Emily's training blog

I ran a mile with Bre before she ran her cross country race.  After her race, Bill and I went and ran 16 miles  on the Pipeline trail.  I felt really good for the first 10-11 miles.  Then, we hit the switchbacks, and I realized that I'm lacking a lot of strength.  My legs were pretty dead by the end of the run.  Time to hit the weight room! 

Someone stole our waterbottles on this run, which did not make me very happy

I ran a 2 mile warm-up, followed by 4x 200.  I wanted to run 10-12 x 1000 meters under 3:30 with 2 minute recovery. 

1.  3:23.14

2.  3:24.69

3.  3:22.41

4.  3:22.72

5.  3:22.94

6.  3:20.98

7.  3:21.99

8.  3:21.09

9.  3:20.06

10.  3:19.36

I felt really relaxed today.  I stopped at 10 because my right calf was starting to tighten, and I didn't want to hurt it.  It's a little sore now.  It is nice to see my pace getting faster.  The last time I did this workout, I only managed 8, and averaged around 3:25.    I ran a 2 mile cooldown to finish.

Bad weather forced me onto the treadmill this evening.  My calves were sore today, so I put in my heel lifts before I ran, and they seemed to feel better.  I had pretty good energy after yesterday's workout.  I started out at 8.7 mph, and increased the pace every five minutes.  When I hit 40 minutes, I increased every three minutes, and the last mile I increased every minute.  Total time: 61:18 for 9.5 miles.

Cross Trained today. My calves were very sore.

Calves felt fine running, but they are sore in the mornings.  I ran the 4800S to River Trail, to 1300 W route.  I ran int in 58:00, and felt pretty good.

Tempo run day!   I met Bill at Liberty Park for our weekly tempo run.  We warmed up about 3.5 miles.  I ran 47:20 for eight miles.  I fell off the pace a bit on the seventh mile, but made it up on the eighth mile.  5:55 average.  I went through six feeling pretty good, but I need to learn to concentrate better after that.  I can tell my endurance is improving, though.  If I could run a marathon at 5:55 pace, that would be awesome!!  We cooled down one lap around the park, which is about 1.5 miles.

I ran an eighteen mile long run today, but ran a 5k race as part of it.  Bill wanted to run a race out at Wheeler Farm.  Since I wanted a running partner, I agreed to run it.  We ran a 2 mile warm-up.  I didn't want to run that hard in the race.  I kept 6 minute pace, with my total time being 18:34.  Then, we immediately changed shoes, and ran 13 miles.  We ran up Creek road to Wasatch Boulevard.  The first 6.5 miles were run in about 50 minutes.  I ran 43:30 the second half.  My legs are very tired. 

It was a very rainy day, today.  I took my workout to the treadmill.  I ran a 15 minute warm up, followed by 10 sets of 3 minutes on, 2 minutes off.  I started the fast ones at 10.5 mph, and increased my pace .1mph every 2.  For the recovery I dropped to 8.3 mph, which is about 7:13 a mile.  I just ran the cool down to 11 miles afterward.  My total time for 11 miles was 69:33.    It was a good workout, because my heartrate stayed fairly elevated on the recovery.

I decided to split up my mileage today.

A.M.  I ran a 7.5 mile loop from 1300 W to 2700W to 5400S and home.  I tried to take it easy and not look at my watch the whole time, so that I would slow down a little.  I felt pretty good despite tired legs.  Total time was 50:32.  The good news is that my calves are starting to feel better.  It was probably smart not to run on the track yesterday.  I don't think my calves like my racing flats. 

P.M.  4.5 miles on the River trail with Teren and Cole. 

I ran a 15 minute warm-up, followed by 30 sets of 1 minute on, 1 minute off.  Then, I cooled down 15 minutes.   It was nice to get some turn-over.  I felt pretty good besides having tired legs. 

