Training Week in Review - 2/16/15 - 2/22/15

 

It's a balmy 47 degrees outside today and I can hardly believe it.  Considering the picture on the left was taken YESTERDAY with -1 degree windchill, it's unreal to me that we had such a nice day today.  But I'm not complaining!   This week has been challenging (running-wise) since we had the snowstorm on Monday night.  It was peak training week for me in my marathon buildup and I was excited to hit a new mileage high:  96 miles for the week.  Most of those were run on the treadmill due to the weather and snowy/icy roads, but I did manage to venture out a few times.

Without much further ado, let's get right into how the week shook out:

Monday:  11 miles a.m. (8:10 pace) on the treadmill.  Downton Abbey to the rescue on this one!   It hadn't snowed yet, but with temperature of 2 degrees outside and no one to run with me in the dark at 5am I took the easy way out and opted for watching Downton Abbey while I ran on the treadmill.  4 miles p.m. (8:05 pace) at the Y later on.

Tuesday:  11 miles a.m. - Ran these on the treadmill in the morning due to the 5 inches of snow we got Monday night! Ran the first 3 easy at 8:22 or so, then ran 6 intervals of 1000m at 6:22 pace, followed by a rest of about 3 minutes. I was sweating buckets and working hard!  I was happy to get these over with but would definitely have preferred to run them on the track or road. Did the rest of the cool down miles at 8:13 pace.   4 miles p.m. (8:23 pace) in the snow!  Ran in my IceBug shoes that I got for Christmas (love them - thanks for the recommendation, Sarah!) and was super happy to get outside.

Wednesday:  11 miles (8:10 pace) a.m.  Yet another treadmill run since the roads are covered in snow and ice and I wasn't comfortable running in the dark with the roads they way they are.  Thankfully the YMCA was open later in the morning so I headed over there to run my additional 4 miles p.m. (8:00 pace) followed by a core work class.  I taught BodyPump later that night so by the end of this day I was pretty darn exhausted.   Hard to believe that I ran 45 miles over 3 days - that was just about my peak weekly mileage during my first marathon training season!

Thursday:  9 miles a.m. (8:06) on my treadmill followed by 4 miles p.m. (8:32 pace) at the YMCA.  I really had to talk myself into these.  My body was so over the treadmill at this point.  Thankfully, my mom was going to the Y at the same time and we got to run side-by-side on treadmills!  That was fun and I was so thankful for her company to break up the treadmill monotony!

Friday:  8 miles (8:22 pace) Must....get...off...treadmill.  These were back on the 'mill since the roads were still bad and I couldn't risk it in the dark.  But at least there was just one run today!   Taught BodyPump at the gym and then tried not to worry that I'd destroyed my legs on the squat and lunge tracks.  I had my fingers and toes crossed that tomorrow's 20-miler would go okay.

Saturday:  20 miles (7:40 pace)  Ran this with my group but got a few in beforehand.  Felt ok but it was FREEZING with a wind chill at -1.  Felt okay and the pace was pretty good despite having to dodge lots of snow (and pick my way through several sections of sheer ice). Splits: 8:29, 8:01, 7:37, 7:44, 8:17, 7:55, 7:44, 7:16, 7:31, 7:13, 7:22, 7:21, 7:12, 7:26, 7:14, 7:19, 7:17, 7:35, 7:18, 7:20

Sunday:  6 miles a.m. (8:57 pace) Still icy outside and raining so I ran this recovery run on the treadmill this morning before church.  I felt....surprisingly fine. I think all of the miles I've been putting in have helped me recover much, much faster. I could barely tell I ran 20 yesterday.  4 miles p.m. (8:08 pace) - I was OUTSIDE!!   Hurray!  And in a long sleeve and capris because it was 37 degrees! It felt positively amazing to be outside and running.   Thanks to the warmer temps, the snow is starting to melt and most of the roads are clear.  Looking forward to more days of outside running in the coming week.

Total:  96 miles

I was very excited to successfully make it through my peak week for this season!  I am so happy to have made it this far.  After my stress fracture, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to successfully ramp my mileage back up to where it was - much less pass that mark and build further!  I'm so very grateful to be here.  Now I get to start slowly ramping down my mileage next week.  Then I'll officially hit the taper and really ramp it down!  I'm nervous, and saying many prayers that I make it through these next three weeks without incident.   I'm still debating on what time goal I want to try and hit for this marathon (an upcoming post will talk about this) but I just want to get to the starting line healthy with a shot at a good race.   Looking forward to next week and then making it out of the taper without losing my sanity!

