[S]he Conquers Who Endures

This was supposed to be another recovery pace run, but I ran with the tri guys again so we averaged a 8:26 min/mi pace. Haha. Guess my legs are bouncing back! I honestly couldn't tell my pace because my inner thighs have been sore since Tuesday from air squats. I think that's a good thing because I haven't felt the pain in the back of my thighs since Tuesday. I think the crosstraining balanced out my muscles. :)

Long run in the slush! I ran with some friends and their group. It was about the hilliest run you can get in Chicago, so I was loving it. It snowed the entire time, and even though the footing was pretty slick, it was such a gorgeous run. Average pace was 8:31 min/mi, 296 ft elevation gain.

Slow recovery run in downtown Chicago in the snow with my yak trax!! Sometimes the snow flakes were attacking me, sometimes I was chasing them. All-in-all a gorgeous, fun run!

10 min warmup, 4x(5:00 @ 7:24 min/mi, 2:00 @ 9:03 min/mi), ~1.5 mile cool down at 8:54 min/mi. All at 2% incline (thanks, Maxfli!). My first sub 8 pace since the marathon!!! It was a little tough but not too bad. It felt good to hit these paces again!!

8 miles from Cambridge to Commonwealth Ave in Beantown heading to Newton Hills! Ugh, I feel like such a slow poke, but this is my first week of training after taking a break following the Disney Marathon. I've also never really run too much of real hills, so hopefully this is just making me a stronger runner. It's very humbling to say the least! AP: 8:22 min/mi with 224 ft elevation gain. The last mile was flat and I hit it at 7:48, so maybe that is a testament to how hard the hills are?

I'm super excited for Saturday's long run. I'll finally run with the Cambridge running group. They are running and out and back mile 23 of the Boston Marathon to 13. :) Gonna finally get some real Newton Hill mileage on these virgin legs!!! 

Beautiful recovery run in the fresh powder. Super slow, but the footing was pretty slippery and I was pretty scared I'd break a hip. AP 10:05 min/mi!!! 

Indoor track workout with running group. Workout was supposed to be: 5-8x1000m at 5k race pace. Naturally I was targeting 8 repeats...typical. I lined up with the girls who target a 6:37 min/mi 5k pace. There I was, keeping up with the girls I normally keep up with or am a little faster than. First repeat was kinda tough, but I really am just going by their pace, I'm not sure what that is during the workout. Second repeat, felt ok. After the third repeat, a couple girls mentioned how fast I was running so soon after my marathon. Fourth repeat I tanked. I guess I realized my body didn't feel "normal" on these repeats.

I started running in 2009 and I feel like I still don't have a good handle on what I'm doing. My old running group weren't serious runners so there wasn't a lot to learn from them. Up to this point I'm mostly self taught (apart from what I'm learning on this blog). Now I have a coach though, so I asked him if I'm pushing too hard too soon. He said just listen to your body. I felt kinda bummed doing the minimum workout (5 repeats), with the last two at a much slower pace. I am glad I listed to my body though. In hindsight, what was I thinking after a marathon, flu, 2 weeks off and 1 week at recovery pace? Of course I'm not at the same speed I was when I was peaking.

I didn't even bother looking at my splits when I get home like I normally do. My splits were: 4:03.1, 4:04.6, 4:05.6, 4:12.5, 4:16 which were 6:31, 6:34, 6:35, 6:47, 6:51 min/mi pace which ended up being an average pace of 6:39 min/mi! Haha! not a PR, but very close to the pace I was targeting! I didn't even think about the fact that those girls were improving while I was recovering. Still not excited about how my legs felt, but pretty stoked I was staying under 7:00 min/mi pace at the end when I thought I was running closer to 7:30/8. :)

Recovery run before getting slammed by Nemo!!! Ran with a friend for a change. 9:17 min/mi AP. Solid, fun times with a friend and stuck my recovery pace. Finished up with a dash to Whole Foods to get stocked up on healthy food (I haven't had fish in so long)!! Then put in some time pumping iron to get these legs hill ready. 

Slow run during Nemo!!! It was so beautiful! The pace was slow since my group shifted the long run to tomorrow morning. But then I found out when I got home the long run tomorrow is cancelled! :( Oh well, I will get it in on my own. The footing was pretty terrible to run 15 miles today anyway. :)

15 mile hybrid run. 8 miles outside in the snow. I decided to end the run indoors because the footing was really, really bad. It was a great workout for stability muscles and working the glutes! Total elevation gain outdoors: 282 feet @ 9:48 min/mi pace. Yea, I have no shame admitting that. I normally run my long runs closer to 8:15 min/mi what of it?! :)

7 miles indoors on treadmill set to 2% incline starting at 8:25 min/mi pace, which actually felt so easy after running outdoors. I actually kept running into the handle bars! Haha. My training schedule said to hit 3-4 miles at MP. Kept the 2% incline and did 3 MP: 8:12, 8:05, 8:00. In the last mile I really needed to take the pressure off my hamstrings so went down to 1% incline for 9:00. Total elevation gain indoors: 680 feet.

