Emily's training blog

I met the East High kids down at Liberty Park for a tempo run this afternoon. I figure if I can find enough babysitters to let me get some group runs in, it would really help my fitness and maybe I can help some of them out, too. 

I warmed up two miles and the tempo was supposed to be 6 miles at 6:05-6:10 pace.  The wind was a little nasty, and made it difficult to keep the pace even.  I was kind of all over the place with my run.  Our first 3 miles were too fast, and then the wheels started to fall off in the 4th mile.  At mile 4 my chest started to pound really hard.  I drank a vitamin water before practice, and I think it had some "energy" supplements in it.  So, I stopped there to get some breath back.  Then, I felt guilty for stopping, so jogged half a mile, and caught Natalie with a mile to go.  I paced her through the last mile.  So, my workout was 4 miles of tempo and a mile repeat.  I have some building to do, and no more vitamin water before workouts.

After the tempo, we met "Cool Carl" who kissed each of the girls' hands, and then gave us a martial arts demonstration.  It was creepy.

I met the East High distance kids at the oval for a speed workout. Normally, I wouldn't run a speed the day after a tempo, but I felt surprisingly good after yesterday. I wanted a workout that was consistently under 5:20 pace, which I haven't done much of lately. The workout was 2 x 800 followed by 2 sets of 5 x 300, with 100 jog between each interval, and a one lap jog between the sets. We ran a 400 jog between the 800's.

We started with an 8 lap warm-up, followed by 4 laps of speed changes.

My 800's were both 2:36.77. How's that for consistency. I wanted to go for 55-57 seconds on the 300's but found myself working to push Natalie, who was supposed to run 52-54 seconds on the 300s.

Set 1: 54, 53.25, 53.07, 52.73, 53.88

Set 2: 52.94, 53.77, 53.21, 53.40, 52.59.

I haven't moved that quickly in a very long time. It sure makes a difference when you are chasing down speedy high schoolers.

We cooled down 5 laps to give us 10 for the workout. This was a far cry from the 2:45 400's I was running a couple of weeks ago. I'm hoping sub-5:30 pace will start to feel more comfortable soon.

My legs are shot today. I'm definitely feeling yesterday's speed workout. My goal for today was to keep the pace easy, and the run relatively short. I felt nice an aerobic the whole run. I still have one more workout and a long run this week, so it's good to have a recovery day.

I'm still feeling Tuesday's workout, but it's starting to improve.  The weather would be absolutely perfect, except for that nasty Utah spring wind.  But, the sunshine is giving me spring fever.  I hope the next couple of days are nice. 

I ran out 4800S to the River Trail, south to Winchester, up to 1300W, to 5400S and home.  Nothing too exciting to report, except I ran the course 3 minutes faster than when I started back from my injury in December.   That's progress! 

I was feeling a lot better today. I wanted to do a fartlek workout, but wanted to make sure that I didn't work too hard since tomorrow is long run day.  I wanted it to be a progression, with a focus on endurance.  I already got the speed in this week. 

I warmed up 15 minutes, and then ran 11 sets of 3 minutes on/2 minutes off, starting at marathon (well, actually probably closer to half marathon pace right now) pace and increasing the pace every set until I reached 5k pace.  The 2 minute recovery was at 7:30 pace.  I started at 6 minute mile pace, and ended up at 5:24/mile pace, with the majority between 5:30-5:40.  Only the last 3 started to feel difficult.  I cooled down about 10 minutes to finish a 75 minute run.  Total distance for 75 minutes was 11.57 miles.

I just hit my first 60 mile week in a very long time. Now I feel like I'm training! I met Andrea on the river trail for a long run. I know we were supposed to go 7:30 pace, but somehow the pace kept dropping down. I still felt good, though a little tired from yesterday. I was happy that Andrea felt strong, too.  I'm very happy with this week's training. 

Today was tempo day. Since it was windy, I just ran for time instead of a measured distance.  I warmed up 2 miles and then ran 3 x 15 minutes with 5 minutes recovery in between.  To finish up, I cooled down until I hit 12 miles.  Good start to the week.

Two weeks ago, Lily was sick. This week it is Cole's turn.  I didn't want to expose a babysitter to his nasty germs, so I just stayed home with Cole yesterday.  But, I'm committed to equaling, or bettering last week's mileage.  It's going to take some work, though.  I'm glad I got a long day on Monday.

