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Tag Archives: training

Training: Building Fitness and 10ks

May 13, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments
Training: Building Fitness and 10ks

Last weeks training was good. I got what I wanted for the week.  Over the summer, I plan to race as much as possible to get back into shape. That’s what I did when I set my 5k PR several years ago. I want to keep racing until I’m back in shape. I personally find I’m able to push myself harder in races versus workouts.

Monday: Easy 60 minutes
Swim 3000 meters
Tuesday: Easy 60 minutes
Swim 3000 meters
Wednesday: 3X1 mile averaging 6:30 pace
Thursday: 3000-meter swim
Friday: Easy 60 minutes
Saturday: Cape May 10k (42:35) Total miles with warmup/cooldown 10
Sunday: Long Run 12 miles averaging 7:58 pace (last 3 miles 7:08, 7:01, 6:56)

Thoughts:

After a rough Spring and putting the effort in, and not getting anywhere I’ve finally committed mentally to building back fitness. When I start trying to build back speed, I’m usually faster, so this feels as though I have a long way to go, especially considering Spring didn’t go my way.

My easy runs were just that, easy. There is never much more to say about them.

Workout Wednesday: 3X 1 mile (averaging 6:30 pace) with 2 minutes rest in between:

This was my first-speed workout in about a month. I intentionally took time off to allow my body some rest from hard workouts. It felt challenging, but I’m happy with my effort and getting back out there.

Swimming:

As most people know by now, I’ve been getting back into the pool more. I still plan to swim throughout the summer. I was a competitive swimmer through college, and it seems like a different lifetime ago. I’m having fun in the pool right now because I can mindlessly stare at the black line for about an hour. I can’t compare myself to previous fitness levels because there is no way I’ll get back in the pool for 10,000-14,000 meters 5X a week as we did in college (yes that’s 2-4 hours most days).

Cape May 10k: (42:35)

This pace was slower than my 10-mile pace at Broad Street. I have struggled to get the turnover in my legs faster recently. It feels as though my body as one pace for hard efforts and that is between 6:45-6:55.

This is another personal worst in recent years, but as I said on Instagram, my goal is to show up at races. The good, bad, ugly, I’ll be there. I still had a great time with friends, and I’m happy to have done it.

 

Long Run: 12 miles averaging 7:58 pace

My long run on Sunday felt better than my race on Saturday. My last 3 miles of my long run were 7:08, 7:01, 6:56. My last 3 miles of my 10k the day before were 6:58, 7:01, 7:01). Somewhat comical but that’s how the legs felt. I would have loved to run better at the race, but it wasn’t in the cards. I didn’t set out to run that fast, but it was motivational that I felt better for my long run.  

Posts from the Week:

Broad Street 10 Miler (1:07.35) 

Hiking Parker Loop at High Point State Park

Aftershokz Headphone Review

Finally, have you subscribed to the LOLZletter? It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. This week I talked about the differences between social media runners and running specialty.  In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. There are often giveaways as well as discount codes.

Questions for you:

How do you get your turnover faster?

What is something you struggle with in running? Long runs? Easy runs? Workouts?

 

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Training: Swimming and 10 Milers

May 6, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Training: Swimming and 10 Milers

I thought I would increase mileage this week, but that didn’t quite happen with running. It did with swimming! Anyway, after Atlantic City, I took a week off from running.  It was good for me, and I’ve started getting back into swimming.

Week 1: 2 miles

Week 2: Training: Swimming and Running

Week 3: <Here>

Monday: Run 60 minutes/Swim 2000 meters
Tuesday: Run 60 minutes/Swim 2000 meters
Wednesday: Swim 3000 meters
Thursday: Run 60 minutes
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run 60 minutes
Sunday: Broad Street 10 Miler (1:07.35)

Thoughts:

This is the most out of shape I’ve been for Broad Street in a few years, and that’s okay. I’m happy to run.  Moving into the summer, I plan to race much more frequently. I’m still going to swim, and my weekly mileage might be lower, but the cross training has been a nice change of pace.  There isn’t much to say about running this week, just that I did it and it was easy.

Swimming:

My first two swims were 2000 meters of straight swimming. On Wednesday, I decided to swim 2X1500 (28:22, 28:21), just to increase mileage and I felt decent.

