Emily's training blog

I took advantage of Teren being home to run something measured at Liberty Park. One more day recovery would have been nice, but you take what you can get. I t was nice tempoing in the park rather than on a treadmill. More honest too!

I warmed up 3.5 miles. It was slow. I'm still trying to work tightness out of my hipsm. Then, I ran 2 x 3 miles with 5 minutes recovery in between. Just something to get the workouts back up and going.

Goal was marathon pace, which for a 2:43 is 6:13 I believe.

Ist set: 18:20. (6:06)

2nd set: 18:28. (6:09)

A touch quick, but that's probably okay since they were three milers.

My garmin always measures weird in circles. It had me short of three miles. Probably doesn't really matter. I use the marks because I start and end in the same place and I can stay consistent.

I cooled down 1.5 miles. My legs are starting to bounce back a bit. It always takes about two weeks to work all the fatigue from the half marathon out.

AM: 5.6 very easy, very dark, very early miles. 7:40 average.

PM: 8 miles I called my father in law to see if he could watch the kids this afternoon. I kind of meant after school-ish. He said he would be over in thirty minutes, so I got a nice mid afternoon run. It was hot, windy, and miserable. But, my running theme is, "you take what you can get and deal with it" Mothers of three can't be picky when it comes to training. 7:14 average.

I couldn't take one more run on old shoes, so I made a quick stop at Sports Authority for a new pair. I got a new pair of GT 2000's on clearance for under 60 bucks! Yay. My hips and calves were thanking me!

I ran at the gym. Thankfully, my friend Katja needed a run so I had a treadmill buddy.

I felt better today. Especially mentally.

AM: Easy SLCC loop. 7:30 average 4.3

PM: My original plan was a workout this afternoon, but no sitter. The school schedule and doubles is not working out too well. So, I decided to bump my workout to tomorrow and attempt an afternoon run. I feel like today was basically worthless, but I want to hit 70 this week, so I managed another short run. I should have just run nine this morning. I'm always so strapped for time. Grr.

I tried to be creative. I strapped Myles into the baby jogger and took Lily to the park. I ran laps on the path around the park while she played. It was boring, but it worked ok. I ran until Cole was out of school, which only ended up being 4.5 miles. I have got to get this schedule figured out! 8:08 ave.

I ran the workout that I planned on doing yesterday. It worked out better schedule-wise to do it today. I'm sure I was a bit rested after yesterday. I've been feeling a little sluggish, so I wanted to run something with a little turnover to it. I warmed up three miles and did 4x 200 while I figured out what I wanted to run. I decided on a short interval ladder. 200-400-600-800-1000-800-600-400-200. 200 recovery after the 200s and 400s. 400 recovery after everything else.

200: 36.8

400: 77.8

600: 2:01

800: 2:42

1000: 3:25

800: 2:40

600: 1:59

400: 77.3

200: 35.3

I was happy with this workout. Everything hovered around 5:20-5:25 average. I know it's not a great predictor of marathon fitness, but it's faster than anything I ran last year. I was thinking I completely lost my speed for good. So, it's nice to see a little pop in my legs. Especially that last 200. 35 is not blazing, but I haven't run under 37 in a really long time. I cooled down 1.5 miles and then went to Zumba. I will probably have tired legs on my run tomorrow.

Devra came and ran with me this morning. It was so nice to have the company.

It makes long runs go so much faster! We ran the temple loop with a little extension. I had to guess a little on the mileage. I lost my signal at sixteen miles. It came back after a mile and a half. I'm usually a pretty accurate guesser on distance. I know for sure we were over 18. I couldn't tell you overall pace. We were at 7:06 average at 15.25 and ran a 6:29 for the sixteenth mile. So, my guess is a bit under 7. I felt good and under control today. The last bit is faster, but there is some pretty good downhill the last few miles.

At 13 miles we were crossing an intersection. We were right in the middle of the intersection when two cars crashed right behind us, throwing shrapnel in our direction. We missed being hit by less than ten seconds. Nice adrenaline boost!

Tempo morning. I realized at the last minute that Lily had snack bucket for school today. The only food we have in bulk is protein drinks and bars. Maybe some energy gels. That would be a pretty weird preschool snack. So, I made a scramble to the store and ended up running at the gym. My legs were a little tired, but aftet an extended warm up, they felt ready to go. 25 minute warm-up, followed by a 7 mile tempo. 42:15. 6:02 average. On the accurate treadmill. I thought of running eight, but started getting a side cramp in the last mile. So, I called it good at seven. I warmed down just over 15 minutes to hit 12.5.

