Emily's training blog

I took a few days off of running to see if some rest would help my achilles.  It didn't.  It feels pretty much the same.  So, I'll just keep plugging away, and hopefully get into a doctor soon. 

I woke up early to get my run in.  It was cloudy, muggy, and very dark.  There are some spooky places along the river trail.  I forgot my watch, so I don't know what the pace was.  I ran down 4800 to the river trail, to Boullion, and then back. 

After I ran, I took the kids to cross country practice.  The high schoolers got soaked.  As I was turning into the park, I hit a garbage can . . . it came out of nowhere!  I knocked the sideview mirror off of my car.  So, it was off to the dealership to get it fixed.  Great morning!

I ran on the treadmill this morning, with no achilles pain.  I guess I will be doing more treadmill running since it doesn't seem to bother it.  That will be exciting.  I started easy, and increased my pace every half mile.  I will be running a second run later this afternoon.

I had planned to run later in the day yesterday. But,  Teren worked overtime last night, so I didn't make it.  This morning I got up at 4:30 again to make sure I got my run in.  Someday I will learn that the only way I get my run in is to get up early. 

I ran on the treadmill again.  I warmed up 2 miles, and then ran a 6 mile tempo.  I was happy to get six in this week.  Of course, I should have been pretty fresh.  I started at 10.0 mph, and increased every 5 minutes.   The last mile I increased every .25 miles.  I finished at 5:33 pace.  My splits were:  6:05, 5:55, 5:50, 5:47, 5:43, and 5:37, for a total time of 35:02.  The last five minutes were pretty tough.  I cooled down ten minutes, and then had to stop because my stomach started giving me problems. 

I go to the doctor next Thursday to get my achilles examined.  Hopefully, the doctor can offer some solutions for getting healthy. 

I ran some easy soft-surface miles at Liberty Park.  It wasn't the most exciting run, just running laps around the park.  But, I have been running on the treadmill, so it was a big improvement from running in place. 

I ran most of the run with Susannah, and then threw a lap of fireman drills with the East High boys on my third lap.  I ran a couple more laps with the team, and one more with Susannah.  Then, I just had one more on my own.  My legs are tired, but not as bad as I thought they would be after a tempo run.  I was glad to get off of the treadmill.

I hadn't planned on running this race, since I've been struggling with the achilles problem, and haven't done much in the way of speed work the last two weeks.  But, last night I figured that since I was already registered, I might as well see what I could do. 

I'm a little ambivelent in how I feel about the race.  I didn't really prepare for it, so I didn't have much expectations of it.  However, the competitive part of me wishes I had done better.  It's just kind of more of the same pace that I have been stuck in the last couple of months.  But, at least I haven't lost too much fitness while nursing this injury.  I guess I'll just be happy I'm 75 dollars richer, and call it good.

I ran a 2 mile shakeout run this morning.  At the race I warmed up 3 miles with Andrea and Jake.  After a surprise cannon boom to start us out, I got out with Andrea the first mile.  I stuck close through 1.5-2 miles, and then started to fall back.  Andrea encouraged me to keep up, but I fell off.  I tried to keep the momentum going, but now I was in no-man's-land, so I got complacent.  I tried to stay strong on the nasty hill, but at this point I was really all by myself.  I finished as hard as I could, but it definitely would have been better had I stayed closer. 

I cooled down 4 miles with Susannah, Stephanie, and Andrea and Jake.  I had a major energy crash on the cool down, so I stopped there. 

So, since my achilles seems to be hanging in there, it's back to full training next week. 

Later AM:  5 miles at the health club.

After the race and extra mileage on Saturday, Teren and I went up to Deer Valley to go to one of the Deer Valley concerts and spend the night.  It was a lot of fun, and very nice to get away from my kiddos for a couple of days, but I didn't take care of my foot as well as I should have.  It was pretty sore today.

I chose to spend another day on the treadmill.  I ran eight miles, starting at 8.5 mph, and increasing at the end of every song on my i-pod. It was a quick pace, but comfortable.  52:45 for the total time.

Tomorrow I will be running my first speed workout in a couple of weeks.  I'm a little frustrated with trying to find times to run.  My in-laws are out of town for two weeks, my babysitter bailed on me, the young women in the neighborhood are all at girl's camp.  Teren is working tons of overtime, plus he has scout camp this weekend.  Sigh!!!  Sometimes I miss the days when my life was my own.    I'm sure I'll work it out somehow.  Rant over.

I ran on the track for the first time in a long time today.  I wasn't sure how my achilles would handle a workout.  I warmed up two miles, and then ran 4 x 200 to get a little turnover going.  Initially, I was going to run 1000 meter repeats, but decided to ease in a little bit, and ran 800's instead.  I ran 8 x 800 with 1 lap recovery, which turned out to be 1:1.  I will be working on cutting my recovery back as my fitness improves.  My goal pace was 2:45.  I ran

2:44.56

2:43.49

2:42.5

2:42.7 (Started to hit a groove.)

