Tuesday, July 26, 2011

500th Mile

I'm a little behind schedule on my goal to run 1,000 miles in 2011.  I slacked off a bit in May and June, but I don't think I'll have a problem reaching my goal now that I'm well into marathon training.

In celebration of running 503 miles as of this morning, I give you....

The Proclaimers!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (4)

Over the last seven days, I spent just three at home in D.C. On Tuesday and Wednesday, my coworker and I traveled to Nottoway, Virginia to complete site observations for one of our projects. Then, on Saturday, I took a train to Boston to spend the weekend with my senior year housemates and people who probably should have lived in our house. It was so good to see everyone and spend some time catching up, reminding ourselves of the excellent time we had in college, and creating a new batch of stories to tell the next time we get together. (Seriously, guys, why don’t we do this more often? Like, all of the time.)

I plan to spend this week getting myself back into my usual routine. I love traveling, but it always does a number of my eating, running, and sleeping patterns. (It's been at least a week since I've cooked a meal for myself. I should really get back into doing that.) The good news is that I proved to myself that I am capable of getting out of bed super early to get my workouts in. Clearly, I should be able to do this more often – especially now that the temperature is D.C. threatens any attempts to safely run outside.

So, workouts:

I did all three of my running workouts on the treadmill last week, and all three focused on speed. On Wednesday and Thursday, I went for this:

Warm-Up – 5 Minutes

Intervals x 3
2 minutes at 5.0 MPH
2 minutes at 6.0 MPH
1 minute at 7.0 MPH
1 minute at 8.0 MPH
2 minutes at 7.0 MPH
2 minutes at 6.0 MPH

After Thursday’s workout, I decided that I was ready to increase each interval by 0.5 MPH – which is exactly what I did on Saturday (8 miles was not going to happen on the treadmill). I felt good after Saturday’s workout, which also included time on the stationary bike and strength work.

Also -- I took a look at my training schedule and made a few changes to allow for more speed work and more strength training.

Hopefully, things will cool down in D.C. If not, I’m going to start training myself to get out of bed early so that I can run before it becomes unbearable to do so.

Week 5:

Monday: X-Training and Strength Training
Tuesday: 4 Miles
Wednesday: 5 Miles
Thursday: Tempo Run 45 Minutes
Friday: Off
Saturday: 15 Miles
Sunday: X-Training and Strength Training

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Lady Business

Hey folks!

I'm unwinding from a business trip to Nottoway, Virginia and attempting to get my training schedule/life back in order.

Okay, so my life is never as out of order as I sometimes make it sound; more than anything, I just need to feel like things are progressing at a decent pace.

In the meantime:

Just in case you missed it, the NYT posted an article about the relationship between that oh-so special time of the month and athletic performance.  Check it out.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (3)

Week 3 is done, and I’m moving to Week 4.

My training schedule needed a bit of rearranging this week while I was away on business. I moved my tempo workout to Tuesday (completed in a very swanky hotel fitness center), skipped my run on Wednesday, did my strength training and cardio workout on Thursday, ran on Friday (which is normally my rest day), tried a new route during my 13-miler on Saturday, and ran today (planned as a rest day this week).

There’s a clear lesson here – one that I’m starting to see applies to my life outside of running. Life happens, and it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as you scheduled. More later.

For now, here’s the training schedule for week 4:

Monday: X-Train and Strength Training
Tuesday: Speed Workout – 30 minutes
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 Miles
Sunday: X-Train and Strength

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (2)

I can’t believe it’s already Sunday. The four-day work week and my usual weekend antics helped the week go by quickly, but - as always - I wish I had one more day to lounge on the couch and stream episodes of Arrested Development.

My workouts went well this week, and I’m starting to rebuild my tolerance for running with humidity.  I need to figure out how to not be the sweaty kid at the end of all of my workouts.  Well, sweaty kid might be an understatement.  I should really work on not looking like I dived in a pool in my gear after all of my runs. 

I’m doing a bit of traveling over the next couple of weeks for work and for funsies, so I may need to move around some of my runs depending on the treadmill situation in hotels and how confident I feel running in new areas.

Week 3:

Monday – X-Train and Strength Training
Tuesday – 3 miles
Wednesday – 5 miles
Thursday – Tempo Workout, 30 minutes
Friday – Rest
Saturday – 13 Miles
Sunday – Rest

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (1)

My first week of training is done, and it feels great to be back in training mode.  There were a few bumps this week, so I hope you can forgive me for whining about my first world problems while I walk through this week's workouts.

I had a really great session on Monday. For the first time in months, I increased the resistance on the stationary bike.  It was a little challenging at first, but it went well.  Then, it was onto working muscle groups that I have neglected for quite some time.

On Tuesday, there were threats of thunderstorms so I hit the treadmill for my three-miler.  Not too far into my workout, I remembered how boring treadmill running can be.  I also had some weird side pain going on, and my iPod playlist did nothing for me. Did I mention that running on a treadmill is boring? Anyway, my three-miler turned into a two-miler because I’m lame. 

Wednesday, I went back to Ladies Night after a very long absence.  I was excited to go back, and they organized a great route -- if only I wasn't such a fail. Although I missed a turn on the loop back, I ended up running farther than I planned (success!)

On Thursday, I did my tempo workout.  I looked forward to it, but hated that I had to waste an absolutely gorgeous day on the treadmill -- especially when only one of the three treadmills in my apartments fitness center worked...sort of. The newer treadmills – which have also just been repaired – have some disconnect between the belt and the main screen.  It would have been fine if I didn’t care about my pace, but I wanted to know exactly how fast I was going. The third treadmill shut off every 4 minutes.  This actually was fine because my workout consisted of five 3-minute repeats at 7.0 MPH, followed by a one-minute recovery jog.  It's much easier to count to five when the machine stops abruptly and you nearly tumble to the floor.

Saturday was incredible.  It started with a brunch at my apartment to watch the US Women's National team play Colombia in the Women's World Cup. I tried a few new recipes, and I think it went very well.  The USWNT won their game - which is always a bonus - and have secured a place in the quarterfinals. Whoo!! After cleaning my apartment, I took a long walk and then went out for a run before dinner.  It was one of the best runs that I've had in a very long time.  I felt fast again, and I was able to charge up several hills with little trouble.  

On Sunday, I completed my long run.  I decided to run a route that I haven't run since training for Baltimore -- the one that starts with running on an incline for three miles.  (The only good thing about running uphill for three miles is the promise of running downhill.) It was a little humid, and I need rebuild my tolerance for running in the heat.  Overall, it was a great run.

Onto Week 2:

Monday: Rest (Happy Independence Day!)
Tuesday: Speed Work - 30 minutes (Time to hit the track!)
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: 3 miles