A new chapter...

Well this year has started off very slowly, but now I need to get my butt in gear. My first race this year is the Love The Run You're With 5k on Valentine’s Day weekend. My goal going into this race is to shake off the cobwebs and get a general idea of my fitness. Another new thing about this year (other than starting to race so soon) is that I am a part of a racing team. My LRS has graciously added me to their list of 2011 Pacers Ambassadors. This is very exciting to me because I get to support a store that I truly believe in and I get to meet to some great new people as part of the process.

I will be focusing on the Chicago Marathon again this year. I also hope to drop many of my current PR’s substantially in the months and weeks to come. One thing that stayed the same is my continued work with the amazing, and amazingly patient, talented and flexible, Coach Nicole and Speed Endurance Coaching. I look forward to some of the challenging workouts that she always puts together for me.

My scheduled racing schedule for this Spring…

Love the Run You’re with 5k Arlington, Va, 13 February 2011

GW Birthday Classic Alexandria, Va 19 February 2011

Four Courts Four Miler Arlington, Va, 12 March 2011

National Half Marathon, Washington DC, 26 March 2011

Crystal City Runs 5k, Arlington, Va, 1-29 April 2011

George Washington Parkway Classic 10-Mile, Alexandria, Va, 10 April 2011

Earth Day 5k, Arlington, Va, 30 April 2011

Upcoming workouts:

Saturday, Jan 22

8 mile run with drills

Sunday, Jan 23

13 mile run with 10 x 30 sec’s @ 5k effort w/short jog rests and 45 min @ half marathon effort.

Monday, Jan 24

Rest

Tuesday, Jan 25

5 mile easy run

Wednesday, Jan 26

6 mile easy run

Thursday, Jan 27

5 mile easy w/5 strides

Friday, Jan 28

4 mile easy run

Saturday, Jan 29

14 mile run including 45 min @ marathon effort on rolling hills. Recovery then 4 x 15 sec @ 3k effort w/ jog rests

Sunday, Jan 30

3-4 mile easy run

Philly RnR RR and a new training tool

I haven’t written on this in a while and this will be a short post. Since the last post, I’ve returned to the States and raced in my first HM. This half was meant as a workout in preparation for my Marathon in Baltimore (Baltimore has been pushed, but more on that in a different post).

My coach’s direction for  Philly was…

                Sunday, Sept 19-run this workout inside the HM race

Please avoid running faster-this race is too close to your marathon to race it

20-22 mile total moderate run including 12 miles of alternating mile paces below:

1 mile 10-12 sec’s faster than GMP then 1 mile 45 sec’s slower than GMP. Repeat 5 more times without rest between pace changes. Run the last mile as hard as you prefer

So my thought was easy. Run 8:20/9:20. Simple right? Uh-huh! Rather than explain it, here is the chart of my Garmin  times (note: I didn’t worry about tangents and used the miles listed on the course for lap pace).

So that was not exactly what my coach prescribed, but I’ll take it. My goal was to run under 2 hours (but really under 1:55) and hit that goal with a Chip Time of 1:54:54.

The course was pretty nice. I really wish I had driven the entire course before the race. I assumed that it would all be in the city and that was about half wrong. All-in-all, a good day and a good race. One of the weekends major disappointments was the Hotel. I stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn and they were horrible for race details and help. The people at the desk didn’t even know where the start was, really!

The race felt pretty good all of the way through until about 10 miles. I actually had to stop during my slower miles to adjust my shoe. First, I adjusted it looser. Then tighter, then way way looser (more loose?). I think I was/am in the beginning states of Plantar Fasciitis. Which leads me to my new training tool (read: toy).

Today I brought a new training tool. It is a 2010 Trek 6000 Mountain Bike. I will use it as a commuter/Cross-Training bike. I really enjoy it so far and think that I will get a lot of use out of it.

Well that is all for now. I will be updating this blog more often…promise!

 

Upcoming Workouts:

Thursday, Sept 23-move to Friday if tired or run easy both days

8-9 mile easy run including 10-15 x 30 sec’s @ 5k effort w/1 min jog rests

Friday, Sept 24

XT 30-45 min easy

Saturday, Sept 25

4 -5mile easy run

Sunday, Sept 26

15-16 mile total moderate run including Yasso 800’s. Run 10 x 800m ~ 4 min w/2-3 min recoveries. Finish w/ 3 x 100m @ mile effort

A few days later; a race dissected.

