KristenRuns

4 miles easy. Taking a rest week.

Back from 2 weeks away. Spent Christmas/New Years on holiday in London and Amsterdam, and then 1 week in London for work.

Easy miles on Hudson River path before work. Ran slower than normal because the path was icy in places and snow on the ground.
 

6x400@6:0x w/ 400 jog recoveries +wup/cdown. Ran these 400 a little bit faster than I have been, and it ruined me. Either that or I am a bit out of shape from 2 weeks off eating pasta, chocolate, cookies, etc. and drinking wine!

1. 1:33

2. 1:33

3. 1:34

4. 1:32

5. 1:32

6: 1:33

Ducked out of work early to run in 65 degree weather! It was 10 degrees when I ran on Monday!!

Easy miles on Hudson River with Juliana who is moving to Pennsylvania! :(

Long run with Dashing Whippets Running Club. Central Park to Bronx to Randall's Island, to East River.

Ran to the pool and back. Swam 10 minutes...long way to go before a swim will be a good substitute for a run!

5 miles easy on Hudson River with a fast finish (1 mile)

1:30 hard / 2:10 easy x 8

Morning run on Hudson River, easy.

2 miles running to/from the pool. Swam for about 30 minutes. Did a lot of drills and some laps. Technique is improving after reading some tips on swimming.

This race is 2 + loops in Central Park. This was my first multi-loop race. It sort of messes with your head when you konw you have to do the same hills mulitple times! And then the dodging of the slower runners...

There are two steep hills - Harlem Hill (2x) and Cat Hill (3x), and there are some rollers in between. 500 feet of elevation gain and loss - this is huge for NYC! I run along the river every day - no hills there. So the hills were harder than usual. The rout of my spring goal race - the United NYC Half - in March does both of these hills within the first 5K, so I need to get after these hills in my training runs!

Got helpful strategy advice from NYRR when I picked up my bib on Friday night. They had a walk through the course and recommended a strategy that I followed.

I ran the first 10K at an average of about 7:30. Then I re-assessed and decided I could pick up the pace a little bit. I ran the next few miles about 10 secons faster. Then last three miles, I ran as fast as I could.

This result is in the middle of the pack in my half marathons. I feel good about it because I executed my race strategy. I am a little disappointed in the result. I had a great few months of training before this race, so was expecting a about a minute faster.

Couldn't have asked for better weather in January. It was 45 with high humidity. This was my first race where I got a plastic blanket afterwards!

1. 7:32

2. 7:47 (Cat Hill)

3. 7:23

4. 7:29 (partial Harlem Hill)

5. 7:47 (partial Harlem Hill, this could have been faster)

6. 7:17

7. 7:25 (Cat Hill)

8. 7:21 (partial Harlem Hill)

9. 7:23 (partial Harlem Hill)

10. 7:22

11. 7:10 (Cat Hill)

12. 7:33 (burned out from a fast Cat Hill)

13. 6:57

the rest 6:28 pace

Got 10 in my age group and 30 female. About 5,000 runners total.

30 minute swim. Technique improving. Swam 750 yards plus drills

Easy miles on Hudson River path before work. A bit windy.
 

Easy miles before work on - where else - the Hudson River path. Last mile at HM pace.

Long run with 6 miles at HM pace (~7:25). Ran up the west side, through Riverside Park, and then to Central Park via Morningside Heights Park. Did my HM pace miles in Central Park -- for the hills. The hills kicked my butt last weekend at my half marathon. That will not happen in March at the NYC Half!

Progression run on Hudson River before work.

4 x 400 @ less than 94 seconds with 400 recoveries.

Easy run before work. Concerned about right tibia, so cut it short. Felt soreness on the spot where I had the stress reaction.

Rest day - resting the leg just in case

Swimming lesson - more improvements!

I'm running 9 NYRR races to qualify for the 2018 NYC Marathon. This was race #2. The race was in Central Park - and hilly, but less hilly than last month's half marathon. It was pretty cold and a bit windy - but wind didn't seem to be much of a factor. My goal was to run 6:45 average pace (projections based on my last half) or faster. I ran 26:42 for an average pace of 6:41. Placed 7th in my AG and was second woman on my team. Very happy with this result.

