Strength & Agility Routine

When I began my training cycle for Grandma's Marathon in early 2018, I asked my coach for a strength training workout to best supplement my running.  I'd been going to a bootcamp class that I enjoyed for over 3 years (a major strength training record for me - and I wrote about it here), but as my mileage was increasing and my weekly training structure was changing, I was finding it increasingly difficult to get the classes in, both logistically and physically.  I'd also been reading more about how bootcamp/HIIT classes don't optimize strength training for endurance athletes, and that lifting on easy running days like I was doing wasn't ideal because it makes them into harder days instead of a recovery days.  My coach confirmed that I should lift on hard running days, which was initially intimidating, but I decided to give it a shot.

While I liked the bootcamp class and at first really missed having a scheduled class time and other people to lift with, once I got used to lifting on my own on my hard running days, I grew to like it and believe it's made me stronger.  Now that I am running more mileage, recovery is really important on easy days.  Sometimes it's tricky to get the strength work in, since the entire workout takes about an hour to get through, but I've found some good systems with how I can split it up and ensure that I get through the exercises twice a week.  

Usually I do the full workout all at once on Saturdays, either immediately following my long run or later in the day.  This was really challenging when I first started it, but soon it became normal/not a big deal.  I think when I do it right after my long run I get endurance benefits, and if I do it later in the day I also get recovery benefits (due to increased blood flow).  On Wednesdays I always have to split it up somehow; the best case scenario is that I do about half of it after my morning hard workout and the other half after my second run, but I also have days where I run before work and at lunch, then strength train after work, effectively making it a third workout.  I don't necessarily recommend this though (keep in mind I am also working 8-9 hours on Wednesdays, and often picking up Albani from after school care and driving her to Awana).  Sometimes I complete part of it on Tuesdays to "get ahead" and other times I have to carry part of it over to Thursdays, and sometimes both.  When I do any of these I make sure it's the arm, core, and/or agility stuff that I move, so that my leg strength work is all done on workout Wednesday.  I am guilty of rushing through the routine to get it done sometimes (especially if I'm hungry for a full meal after my run!), but even then I assume something is better than nothing.

Here are the exercises that I do!  I mix up weights, reps, and hold times for variation.

Glutes and core:

Front plank & variations

Side plank & variations

Diagonal sit

Running man
Glute bridges with foam roller roll out

Crunches

Bird dogs

Dead bug

Theraband:

Side shuffles

Monster walks

Standing side kicks

Clamshells

Lower Body

Weighted squats & variations

Lunge variations (I alternate weighted and body weight on different days)

Eccentric calf raises

Weighted step ups

Hip dips
Weighted dead lifts
Wall sits

Upper Body

Rows

Push ups

Curls

Tricep dips

Lat pulls

Agility Ladder:

One step

Two step

Iggy shuffle

Single leg suffle

River dance

Scissors

Centipedes

Karaoke

Cross overs

*You can find videos of all of these on YouTube; I had to watch and practice multiple times when I began this routine because I'd never done anything like this before.

I really struggled to get a good action shot for this post using
my phone's timer, then I gave up...this shows glute bridges
on the foam roller

Although I'm used to this strength routine, if I go even a little overboard on the weighed moves (especially squats, deadlifts, and lunges), I can make myself quite sore.  It always blows my mind how I can get more sore from 5 minutes of squats than from running a marathon!

Plaza 10K: "I'm either going to have a huge PR or a huge blow up"

The short:
When I saw my mile 1 split, the 5K course clock, and my mile 4 split during the Plaza 10K, a thought kept popping into my head:  "I'm either going to have a huge PR or a huge blow up".  God blessed me with the former; I ran a PR of 36:34, nearly a minute under my previous road PR from the 2017 Plaza 10K and even under my track PR of 37:09 (I also broke 18:00 for the 5K for the first time during the process).  I thought races like this only happened to other people, and I may never beat this time, so I am going to ride this post-race high so hard!

