Emily's training blog

After a very sore achilles and arch from the weekend, I made sure to ice a lot and slept with my boot on last night.   It seemed to help, because my foot felt somewhat better this morning.  Still, to play it safe I ran on the treadmill (no hills, no uneven surface).   I was mad because most of the treadmills need some sort of maintenance work done.   I pay a membership fee, the least they could do is keep the equipment working!   I just ran easy, and amused myself watching the . . . uh . . . "flamboyant"  guy in front of me watch himself in the mirror while he worked out.   He had to frequently check that his muscles hadn't disappeared, and every 15 minutes or so had to fix his hair.  I will admit . . . he was definitely prettier than I am!   I felt pretty good after a busy weekend, and the achilles seemed to warm up pretty quickly.   I'm just trying to stay in one piece until my race in 3 weeks.  I mean, I've already paid for the plane tickets to Des Moines, so I'm going to run no matter what!

My achilles and foot felt pretty good after another night with the boot on.  Looks like I'll be able to keep it under control.  

I warmed up for 15 minutes running to Valley park.  I borrowed a fartlek workout from Nan (thanks, Nan!) and ran 1-2-3-2-1 with 1 minute recovery and a 2 minute recovery after the three minutes.  I ran three sets.  Then I ran a 15 minute cooldown back to my house.  

I can't believe how warm the weather still is in almost October.  I guess I should take advantage of it while I can.  I hate running in the cold!

Missed running yesterday. Kids were up when I usually go, so I promised myself that I would do an evening run.  Got back from High School cross country meet later than I counted on. Then, it was dinner and bedtime for the kids.  My achilles was hurting from running around on the hills at the cross country course.  Basically I lost my motivation and called it a day.  

So, two runs today.

A.M.  4 mile SLCC loop.  Felt a little low energy after the first mile and a half.  Then I realized I hadn't had any water before I ran.   Felt better towards the end. 

I met Bill at Liberty Park for some long intervals.  The workout was 3 x 2 miles with half a mile jog in between.  My goal was to run them between 11:30 and 11:40.   I warmed up on the outer loop around the park for two miles and then did a couple of strides. 

The first 2 miles was 11:30.75.  I got out a little quick on the first half mile, but it is slightly dowhill.  Then, I settled in for the second half mile.  My third half mile is always the tricky one.  It seems that I go just a touch too slow before the kick to the finish line.

The second 2 miles was 11:32.   I ran even 5:46 for each mile.

The third 2 miles was 11:38.  I got out at 5:46 again for the first mile, but that third half mile slowed me down again.  I was 8:50 at the mile and a half.  I knew I had to kick it in.  I ran a 2:48 for the last half mile to barely squeak in under 11:40. I think I could have been a couple seconds faster if not for the kindergarten class crossing the sidewalk in front of me, and the car at the park entrance that drove right in front of me.  I had to slow down both times. 

I cooled down a mile and a half.  I was pretty happy with this workout.  It is a good preparatory workout for the marathon pace tempo runs that are coming up in the next few weeks.

I met Allie and James on the Jordan River Trail for an out and back run.  The plan was to run out to Gardner Village and back.   The trail was closed about a mile before Gardner Village.  We tried to climb over the barrier and continue the run, but a humorless construction worker insisted that we turn back.  So, we ran back to the beginning and then another 3/4 of a mile out.  

I felt pretty comfortable through 10-11 miles.  The last 4-5 got a little tough.  I was definitely feeling yesterday's workout.  We started getting a little faster and popped off 6:40-6:50 miles for the last 4 miles.   It was nice to run hard, but I was very happy to be done.  It was so nice to have running partners.  It made the miles fly by to have someone to talk to!   Now to baby my achilles and calf, because they are not happy.