Another week of training down?

I received constructive feedback about how boring my training logs had become.  When the majority of your blog is about running, I guess that is never good.   So I thought I would dive more in depth into my logs each week.  I don’t get paid to blog about my training but if it helps someone else then fabulous.  Or if you’re like me, and nosy, than also equally as fabulous.  I’m not a coach and not being coached.

One reason I have blogged less and less about training is that a lot of people don’t read posts. With the rise of instagram runners, a lot of blogs including my personal favorites have died off.  We all have lives and like I said on Wednesday, it doesn’t bother me but I don’t ever plan to become an instagrammer that writes a novel with each photo.   That being said, I have nothing to hide and as someone who works in run specialty, I do know half of my readers are people I “know in real life” so lying and hiding life would be weird.

On another running note, I will say I have decided on a fall race and once I have things set in stone I will share.

Easy Runs:

I run easy and usually either run without a watch on a route I already know (such as 3 miles).  I just put it on timer mode and run for X amount of minutes.  I have no idea pace or distance on the timed runs, but I typically average the miles to be about 9 minute miles.  They are usually boring, uneventful, and I just leave and go for run.

Wednesday: 3X1 mile (averaging 6:30 pace) with ½ mile jog (no stopping)

I would have liked this workout to be closer to 6:15 pace but my body didn’t have it.  I could tell I was tired but I had read something Sara Hall posted about: it wasn’t the easy workouts that made us stronger but the hard workouts that we didn’t feel great.  I’m not  taking stop breaks and just jogging through (very easy) because I do plan to build fitness for longer races (IE: not a 5 or 10k).

To be clear, I didn’t feel “injury bad” but more just tired, and my legs were heavy.  We all have those days and it’s nothing to cry or be ashamed about. The weather was more humid than it has been but I was happy to get the workout done.  Of course, it stinks for a workout not to go perfectly, but I’m not devastated.

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Not every workout goes well and this did not go as planned. . Ran 3×1 mile and I couldn’t move faster than 6:30 average. . Key is, it didn’t go as planned but it did go because I’m healthy.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Aug 22, 2018 at 11:58am PDT

While 400s are still just my favorite workout, I don’t want to find myself too stale by doing them all of the time.  I am the person that could do the same workout week after week and not get bored of it.  Swimming the mile in college gave me the “ability” to stay mindless…but I know it’s important to mix it up.

Killington 25k: (3:20):

Killington is known as the “Beast of the East” and I can see why.  I was over 20 minutes slower at Killington than running the 25k in Colorado at 9000 feet of elevation.  The terrain is much different and there is no way to compare.  It was the physical task I’ve ever done and the terrain was either 40% incline or decline.  There were sections of the race that became “only” 20% incline and I thought I was getting a nice break.

I am a terrible downhill runner.  It’s something I know I could get better with practice, but right now it’s very weak for me.  I was passed by dozens of people on downhills, only to pass them on the uphill.  Trail running has taught me, if I ran a “just uphill race”, I would probably do pretty good at it.  For me, the hardest part was going down a short decline around 13.5 that we ended up running through almost knee deep mud.  Luckily, I didn’t injure myself but I can tell you…my quads are very very sore.

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Last month, I said “it was the hardest race I’ve ever done” but today at Killington was even tougher. . The grades were never flat and we were either 40% incline or 40% decline. . I ran, I walked, I crawled, but I finished in 3:20 and 17th women which I’m pleased with. . Back to the forgiving roads I go.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Aug 25, 2018 at 1:06pm PDT

I am proud of my accomplishment.  I run, walked, crawled, jogged, climbed, to the finish line and I couldn’t have asked anymore from myself.  Running the two trail races has taught me a lot about myself and I am so glad I decided to run both this year!

Posts from the Week:

Getting Lost at Shark River Park

Differences of Collagen Peptides and Gelatin

Running Isn’t Everything

Questions for you:

What is the hardest race you’ve run?

Do you have any fall goal races?