Slogged (I don't think that's a word.)  through 6.5 miles this morning.  I ran 2200W to 3800 S, over to 2700W, back to 5400S, and home.  I have extremely tired legs after yesterday's fartlek.  I need to do what I can to get recovered for tomorrow's 9 mile tempo run.  There are definitely days when I wonder why I want to run a marathon.  Training for 5k's and 10k's is a lot easier.  I hope this pays off.

I have tired legs.   I could only manage 6:05 pace for my tempo run today.  Cardiovascularly I felt all right, my legs just weren't firing.  I felt like I was going as fast as I was able to, but that I could keep going at that pace.  I'm sure once I get used to increased mileage the time will come down.   I don't think I'm able to do 3 hard workouts a week plus a long run and get recovered.  I think I will cut out the midweek fartlek run.   I warmed up 3 miles, and ran a 1.5 mile cool down.  Total time for tempo: 54:51

I ran down 2200W to 3500 S.  I hopped on the river trail and ran out to the four mile mark past Gardener Village.  Then, I turned around and ran to Millrace Park, and then home.  Total time was 2:01:05.  I measured the 12 miles on the river trail because I knew where the marks were.  I ran 1:17:30.  I'm thinking that my total run may have been over 18 miles.  I felt really good today.  Cardiovascularly I'm getting stronger.  It's kind of weird that I can run 6:30-6:40 miles easily, but yesterday I was struggling at 6:05's   I wasn't pushing at all today.  It felt really comfortable.  Next week is my first 20 miler.  I've never run one before.

I ran a 2 mile warm-up, followed by 4x200.  My goal for my workout was 5 x 2000m at 35:00 10k pace, so 7 minutes.  I felt like I was struggling after the first one, so I dropped to mile repeats instead.  This may have been more mental than physical.  It seems when I can't run as fast as I want to, it gets in my head.  So, my workout went as follows:

1.  6:59.1 (2000m)

2. 5:33.72

3.  5:33.93

4. 5:33.18

5. 5:34.52

I ran a 400 jog recovery in between.  That usually took me 2:45, so I waited until 3:00, so I had equal recovery on each one.  The good thing is, I'm beginning to recover quickly, and it seems I can run a specific pace forever.  I just wish I could get my legs to catch up with my cardiovascular system.

I ran a 2 mile cooldown to finish up.

A.M.  I didn't feel like braving the dark streets of Taylorsville this morning, so I went to do some mindless treadmill running.  I ran a 1 hour progression run, starting at 8.5mph and increasing every five minutes.  I actually ran 9.1 miles, but I'll round down.  I felt pretty decent.  The treadmill is nice and easy on my body.  My calves were not sore when I woke up this morning, so I must be making some progress.  New heel cups help!

I wanted to run another 4 miles yesterday, but we went to the temple last night, so I did't have time for a second run.  So, I get to do two runs tomorrow.

I ran a 15 minute warm-up, followed by 30 x 1 minute on/1minute off.  Then, I cooled down 15 minutes.  I did my run at Valley Park.  The workout didn't feel particularly hard, so I don't think I was running very fast.  Hopefully, I'll recover better this week than I did last week.  Maybe I'm getting in shape. 

I woke up feeling really beat up, even though I didn't feel like I ran that hard yesterday.  My hips were hurting all night long, and my right achilles tendon was sore.  No injuries, just feeling pounded.  So, I decided to cross train today.   I did an hour on the spinning bike in the morning, and another hour in the evening.  I think that equals about 10 miles.  I know it's not as quality as running mileage, but I'm kind of paranoid about getting injured.

