Well, in with August, has finally brought us some cloudy, cool and rainy weather. For all those hot humid 90° days when we wishing for just a sprinkle during the workouts, it came in droves Sunday just in time for the 22 mile run!
My training partner and I headed west to run the flat cinder/dirt bike path along the Mohawk river (sort of). As were driving out the rain was picking up and temps were about 65°. We placed our water at about 5 miles and 8.5 miles then headed back to the start.
I have to admit; if I had been out there by myself, with the rain, I probably would have packed it in or done about half the run, but we really had no choice but to press on. It was going to be raining the entire day.
About 1 minute into the run, someone turned a faucet on! Shoes drenched and clothes could be wrung out, only 21.5 miles to go...
Every water stop, I was attacked by mosquitoes and at least 3 bit me each time. Ick! I ended up with 10 bites on my arms, hands, and shoulders.
Also a cinder surface is very ideal and easy on the legs, the next day you don't feel as though you ran so far or hard! (TIP # 3)
(TIP # 4) May not want to venture to run on this surface when rain is coming down in buckets, the cinders end up collecting in your shoes or better yet, your sock, right around your heel, and may result in an abrasion, or a bloody heel...which is what I encountered!
Our pace for the first 7 mi was 7:31/mi
The next 12.7 mi was 7:24/mi
and brought home last 2 miles in 7:02/mi - I just wanted this run to be over! Dry clothes and a warm cup of coffee...OVERALL Pace 7:24/mi 22 miles in 2:43:12
Last time I ran this route (only 20.05) was Aug 8th - by my lonesome in 7:23/mi
Last nights run "Karen's"
What looked to be another great night with some clouds and cool temps, turned into a humid 75° and a couple passing drizzle showers!
Wednesday night's is our "Karen's Run" it is the eastern portion of the cinder bike path mentioned above. We refer to it as that because we start at an ice cream/produce stand called Karen's...so when we are done with the run we have ICE CREAM (Milkshakes!)
Last night was our 10th week out there for our run that has ranged from 12-15 miles. A few of my training partners and teammates come out for this run. We did 14 miles; 7 out and 7 back. Shawn left us water at the 5 mi mark in this little village we go through. With this group we always go fast, even when one of us says "yeah I'm pretty tired tonight, maybe we could take it easy" or "I have a race this weekend, I am not going to run hard"...but as we get talking, shooting jokes out and discussing some very controversial topics at times, we end up picking up the pace and running pretty hard.
Paces: about every 2 miles we went from 7:40/mi, 7:10/mi, 6:48/mi, 7:09/mi, 6:58/mi, 6:31/mi, and as cool down finished in 7:32/mi. Really a bit of a spontaneous ladder workout or something.
Milkshakes to finish us off! Yum.
Over the 10 weeks - we have now progressed to finishing at about 8:00 ish, and the last 2 weeks it has been pretty much dark...Boo! Pretty soon we won't be heading out there for weekday runs until next summer...14 miles in 1:40:01
Aug 26, 2010
Aug 19, 2010
4th week of the dreaded workout series...
Week 4 of the 3 x 2 mile workout! And it's in the books...much improved from weeks past, I may add!
I have been doing this workout each week at the same park, same route, and on Thursdays except for last week when I was traveling for work an opted for Friday (the 13th!)
It's not a flat route, it actually has a pretty long steep climb in it, about the 0.25-0.5 point. It then goes downhill about the same grade, the last mile is pretty much flat, which is the hardest part, for me at least! It's where I go from a steady 6:05-6:08 pace to 6:10-6:15. I have to focus harder and keep digging deeper to stay under the 6:20 marathon goal pace.
The warmup and cool down are from my house over to the park, and I usually carry a bottle of water to leave under a tree at the start/finish of the 2 mile loop.
Tonight I had to wait until an isolated thunderstorm passed through the area. It actually never rained at my house or in the park, but the thunder and dark clouds were a bit too close for my comfort.
