Catching Up

Since I generally like to post about how I feel, things that I see or that happen, or that I learn during my runs, I haven't been posting much recently.  Not because I haven't been running, but because the most exciting thing I've learned while running recently is that Nickelodeon shows Full House reruns at 5:00 & 5:30 a.m. on weekdays...

It's just not fun to write posts about treadmill runs - there's only so much you can say.  And it's boring to read it over and over again, so to save all you wonderful people from the monotony, I haven't been posting on weekdays.

If you're wondering, though, I have managed to settle into a schedule nicely:

• Monday & Fridays
• Sleep in 'til 6am, begin normal day;
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays:
• 1st alarm at 4:30am.  Roll over & eat a mini Clif bar and drink a glass of water.  Lay in bed until next alarm goes off;
• 2nd alarm at 4:45am.  Get out of bed, wash face, feed cats, get dressed & get ready to run
• Start running (or elliptical if it's Wednesday) by 5:10am, finish by 6am;
• Begin rest of the day.
• Saturdays
• Up early (actual alarm time depends on distance to be covered).
• Sundays
• Sleep in until I wake up on my own.

So that's it.  I'll probably only be posting about once a week - after my "long" runs on Saturdays - for a while, unless something unusual happens during the week.

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

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