Finishing up I immediately felt like I pushed too hard on this run. I'm really hoping I recovery quickly so I can have a quality week. I'll stretched really, really well and iced so hopefully that will help. I've been feeling antsy lately and my hamstrings are taking a beating so I think I will add bike/elliptical this week.

I am happy about this run. Once I hit the treadmill I actually felt strong. I haven't felt that since the marathon so I'm glad it's coming back!!! 

Total elevation gain:  962 feet!

PM: 30 min bike to relieve some tension in my hamstrings. 5.3 miles 

5 miles recovery on treadmill at 1%, 9:33 min/mi ap. Holy cow!! I thought about taking a rest day because my hammies and glutes are so tight! I'm glad I didn't, the slow recovery run and extra stretching helped me to be able to walk without pain. :) I think I aggravated piriformis syndrome in my right glute. Time to book a trigger point massage!!! 

PM: 3 mile walk to Boston for a little Lulu shopping with a friend. Probably not the best idea to wear heavy snow boots for a longish walk in the snow/ice the night before a threshold run!!

9 miles: 2 mile wu @ 2% incline, 6x5:00 @ 2% incline and 7:24 min/mi pace with 2:00 recovery, then cd @1% and 9:13 min/mi.

Oh...my...goodness!!! This was tough. I can't figure out this incline and pace relationship. I think I went way too hard. This run was supposed to be 15k effort, but by the end I nearly almost passed out. I wanted to be done by the 3rd interval, and thought about how I'm training to run Big Sur "for fun". Then I asked myself, "am I having fun right now?" The correct answer for any sane person would be "no". Well, it was "no" at first so I guess I am somewhat sane, but then I remembered all the PRs I earned last year (10 total from 5k to marathon) and decided "yes, this is a great time (or will be after my next PR)!!" 

Finished up with major stretching. My piriformis is so tight, my sciatica ain't happy!! Then some weights and core. I'm very proud of myself for sticking to this run, now it's time to supercompensate, muscles!!!

An evolved run. Ideally I would have run 8 miles outdoors up Common Wealth Ave in Boston at 8:20ish pace through the hills. However, there was a lot of black ice and my right piriformis is really flared up from this weekend's long run in the snow and yesterday's tempo. I decided to give my piriformis and the hills a break and try an easy progression pyramid run on the tm to be safe. 

I started with a 9:40 min/mi pace!!! My piriformis is soooo tight. I did extra dynamic stretching but that didn't seem to help. 0.1 mile in I thought seriously about bailing, I was having pain on the level of 9 out of 10 and it was altering my gait. I stuck with it though and it started to ease up. I decided to drop my pace every 0.5 mile 0.1 MPH, then by mile 4 slow 0.1 MPH until I hit 8 miles.

Well, by mile 4 I started feeling soooo much better so I decided not to slow my pace. Instead, stuck to a full progression and ended with 7:47 min/mi pace for my last half mile.

Lessons learned:

- The faster I ran, the more my pain subsided probably because I was stretching my legs at faster paces.

- My hill work is making me stronger than I realize, I felt stronger than I ever have post-marathon (and I kept running into the handle bar throughout the run even at sub 8 pace, haha). 

This was a easy to moderate workout. I think it was just what I needed all things considered. I should recover nicely for my speed work tomorrow, I came away with much of the pain from my piriformis choking my sciatica gone. Time to pigeon like there's no tomorrow! :)

Track workout. My legs are coming back! The workout was: 3-4x(800-600-400). My first 800, I trailed the group, just like how I ended last week's track workout...crap, I hope my legs are shot and I hope I don't have to take a break. Ok, 600 m, just keep up with the group, it's only 3 laps. Kept up with them for the first 600, then 400. Okay, round 2. Wow, my legs are feeling a lot looser! I started feeling stronger and kept up with the group no problem. I actually felt like I was braking a lot. Okay 3rd round, wow, gotta slip in front of some of these people. 3rd 600, yes, got in front of them now its time to try to keep up with the faster girl! Kept a narrow gap!

Had to finish the workout after the 4th 800 m, the MIT Lacrosse barbarians overtook the track. 

