track workouts

So here's a question - if one runs a track workout on a cinder track that is half grown over with grass and weeds - is that kind of like a trail track workout? ok i know - not funny. Anywho - couldn't make it out to solon yesterday - and my usual track was occupied so i settled for the local cinder track. It was actually kind of nice - i thought the cinders might slow me down a lot - but really it was just nicer on my body - not so jarring - didn't hurt my shins and my back. I wasn't sure if the track was a full 400 or not - so i checked it on the gmaps pedometer thingy - and it said it was .23 miles - so i thought - well that could just be my error in tracing around the track - you can only zoom in so far. Well i did my warmup - that was suprisingly quick - so i thought - well maybe it is a little short. So the plan 3 x 1 mile - goal between 7:00 and 7:25 Ran the first one at a suprisingly easy 6:30. Um yeah - track was definately short. So I got the old Garmin out ran the next "mile" in 6:33 - and then kept running til the Garmin said one mile - so my second real mile was a 6:56 - which i'm thinking made my firt mile the equivalent of 6:53. I was pretty excited about this - that and the fact that there were no weirdos riding bikes or walking dogs on this track - when lo and behold 1 lady and 2 girls came down to the track to start walking across the entire track. So I started my mile and yelled "i'm passing on your left" i've never seen 3 people jump like that - I said "i've got 4 quick ones to do" So they stayed out of my way the entire time. But i felt like after making them move out of my way like that - that I better keep my pace up - final mile 6:46.... hmmm maybe a 21 minute 5k or sub 21 (well let's not get crazy) is in my future soon. So I apologized to the ladies - didn't mean to be a track beotch - but I'm so tired of dodging people when trying to do timed stuff on the track!!! All in all - another pretty good workout under my belt.

where to start

I guess I will start by saying -- great job to everyone that ran the buckeye 50k on saturday. I am so impressed by all of you - what a hard race - what a HOT HOT day. So Steve and I worked the mile 26 aid station. That was soooo much fun. Working a waterstop on a road race isn't all that fun - you stand there with a cup in your hand while someone grabs it from you. In an ultra- you are somewhere between an annoying cars salesman and an annoying mother hen. It's funny - these people would kind of pop out of the woods - and you would say what can we get you - and some people were so tired and hot - that they would just kind of look at you. You'd say - ice? and they'd so oooh ice - yeah that would be good - and you'd say how bout a peanut butter and jelly - ooh peanut butter and jelly that would be nice - i swear you could offer these people tuna fish and they would be grateful. It's really fun helping out - when you know the people really truly appreciate it. One guy went blowing by us - and we tried to stop him - being that we were the last stop - but he kept going - well some how one of the guys talked him into coming back and at least letting us fill up his camelback and we got some food in him. Good thing - or else he would have run out of water long before he reached the end. So - don't know if i am inspired to do the summer 50k - but perhaps the winter one. we'll see-- i really need to get out on the trails.

I had to get my 20 miler in on sunday - the plan was to get up at 5 and run loops around the neighborhood at a 9:20 pace - so if i did my math correctly.. 3hrs 7min. Well i didn't get up til 6 - and by the time i got the water and gu and everything layed out on the front porch - it was almost 6:30 - but - still better than starting at 8. The plan was to run 4 x 5 mile loops - but i knew that that would drive me crazy - so i extended the first loop to 10 miles - which took some creative weaving through the streets. finished the first 10.2 in 1:32 - so about a 9:05 pace - cooled off for a few minutes took some e caps and headed back out for a 6 mile loop... from my crazy math i think those 6 were at a 9:30 pace - but the garmin was having trouble - so i think i ran more than 6 - which would put me a little close to the 9:20 goal. Came back to the house - woke steve up and told him to get his bike out to come with me for the last 3.8 miles. I'm so glad he did - by this point it was getting hot! Finished with a total time of 3:05 -- but I think the garmin was about .25-.5 mile short when i actually mappped out my route. But - in typical me fashion - as hot as i was i had to run back and forth in front of my house until the garmin flipped to 20!
As for this upcoming week - I was planning on doing 18 with solar on the towpath - but we're doing the sweet corn hellish hill challenge on sunday - and steve's signed up for the 2 mile open swim race on saturday - and i want to go see him swim - i think it will be fun. So... that means a nice 18 miler on friday night... anyone interested??? :) let me know!