I went to the Oval this morning because I didn't want to run in the dark.  I warmed up 3 miles and ran 20 x 200 on/off.  Either I'm still tired from Monday, or my body doesn't like moving that fast at 5:00 a.m.  I really thought I would hit them faster based on last Tuesday's workout.  Most of them were mid 37's with a couple at 38, and a couple at 36.  I cooled down until I hit 9 miles.  I'm planning on a second run tonight.  Yay!  Doubles!

It was very warm and windy today. I ditched my shirt halfway through the run and exposed the world to my flabby white belly.  Sexy!  I ran out 1300W to 7800S (into the wind) and down to the river trail.  Then, I enjoyed clicking off 3.5 quick miles with the wind at my back along the trail.  I left the trail at Millrace Park, ran through the neighborhood to Redwood Road.  When I crossed Redwood Road I put my shirt back on so that I wouldn't scare my neighbors, and ran home. 

I had planned a fartlek run today, but my legs are completely dead.  Trying to fit 60 miles into 5 days is not working.  I really need not to miss training days.  It's too difficult to make up the mileage.  So, I ran an easy 6 on the soft surfaces at Sugarhouse Park.  I'm hoping to run a strong 15 tomorrow.  And, if I get anal about my mileage, I may do another 4 this afternoon, but recovery might trump mileage.

I felt much better after a recovery run yesterday. I managed to get 15 miles in, which is my longest run in a really long time. I was 3 miles short of my goal mileage for the week.  That's not too bad.  I need to make sure to get ALL training days in next week, so I'm not loading the other days to get my mileage in.

I was still feeling the effects of Saturday's long run, so I gave myself one more day of recovery before doing a workout. 

I bought new shoes today.  I didn't realize how beat up my old ones were until I put the new ones on.  Hopefully some of the naggy little aches will go away, now. 

I tagged along on Devra's workout today.  She had a long run with 20 x 30 seconds on/off in the middle of it.  It was a rough day for me.  My legs are still feeling a bit dead.  I felt alright on the 5.2 miles to the park, but the speed part was really hard.  I was pretty discouraged that I didn't seem to be able to keep up with Devra.  But, after the workout I realized that she was wearing racing flats, and I was wearing my new klunky trainers.  I'm sure that made all the difference!  We ran 3.2 miles for the 20 minute part, so we were still moving pretty well.   

During the cooldown, I began to energy crash.  That was the longest 3 miles ever.  I was so dizzy by the time I got home.  I definitely need to pay more attention to nutrition and hydration.  And, I pray that I never have that feeling should I choose to run a marathon some day.

Some sad news today:  My college coach had a double heart attack yesterday.  He's out of ICU now, but it was a shock to hear.  I loved Coach Shane, and I know that he has influenced all of the women who were BYU athletes.  I hope his recovery goes well.

I almost opted for cross training or a short run today.  I'm just so tired!  I've been looking at other runners' blogs, and I know that a lot of runners run their recovery runs a lot slower than I do.  I don't know why it freaks me out to run more slowly on recovery days.  So, I tried it today.  I didn't quite hit 7:30's as Andrea challenged me to, but I was over 7 minute pace which is pretty good for me.  I still have it in the back of my mind that if I run slowly I will race slowly.  But, I know logically that it is important to recover (especially since I'm not 25 years old any more.)  So, I will try to slow it down and make sure I hit my hard days hard  and see what happens. 

I got up early for a morning run today.  It was nice and relatively calm outside, although it was very dark.  I ran 4800S to 1300W, out to 7000S, down to the River Trail, up to Millrace Park, up to 1300W, over to 5400S, and home.  I tried to keep it nice and easy, though I think I sped up a bit when I hit the trail. 

I read a good article about Lauren Fleshman from Running Times this morning to get me pumped up to go run.  I love her "hippie-chick" persona that is so different from most runners.  She is also so inspiring with her tenacity and ability to overcome injuries and achieve her goals.  She's one of my favorite runners, and  I love how she interacts with the running community.

I feel a head cold coming on.  Hopefully it doesn't get full-blown.

Rough week! I felt a little better than I did during the week, but there is still quite a bit of fatigue in my legs.  I'm trying to keep the mileage up, though. 