My splits were (800-600-400):

1: 3:15.4, 2:21.7, 1:27.9 (6:32, 6:20, 5:54 - pretty sure I must have hit my lap function early/late)

2: 3:13.3, 2:24.2, 1:34.4 (6:28, 6:26, 6:18 min/mi pace)

3: 3:16.7, 2:25.4, 1:35.8 (6:36, 6:28, 6:26 min/mi pace)

4: 3:14.8 (6:32 min/mi pace)

Finished up with some light core work. 

5 slow recovery miles along the St. Charles River. My legs were super tight at the start. Felt nice and springy at the finish. I'm excited for the long run tomorrow with the group, but also kinda scared. I will be running miles 24 to 15.5 out and back of the Boston Marathon course. I hope I can keep up! :)

This girl is on FIYA!! In more ways than one! I was not expecting to crush this run, but I couldn't be happier with this run! My legs took a couple miles to warmup, but then I just got into a groove pacing with the girls in my group. It was a lot of fun running the Boston Marathon course. I ended up running miles 24 to 14 then back to 21, finishing just past Heartbreak Hill! That's my first time running up the hill! I hit 8:29 at the end of my run - up HH let me remind you. I thought I was running at least 9s for sure if not 10s!! Holla! AP: 8:21 min/mi. I'm pretty sure my legs are bouncing back! This is close to the pace I was hitting before the marathon on flat courses, plus there was a bit of snow and ice on the path!!! I'm very proud of myself for how well I ran, I am even more proud of myself for resisting the temptation to take a hot bath at the end. I'm really trying to break that bad habit. :)

Total elevation gain: 777 ft - kinda scary I will be running 700 ft gain in 2 miles of Big Sur! Ha! Time for serious hill work on the tready! 

3 recovery miles on the treadmill. My legs felt surprisingly fresh after yesterday's long run. Stuck to an easy pace, the time flew too fast! 25 mins elliptical and 20 mins bike.

Threshold run on the treadmill at 1% incline. My fiance bought the new PINK flyknit racers for me for Valentine's Day. :) I wanted to try them so bad, but thought I should ease into them first so I stuck to the trusty old Pegasus for this tempo. 2 mile warmup was at 8:57 min/mi pace, then dropped the pace to 7:18 min/mi for 30:00 threshold run. I felt really, really strong on this run, and I had to resist the temptation to drop the pace. Finished up the threshold very happy with my run, hopped off the treadmill to throw on my new flyknits and gave them a whirl for my <2 mile cool down. Man, them suckors are pretty awesome. My cool down pace was a lot faster than normal. I guess that's the whole point of dropping a couple ounces off your shoes!

Midlong run over the Newton Hills. I've discovered I do not know how to run downhill! Haha. No, really, it's challenging to run down fast! I need to work on loading my hammies, so it's great I'm getting in this work! AP: 8:20 min/mi. The path wasn't too snowy/icy, but I will be glad once the snow is all gone. :)

Total climb: 371 ft 

AM: 4 miles easy recovery on the treadmill at 1% incline, 9:05 min/mi average pace. After running the Newton Hills yesterday, I thought calf sleeves would do a girl some good. I found out 1 mile in, they are not for me. Actually, I need to look at the literature. I understand they increase blood flow to facilitate recovery, but the sleeves felt more like they were inducing compartmental leg syndrome for me. Too bad, they were super cute neon pink too!

PM: 4 miles recovery on treadmill with 5x0.1 mile strides. I haven't done strides since before the marathon - it's been over a month!!! They felt really, really weird at first but then felt so amazing. :) 

Another awesome workout in the books! 10x800m at 5k race pace with 200m recovery. I think the most 800m repeats I ever did in my life was 5, maybe 6. And those were probably more at a 7:30 pace! I had anxiety all day about this run, because the schedule said 6-10 repeats, so I knew it would be tough not to cop out at 6. To make things more difficult, on my walk home from MIT I always pass this cool little wine shop that advertises every Thursday, "wine tasting"!!! No worries, this girl got her priorities straight up, not with a twist. Thank goodness I inherited my Dad's stubborn genes cause I got all 10 repeats in! My splits were: 3:15.1, 3:16.7, 3:19.6, 3:18.6, 3:18.0, 3:19.5, 3:18.1, 3:18.9, 3:18.1, 3:16.4!! Average: 3:17.9. Recoveries were around 1:35 to 1:45. That's an 8k at 6:38 min/mi pace! With my target 8k not being until April, my sub7 AP goal looks more and more realistic. :)

Wow, I love recovery runs - they work! After my killer speed workout last night, my legs were super tight. I started at a hard, 9:40 min/mi pace and ended at an easy effort 8:40 min/mi pace! Love. AP: 9:05 min/mi. 

I was thinking during my run, I pretty much did a harder version of Yasso 800s last night - the full 10 repeats. If my average time per repeat was 3:18 does that really suggest that's my marathon time? Yasso 800s seem to get mixed reviews online. 