 

Broad Street 10 Miler: 1:07.35

This was my slowest Broad Street in the five years I’ve run, but I was happy to run. It was pouring rain, and I’ve been the least trained I’ve ever been going into the race. Usually Broad Street happens at the end of a training cycle. I’ve run between 1:01-1:05 in all weather conditions. This time it happened after a low mileage a few weeks and time off. It was pouring rain the entire race, but I had an enjoyable time. My splits were between 6:40-6:55 the entire time and I probably could have kept that pace and run a 1:28ish half marathon which is motivating because it’s slightly faster than what I’ve been running.

Posts from the Week:

April Training

Altra Escalante 1.5 Shoe Review

Finally, have you subscribed to the LOLZletter? It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. There are often giveaways as well as discount codes.

Questions for you:

Are you training for anything?

What was your best workout last week?

Training Log: Grinding and Workouts

April 8, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Training Log: Grinding and Workouts

I got done what I needed too last week. I ran the mileage, I did workouts, and for the most part, feel good about the training week.

Monday: Easy 60 minutes/core
Tuesday: Easy 60 minutes
Wednesday: 5X1000 with 90 seconds rest (average 6:28)
Thursday: OFF
Friday: Easy 10 miles with Alexis/core
Saturday: Solo 5k (20:19) (6:40, 6:29, 6:32) (Warm up/cool down total mileage 6
Sunday: 10 Miles averaging 7:14 pace

Thoughts:

Last week, there were several races I could have done, but none I really wanted too. I figured a week off would do me good since I’ve raced each weekend since early March. I like racing, but there is something about getting up on your own time, doing your own workout, and moving on. If I want my workout to start at 7:53 am…good! It’s hard to run when it doesn’t feel “omg so awesome”.  Luckily I’ve been getting Active Release on my legs with Dr. Craig (I pay him like anyone else) but if you’re local the entire team is great.

Workout Wednesday: 5X1000 (average 6:28 pace) with 90 seconds rest

My legs did not feel great during the workout, but I still got it done. Over the past few months, my legs haven’t felt great and I’ve started contemplated looking to see if something else is going on. Of course it’s not life threatening but paces that once felt effortless (6:28), feel like I’m running a new PR. Anyway, there wasn’t much to note about the workout and I was glad to get it done.

Solo 5k: 20:19

I thought about racing last week but nothing wowed me and I just wasn’t in the mood to run a longer race. There was a 15k but I ran a 10-mile last week and I have a half marathon next so it would be 3 long races in a row. I can do shorter races in a row, but I’m not ready to do longer races. Anyway, the weather was perfect and I ran 6:40, 6:29, 6:32. I was on dead legs so I’m happy with the effort level.

Long Run 10 miles averaging 7:14

I wanted a solid effort long run. The pace didn’t feel comfortable but I wasn’t gasping for air either. I was able to say hi to all of my friends (I feel like I saw a lot of people I knew). This is one of my better workouts of 2019 and I feel happy with it.  This gave me a little more confidence.

Posts from the Week:

Garden State 10 Miler (1:08.34)

March Training Log

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to the LOLZletter!

I’m so excited that we just reached 500 subscribers and a new one comes out today (with a giveaway!) It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport.

Questions for you:

Do you have any big races in April?

How do you recover from hard workouts, races, or anything else?

Garden State 10 Miler (1:08.34)

April 5, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment
Garden State 10 Miler (1:08.34)

Last weekend, I ran the Garden State 10 Miler. To preface, I wasn’t feeling great the entire week before. My legs felt as though they lacked any pep, and my calves were just tight.  Not tight in an injured way but tight a “I’ve been running sort of way”.

I had gone back and forth a dozen times about even racing. Since I knew the race director, Mike, I decided I would. Plus if I ran a 1:02 or 1:32 no one would care all that much. It would still be fun.

I got to the race around 8. It started at 9:30, but between walking to the start to pick up my bib, back to my car, it was time to go.  There was a 5k beforehand, which my husband ran. If you run both the 5k and half marathon you can do “the half marathon challenge”.

The start of the race was about 60 degrees, windy, and humid. It was sprinkling lightly but forecasted to downpour. Spoiler: it did.

