Since I last blogged I've gotten some great workouts in and I've been feeling pretty awesome. Here's a quick rundown:
Sunday 20 miler
Monday swim class
Tuesday 6x800 m repeats + core work
Wednesday 4.5 mile run + Warrior Fitness Bootcamp
Let's start with the 20 miler. Last week when I had to run 18 miles alone, I seriously dreaded it then struggled through it and wished I had some running company. This week, for 20 I actually really enjoyed the solo run. It started a little rocky though. I walked out of the door and IMMEDIATELY it started pouring. Meanwhile, it had been lovely out all day but I had procrastinated from hitting the streets. Luckily it only lasted the first couple miles. Then, I had to stop at a portapotty at mile 3!!! Between that and the rain I was pretty irritated. But then, post portapotty it all came together. A nice easy smooth 20 mile run, which took me down through battery park city, across the brooklyn bridge and then home in about 3:10. The whole time I was running I was thinking...hmm, I should blog about this, and this, and this... But now it's Wednesday and I've blogged about none of it. Whoops! Maybe next time.
Swim class
I was pretty concerned that finishing up my run at 8:30pm on Sunday might make my Monday morning swim pretty difficult but for some reason, I felt great. Must have been the 3 advil I took right before bed. We continued practicing our breathing and rotation and the instructor ACTUALLY COMPLIMENTED ME! I was elated. Apparently, I'm good at not taking my whole face out of the water when I'm swimming. I'm hoping if we continue moving along slowly, I will improve and learn and keep getting compliments.
The other wonderful thing about swimming class was that afterwards I felt amazing! No soreness from the run at all. I'm truly convinced that swimming is the best cross training there is for running.
6x800s
Ugh! So I normally like interval training...when done outside,in the morning, with my team, with Spencer encouraging me to keep going. Now, on the other hand, doing the exact same intervals on the treadmill in the evening after work is TERRIBLE. I truly do not understand how people manage to work out at night. I had no energy at all and strugged to do the 800s at a 7 min/mile pace. I got through 6 though ranging in pace from 7 min/mile- 7:16 min/mile, which I guess isn't too shabby. The cleaning lady said she was tired from just watching me do them. LOL. I honestly felt like i was going to die the whole time...I almost wonder if the treadmill was calibrated correctly!! I did some thorough stretching afterwards as well as some core work. Spencer would have been proud (if I hadn't slept through practice that morning)
4.5 mile run and WFBC
Again, I was concerned this morning b/c I did a hard workout last night and had another hard workout this morning. I took the run super easy though, which was nice. I ran into Claire and one of the fast guys from Terrier in the park before I headed down 5th avenue to get to class. And, of course, class was amazing as usual. Strangely, it was the best WFBC class I've had in a while. I didn't feel exhausted from marathon training and actually had some speed in my legs. It Got over the walls just fine. (Not the rope though...I will get there one day) It was nice to not feel like a slacker for a change.
So, it got me thinking, what was so different that gave me so much more energy. I came up with a few things. I slept in yesterday (got 10 hours of sleep...amazing!) and have been doing a MUCH better job of stretching and foam rolling which I think helping my recovery. Also, on Sunday after my long run, I had a protein shake immediately. Before I started my run, I had a slice of bread to fuel my workout. Finally, I've just been eating MUCH better. For a while, I was eating and drinking all of the wrong things. Fried things, cake, ice cream, wine--very little fruits/veggies. The thing about marathon training is to an extent you can eat a LOT and not gain weight BUT, you feel so much better if you fuel up with healthy nutritious stuff. Unfortunately, b/c I changed so many thing at once, I'm not sure where the change came from but I do know I felt lighter and fitter and great. I am gonna have to keep this up leading into the race :)
So all and all a great 4 days. Let's hope I can keep this up! :)
Showing posts with label speed work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speed work. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Mile
From the time I started marathon training this year, I've been dreading Tuesday's workout. Mile repeats. The thing about mile repeats is that you feel like you need to run hard because you're doing intervals but it's one freaking LONG interval.
After our usual warm up we headed to the S to begin our torture. Run 1 mile, followed by a 2.5 min recovery jog. Spencer told us to not go too hard b/c our more important workout of the week is our tempo run on Friday. I was feeling pretty tired for the workout--I really need to work on getting more sleep. Here are my mile splits.
7:20
7:16
7:29
7:34
7:49
I know what you're thinking--her times sure did slip down over the course of the workout. Let me tell you, I was STRUGGLING on that last mile and wanted to stop and walk the whole time. That was a hallmark of my training last year. On the last intervals, I would almost always quit part-way through. The worst part about that is that according to what I read in Runners World and other running magazines, those last intervals are the ones that really count and make you stronger and faster. So, despite the fact that my last mile was 29 seconds/mile slower than my first mile, I'm going to go ahead and be happy that I just kept on running.