Working on my season goal of smiling in my
finishing photos

The long:
I thought I'd worked my PRs down low enough (in relation to my capability) that I'd be lucky anytime I could shave off a few seconds.  It's always blown my mind to see experienced runners with already fast bests drop a lot of time off of a PR, especially when they remark afterwards that they got out there and felt fantastic running faster than they'd expected, so they just kept going and ran a time beyond what they'd dreamed.  I've had some break-through races like this years ago before I was running to my potential (the 2015 Waddell and Reed half was the most memorable one, when I hoped for 1:26:59 and ran 1:24:33), but I thought I was to the point where my margins were slim enough that dropping even 2-3 seconds/mile would be a really good day.  In fact, I went into the Plaza 10K thinking that if I had a really good day I might be able to rival my track PR of 37:09.  I thought if a miracle happened I might hit 36:59 and my big dream goal of breaking 37, but that would be a stretch.

Since I ran this race last year, I knew the course and logistics, which is always helpful.  I also had a planned pace partner, my friend Jessi who I trained with as often as I could while she was running for Missouri State (she now lives in Kansas City).  I seemed to always nail workouts when I ran with her, so I was optimistic that she and I could pull each other through to stronger performances than we'd have alone.  I felt good coming off my performance 6 days previously at the Run for a Child 10K, and I also felt completely recovered from that, despite being in a 73 mile week (I did have 2 short days prior to the race, which helped!).  I knew the women's field as a whole would be very competitive, and when race morning gave us 56 degree temperatures, fast times looked promising.

The start seemed much more crowded than this!

At the gun, a lot of women took out fast, Jessi included.  I quickly realized that she was used to cross-country and track racing where it's important to establish position early.  I wanted to be with her so we could work together as planned, but I knew that it wasn't smart for me to go out any faster than 6:00 (6:05+ was actually my plan - after Run for a Child especially I wasn't afraid of a slow first mile).  I settled into pace hoping that I would reel her back in before too long.  My first mile was still faster than I'd wanted at 5:57, but the effort felt appropriate so I tried to push any worry out of my mind.  I was moving up in position towards the end of the first mile and the beginning of the second, although at no point during the race did I know or care what place I was in.

I pulled up with Jessi towards the end of mile 2, and settled in stride with her.  I didn't look at my second mile split because I felt like I was running exactly as I should be for a 6.2 mile race.  I didn't want to get discouraged if the pace was slower than I wanted, and I didn't want to get scared if it was faster than I'd expected.  Mile 2 was 5:48 so I'm glad I didn't look because I would have been worried I was going too fast too early.  I have learned to trust that I race best when I race by effort, and I've learned to let go of thinking I need to micro-manage every single split, especially when I'm in a competitive field.

Jessi and I said a few words of encouragement to each other and pressed on side-by-side.  Janell was also right in front of us (I mentioned her in my post about Rock the Parkway, where we ran nearly the whole race together before she out-kicked me - she is also training for a 2:45 at CIM and working with the same coach as me!).  We all passed the 5K clock together, and it read 18:08ish, although based on my splits it should have been more like 18:20, which doesn't surprise me because every course mile marker was slightly wrong, mostly coming too soon.  I hadn't looked at my mile 3 Garmin split, and I didn't do the math on our pace, but did tell Jessi, "Well, I just ran a 5K PR".  I felt like I was running within myself, and I felt like I could run that pace for that distance again (often I don't at the 5K mark of a 10K!)....but at the same time I thought, "This is either going to go really well or really poorly!"  I also kept thinking, "58 degrees is like a performance-enhancing drug!"