props to the hubbie

I just have to say that i have the best husband in the world. Not only does he put up with my ridiculousness on a daily basis, and get out of bed every morning to help iron my pants and make my lunch so i can get out the door on time. But last night I still had yet to get my weekly track workout in. And b/c it's been hot - i've become a baby about running in the heat. Well Steve was patient enough to run up to the track with me at 9:20 last night - and since his legs aren't up to the pounding of a track workout just quite yet - last night - he walked the track while i did my 5 x 1000 m repeats in the pitch black dark - and then ran each of the recovery 400's with me and then ran me home the two mile cool down. It ended up being a pretty good workout - 1000's needed to be between 4:16 and 4:32 - i ran the following:

4:23
4:24
4:26
4:21
4:17

I think it's interesting that i always get faster towards the end of a workout - does that mean i'm holding back during the work out - or just excited to be done???
We didn't get home til 10:45 - and I know steve would have liked to have been in bed by about 9:30. I wouldn't have gotten the workout in - if he hadn't gone with me - I really appreciate it - and I know that most people wouldn't have done that!

I swam in a lake and i didn't die.

I would just like to inform the blogging world that i swam about 1200 yards in a lake with out a wetsuit - and not only did i not die- i didn't hate it either. Ok - so it wasn't lake erie - and there were places where i could touch - but it was dirty water and it was ok - and i'm going to go back next week i think.
So i mentioned in my last post that i think my body is handling hot weather better than i use to. Well knock on wood. Went for a run a lunch today it was about 84-85 degrees. This was the workout
1 mile warm up
4 miles at 7:47 pace
1 mile cool down

This is what happened.

1 mile warm up 9:47 - breathing really hard and very tired.
1st mile 7:37 - stopped to drink some water
2nd mile 7:48 - stopped in the middle of the mile though so as not to pass out
3rd mile - told myself to suck it up - and that i was being dramatic. I think it was around a 7:40 - not sure if it was a whole mile b/c i was feeling pretty delerious and couldn't quite remember where the mile mark was. Stopped and hid under a tree for awhile to try and cool down. Decided it would be ok - to forgo the 4th mile at pace - and ran/walked the last two miles back to the gym.

It took me so long to get through those last two miles that i took an extra half hour at lunch. I was planning on an hour and a half - by the time i walk to the gym and shower afterwards etc etc - but i was gone for two hours! i almost called my boss to come pick me up. It was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. I think i finally have enough water in me that i'm finally not feeling so sick. We'll see how this evenings swim goes - maybe i'll forgo the swim and just watch the synchro swimming competition....