I met Devra at Liberty Park for a speed workout.  We ran 3 x 1 mile with half a mile recovery, and finished out with a half mile.  My goal was sub- 5:45, but I really wanted them under 5:40.

Mile 1:  5:37

Mile 2: 5:40

Mile 3: 5:45

Half Mile: 2:58  (Whoops!  Legs gave out, plus, a headwind kicked up.)

I noticed that I'm lacking some strength.  I haven't been doing any core or upper-body work, and I can tell when I try to pull with my arms and they don't respond.  So, I need to add that back in to my training regimen. 

I also realized that I really need to stay off of the treadmill more.  It's great for pulling me a long to fast workouts, but doesn't do much for making me stronger.

We warmed up and cooled down 3 miles.  I hope this workout goes better next time.  It was a good reality check as to where my fitness REALLY is right now.

I had terrible insomnia last night. I fell asleep at 10, woke up at 11:30, and then couldn't fall back asleep until 4:00 AM.  I woke up at 7 to get the kids up and ready for soccer.  I was so groggy and nauseous all day, that I decided to give myself an extra day recovery.  Insomnia is usually an indicator that I'm overtired.  I will try to push the mileage back up next week.

I planned on an interval workout this morning at the Oval.  I thought it would be good to get the speed in early this week, since I just had two days off.   My legs did feel better, but still lacking some spring.  

When I got to the oval, they had all the pads pushed out onto the track because they were removing the ice.  I would have to run in lane three to stay clear of the pads.  So, I turned the interval workout into a fartlek workout.  I warmed up three miles, and then ran 2 sets of 1:2:3:2:1, with 1:1:2:1:1 recovery.  I cut the third set back to 1:2:2:1 with 1:2:1:1 recovery.   I had some faster intervals, and some slower ones, but it seems that my body really likes to settle in the 5:35-5:45 range. 

I cooled down just a mile to reach 10.  I plan on a short recovery run this afternoon.

My hip was a little tight the first three miles of the run today, but then it seemed to smooth out. I ran 4800S down to the river trail, out to the 5 mile turnaround and back. I felt pretty good today, and it was a beautiful morning. It was nice to have a morning with no wind.

I slept in a bit and then ran a nice easy nine this morning.  Emily Bates called me yesterday and asked if I would like to join her on a tempo run tomorrow.  I think I'm in for a tough time.  Her tempo is 2 x 5 miles at 6:10-6:15 pace.  I guess we'll see what kind of shape I'm really in.  It will be fun to run with Emily, but I must admit to being a bit intimidated!

I was very nervous about this morning's workout, but now that it is over, I feel very encouraged about where my fitness is headed.  This was a good mental workout for me.  I always want to hammer during speedwork, but I knew that if I did that today, I wouldn't be able to finish. 

We did adapt the workout to a 5 mile tempo, followed by a 3 mile tempo.  We only had about 3/4 mile recovery in between.  The pace was supposed to be 6:10-6:15. 

For the 5 mile tempo, I ran 30:25  (6:05 pace).  My legs felt good, but I felt a little tight in my chest starting at 3.5 miles.   Mile 4 fell off a bit, but I came back hard on mile 5.  I did fall off a bit on the three mile, but still stayed within the time goal.  I ran 18:23 (6:08 pace).  I guess ideally it would be good to run faster on the 3 mile, but I just wanted to get through the workout. 

This was definitely a good strength run.  I think Emily Bates is ready for Boston! 

I warmed up 3, and was only able to jog a little afterward because I had to get home. 

I thought that I would run my long run today and avoid the wind tomorrow.  But, Devra called before I went out the door and wanted to meet for a long run.  I much prefer having a running partner.  So, if anyone wants to get their run done early, we are meeting at 6:30 at the JRT trailhead at 3300S.  We thought we would like having the wind at our back the second half of the run.  Sorry it's so early.  I have a morning soccer game to get to.

I'm glad that I opted for a shorter run.  My legs were a lot more tired than I thought.  I just ran an hour easy.  Hopefully, I'll have a little bounce in my step tomorrow.  Of course, if I'm still tired, the wind should keep me from running too fast.

I met Devra on the JRT for an out-and-back 15 miler.  We ran into the wind going out, and with the wind coming back.  The wind wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still noticeable.

We ran 7:11 average pace going out, and 6:31 average pace coming back.  Total pace: 6:52.  Yes, I'm tired.