“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” - Walt Disney

Saturday, May 14, 2011

First Speedwork and...a Cheat Sheet?

This morning I made my first attempt (ever) at doing some speedwork.  Since I'm using JG's HM for Time Goal training plan, today called for 4x800 speedwork, using acceleration gliders as a warm-up.  Confused?  Maybe not if you've done them before, but if you are a newbie to this speedwork thing like I am, that is definitely confusing.  So I poured over the speedwork sections of JG's books and tried to remember exactly what to do, how to do it, and in what sequence.  No matter how many times I re-read it, the information just wasn't sinking in...

I needed some way of having this information at my fingertips for reference while I ran, but no way was I going to carry the whole book around the track with me...  So I figured I'd just copy a sheet - but ew, that paper would get gross fast...  Solution?  Lamination!  A friend helped me laminate an index-card-size instruction sheet for both the 800m repetitions and the acceleration gliders (one set on each side).  Genius!  A cheat sheet small enough to carry and that's water/sweat-proof!

All in all, this first attempt went well, but I'm looking forward to working with the group to perfect the technique.  I started out with a 2 lap warm-up walk, then did 4 laps for 4 sets of acceleration gliders, with one set per lap, using the remainder of each lap as a walk break between the gliders.  Then I walked another lap before starting the 800m repeats.  I did 4x800m, with a 1 lap walk-break between each one.  And I'm pretty pleased with the results!

Today's stats:
  • 2 lap warm-up walk & 4 acceleration gliders @ 1 lap each
    • warm-up walk: 0.5 mi; 0:07:51; 15:42 avg pace
    • 4 gliders + walk breaks: 1.0 mi; 0:14:07 min
  • 1 lap walk
    • 0.24 mi; 0:04:18 min; 17:49 avg pace
  • 4x800m
    • 1st 800m:  0.50 mi; 0:05:27 min; 10:48 avg pace
    • 2nd 800m: 0.50 mi; 0:05:31 min; 11:00 avg pace
    • 3rd 800m: 0.51 mi; 0:05:33 min; 10:56 avg pace
    • 4th 800m: 0.52 mi; 0:05:40 min; 10:49 avg pace
    • Total w/ walk breaks: 2.80mi; 0:35:11 min; 12:35 avg pace

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Run for the Roses

The 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, also known as The Run for the Roses, was yesterday.  Last year on this weekend, we were in Louisville attending the Derby in person.  This year I had to settle for watching it on T.V.

As I was watching the horses running, I was once again stuck by the strength, power, and grace of each horse as they were making their way around the track, and couldn't help but be a little jealous.  Then I thought about it and realized that those horses probably put in at least 10 times the amount of training than I do...

So, as I was starting out this morning, thinking about the 7.5 miles ahead of me, I decided to just take it easy and get into a good rhythm.  After all, the race I'm training for is a half marathon, not a sprint like the Derby.  Well, my strategy worked!  I had a great 7.5 miles, and I got to really enjoy spending time out on the trails (even if it was warm), since my weekday runs are on the treadmill these days.

Today's stats:
  • 10 minute warm-up walk
  • 7.51 mi run; 1:35:29; 12:43 mm avg pace
  • 0.5 mi cool-down walk