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| Once again it's been awhile, but school started back up so I'm pretty busy again. Anyhow so 2 Saturdays ago, I ran my first ever 10K....done marathons, half marathons and tons of 5ks but never a 10K. Mainly because there aren't too many around here! So I didn't know what to expect, although my time goal was around 41 to 42:30. It was a great cool morning for running. The race that I did draws a number of really fast people from all over the Chicagoland area. I was off and felt pretty good at first. Normally I have a purple Monster drink before I run a 5k. So, I tried it for the 10k also! Unfortunately my dad accidentally bought me the blue kind, which is gross. And, after about 4 miles, I didn't feel so hot. So my conclusion was that 1)energy drinks only before a 5k (never have had problems when using purple Monster before a 5k). or 2) stick with purple Monster! Anyhow my split at 5k was 20:30, which I was thrilled as my last 5k a few weeks prior to this was 21:13 (granted it was hot and humid and my 2nd day of running after strep throat). I felt pretty strong most of the race, aside from stomach issues from possibly the energy drink. I did fade a little bit in the last mile and got passed by a few girls, which I hate lol. It's one thing if guys pass but I hate when other girls do! Final time was 41:46 so about a 6:44 pace. I classified it as a solid slightly faster than tempo paced workout. In last year's results, that would have placed me in 3rd in my age group. This year (probably due to cool temps) times were really good. Ended up 6th in my age. It was fun though and I'd like to do the race again next year.
The Saturday following that (last Saturday) I did a local 5k, a neighboring town's first run of this race. Based on my 10k, I knew I could be pretty close to sub 20 with a little luck. That morning it was nice and cool again. It was probably close to 60 when the race started. One girl took off ahead of me and I quickly caught up. I held back slightly and was right behind her...I have a habit of going out way too fast sometimes. But I felt really good and wound up passing her right before the 1 mile mark. First mile was right around 6 minutes....little fast but I still felt good. Second mile was good, around 6:30ish (hard to tell because my watch goes a little nuts during races. The last mile was also good and went fast. As I made the turn to the final stretch, I realized, I'm going to be close to sub 20! I ran hard and wound up with a 19:55. I was the top female also and was soooo excited, as sub-20 is something I've wanted for years. Based on this, I'd say that increasing the mileage does in fact help a 5k time, especially considering the fact that my speedwork had been minimal for the past several weeks. Speedwork helps of course, but so does added mileage apparently! Needless to say, it was a happy moment for me!
Anyhow that brings me up to now. Due to a bit of a schedule problem, I'm going to have to go from a 3 week taper to a 2 week one.....I have a horseshow finals the week that was originally supposed to be my peak week of training. The show is from Thursday to Sunday, so I know that I will not be able to do my peak mileage...so long story short, I planned a cutback week the week of the show and the peak week mileage the week after...leaving a 2 week taper instead of 3. It's a bit of an experiment, as I've done 3 week tapers for my last 2 marathons. I did a 2 week one before my very first marathon back in '07... didn't like it as much and didn't feel as rested. So, we'll see. It pretty much has to be that way so I don't get a choice! But I think if I do a fairly drastic mileage reduction during the first week (say to 40 miles) I think it will be ok. Plus the week after the horseshow finals, I won't have to worry as much about getting rides in too. So it might be better...we'll see! I had planned a 5k during what was supposed to be my first week of taper but which is now my peak week....I'll still plan on it but it will be interesting to see what time I run. Well that's all for now, adios!
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| Well, it's been awhile again so I finally have a few minutes to post! To say the least, it's been a frustrating few weeks. Shortly after my July 4th 5k I began bumping up my mileage in anticipation of the Chicago Marathon in October. I don't know what happened, but the combination of more miles, tempo and track runs took a toll on me and I was exhausted. So I did a week of easy running and was starting to feel better. Two weeks ago, I got strep throat really bad. It was like a golf ball on fire stuck in my throat. Of course I got it on a Friday and couldn't get antibiotics until Monday. So I lost a long run of 18 miles and a week of runs. Fortunately it was a cutback week so I guess it wasn't all terrible. Last Friday I did a 3 miler and then Saturday I ran in a 5k in my town. It was super humid and times were slow in general. I ended up with a 21:13....kind of disappointing since I was so close to sub 20 in June. But I keep telling myself to relax and that it was also crazy humid out and my second run since I was sick. It was the top female time so hey not a terrible day I guess! So this week I resumed my marathon schedule. So far so good....my long run of 20 will be tomorrow and I am somewhat nervous. My longest run was 16 miles and I struggled at the end, as it was warm that day. That was 2 weeks ago....hoping to get out earlier tomorrow in order to avoid the heat too. I hope I don't get too sore either as since I'm jumping from a 16 mile run 2 weeks ago to a 20 mile run tomorrow. I am hoping to get to the track this weekend too, as I've actually missed it in a way. I have a 10K next Saturday and a 5k the 29th....hoping to sharpen up with a few track workouts before them. I think the main thing for me is to just take it really easy on easy days and work on my hard days. We'll see though! I think part of my problem has been that I've been racing on warm days too...sub 20 might be more attainable in the fall. Well that is pretty much all I have so adios for now!
