Training this week

Another solid week of training in the books! I feel tired! I am looking forward to a nap this afternoon while my boys go to a basketball game!

This is how it went down.

Monday: 8.5miles @ 7:22 am  with 4 miles fartlek 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3 @ 5K pace on 400m jog (5:30-6 pace). The intervals were unexpectedly HARD; 3.5 easy no watch 8:30-9 pace in the evening on hilly terrain.

Tuesday: 12 planned became 8 easy @ 8:06. Sick, could not inhale. Blah!

Wednesday: 6 planned became 8 easy on trails @ 8:23; 10x10 secs hill sprints. Still unable to inhale without a screechy sound. Blah!

Thursday: 11 tempo am @ 7:15 pace. 20 MPH winds. 6 miles tempo @ 6:30 pace broken down into 3 miles @ 6:39, and 2x1.5 @ 6:22 and 6:15. I would have liked to have done 6 continuous miles, but the wind was a killer. It was either 6 miles @ close to 7, or 6 quality miles broken down. I decided I would benefit from the 6 quality miles at this point. Even with the break my average HR for the last interval was 187, which is very high for me. I tell you, the wind is a killer when you try to run fast. 3.5 miles recovery in the evening, no watch, probably 8:30-9. Legs really tired. Still sick, but able to inhale deeply!!!

Friday: 4.5 recovery on trails, no watch, probably 8:30 pace. Legs felt great!

Saturday: 15.5 miles @ 7:24; first 7.5 @ 7:48 easy, then 3 @ MAF HR+5/10 beats, then 2 @ threshold, then 2 @ HR not higher than 185 (VO2 max for me). No wind today but the last 4 miles were hard! I was lucky to "race" with a speedy guy and he really pushed me so that I managed the last 2 miles @ 6:38 and 6:31. Only 5 miles sub 7 today. Legs surely tired!! Fun to run by HR!

Sunday: 6.5-8 planned, easy on trails, no watch, with 10x10 secs hill sprints.

Two 70 mile weeks in a row and 3 days/week of quality and I think I am ready for a cut back in mileage! I am also going to start going to Fresh Pond to test my fitness in a low pressure race. I have NO IDEA what my real HMP is. I am surely running more miles and much faster than in 2011 when I ran a 1:32 in February at Hampton in awful conditions and 1:28 in March at Quincy in great conditions, but running sub 6:50 does not feel anywhere close to comfortable at this point in time.

My nonscientific recipe for kicking a cold bug's a$$

It's winter. I run outside. I sweat a lot. I don't always get a chance to change clothes immediately after a run as I rush to pick up Petru from school, or do an errand. I work in a hospital. I hang out with kids a lot. I train hard. So, every winter I embrace the fact that I am going to be sick. However, I try to be proactive as the first signs of a cold, and most of the time I manage to kick it out of my system quickly, or at least be able to run through it.

My run Monday was harder than it should have been. I chucked it up to a "bad day", and did not think much of it. On Tuesday I felt chills and fatigue and cut my run down from 12 miles to 8. Breathing was hard. HR was high for the pace. Wednesday I ran another 8 easy, while listening to the screeching sound I made any time I tried to inhale deeply. I had a threshold run planned for today, and was concerned, so I pulled out all the nonscientific remedies:

Kambucha - love the taste, and the fact that noone in my household can stand that stuff. All for ME!
Blueberries - ate one pint/day!
Fruits and veggies: ate a huge serving of stir fry heavy on the spinach and broccoli for lunch.
Chicken soup for dinner.
Bundled up during my Wednesday run, to make myself sweat more than usual.
Took hot baths with epsom salt.
Took a nap after work yesterday.

I woke up this morning feeling much better. Sure, I still had a cough and my nose was running like a water faucet. But the screeching sound was gone. I was able to inhale deeply (which is something I need to be able to do when I run hard) and I had a great threshold run to boot!

Oh, and the knee is doing very well, in case you are wondering!

I am curious what do you do when you are sick? Take a rest day from running, ignore the symptoms, adjust your runs? Any scientific or nonscientific "tricks" to get yourself feeling better?

The magic of kinesiotape!

OK, so I sheepishly mentioned some knee pain during my trip to Florida. It was a bit of a surprise and frankly annoying. I did cut my miles down to 49+7 miles on the eliptical that week, but ended up running 70 last week. With some pain. But not much.