As I sit here three days after my recent 5k PR I am pretty happy. My happiness isn’t because of the PR or the race even; it’s about the prospect for future performances.  It was nice running 23:30; but it would have been nicer to run 23 flat or 22:30. I’m still a fairly new competitive runner so my potential is untapped and it is kind of a hindrance. I know I’m capable of much more, hell I’ve run faster training runs then I did in this race. 

After my 5k (24:15) earlier this year; my coach mentioned that I could probably run a full minute faster soon. Four months later, I did that and I still had more left in the tank. At first look at the splits, it makes the race seem pretty disjointed. I took some time to look at the actual splits broken down in Half Mile and Quarter Mile increments. I was surprised at how even each individual mile was run.

This break down shows me that my race was not fluid and while I can be happy with the breakdown I need to work more on running a continuous, even race. I believe I could have saved some time by just running more evenly throughout the race. I expect the first and last mile to be different as I account for dodging people in the front and ‘kicking’ at the end. This may not affect me to bad now with these shorter races but come Marathon morning I believe that this is the type of the thing that will cause a really bad race and probably an even worse experience all around.

 

Upcoming workouts:

Friday, Aug 6

5 mile easy run w/4 strides

Saturday, Aug 7

4 mile easy run

Sunday, Aug 8

18 mile with 6 x 5 min hills @ marathon effort. Then 5 strides.

"The essential thing in life is not so much conquering as fighting well"

~Baron De Coubertin

Almost there…

Today I spent time building my running schedule for the next two months. By building my schedule I mean inputting the workouts that Coach Nicole gave me into my Garmin Training Center. I had to do this at work since the power in my tent (yup back in tent land) has been out for two days. Anyway, I looked thought he workouts when she first sent them to me and I immediately began thinking how awesome these workouts were gonna be. As I entered every detail of every planned workout, I couldn’t help but smile. I know that these challenging workouts will provide me with the tools to reach my goal in October.  I’m particularly happy about my potential as a runner. I think the greatest gains will actually come next year as I work on shorter distances during the spring and prep for the 2011 Fall racing season and whatever it has to offer.

Over the next two months I will focus first on building more stamina and strength (through hill workouts) and that will be followed by my Marathon Specific phase. This is all part of a process called periodization. The stamina/hill phase has workouts such as:

20 mile total moderate run including 3 miles on rolling hills @ HM effort, 5 min jog rest then 10 x 45 sec hills @ 3k effort w/jog down rests then 3 miles run up a hill @ marathon effort

The Marathon Specific phase (which I’m really excited about) will prepare to run the best debut marathon possible. One of the key workouts is:

16 mile run: 

~3 miles moderate then 3 miles @ GMP, 1 miles moderate then 10 x 90 sec’s @ 5k effort w/2 min jog rests, 1-3 miles moderate then 3 miles @ GMP

Again I am very excited about this upcoming training. It makes wonder how Coach Nicole will switch it up during my next couple training seasons. Come 16 October 2010, I know I will arrive to the starting line healthy and well prepared to conquer my first (hopefully of many) Marathon!

The assistance and guidance that my coach provides is invaluable. If I had followed a ‘canned’ training plan, I’m sure that I still would have been successful, but I don’t think it would have prepared me as well for being a lifetime runner. I’ve already seen drastic increases in stamina and speed and I know that there is more to come. Combine all of this with being in the comfortable soundings of the States and it is surely a recipe for success.

Upcoming workouts:

Tuesday, Aug 3

4-5 mile easy

Wednesday, Aug 4

8 mile with 10 x 30 sec’s @ 3k

Thursday, Aug 5

4 mile easy

Friday, Aug 6

5 mile easy run w/4 strides

Saturday, Aug 7

18 mile with 6 x 5 min hills @ marathon effort. Then 5 strides.

Sunday, Aug 8

Rest or 3 miles easy

“It is better, I think, to begin easily and get your running to be smooth and relaxed and then to go faster and faster.”

~Henry Rono