Last run of the year

And it was a good one!  That is a new PR for the mile up there as well as a couple of fast quarters.  If I'm not too lazy, I'll write a year in review sometime this week.

Tomorrow:
 

Schedule

6 @ 10:14

and Upper body

Adding something new

Not to the running, though.

A couple of months ago, Brandy bought Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer series.  We did one each day or so for the first couple of weeks, then kind of slacked off.

Well, I decided last week, that I would start doing one a day except for Saturday.  So yesterday, I did the upper body workout by myself and today, I did abs by myself before my run and yoga with Brandy after my run. Today was an anomaly; I plan on doing just one 10 minute workout per day for at least the first two weeks.  I will make an exception if the second workout would be with Brandy and is yoga.  I need to be more flexible.

One of the motivations for me is seeing that I still have a bit of a belly despite running for over a year straight with minimal breaks.  I've also been stuck around 193 pounds (+/- 3 lbs) for probably the last year.  Something had to change, and I'm unwilling at this point to change my diet...heh heh.

Tomorrow:

 

Schedule	2 @ 10:14
	1 @ 7:55
	1 @ 10:14
	2 X 1/4
	in 1:52
	1 @ 10:14
400 recovery after each interval

and yoga.

Long run with lead legs

Not sure why my legs felt like I had lead in them, but they did.  At the two mile mark, I stopped and stretched; it didn't really help.  shrug.  I pushed on and finished the run despite not really feeling it.  Some days you're the windshield; some days you're the bug.

Monday:

Schedule

8 @ 10:14

3 X 1/2 mile intervals

If you look at the run on Garmin connect, it appears...not as above.  I messed up with the laps on the first interval, but I remember seeing that it was 3:50 for a half mile.  Then, I forgot to hit the lap at the 5 mile mark, so I had .1 miles of walking after the interval rolled into that mile (between 4.5 and 5.5).  I compensated by estimating my second half of the mile as shown above at 6:18.

Yeah, so basically, I just put in whatever numbers I want.

Saturday:

Schedule

10 @ 10:14

Merry Christmas

7 miles before Christmas dinner is much better than 7 miles after Christmas dinner...just sayin'.

It was 25 degrees F with a slight wind; the "feels like" temp was 12.  And I chose to wear shorts.  Now I'm not saying that was a wise decision, but I stuck with it and did not come back in for tights.  I did, however, wear three layers up top and wore my balaclava like a scarf to keep my neck warm.  Oh, and of course I wore my Santa tech shirt!

Tomorrow:

Schedule	2 @ 10:14
	3 X 1/2
	in 3:53
	1 @ 10:14
800 recovery after each interval

Intervals

Happy Birthday Mom!

Temp in Greenwood, IN: 16 degrees F

Temp in Fairbanks, AK (where my mom is): -27 degrees F

I'll take Indiana today...

So, see that fourth interval?  ZOOM!!  Not sure how I pulled that one off, and I'm kind of wondering about the accuracy of my watch...but, I suppose I'll have to take it at face value and mark it down as being faster.

Well, faster than on Oct 1st.  I was a full 5+ minutes faster on this run than on that Oct 1st run.  Progress, I suppose.  I looked back on this same run last Dec, and I was 30 seconds faster this year...but my intervals on this run were slower!  I do remember having back spasms the next day because I pushed it too hard; I don't think that will happen this year.

Tomorrow:

Schedule

7 @ 10:14

Forgot to post

I did things out of order yesterday and forgot to post this.  I did upload the run to garmin connect last night, but as you can see, I neglected to post it here.  Anyways, it was a cold one last night (24 degrees with slight wind), but I did it in shorts!

Today is colder, and I'll be wearing my tights to do:

Schedule	2 @ 10:14
	4 X 1/4
	in 1:52
	2 @ 10:14
400 recovery after each interval

Rainy 5 miler

It's been raining all day here, so I ran in the rain.  I still say running outside in almost any weather is better than the dreadmill.  It was 44 degrees F with a steady rain.

This concludes my recovery week, Monday, I start training again at all new paces.

Monday:

Schedule

7 @ 10:14

New watch is why we hate change

So, the audio alarm on my Forerunner 305 has been dying a slow death the last couple of months.  Then, last Wednesday, it seemed that the watch had given up the ghost entirely.  Of course, I panicked due to my upcoming race and my dependence on pace alarms.  I went out and bought a Garmin Forerunner 220.

After I got it home, and before I opened it, I tried a trick that my coach suggested: plug the 305 into a USB charger that was connected to a wall outlet instead of charging it through my computer.  Well...that worked!  So, I had my 305 for my race on Sunday.  Whew, disaster averted!

Now, I have this 220, and I figured I might as well start using it as my 305 is near death anyways.  Yay, new watch!  Oh...new watch.  Grrr...new...watch.  I found out my new watch is pretty sensitive about pace alarm violations...as in TOO FAST!! TOO SLOW!! TOOFASTTOOSLOWTOOFAST!!

