Not a Track Workout Tuesday

I ran speed work on the road today, and I just couldn't think of a catchy title akin to "Track Tuesday," so there you have it!

The workout I ran is one of my all-time favorite workouts, partially because I think it benefits me in race distances from the 5K up to the marathon.  It hits on speed, stamina, mental toughness, and a whole slew of different race paces.  It includes repeats of 2 mile, 1.5 mile, 1 mile, and 0.5 mile, with recovery jogs half the distance of the previous repeat (so 1, 0.75, and 0.5).  It's 10 miles total with warm-up and cool-down, and 5 miles of quality work.

I was solo for this workout, and I ran around my neighborhood loop which is 0.8.  Whenever I run speed work or tempos from home I run this loop so my splits will be comparable.  It's not flat, but for the area it has relatively minimal elevation changes (e.g., it is my best option by far!).  Essentially it has one short side of noticeable uphill, one short side of noticeable downhill, one long side of slight incline and one long side of slight decline.  I've run it enough to know how my average pace will fluctuate over the course, and I also know how much I can gain on the downhill portion!  I think I can run about as fast on it as I would on a pancake flat course, because I can gain on the downhill/decline sections to make up for the uphill/incline sections - plus I am sure it's good for me because no races around here are flat!

My goal for today was to start at 6:15 pace and work down 5 seconds each repeat, making my goal times 12:30, 9:15, 6:05, and 3:00.  I had previously done this workout faster than that, but I didn't think I was quite there at present.  This workout is a good mental one since you are speeding up each repeat, but you are also running a shorter distance!  My actual times ended up being 12:24 (6:15, 6:09), 9:11 (6:11, 3:00), 5:59, and 2:54.  I was quite happy with this, and although I haven't looked thoroughly through my training log, I am 95% sure that this is the second fastest I've ever done this workout - and I've been running this one for a good 7+ years so that's quite exciting for me!  I felt strong throughout, but I had to push pretty hard to go sub-6:00 on the mile!

I am working on focusing on good form, including keeping my arm swings straight, driving my knees forward, moving forward and not vertically, and fast light feet.  I really have to focus on it, so it makes running a little less enjoyable because I can't lose myself in my thoughts, but it will get easier with practice I assume.  If it's going to benefit me as much as I'm told it will, it is worth it!  Focusing so much on my form and my pace today was a little stressful, and the form changes are definitely easier on easy runs!  Tomorrow I will practice some more, and I end today pleased with this week's workout.

Splits

Cutest Lowes purchase yet!

Under (Peer) Pressure: Workout Wednesday

I wanted to run a workout that would benefit me in my upcoming 10K race this morning, so I asked my training partner Missy if she would do any of the following workouts with me.  Keep in mind that she is a triathlete and training for an August Ironman, an October 70.3, and likely a November marathon. She can exercise forever!

A)       3 x 2 mile repeats with 1 mile recoveries

B)      Repeats of 2 miles, 1.5 miles, 1 mile, 0.5 mile with recoveries of half the distance of the previous repeat

C)      5 mile tempo run, 1 mile recovery, 1 mile throw down

Her reply?  “I don’t think I want to do any of that!  I may die!”  I know full and well that she is in great shape and COULD do any of these right with me, but she is scared of faster work like I am scared of double digit tempos.

So I went on from there to tell her how it will help increase her VO2 max, which would help with her longer races because she wouldn’t have to run at as high of a percentage of VO2 max at a given pace.  I then continued to coerce her into running the 5 mile tempo with me, because I knew she would pick it above the other workouts -  with the disclaimer that she could drop back a little if needed and also still get in the 15 miles total that she wanted (I was only doing 10ish total, and could not be coerced into doing a 15 mile tempo with her so soon after racing a half).  I really wanted to have her with me on this workout, and I knew she would rock it!

Then she acquiesced!  I told her 6:30ish pace for the tempo miles, and we were both off to bed for 4:XX a.m. alarms.

We met bright and early, each starting in different locations and running to each other on the warm up.  We met when she was at nearly 3 miles in and I wasn’t even to a mile yet, as she was running more mileage total than me.  We wrapped up the warm-up to give me a little over 2 miles warm-up (2.1 to be exact), and we were off on the tempo miles!

