I finally conquered the track

Soooo yeah. When I got up on Tuesday morning I could definitely feel Monday's run, so I decided that my cross-training day would be a yoga day. Last night I did 45 minutes of yoga and pilates. It was great for stretching my legs and working my abs, which I noticed have gotten stronger since I started training. I felt a lot better about my running life this morning, relative to the past few mornings.

But there was no time to revel in the moment; Wednesdays are track practice days. These are usually pretty brutal. The whole point is to run short distances at faster paces than you run longer distances. Theoretically this helps you to gain speed on your long runs. It's painful, which means I'd like to discredit it, but I really can't. I do think the track practices are fairly instrumental.

Today's workout was the following:
1 mile warm-up (slow)
3x400 (3/4 mi.)
3x400
3x400
4x100 (sprints/strides)
1 mile cool-down (very slow!)

All together, 4.5 miles. I have to say, I was proud of my pace on the 1200's. I don't know what my time was on the first one, but on the second two I finished somewhere between 5min40 and 5 min 45, so somewhere around a 7:30 minute mile pace. The last timed mile I ran was (I think) around 7 minutes 45 seconds or so, so I've definitely gotten a little bit faster. The "strides" at the end, I just had to laugh at myself. I try so hard! I just can't sprint.

Overall, I felt good today. I felt like I was fast, consistent, and didn't hurt too much. I hate to say this, but I kind of liked it!

this is training

Let me introduce today's run by restating that when I woke up this morning my calves were so tight it was actually difficult to walk. So I wasn't sure what to expect when my schedule called for a 40 minute run today. As soon as I started I could feel how tight my legs were, still from Saturday's six miler. My legs started to cooperate around the end of the first mile. The bigger issue today was just the heat/humidity. It was somewhere in the 80s and very humid. I felt like molasses moving along the sidewalk. According to my trusty watch I was running roughly 8.5 minute miles. I can do better than that, but was pleased with it for today. My total distance was somewhere around 4.2, which is not long for the time I was out. I stopped a few minutes early and used the last mile as a cool down, which is why it wasn't longer.

Tomorrow is cross training. I'm considering yoga...we'll see.

Catching up, and a new distance record!

Wow, ok, so I'm a little bit behind on updating the blog. It was an interesting week for training.

Tuesday
On Tuesday I went to the gym for my cross-training day. I did pretty much the same routine that I've been doing for the last few weeks--20 minutes on elliptical, then about 25 of weight lifting. I swear, weight lifting has become easier since I've started running so much. I think my body is in this rhythm of building muscle, so the lifting fits into that. I upped my weight a little on tricep pushdowns this week.

Wednesday
On Wednesday I decided I'd had enough of track workouts for a while; I'd been to the last three, so I deserved a fun week. Instead of going to the track, I went to Human Kinetics to play handball (not the racquetball-like game. It's more like soccer except you throw the ball rather than kick it) with the crew up there. I had a great time! I wasn't throwing very effectively for a while, but I got better as we played. After maybe an hour a handful of people decided to leave, leaving myself and 5 guys. We played 3-on-2 with one goalie. They discouraged me from playing goalie and put me on the team with 3 people, so I decided I had to step up and prove myself. I took on one person in particular, with decent success. I had a great time! Unfortunately, I also rolled my left ankle in the process. I kept playing on it, the endorphins in full force. Only later did I realize that it hurt.

Friday
Not only did I not have time to run on Friday, I was also concerned about the left ankle. So I didn't run. I felt like a cheater about it.

Saturday
Saturday was our first practice at Lake of the Woods park in Mahomet. It's actually about the same distance from my house as Meadowbrook in Urbana. I think I can get to Mahomet a little faster actually. When I got there it was lightly drizzling. Our coach announced our expected distances: 6 miles for half-marathoners and 8 miles for marathoners. Off we went in the rain. It drizzled on and off throughout the run, never very hard. Meg, the girl I always run with, wasn't there, so I ran alone. Somewhere after mile marker 5 I took a wrong turn in the park and got lost. I was just like, Oh crap, they're going to have to search for me. I found my way back and finished the course. Long story short, I accidentally ran a little more than 6 miles. Later I also realized that the trails all connect eventually, so I didn't have to backtrack. The bizarre incident of the day, someone stole one of our tubs of gatorade/water! Who steals from people running for charity?? It was very odd.

I'm writing this on Monday morning. Yesterday and today upon getting out of bed my calves were so tight that it was actually awkward to walk. It's a good hurt. The six miles definitely worked my muscles hard. We'll see how this afternoon's run goes.

ice cream sandwiches

Before I get started on today's run and the ice cream sandwiches I want to touch on Saturday's run before I forget about it. We ran 2 laps at Meadowbrook again. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't longer--I was prepared for 3 laps. However, Meg and I made the most of the two laps and hit it at a good pace. We finished (3.7 miles) in 31 minutes. Our single mile time trials are faster than that, but that's as well as we've done with the longer distances so far I think. And it was perfect weather. The quote of the day: Vicki, totally serious, says "There is no nutritional value to drinking alcohol while you run." Some not-so-good Samaritan had handed her a beer (people commonly hand out water to runners) at about mile 7 on the Indy half-marathon a few weeks ago.

