training log 02/15-02/23

Thsi week Chris and I were away in North Carolina visiting family, hiking and enjoying somewhat warmer weather. This was the first vacation away from Petru, our 3 y old, who stayed with mom in Boston. We had a great time enjoying the mild temperatures, jogging in shorts, hiking in Tshirts. I am a bit jealous of all of you living in the warm weather climate. I'd move to California in a minute if it weren't for the extended family living in Massachusetts.

Back to running. All runs felt great. I loved the fast and short speed drills (12X400s). My tempo was on rolling hills, and I LOVED it. We ventured on a different route for the long run, and it turned out great!

Monday 02/16 - SPEED


Goal: 1 mile easy, (6X400m @ 6:36 pace (0r 1:39 each) with 1:30 RI) X2 with 2:30 RI in between the 2 sets, 1 mile easy.
Actual: 400m in 1:37, 1:38, 1:38, 1:39, 1:39, 1:39, 1:38, 1:38, 1:38, 1:39, 1:39, 1:33.

I confess I never take the rest intervals. I just walk or jog slowly for max 30 seconds and then move on to another interval. I find that if I wait longer I have a harder time getting my legs to speed up.

Tuesday 02/17 - 7 mile hike in Asheville, NC, 1 mile swim

The hike was beautiful, lots of switchbacks, great views at the top. Going back down Chris and I (OK, I not Chris) had the brilliant idea to cut through the switchbacks and go straight down. Yup, we got lost, but that only added to the fun of the hike. "Trails are for wimps" became our motto. There is no way one can truly get lost in there, but it took us about 45 minutes to get back on track.

The swim was in one of those small and hot hotel pools. I had to do 80 laps (160 lengths) to get a mile in.

Wednesday 02/18 - 1.5 mile swim


Back in a real pool at a YMCA in Asheville. What a treat. I loved the swim.

Thursday 02/19 -TEMPO


Goal: 2 miles easy, 3 miles @ 7:35, 1 mile easy

Actual: 2 miles @ 8:45, 3 miles @ 7:24, 1 mile @ 8:29.

This was on rolling hills, and I felt great. It's funny how I have such a hard time slowing down for the last easy mile. Ihad to literally walk a bit in order to get my pace down.

Friday 02/20 - REST

We did go kayaking for a bit and it was beautiful.

Saturday 02/21 - LONG 18 miles, back in Boston
Goal: 18 miles @ 8:53

Actual: 19 miles; 18 miles @ 8:43, with last 2 miles @ 8:11; .5 warm uo, .5 walk/lunges cool down.

A sunny beautiful yet cold morning greeted me as I headed out to meet Sue C for our scheduled 18 miler. I was so excited for the long run, plus we had lots to talk about including the upcoming benefit concert. We decided to go try a different route, go into Winchester, run around Mystic Lake, and figure out our route as we go. The first 4 miles were hard - I don't like not knowing the route as, for me, miles go slower that way (this is why I am going to have the Boston course memorized by April). However, around mile 5, after a vanila GU, I started to really enjoy the run. Our pace was strong, started at 8:50, and we ended up finishing 16 miles @ 8:47. I was pushing the pace perhaps a bit too much - I really did not feel challenged - and I think Sue C wanted to get rid of me and started telling me to go on without her. But I wanted to stick together because I knew she could keep up the pace and the strong pace would help her in April. After 3 miles of rolling hills, we stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts so Sue C could use the bathroom and she told me to go on. She really insisted and so I went. I felt great and ended up pushing the pace, and lowered the average pace to 8:43. I walked another .5 mile home doing lunges and streches. Although cardiovasculary I was not challenged, my ankles, hampstrings and piriformis were screaming. After a chicken sandwhich (yumm!) and some OJ, I made a cup of hot tea, grabbed a bucket of icecubes, put a bathing suite on, grabed my book and spent about 7 minutes in the icebath. My legs feel so fresh now!

Sunday 02/22 - SWIM 1.25 miles; 10 miles BIKE

The YMCA was crazy busy this morning. Sue C happened to come in when I was about 1/2 way done with my laps. We started chatting, and, 10 min later, I got to watch her fast and strong crawl! I am so jealous:) She gave me some good pointers, though, and it made a great difference. I still have a poor form and have no idea how to swim the crawl, but learning it will become my goal after the marathon, something to keep me going during the 1-2 weeks with no running. I did not have time to finish my typical 1.5 mile swim, and did not want my boys to keep waiting, so I ended up adding a few miles on the bike at home while watching "Flight of the Conchords".

Total:

Run: 30 miles

Swim: 3.75 miles

Bike: 10 miles

Hike: 7 miles

I am so happy with the way things are going with my training. I think the tempo runs are the most challenging for me, mostly because I get nervous if my Garmin pace gets to close to the target pace, and prefer to stay into the 5-10 seconds faster pace range. The speed drills are not easy, but they are short and I think having songs prepared for each one really helps. I prefer to do them on the road, rather than track, because I like to be able to go up and down on a slight incline which, I think, is easier on the legs and provides better overall training. The long runs rock! I love to get into a groove where my body and mind are connected fully and it feels like I am flying. It's not always like this, there are patches of hard work (steep hills or when I need a GU) but mostly the long runs are those that I look forward to the most.



The next 4 weeks will have more challenging workouts, including 2 weeks with 11 miles tempo runs and 7 miles speed work. I am not sure how I am going to find the time for these long workouts during the week, as I have a very short window of time in the afternoon between when I get home and when I have to pick Petru up from daycare. Morning are just too crazy and I would be to stressed out to try to squeeze runs in. I'll have to put my thinking head on and figure something out. This is another reason why I love the FIRST program - most runs during the week are 5-6 miles, and that is so doable with my schedule.

Have a great week everyone!