I felt good and went out in the 6:20s instead of the 6:30s.  After passing mile 1 in 6:24, the pace was set.  I have a thing where I cannot let my first mile be my fastest (and prefer that it is my slowest)!  My splits ended up being 6:24, 6:22, 6:23, 6:23, and 6:15 for the tempo miles (average 6:21).  I was pretty happy with my consistency and strong finish!  I wasn’t aiming to pick up the 5^th mile since I still had the throw down mile remaining, and in fact I told Missy that I WASN’T going to, but I think I just do it naturally once my brain says, "last mile!"

Then we were off on a 1-mile recovery jog, but based on logistics of where it would be best to start our cool-down, we ended up cutting it to a 0.7 recovery.  Missy didn’t do the throw-down mile with me, but I pushed with all I had for a 6:05.  I would have liked to be sub-6:00, but for a rolling road course this was what it was!  Overall I was pleased with the workout. I then walked while Missy caught up and I ran what ended up being a 1.7 mile cool down for 10.5 miles total for the morning.

Missy ran 15 miles total like a complete stud, and told me that she was glad we did the workout we did.  I push her out of her comfort zone on the shorter faster stuff, and she pushes me on the longer stuff, so we are a good pair!  Now I live in fear of an upcoming 12+ mile tempo that's I've committed to!

Scout Strong Challenge Half Marathon Race Report

I was pretty proud of myself in this race, because:

1. I stacked it with a work trip to Kansas City that I needed to do in May. 
2. I went into it with the goals of trying to win, and not running at my max if I didn't have to in order to win - and as it played out I did not race all-out (smart with it being my third race in three weekends, but something that's hard for me to actually do).
3. I won!
4. I didn't quit in the insane wind. Seriously!

I figured I would start at marathon pace (6:50ish) and see where that put me. It actually put me in first female from the gate, which surprised me. But around mile 1.5 a woman who I'd talked to at the start, Abby, pulled up next to me. I was hoping that I would get to run with her, because the field was pretty thin out front and she had been really nice and about my same pace.  We chatted and decided to work together.

Although initially, 6:50 pace had been really conservative (it's marathon goal pace after all), as the race went on and we encountered the crazy wind, I began to think that 6:55 might be all I had. When we turned out of the wind finally at mile 6, suddenly Abby and I were running 6:20-6:35 at the same effort. When we turned into the wind again, we complained and I said, "well, back to 6:55!" I felt good at that point though, and thought I could crank it down some when I needed to.  

I enjoyed running with Abby and we both said we would like to finish it up around 6:30 pace (at least when we were not running into the wind!). I wanted to push the final miles, and around 9.5 on an incline I started pulling ahead. At 10 I knew I'd better push to keep my splits down and to go for the win, so I did. I felt good, although the final mile felt really long running on the speedway and into the wind!

I finished in 1:29:07 with some left in the tank and overall pleased with my effort. On another day, our times would have been more solid, but today everyone had to deal with the conditions (there were just 5 men ahead of Abby and I). I took home $350 for the win, which was super nice! I remember when breaking 1:30 was a major goal of mine, and now it's a non-goal race on a crappy weather day when I don't worry about my pace kind of time - so I can't help but be happy about that too!

I ran a 1.6 mile warm up and 3.6 mile cool down, ending up with 18.4 miles for the day. This wasn't exactly the plan, but nice to know that I felt great with the distance too!

Race results, including a video of my finish (that's kind of fun!).



Top 2 women - we even coordinate!

 

We started and finished on Kansas Speedway

Awards

Bling

Not gonna lie, I love winning cash!

Speedwork Tuesday: Dusting off the Cobwebs

Today’s workout was a play-it-by ear sort of run.  My “training schedule” (I use the term loosely, because it’s less structured than what I usually have, but mainly about getting in some miles until I start a more official plan in June) had “Workout TBD” on it.  The forecast had potential morning thunderstorms, and I was coming off a weekend of a Saturday 5K and Sunday long run, so I just decided I would see how the weather was and how I felt when I woke up, then go from there.  I hoped to get some quality work in since I have a June 10K planned, and I also didn’t want to push it back to tomorrow since I have a half marathon race on May 14, so if it didn’t happen today it wouldn’t happen this week.