i'm either getting crazier or tougher - or both

whew what a week! Finally had a break through day on the swimming. The big pool is closed at CSU for the synchronized swimming championships - but the small 25 yard one was open on friday. Apprently the short distance pool is what i need to give me that boost to go further. I usually swimm 100 meters straight - or maybe 200 meters straight and then i stop. why - i don't know - i guess because tackeling another 50 meters seems daunting. Well with only 25 yards between walls in a pool where i could stand up at any point i felt ok going just 25 yards more and then just 25 yards more. well before i knew it i did 400 yards straight - again i know that's not getting me through a mile in open water - but it was a break through - i felt like i could keep going. So... i'm hoping that there is a chance that i will someday be able to actually get over the issues in my head and just swim.
Back on the running front -i didn't get my second key workout in til friday night. 1 mile warm up 5 miles at an 8:05 pace and then 1 mile cool down. Well it was HOT out - so I was a little nervous - i know how my body reacts pretty well to cold weather - but hot weather is still a bit of a new frontier - I always assumed that if i did much more than go for a walk on a 90 degree day that i would get sick - i guess that's because at one point in time that was true. So - i tend to baby myself a little in the heat - b/c i don't want to get sick. Well i ran my warm up mile at about a 9:30-9:40 pace. Well the mile ended right at the local ball field. Well this guy comes blowing past me in front of this whole crowd of parents and kids. And i'm thinking ok - buddy well just wait til i start my actual workout - i'll show you. Well I waited for about 30 seconds - go some water - and then like a dog chasing a bone i went after him. i don't know why i do this - it's I feel the need to race when ever an older guys paces me - why - i have no idea. well about 3/4 of a mile later he turns left i turn right - for the next 2-3 minutes i slow waaaaay down. my mile time - under eight minutes - so apprently i went out waaaaay to fast - great thing to do when it's a million degrees out - so i keep running into my second 8 minute mile - and my shins are on fire- and i am on fire - b/c it is soooo hot. so i call steve to come get me. No need to push myself in these heat i say - especially with 17 miles on the forcast for the next morning. Well i call steve 4 times - no answer - so i took it as a sign to stop being such a baby and get out there and finish my workout. It took my 38:10 to do my 5 miles - which is a 7:45 pace i think - when i mapped it out i was probably about a .10 of a mile short of five - but either way - under the goal of 8:05 - with a cool down uphill mile of 9:14 --
Fast forward - saturday morning. plan - run 10 mile trail race followed by 7 miles for total of 17 miles - figured this would be a fun way to break up the 17 miles. ha! i had no idea what i was in for. Trail running is a whole different world. i have muscles on my legs that are still hurting - that i didn't know could actually hurt! Got almost a mile warm up in with the serc peeps before the race. I started off a little fast - even though i said - i'm not racing this - i'm going to run this nice and easy b/c i still have 6+ miles to run afterwards. Holy cow was this course hilly - and I had probably more trouble running down the hills than up them - especially the stairs - i can not run down stairs - especially if they are uneven. At one point i just started laughing thinking about how ridiculous i probably looked tippy toeing down the stairs. Well around mile 3.5 i was soo hot - that i my short were actually dripping. The only sport drink they had was heed. aka. poop. So again i started worrying about my pale self in the heat. i started thinking that maybe i would just do the 5 mile loop and call it a quits - after all it was early in my training plan -and i should be careful in the heat. Well I got past the finish for the five mile and managed to steer myself towards the second loop. I told myself - just take it easy and finish it. finish it in under two hours - that will be slow - but it will be a finish. So my feet started blistering like crazy - guess that's what you get for wearing a pair of shoes that you've only worn twice. Well i actually enjoyed being out there by myself on the second loop - i walked up the hills and ran through the inbetween sections and just enjoyed the views - all why telling myself - just finish this - toughen up and finish it. So i did. Final time 1:53 something which is waaaay slow. But - this was my first trail race and only my third trail run ever - and it was hotter than hell - so i can't be disappointed. Espeed got second and amie and janet and todd all got age group awards - so that was fun to watch. I changed my shoes to do a warm down with Barb and Espeed - but my blisters hurt so bad I passed. I went home got some food a bottle of gatorade and a ton of water and a nap. Woke up waited for the storm to pass and went out to complete my remaining 6+ miles. I stopped every mile to drink water - b/c again i'm afraid of the heat. but i managed to maintain a 9:10 pace - goal was 9:05 - but i'm ok with a 9:10. Now - i don't know if there was any point to finishing my 17 miles 3 hours later or not - but it proved to me that i am getting both tougher and crazier. i never would have done 17 miles in any sort of heat. I never would have started the second loop of that course and i sure as hell would not have gone back out to finish 6 more miles. I also wouldn't have finished my friday night workout - and actually had it be a good work out. So i am either crazy - crazy obsessed and i can't let me workouts slide - or i'm a lot tougher and i won't let myself quit when i know i'm capable of more!
So all in all it was a good weekend. Tell me though - how does one do this - not go drinking like normal and actually cook at home rather than eating out - and gain 4 pounds. maybe beer=weight loss! ha! i don't know but I don't like it!!!

track twilightzone.

I have a question - how many of you - if you were not doing a track workout - would go to a track? ok - so I can maybe understand people walking at a track - not really - b/c i think half the fun of going for a walk is looking at neighborhoods and streets etc... but ok - i'll concede and say i can understand walking at a track. However, why do people bring children in wagons to a track? Why do they think that the long jump pit is a place to bring shovels and sandbuckets? I know the track that i go to - does not have anyone using the long jump pit - however go to home depot depot and buy your kid a bag of play sand! Oh and the people with dogs- why why why do you insist on walking your dogs in a lane one? First off - what happens when your dog poops on lane one? Are you going to clean that up - or leave that as a special suprise for my final lap of my timed mile? Now i don't mean to be a track snob - but i don't get it - take your dogs for a walk - give them something to look at - they can't honestly enjoy walking around circles. then there is the guy that likes to bring his two dogs and let them run without leashes all over the track... seriously? Nothing against dogs - but it's a track - not a dog park - i shouldn't have to dodge wrestling dogs while i'm trying to get a workout in. Oh and my newest favorite - have you ever gotten on your bike and said "gee i think i'll go up to the track and get a nice bike ride in?" There was a woman last night wearing a purple cardigan sweater with a green and purple skirt (no not a running skirt - a wear to a nice brunch skirt on) who was riding her bike in circles on the track. I've never seen anything like it. But - i guess it's good the community uses the track - i just wish more people would use it - just to run...

