Not-so-fast-running-blog

Workout: Slow, easy pace / Treadmill

Workout: Fartlik (treadmill)

• 10 minute warm-up / 9:44
• 4 minutes  / 7.5 setting / 8:00 pace
• 1 minute / 6.7 setting / 8:57 pace
• Complete cycle 9x
• 10 minute cool-down / 9:44
• SAM easy (strength and mobility)

Thoughts:

• I have never done this workout. It was hard, hard, hard!
• I'd like to try this outside. Maybe this polar vortex will leave sometime soon!

Cross Training:

• Spinning - 45 minutes
• Pound - 45 minutes

Overall Average Pace: 11:05

Conditions:

• 34 degrees (feels like 28)
• Wind N 8 mph

Thoughts:

• This was the 10K of the Disney World Marathon weekend.
• My son's goal was to run an 11:00 minute average pace. We were able to do this easily.
• I am just trying to support his race endeavors and keep my muscles loose.

Overall Average Pace: 11:25

Conditions:

• 24 degrees 
• Wind NW 10 mph

Thoughts:

• I am doing the Disney World Marathon Weekend with my son. He is a casual runner and wanted to do a destination event. We are doing 4 races in 4 days. I am setting aside my race training for the week to support and encourage his endeavors. 
• All I can say about this 4 day event is that Disney puts on a great event, but it is not an event for the serious runner. The participants are zany and over the top. Most are pretty clueless about race ettiquette. If you are not in Corral A, you may as well forget about having a decent finish. There are walkers everywhere - to the right, in the middle, to the left, 5 a breast - swatting you with wings, tails, veils, wands, and over-sized gloves as you pass them along the race course.  Other participants stop immediately in front of you to snap a selfie or to stand and scream about the next Disney character that has appeared along the side of the race course.
• The 5K was a mental challenge. Running with around 20,000 people is a lot to manage. We made major weaving mistakes, but feel better prepared for the other events now. Hopefully, by the marathon we'll be experts and have a relaxing, kickback event!

Average Overall Pace: 11:32

Conditions:

• 39 degrees
• Wind N 6 mph

Thoughts:

• This was the half-marathon of the Disney World Marathon weekend. 
• My son's goal was to run between 11:30 and 11:45 so we did well staying within that range.
• I practiced hydratation and eating while running.
• Did my SAM easy (strength and mobility) following the event.

Overall Average Pace: 12:18

Conditions:

• ​39 degrees
• NE 10 mph

Thoughts:

• This was the marathon of the Dopey Challenge. I set the "coach" feature on Map my Run to pace my son and I at 12:30. He wanted to run the entire course. Based upon our 3 previous races this seemed like an achievable goal. 
• There were 25,000+ participants at the marathon. Surprisingly, this was the easiest day to manage crowd congestion. It seemed that walkers and runners understood race etiquette so we rarely had to weave around slower individuals or groups.During the times that we got bottlenecked, my son and I just stayed where we were and eventually space opened up for us to regain our pace.
• My son finished running the entire course! We finished slightly under our goal pace. The biggest shock was how much extra mileage we ran since we really avoided weaving.
• It was a good 4 days to share and experience with my son. Happily, we will NEVER do this event again! It really is "dopey."

Cross Training:

• 45 minutes spinning
• 45 minutes Pound

Overall Average Pace:  9:40

• Workout - Run by feeling

Conditions:

• 35 degrees
• SSE 9 mph
• Steady drizzle of rain

Splits:

• 1 mi - 11:05 / 2 mi - 9:48 / 3 mi - 9:40 / 4 mi - 9:36 / 5 mi - 9:07 / 6 mi - 9:16 / 7 mi - 8:58

Thoughts:

• Running outside felt really good. My legs were loose and felt rested.
• Weather is supposed to change again to below zero. I am trying to figure out how to get a 16 mile long run in for this weekend.