Anyone tapering with me?  How do you chose your goal marathon time?  Any advice? 

Treadmill Workouts to Keep Your Sanity Intact

It snowed Monday night in RVA.  We ended up with a whopping five inches of snow which (unfortunately) is enough to cripple the town for a few days.   What does that mean for those of us that want to continue training?  Yup, you guessed it:  Treadmill (or "Dreadmill") time.

Sarah had a great post on a few of her favorite treadmill workouts so I thought I'd throw out a few of my own, plus a few tips on some of the peripheral stuff that makes for a better treadmill run.

Category 1:  "I'm Serious About This Workout" Treadmill Workouts:

These workouts are for the times when you want to try to stick to your training schedule as best you can and need something more substantial to do on the treadmill besides just trotting along trying not to die of boredom.

• The Cutdown (or Progressive) Run:   Begin your run at your long run/easy run pace.  Every mile, drop the pace by 5-15 seconds per mile so that you are running your second-to-last mile at close to your tempo or 10K race pace.  Example:  If I've got 8 miles to do, I'll start my workout at 8:05 pace and progress each mile (7:50, 7:35, 7:20, 7:05, 6:50) and end at 6:35 pace for my second-to-last mile.  I'll take the final mile back up to 8:05 for a cool down mile.  This definitely helps keep you on your toes as it's fun/torturous to hit that speed button every mile.
• The "Let's make marathon pace feel easier" Workout (aka Alternating 800s):    This one is sneaky.  It's sneaky because it's tough, but because it also works on the mental side of things.  Start out with at least a mile or two warmup at an easy long run pace, then do 4 miles of alternating intervals:  Run a half mile at tempo pace, followed by a half mile at marathon pace - repeating that sequence four times for a total of 4 miles of work.  Follow with a cooldown of a few miles.  This tricks your brain a bit because you actually RECOVER from your tempo intervals by slowing to marathon pace - thus making marathon pace feel "easier".  I really like this one for the mental boost that comes with knowing that there was at least one run this season where marathon pace didn't feel all that bad!

Category 2:  "Since I'm Stuck on the Treadmill Anyway, Let's Have Some Fun" Treadmill Workouts:

• Race the Commercials:  I do this one at home when I'm watching a show on my computer (like Chopped) that has commercial breaks.  And it's even easier to do at the gym where there are TVs all around.  I'll hop on a treadmill and set it to my easy run pace.  Then I'll choose one channel to watch (or keep an eye on if I don't feel like actually watching the program) and whenever a commercial comes on, I'll up the pace to something faster (my marathon pace or my tempo pace) and run that pace for the duration of the commercial break!  Then it's back to easy until another set of commercials come on.  It's an easy way to make the time pass quickly and it's a good way to sneak in a bit of speed into your run.
• Beat the Treadmill Clock:  The treadmills at my gym automatically slow down and force you into a cool down once they hit 60 minutes.  If I'm looking to get in an hour of running, I like to play the game where I see just how many miles I can get in before the treadmill starts shutting down on me.  I'll start out at an easy pace and run along and then about halfway through the run, I'll start bumping up the pace slightly to see if I can just squeak out one more mile (or half mile) before the treadmill quits.  It keeps my brain occupied as I try to do treadmill math late in the run, and it's a good way to end a run with a fast(er) finish!   If your treadmill doesn't quit on you like mine does, you can still do this run by picking a time limit and then seeing how many miles (or additional quarter or half miles) you can squeeze out before time expires.
• The People Watch Challenge:  This is another great gym treadmill run.  I'll pick out a fellow gym goer who is working on a weight circuit (or other series of exercises) and then watch them.  When they start a new exercise/get to a new machine, set your treadmill to easy pace and run.  When they rest between sets (or machines) increase your pace to something faster and run harder until the person starts their next exercise or set.  So when they are lifting or working, you are running easy.  But when they rest, you pick up the pace.  Choose your person wisely though - I've gotten burned on this before by picking the guys that do one set of weights and then stand there and watch ESPN for 10 minutes!   You can also reverse this (you run faster when they are working, and go back to easy pace when they are resting), but I like it the first way since that makes me root for them to get their butt back to their machine and GO!