1. 6:45 - right on target (rolling hills)

2. 6:42 - some downhill recovery and rolling hills

3. 6:55 - big hill (Cat Hill)

4. 6:19 - flat / downhill this mile. I ran without looking at my watch and tried to keep passing people in front of me; ran especially hard in last quarter mile.

Lots of gas in the tank for the last mile. Could have run the other miles a little bit faster for a slightly better finishing time. Overall, happy with result.

taking a few rest days in a row this week. Feeling run down. Might be getting a cold. Worried about re-injuring tibia.

Blizzard on Thursday - Central Park is the first running spot that gets plowed. 6 miles moderate in Central Park. One big loop at 7:30 pace.

Took 5 days in a row off last week because I was feeling like I was going to get a cold and was worried about tibia. Felt great running after so much rest. Glad I took the time off. Track workout at Chelsea Piers. 8x400 m with 400 recoveries.

1:30

1:33

1:33

1:35

1:33

1:32

1:37

1:30

30 minute swim. Drills and then 8x100yards. Am gasping for air too much on last 25 yards. Need to figure that out. Also my legs are sinking when I get tired. That could be why I am gasping - having to work very hard when form declines. +kettlebell and getups

Easy run before work on Hudson River +kettlebell and get ups

Easy before work on Hudson River. +kettlebell and get ups

Swimming - 1000 yards in just over 30 minutes

5 miles at half marathon pace - Hudson River path before work.

1. 7:26

2. 7:27

3. 7:34

4. 7:15

5. 7:05

easy run on Hudson River

2 miles to and from gym plust 1200 yard swim in about 30 minutes

5 miles at half marathon pace. Sharp pains in tibia. Took almost two week soff of running to heal

1600 yard swim in 44 minutes

1600 yard swim in 43 min

1750 yard swim in 45 minutes

1750 yard swim in 45 min

3 miles on a cold and windy morning on Hudson River.
 

This is a hilly course in north Manhattan. It was a very cold morning. The bands were sent home because the horn players' lips froze to their instruments, and the water along the course froze in the cups! It was 15 with a windchill of 0.

My legs felt pretty fresh becaues I took about 2 weeks off after some pain in my tibia after a HMP run in late February. Tibia felt okay today after the race, but  not perfect. Hoping it improves overnight! Will be taking a few rest days to heal it. In years past, I might have continued to train - am learning something in my old age!

This course had a major hill or two in every mile. I ran a good race, but based on home much energy I had at the end, I think I could have ran this a little bit faster. But it was a good effort!

1. 6:42

2. 6:40

3. 6:25

0.1. 5:42 pace

Lap swimming

Easy miles

Easy miles

Travel day to London for work

Weights at gym

Travel day home from London

I was honored to run the United NYC Half as a charity runner for Hope for the Warriors. My team raised $60,000 for the charity, and I was the #3 fundraiser! Hope for the Warriors provides care to post-9/11 service members, their famailes, and the famies of the fallen. Almost 20,000 runners took part in the race - 2,000 of whom were charity runners, raising an estimated $4 million for 140 different charities.

20,000 sets of eyes were on the weather all week. They were predicting possible snow the morning of the race, but luckily the snow missed us and it was a great weather for a half marathon.

This race has an early start - 7:30 a.m., but this was no problem for me. I had been in London the past week, and had just flew back Saturday. So the 4 hour jet lag made getting to bed early and waking up early so easy! Unfortunately, I had some dodgy plane food that was giving me trouble on Saturday. So my pre-race feuling Saturday was not ideal.

Also not ideal was my training cycle for this race. I trained pretty hard in November, December, and especially January. By the February, my body had enough. My tibia started flaring up a little (stress reaction in the same spot two years ago). So I took most of February and March off of running. Swimming became my main workout.

Still, I played it smart and made it to the start line. Better to be undertrained than overtrained! I knew I wasn't going to have a break out race, but I figured I could land somewhere around 1:35-1:37 depending on conditions. I hit my target with a 1:35:30 finish.