Cross Training:

• 35 minutes pilates
• 45 minutes spinning

Cross Training:

• 45 minutes spinning

Workout: Treadmill

• Warm-up / 10 minutes / 9:49
• Steady / 20 minutes / 8:49
• Faster / 15 minutes / 8:06
• Faster / 10 minutes / 7:41
• Fastest / 5 minutes / 7:30
• Cool-down / 10 minutes / 9:49

Thoughts:

• I really wanted to attempt this workout outside, but there was lingering ice and extremely cold conditions. Maintaining paces for long durations is not something that I perform well so the practice would have been good for me.
• I did well with my running until the 10 minute block of time. I stopped twice to drink water and catch my breath. I pulled it together for the 5 minute session.
• Since I don't know what I'm doing on the treadmill, my speed was most likely higher than what I could have performed outside. I don't know if running on the treadmill is beneficial or harmful to my overall training.

Overall Average Pace:

• Treadmill / 16 miles
• Time goal - 2 hours 40 minutes

Thoughts:

• Winter training is proving to be a challenge. Additional ice and snow blanket the roads and sidewalks. The projected forecast does not look promising for any outdoor runs this week. I am experiencing  a slow, painful death on the treadmill!
• I am satisfied with my overall time even though I missed the prescribed goal by 5 minutes.
• At mile 12, I was ready to throw in the towel. Mentally, I was losing it. I was bored beyond belief. I tried to run faster, but that didn't work. I instead walked for a mile while chatting with the person next to me on another treadmill at the gym. This helped my mental state tremendously. I was able to finish the 16 miles.
• I can only pray that next weekend I am outside!

Cross Training:

• 45 minutes - Spinning

Workout: Recovery day

• Treadmill
• Brisk walk of 70 minutes

Thoughts:

• Mentally this is a difficult workout for me. I feel that I should be running. Trying hard to stay true to the 20 week program.
• The weather froecast shows more snow and extreme cold temperatures for the week. Ugh!

  Overall Average Pace: 10.03 (treadmill)

Workout:

• 60 minutes easy pace
• 5 x 30 second strides (60 - 90 seconds easy recovery)

Thoughts:

• Several more inches of snow fell last evening - Ugh! I am starting to dread running on the treadmill. It is beyond boring!
• I ran my strides at mile 4. It took two strides before I found a treadmill setting that pushed me to something similar to outdoors. Although my lung capacity was never fully challenged, my left hip and left hamstring felt a significant pull. I did not want to further strain them.
• The treadmill was set at a 9.0 / 6:39 mile pace, but my estimate would be a 8:00 mile pace.

Workout: Treadmill (loathing the weather)

• 10 minute warm-up / 9:44
• 5 x 8 minutes at a challenging pace / 8:10
• with 3 minute steady recovery / 9:34
• 10 minute cool-down / 9:44

Thoughts:

• The first 8 minutes was difficult to run. After the 3 - minute recovery, I hit my stride. It was a challenging pace for me to maintain. I increased my pace just slightly for the final 8 minute round.
• By the afternoon, my quadriceps were sore and tired. It could have been the workout or it could have been the 5 hours of hiking in the snow that I did yesterday.

Cross Training:

• 45 minutes spinning
• 45 minutes Pound class

Workout: Treadmill

• Easy run 75 minutes

Thoughts:

• My first 3 miles were beyond torture, physically and mentally. I finally hit my stride, but had to work at not ramping up the speed.
• I have no idea if my workouts are building stamina, speed, etc. I just hope that all of these indoor workouts transfer to running outside when the weather finally changes.

