Emily's training blog

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.