So, the ice cream sandwiches. Today was a longish run, 40-45 minutes. I planned to run to Prairie Gardens and back plus a few laps around my subdivision to finish out the time. I knew also that today was going to be hot. So what did I do? Indulged in McDonald's chicken nuggets and ice cream sandwiches for my lunch/afternoon snack. THIS WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Sugar like that just doesn't help you. Neither does grease and a lack of fruits and vegetables. My muscles just wanted nothing to do with hard running. It was a pretty crappy run. I love ice cream dearly, but it just wasn't worth it. I'm going to have to sequester ice cream eating to evenings and off-days. And Erin, yes I know, it was totally my idea. Bad Joanna. Tomorrow there will be bananas and baby carrots and awesome cross training.

a runner's gripes

To this point I've been pretty factual in my blog posts. I'll do that briefly about today. For those of you who read this though, I want to give you something a little lighter to nibble on, so that's below.

Today: I ran for just over 30 minutes. I ran the perimeter of Boulder Ridge (my subdivision), The Cove (the wannabe subdivision next to us) and Sawgrass (the subdivision across the main road). I tried to push myself for the middle 10 minutes of the run. It was a great run. I'm always amazed by how slowly the first ten minutes seem to go, then how quickly the remainder goes. Today's run came at the end of a fairly stressful day, a day filled with various things that had me unusually riled. Running is somewhat therapeutic for me. Sometimes that therapy involves ranting in my head about ridiculous things that bother runners. Hence the promised lighter stuff.

Things that bother at least this runner:

1. Sprinklers. Don't water the sidewalk. Not only is it a gross waste of natural resources, it's just annoying. I have to run out into the street or stand there and wait for the sprinkler to oscillate away from the sidewalk. If it were hotter or if I weren't wearing mascara I might delight in running through your water. But the rest of the time it just annoys me.
2. If you park on the sidewalk I will run through your yard. And I'll not keep it to a minimum. And I'm secretly hoping you see me. And if possible, I'll run close enough to the parked car to set off its anti-theft alarm. It's the runner's equivalent of "We don't dive in your toilet so don't pee in our pool." Classy, I know.
3. Dogs. If your dog is not behind a fence it had better be on a leash. If it chases me I will read its name off of its collar and stand there and yell for its owner until you or your neighbors hear me. I'm really not into being chased by dogs.
4. The walkers who refuse to acknowledge me. Honestly people, we're the ONLY two people on an otherwise 100% empty street (empty to the point that the houses haven't even been built yet). What is the deal with staring straight ahead as if I weren't there? I don't get it. At all.
5. I really thought about listing kids and their toys, but honestly it's usually pretty cute. Nine times out of ten the kids don't know what to do about me and we get a little "deer in the headlights" situation. I mean, honestly, does the basketball hoop need to be in the middle of the sidewalk? Probably not. But the three-year-old who stares at me is adorable enough to excuse the toys.

progression/regression intervals

Today we were back at the track for another interval workout. The weather was perfect--a little cool if you were standing around in short sleeves. Here was the workout:

1 mile warm-up
2 minutes
4 minutes
6 minutes
6 minutes
4 minutes
1 mile cool-down

I think all told it was just under 5 miles. I ran a pretty constant pace, which is most of the point of doing track workouts. Most people felt like today was harder than last Wednesday, but I felt just the opposite. Perhaps I ate the wrong combination of foods last Wednesday afternoon, or maybe the heat got to me more than others. I don't know. Today was strenuous, don't get me wrong, but kind of fun. I still felt human at the end of it. And my cross-training yesterday (20 min eliptical then weight training) didn't leave my legs hurting, so that helped too.

As to the this post's name, that's what we called this type of workout in high school. Usually the up-side and down-side of the workout are the same (so we should have had a 2 minute interval before the cool-down today).

And fyi, I tried the Goody "stay put" head band with rubber grippies today. It's great for every day use but still comes out when I run. I'm going to try clipping it down next time.

on the grid!

Today, for the first time, I broke out of the subdivision and took to running the grid. It was a good run! For those of you (the very few of you who read this) who know Champaign, I ran just about from Staley & Bradley to Duncan & Springfield (along Bradley then down Duncan). This route had numerous advantages over running the subdivision:
1. "Hills" (going over the interstates, which, incidentally, I got honked at while doing!)
2. Greater diversity of scenery--some residential, some commercial, some stretches of road
3. Less circling about

I realize in writing this that talking about "the grid" is probably pretty Midwestern. Since it's obscenely flat here there is no topographic reason for the roads to curve, so by and large, they don't. In the country, the roads are laid out in a one mile by one mile grid. In town there are traditionally 6 blocks to a country mile.

Two other points for the day.
1. I'm increasingly convinced that anyone can do this. The training schedule is amazingly effective.
2. Running hats rock! Breathable, keeps the sweat out of my eyes, and keeps me from squinting in the sun! I have a white Adidas hat which I bought at Dick's Sporting Goods. It's good stuff.