The United NYC Half is an amazing race. I was so impressed with the organization, the course, the finish, the volunteers. Everything was perfect! The race starts in Central Park and spends about the first 6 miles in the park. Then you run down 7th Avenue into Times Square. Other than NYE, this is the only time Time Square is shut down to traffic. At 42nd Street, the course goes due west towards the Hudson River where you run down the West Side Highway from about mile 8 to the finish. The West Side Highway is completely flat, which is welcome after some hill climbing in the park.

I used manual splits, but they are still somewhat unreliable... GPS no good among the buildings on 7th Ave., 42nd St., and downtown. Or maybe the mile markers were off - don't know if that is possible!

1. 7:21 - Race starts with a climb of Cat Hill. A short but steap hill. I barely felt it today.

2. 7:06 - Lots of downhill an flat this mile on the east side of the park.

3. 7:37 - This is actually a pretty flat mile. But I was feeling terrible. I thought the dodgy plane food was going to haunt me. But it passed, and I felt fine again to start climbing Harlem Hill

Official 5k split. 22:48 (7:21)

4. 7:20 - The biggest and longest hill of the race - Harlem Hill - as in this mile. Still 20 seconds faster than flat mile 3.

5. 7:27 - Rolling with the three sister hills on the west side of the park.

6. 7:20 - Exited the park this mile and was running down 7th Ave. toward Time Square. Lots of bands and spectators. This was so cool!

Official 10K split. 45:38 (7:22)

7. 6:58 - A little excited still as I ran down 7th Ave. but then hit a wall of wind on the turn onto 42nd St.

8. 7:16 - The only time I felt the wind was here along 42nd St.

9. 7:25 - Finally on the Westside Highway. This is where the race gets easy - because its just flat and straight on this part of the course. But also hard. I usually start feeling a little discomfort at this point in a half.

Official 15k split. 1:08:14 (7:17)

10. 7:17 - I ran passed my apartment during this mile! Trying to speed up a little to get splits around 7:15.

11. 7:16 - I felt I sped up a little here, but my splits don't show it.

12. 7:39 (but a 1.18 lenghth "mile" at average pace of 6:29) - I made a big effort to speed up here. My splits don't show it, but I was definitely moving faster.

Official 20k split. 1:30:38 (7:13)

13. 6:38 (but 0.89 length "mile" at  average pace of 7:29) - The course goes through a tunnel and then up an evil hill. Short but just very poorly placed at the end of mile 13!

The rest. 0:25 at average pace of 5:14 - Just ran for it here to make sure I finished with a time starting 1:35!

3,000 yard swim in 48 minutes

Finally...able to run again. I have never been that sore before! Took ubers to work this week because I couldn't manage subway stairs. Finally back to normal. Well some residual soreness still...
 

4 miles easy early in DC

I got a lottery entry into the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race with about 16,500 runners! I was in DC the week before the race for a conference, so very good timing! The race was great. Nice course, well organized. And the cherry blossoms were in bloom this year! It was sunny and in the 40s. The course is almost totally flat, so my race plan was to run even splits of 7:00. This was a bit of a stretch at my current fitness level, and I didn't take into account the wind! It wasn't horribly windy, but the last 2 miles are straight with basically no turns, and right into the wind. I was not prepared for this mentally! I slowed down quite a bit in the last two miles and ran a positive split. I was getting passed like crazy in the last few miles. Overall average pace was 7:07. 

1. 6:53 - No trouble at the start. Good waves.

2. 7:07 - Slowed down a little to compensate for a fast mile 1.

3. 6:59

4. 7:01

5. 7:06

     Official 5 mle split 35:11 (7:02)

6. 7:16

     Official 10K split 43:58 (7:04)

7. 7:11

8. 7:09

9. 7:23 - slowing down...

     Official 9 mile split (1:04:10 (7:07)

10. 7:19 - dead

30 minute swim

35 minute swim

4 miles easy. Went to doctor to get tibia checked out. Very likely not a stress reaction. Maybe some strength imbalance or tendenitis. Going to PT to work on it.

My dad came out to run the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K in Central Park. We had a goal of under 50 minutes...and it was great weather for it. But we didn't make it because his knee hurt and the course was packed with over 8,000 runners! This is too many runners for a Central Park race... Starting in wave F of L really slowed us down (I think we would have been fine in B, my normal wave). First mile was over 9:00. We just couldn't get around people! We ran a massive negative split and passed probably hundreds of other runners. I've never passed so many people in a race. My dad has been working so hard to get fit. I am really impressed with his progress, even if we didn't get to run sub 50.