It took me a bit to get running at a pace that the watch didn't think was too fast and too slow at the same time...

Another thing I'm not too crazy about is that pace alarms can only be set for 5 second intervals, so my dream base pace for the next couple of weeks of 10:04 must now become either 10:05 or 10:00.  I don't know if I'm comfortable with either...oh the humanity!

And still another thing that is better on the 305 is the ability to set multiple paces and select the one that I need for that day.  With the 220, it's one pace alarm and if you want another, you get to manually set both upper and lower.  I might check out the training options; maybe they're better than on the 305 and will actually alarm when I am outside of the bounds.

On the plus side, the 220 supposedly has more battery life, it does have a vibrate with the pace alarm, and it's lighter and more plasticky.  Remember, when someone uses that word plasticky, you saw it here first.

And finally, race results:
21/33 age group
281/824 overall

Saturday: 5 easy miles.

Most Disappointing PR ever

We're going to start with the ugly. See those two 10ish minute miles at the end?  Yeah, I was sucking.  See that 9:11 minute mile for the 3rd mile?  Yeah, I was overly optimistic.  See the slow decline in speed from mile 4 to the end?  Yeah, I went out too fast.  As you can see, I didn't even make my 9:24 pace...

Moving to the bad, the weather was not very good either.  Just after mile 8, there was a sharp uphill curve that was covered in ice.  Not the nice crunchy ice that has some traction; no, the slick imma gonna bust your butt ice made its appearance.  Thankfully, I didn't fall, but I did slow down a lot. Also, the temp was in the low twenties, but the "real feel" was in the single digits due to the humidity and 9 mph wind.  What kind of place has 22 degrees F and 90% humidity???

Ok, the good:  Well, it was a PR, so I've got that going for me.  I wasn't cold during the run as I correctly guessed what to wear (3 long sleeve shirts, balaclava, santa hat, tights, undies, shorts, two pairs of socks and gloves).  I should have brought my fanny pack water carrier, but I didn't.  Also, like last year's Santa Hustle, I managed my bladder correctly and did not have to stop for a restroom break.

Lessons learned:
1.  If you train for 9:24 minute miles, you need to do at least the first half (HALF!!!  6 MILES!!!) at that pace.  After that, feel free to evaluate and push the pace if you want.

2.  Don't let one euphoric run decide your race pace.  I put too much emphasis on how I felt at the end of that run and allowed it to push my optimism way too far.

3.  Take your stupid water pack with you for races.  If you train with it, which I do, make that water available throughout the race, because those water stations aren't going to be where you need them.

Next run: Thursday 3 easy miles.

The hard part is done

Not that this run was a hard one, although it was faster than my base pace (10:27).  Of course, in keeping with almost this whole training period, I ran faster than the schedule.  We'll see if we can slow it down for the last run before Sunday's race.

I had to come back in after two miles due to freezing my tush off (25 degrees F, "feels like" 14 F with windchill).  I added tights, a long sleeve tight shirt, and a stocking cap; I felt much warmer after that.

Wednesday:

Schedule

4 @ 10:17

12 miles, 7 at tempo

So much for making the schedule.  See those last two miles?  Yeah, totally blew the schedule there...lol.  After 10 miles, I felt great, so I decided to just keep on running at that pace for the next mile.  Then, I still felt great at 11 miles, so I buckled down for the last one.

I thought about running 1.1 more, and I think I could have maintained that pace, but instead, I decided to shut it down and call it one of my best training runs evah!  Note: if I would have maintained that pace for another 1.1 miles, I would have bested my half marathon PR...on a training run!!

Monday:

Schedule

8 @ 10:04

2 out, 6 in

I wasn't worried about running in the sleet...until it started accumulating.  Since I didn't want to break a hip at my advanced age, I figured I'd just finish up on the treadmill.

I might have to do Saturday's run inside as well...ew.

Saturday:

Schedule	5 @ 10:27
	5 @ 9:24
	2 @ 10:27

6 miles, again

As I'm sure you've noticed, it's that time of the schedule again - 666 time...not much else to say about that.

On another note, it was 60 degrees out today, so yay on shorts and short sleeve tech shirt!!

Tomorrow:

Schedule

8 @ 9:51

This is how I get faster

Note: new land speed record for the mile - 7:57.

A good, fast mile and a couple of fast quarters make up a nice speed workout.  I can certainly see quite a bit of improvement in just the last couple of months.  I'm still not sure where I'm going to top out.  shrug.

Tomorrow:

Schedule

6 @ 10:17

Confidence Boosted

It's amazing to me how much psychology is a part of running.  I know that this week's training runs on Monday(6 @ race pace) and Saturday (5@ race pace inside 12 miles) are huge confidence boosters for me.  If I'm unsure of whether or not I can hold my targeted race pace, these two runs in particular do more than any others to assure me that I can.

Tomorrow:

Schedule	2 @ 10:27
	1 @ 8:04
	1 @ 10:27
	2 X 1/4
	in 1:55
	1 @ 10:27
400 recovery after each interval