Emily's training blog

Today was our annual Slurpee Run.  The kids run to 7 different 7-11's and drink a slurpee at each one.  The run is usually 7 miles long.  I wanted a couple of extra miles, so I ran about 3.5 before the run started.  Bill changed the run to end at Liberty Park, and said it should only be about 5 miles to Liberty.  It was 7.5.  Then I had to run the two extra miles back up to Sunnyside Park.  So, I got about 13 miles in today.  I'm not sure what the over-all pace was, but I know for the Slurpee run part, I was 49:19 at around 7.5 miles.  So, we were moving.  It felt like intervals between 7-11's sometimes.  Those boys get competitive.  At least I opted out of drinking the slurpees, so I didn't have that sitting in my stomach.  I was DONE by the time I got back to Sunnyside. 

My achilles was sore, but warmed up.  It didn't like the downhills.  I will definitely have to take good care of it today.  The left soleus did great though!  I knew that one wasn't too serious.

My workout was a little all over the place today.  I met the East High team at Wheeler Farm this morning.  Bill wanted them to run 10 sets of 1 minute on/1 minute off, which was not my original plan.  But, I thought it would be more productive to run with some running partners instead of by myself, so I jumped in their workout.  I thought that running with the boys on the team would help my turnover. 

I had warmed up two miles already by the time the team got there.  I ran three more with the team.  We covered about 3.2 miles in the 20 minutes it took us to run 10 x 1 minutes on/off.  So, we were moving pretty well.  I thought of doing 5 more on my own, but decided to give my aching achilles a break.  Then, we ran 4 sets of grass relays, which really got my sprinting muscles working.  I only managed a 1.5 mile cooldown, because I had to get home to the kids.  Teren is at scout camp this week, so my training time is limited. 

I can feel the effects of the strength work I have been doing.  I am holding my form better.  Hopefully it will convert into some better race times.  It was fun running in the mud and rain at Wheeler Farm this morning.

My achilles was sore from yesterday's run on soft surfaces, so I thought that staying on the treadmill where I could stabilize my foot a little better would be a good idea.  I wanted a long-ish run today, so I decided on 12 miles.  I started easy, and increased the pace every 4 minutes.  I started at 8.0 mph, and ended at 10.0 mph.  My overall time for 12 miles was 1:20:30.  The last twenty minutes was pretty tough, but the first hour felt pretty smooth and easy. 

I warmed up 3 miles while waiting for the kids to arrive at Sugarhouse Park.  I wasn't sure exactly I was going to do for my workout.  I knew the high schoolers were doing hills, and thought I could use the strength, especially since my achilles seemed to handle the warmup with no problems.

While the kids warmed up, I got started on the hill repeats.  They are 400 meters on the grass.  They climb for about 200, and then level off a bit.  I jogged back down the hill for recovery.  Hills after lifting legs the night before wasn't my best idea.  I could feel the lactic acid the entire workout.  Plus, it feels as though someone has been beating my right quad with a baseball bat.  I guess that's what happens after lunges, cleans, and step-ups.  I managed 6 hills by the time the kids made their way over to the hill. 

Bill plays 21 with the kids on hill repeats to make them go faster.  We ran the first hill, and everyone drew a playing card.  The first person to the top of the hill drew first.  Then, we ran the second hill, and drew again.  On the third hill, if someone had 21, they had to try to be the first one up the hill.  Only the first person with 21 who reaches the top of the hill wins.  A couple of people had 21 on the third hill, so it was a sprint for the top.  After the first three 400 meter hills, we shortened it, and ran 6 200 meter hills.  Same story, but no one got 21.  So, on the sixth hill, a couple of people had 20, and once again it was a race to the top.  So, in total I ran 9 400 meter hills, and 6 200 meter hills.  I was running the hills 6-7 seconds faster when I ran with the boys, than when I ran by myself.  Running partners help!  The hills went a lot faster when we played the game.  It was fun (well, as fun as hill repeats can be.)  I only had time for a half mile cooldown, and then had to go take the kids to swimming lessons. 

When I took the kids to swimming lessons, they had the waterslide going  because it was the last day.  So, I got to further my strength workout by climbing all those blasted stairs repeatedly while carrying Lily.  I felt the burn.  But, the kids had so much fun on the slide. 

