This week in running: week 9

Remember all those weeks when I was not happy with my running? When I thought it would never come together? Yeah, me either. This week made me forget that. 

Tuesday

I know I usually get excited about speed work, but I wasn't feeling it this week. The 400-meter repeats seemed long ... and hard. But shockingly, I had a single-digit minute mile. I realize this is routine for some people, but this is a huge deal to me. I'm still not quite there in terms of pacing and negative split, but I'm getting faster.
 
How should the sets look?

 

How my sets looked.

 

I started smart, but things got out of control by my second 400 meter. I could feel myself going too fast, but I couldn't stop before it was disastrous. Sigh ... more work to do.

Distance: 3.8 miles

Thursday

The plan: a progressive run around a lake. Make each trip around the lake faster.

I was stiff and not into this run at all in the beginning. 

But, I eventually loosened up and had an OK run. Nothing to cheer about, but not terrible either.

Distance: 3.2 miles

Sunday

I was worried about my long run this week. They just haven't been going that great for me. The thought of 10 miles was a little overwhelming ... especially after having a glass of wine and only getting 4 hours of sleep on Saturday. But I was doing important things, people.

Ahem. 

I managed to wake up Sunday morning and not feel too terrible. A little sleepy, but that's every morning for me.

And I actually managed to eat a portion of a real breakfast (toasted sandwich thin, peanut butter and banana). 

The first few miles were pretty blurry. I barely remember them. I think I woke up around mile 3. Yay! Almost a third of the run done, and I didn't even know it.

The portion of the run I do remember was just pure awesome. We had a group of five running together, which makes me smile. It's so fun to run with people with the same goal. 

I took a GU gel a little past the 4-mile mark. I was solely a GU Chomps girl, but our coach handed these out (I can't resist free stuff). I'm really not a fan of the texture, but it seemed to do the job.

I felt really, really, really great this entire run. I never said "I hate running." I never said "I'll never run again." I never said "I want to punch running in the face" (thanks for the inspiration for this gem).  

I needed this. I didn't expect it this day, but I needed it. 

Now I'm furiously analyzing absolutely everything I did to replicate it for all of my long runs (including kissing donkeys). 

 Distance: 10 miles

How was your week in running? Did you find long run love this week like me? Have you ever gotten 4 hours of sleep before a long run? How did it go? Have you ever slept through a few miles? What's your favorite running nutrition?

This baseball-loving girl is in!

I'm a sucker for baseball and mascots and good deals, so I couldn't resist the $10 race with a finish across home plate and a high-five from a mascot this weekend. Oh, I also don't like getting up early, and this is on a Saturday evening. I'm pumped.

I originally signed up for the 10K, thinking it could suffice for my long run for the week. However, once I got my training schedule, I realized this would not. I'm supposed to run 9 miles. I thought we'd knock the mileage down a bit, but I'm OK with it (after the initial shock). I think I'll be better prepared for my next half marathon. So, I switched to the 5K, which will satisfy my 30-minute progressive run on the schedule, and then I'll run 9 miles on Sunday morning with the running group.

A few things concern me about this race, though:

• I've seen three, yes three, different start times. The active.com site lists 4 p.m. The commercial above, which I would think the race organizers would make or approve, says 5 p.m. And, radio stations are advertising a 6 p.m. start time. Eek!
• The site listed on active.com to "click for more information," doesn't exist. Eek!

Things like this drive me crazy. Oh, wait. I already arrived at crazy a long time ago. But, they irritate me. The act of proofreading is an important step, people! Consider it. Especially when you're planning an event and actually want people to show up when it starts (not two hours later). Maybe I should start bartering: proofreading for race entry.

Progressive run (Sept. 3)

As part of my plan, I’m supposed to do a 30-minute progressive run (get faster throughout) on either Friday or Saturday. I’ve not been great (OK, pretty crappy actually) at accomplishing this. But, this Saturday (Sept. 3), I did it. Well, not exactly. I attempted it.

I was in Kansas for Labor Day weekend, so I didn’t have my usual running routes at my disposal. My dad and I went searching for places to run. I found two that I thought I’d give a try (one Saturday and one Sunday). The site of my progressive run: Cedar Crest trail, a 2.7-mile trail in front of the governor’s mansion. I thought I’d get one loop in about 30 minutes. Well, somewhere along the way, I went on a different trail and ended up back where I started in about 10 minutes. Also, I went up a gigantic hill (OK, gigantic is most likely an exaggeration, but it sure felt gigantic). People say Kansas is flat. They are wrong. Florida is flat. Kansas is hilly. I’m used to no hills or inclines of any type. This was killer. After the first 10 minutes, I gave up on getting any faster since I had to deal with the hills. After my first loop that was a little less than one mile, I stuck to one stretch that I kept running back and forth for the remainder of the time. It was somewhat flat, but gravel, so that was a little different than I’m used to, too.

I ran 30 minutes, but not progressively. Not exactly what I was supposed to do, but I’m happy I at least ran.





 

Day 8

After our group run rainout on Tuesday, I thought I'd get some running in later Tuesday when I got home (Florida rain is so spotty that I thought even if it was pouring at our group run location maybe it wasn't at home ... wrong). Then, I thought, "Oh! I'll just wake up early and run on Wednesday morning." Um, yeah. Didn't happen. Mornings are not my thing. Evening was out since I play beach volleyball on Wednesday night. So, I came to our group run on Thursday not having run since Sunday. And, it was OK.

We upped our usual 40-minute run to 45 minutes. I didn't run the entire time. I hit my what-is-becoming-typical 2.5-mile wall. Then, I did some walking-running intervals. I ended up walking a total of seven minutes, which I'm OK with ... I guess.  I'd really like to run the entire time during these early training runs. I'm just worried that it'll never come together for me. 

I need to get in a 30-minute progressive run today (each 10 minutes is progressively faster). Since I woke up late (as mentioned, mornings aren't my thing), I think I'll do it this evening when the big, scary sun sets. 

Our Sunday morning group run is set at 4 miles again ... maybe I can run the entire distance. And, maybe not.