Jessi & I synchronized running right
behind Janell on the Plaza

Ditto

Mile 4 has a lot of decline in it, so I expected it would be my fastest mile.  I didn't make any conscious moves at any point during this race, because my goal was to get the best 10K time I could out of myself and not worry about what anyone else was doing, but Jessi and I gapped Janell slightly at some point after the 5K, and I started pulling away from Jessi as I accelerated down the decline.  I encouraged her to stick on me, but we separated at that point.  It was almost like Run for a Child was a preview for this race in regards to how I felt; I felt like I kept gaining momentum as the race progressed and I just felt so good.  I also kept reflecting on how much better I felt at every point on the course than I had in 2017!  I looked at my mile 4 split mainly because I figured it would be a confidence boost with the decline, and it was 5:38.  I felt like I had a solid 2.2 more miles in me, but at the same time kept thinking, "I'm either going to get a huge PR or huge blow up!"  Also I didn't even know I could run a mile in 5:38!

Around mile 4

Mile 5 goes back up most of the elevation that drops in mile 4, so I expected it to be my slowest mile, although it wasn't.  I was pulling in a couple of men so I focused on them and maintaining my turnover.  I looked at my mile 5 split because I wanted to get some gauge on where I was at overall, and it was 5:52, which was a pleasant surprise because I expected over 6:00.  Strava grade-adjusted it to 5:40 on flat ground.  I also realized that I still didn't have a great gauge on where I was since I hadn't looked at my mile 2 and 3 splits and I wasn't smart enough to look at my total elapsed time, but I felt ready to pound it in with all I had and to see what that got me!

It's a nice course, but it's not a track!

Mile 6 also has some uphill before some decline to the finish, and I remembered how very long that mile felt the previous year.  I felt strong this time, but also pretty spent, and in hindsight I may have pushed up the incline in mile 5 a little too much.  However, I was also in no man's land during the final mile - I was not going to catch anyone and no one was going to catch me.  I think if I'd been with someone I could have closed at 5:40-5:45, but I pushed as much as I could solo, which was another 5:52 (I didn't look at that split during the race).

Once I was close enough to read the finishing clock, it read 36:12, and I knew I was going to be way under 37:00.  I kicked it in with all I had left, which gave me a 5:25 pace final 0.28 on my Garmin and a bright shiny new PR of 36:34, chip time!  One of my season goals is to smile for my finishing pictures, but I think I'd have been glowing in this one even without that game plan.  My previous road PR was 37:30, which I ran last year at this same race, and my track PR is 37:09 so I beat that as well.

Finishing with joy

As I walked through the finish chute and then enjoyed an 8 mile cool down with great friends (Jessi, Janell, and Michelle from left to right below), it all felt surreal.  I thought 36:59 would be a big stretch, but I certainly never expected to run in the mid-36's - at this 10K or ever!  I also forgot what it was like to run in 58 degrees after a sweltering summer, but I quickly remembered that I like it!

I love how we can all race each other while supporting each other 100%

This course was certified so it was 6.22 miles, but my watch read 6.28 (at Run for a Child, which is also certified, it said 6.15).  It was more difficult to run the tangents in this one, though, due to a more crowded field.  I've decided if I had to choose I'd rather have a Garmin reading that's a little long than one that's a little short, because I want to know I for sure ran the distance (but right on would still be most preferred).  Can you tell I like data?

Garmin splits

Because when your Garmin says 5:49, you
take a picture!

As a whole, GAP was -2/mile on average pace
per Strava

I am riding the post-PR high for all that it's worth!  Like Run for a Child, this was a really nice checkpoint and confidence boost for me.  I'm running pretty much all of the same races this fall that I ran in 2017, so I can see how my fitness compares, and so far so good on my progress!  Being able to maintain the pace I did in this race really shocked me, because I haven't done any real speed work; my training has been strength-focused (tempos, long runs with some fast finishes/pick ups, and mileage).  Really all that I've run at 5:49 pace has been strides and fartleks (and sometimes not even those!).  So add this to my data indicating that speed work is worthless, haha!  Especially because I also ran a 5K PR during this race, with my fastest 5K coming in at 17:55 on my Garmin.  I won't count it as an official PR, but it shows me that I can do it.  My actual 5K PR is 18:18, and 18:17 + 18:17 = 36:34, so this race was a faster pace as a whole as well.

I will probably never beat this

This would also be my fastest 2 mile
since high school track!