1. 9:12

2. 8:22

3. 8:49

4. 8:47

5. 8:02

6. 8:16

rest at 7:14 pace
 

After work swim, 32 minutes

Run commute, in 27 minutes

Run commute, in 29 minutes

Run commute and swim.

Afternoon swim in 30 minutes
 

8 miles in 60 minutes. Ready to start getting in racing shape for the Brooklyn Half, May 21.

Run commute home from work.

Run commute to gym. 20 minutes swimming.

6x400 @ 1:35 ish. First track work out since Jan or Feb. Uggh.

Early morning long run with 3 miles @ HMP (7:15ish).

Ran the 800m leg of the distance medley for my track club's annual track meet. (about 2:50)

Ran home from the track.

5 miles easy on the Hudson River in the morning. Brisk but sunny morning.

Swimming lesson in the afternoon. (+Run to and from pool.)

Easy miles on Hudson River. I've been feeling exhausted this week. Had a bit more energy and felt better for going on an easy run.

Went to PT to get evaluated on running form. I haven't been able to string together very many good weeks of training lately. Video showed I am overstriding - especially on right leg and legs too close together. Bad ground force angles. Homework.

1. Think about running cues: (a) landing foot closer to body and (b) knees have headlights on them, and they have to point forward.

2. Stretch: calves, hamstrings, roll arches, work on big toe mobility, foot crunches for strengthing arch/getting more neural pathways to foot, calf raises.

3. Exercises: monster walks, clam shells, bridges.

Easy miles on Hudson River. Lovely morning! Thousands of tulips in bloom.

45 minute swim

The Shape Women's Half Marathon is two plus loops in Central Park. Since it is a women's only event, I got to start at the very front of the pack - right behind Deena Kastor who won in 1:16:xx. I was disappointed in my time because it was about 30 secons slower than my January half on basically the same course. On the other hand, I haven't been running that much so cannot reasonably expect to be getting faster!

1. 7:08 - started out with a team mate; went too fast.

2. 7:27 (hill)

3. 7:08 (down hill)

4. 7:44 (up and down hill)

5. 7:34 (hill)

6. 6:49 (down hill)

7. 7:55 (down hill)

(think miles 6 and 7 were not marked correctly; I was doing manual splits)

8. 7:40 (hill)

9. 7:15 (down hill)

10. 7:50 - (up and down hill) ?

11. 7:40  (hill)

12. 7:19 (down hill)

13. 7:26

The rest at 7:02 pace

Easy miles on Hudson River path

Easy early miles with Juliana +PT in evening.

The Great Saunter is a walk along the river paths all the way around the island of Manhattan. My aunt and uncle flew into NYC to do the walk with me. This is probably the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. From about mile 20 onward, I was in serious pain! So about 5 hours of continuous suffering from mile 20 to 32. I am not sure that I am glad that we finished because my legs and feet are still (alomst a week later) yelling at me, but at least I can say we did it! 

Random weights at the gym. Went light because I haven't lifted in so long. But it didn't work. I could barely put my coat on the next day.

Swimming - 2,000 yards in 50 minutes. I have to give myself a compliment and say that I am a decent swimmer now!

PT - more exercises and stretching. But does it really help? To be determined.

Weights and stretching. Core and leg focus. Obviously, I've been to PT again!

2000 yard swim in 49 minutes. Weights and stretching for an hour. 

30 min swim and more weights. Week 1 of break from running complete.

Core and legs, stretching, and swim lesson. Learned open turn and began backstroke. Open turn should speed up my front crawl and make swimming a better cardio workout. My swim coach says I'm a gifted swimmer. Too bad I learned that at 36!

1650 yard swim in 40 minutes

Weights and big stretch

60 minute swim. Front crawl and some back stroke drills.

Weights and stretching

1400 yards in 35 minutes. Front crawl and back stroke drills 

Weights and stretching at the most crowded gym I've ever seen. NY Sports Club in Grand Central Station.

30 minute swim and 30 minutes on core at Chelsea Piers.

