treadmill

Spring 1/2 Training: Week 11

/ Amy / 1 Comment

Week 11 is now behind me, leaving me with only one more long run before the race. I wish I could say that I feel like I’m going to kill that two hour time goal, but that would be a lie. Instead, I’m contemplating what my other goals for this race can be so that I still feel accomplished when I finish slower than I’d like. 

This doesn’t mean I had a bad week, on the contrary look at all the stuff I did: 

  • Monday: Travel day. I took almost every conceivable mode of transportation (car, plane, shuttle bus, subway, feet – walked, and train), but no running. 
  • Tuesday:  3 mile easy run outside with Jeff. No watch, but I was using the charity miles app so I know it was something under 10 min/mile. Being able to use Charity Miles again is one definite plus to running outside.
  • Wednesday: 45 minute tempo run (treadmill). As far as speed work goes, I much prefer intervals. Ended up with 4.8 miles, so even during speed work I’m a bit shy of that 9 min/mile average I’m hoping for on race day. This is why I have my doubts. Also, stretching and foam rolling.
  • Thursday:  5 mile easy run out to Salem. There were hills and a bridge and beaches and Jeff. It was pretty nice. Ended up around 10 min miles with a tad bit of walking and some stopping for traffic lights. I think it’s key that I start slow at my race. That seems to really help me make it through the run at a decent pace.
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Not a bad view.

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Look I got my finger in both shots!

  • Friday: I did it! I did my pace run, and I succeeded! 5 miles in 44:36, that’s 24 seconds to spare, even! I had pretty much given up hope of succeeding on one of these pace runs.  Silly me. I guess there’s still a chance I’ll get my sub-2 hour half. I just have to keep up that pace for twice as far, and then a 5k. Piece of cake!
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Mmmmm…Cake!

Oh, also, I had a pretty impressive dance party after the pace run success. Unfortunately, I skipped spinning in the morning in order to keep my legs fresh for the pace run attempt. 

  • Saturday: I set out on my long run of 12 miles, but decided to cut it short at the halfway point and finished only 6.34 miles.  My legs were BEAT. I clearly should have waited until Sunday morning to try the long run. And I knew that at the time, but mentally I was ready for it, so I went anyways. Oh well. I know I could have finished out the 12, but I just wasn’t having any fun. It was cold and windy and a little wet, and my legs were so tired from running the previous 4 days. I guess this is the beauty of this training schedule I made, it was my second 12 mile run, so I didn’t feel horrible about going home when my legs were done.
  • Sunday: Much needed rest day. Stretching and foam rolling.

This is how I did on my goals last week:

  1. Long Run: 12 miles – Did 6.34 miles
  2. Speed Work – 45 min tempo run Check!
  3. Easy Runs: (2) – 3 mile + 5 mileCheck!
  4. Pace Run: 5 mile Check!
  5. Strength – Once – Nope..so, bad at this.
  6. Stretch & Foam Roll – 2 times Check!
  7. Spinning Once Skipped

Once again, I didn’t get all my goals. It’s a high bar I set for myself. 😉

This week I’m hoping to:

  1. Long Run: 13 miles
  2. Speed Work – 10x400m intervals
  3. Easy Runs: (2) – 3 mile + 5 mile
  4. Pace Run: 3 mile
  5. Strength – Once
  6. Stretch & Foam Roll – 3 times
  7. Spinning Twice

 

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Spring 1/2 Training: Week 10

/ Amy / 4 Comments

I can’t believe I’ve been training for 10 weeks. This is a long training plan! I think I made it this way because I was excited to get started. Ha! 

Here’s how week 10 went:

  • Monday: 3 mile easy run followed by spinning. Also, stretching and foam rolling. 
  • Tuesday:  Jeff and I planned to run together tonight, and despite neither of us feeling like it we got all dressed up for intervals at the track. Unfortunately, when we drove over to the track we found it was taken by the high school track team. We then decided to do a short run from home instead. However, we still weren’t feeling it and after stepping out into the wind we quickly headed inside in favor of dinner and a few episodes of Friends. (Am I a bad runner if I find this more funny than guilt inducing?)
  • Wednesday: Did my intervals that I skipped on Tuesday. I REALLY didn’t want to go, but Jeff sort of dragged me with him to the gym. It turned out to be a great workout, so I’m pretty grateful that he didn’t give in to my whining. On another note, I really like intervals. They feel easier than just a regular 4 mile run. Think I can do intervals for the whole race?
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I love intervals!

  • Thursday:  Took the night off to get ready for my weekend trip to Buffalo.
  • Friday: Traveling and visiting with family, no running.
  • Saturday: Baby shower day for my sister, again no running.
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Shower success!

  • Sunday: After talking with a few people, I decided to do my long run on the trail by the Niagara River.  Unfortunately, because it’s Buffalo and Spring is not coming this year, there were 3″ of snow on the ground when I woke up. After dawdling as long as I could, I finally forced myself on to my mom’s treadmill for 12 miles. I didn’t really feel like running (theme of the week), but again, once it started, I was fine and had a good time. I even ended up with negative splits!
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Oh, hello there March 30th.

This is how I did on my goals last week:

  1. Long Run: 12 miles Check!
  2. Speed work – 9x400m Check!
  3. Easy Runs: (2) – 3 mile + 5 mile – 3 mile yes, 5 mile no
  4. Strength – Once – Still have a wrist problem, but shouldn’t be failing so badly at this
  5. Stretch + Foam Roll – 3 times – Only once
  6. Spinning Once Check!