A while back I purchased some kinesiotape from REI. Frankly, I am very skeptical of all runner gimmicks: ice baths (particularly in line of current research which shows that icebaths actually prevent muscles from getting stronger because it reduces inflammation, which is the body's way of getting stronger; unless I am injured, I am off the ice!), ART, Graston, kinesiotape, you name it. I am going to pay money for something if I know its efficacy is documented by science. Except the kinesiotape was cheap and pink and I could not resist. And when one is injured, the need the science kind off goes down the drain (at least for me, unless we are talking really expensive or dangerous procedures).

So 2 Saturdays ago  I had 13 miles with 6@ HMP and I knew I needed to get the run done. I pulled out the tape and followed the directions on the box for "full knee support". The moment I put the tape on I felt coolness in my leg and absolutely no pain. Boom! I could not believe it. The knee had a bit of pain during the warm up, but it went away and I had no issues during that run and subsequent runs. I kept the tape on until Wednesday morning. I wore stalkings at work so took the tape off (vanity, vanity!). That day I had nonstop knee pain. I was getting worried. I got home, put the tape back on, and boom, no pain. I now had 3 runs with absolutely no pain, and am thinking of waiting a couple more days before going tapeless. Not sure what to make of this. The research is lacking. What I know for sure is that I will be taping any little niggle I might develop, as I learn what are things I can  (knee pain, ITB, ankle pain, back pain - all things I was successful in managing in the past without taking a break from running) and  can't (e.g., bone issues such as shin splints/stress fractures) run through.

Getting down to business!

I have been running well lately. I've discovered that tempo runs are really the most important factor in getting me running strong. Perhaps I have a natural talent for fast and short intervals, and so my body does not benefit from them as much as it does from tempo runs.

With about 8 weeks to go until my first half marathon, I picked it up a bit this week.
Here is how it went down.

Monday: 11 miles @ 7:17, all easy except 15X1 min 5:05-5:45. Cold and icy. Intervals felt hard probably because I did not run sub 6 since November!

Tuesday: 16 total; 12 easy @ 7:40 on ice and snow with 10x 10-20 secs hill sprints in the am, and 4 recovery on the TM @ 8:40.

Wednesday: work 7-7, no run.

Thursday: 15 total; 11 @7:20 (with 2x15 min @ 6:21 and 6:19 in the middle) in the am (-5 degrees!) and 4 recovery with no watch, probably 8:30-9 pace on hills in the afternoon.

Friday: 6 easy on trails, no watch, probably 8:30-9 pace, with 4 strides: 15, 20, 25 an 30 secs.

Saturday: 14 miles @ 7:05, with 7 @ 6:35 in the middle (4@ 6:46, stop for 1 min, then 3 @ 6:15); 16-19MPH wind, so really happy with this run. The last 3 miles of the tempo was hard on the legs, though the HR was good!

Sunday (planned): 8 miles recovery on trails, no watch, with 10x10 secs hill sprints, to finish up with 70 miles for the week!

I still have no idea what pace to shoot for for my first HM, and will decide when I get closer to the race.   For now, I am really enjoying my training!

And so it begins

Chris and I spent last evening together on the couch watching "Breaking bad" in our pajamas, curled up under a blanket, eating pretzels, almonds and dark chocolate. It felt peaceful. At 11:45 we switched to regular TV to watch the ball drop. I had absolutely no envy for those sitting in the middle of all that excitement watching in Time Square. I was blissfully happy to be in my own home, to dream about the new possibilities the new year brings, and to feel such comfort and security in my home, in my life. I tip toed upstairs and woke Petru up at midnight, as promised, for a first 2013 kiss for him (second for me!). He did not believe me it was midnight and had to check his own watch before falling right back to sleep. And like that, a new year has just begun.

I don't make new year resolutions, but I do like to assess my own life and think ahead. As I clear out all the wrapping paper and boxes we collected over the past month, I realize that I want to own less, not more "stuff" in 2013. I also want more art on my walls, not expensive art, but meaningful art - some of my mom's work, some of my son's intricate railroad crossing/traffic lights black ink cities, and some art from my old home back in Romania. For every piece of clothing I get, I want to give one away. For every toy my son gets, I want him to choose to give one away. I want to foster more independence in my son, which means working through some of my own issues, so that I can let go. I want to be more patient with Chris, and break through some of the cultural issues that I have come to understand at a deeper level recently. I want to continue to enjoy my work and be challenged by it. I want to run, aim high, and be comfortable with whatever low that high might end up being. I want to work on embracing the changes that life brings, particularly when those changes include things that are unpleasant.

Happy New Year! What do you want in 2013?