Workout details
WU 2.6 mi
2 mile intervals:
1 - 6:15/mi pace
2 - 6:15/mi pace
3 - 6:16/mi pace
CD 3.3 mi
Finally some really good, close consistency, almost had all 3 the same (that's the idea with intervals)
Tip# 2
intervals have many benefits; if they are done right. The idea is to pick a pace that you can run, consistently for all of them versus running the first one at a super hard pace, but not being able to run the remaining intervals at a pace even close. (eg. of what not to do...3 x 1 mile; 1st 5:45, 2nd 6:05, 3rd 6:15; should have picked 6:01 pace to try and hit for all 3. It's great you can run 5:45, but you are trying to teach your body to run even splits in preparation for racing, which is a pace faster than your normal steady training run pace. In between each interval you are doing active rest (jogging)
At the start of my 2nd interval, I passed this lady walking her dog and then during the last 400m I came running towards her and she was yelling. I thought she was trying to tell me off or something, but when I got closer I realized what she was yelling..."How fast are you running anyway, like what pace?!" she said "you're amazing!" It was very flattering, as this was the portion of the interval where I am struggling!
So once the workout was over and realized I hit goal pace, I was so relaxed. But started thinking about next weeks episode, as it goes from marathon pace down to tempo pace, and then 2 weeks from now it goes up to 5 x 2 miles! Yikes!!
I'll cross those bridges when they come, instead I need to focus on my 2nd workout this week and my 22 miler Sunday! No Lake Placid, going to keep this one flat.
Well, my feet are tired, I need to rest and hydrate...onto tomorrow!
Harvest the Run ;)
I have been doing this workout each week at the same park, same route, and on Thursdays except for last week when I was traveling for work an opted for Friday (the 13th!)
It's not a flat route, it actually has a pretty long steep climb in it, about the 0.25-0.5 point. It then goes downhill about the same grade, the last mile is pretty much flat, which is the hardest part, for me at least! It's where I go from a steady 6:05-6:08 pace to 6:10-6:15. I have to focus harder and keep digging deeper to stay under the 6:20 marathon goal pace.
The warmup and cool down are from my house over to the park, and I usually carry a bottle of water to leave under a tree at the start/finish of the 2 mile loop.
Tonight I had to wait until an isolated thunderstorm passed through the area. It actually never rained at my house or in the park, but the thunder and dark clouds were a bit too close for my comfort.
Workout details
WU 2.6 mi
2 mile intervals:
1 - 6:15/mi pace
2 - 6:15/mi pace
3 - 6:16/mi pace
CD 3.3 mi
Finally some really good, close consistency, almost had all 3 the same (that's the idea with intervals)
Tip# 2
intervals have many benefits; if they are done right. The idea is to pick a pace that you can run, consistently for all of them versus running the first one at a super hard pace, but not being able to run the remaining intervals at a pace even close. (eg. of what not to do...3 x 1 mile; 1st 5:45, 2nd 6:05, 3rd 6:15; should have picked 6:01 pace to try and hit for all 3. It's great you can run 5:45, but you are trying to teach your body to run even splits in preparation for racing, which is a pace faster than your normal steady training run pace. In between each interval you are doing active rest (jogging)
At the start of my 2nd interval, I passed this lady walking her dog and then during the last 400m I came running towards her and she was yelling. I thought she was trying to tell me off or something, but when I got closer I realized what she was yelling..."How fast are you running anyway, like what pace?!" she said "you're amazing!" It was very flattering, as this was the portion of the interval where I am struggling!
So once the workout was over and realized I hit goal pace, I was so relaxed. But started thinking about next weeks episode, as it goes from marathon pace down to tempo pace, and then 2 weeks from now it goes up to 5 x 2 miles! Yikes!!
I'll cross those bridges when they come, instead I need to focus on my 2nd workout this week and my 22 miler Sunday! No Lake Placid, going to keep this one flat.
Well, my feet are tired, I need to rest and hydrate...onto tomorrow!
