Back in the saddle?

April 28, 2024

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Phoenix,AZ,

Member Since:

Jul 23, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 22:15 (January 2005);
10K-48:40 (November 2005)
Half-marathon: 1:50:25 (, March 2006);
Marathon: 3:54:16 (January 2006)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Finish half marathon in January 2010

Run consistently

Lose pregnancy weight + 10 pounds

Long-Term Running Goals:

Complete an Ironman triathlon; run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa (55 miles)
Marathon: sub 3:30
Half marathon: sub 1:40
10K: sub 42 minutes
5K: sub 21 minutes

Find out what my potential is and reach it.

Personal:

I've been running since high school (mid-1990s) and do pretty well when I'm focused on a goal. My main problem is running consistently when I'm NOT training for something specific. I'm an attorney, and I've been married to my husband, also a runner, for 5 1/2 years. We live in Phoenix, Arizona. We had a beautiful baby girl, Caroline, in August 2009.

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Thu, Jul 17, 2008

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Crosstraining miles	Total Miles
4.56	0.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	7.56

Today I did my first tempo run in a long time. I was supposed to do 4 miles but decided to just do three. I ran 1.5 miles to warm up and then started the tempo run. It was pretty hard to get going, even with the warmup. My splits were 8:38, 8:27, and 8:18, which averaged out to 8:27. My goal had been 8:24, so I was pretty close, but I would have preferred to have kept a steady pace throughout. I finished with a little over 3 miles of cooldown.

I feel like I should be able to run these tempo runs faster. I've gotten pretty used to the heat, though, and don't think about it as much as I used to. But I'm sure it still affects my performance. It never gets below 80 degrees, and now it's really humid too. I'm going to find that heat performance calculator (I know it's somewhere on the blog) and adjust accordingly. Overall, though, it was a good workout.

Weight: 143.

Comments

From Tom on Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 12:19:58

Good job getting in a good 3 mile tempo and it's always great to be able to speed up each mile. When I did this workout yesterday I slowed down each mile so I'm impressed you and Kim were able to suck it up and work progressively harder as you went along.

For 80+ degrees I think you've got to be losing 15-30 seconds a mile due to the heat. Don't know if you're still getting the humidity as well but that would even mess things up more.

I'm thinking you and Kim are both pretty close in your fitness levels. It will be fun to see how things go for both of you over the next couple months as we get into marathon crunch-time training.

From linda10k on Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 12:34:41

You did Awesome on your tempo run! Especially in the heat and the humidity. I always whimp out and do my tempo runs on the treadmill. Next week I'll have to follow your great example and do it outside. Thanks for the motivation.

Have a great day!

From Jody on Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 13:52:55

Great job! You are doing fantastic! The heat and humidity definitely contribute to slowing down - So your splits are fantastic!

From MichelleL on Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 13:02:58

This is a good workout Shauna. Is the 8:24 a target pace for St. G/BQ? I agree its much different to have splits speed up than slow down. You haven't done that many tempos. You will get better at them as you do them. I would do a tempo at least once a week, and alternate between 10k pace and 1/2 marathon-goal marathon pace. The latter should be longer tempo and the former will naturally be shorter tempos.

From Shauna on Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 14:19:36

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Michelle, 8:24 is closer to 10k pace right now, if I were to run one here in Phoenix. If I were training somewhere cooler, I would probably try for 8:05-8:10ish. If all continues to go well, I will target 8:45-8:50 as my race pace for St. George. I just don't think I will be quite ready to BQ by then. I'd rather run a slower pace, finish strong, and go for the BQ at PF Chang's. It's hard to know where my fitness truly is right now, though, because of the heat.

Add Your Comment.

Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.

Debt Reduction Calculator

Featured Announcements

Most Recent Entries:

New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):

Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):