Upper body and core at NYSC GC. Had an MRI this morning on tibia. Just to be sure I'm fine. MRIs cost a lot more in NY. $1300 v $500 in San Diego. Thankful mine was covered by insurance. 

Yoga class and sushi with Juliana. My kind of Friday night!

My first structured swim work out. I am tyring to get more comfortable swimming faster so that I can get my heart rate out of the 130s during my swims. When I swim fast, it still feels like coordinated drowning...trying to get comfortable with that feeling. Maybe I need a better analogy ;)

W/U, drills, 8x (100 yards moderate effort & 50 yards focusing on form and long strokes), C/D (42 minutes)

About an hour of core, upperbody, stretching.

45 minute swim and core/PT strength at Chelsea Piers

Swim - w/u 100y front & 50y kick. 2x100y @ moderate (< 2:00) 2x100y kick. c/d 100y front & 50y kick Core / upper body weights Stretching Chelsea Piers

Weight session at NYSC-GC. 5x 20 leg lifts in Roman chair. 5x side planks w leg raise. 3x back extension 3 ways. 5x leg curls and unweighted squats. 3x hip abduction. 3x dips.

Swimming lesson with Jahi - learning backstroke.

Weights workout - core, PT, a little upper body - the usual
 

Got my MRI read today and diagnosed with another tibial stress fracture in the same exact spot as 2015. It's small - just the beggining of one. I've already been off of running for one month. I'm going to be off for another month - maybe 2 months. I go back to the doctor in 4 weeks.

Not under the kind of restrictions I was last time...I am only not supposed to run and take ibuprofin/NSAIDs (have been shown to affect bone osteogenesis during fracture healing).

I'm going to take these 4 weeks and improve swimming - espcially backstroke and continue weights - especially core and flexibility.

What did I do wrong?

November – average 20 miles a week. December was about the same. Took two weeks off Christmas and New Years. Then ran three hard weeks – 33, 21, and 40 (with a half marathon race). Then tibia started talking to me in February. Cut mileage a lot but continued to do races in Feb., March, and April.

Things I will do better in the future –

1. More rest before and after races. I had difficult training weeks the week before races and tended to take an easy 5 days after races. I need to do no workouts the week before a race, and I would also be better off skipping a long run on the weekend following a race. I should really take 2 weeks off of all workouts after a race.
2. Ease up mileage after extended breaks. I can’t just jump back in after weeks off like I have been doing all year with hard weeks or races.
3. Run easy miles slower. Most of my runs were about 8:00 this fall and winter. I became a speed demon after the hot summer was over. It felt so good and easy to run 8:00 but that was too fast. My best half marathon pace was like 7:10...
4. Better form. I got a form evaluation when I started PT last month. I had changed my form and had become a major heal striker, especially on my right side. I was majorly overstriding and created bad ground force angles. Also hips were dropping a little bit. So need to improve core, hip, and glute strength and continue on improving form.

Things I did well – full rest day every week. Just a few double workout days (second workout was always yoga).

Early morning swim...

W/U 200 freeeasy; 300 yards back stroke.

2x100 easy (2:15); 2x100 moderate (2:05); 2x100 hard (2:00) (all free)

C/U 150 free; 100 back stroke; 50 free.

I was out late last night and didn't get much sleep. This swim was a struggle! Back stroke felt pretty good. I'm getting it.

30 minutes of weights - core, PT, upper body.

Early morning swim.

W/U 100 free; 2x50 back

3x200 descending (easy, moderate, fast)

C/D 100 free. 5x50 back

45 minutes of weights and stretching - the usual.

Weights at NYSC Grand Central. So busy, so workout was random bc just going for open machines!

Weights at Chelsea Piers. Chest and shoulders

Weights at NYSCGC

w/u

4x200 front crawl moderate (4:12-15)

c/d

Weights at Chelsea Piers - back and arms.

w/u

8 x 100 mixture of easy, moderate, and fast (2:10, 2:05, 2:00)

c/d

W/u

50, 100, 150, 100, 50 moderate 

C/d

W/u

3x(100y moderate, 2x50y fast)

C/d

Core and upper body

Vinyasa yoga class at Chelsea Piers

Warm up. 2x300 moderate, 6x50 fast. Cool down.