2:42.9

2:43.11

2:39.13 ( I found someone to pace me . . . he paced too fast.)

2:38.15

I probably would have run two more if not for the increased pace on the last two.  Plus, my achilles was beginning to feel it.  I love the track.  I wish all workouts felt this good. 

I cooled down 3 miles.  I'm tired!

Teren had another long work day yesterday, and due to one of my insomnia attacks, I didn't get up at 4:30 to run.  ( I didn't fall asleep until 2, even though I went to bed at 9.)  So, another run missed.    I almost missed this morning's run, too.  Devra was going to come over at 5 so we could go running, but I didn't turn on my 4:30 alarm, and rolled over to look at the clock at 4:59.  Devra is very prompt, so I rushed downstairs just as she was pulling into the driveway.  So, we got out a little later than usual.  But, we made it through our 10 miles.

It was a very nice run.  We kept the pace nice and easy, and ran out the River Trail to Gardner Village and back.  It was pretty dark at first, but I love running as the sun comes up. It took us 73 minutes to run 10 miles . . . definitely nice and easy. 

After my run I went to see Dr. Petron about my achilles.  There are no tears, (thank goodness) but there is some breakdown in the tendon.  Basically, just a nasty case of tendonitis.  We discussed my options.  Taking time off is not one of them, and Dr. Petron assured me that I am not very likely to tear my tendon running.  I could get PRP done, but he said I would be out 2 weeks to a month.  Cortisone is not an option because then I am at a high risk of tearing the tendon.  So, basically I just need to keep up with my ecentric exercises, ice, ibuprofen,  night splint,  all the things I have been doing, and deal with it until I get to the point that I can take a break.  After the marathon, if my achilles is still an issue, I will possibly get PRP done.  It sounds like such a pleasant process, involving injecting needles into my tendon. 

Today was another fun-filled treadmill tempo day.  I warmed up 2 miles, and proceeded to run a 7 mile threshold run.  I decided that since my run was longer than last week's, I would increase my pace every mile, rather than every 5 minutes.  This was not a big change, but kept me under control a little longer.   I felt really good today.  I need to take some tempos to the roads to see where I really am, but regardless, I am seeing progress.  Plus, the treadmill seems to keep my achilles happier.  When I hit 5 miles, I increased every half mile, and finished at 11.0 mph (5:27) pace.  I only ran this pace for a quarter of a mile.

Mile1: 6:06

Mile 2: 5:56.65

Mile 3: 5:52.2

Mile 4: 5:48.3

Mile 5: 5:45.4

Mile 6: 5:41.5

Mile 7: 5:32.6   Miles 2-7: 34:38   Total time: 40:46

I cooled down 2 miles. 

PM:  4 miles easy.  My legs were feeling this morning!

I met Devra at my house to get my long run in.  Devra did 12 with me, and then I ran the last six on my own.  It's so nice to have company on long runs.  I still have a tough time wrapping my mind around long runs, but I know I need to get used to it.  Having a partner makes it go so much faster.

We ran out on the river trail again.  I have avoided the north part of the trail because of all the flooding.  I definitely didn't want to run out there if it was still flooded.  Wading through water that has been stagnating all summer didn't sound pleasant.  We decided to give it a try anyway.  Happily, the flooding is gone.  That is my favorite part of the trail, and it is nice to be able to run on it again. 

The first mile of the run didn't bode well for the rest of the run.  It takes my foot a while to warm up, so we were 7:50 through the first mile.  I thought it was going to be an extremely long run at that rate.  But, then we got rolling.  At 12, we were at 1:23, and I finished the run at 2:04:03.  The pace definitely picked up.  The middle six miles seemed the most difficult.  That must be mental.  The last six, I was just focused on finishing. 

So, I am on my way to 20 milers.  All you marathoners out there,  do you think it is beneficial to go longer, like 22-24 miles, or is 20 sufficient? 

AM  I planned on running a fartlek workout this morning, but was still feeling the long run on Saturday, so I just ran.  I tried a new route, out 1300W to 7000S, down to the river trail, and back home.  It was a bit shorter than I had planned on, so next time I will go out to 7800S, and drop down to Gardner Village.  That will give me 10 instead of  8.  So, another run is in the plans for this afternoon.

I've been re-reading Once a Runner, which I formerly read in high school.  I always like to be inspired.  I realized, though, that I shouldn't read it before bed.  I get too excited, and it is difficult to sleep.  Maybe I need to read it before I go out for workouts.  Apparently, there is a sequel to Once a Runner called Again to Carthage.  I'm excited to read it after I finish Once a Runner. 