Umm...I no longer know what my marathon pace is. I have been running a lot of hills on my long runs in Boston. Today I ran in the northern suburbs of Chicago - a "hilly" course by Chicago's standards. My pace dropped quite a bit learning how to run the hills back in Boston, so for a much flatter course I have no idea where I'm at. I started out with a 9:00 pace going with the group about a mile an a half in, I decided to drop my group and go off with some guys running a little faster pace - I thought a friend said one of these guys pumps out consistent 8:20s. Well, turns out I was wrong!! The pace felt fairly comfortable. We talked quite a bit. I didn't pay much attention to my watch. I guess these were the guys running the 7:55 min/mi pace group. Haha. My total AP was: 8:03 min/mi for 18 miles. I think my hill work is working!!!

Afterwards, I had to jet downtown for a gait analysis. So ran another mile there at MP (?). I love this girl that does my analysis. She already told me one major thing to work on to change my gait and gave me exercises! Yay! 

Total elevation gain: 410 ft 

3 mile recovery at 8:57 min/mi pace. Practiced my new gait (slight forward lean, landing under body). It took some pressure off my hamstrings and made me a little faster. It was an absolutely gorgeous day out!

2 mile warmup, then threshold run on the treadmill at 1% incline. 4x7:30 at 7:03 min/mi pace with 2:30 recovery at 8:49 min/mi pace. Confidence builder!! I thought this would feel harder since I am trying to pick up the pace of my tempos. I'm trying to hit sub 7 AP in an 8k in early April. Plus, it's time to overcome my fear of sub7 training paces. I want to keep improving!

Hopped off the treadmill to switch into my new Nike Frees for my cool down. I don't think I'm digging the Lunar Flyknit and I can still return them. I ran in Nike Frees back in the day before I ran marathons and really, really loved them. I think they may be a great racing shoe for the 8k. 

I tried to work on my gait mod during the run. I think this mod is going to help tremendously, it was difficult towards the end to maintain the slight forward lean but it really helped to take the pressure off my hamstrings. I felt really great at the end of this run. Yay! 

10 miles out and back over Newton Hills. Last week the same route was 8:21 min/mi AP this week 7:51 min/mi AP!!! Needless to say, my hamstrings are feeling a lot better with this gait mod. :)

I can't believe how well I nailed this run! 2 mile wu, then 8 miles at 7:39 min/mi pace including falling on the ice, haha, woa baby! Mile 8 was 7:13 and included a 60 ft climb! My body just felt like it was in sync. The mile that ended at the top of HH was 7:45. I'm a baller. :) I'm thinking now it's time to tackle an out and back of the beginning of the course in Hopkinton. :)

Finished with hamstring, glute med, arms, stability and core work. Whipped up a large batch of green smoothie with the new Vitamix, that junk is smooth! 

Total elevation gain: 368 ft 

AM: 4 mile recovery run on the treadmill. WU for 1 mile at 8:41 min/mi 1% incline, then dropped to 9:05 min/mi pace and increased the incline 0.5% up to 3.5%. Last half mile dropped to no incline and had to drop to 8:27 min/mi pace and focus on not running into the handle bar - I think that was the biggest challenge of the entire run. I never tried playing with the incline for a recovery run. I absolutely loved it. The effort was light, so I think it's okay to do. 3.5% incline did speed up my breathing, but just a tad. :)

Elevation gain: 383 ft 

PM: 4 miles on treadmill @1% easy run at 8:49 min/mi pace with 5x0.1 mile strides at 6:00 min/mi. So I bought a gajillion running shoes lately because I've been training in all the same shoe, then read that rotating through all different kinds of shoes helps prevent overuse injury. I believe what I read especially after this run. Wow, these Energy Boosts are a lot of fun! They feel like moon shoes, definitely a different feel to my legs than my other shoes. Different shoes shake things up and make the runs feel more interesting too. Okay, that's my two sense. Nice run. :)  

Track workout! 1.5 mile warmup, I tried out some drills with the girls, then 2x3km at 10k race pace with 80% of the interval time recovery, then cool down.

Like all track workouts, I was scared of this one. Haha. I just went with the girls, and actually felt really, really good the first interval. Everyone around me was huffing and puffing, I was breathing nice in steady. For the second interval, I started behind the first girl and took the outside of the inside lane. I hate feeling like I'm hitting the feet of the person in front of me, besides, that means I really did more than 3km my second round. :P

My times were: 12:44.4, 12:42.5. For an AP of 6:49 min/mi!

This was a huge confidence booster for me. The long repeats at what I would love to be my 8k pace are there, while I'm feeling steady and strong!