AM: Easy hour long morning run. I finished at 8:20. At 8:25 the downpour began. I'm glad I missed it, but I'm pretty sure my son got soaked getting to school.

I was happy to feel pretty good today. I got home from my workout yesterday and started shivering. My stomach was acting up,too. I ran a fever, but it broke just a few hours later. I was tired the rest of the day, but felt fine this morning. It was a very short lived stomach virus.

I ran 4800 W to the river trail and headed north. At 30 minutes I turned around. 4.1 out, 4.22 back. 8.32 total. 7:13 average.

Mid-week mid-long. I'm going to try to incorporate a 12-15 miler into my marathon training on Wednesdays. Sometimes with a workout included, sometimes just a run.

I felt really good today. Probably because I missed my second run last night.

AM: Nice morning run. It was chilly. I ran down on the parkway. It was beautiful with mist rising off the river. It was definitely one of those mornings that I was thrilled to be out running. Now to find a babysitter so I can repeat the experience in the pm. 7:27 average.

PM: My legs were a bit tired this afternoon. The run was really windy, too. The highlight of the run was seeing members of the National Guard running with American flags. I thought it was a nice way to commemorate the day.

Tired legs this morning. I went to the dog/horsepark for soft surface running. I like it for fartlek workouts. I warmed up 20 minutes and ran 10 x 2 minutes on/off. I hit 6:42 average for the six miles of fartlek. I cooled down another mile. I thought I saw Jake running across the street from the park, but it may not have been him.

I think it's too cold for September 13. The wind was nasty.

Birthday run! (Well, my birthday is actually tomorrow. ) I dressed in my most flourescent colors and met Jenny at 5:30 for 18. We ran out 500E, lapped around Liberty Park, over to 2100s, up and around Sugarhouse Park, and back via Highland. 7:02 average. I was my usual graceful self and biffed it hard somewhere close to the 16 mile mark. I'm a bit torn up and there are blood flecks all over my running shorts. Besides that, I felt pretty good. I'm getting used to the 2hour plus runs.

So, I hit 75 this week. My highest week before St. George was 81. I'm still 12 weeks out from CIM. Any advice on how high I should build uo, without risking I jury or losing quality? I'm feeling pretty good at 75. I feel much stronger than last year.

I warmed up about 2.5 miles and then ran 3 x 15 minute tempos at half marathon effort with five minutes recovery inbetween. I changed pace every five minutes. The workout went something like this.

Set #1: 10.0, 10.1, 10.2 mph. 5 min. recovery at 8.0 mph

Set #2: 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 mph. 5 min. recovery. (plus a couple minute potty stop.)

Set # 3: 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5 mph for the last three miles. Cooldown until I hit 12.

For the hour of the workout, I ran 9.65 miles. Right around marathon pace.

I will keep my mileage at 75 this week and then have a down week. I'm running Huntsville Half Marathon on the 27th.

AM: Very early very easy very dark run. I did soft grass running at Vista Park. My legs will thank me. I'm a bit pounded from yesterday's workout. 4.5. 8:02 average. So fast!

PM: 8 hot windy miles. I stopped at all three drinking fountains on my run.

4:45 am is really early to start a run. I definitely eased into this one. I ran Costco loop extended, up to 6200S , back on 1300W to 4800S and through the neighborhood. At nine miles I felt ready to start my run. My midweek midlong wasn't really that long. 7:21 average.

AM: 2mile warm up. 10 x 3 minutes on two minutes off. Cooldown until I hit 11 miles. Hard run. 6:27 average for the workout, not including the warm up.

PM: 4.1 hot sweaty miles at Vista Park. I tried to get my pace over eight minutes but it came out 7:56 average. I have a hard time with easy recovery runs. But, I'm working on it. I was pretty trashed from this morning. A shakeout run was needed!

Nice relaxed run on an absolutely beautiful morning! Running and life doesn't get any better than this. I feel physically, mentally, and spiritually rejuvenated. 7:24 average.

Now off to Zumba!

I thought about jumping to 20 miles this week, but decided to wait until after my half. That will be 10 weeks out from the marathon

Still, I put three eighteen milers in a row, which isn't too bad.

I ran with Jenny through Murray/ Holladay area. It was a nice rolly run. We covered many topics and only needed one potty stop. Success!

Yay for a down week. It's nice to get a little mental and physical rejuvenation. My last four weeks have been builds. 66, 70, 75, 76. I will run Huntsville Half Marathon on Saturday and then build for four more weeks, drop the fifth week for Monumental Half Marathon, and then it's only five more weeks until CIM.

