Each Day Is a Gift

Today's workout calls for 10x800m in 4:45 with 3 min recovery between, 1 mile WU & 1 mile CD.

Temp was mid 30s. Sunny.  Ran 1 mile to the HS track as warm up.  When I got to the track, there was a HS girl wearing short sleeve top and tights doing dynamic stretches.  Took the cue that I was overdressed. So I shed the top 2 layers and began the 800m repeats. Did the first three 800m with headband on then shed it after the 8th rep and removed gloves on the last rep. 

It has been YEARS since I've run 800m on the track and don't know how to program the workout on my Garmin.  Anyhow, I hit the rep. button after the first rep. then walked for 3 min. at which time I hit the stop button and restart the watch to begin the 800m run.  So, the only true rep time shown was the first 800m in 4:41.  Subsequent split times would be the moving time minus 3 min. of recovery time.  When I saw 10 laps time, I thought I was done but in reality I had only done 9 reps.  Oh well, walked 3 min. then jogged home for CD in 12 pace.  Wore new shoes, Ghost 7, that I bought at Watsatch Running for $38.  They were half size smaller, neutral and wide width; so I thought they'd be fine for running on tracks.

7.51 miles in 1:27:07.  AP: 11:36. 

Moving time:     Distance:    Average pace:

11:27                  1 mile          11:27

4:41                     0.51             9:24

7:08                     0.64             11:21

6:59                     0.62             11:16

6:57                     0.62             11:17

7:22                     0.64             11:55

7:27                     0.64             11:56

7:03                     0.62             11:37

7:07                     0.62             12:12

6:40                     0.61             11:56

11:45                   1 mile          12:00

I nearly puked after the 4th and 9th rep.  Aerobic workout is tough for me...wheezing is not fun!

Today's workout calls for 5x1 miles @10:30 pace with 1 mile WU & 1 mile CD

Temp was 27F sunny, very little wind, and MCT free of ice/snow.

Did this workout on the MCT same route as last Tuesday's mile repeats workout.

This is how it went this morning: Ran 1 mile warm up in 12:04 to MCT

Began the threshold miles going east and turned around at 1.75 miles.  Ran west to 5.5 miles and turned around to 600E trail head for perfect 5 miles tempo, 1 mile CD home.

7 miles in 1:15:23.  AP: 10:46.

Splits: 12:04 (WU), 10:57 (still warming up eased into tempo pace), 10:20, 10:25, 10:22, 10:09, 11:02 (CD)

Felt like this was a good workout at steady threshold pace.  No pause, stop nor drink.  Did not eat anything prior; only had about 12 oz. water.  Post run drank 12 oz water, 8 oz almond milk, 3 mini Nan bread with peanut butter and honey.

Today's workout calls for 15 miles @11:00 pace (or as close to marathon pace as possible)

Rainy day with temp in the low 30s.  Wore two l/s shirts and the Marmot shell, UA headband and gloves.  Breakfast of Chobani yogurt and 6 oz. water.

Stopped at Mitch Hollow Park restroom (mile 3) to use the facility and shed one l/s shirt and headband.  Drank 3 oz. water.  That pit stop took about 7 min.  Watch was hidden under the jacket as I didn't want it to get wet so did not check my pace.  Stopped at Lone Peak parkway restroom (mile 5.5) to eat one Gu with 6 oz. water and refill water bottle.  The ESE wind combined with the rain got a bit chilly at times and I would put the hood of the Marmott jacket over my head.  But after running about 0.5 mile with it on, I would get too warm and then took it off.  Repeated it several times until I got to PG and mostly going south.  Stopped at the 1100N PG trailside restroom (mile 9.8) to eat 2 Bloks and drank 6 oz. water, refilled water bottle and called hubby to let him know what time to meet me.  I started to look at the mile splits when the watch beep after 8 miles and realized I was running lazy.  So focused on picking up the pace a little bit for the remainder of the run.  Stopped one final time briefly at mile 15 to take one Blok and finish off the water bottle.  Hit 16 miles right on the button at the trail end on 800N Orem just as hubby pulled onto 1100 E.  Perfect timing!  Stretched for couple minutes before getting in the car.  Felt good to get in a warm car after running 3 hours in the cold rain. 