Harvest the Run ;)
Aug 18, 2010
refreshed
hello again. back with a refreshed look. feels great!
last week of training went spectacular. my favorite run of the week was my unplanned 20 mile run in lake placid. the route is basically the last 10 miles of the ironman 2 loop (each 56 mile)bike course.
let me jump back in time for a moment (July 25th) - my training partner and I first ran this course on July 25th to watch our fellow running friends compete in the ironman. so we chose a route that would allow the riders to see us and for us to cheer them on. we decided to run against the riders with a better chance of spotting them. it was the last 10 miles of their course, give or take. we ran it in completely even splits; 1:15:00 out and 1:15:00 back. out was all downhill pretty much which included passing Whiteface Mountain and the High Falls Gorge, back was all uphill (which is the same direction as the riders, that's one really tough course! and they have to do the loop twice!!)
so this past sunday, on a whim, I went back to run the route again. I figured my 20 miler last weekend was on a very flat course, I wanted to get another challenging one in before the races start. also, it was raining and humid at home, and in LP it was about 74°F, and cloudy and I needed a change in scenery! my husband came to fish while I ran, so we actually parked at the previous turnaround point (10 mi out from LP). so you know what that means...you got it...all uphill for the 1st 10, but back down for the 2nd 10.
Tip #1 - on longer runs, put out fluids for yourself ahead of the run; pick various places, it will not only keep you hydrated, but motivated to go the full distance! It's the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow :) )
on our way into town, I dropped water at the new turnaround 10 mi, then 6.6 mi, and another at 3.3 miles from the start. I made sure I had my Gu's with me and then I was off. I love hills, so the 1st half was awesome. I had to keep switching shoulders of the road, due to the angle of it, as well as some major narrow spots. the road parallels the ausable river most of the way, with a gorgeous backdrop of the high peaks. the 1st 10 mi, averaged 7:28/mi, the way back averaged 6:54/mi. Total 20.9 miles 2:30:13 avg 7:11/mi (20 mi split was 2:23:xx). looking back to the 25th, I was about 7 mins faster overall this time, and I was running by myself, and didn't have hundreds of ironman competitors riding along the entire way. the peacefulness was awesome, I was in such a tranquil mood during and after, I love Lake Placid! Runs with a backdrop like this are almost like running and doing yoga at the same time!
here's the elevation plots:
last week of training went spectacular. my favorite run of the week was my unplanned 20 mile run in lake placid. the route is basically the last 10 miles of the ironman 2 loop (each 56 mile)bike course.
let me jump back in time for a moment (July 25th) - my training partner and I first ran this course on July 25th to watch our fellow running friends compete in the ironman. so we chose a route that would allow the riders to see us and for us to cheer them on. we decided to run against the riders with a better chance of spotting them. it was the last 10 miles of their course, give or take. we ran it in completely even splits; 1:15:00 out and 1:15:00 back. out was all downhill pretty much which included passing Whiteface Mountain and the High Falls Gorge, back was all uphill (which is the same direction as the riders, that's one really tough course! and they have to do the loop twice!!)
so this past sunday, on a whim, I went back to run the route again. I figured my 20 miler last weekend was on a very flat course, I wanted to get another challenging one in before the races start. also, it was raining and humid at home, and in LP it was about 74°F, and cloudy and I needed a change in scenery! my husband came to fish while I ran, so we actually parked at the previous turnaround point (10 mi out from LP). so you know what that means...you got it...all uphill for the 1st 10, but back down for the 2nd 10.
Tip #1 - on longer runs, put out fluids for yourself ahead of the run; pick various places, it will not only keep you hydrated, but motivated to go the full distance! It's the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow :) )
on our way into town, I dropped water at the new turnaround 10 mi, then 6.6 mi, and another at 3.3 miles from the start. I made sure I had my Gu's with me and then I was off. I love hills, so the 1st half was awesome. I had to keep switching shoulders of the road, due to the angle of it, as well as some major narrow spots. the road parallels the ausable river most of the way, with a gorgeous backdrop of the high peaks. the 1st 10 mi, averaged 7:28/mi, the way back averaged 6:54/mi. Total 20.9 miles 2:30:13 avg 7:11/mi (20 mi split was 2:23:xx). looking back to the 25th, I was about 7 mins faster overall this time, and I was running by myself, and didn't have hundreds of ironman competitors riding along the entire way. the peacefulness was awesome, I was in such a tranquil mood during and after, I love Lake Placid! Runs with a backdrop like this are almost like running and doing yoga at the same time!
here's the elevation plots:
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| aug 2010 |
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| jul 2010 |
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