AM:  I met Devra today for an easy ten.  We ran from my house, out 1300 W, out to 7800S, down to the river trail, and then back through Millrace Park.  10 milers are starting to feel very easy.  Of course, our pace wasn't to fast.

I received all of my information for the half in Indianapolis, including a list elite athlete bios.  It made me very excited and nervous.  Top ten is not out of the question, and if I'm feeling really good, a top five finish is possible.  There are some very good runners in the 1:11-1:14 range, but most are 1:19-1:21 for a half marathon.  I'm sure that I am much better than my debacle at the Seattle RNR half, so I should run pretty well.  Even 6 minute pace would be sub-1:19.  This race is going to be a fun one, and I'm very excited to run it.

 PM:  Motivated by the long list of fast women that I will be running against in Indianapolis, I dutifully headed to the health club for some extra mileage.  Usually my kids love to go to the daycare, but Cole decided to cop an attitude, and I had to drag him kicking and screaming into the health club.  I'm sure the daycare workers loved hearing me say:  "Come on Cole, Mommy just needs 4 more miles, then we can go."  Cole put up a good fight, but Mommy's workout prevailed.  Of course, when I returned half an hour later, he was playing happily with some of the other kids.   Why does everything have to be a power struggle?

I ran an early morning workout with Andrea today at Liberty Park.  The plan was 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile at 6:20 pace, 6:10 pace, and 6:00 pace.  But, that was a conservative plan.  We warmed up 2 miles, and then started our workout.  Recovery between intervals was a half mile.   I ran the 3 mile in 18:15, the 2 mile in 11:51, and the mile in 5:45.   The three mile felt great.  My body really likes 6:00-6:10 pace.  It got difficult to break out of that pace.  On the mile I still went through the half in 6 minute pace, so I had to negative split to hit 5:45.  Maybe a little more speedwork is in order.   It was great having a strong partner to push me.  There's not many people that I run with that are faster than me.   I cooled down 3 miles to give myself 12 for the day. 

AM:  I ran an easy five miles today.  My legs are tired!  My achilles had a tough time warming up this morning, so I kept it short.  I will do a longer run on the treadmill this afternoon, and then I will be ready for a long run tomorrow!

Since I didn't get the second longer run in yesterday, I was very fresh today.  I know that is not optimal going into a long run.  It's definitely better to run on tired legs.  So, taking that into consideration, plus the fact that I have only had one speed workout this week, I decided to really work the run today.  I obviously felt really good, because normally I can't run my long runs as fast as I did today.  I ran out 2200 W to 3500 S, down to the river trail, and then out, past Gardner Village to the 5 mile mark at the road.  Then, I turned around and came back.  I left the trail at Millrace Park, and ran back home.  

The only problem I had, was that the gu that I took at 10 miles did not agree with my stomach very well.  It is time to experiment with some different gels.  I've heard good things about hammer gels.  Maybe it's time to order a box.  It is definitely time to get myself a Garmin. . . so I can be particularly anal about my runs.  I've found that I am pretty accurate at pacing and determining distances.  Anyway, total time for the run was 2:13:42. 

I woke up early and ran 7 miles very easy.  It felt like my slowest run ever!  I'm definitely feeling yesterday's 20 miler.  Then, I drove to Tooele to coach at the cross country meet.  While I was at the meet, I put in 4 more miles running on the course. 

My achilles was pretty stiff this morning, so I took my workout to the treadmill.  I warmed up three miles and then ran 6 x 5 minutes on, three minutes off.  I started the intervals at 5:45 pace, and increased every interval.  (5:45, 5:42, 5:39, 5:36, 5:33, 5:30)  The last one in increased the pace every minute for the last 3 minutes, so I finished at 5:21 pace.  In between intervals I ran 7:30 pace.   I cooled down to 11 miles when I was finished.  The total time for my run was 71:52 for 11 miles.  So, the workout functioned almost like a tempo run.  The good thing is that I felt pretty recovered from the 20 miler. 

I ran a recovery run out to 7800S, down to Gardner Village, onto the river trail, back to Millrace Park, and up through the neighborhood.  It took me about 4 miles to warm up, but after that I felt pretty good.  I was able to run a little bit later in the morning, which was nice for sleeping.  But, it definitely gets warmer.  I'm running a 10k at Liberty Park for some tempo work on Saturday, and the race doesn't start until 8:45.  It's going to be a warm one!

I'm looking forward to a bit of a taper week next week, and the race in Indianapolis.  Then, it's six more weeks until the marathon!  It is coming so fast!

