Emily's training blog

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.