I had a much better tempo run today than last week.  I guess I could have been somewhat recovered after cross training yesterday.  But, my legs still felt tired, just not pounded like yesterday.  I ran a 3.5 mile warm-up, followed by a 10 mile tempo run at Liberty Park.  Total time was 59:42.  We were guessing a little bit on where we finished, but I think we were pretty close.  The good thing is, I was at least a minute faster through 9 than I was last week (I didn't get the exact time.)  I went out a little fast for my first two miles, and then settled right in to pace.  That seems to work better for me than starting really conservatively.  I was happy with  the run though.  I feel like my fitness has improved since my last race which was a half marathon in Iowa.  At sea level I went through ten in 60:00, so I'm looking forward to my race on Thursday.  Under 1:17 would be fabulous, under 1:16 even better. 

I ran just one mile cool down.  Cole was crying, so we needed to get him home. 

This may have been my first twenty miler ever.  It's a landmark!  Of course, Bill had to pick a really hard course to initiate me on.  We ran out in Magna, starting from the 10 mile mark at 8000W and 2700S.  We ran to the 0 mark, and then turned around and ran back.  Lots of uphill going out, and lots of downhill coming back.  My total time was 2:18:22.  I may have gone out a little conservative, because I didn't know what the course would be like, but I definitely came back hard.  My first 10 miles were 1:15:40, and I closed in 1:02:42.   I think my last four miles were all under six minutes.  I felt pretty good considering my tempo run yesterday.  I'm beginning to think I might actually make it through a marathon.  How fast is the big question. 

A.M.  4 mile shakeout run.  SLCC loop.  It was very cold this morning! 

P.M.  2.5 mile warm-up.  15 x 400 meters with 90 seconds recovery.  I wanted to work on some turnover before my race Thursday.  The first 5 were in 79, the second 5 in 77, and the third 5 in 75.  My legs are not used to speed! 

2 mile cool down.

I missed my run today.  I flew out at 6 this morning.  I got into Jacksonville right on time at about 3:45.  But, there was no one to pick me up; some kind of miscommunication with the race.  By the time I got it all figured out and got to a hotel, it was 7 p.m.  I was on a very busy street, and it was very dark, so I just blew it off.  Guess I'll get a little extra rest for Thursday.

Running in Florida is so nice!!!  It felt so good to get out on a run after the travel and stress of yesterday.  I got out on the race course for a seven miler.  The course is great!  It's flat, and scenic.  It runs through some very fancy neighborhoods.  I am definitely enjoying the sunshine and getting ready for tomorrow.

I ran a two mile warm-up before the race today. 

I wanted to run 5:45 pace today and see how long I could hold on.  The race went out pretty fast.  There was a Kenyan woman who went out in 5:30.  Every time I came up on her shoulder she would surge.  A Russian woman tried to go with us early, but quickly fell off the pace.  After about two and a half miles of back and forth, I decided to put my own little push in.  To my surprise, it worked!  I was leading after three miles, and led the rest of the way.  The good thing about that is, I won.  The bad thing is that after about 8 miles at 5:45's I seemed to settle into a pace between 5:50's and 6:00's.  Even when it felt like I was pushing, I just kind of stayed around that pace.  There wasn't even any men to draft off.  I must have been between groups.  I think I could have run faster had there been some competition.  At least, I like to think so.   I can't be disappointed though.  I have improved almost 3 minutes in a month.  I guess the marathon training is beginning to pay off.

I cooled down 2 miles after the race.

I was pretty beat up today after yesterday's race.  I missed my connecting flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, so I spent a wonderful Thanksgiving  in the Atlanta airport.  I got home about 11:00 last night.  Between the race and traveling, my legs hurt!!

I ran on the treadmill today, because it seems easier on my legs.  I ran 69:19 for 10 miles.  I'm feeling a little better this afternoon.  But, the 20 miler might feel a little brutal tomorrow.

I met Bill for a twenty miler this morning.  We ran from mile 3 to mile 23 of the Salt Lake City marathon course.  We ran pretty comfortably for the first fifteen, and pushed the last 5 coming up 500 east.  I could feel my right achilles twinging from time to time, so I need to be careful.  I may stay off the track Monday and do a fartlek workout instead.   The upside is that I am definitely getting used to longer runs.