Vacation, training and hello 2013

We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Florida, where we saw family and enjoyed some sunshine. I actually have a tan now, which is much welcomed - the older I get, the more having a tan helps:) Aside from a nightmare trip back, with a cancelled flight,  a 7 year old sleeping on the floor in the airport and a luggage that arrived more than 24 hours after our flight, we had a wonderful time. We managed to avoid Disney, and went to Legoland, Wet & Wild, the Science Center and a few mini golf places instead - my son's preferences! We spent a lot of time with family and my mom, which was truly the highlight of the trip.

The moment I stepped off the plane and felt the 80 degree weather I decided that I will completely abandon my training plan. I did not want to wake up before 8am (to avoid the heat) during vacation, and generally wanted to be relaxed and not concerned about fitting training in. The weeks before I had run 65 and 70 miles, so I felt comfortable looking at this week as  recovery. I still ended up with 61 miles and 3 solid progressions with last 3-5 miles sub 7, and last mile @ 5K pace. Good enough.

I ran on concrete the entire week. By the last day my L knee started hurting a bit. I guess going from doing 50% of my runs on trails to 100% on concrete pissed my knee off. So I took it to the elliptical on Thursday, and then ran 8 slow miles on trails yesterday. Today I wanted to do 13 (my longest run the past week was 10 miles), with 6 miles @ 6:30. Last night I used some KT tape on my knee, and by morning I felt awesome. The knee was fine during the run, and I ended up running 10 miles @ 6:55, with 5 @ 6:25 followed by 2x800m @ 6:05. I had to stop at 5 miles bc I got to an intersection/stoplight, and then .5 mile after I stopped to talk to a friend. Still happy with the run. Then ran 3 miles easy back home, for a total of 13 @ 7:05. Pretty happy with this. Now if only my knee would not give me grief!!!!. Running in the 30 degree morning felt so good compared to the 70-80 degrees of Florida. I think I am a cold weather girl at heart:)

I spent some time thinking about 2012. Not much racing for me due to 3 injuries, a bitter sweet 19:00 5K PR, but a lot of knowledge gained when it comes to running, and some great friendships through this blog. This year, particularly the last half was parenting heavy for me, as my son moved more into academics, and I've become the parent responsible for that. Running took a bit of a secondary place in my life - I do not need it as much to cope with things, and this has given me freedom and confidence. At the same time, I do want the PRs, and I do want the fast running. I just want it for different reasons now. The thrill of running fast, and the feeling I carry with me for the rest of the day is, for me, better than any PR.

Thanks for following along and have the 2013 that you want to have:)

Thoughts, training, life and news

With little time on my hands, here we go bullet point style.

* TRAINING  -is going really well. After a couple of weeks where my legs were terribly confused, heavy and sore, I am finally noticing that I am gaining fitness. And this is very motivating. My legs are adjusting to the increase in mileage (65 last week, 70 this week - I won't go higher than this) and feel great. I am not sure exactly what I will be going for at my first HM in February, and will let the workouts I do dictate that. So far comparing my training to 2011 (last time I trained for a HM), I am running more miles, faster average pace, faster intervals and faster tempos. This increases my confidence.

Some great workouts this past week:
 9 miles tempo, 3 @ MAF, 4 @ 10K-HM (6:20 pace), 2@ MAF.
13 miles progression, 6.5 @ MAF, 3 @ MAF+10, 2@ MAF+15, 1@ MAF+20, .5 cool down (7:12 pace)

Still taking it slow here, but working in HMP miles when I feel good.

* CORE CHALLENGE - I am in the middle of a 30 day core challenge. This means I committed to doing 10 min core exercises/day. I have 3 cycles I circle through, to keep things interesting. I feel so much stronger and able to keep my form when my legs get tired, that I think I will keep this in. I may have skipped a couple of days in there, but made up the time the next day, so it is all good.

* LIFE - going to Florida for a little vacation to see family, Legoland and Seaworld (happy that my son has no interest in Disney...I have no interest in spending my time waiting in line, ha!).

* PARENTING - I won't say much here, but do want to mention that all those people with babies who think that raising little kids is hard...just wait until school starts. Oh, my! Between homework, daily reading and activities I am finding that my free time is shrinking and shrinking. Parenting is more interesting, for sure, but much more demanding for older kids, at least for me.

* WHO's getting faster? Katie is! Holy Batman I am impressed on a daily bases by how fast she is getting and how quickly.

* NEWS - I am very excited to be part of the Brooks ID program again this year. I love Brooks and I love the opportunity they give to non elite runners through the ID program.