After storms overnight, the weather was fine (just humid), and after a non-running day yesterday I felt good enough to give speed work a go.  I decided I would do 2 x 1 mile repeats to start, then evaluate how I felt and either stop there or add another 1 mile repeat or 1-2 half mile repeats.

I warmed up for 2 miles, then started repeat #1 on a course I’ve done mile repeats on multiple times in the past, but not for nearly a year.  I looked back at my training log from last spring recently, because I feel like my fitness is pretty similar at present to what it was then (by some miracle), and I remembered seeing that my best mile repeats on the course were three of them in 6:08-6:09, so I made that pace my goal.  The mile stretch of road I used for these has an uphill start and rolling hills, but the final 0.15 is down a nice decline so I enjoy that!  Plus, it’s a good strength builder for races with elevation changes (i.e., every race in the Ozarks).  It’s not as fast as the track or the YMCA loop I often run speed work on, but I’ve run it enough to know what it translates to on the track, and that is minus 10-15 seconds.

I finished my first repeat in 6:05, which was actually a 3-second course PR!  I went out a little fast considering the uphill start, so hoped that wouldn’t hurt me during the rest of the workout, but I felt pretty decent.  I ran a mile recovery, which is longer than optimal but I wanted to run the exact same course again, so had to run back to the start.  My second repeat was 6:08, and I was disappointed that it wasn’t faster than #1, but it was good enough to tie my old course PR.  At that point I decided I would not do a third mile repeat due to being in the midst of three race weekends in a row, but would do a half mile repeat.  So I jogged a half mile recovery then ran a half mile in 2:59.  Then I did the same again, with the second half mile in 2:58.

So all in all, 2 x 1 mile then 2 x 0.5 mile.  With my 10K race on June 4, I want to get a few solid workouts in between now and then, and this was a nice start.  I have some work to do, but I am excited to do it!

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover or a Half by Its First 5 Miles: Prairie Fire Spring Half Marathon

I went into this race kind of feeling like it was doomed!  It was one thing after another all spring, and when I ended up with food poisoning after eating Indian food out the Thursday before the Sunday event, I was about to throw in the towel.  However, my husband was also entered in the half, my daughter was entered in the kids’ mile, we were planning to visit my parents for the weekend, and I needed to finish the race for my Prairie Fire Back to Back entry (spring half plus fall full), so I gave it a try – and I’m glad I did!
 

I decided I would start around 6:50 pace and see what happened.  I hoped I could at least run a 1:29 (a.k.a. goal marathon pace), but I wasn’t so sure!  I figured at least if I died after starting at 6:50 pace I would fade a lot less hard than if I tried starting at 6:30 pace!  I eyeballed my competition at the start, and as I went out conservatively, after the initial sprinters died off, there were 5 women in front of me.  One took off very quickly, then 4 were running together.  They probably went through mile 1 about 10 seconds faster than me, and it took all I had not to chase them, but all considering I knew it wouldn’t be smart at that point.
 

I pretty much ran alone for the first 4 miles, although I could see the female pack and the moves that were being made in it.  I passed one of the women and moved up into 5^th overall around the 5K point.  I didn’t feel bad, but I didn’t feel good, and I questioned my ability to maintain the 6:45-6:50 pace I’d started at for all 13.1.  Around 4 miles, a man pulled up with me, and I told myself to sit on him.  It was crazy windy and he was tall, so I thought he would make a good wind block.  I had to push a little too hard to hang with him, which also worried me.  When I passed my parents and daughter at mile 5, I was to the point of talking myself out of dropping out.  I just didn’t feel comfortable or strong, but I when I have mental arguments about dropping out versus continuing, continuing always wins.  I told myself that if I had to slow, I would slow; a slow time would not be the end of the world.
 