Tips on Surviving the Treadmill:

I really hate the treadmill, but on weeks like this I feel so fortunate that someone created this torturous fun invention.  It's not the most exciting thing to run 11 miles on the treadmill, but it can be done and it allows me to continue training when I'd be otherwise forced to take an unplanned rest day (or 5!).  I've found you can make it more palatable by doing a few things:

• Save your favorite shows for treadmill viewing only.   This one works best for me.  I'm much more likely to haul myself out of bed to run on the treadmill if I know I've got the new episode of Modern Family or Downton Abbey waiting on me.   I will save those shows so that I actually look forward to running on the treadmill.
• New music playlist/new podcast.  New tunes and/or new podcasts always help to get me excited about a treadmill run too.
• Bright, energetic clothes/shoes.  This one is a bit of a stretch, but it does help at least a bit.  I'll try to pick a part of my outfit that makes me feel energized/happy.  The bright pink pair of shoes, the bright blue tank top.  It gives me a little tiny boost, but sometimes that's just enough to get me on the treadmill and on to my workout.
• Favorite recovery beverage/Gatorade flavor:  Are you a fan of a post-run chocolate milk or coffee after your workout?  Great - pack it in your cooler or promise yourself that you'll make a nice cup of coffee when you are done.  Love the Limon Pepino (Lime Cucumber - it's awesome!) Gatorade flavor the best?   Perfect!  Save it for those treadmill days when you need just a tiny extra bit of motivation to get it done.   Little rewards help - and if you can save some special treats to reserve just for conquering those treadmill workouts, even better.

What's your favorite treadmill workout?  Any motivational tips to help get us through this treadmill-centered week?   Stay warm, everyone!  

Race for the Chocolate 10K - Race Report

A few weeks ago, as I was looking at Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning schedule, I saw that he called for an 8K-15K "tune up" race on the weekend of Valentine's Day.  I opted not to run the local option (the Sweetheart 8K on Sunday morning) so that I could attend church with the family.  So instead I looked to see if there was anything remotely close by being held on Saturday - Valentine's Day.  I was in luck - there was a 10K being held at a winery in New Kent - which is about an hour from my house.  The race featured a post-race wine and chocolate tasting (which sounded delicious to me) so I signed up, went right back to my training and didn't think much more about it until suddenly....it was a few days until race day!

I had a bigger mileage week this week with 92 miles and knew that I wouldn't taper for the race.  I planned to turn the race into my "long run" for the week by squeezing in 6 miles beforehand and then a few more afterwards to end up with 15 or so.  I tried to front-load the week (mileage-wise) so that I'd have a lighter day on Friday (8 miles) that would allow my legs to recover a tiny bit before the race.  I was hoping to give the 10K a good effort - not an all-out race effort, but 90% or so.   My run on Friday felt sluggish.  The 8:50 recovery pace did not feel as springy and happy and everything-is-rainbows-and-butterflies as I expected and I started to get a bit anxious about how the race would go in the morning.   But I chalked it up to being at the end of a high mileage week and tried not to stress.  I ate my normal pre-race spaghetti the night before, foam rolled and tried to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Woke up at 5am and got ready to go.  It was cold (in the 20s) and windy, and I opted for capris, a warm long sleeve shirt and a vest - plus my trusty ear warmer headband and mittens.  (plus my favorite invention for winter running:  HotHands hand warmers!)  Ate a bagel and had some UCAN on my drive out to New Kent.   Got there with plenty of time to pick up my packet, use the restroom and then get started on my extended warm up.  Hit the roads and ran 6 miles around the race venue (the New Kent Winery).   I was happy to note that the "easy" pace that I was running was well under 8min/mile and that lifted my spirits - maybe today would be a good day after all!  I tried hard not to think about the fact that I'd have to run almost a minute per mile FASTER than that easy pace on the run.   I was a little stressed about the very strong winds that I encountered and wondered how many miles we'd have into the headwind before we turned, but there was no use in worrying about it now.  It was almost time to race.

Got back to the car, had a gel and some water and used the restroom one more time.  The race was a bit disorganized and the start of the 10K ended up being delayed for 25 minutes or so.  This was a bit frustrating since I'd timed things (nutrition, bathroom breaks, my warm up, etc.) to a 9:15 start and it was nearing 9:45 before we actually were set to begin.  There was also nowhere warm to wait - we were all outside shivering in the cold.  I hopped in place a lot and was very, very thankful for my hand warmers.  Finally it was time to start.  I made my way to the front (which felt weird to me since I hardly ever am in a position to race near the front of a pack!) and soon we were underway.