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| Been awhile since I've been on here so here is an update. So my aunt and I participated in the Reagan 5k in Dixon on July 4th. I had been able to do a few track workouts consisting of 800 repeats a few weeks in a row so I was feeling pretty good about this race...little did I know what the course was like ha. We get there and the weather is overcast, but humid also. Someone asks me if I've run this race before and I say no. They say "you're in for a treat." Then the announcer made some comments along the lines of "Thanks for coming this is a great race with a unique course so don't expect a PR but have fun." So I'm wondering what that means exactly, haha. Anyway I get up towards the front and get ready to go. There is a huge hill in sight already so I'm wondering how this will go! The race starts and I go out pretty fast. One girl took off and was soon ahead of the rest and would end up winning in 18:34 (holy sh*t haha). I was like oh boy, not going to catch her! But I a girl and I were trading 4th and 5th for a large portion of the race. The course was very difficult and hilly. Some of it was through the woods and you were running on mulch, which was hard and not stable. One guy ahead of me actually hit my leg with his foot and ate it haha. I felt bad but not my fault! He cut in front of me....anyway we finallly get out of the woods and are back on the roads. I will say that the course wasn't very well marked, so it was hard to gage how much was left to go and where 3 miles was and the finish, etc. So we turn to what I think is the final turn and I kick it and pull ahead and get in 4th. Much to my dismay, there was another turn and stretch to the finish. As a result, I'm out of speed and the other girl passes me at the last minute. Ended up 5th female and winning my age group. It was a really hard and hilly course, which I was not anticipating. Time was 20:42, so 6:54 pace. Kind of a bummer since I ran a 20:13 my last one. But the last course was flat and well marked so I knew where I was at. A fun race though and my aunt had fun so it was a good day.
Official Chicago Marathon training is underway also. 52 miles this week. Weekly schedule typically is like this:
Mon: tempo run am (6 miles for now) 4 easy miles pm
Tuesday: easy 7
Wednesday: easy 6
Thursday: 7, track workout (4x1600 at 6:30ish pace with 400 jogs. 1 mile w/u and c/d).
Friday: Long run, 15 miles this week
Saturday: easy 7
That pretty much will stay the same. The long run will increase, along with Tuesday's run (will be medium long run day at an easy pace). The Monday tempo run will only increase by one or 2 more miles, the pm easy run will basically stay at 4 or 5 during peak weeks. Wednesdays will be a shorter easy day. Thursdays will be a track day, probably will alternate 800 and 1600 repeats each week. Saturday is an easy shortish day. So pretty much the long run and medium long run will increase the mileage the most. We'll see how it goes. Next 5k is Aug. 8 in Mendota. Based on last year's results, I would be the top female. Hopefully this will be my sub-20 too!
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| 20:13....I'm so close to sub 20 with two track workouts done over the past 2 weeks! Hopefully by the time my next 5k rolls around on July 4th, I'll be ready for a shot at sub20! Going to stay between 40 and 50 miles with one speedwork day and one tempo day. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be under 20!
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| Quick update I suppose! 50 miles scheduled for this week. I also got out to the track today and did some hardcore speedwork for the first time in ages! It was super hot today and I am sunburned. It was hard at the time too but in an odd way I like speedwork and running hard because it's helping me get faster (ideally anyway!). Ran a warm up lap then 2x1600, 2x1200, 2x800 and 2x400 with 400 jogs in between. I probably gave myself too much recovery time as the runs got shorter (recovery time should be somewhere around half the time it takes you to run the distance so I've read) but I was ok with it because it was hot and sunny and also it was the first real speed workout I've done in awhile. My ideal times were the follows: 6:45, 6:40, 4:58, 4:55, 3:20, 3:17, 1:40, 1:35. Actual times were 6:40, 6:37, 5:07, 5:05, 3:20, 3:20, 1:40, 1:34. So I was fairly close to most of them aside from both 1200s. I was pretty happy though since it was pretty warm out...I was beat at the end! I liked doing this though and hopefully once a week will have a speed work day at the track this summer. I need to read a little more and figure out some more speed workouts to do and also what would be best for me. The one I did today was sort of a modified version of a workout from a video I watched about Kara Goucher. I also made an ab workout I have been doing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Again, Kara Goucher's abs are the inspiration behind it haha. I also am trying (key word trying!) to clean up my diet and not eat so much packaged/processed food...no easy task though! Anyway that's pretty much all I have...need to figure out what I want to do next week. I had 45 miles last week and 50 this week so I might drop to 35 or so just to have an easy week. Well, adios for now!
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