Category Archives: Training

Training and Resting Part 2

November 19, 2018 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment
Training and Resting Part 2

Another week of training down.  As most people know I opted to take 2 weeks off.  The first week was nearly complete rest with a couple of walks. This week had a few more walks, a hike, and even a run on Sunday.

It was strange not running the Philadephia half this year. While I’ve never raced well there, it’s always fun to be part of one of the biggest race weekends of the year. Not sorry but I think Broad Street is 10X better.

My running, legs and everything feels fine, I’m healthy.  While I don’t feel as if I ran a marathon two weeks ago, I don’t feel injured either.

On Thursday, I opted for a short walk. Just half of a mile in, it started snowing and sleeting, so I turned around.  I had planned on walking further, but I wasn’t in the mood.

On Friday, my husband and I went up to Sandy Hook and walked around the Gateway Recreation Area.  It was a lot of fun exploring and it’s a beautiful area with plenty of history behind it. It was nice to get out of town and just see another part of the Garden State.

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Explored Sandy Hook today. It was very windy but very fun.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on

Sunday brought my first run back.  I didn’t feel bad, and it was nice to get movement.  I felt as though I could have run much sooner, but it was important to me to take time off.  Every person from professional to recreational needs time off each year.  As someone who is very injury prone, I know for myself, I need it more than many people.  I wrote more about my rest and recovery here.

What is next?

Truthfully I don’t know.  I’m not like “OMG I need to run all of the marathons”.  I do plan to run another marathon at some point but I will when the time is right. I would like to get more speed in and work my 5k back down to the 18s.

It’s been nearly 3 years since I ran my 5k PR and I would like to eventually break 18 minutes.  I’ll start racing and trying to find my speed legs again and see where it goes.

Posts from the Week:

Marathon Recovery

Brooks Ghost 11 Shoe Review 

Questions for you:

Do you ever take time off during the year?

How was your week of running? 

Training Last Week: Grinding and Racing

June 25, 2018 By in Training Tags: , , , , 3 Comments
Training Last Week: Grinding and Racing

Last week felt better than the previous in terms of running.  I was able to add miles in the week and then had a quality race.  Not my fastest time but great for where I am right now.  I don’t think this will be an amazing comeback story, but more a story of plugging along through the summer months.

Monday: Easy 50 minutes
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Easy 50 minutes
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Easy 50 minutes
Saturday: Bungalow Beach 5 Miler (32:12)
Sunday: Easy 60 minutes

Thoughts:

My easy runs of the week were just that, easy.  Originally I thought I might get a workout in Wednesday but my body was tired and that would be overdoing workouts and speed.

Bungalow Beach 5 Miler: (32:12)

It was the inaugural year for the race.  Since I like the Atlantic City races so much, I thought it would be fun to do.  The last 400 meters is on the soft sand which doesn’t make for a fast finish.  The day itself was 100% humidity.  So with the weather and course, I knew it wouldn’t be the easiest day.

I’m glad I ran and got to see a lot of friends.  My body didn’t feel great but not bad either.  I definitely didn’t feel fresh.  I was barely able to hang onto first, as the second place woman was fast approaching. In all, I’m happy with how I did and I post a longer recap this week.

Thoughts:

I’m happy with the week and I feel like I’m slowly progressing towards fitness.  I’m nowhere near there but I do feel like I’m progressing.  I was talking to a good friend, and while I only took a week off from running, I decreased my miles and was mentally disengaged for almost 2 months now. I do believe there is something to be said about that.  I don’t think this will be a “glamorous” comeback and I think it will involve a lot more grind but that’s ok.

Posts from the Week:

Vital Proteins Recovery Smoothie

Exploring the Maurice River Bluffs

Blah Blah Blah: Run Easy

Questions for you:

How was your week of training?

Have you ever run on sand?  What is a meaningful cause/charity to you? 

May Training Recap

June 1, 2018 By in Training Tags: , , , , , , , 8 Comments
May Training Recap

May was a good month.  Not so much a gritty training month, but it was a good month in general.  I mentioned this in my training log last week, while I didn’t “train hard” through May, I did run.  I didn’t stop training, and it wasn’t as if I wasn’t logging miles.

Running just wasn’t a priority.  I’m still in great fitness, but I’m definitely not in peak fitness.  A few months ago, running an 18:30 5k wasn’t too big of a deal, but right now I think I’m probably around 19 minutes.  That’s what happens when you stop doing the little things and honestly, mentally and physically your body needs it.

Through the summer, I plan to actively train.  In June I definitely would like to sign up for more races.  That will probably help fine-tune speed work again. Do I think I’ll PR…No, but I will get closer? Yes.  Eventually, I would like to run under 18 minutes in a 5k, a goal I’ve been chasing over the past few years.

Anyway, back to May Training:

Miles Run: Around 250
Rest Days: 5
Range of Paces: 6:11-11:30-untimed
Races:
Broad Street 10 Miler (1:02.51)
Cape May 10k (41:07)
First Trail Race 10k 

I think my demotivation came from having a rough 10k after the Broad Street.  The day itself was hot, windy, and down the sore. The race was well put together, but I just felt like garbage.  The rest of the month I chose a lot of other things like hiking versus running.  Then life got busy outside of the running and blogging world, so I felt like I was on the go and living out of my car with running around the state of NJ.  Honestly, it was a great month but running just wasn’t a priority.  As a running blogger with no kids, it’s weird saying: I just didn’t GAF about training hard.  That’s what happened.

Posts from the Month:

Running Related:
How do You Know When It’s Summer Running?
Saucony ISO Shoe Review
Recovering with Collagen Protein
Skin Benefits from Collagen

Hiking:
Hiking to the Cape May Lighthouse
Exploring Hartshorne Park in the Highlands

Flying:
Flying to Bridgeport, CT

So another month of the year down.  It feels like the year is flying by.  I’m looking forward to enjoying the summer and hopefully taking some time down the shore and at new parks.