Post run casualty: a tiny blister under the left toe bunnion and couple chafing spots on torso (below the bra line) and the special no no part. 

16 miles in 3:01:51.  AP: 11:22 

Splits: 12:11, 11:18, 13:18 (walked the uphill portion of Dry Creek), 11:22, 11:53 (this is always slow for me running on the sidewalk going north on Alpine Hwy), 11:08, 11:26, 10:58, 11:06, 11:06, 11:26, 11:06, 10:42, 11:09, 10:44, 10:56.

This is a much better long run than last Saturday's.  May be the 10x800m VO2 max on Tue and the 5 mile tempo run on Thur helped??? :)

Did tomorrow's workout today because hubby is having early morning lab tests in the hospital follow by two doctors' appointments tomorrow.  This 6x1 mile workout is the same as the one scheduled couple weeks ago.  At that time I didn't do the workout well, not knowing how to program the workout on my Garmin, ended up including the 3 min recovery time in the mile reps mileage, plus there were some icy patches on the road then.

Since I only had one day rest from last workout of 16 miler and got only 5 hours sleep last night, I was feeling a bit tired.  The weather also not looking good with wind blowing and rain storm forecast.  So, I opted to do this workout on the treadmill which works out fine for setting the pace and also trying out new compression sleeves, shoes, socks.  Here's how the workout went:

1 mile WU @ 12 to 11:40 pace on incline 1.

Ran the 6 x 1 mile reps at these treadmill pace: 9:50 (6.1mph treadmill setting), 9:40 (6.2mph), 9:31 (6.3mph).  Increased the speed setting by 0.1 every 0.33 mile within the mile rep.  Jogged (blew my nose) 3 min @12 pace in between reps which comes to 0.25 mile, kinda nice and tidy.

1 mile CD gradually slow the pace from 10 (6.0 to 5.5mph) decreasing the setting by 0.1 every 200 m.

9.25 miles total in 1:35:19.  AP: 10:17

Wore Ghost 7, new compression sleeves on calves and new freebie socks from Revel Race which is a mistake.  This caused the blister under the left bunion to become bigger and redder, and a new blister also formed on the left pinky toe.  Hope these blisters healed up before this coming Saturday's half marathon.

Today's workout calls for 1x2 mile @ 10:15 pace.

37F cloudy, 5mph ESE wind. Wore SG 3/4zip top, UA capri, UA headband, gloves. Running east is always colder with the canyon breeze.  8 oz. water and 2 puffs albuterol pre-run.

1 mile warm up in 11:30 to 800 E MCT trail head.

Started 2 threshold miles run going east on MCT and turned around at 3200N then west to Center St. for exactly 2 miles.  Those splits came in @9:45 and 9:50.  Had lots of wheezing when breathing out.  I think I ran those a little fast.  Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hold that pace for another mile without recovery jog.

Paused to cough and clear upper airway before jogging 1.3 miles home (10:45).  Left quads achy on the cool down jog.  Wonder if I could run 10:45 pace in the SG Half on Sat.

4.3 miles total in 45:09.  AP: 10:29.

Ran the SG Half Marathon today in place of the scheduled 1x15 miles @11 pace workout.

I like to use this first race of the year as a measuring stick for how my winter training is going.  Hubby and I drove down yesterday afternoon and got to the expo around 3 and met TJ, Lowell and Carolyn there.  I got to pick my own bib so I chose 2862, the first two numbers sound phonetically as "easy fast" in Cantonese and the last two numbers is my age sound phonetically as "lucky easy"! :)

Got up just before 7.  Put on the Morgan Valley l/s top, capri that has two deep thigh pockets, Boston black/brown jacket, pink Boston cap and light headband, gloves.  Went down to the kitchen where Lowell and TJ were having breakfast.  Ate 1/2 bowl of oatmeal, 1/2 yogurt, a small banana, 8 oz. water.