On a related note, Spencer always tells us we should jog through the 2.5 minute recovery. I'm pretty good about this but I've noticed, most people don't! I wonder how much of a difference it all makes. I tend to dance to the beat of my own drum (is that the right saying?) when it comes to team training. Whereas some folks run in a group or in pairs keeping up with each others pace, I tend to just do all the intervals at my own pace, whether I'm ahead or behind of my team members. I dunno, that just works for me.
In all Tuesday, I ended up running almost 8 miles. 5.69 miles of intervals+ jogging in between, .8 miles of warmup (from CPW to the meeting spot and from where we do our warm up to the S...so it doesn't include the strides and other stuff actually in the warm up) and 1.29 slooooooow miles to get home. I can feel pretty good about that :)
After our usual warm up we headed to the S to begin our torture. Run 1 mile, followed by a 2.5 min recovery jog. Spencer told us to not go too hard b/c our more important workout of the week is our tempo run on Friday. I was feeling pretty tired for the workout--I really need to work on getting more sleep. Here are my mile splits.
7:20
7:16
7:29
7:34
7:49
I know what you're thinking--her times sure did slip down over the course of the workout. Let me tell you, I was STRUGGLING on that last mile and wanted to stop and walk the whole time. That was a hallmark of my training last year. On the last intervals, I would almost always quit part-way through. The worst part about that is that according to what I read in Runners World and other running magazines, those last intervals are the ones that really count and make you stronger and faster. So, despite the fact that my last mile was 29 seconds/mile slower than my first mile, I'm going to go ahead and be happy that I just kept on running.
On a related note, Spencer always tells us we should jog through the 2.5 minute recovery. I'm pretty good about this but I've noticed, most people don't! I wonder how much of a difference it all makes. I tend to dance to the beat of my own drum (is that the right saying?) when it comes to team training. Whereas some folks run in a group or in pairs keeping up with each others pace, I tend to just do all the intervals at my own pace, whether I'm ahead or behind of my team members. I dunno, that just works for me.
In all Tuesday, I ended up running almost 8 miles. 5.69 miles of intervals+ jogging in between, .8 miles of warmup (from CPW to the meeting spot and from where we do our warm up to the S...so it doesn't include the strides and other stuff actually in the warm up) and 1.29 slooooooow miles to get home. I can feel pretty good about that :)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Does Terrier Practice= Precipitation?
So, I joined Terrier Tri at the beginning of January with high hopes of attending all of their Tuesday and even some of their Friday marathon/1/2 marathon workouts. So far, it's been a losing game. I went to the first Tuesday practice and thereafter, it seems like every Tuesday or Friday I try to go, I wake up, look outside and there's a blizzard or something. Today, we just got rain (heavy at times) but it wasn't quite so cold so I pretended to be hardcore and went out in it. It was pretty unpleasant at first, but eventually it only bothered me a little bit--mostly when I wanted to change the display on my garmin but the raindrops were throwing off the ultra sensitive touch bezel.
SUPER SHOCKING SPECIAL BONUS today! Despite the rain, Amanda came to her first Terrier practice since I harassed her to join the team. She basically told me she wasn't coming in the rain, so I was pretty stoked and also surprised when she made it. I think she just wanted to be featured in my blog again.
So one of the many things I like about Terrier is that we do a really good warmup before we start our workout. This includes high knees, butt kicks, lateral shuffles, karaokes, walking quad stretches, this stretch where you walk and grab your knee in front of your chest (I'm sure it has a name but I don't know it), and then we finish up with strides. Every once in a while, Spencer will throw something else into the mix, I think just to make sure we are awake. I realized this morning that this warmup is pretty effective, because by the time we were done with it, I wasn't nearly as tight as I was when I showed up.
Once we got done with our warmup, we ran down to the "S", which is where we start our speedwork. When we got there, Spencer told us we had 5-7 800s (depending on whether we are beginner/intermediate/advanced) with a 2 minute recovery between each one. I dreaded it and apparently so did everyone else because there was an audible groan among the very small group that was legit enough to come out in the rain. Spencer kinda got a kick out of it though.
I tried to keep up with Amanda for the first 2 800s but had to fall behind because I felt like I might have just died out there in that pitch black, rainy park. Apparently, the warmup loosened me up but didn't undo the shock to my system of the last 2 weeks of WFBC on top of my usual workouts. So clearly, I only did 5 800s--the beginner workout. Guess I can't be superwoman every day. Spencer tells me I shouldn't go to bootcamp the day before speedwork because I need to rest up for our hard workout. The problem is that I'm so obsessed with bootcamp and HATE skipping it. I'm really not sure what to do about this conflict.
So after getting done with speedwork and chatting with Amanda and Spencer for a bit, I ran the 1.5 miles home and almost immediately it stopped raining. Sooooo frustrating. I guess I will just cross my fingers that Friday's skies are clearer for our hill workout.
One last thing. I really need to kick the terrible habit I have of wasting the fact that I get up at 5:30am for Terrier. Today, like many other days, instead of getting ready for work after practice, I showered and went back to bed, only to arrive at work at 9:30am. What a waste!