Official results are here.  I was 6th overall female and 1st in age group 35-39.

Winnings

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans. - Proverbs 16:3

The more I give my running to God, the better I feel about it.  That doesn't mean I perform any better or see linear progress - and early 2018 is sure proof of that - but that I know I'm going to be just fine no matter how races and workouts go.  I'm sure thankful for this one, and also for the opportunity to continue to pursue my running dreams.  Next up is the Indy Women's Half Marathon on September 29!

Run for a Child 10K: Traditions & Surprises

The short:

It's been awhile since I've come down the final stretch of a race to see a finishing time faster than expected with less effort than expected, but it's sure a great feeling!  This was my fourth consecutive year running the Run for a Child 10K, and each year I've run faster there, although I didn't expect to continue that streak this year.  My race plan of "win with the least effort possible" turned into winning overall female by over 5 minutes with a negative split and a 37:55, which was a course PR.  It was one of those races where I felt like I kept gaining momentum and couldn't slow down - and those are rare to come by (I think the last time I felt like this was the Phoenix Marathon).  I was pumped about defending my overall female title from 2017, I was ecstatic to break 38 on the hilly course in warm and humid conditions, but I was most thrilled about just how good I felt doing it!  I guess God knew I needed a little confidence-boost at this point in my training, and I am very thankful for it.

The big check photos prop never get old to me

Packet pick up; I always travel in
compression socks!

The long:

I keep going back to the Run for a Child 10K each year; I am picky about races so this is saying something.  I know it's always going to be warm, humid, and hilly, but for some reason I can embrace that for this race, I think because every year is comparable.  My only goal going into the 2018 event was to try to defend my overall female title from 2017.  That fate of that type of goal always depends on who else shows up, but I never stress about it like I sometimes do when I have time and pace goals, because I have no control over the former and a lot of control over the latter.  I have a goal 10K coming up on September 9, so I also went into this one hoping to save my legs for that one.  I'd briefly considered trying to better my 2017 time, but after running an 8 mile tempo that was really rough on me on August 29 (details here), including inducing a little pull in my right hamstring, I decided holding back was a better option.  My husband and I discussed the plan the night before:  try to win while running as slow as possible.

The best laid plans, right?  The race went like this:

Serious starting line debates with my friend
Daniel, who was the male overall winner

Mile 1 - As the field spread out after the gun, I positioned myself just behind the fastest women and sat there.  The first 1.25 miles of the race is nearly all uphill, so I always go out slow, but she was slowing from what already felt very conservative, so at about 0.75 I threw the towel in on my plan and pulled into the first female position, moving along with a male who was passing.  I looked at my watch when it beeped splits during this race because that felt right (I hadn't really thought about it beforehand), and mile 1 was 6:32.  It was relaxed, but my main thought was, well, I really don't want to run over 40:00 so I'll just run the least it takes to be in the 39s, which would be in the low 6:20s from there on.  I "knew" at that point that my time would be slower than the past 2 years, and I was fine with that because a win seemed pretty secure even that early, which always makes it easier to relax.  The grade-adjusted pace of that mile was 6:14, so it wasn't as slow as the numbers showed, but it was slower than I'd gone out there previously.

Can you see why mile 1 is slow?

Mile 2 - I fell in step with a male and I could feel him speeding up.  I thought, well, it's always easier to run with someone so even if he's a little faster than 6:20 it will be an easier effort than running solo the whole race.  The next split was 6:14 and I felt like I was striding out better.

Mile 3 - I continued stride for stride with the male, and we were pulling in other men.  I started to pull away a little towards mile 3, and encouraged him to come with me so he would move up in place, but he fell back and I was on my own.  I felt like I was in a good place; putting in effort but still feeling really relaxed.  Mile 3 was 6:08.