Cross Training:

• Pilates - 45 minutes
• Spinning - 45 minutes

Cross Training:

• 45 minutes spinning

Workout: (still on the treadmill)

• 55 minutes easy
• 5 x 30 second strides (7:10 pace)
• 60 second easy recovery (9:33 pace)

 Workout:

• 16 miles easy
• At 13-mile mark increase pace for the last 3 miles

Overall Average Pace: 10:10

Conditions:

• 33° (feels like 28°)
• SW 10 mph

Splits:

• 2 mi - 10:18 / 4 mi - 9:52 / 6 mi - 9:54 / 8 mi - 10:31 / 10 mi - 10:19 / 12 mi - 10:12 / 14 mi - 10:12 / 16 mi - 9:53

Thoughts:

• This was the first time in two weeks that I have run outside. It was refreshing!  The sidewalks were impassable while the roads were snowpacked and icy in places. Throughout the run, I had to slow my pace or walk for safety reasons.
• I would have liked to finish with an overall pace closer to 9:55, but based upon the road conditions I am satisfied with my performance.
• I need to bring more nutrition and hydration with me. I was in need of additional fluids by mile 14. My final push was more of a struggle than necessary because of my lack of preparedness. Learning as I go.

Workout: Easy, easy run

Overall Average Pace: 10:00

Splits:

• 1 mi - 10:09 / 2 mi - 10:12 / 3 mi - 10:25 / 4 mi - 10:20 / 5 mi - 9:28 / 6 mi - 9:24

Thoughts:

• This was the second day in a row that I was able to run outside. Most of the snow and ice had melted so it was much easier to run.
• I just listened to my body and ran slow. It was fun and relaxing to have zero pressure. It was a nice way to end week 9 of my training.

Workout: 55 minutes easy with

• 5 x 30 second strides - 6:58
• 60 second easy recovery

Overall Average Pace: 10:12

Conditions:

• 51 degrees
• Wind S 9 mph 

Splits:

• 1 mi - 12:02 / 2 mi - 10:22 / 3 mi - 10:08 / 4 mi - 9:45 / 5 mi - 10:04 / 6 mi - 8:47

Thoughts:

• It's so great running outside again! My entire being is happy!
• The last time that I did splits outside, my pace was 7:25. I could hardly breathe after running each one. Today. I ran my splits faster and recovered much quicker. What a nice feeling to experience some form of improvement!

Workout: Yasso 800's (treadmill)

• 10 minute warm-up
• 9 x 800m with 400m jog / 4:16 / 9th Yasso - 4:00
• 10 minute cool-down

Thoughts:

• I am srill off with my timing. I need to run about 11 seconds faster to meet my marathon goal pace. It's hard to gage on the treadmill, but this Yasso was more successful than my last attempt.

Workout: Easy 60 minute run

Overall Average Pace: 10:26

Conditions:

• 31 (feels like 21 degrees)
• Ice and snow

Cross Training:

• Spinning: 45 minutes

Thoughts:

• Cross training has been at a stand still this week. I have been battling headaches every day. My classroom has a bad case of the flu. On Tuesday, I had 10 students absent. It has been like that for the remainder of the week.

Workout:

• 65 easy minutes 
• 5 x 30 second strides (7:02)
• 60 seconds easy recovery

Overall Average Pace: 9:55

Workout: 18 miles (increase speed for the final 3 miles)

Conditions:

• 27 degrees
• Ice on roads and sidewalks

Thoughts:

• 18 miles was to be my Saturday workout, but I was running a fever and had a bad cough. It rained all day so I thought it best not to push myself and risk my health.
• Even though the roads were slick, I thought that the sun would begin to melt the icy conditions around mile 6. I ran cautiously sliding a few times, but always managing to keep my balance.
• Unfortunately at mile 13 my sunglasses fogged, I didnot see the steps along the library path. I took a hard face-plant on the brick path. My face was covered in blood. My knees were stinging. I tried to get up but fell back down. 
• Two bystanders assisted and helped me get my bearings. My best friend came and drove me home.
• Long story short, I have all my teeth! My face is badly scraped, I have a fat lip and bad discoloration under the gums. My knees are swollen and bruised. 
• I am taking Advil and icing my knees. I can not straighten my left knee. I have no idea when I'll be able to resume training.