Left Lowell's house (TJ driving) at 8:31 and got to Dixie Center with 14 min to spare.  We found our group at the designated meeting sign of the 2:20 pacer.  There were about 8 of us, all but me are from Pocatello, nice girls with various running talents.  Race started on time at 9:00 and I found myself walking with TJ and Erin slightly behind the 2:20 pace group to the start mat.  Off we went among the 693 half marathon participants.  Weather this time of year in St. George is very pleasant.  Today is perfect with temp at 37F, sunny and very little wind to speak of.  The only issue was some icy patches on the north facing parkway between mile 8-10. 

My goal is to test my ability to run a 10:45 average pace.  This is an honest course with the start and finish in the same location just outside of the Dixie Center, basically a big loop with a huge U shape turn between mile 9 to finish.  The gradual climb peaks at mile 6 & 7.  This year due to some road and parkway construction, the course got routed with two sharp turns into a neighborhood between mile 3 & 4.  The nature of this course's many twists and turns, along busy streets as well as quiet neighborhood, road and narrow pathway makes keeping a steady rhythm challenging!

TJ, Erin and I stayed together for the first 2 miles.  Then I let them go on the first uphill to keep my breathing in check.  Felt like I finally got into a groove at mile 5.  It warmed up quickly so I took off my jacket and wraped around my waist from mile 6 on.  I pretty much leap-frogged with the people who were keeping pace with the 2:20 pacer.  Some of them were doing the run/walk ratio thing.  I decided to only walk on the steepest part of the uphill to catch my breath and at aid stations to drink, ate a Gu around mile 7.5  Was happy to see that my slowest pace on the uphill never dipped below 12 and my "faster" downhill pace was well controlled in the mid 9's.  I finally caught sight of TJ who is now walking with Brittani around mile 10.6 and encouraged them to run with me.  They caught back up with me around mile11.5 where I started to feel some calf cramps coming on.  We ran the last 1.5 mile together to the finish.  JoEtte who finished in 1:48 ran back to run 0.5 mile with us.  My calf nearly ceased up as I crossed the finish.  Hubby, Marcia (TJ's wife), Susie (Lowell's wife) and Carolyn were cheering loudy for us! :)

My official finish time is 2:19:45 (Average pace 10:43); and TJ finished 1 second behind me.  We both took 3rd place in our respective AGs.  There were 10 old ladies in mine and 5 old men in his and Lowell's AG.  Lowell took 2nd with a time of 2:05:32.  In my "glory days" racing this Half, no matther how fast or slow I would always place 4th which I considered 1st looser! haha!  So not only was I happy to meet my goal of running 10:45 AP but delighted to receive an award that is a very hefty replica of the red rock bluff with the word "Dixie" on the cliff.  Most of all I was happy to spend time with some dear dear friends and some new found friends in sunny beautiful St.  George. 

Splits: 10:17, 10:34, 10:42, 10:32, 10:57, 11:40, 11:14, 10:12, 10:43, 10:33, 10:54, 10:25, 10:38 (last 0.1 was 8:37)

* Last year I ran this race totally not trained.  TJ was kind enough to stay with me and we finished in 2:42 with me walking the last two miles.  So, I felt like I redeemed myself and "paid" back TJ this year! :) At any rate, we had an enjoyable run both times! :)

Some tightness and mild soreness in the calves from Saturday's race causing me concern whether I should do today's scheduled workout of 8x1000m in 5:55.  So I texted Coach Green with my concern.  He replied:  "Don't do those workouts this week, only recovery runs!!!!!" (His replies are always very brief and ends with!!!!!).