Questions for you:

How was your May Training and workouts? Anyone have a goal race in June?

 

Training: Unpredicted Changes and First Trail Race

May 21, 2018 By in Training Tags: , , , , , 7 Comments
Training: Unpredicted Changes and First Trail Race

Last week started off well but then so much unexpected happened.  In the middle of the week, my husband and I were supposed to go to NYC, but that didn’t work out.  Then I ended up feeling like garbage on Saturday, and I missed a road 5k.  Somehow on Sunday my husband convinced me to do my first single track trail 10k on Sunday.  It wasn’t a “bad” week, just not what I originally thought would happen.

Anyway, as I said in my April recap, my only plan for the rest of May is just go along with the punches and have fun.  So far, so good.

Monday: Easy 60 minutes
Tuesday: 12x400s averaging 88 seconds with 400 jog between
Wednesday: Easy 60 minutes
Thursday: Hike Bear Mountain (around 4-5 miles of hard hiking)
Friday: Easy 45 minutes
Saturday: Easy 45 minutes
Sunday: Xterra Wetlands Trail 10k

My husband and I were supposed to go to NYC for a Broadway last week but plans changed, and we ended up in the Nyack/West Point Area.  We made the best of it and still had a great time.  We even got an afternoon to go hiking at Bear Mountain.  It ended up downpouring about halfway through our hike!

Between that and hilly runs though the Westpoint Campus, my runs were “easy” but harder than the pancake area I typically run through.

Tuesday: 12X400 88 seconds with 400 jog in between

This workout went better than anticipated.  The weather was good and the sun was out.  Like most of my workouts over the past 6 months, it was on the road through my neighborhood.  Once school lets out for the summer, I’m hoping to be able to take advantage of a local track.

I had planned to do a local 5k on Saturday but I woke up exhausted.  I can’t put my finger on it, but something told me not to do the race. It was torrential downpour and my gut told me it wasn’t worth it.  So I didn’t.  I didn’t really have a direct reason “not  too”, other than my body was tired and my gut told me not too.  I slept in and ran easy in the rain.

Trail 10k:

Which leads me to how I even got to my first single track 10k on Sunday.  My husband has gotten more into trail races lately and wanted to drive down and do it.  I woke up late that Sunday and did nothing I “typically” do before races but was able to quickly pack clothing and jump in the car with him.

We got to the race around 7:30, had time for about a mile warmup, and all of a sudden it was time to go.  I ran cross country in college, so racing in the woods isn’t 100% new to me, however, a legit single trek trail race is.  I self seeded myself in the middle.  I didn’t want to be overzealous in the front, nor did I want to be in the complete back.  I probably was a bit too far back because I found myself passing people the entire race.  It has rained the last 3 days in NJ (with it only continuing), so the trails were deep. I ran in a 5-6 year old pair of Nike LT flats which was not my best idea.  My only goal was not too hurt myself.  I finished in about 50 minutes and was even first women, which I was surprised!  I had a lot of fun and I’m glad I got out of my comfort zone.

Even though the week wasn’t what I had planned at all, I had a lot of fun getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things.

Posts from the Week:

Skin benefits from Collagen

Exploring Hartshorne Park in the Highlands 

Questions for you:
Have you ever done a trail race?
What was your best workout of the week?

Training Update: Physical and Mental

May 30, 2017 By in Training Tags: , , , , , 6 Comments
Training Update: Physical and Mental

Last week was the first time in a while, I had any inclination to run. As I’ve mentioned, the last few weeks have been extremely busy for me (outside of working out).  In anti-runner blogger form, I didn’t miss running in the slightest.

In Early May, my in-laws and parents came up.  Then my husband came home.  Finally, last week I got to see my brother, Matt, who I haven’t seen in two years due to him being overseas.

Working out has been anything but at the top of my mind lately.  Yet, I’ve gone to the gym a few times, and somehow I have found time to maintain a running blog while not running.  Oddly enough, I still enjoy blogging.

Due to the nature of how busy I’ve been this month, I’ve been out of the running store for most of May too.  Mentally, it was probably good to be out of the store although I do miss my friends and coworkers.

Anyways, back to workouts! To be honest, I had to look back on my Instagram this week and remember exactly which days I did what.

Monday:  Rest
Tuesday:  Short Core workout
Wednesday:  Short Core Workout
 Thursday:  1 Hour Strength Class
 Friday:  Rest
 Saturday:  1 Hour Strength Class
 Sunday:  1 Hour Elliptical

Yesterday, I ran 4 miles with my brother.  No watch, but probably around 10 min pace.  I felt okay.  Is it the start of running again?  Maybe, maybe not but he asked if I wanted to run and I said ok.

Throughout the years, this blog has taken many different turns. 

I’ve swam…

I’ve run…

I’ve blogged through college…

I’ve blogged through working in a public health office…

Most recently, I’ve blogged about working in a running store and well, running!

As my life and interests evolve, so does blogging!  I’m not saying I’m giving up running competitively and I’m not giving up blogging, but it’s important (for me) to take a step back and say: I need to do this for myself, not how those on social media want/need.  Fueledbylolz is a journey of my life and training.  I originally started my blog to reflect upon my journey not to make a career or please readers (although it’s great to find people who share similar interests!)

With all of this rambling, this turned out to be more of a mental update than a training update but we need those too.

In short, last week was a good workout week for where I’m at in life.  I’ve already run this week and it was ok.

Posts from the Week:

26 Pairs of Running Shoes Later

Visiting New York City

Questions for you:

How many years have been blogging?  I’m coming up on 6 in August!  :O

What was your best workout last week?

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