Mile 4 - I had to smile as I passed the halfway point, because typically in 10Ks I pass the 5K feeling like there is no way I can run that distance again at that pace (even though I always do so I know that feeling is a liar - it occurs in nearly every tempo too), but in this one it seemed like an easy task.  I passed a couple of men and focused on the ones ahead of them.  Mile 4 has a lot of uphill in it and in the past I've always slowed in that mile, so was prepared for that if effort stayed equal.  When I saw my split of 6:10 I knew I was really having a good day.  I then figured I could try to be under 39:00.  In the past I've always been hurting pretty good at the mile 4 point of this race, but this year at every point I passed I kept thinking, "I feel so much better than every other time here", which is always encouraging!

Mile 5 - I felt like I was in a great rhythm and the effort was brisk but not dying (usually mile 5 of a 10K feels like dying).  I was running alone but there were two men within striking range, so I decided I'd try to pull them in.  That mile was 6:07.  At that point I was thinking I'd be somewhere around my 2016 and 2017 times (38:43 and 38:19), which was good enough for me!

Mile 6 - At this point I decided I'd try to run under 6:00 for the final mile for fun.  I passed one of the men I'd been chasing and kind of just felt like I was barreling in towards the finish.  I didn't look at my watch during or at the end of this mile, but I just knew I was running sub-6:00 (I've finished a lot of tempo runs with the same "sub-6:00 for fun" idea, and although those are on flatter courses I have a pretty good sense for pace).  The split was 5:56.

You can tell I'm not falling apart because my arm
swing form hasn't gone to crap like usual, haha!

Final stretch - I was gaining on the other man, so I decided I'd pretend he was a female and really try to pound it to catch him.  When the clock came into view during my final sprint, I saw it was still in the 37s, and gauged that I could actually make it in under 38, which really surprised me.  At that point it became just me and the clock, and I didn't even know if I beat the man or not until I looked at the photos Jon took (spoiler, I didn't).  My last 0.15 on my Garmin was 5:06 pace.  This course is certified, but my Garmin always reads it a little short, which the OCD in me dislikes but has also happened to me on several other certified courses (Rock the Parkway Half, Rock 'n' Roll Phoenix Half, White River Half, Phoenix Marathon).  I'm not sure if I dislike it more when it reads short or long (yeah, I haven't gotten the newsflash that Garmins aren't perfect and like to think mine is, and it kind of was at CIM and Grandma's)!

Eyes on the clock

I'm pretty sure I lit up walking through the finish chute, thinking "what just happened?!".  In 2017, I wanted to break 38 on this course and I wanted it to feel like less than an all-out effort (I was kind of demanding in 2017, hah).  But that year I ran a 38:19 with all I had and was disappointed I didn't have more.  I guess I accomplished my 2017 goal 1 year late!  The slow first mile really threw me off on finish time expectations, but I'm glad it worked out how it did, because the pressure of a time goal may have changed the outcome.  I was really excited about my course PR (also my 3rd fastest lifetime 10K), but I just couldn't get over how extremely smooth I felt doing it!  Especially considering how not good I'd felt on my recent tempo run in similar weather.  Race morning was 74* with a dew point of 70*.

Official results are here.

Garmin splits - course splits would
be a shade faster at 6:07 average

I love Strava's grade-adjusted pace feature

I love that this race does the big check photo prop at the awards!  I also love how we combine it with a fun family weekend (many photos from that below), so this is a tradition I hope we can continue!  There will come a time where I won't run a faster finishing time than the previous year, and I've also made peace with that.

Outtake

I hope to be running when I'm in my 70s like
Dr. Bob!

My progression for this race:
2018 - 37:55 and 1st overall female
2017 - 38:19 and 1st overall female, details here
2016 - 38:43 and 3rd overall female, details here
2015 - 40:22 and 3rd overall female (recovering from cryptosporidum so this one set the bar pretty low to start with)

Our traditional moms by the hotel pool selfie

Loves

Hotel pool = successful trip

Shel Silverstein wrote about this spot

Jon found a charging station for our Volt

Ice cream & Nickelodeon also make any
vacation successful

The Amazeum was pretty amazing

I'm not sure this was the safest children's' activity

Never stop exploring or believing!