Jogged to MCT down Dry Creek and back.  Stretched the calves and quads at the bridge before turning back.  Walked alot more on the return.  Felt some twinges on the right achilles.  I think so much of running is mental. 

*I was invited by Sister Kendall Levine to join her Neuroworx Ragnar team in June.  I'm also committed to MarcieN's Ragnar So.California's team.  Goodness...what have I got myself into!!! :)

37F partly cloudy 7mph ESE wind.  Supposed to run easy this week.  Ended up doing a progressive run in mp.  Quads were tight the first 3 miles...had to stop and stretch.  Turned back after a stop at the 1500W restroom.  The last 2.5 miles took a bit more effort with the headwind.

7 miles in 1:18:24 AP: 11:12.  Splits:  11:55, 11:43, 11:04, 11:02, 11:06, 10:58, 10:36.

Schedule called for long run (18 miles w/ 17 mi @mp) tomorrow (Sat.) but I have a Stake Women's Conference in the morning and working in the temple in the afternoon/evening so I opted to do the run today instead. 

20mph wind ahead of a winter storm... plus needing to be home for a furniture dilivery confined me to the home dreadmill.  I tried all my might but could not keep from stopping and walking and stretching...didn't make the 18 miles...my legs, really my whole body was just too dang tired.  My feet were sore from running in the Ghost7 yesterday on the road.  Called it quit after 12 miles...only count 11 miles...am certain I walked at least 1 mile.  Sigh! :/
 

Had a rough morning, took hubby to lab tests at 7am, to dentist at 8 which was supposed to be a cleaning/check up, but found that he had an abcess and an decaying tooth where this front teeth bridge was.  Anyway he ended up getting worked on for nearly 4 hours.  Along with his terrible virus laryngitis, cough, diarrhea, he had a miserable day. Didn't go for run till mid afternoon, at least lunch was somewhat digested.  35F little breeze sunny. Wore l/s top, Boston jacket, light headband, UA capri. 

Today's workout calls for 8x1 mile repeat @10:00 pace with 3min recovery, 1mi WU, 1 mi CD.

Ran 1 mile WU to MCT, paused briefly for dynamic stretch.  Began mile repeats on MCT.

Splits     Moving Time     Distance     Avg Pace

1             11:21                  1.00           11:27

2              9:33                   1.00            9:36

3              3:00                   0.27           11:08

4              9:36                   1.00            9:43

5              3:00                   0.18           16:15

6              10:00                 1.00           10:04

7               3:00                  0.15            19:45

8               9:37                  1.00              9:40

9               3:00                  0.20             15:07

10             9:40                  1.00              9:47

11              3:00                 0.13             22:16

12              9:50                 1.00              9:55

13              3:00                 0.14              20:52

14              9:39                 1.00               9:46

15              3:00                 0.15              19:49

16              9:45                 1.00               9:53

17              3:00                 0.15              20:38

18              14:51               1.00              14:57

11.4 miles total in 2:08:48.  AP: 11:19

The 3rd mile repeat was on a slope, ran 1st half down then 2nd half back up, so that mile repeat was the slowest @10:04.  Had to really push to stay on pace.  The 3 min recovery got progressively slower went from jogging to walking.   Calves started to tighten up on the last 3 repeats, after the 3 min recovery and about 200m into the mile repeat the calf muscles would tightened but ok when I kept pushing the pace.  But after the last (8th) repeat, I walked for the 3min recovery and could hardly jogged during the cool down mile home so had to walk a little and jog a little and that mile took nearly 15 min.

This muscle cramping issue has been my demise at the last 5K of every marathon and last 1.5-2 miles of every half marathon race.  It's as if my muscles figured it's quitting time and swithced to revolting mode.  In today's workout, the muscles rebelled after the 3 min recovery on the 5th mile repeat and the remainder of the workout where the cramps would come on 200m into the mile repeat. What's with that? What to do???  Is it muscle fatigue brought on sooner with threshold pace or neuro-transmitter issue with the mind sending message to the muscles that it's quitting time (near end of race) Grrrr??!!!