Ugh.  That was a tough run.  I ran out 1300 W, to 9000S, up to 2700 W and back down to 5400 S.  It felt like it was taking forever.  I'm ready for this week to be over, and I still have 3 more days of training.  I don't think Saturday is going to be anything spectacular, but that's okay.  It's just for some tempo training, and it's more important to finish out some good mileage this week.  But, I think a nice ice bath is in order today.  Maybe even just to cool me off.  It is hot outside this week!

I woke up feeling really nauseated.  I slogged through 7 miles.  Here's hoping I feel better on Saturday.

I felt worse today than yesterday.  My legs feel all right, it's just the rest of me that is so sluggish.  You know that candy bar commercial, where the swimmer is swimming in caramel?  I feel like I'm running through carmel, just really slow motion.  I didn't time todays run, just ran off of feel.  I ran out 4800, to the river trail, out to Bullion, and back.  I need to get it together for tomorrow.

So, since I'm racing a big half marathon next weekend, the point of today was to run a controlled tempo run/longer run.   I had the idea that I wanted to run six minute pace, but in the back of my mind I knew that I would probably run what I needed to win.  

I did a longer warm-up, because I didn't want to be too fresh.  I'm trying to learn to run marathon pace on tired legs.  I warmed up six miles.  The race started at 8:45, so it was really warm during the race.  Between the heat, a small field that left me by myself for the whole race, and continuing stomach issues from the last few days, I was pretty happy with the outcome.

I got out a little quickly at the mile, running through in 5:46.  After that, I didn't get consistent mile splits.  I missed the two mile, and thought that the 5k mark was for the 10k, when it actually was the turnaround point for the 5k.  At this point, I just got into a groove, and tried to keep even effort.  I did see that I was 30:44 through 5 miles, so I picked up the last 1.2 miles, and managed about 6 minute pace for the last mile. 

I felt comfortable with the pace the entire race, just not the heat.  I liked the course, and wished that it had been run a little earlier in the morning.  The good thing is that I felt like I could run 6:10 pace for a long time.  If I could hold this pace through a marathon, I would run a 2:40, which would be great! 

So, the real test is next week.  I cooled down 3 miles, and started to crash.  15 for the day is good, but if Teren gets home from work at a decent hour, I may try to get 5 more in.

I'm running a little bit easier of  a week this week.  I really want to run well this weekend in Indianapolis.  I ran an easy 8 miles this morning, but was feeling Saturday a bit.  I guess I ran a little harder than I thought.  It shouldn't take too long to get feeling good, though. 

The race director from the Des Moines Marathon has offered travel assistance, 2 nights lodging, and a comp entry.  So, I guess that once I've purchased my plane ticket, I'm all set.  It makes me nervous!   I'm not exactly where I wanted to be in terms of mileage, or even the buildup through the whole year.  The stress reaction, and ongoing achilles problems have made me more cautious in my training than I would normally be.  But, since I've never run a marathon, I'm forging ahead.  I know that I have enough natural speed to run an OTQ.  I guess the question will be if 60-70 mpw is enough to base my endurance on.  I plan on hitting a couple of 75-80's after this week, but I hope it's not too little too late.  Like Teren says, after I run the marathon, then I will actually be ready to train for a marathon.  I'm sure next fall will be more successful running wise, but since it is an Olympic year, I've got to give it a shot now.    I am excited, but definitely nervous since it is all unknown to me.

I met Emily Bates at Murray High for a track workout.  It took us a little while to find each other, since we parked on different sides of the building.  We warmed up 2 miles on the track, and even got our lifting in, because we had to move benches, and fences out of lane 1.  The goal for the workout was 6 x 1000 with 400 recovery in between.  In a couple of weeks I want to be doing 10-12 of these, but since I have a race Saturday, I cut it in half. 

Our splits were a little all over the place as we took turns leading.  It took a couple to get into a groove.  We got about 2:30 recovery in between. 

1. 3:24.46

2. 3:30 ( I missed starting my watch on this one, and was running along nice and comfortably. I had to pick up the pace the last 400 to hit 3:30.)

3. 3:23.38

4. 3:25.96

5. 3:26.76

6. 3:24 11

I felt nice and strong during this workout, and definitely could run a few more . . . especially if I really hit 3:30 instead of 3:25. 

We cooled down 3 miles on a nice jog through Murray Park.

Now it's time to recover!

I felt a little pounded in the hips and hamstrings this morning, but by the end of the run felt much better.  Devra met me nice and early for our run.  We ran out 2200W  over to 3800S, to 2700W, into a wonderful head wind up to 5400S, and back through the neighborhood to my house.  I may jog a few miles at the cross country meet this afternoon, but my biggest focus is making sure I'm nice and fresh for the half on Saturday.  I leave tomorrow!