With that, we were off. The first mile went slightly downhill. I was running next to a young kid who would surge and then slow down multiple times. He was doing the relay. He surged, fell back, and I would pass him. When I ran by, he would pick it up. I hit the first mile in 6:51 and thought it was a solid place for how I felt for the day.

The next couple of miles racers began to thin out. I could feel a pack behind me, but for the most part, I was running alone. The next mile went into the wind, and I ran a 6:47.

In my mind, I computed it to staying under a 90 minute half which is what I’ve recently been around. The third mile was one of my fastest, and I ran a 6:35. I attempted to throw a few surges in to break up the pack behind me.  I didn’t want to deal with it for the rest of the race.

I don’t like running close to anyone, and I would rather run alone.  The next mile looped around back near the start. I saw the race director, and the relay handoff went through. “Only six more miles to go”.

There wasn’t any Gatorade, which based on the 60-degree humid weather, I could have used.  I’ve said before but in any race 10 miles or above, I take the on-course beverage aid.

I focused on making it halfway and truthfully, that mile felt the longest. It had not rained but had already gotten humid. I hit the halfway in 34 minutes and thought 1:08 was doable.

Mile 6 was my other fastest mile, and I ran a 6:35 without much note. The next mile had Gatorade. When we passed the volunteers said, “one second we aren’t ready yet”. So I ended up doubling back and getting some. It put a hiccup in my stride, and I couldn’t get my rhythm in. I ran it in 7:08.

The next three miles were just focused on getting to the end. I was tired.  Between mile 7-8, two females passed me. I knew I was in the top 10 but had no idea where.

me running

We entered the park around mile 9 — one more mile to go. Then the skies opened up, and it began torrential downpouring. I mean pouring! We were running in a headwind, and it was pouring rain. I laughed because it reminded me of a scene out of a bad movie.

I crossed the finish in 1:08.34. I won’t say I’m especially happy with the time, but I made do for where I’m at with training in life. The course was challenging, and it was a humid day.

Have you subscribed to the LOLZletter?

It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport.

Questions for you:

Do you like 10-mile races?

Would you rather run in torrential rain or very humid, thick weather? 

Training: Grinding and 10 Milers

April 1, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments
Training: Grinding and 10 Milers

Training Last week was similar to the last. As I continue to build mileage, my calves have been especially tight the last few weeks. It’s been extremely demotivating to feel like they went through a shredder every day. But sometimes that’s how it goes!

As I mentioned last week, the Spring has turned into a rebuilding season for me. The later it gets, the more I’ve come to terms with that. The mileage will help down the road, even if

I don’t see “short term goals” appearing now. Running is lifelong anyway.

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Easy 60 minutes with Alexis
Wednesday: 3X1 mile averaging 6:30 with 90 seconds rest
Thursday: OFF
Friday: Easy 60 minutes
Saturday: Easy miles with Skip
Sunday: Garden State 10 (1:08.30)

Thoughts:

I’ve taken two rest days each week almost the entire month of March. My body didn’t feel good (and close to being injured) when I started upping mileage and tried to “only” take 1.

Workout Wednesday: 6X1 mile with 90 seconds jog in between

On paper, this looks “not great” but the between the weather as well as lack of sleep, it was a decent workout for me. I wouldn’t say it was “the best,” but the effort was there.

The rest of the runs were easy or with friends which have been what I’ve needed lately. I’ve struggled to get out the door alone, so it’s been nice to run with more people.

Garden State 10:

I didn’t feel great going into the race.  I was also a hilly course, plus the weather was hot and humid. It was really the first time I’ve run in humid conditions in several months. I raced for what I had for the day and I believed it would be somewhere between 1:07-1:10.

Most of the race went by with not much happening. I charged the uphills and my miles ranged from 6:35-6:52. I had an issue with the water stop and ended up doubling back (no more than .01 but it ended up messing up my stride and I ran a 7:08. In all, I’m happy with the race given I wasn’t even sure I was going to race over the weekend.

Posts from the Week:

How to be an Instagram Runner

How to Bounce Back from a Bad Race

On Cloudswift Shoe Review

Have you subscribed to the LOLZletter?

It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. 

Questions for you:

How was your week of training?

Do you like 1o milers?

 

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