I continued pacing off of the man who had passed me, and shortly after mile 5 (with my slowest split of the race) we turned out of the wind.  I instantly felt better, but was still pressing a bit to stay with the male.  I knew if I let him go I’d be running alone so talked myself into hanging on it.  Little by little, during mile 6 I started to hit my stride. I exchanged a few words with the male I was running with, and I found out he was hoping for a 1:27:59 or better to qualify for New York. By the time my watch beeped for 6 I was actually feeling good – and ready to chase!

Stride for stride with the man I ran with for several miles

I could see one woman ahead of me, so set my sights on her.  My pace buddy and I switched roles – now I was pushing ahead and he was hanging on.  We were out of the wind for awhile and I felt strong.  I got a little too excited for mile 7, coming through in 6:25, but I was in pursuit and felt newly confident that I could maintain 6:45-6:50 pace or better to the end.
 

I was gaining on the woman in front of me (4^th overall), but ever so slightly.  However, we were both gaining on the woman ahead of her (in 3^rd overall position at that point), and by mile 9 I could see 3^rd.  The wind continued to be insane and to affect our splits, so my mile 9-11 splits don't necessarily reflect me feeling great, but at that point I was trying to chase down the women I could see and not looking at my watch at all.  At mile 10, a spectator told me, “Those ladies in front of you are tired!  Go get ‘em!”  I gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up and knew I was going to give it my all to do that.
 

Around mile 11, the woman running in 4^th overtook the woman running in 3^rd.  I knew I would do the same if I could keep pushing, but the new 3^rd place wasn’t letting up so I knew she would be a lot harder to get.  
 

Many times during the race, I reflected back on my race in 2015 at this event, and after mile 6 on how much better I was feeling.  Last year I felt good for the first 6 miles and ran with a lead female pack of four, then had a horrid side cramp from about miles 7-9 that cost me a good 30+ seconds per mile.  After that, I was able to get back closer to pace but still not where I wanted to be, and I jockeyed for 3^rd female position through the last few miles.  In the end, I managed to get 3^rd and finish in the money, but barely; and partially because I thought I was coming up on mile 12 when I was really coming up on mile 11 (amazing what those mental tricks will do!).
 

Back to 2016!  I pulled up on the now 4^th place female a bit before mile 12.  I thought I would sit on her for a bit and then pass at the mile 12 sign.  Once I pulled up on her, I felt like I had to slow up too much to do that, so I told her “nice work” and moved up.  She couldn’t go with me at all, so I felt solid in my new position.  Gauging the distance from myself to the 3^rd woman at that point, I knew I would only catch her if she had a disastrous final mile – and since that is always possible, especially in a long race – I kept pushing.  She did not have a disastrous end, so I maintained my 4^th position.  The final stretch before turning towards the finish felt very long!  I ended up with a 6:33 final mile, and once I could see the finishing clock I realized that I needed to kick to get in the 1:27’s, so my final 0.12 was 5:51 for a 1:27:52 and 4^th overall female.

Splits - I was pretty proud of my Garmin being really close on the certified course

Last year at this event, I had a poor race and ended up with a 1:30:15 – so this being my second time on the course made it a course PR.  Really, I couldn’t be happier with how it went based on my inconsistent training this spring and food poisoning (I was certainly in better shape in 2015!)! I ran smart and negative split, gave it my all, and finished strong.  Although 3:19 slower than my half PR, this was certainly my best half that I went into under-trained.  I’ve run more halves in the 1:30s than in the 1:20s, so all in all I will call it a victory!  Plus, I am injury pain-free – wahooooo!  
 

The race “placed” the top 4 overall, so I was the first called up at the awards ceremony in 4^th female.  The top female ran a 1:18, and I couldn’t do near that fully trained, but second ran 1:26:01 and I feel confident I could have bettered that if I had trained all spring instead of been sidelined for 7 weeks.  But, this was a good confidence-booster about where I’m at now, and gives me something to build on towards the fall!

Awards ceremony

My husband exceeded his goal of 1:47 with a 1:45 with really smart pacing, and my daughter ran a PR mile of 10:56 in the Sparky Kids Mile!  Some day I am going to make a meme about "Mom runs a half marathon..." with what happens the rest of the day vs. "Dad run a half marathon...".  Any guesses how that would look??

Family swag

My swag

After my race, preparing for Albani's race

My little PR miler pre-race!