Last week caught up to me a bit. I started out a little rough, but felt better after six miles. That's usual during marathon training. I finished strong. 7:03 average.

I'm so motivated by Deena Kastor's world record. I love Deena. I've always lookrd up to her. What a beast! And more proof that I can still run fast.

2.5 mile warm up. 4x 200. Short track workout for some turnover.

1600-1200-800-400-4x 200

1600: 5:36 (84 average)

1200: 4:08 (82-3 average)

800: 2:42 (81 average)

400: 76

200: 35.2, 35.2, 35.2, 35.0

Cooldown home 1.5 miles

Last year:

5:37, 4:12, 2:44, 79, 38-9 for 200's.

I think my mile would have been faster with another mile on warm up. It takes me a while to get moving.

Sore from yesterday. I must have pushed too hard. Oh well, I don't need to be 100percent recovered Saturday. The race isn't my most important. Plus, I have three more days to get some legs back. I ran easy today and felt better by the time I finished.

I really hope I feel snappier on Saturday. Of course, it's impossible to run very fast at five in the morning. I jogged three miles to the track, ran two miles of speed changes and jogged three miles home. It's funny how you taper down a bit and you feel lethargic. It messes with your head. However, Saturday should be more of a good hard tempo. Especially since the weather's not looking great. 90 percent chance of rain. It will be good practice in case it rains at CIM, which it has been known to do.

I'm still feeling a little sluggish. I did not eat well yesterday. It was one of those busy days where I didn't seem to have time to eat. I need to pay more attention to fueling properly or my running is going to suffer.

I'm excited to race tomorrow. I'm hoping it's a low key race. Regardless, I need to concentrate on my own race and keep the big goal in mind.

I headed to Huntsville at the early hour of 5 am. I'm glad I had Devra to share this rainy day experience with me. We drove up, got our packets and then waited for the race to start. I had two plans in mind. 1) run hard and see if I can significantly improve on my TOU half time. 2) Run tempo and hope for an easy win. There was a contingent ftom Boulder who came to race prior to Monumental Marathon. One girl, Amanda Lee said she was targeting a 1:18. Ok. Plan A.

I decided to use the first three downhill miles to my advantage. To my surprise Amanda didn't come with me. I think she planned on making up time later in the race. The course is tougher than it seems. There are no hugh hills, but lots of rolling. The last few turned into the wind which made it tough. I tried to get in a rhythm and keep sub-six average for as long as possible. According to my Garmin these were my splits: 5:41, 5:47, 5:44, 6:04, 5:56, 5:53, 6:00, 5:52, (turn into wind) 6:11, 6:08, 6:15, 6:14, 6:11, 1:16 for .22.

I should have paid more attention to the splits based on the mileage marks. It ended up longer than my Garmin. So, I was bummed not to hit sub 1:19. According to my Garmin I was! :) 5:59 average. But, I need to go off of race measurements. They are not always the same. Gotta be careful of that.

Still, lots to be happy with today. It was a complete solo effort. The next girl was almost two minutes behind and the next closest guy was probably about two minutes ahead. That's a problem with a small race. It's hard to keep pushing out of comfortable. I think I have much more to give. Obviously conditions were less than ideal. But, that's great practice. I think the more miserable the training, the nore mentally prepared you are for anything the marathon throws at you. I felt much stronger and more in control today than at TOU Half. I feel, for the first time, that the training is getting me to where I need to be. 10 weeks to go. Monumental Half Marathon will be a good indicator of what I can run in the marathon.

I cooled down two waterlogged miles and cheered Devra in. She won in a 2:47. Amazing girl!

Really easy run this morning. I will spend the next few days working the soreness out of my legs. I'm not too bad. I just want to be smart and not jump right back into workouts. I have ten more weeks to stay healthy! I will probably run easy until Thursday, run a fartlek Thursday and Saturday will be my first twenty miler. I'm aiming for seventy miles this week, 75 next week, and then 2 80's before dropping for Monumental Half. I don't really need to get much faster. I just need to be able to hold a pace longer.

AM: Nice easy run! ..I'm recovering beautifully, which either means I'm getting stronger, or I didn't run all out on Saturday. Maybe a little of both which are really good signs. I need to keep myself reigned in a bit, because I'm starting to get really excited about running. 7:18 average. 5.15 miles

PM: The afternoon downpour stopped just in time for my run. Still feeling great this afternoon except for some residual fatigue in my hips. I feel really strong though. I must still be riding a bit of a race high. I plan on running tomorrow's midweek midlong pretty easy. 6:56 average. 8.65 miles.

I'm very excited to hit over 300 miles this month.