Total Workout Today:
6 miles
SUPER SHOCKING SPECIAL BONUS today! Despite the rain, Amanda came to her first Terrier practice since I harassed her to join the team. She basically told me she wasn't coming in the rain, so I was pretty stoked and also surprised when she made it. I think she just wanted to be featured in my blog again.
So one of the many things I like about Terrier is that we do a really good warmup before we start our workout. This includes high knees, butt kicks, lateral shuffles, karaokes, walking quad stretches, this stretch where you walk and grab your knee in front of your chest (I'm sure it has a name but I don't know it), and then we finish up with strides. Every once in a while, Spencer will throw something else into the mix, I think just to make sure we are awake. I realized this morning that this warmup is pretty effective, because by the time we were done with it, I wasn't nearly as tight as I was when I showed up.
Once we got done with our warmup, we ran down to the "S", which is where we start our speedwork. When we got there, Spencer told us we had 5-7 800s (depending on whether we are beginner/intermediate/advanced) with a 2 minute recovery between each one. I dreaded it and apparently so did everyone else because there was an audible groan among the very small group that was legit enough to come out in the rain. Spencer kinda got a kick out of it though.
I tried to keep up with Amanda for the first 2 800s but had to fall behind because I felt like I might have just died out there in that pitch black, rainy park. Apparently, the warmup loosened me up but didn't undo the shock to my system of the last 2 weeks of WFBC on top of my usual workouts. So clearly, I only did 5 800s--the beginner workout. Guess I can't be superwoman every day. Spencer tells me I shouldn't go to bootcamp the day before speedwork because I need to rest up for our hard workout. The problem is that I'm so obsessed with bootcamp and HATE skipping it. I'm really not sure what to do about this conflict.
So after getting done with speedwork and chatting with Amanda and Spencer for a bit, I ran the 1.5 miles home and almost immediately it stopped raining. Sooooo frustrating. I guess I will just cross my fingers that Friday's skies are clearer for our hill workout.
One last thing. I really need to kick the terrible habit I have of wasting the fact that I get up at 5:30am for Terrier. Today, like many other days, instead of getting ready for work after practice, I showered and went back to bed, only to arrive at work at 9:30am. What a waste!
Total Workout Today:
6 miles
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Day 1 of Blogging
After reading tons of fitness blogs and loving them, I decided to start one of my own. For one, I'm pretty sure all of my friends are sick and tired of me raving about my workouts so, this gives me a place to share them. I began running back in 2007 thanks to my friend Stin and my firm track club. That November, I did my first half marathon and then the following November I ran the NY marathon and I've basically been a running junkie ever since. I did the Philly marathon in 2009 and then the NY marathon again in 2010. NY is an awesome race--I'm signed up to do it again this year. As a result of training with the terrier tri team running coach Spencer for NY 2010, somehow I got roped into signing up for the team and allegedly training for my first tri. So here I am, from a runner (loosely speaking) to a triathlete.
I'm not really much of a triathlete because I didn't really learn to a bike until Summer 2010 and I just am learning to swim this year, so it should be an interesting transition. I'm also a bit addicted to other gym activities like kickboxing, spinning and boot camp so that gets in the way of training for the 3 sports.
Today I was supposed to go to Terrier Practice at 6am but I literally put on all my running clothes, went outside, noted the "wintry mix" falling from the sky and turned around and went back inside and back to sleep. 2 hours later, I woke up and did the Terrier workout on the treadmill. 6x400 meters with a 400 meter active recovery and 4x200meters with 200 meters active recovery. I did the first 4 400 meter intervals at 8.5 and then the last 2 at 8.6 and 8.7. Then I did the 4 x 200 meter intervals at 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, and 9.0. I warmed up and cooled down for .5 miles each which ended up making the workout approximately 5 miles.
It's weird because sometimes I feel like I can push myself way harder on the treadmill because my body has to keep up with the conveyor belt unless I actually stop the mill. But on the other hand, I've heard that the mill pushes you a long a bit.
Total Workout today:
Running: 5 miles (45 minutes)
I'm not really much of a triathlete because I didn't really learn to a bike until Summer 2010 and I just am learning to swim this year, so it should be an interesting transition. I'm also a bit addicted to other gym activities like kickboxing, spinning and boot camp so that gets in the way of training for the 3 sports.
Today I was supposed to go to Terrier Practice at 6am but I literally put on all my running clothes, went outside, noted the "wintry mix" falling from the sky and turned around and went back inside and back to sleep. 2 hours later, I woke up and did the Terrier workout on the treadmill. 6x400 meters with a 400 meter active recovery and 4x200meters with 200 meters active recovery. I did the first 4 400 meter intervals at 8.5 and then the last 2 at 8.6 and 8.7. Then I did the 4 x 200 meter intervals at 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, and 9.0. I warmed up and cooled down for .5 miles each which ended up making the workout approximately 5 miles.
It's weird because sometimes I feel like I can push myself way harder on the treadmill because my body has to keep up with the conveyor belt unless I actually stop the mill. But on the other hand, I've heard that the mill pushes you a long a bit.
Total Workout today:
Running: 5 miles (45 minutes)
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