Today's workout calls for 1x6 miles @ 10:30 (threshold pace), with 1 mile WU, 1 Mile CD.  Coach Green's note says: "Aerobic threshold pace - PR plus 1 min. " His notes are very generic.  He rarely gives any feedback comments!  But he did reply my question/concern (by text) couple times even though his replies were always very very brief.  If I were a beginner runner, I would be inudating him with bazillion questions!!!

39F 9mph ESE wind cloudy.  Wore similar clothing as Tue. Ate one Chobani and 8oz water. Took 2 puff albuterol.  Legs still had some residual faitue and tighness from Tuesday's workout.  Warmup mile felt good, paused briefly (30 sec.) to stretch the quads and calves at MCT trailhead.  1st mile was 14 sec shy of target pace, a bit of wind and navigate icy patch at the 1200E tunnel.  Anyhow, I cound not hit 10:30 pace, I was either a bit slower or a tad faster.  Breathing was a bit of an issue with so much muccus buildup.  Good thing I took albuterol beforehand so never got into asthmatic wheezing.

The headwind from the east combined with slight incline made the 4th threshold mile a bit tough, had to push really hard and still came up 9 sec. shy which I attributed to navigating the slipperies at 1200W tunnel.  Had to hurry the last 3 miles because I had a lunch engagment for Gisela's birthday.  I did pause briefly (10 sec.) after mile 3, 5, 7 to clear the muccus and drank.  The last cooldown mile was dejavu, felt some calf cramps coming on...but I never slowed to jog or walk like on Tue.  What's with these cramps at the end of workout or races...crazy neurotransmitter thing or what....

8 miles in 1:24:17. AP: 10:32.  Splits: 11:47 (WU), 10:44 (walked the 2 icy patches at 2 east tunnels,) 10:18, 10:10, 10:39 (icy patch at west tunnel), 10:11, 9:56, (hurrying up) 10:29 (CD, this is finally the pace I should've been running). 

I know I should not be too hard on myself...but it's really depressing to see how slow and out of shape I've become.  I remember when I first picked up running at age 50, my goal was to run 10 min mile.  I did not own a GPS watch, just put on a timex watch and some exercise clothes to get out and run.  After a couple years, my goal was to BQ.  I was running 4 hour marathons and able to BQ 5 out of 6 of the yearly marathons I raced. I think I had my best racing years in 2010, 2011, running and even winning my AG.  Now I run/train solo because I'm so slow. a 10 min pace is VO2max for me!!! Sigh!  But I will NOT give up running or jogging for as long as my body let me! :)

5 weeks to marathon!!!! Today's workout: 17 miles @ 11:00 (marathon pace), 0.5 mi WU, 0.5mi CD.

27F, 8mph ESE wind, cloudy.  Wore similar clothing as previous 2 workouts except for a warmer headband (UA).  Ate chobani, banana and 6 oz water, 2 puff albuteral. 

Wanted to run this long run by feel.  Quads were tight and sore the first 5K.  Sometimes my thoughts wandered and the pace would slow.  Stopped (paused watch) at mile 5.6 at Lone Peak restroom to void, eat 2 bloks, drink water and refill 6 oz water flask.  A bit chilly going east with the east wind, breathing okay, had lots of phlem to chuck.

Stopped (paused watch) at mile 10 at PG trailside restroom to eat 1 GU (it has 50mg caffeine), drink, refill water flask, stretch quads and calves.  Felt good from mile 11-14 (from the caffeine?).  Hubby called at mile 12.5 so I paused to answer the phone and update him on my run.  He said I sounded wheezy...well, that's how I always sound with my asthma and phlem, haha! 