Back in the Game

I missed a key workout last week. Yup - and I'm not going to worry about it. I got a good track workout in - a 5 mile glorious tour of downtown canton ohio and a thrilling 15 miler on the towpath. The 15 miler was tough - first of all I went out the night before and had two weeks of eating and drinking crap prior so needless to say my stomach was not happy - so... i didn't get started til after 12 - so yes it was hot... but i had to get it in. I'm also trying to see how i react to long runs on the towpath by myself. If I'm going to run this towpath marathon - i need to be mentally able to do it myself - and we all know how not exciting that path can be. I'm hoping i'll be able to keep pace with others when i run the towpath - but you can never count on that - what if the girls are havign a great day - and go out for a 3:30 pace? then i need to be able to get through it on my own. So - I think i did alright - goal 9:05 pace - ran the first 7 out in 8:46 took a break at peninsula b/c the stomach was still pretty funky. headed back north - stopped at boston store and basically took a shower in the water fountain because i was so hot - Not counting the two "breaks" i took I did the second 7 in 8:53 pace. followed by mile number 15 - that i did at a 9:40 pace... yeah i know dropped off the pace a bit - just wanted to get that last mile in though...
So now what? now - I'm starting this week fresh - no missed "key" workouts - and back to the bike and the swim. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that work stays calm for a bit. Oh - so i was reading espeed's blog - and saw she got the new 405 garmin... oh i'm so jealous - i have the old school garmin that won't work in cities or trails... great for around the neighborhood - but oh how i want that 405... so then it hit me - duh that's what i'll save all my quarters for - so hopefully by the end of this marathon training i'll have enough to buy the 405 -- guess i better really work at getting my miles in.

bridget and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day (well days)

I don't talk about work on my blog - because i don't ever want anything to get back to someone etc. etc. but i have to say that last week and this week so far have been the most awful terrible days in recent memory. And I know i'll get through it - I will - but I am so tired, stressed, burned out etc... that at times i doubt that I will even have a job by week's end - because i won't be able to get through this stuff. And the worst part of this is the toll it's taking on my training - I managed to get all of my running in last week - but i biked 0 and swam 800 meters - before barely pulling myself out of the pool b/c i was so tired. i know that that happens - and i'll have more weeks like this - but it sure doesn't help motivate me to want to do a track workout by myself tonight in the dark after I finally get out of work. well bitching about it doesn't help - i'm just taking a ten minute break here to feel sorry for myself.
let's see what else is new here... i have raised $90 of my $250 for ms - so that's a positive light... oh and my training run down for last week.

Mon - 3 miles easy - 1 hr flag football (rushed the quarterback the whole time so i'll count that as some speed work!)

Tues - drank beer with boss after late night of work

Wed - a.m. track workout
1 mile warm up
400 strides
3x miles with 400 ri (7:26, 7:16, 7:17)
1 mile recovery

Took the first mile a little slowly - b/c i haven't done mile repeats in about ... oh ... ten years - would like to have all three closer to 7 flat

Thursday - work function at night - drank beer

Friday a.m.
2 slow (18:10)
2 short tempo (7:05, 7:26 -- second mile all uphill)
2 slow (18:00)

Saturday - worked in yard

Sunday - Ran columbia station half marathon. Goal - run 8:50 pace - ran a 1:56:00 so a pace of 8:55 - know i should be able to run a half marathon faster than that - but the training plan said 13 miles at a 9:20 pace - so I figure that was good. That and it was a p.r. by about 8 minutes for an actual half marathon race... Won my age group - not as fun when there is only one other person in your division though...

oh and get this - got to the race and signed in - kind of milled around for a bit - warmed up a little bit - about 5 minutes before the race starts - the race director says - oh the start line is .6 miles down this road. You're telling me they couldn't figure out a 13.1 mile route that started and stopped a little closer together than .6 miles? not that i minde walking .6 miles - but it just seemed silly to me! but no one asked me!