uphill into a headwind.  My legs got really tired!!  I did forge ahead and was happy - time was not really the important thing today - although since I added on it was a little faster than last week.  Mainly, I was glad the run was over!

48:51 ... 1.5 laps on the perimeter of Liberty Park, felt suprisingly good for the first 30 mins ... was a little tired the last couple of miles, but really not too bad for a Monday - particularly after yesterdays run.

1:18:47

Had to run the afternoon because of early morning meetings.  Ran on the Stone mountain bike trail -- very nice once you get to it, but running downtown Atlanta is pretty hairy, worse than NY city, these drivers are crazy and seem pretty oblivious to runners.  Can't complain though, I got my run in!!

Got home from Atlanta about 9:30 last night -- was not looking forward to this workout this morning!

1:52:11

5 x 2000 w/2:30 recovery (9:27, 9:25, 9:29, 9:33, 9:29) + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery (51, 53, 52)

This was a tempo interval workout (supposed to be about 10-15K pace), my interpretation of how fast they should be are comfortably hard - a little faster than a tempo run, but not by a whole lot.  The pace was a little slower than I have done in the past (averaged about 7:35/mile pace versus 7:29/mile pace) but I had never done 5 before, only 4, and if I add the 3% altitude correction (about 3 secs/lap for me) then it is about in the same ballpark. 

I am pretty happy, even though it was not quite as fast as I would like, because these longer stamina workouts are really tough for me (mentally).  I also was pretty excited about the overall mileage, though the last 2 1/2 miles uphill back to my office was a little hard (my legs were tired).  Being that this was only my second workout on the track in over a year, I am mildly encouraged.

44:13

Long 5 on Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  Felt suprisingly good today - uphills were a little hard, but in general I felt fine.  The travel and training has made me pretty tired, but I am working hard to eat well, stay hydrated and this weekend I will try to sleep.   

1:10:45

ran to liberty park (~ 1.5 miles) and then did 2 outer loops on the grass (~ slightly longer than 1.5 each) and 1 inner (~ 1 mile? - a little longer I would guess) and then home

Ran pretty easy, probably about 8:50 pace, sometimes a little faster when the grass was short!  Legs felt ok ... a little tight.  Have a pretty hard run tomorrow - so today I need to focus on rest and stretching.

2:01:14 (14 mile fast finish run, last 2 miles @ 7:30 or a bit faster)

actually 1/2 marathon pace.  Ran on the Jordan River Trail.  Started in Redwood Park and ran to Waldon Park and back.  Pretty strong headwind on the way out, but nice tailwind on most of the way back.  Very nice run.  I was a little hesitant about this workout after Thursday's run, so I had an alternate plan of running 12 miles with 2 miles at 1/2 marathon pace if I felt like it.  But I felt good, and was pretty happy with the effort today.  I did have a little blood sugar problem after my run last Sunday - today I actually used a cliff shot at about 1:15 into the run (something I think I have actually only done 1 or 2 times before ever, and then usually when I was running 16 miles or more).  I don't know if it actually helped during the run - but I felt a lot better after the run and I think it might have just been maintaining glycogen levels ...

Now I have to pack, I am leaving for DC very early in the morning on Monday and will be there all week.

45:42

Ran to Liberty Park and then did an outside loop.  Felt remarkably good today - despite the fact that it was rainy and dark during my run.  Ran pretty slow, mainly because I was nervous about crossing streets and such -- even with my reflective vest I don't trust these drivers in the light, let alone in the dark!!  

definately a long 7 in 1:04:19

Ran in DC with a woman I work with.  She has a 2:59 marathon under her belt, and although she hasn't been training consistently for a while, and I told I was going to be slow, she still pushed the pace somewhat.  A lot of city running to get the bike trail which is a pain, but slowed her down ;-).

All and all, feeling really good today, despite not getting much sleep last night.

1:07:20

3.xx mile tempo run on the Mall!  My friend from work had a Garmin -- I wanted to do somewhere between a 3 and 4 mile tempo run @ 7:17-7:35 pace.  We did longer than 3 miles, maybe 3.5 but since I wasn't sure exactly how much more than 3 miles I just am calling it 3 miles.  The pace was not as consistent as I thought it would be -- I have never used a Garmin before - but it was pretty cool have her call my pace out to me!  The first mile averaged about 7:30-7:35, the second mile was right on 7:30 and the third mile was between 7:00 - 7:12 ... I did not mean to do that and the 7:00 min part made me feel really sick ;-) ... but I was pretty happy overall, I could have run another mile if I had the time ... but we had to get back to pack up and get to our meetings.

Tonight I am staying with some friends - they live up in Maryland near Rock Creek Park, it will be a nice run tomorrow and I can't wait to spend some time with my friends here. 

long 5 in 43:42

Ran on the Rock Creek Trail -- very very pleasant run -- even though it was a little humid.  It rained here last night and so even though the temperature was much more comfortable (probably in the high 70's) the humidity made it a little hot, especially since I have become acclimated to the dry air of Utah and am sort of wimpy now in the humidity.  But, the run went well, I felt pretty good.

Lost my wallet yesterday and had to get my passport FedEx'd to me so I can get on the plane to come home today ... and I had to spend the day cancelling my credit cards yesterday.  The worst thing is that I lost my driver's license that is expiring next week -- and now I have to try to get my Utah license without another license to turn in ... so I think I need to go through the whole driving part of the driving test ...

1:13:26    -  long 7.5 in Liberty park (2 outer loops + 1 inner loop + 3 miles to and from my house).

 Wore tights since wet and 42 is colder than 42 ;-)  ran the whole time.  Legs felt ok ... not great, but not horrible.

2:21:52

short 17 (for this run I am rounding up, because I think was easily running 8:30s for much of the run, I ran with Dean for a couple of miles and it took me a while to slow down) -- I meant to go 16, but took a wrong turn!!

Ran on Jordan River Trail from Redwood Park to 215 (1:07) and back -- ended up racing some not-very-fast guy for about 2 miles past the turn-around. I did not mean to race him, but I passed him and he just would not stay off my shoulder (he kept speeding up), so I dropped him. Felt good actually ;-) - of course, I still had 7 miles to run so it probably wasn't the smartest thing, but I don't think I suffered much because of it. I was pretty tired at the end of the run (my longest run pretty much ever) but still pretty steady pace. I had about a mile left and I took a wrong turn (probably would have finished in about 2:13/2:14 without my wrong turn) ... feeling pretty good today!