This week I’m hoping to:

  1. Long Run: 12 miles
  2. Speed Work – 45 min tempo run
  3. Easy Runs: (2) – 3 mile + 5 mile
  4. Pace Run: 5 mile
  5. Strength – Once
  6. Stretch & Foam Roll – 2 times
  7. Spinning Once

One of these weeks, I’m going to meet all of my goals, but it certainly wasn’t week 10. I’m happy with how I did though, considering I was doing a bunch of last minute baby shower planning and then traveling to Buffalo. In addition to that, my motivation to workout was definitely lacking this week, so I consider everything I did an extra little victory.

Do you ever have weeks like mine, where everything is 10 times harder to do than normal? I tend to give in and skip some workouts, but not all of them. I find that taking it easy on weeks like this can help me get my motivation back quicker, but it’s good to have some workouts to look back on that were hard to start but turned out good. 

The Friday 5 – 2nd Edition

/ Amy / 4 Comments

Happy Friday!  Interested in some randomness? Yes? Well, you’ve come to the right place.  Enjoy my Friday Five:

1. When I do intervals on the treadmill, I change the setting to kilometers. I know that 400m is almost the same as 1/4 mile, but it’s not quite, so using the kilometers setting makes more sense to me. Of course, the entire time, I have no concept of what the numbers on the screen mean in terms of distance and speed. It’s kind of fun. I’ve figured out what the equivalent km/h setting is required for my interval pace, and that’s all I really need to know. Last night, the woman on the treadmill next to me kept looking at my screen; I’m really hoping she was confused/impressed by how fast it said I was going (even though I wasn’t – haha). Also, maybe this will help me get a bit of a handle on the metric system, I’ve always wanted to be better at that.

2. It’s Pi Day!  I’m thinking of making something pie related to celebrate, but I just made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, so maybe not.  I made these: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/05/27/the-best-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/ and they’re quite delicious.  They don’t look great, though. And they are thin, wafer thin. Ha!

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3. Jeff and I have one car. Her name is Betty, but admittedly, we don’t refer to her by name very often. One of the best little features that our car has is a saved seat position button. So when I get in the car, I just need to push “2” and the seat automatically goes to my preferred position. It’s a really awesome feature in a shared car. I still have to adjust the review mirror, but that’s not nearly as irritating as adjusting the seat would be. Whoooa, black Betty, bam ba lam!

4. I’m really freaked out about my test next Friday. I’ve been doing practice tests for a few weeks now, and I have only completed one that I feel confident would be a passing score (the grading is complicated, and there is not a predetermined percentage that would indicate a pass, so I don’t know for sure). I’ve really put it out there leaving engineering and pursuing this, and pretty much everyone I know knows I’m taking this test. I think that having to tell everyone that I’ve failed would be worse than actually failing. I’m generally a good test taker, and I know that people expect me to be able to pass. The test is so hard, though! The pass rate is less than 50%, more than half of the test takers fail…ugh!

5. While I’m terrified of next Friday, I’ve reserved a little piece of myself to be excited for the new Muppet movie. I’m a HUGE fan of the Muppets, and Muppet movies, and I can’t wait to see it. I’m hoping it will be playing at 9AM like the last Muppet Movie. I like going to the movies in the early morning – it’s cheaper and there are less people. (Yes, I still get popcorn).

Me and my Muppety Friends, Mupbert and Princess Muppette:

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And, that’s it for the second edition of the Friday Five. Enjoy your weekend.

Top 5 Friday!

/ Amy / 1 Comment

I’m starting this new thing called Top 5 Friday! Because, guess what?, it’s Friday and I have no clue what to write about on the blog this week!

I went running a few times but nothing noteworthy happened.  I’m not training for anything in particular, didn’t have a race, and I didn’t see anything exciting (unless you count the creepy guy w/ 6″ fingernails using weight machines while I’m on the treadmill, but I’d rather forget about him).

Here’s how it works – if you haven’t already guessed – it’s Friday, and I’m going to give you a top 5 list. So, with no further ado…this week’s topic is…

TOP 5 REASONS RUNNING ON THE TREADMILL IS ACTUALLY AWESOME

1.  Law and Order Marathons – Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love Law & Order?  And, can you watch Law & Order while running outside? No, no you can’t. On the Law & Order scale, Treadmill wins!

My Running Buddies!

2.  It’s easy to zone out – My favorite part of the treadmill is how easy it is to zone out. I don’t have to worry about tripping, or getting hit by cars, or watching out for ice.  Just turn on the machine and run. That’s all. It’s awesome.

3.  You don’t need to carry things – I like to have my “stuff” with me.  On long runs – my phone, my iPod, water, gel, keys.  In the dark, I’ve got my vest, knuckle lights.  Do you know how much stuff that is to carry?  It’s a LOT of stuff.  On the treadmill, there are little ledges to keep all your stuff. It’s awesome.

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Running Stufffffff

4.  Weather – Guess what, it doesn’t rain in the gym. Also, the treadmill is never icy.  Windchill? Nope.  Oppressive heat and humidity – not likely.  Treadmill wins!

5.  Reading – I love running, but I’m not going to pretend that I sometimes don’t want to do it. One thing that can help get me going is the promise of a good book.  Reading while you run, you say? On the treadmill, it’s possible! I just pull out my kindle, change the text size and there you go.  Treadmill + Kindle = Awesome!

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Do people actually need text this large?

Often, the treadmill gets a bad rap, I think it’s unfair.  The treadmill can be so much fun 🙂