Stopped at mile 15 to eat 2 bloks, drink, stretch, call hubby to let him know I have 3 miles to go and will meet him at his mother's house in Orem; turned out he's already there.  When I resumed running after that stop (~couple min.), my calf muscles started to cramp so I changed my strides a little, but the feet felt slappy.  When I slowed a bit, the muscles behind both knees started to cramp.  So instead of stopping to stretch I decided to keep going and mentally tell myself that if I was in a marathon, I would still have 10 more miles to go...so suck it up and look at the snow-capped mountains ahead for distraction. 

When I reached the end of MCT on 800 N 1100 E (16.15 miles), I turned right (west) and ran on the sidewalk till I reached the traffic light at 800 E where I would cross the street to go south.  I had to wait for the pedestrian walk light to come on at which time the muscle cramps came on again.  So I just jogged in circle around the sidewalk corner (looking pretty silly to other motorists) to keep the cramping at bay.  

When I reached 400 N on 800 E (mile 17.10), I was may be 0.20 mile to my mother-in-law's house...was tempted to cut the run short.  But decided to go further south for another 0.25 mile then turned around back to 400 N, west to 600 W, north to 750 N, then turned into my mother-in-law's street.  But I was still 0.15 mile short so ran past her house and made a U-turn till my Garmin read 18 miles.  That was so OCD of me but was happy to see that 18th mile split came in at 11:00.  Once I got in her house, I walked around the kitchen island sipping a fruit smoothie, stretched the legs all the while eating 2 bowls of rice porridge with ham she's made for me.  Perfect recovery food...I should end all my long runs in her kitchen! :) :) :)  She could not fathom that I ran from my house in Lehi to her house in Orem! Legs were pretty tired and sore.  When I felt sufficiently cooled down, hubby drove me home.

18 miles in 3:17:10 (running time).  AP: 10:57.  So glad I got it done.  I don't know how in the world I'll be able to run another 8.2 miles in this pace! 26.2 miles is HARD stuff!!!

Splits: 11:18, 10:30, 12:19 (walked part of Dry Creek hill), 11:00, 11:09. 11:19 (incline), 10:41, 10:53, 11:06, 10:41, 10:42, 10:34, 10:28, 10:37, 10:49, 11:02, 10:58, 11:00

An hour water aerobics.

Today's workout calls for 12x1000m in 5:55 (9:32pace) with 3 min recovery between reps plus 1 mi WU and 1 mi CD.

This was a very tought workout for me.  Calculator shows that to run 1000m in 5:55 equates to 9:32 mph pace).  In my former self, 9:32 was easy pace but now it has become my VO2max pace...so sad! :/

Pre-run Chobani and 6 oz water.  39F 4mphESE wind partly cloudly.  Wore similar clothing as previous workouts but quickly found out too warm for speedwork, had to shed the jacket and headband during 1st rep recovery.

This is the very first time I run 1000m repeats on pavement.  I was only able to hit the target pace in 4 of the 12 reps.  I also had to cut out one of the rep and cut short the cool down mile for 2 reasons.  The first and main reason is I was just simply too tired and spent to keep going (running nearly 2 hours).  The second reason was I started the workout later than planned due to some GI issue; and also realized I didn't start the watch until over 0.5 mile into the run (so the warm up was over 1.5 miles); so subsequently had to cut the workout short in order to make it back to meet a lunch engagement for Sue's birthday.

Here's the splits for the 11x1000m repeats with the moving time in ( ) :

9:35 (5:57), 9:18 (5:47), 9:22 (5:49), 9:06 (5:39, downhill), 10:29 (6:31 uphill), 9:51 (6:07), 9:47 (6:05), 10:04 (6:15), 9:43 (6:02), 9:46 (6:04), 9:43 (6:02). 

I learn that there's only so much I can demand of my body.  This being my first experience in running 1000m repeats, to demand a 12 repeats is a bit much especially just 2 days after a marathon-paced 18 miler.  I think given sufficient recovery and a slower or longer build-up I may be able to hit the prescribed pace.  But for now I have to be satisfied with what it is!  Trying to not get discourged about how slow I've become! :/