Mile 1:  (6:45)   Right out of the gate we went down a narrow, rutted (and frozen!) dirt road.  I was trying not to twist an ankle or run into anyone in front of me and was just so happy to make it out of that one mile section in one piece that I didn't care too much about the pace.  We popped out on the road and then I was able to get a better feel for what we were running.  The pace was a bit slow, but most likely due to the dirt road so I just ignored it and pressed on.   I quickly found myself in 3rd place for the women. The first lady was Renee High (Olympic Trials Qualifier from VA Beach) who is super speedy so I knew I wouldn't catch her, and the 2nd gal I didn't know but she opened up a little lead on me in the first mile.   I decided I'd try to reel her in later in the race if I could and practice Sarah's suggestion of "10 hard steps".  I'm trying to get better about competing and not mentally giving up late in the race.

Mile 2:  (6:50)   We were headed straight into the wind on this stretch and I was getting frustrated that I was working hard for a pace that was less than stellar.  I tucked in behind two guys for a quarter mile or so to try and get a bit of relief from the wind but they started to slow so I ended up going around them.  We ran through several traffic circles and I did my best to run the tangents rather than follow the road all the way around the circle like some of the guys were doing!   There was a "water stop" on this mile.  I put that in quotes because it was a card table set up about 25 feet off the road with about 10 cups of water on it.  If you had wanted water, you'd have had to hop the curb, run up to the table, grab a cup, run back and hop back on the road.  Needless to say, I passed.

Mile 3: (6:29)  Somewhere in this mile we got to flip it and head back the way we came - but this time the wind was at our backs!!  The pace picked up and I was stoked to see that a 6:29 split on my watch with no more effort than the first mile.  I still felt pretty good and was slowly closing the gap on the #2 female.

Mile 4: (6:37) And here's where the course got a bit challenging.  We entered the area near the golf course and hit some pretty good rolling hills.  I had planned to take a gel and some water here (more so to practice mid-race fueling than anything else - I wouldn't normally take a gel on a 10K), but there was no second water stop as promised!  There was also quite a few spots marked just with cones and it was rather confusing to try and figure out where the course went.  Thankfully there was a guy and the #2 gal within sight so I just followed them.

Mile 5: (6:28)  We had a section on the twisty-turny cart path of the golf course and then a quarter mile section on deep gravel where I was using every ounce of energy left to pray that I did not turn my ankle!   I tried to pick it up in this mile once we got off the gravel and was happy to see the pace improve.

Mile 6: (6:44)  The 2nd place girl was starting to slow!  Or else I was speeding up.  A quick glance at my watch told me that she must be slowing.  We were back on the pavement, but also back to the rolling hills.  The legs were heavy here and I was feeling ready to be done, but I tried to push a bit to see if I could close the gap.

Mile 6.2: (6:24)  I was closing in by the time we hit the mile 6 marker but knew I was running out of real estate to catch her.  I willed the legs to go faster and powered up the final hills as best I could.  In the end I couldn't catch her, but I was proud of myself for trying!

End result:  41:45, 3rd place Female, 9th overall.  (of 787)  6.29 miles on my Garmin so while I tried to run the tangents, I have some work to do!

After crossing the line I walked for a few paces and congratulated my fellow runners.  I had planned to do a few cool down miles, but ended up helping the 2nd place gal bandage her finger (she'd cut it right before the race started) and by the time we got through with that, I was frigid and the idea of anything but getting in my warm clothes was too hard to fathom.  So I jogged to my car and pulled on my warm stuff, figuring I'd make up the miles later.  Not the ideal scenario, but I was too cold to care!    Grabbed some chocolate and got to taste three of the New Kent wines before I turned into a popsicle and decided to head for the warmth of my car and the promise of a Starbucks coffee on the way home.  I ended up running 5 recovery run/cooldown miles later in the day since I had missed the miles post-race.

This is actually a new 10K PR for me - I haven't raced a 10K in many years and while this wasn't really a true race effort for me, it was nice to set a PR in the process!  It was a good effort, and while not even close to the pace I'm *supposed* to be capable of for a 10K, it wasn't a typical road 10K and I ran it on un-tapered legs at the end of a high mileage week.  So I'm happy with how it went.

Sorry for the lack of pictures on this - my phone died due to the cold so I had no way to take photos!

Total for the week: 92 miles (highest mileage to date)

I've got one more week of heavy training (which unfortunately has coincided with our first big snow here in RVA) and then I start to taper!  I can hardly believe the race is less than 4 weeks away.

Do you usually do any "tune-up" races in your training?  If you do, do you race them at full-on RACE effort?   Do you love or hate the 10K distance?  (I like it more than the 5K distance, but not much more!)