I am going to be racing on tired legs Saturday.  But, I need to train through the next couple of races in order to be ready for October.  I really need to be building my mileage, so no breaks right now.

PM:  Ran 4 miles easy on the treadmill.  Cole wanted to go to "hay-care" (daycare) at the club, so I figured I could get a few more miles in.  I ran very slowly.  My achilles is still feeling really good, but my quad feels like someone gave me a dead leg.  It hurt for the first ten minutes, but warmed up.  I'm thinking of possibly cross training tomorrow if it's not loosened up.  I guess I got too carried away in the weight room  last night.

Wow!  I really hammered my right leg the other day.  It hurt so bad when I started running.  It warmed up after the first mile and a half, and by the end of the six miles was feeling all right.  I don't think I did anything serious to it, but it is sure sore.  But, at least my achilles is feeling pretty good.  I will be spending lots of time today trying to get my legs a little bit recovered for tomorrow's 5k.

I met the East High team at Liberty Park. We ran one lap around the park as a warm-up.  Then, we ran 1 lap of firemen drills.  Finally, we finished with two more easy laps.

I woke up this morning at 4 am, and went out for a shakeout run.  It was much needed, because I pretty much hobbled through the whole two miles.  Then, I came home and stretched and massaged out my quad and achilles.  They were both very sore this morning. 

I warmed up three miles on the trail, and it still took a while to get going.  I feel so old some days.  I am still feeling the effects of Wednesday and Thursday's workouts.  Especially those darn hill repeats!  So, I wasn't sure what the race would bring, but I was determined to go for that sub-18.

I went out the first mile in 5:38, and honestly didn't feel that great.  Susannah was in the race, but I knew that she hadn't done full training the last few weeks, so I wasn't sure if she would be able to hold with me.  Apparently my training week was a great equalizer, because she came right with me.  The second mile is slightly downhill, so I tried to play to my strengths and make a big push through this mile and put some distance on Susannah.  I went through the second mile in 5:31.  My plan worked, but then my legs started to feel the burn.  The third mile is slight uphill, with a bigger climb with about a half mile left, but then the last 400 is downhill to the finish.  I was trying to keep close to Taylor, who is my running partner during most practices.  I looked back (I know you're not supposed to do that!) and Susannah was charging hard.  She ran a great third mile.  I was just trying to hold on.  Trying to chase Taylor down kept me ahead.  Taylor and I crossed the finish line together, but he got the win.  His time was 18:02.  Somehow they missed my time, and I wasn't even in the results . . .so the 18:01 was a made up time by the race officials.  So, I really ran18:02-18-03.  Darn.  I missed my goal by 2 seconds.  Why is sub-18 so elusive? 

I cooled down with Andrea, Jake, Bill, and whoever else happened to be on the trail.  We ran 2 miles out and turned around.  Then, I went to the awards ceremony, which was, shall we say . . .eventful and dramatic.  

I'm pretty happy with my race for a couple of reasons.  I did want to be faster, but Thursday killed me!  I'm happy Susannah was so close, because I really had to race in the last mile.  This element has been missing from the last couple of races.  I had to keep running hard when my legs were killing me.  Races like this will help me push through to the next level.  It' s also good to get used to racing off of a heavy training week.  The rest of the summer will go like this, so I need to stick it out.  And, I'm really happy my achilles and quad felt good.

PM:  I got obsessive compulsive and wanted to even out my mileage, so I went to the health club.  I planned on 3.4 miles on the treadmill followed by boot camp.  I only managed to get in two before bootcamp started, but I'm claiming the rest of the mileage.  Any class that starts with windsprints is going to be harder than 1.4 more miles.  I don't know what was harder, all the jumps, the stairs, or the one-legged burnouts on the cycles.  Actually, the most difficult part was when we did relays, and he had us do cartwheels.  I don't think I've attempted a cartwheel since I was about 8.  I'm a runner, dang it!  It was a fun class.  There were no men in the class (except the instructor) but these women were all hardcore athletes.  No dancy-dance girls in this class.   Plus, I learned new, fun ways to torture the East High kids on bootcamp day!  MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! (evil laugh!)