Monday: Circuit madness. 2 mile warmup; 1st circuit, 1 mile; 2nd circuit; 3 miles hill and speed play to 8 minute pace. Finally a quality workout. Only did 2 x 15 in the circuit but will increase it when I have more time. Took awhile for my feet to get warm even inside! Log 6.
Tuesday: 5 mi TM + yoga stretch, kept it pretty easy, bit of a struggle but felt good afterward! Log 5.
Wednesday: 30 minute warmup - I was struggling, but found if I went faster on the treadmill I was way more comfortable, so I decided to do a 20 minute "almost" Tempo run. I ran 20 minutes at 8:30 to 8:00 pace (1% grade) (mostly 8:15 pace). This is a little slower than the Jack Daniels prescrition of 7:45 pace, but I'll try that next time. I think I can do it. I like the treadmill because I am so bad at guessing the pace I am running on my own. Cooldown on elliptical. Log 6 miles.
Thursday: off; I needed it. I was really sore last night (R Hamstring/Piriformis), but a little advil and a little rest and I felt like I could run a million miles by the afternoon. Whew. Will lift tomorrow.
Friday: 2 mile warm-up to 7.0; Short Strength Circuit: 2x15 of the following: drive thru's with hammer curls, sumo squat jumps, Lat pulldowns- wide, narrow, reverse, SL raises off bench, knee tucks off bench, SLDL with upright row, Eccentric calf raises/lowers; Treadmill: 10 x 30 sec @ 7.5 (8 minute pace) with 60 sec recovering at 6.0. All at 1% grade. The pickups felt easy. Hamstring/piriformis initially very sore but the lifting calmed it down for the speedwork. Log 5 miles.
Saturday: core/stretch
Sunday: Fyffe's 10 mile loop in Putney. (1:28)
Week Summary
A pretty good week. Felt good to get a couple lifting workouts in and some miles. I like the Putney 10 mile course - and went 4 minutes faster than the last time. My hamstring/piriformis are on fire but seem to calm down with a little advil and rest so I won't worry yet. Hope to get another couple long runs in before Amherst and a couple solid weeks of lifting and miles. Nothing too fancy! It's a process...and I love it.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
WEEK 3: 25 miles and my snowshoe track...
Monday: too much work
Tuesday: Snow day! Got to leave work early and snow shoe on my track in the yard. Greg had already made it nice and wide, but I wasn't able to run much. I tried Greg's snowshoes and did a lot better. Griffin got in a good workout. Tough conditions but fun to be out there. Log 2 miles.
Wednesday: 2 mile progression warm-up. Core. 5 mile progression run. Yoga stretched + more core. Log 7 miles. Felt good to get a decent workout in.
Thursday: TM 25 minutes uphill 3-5% +12 minutes 0% @ 7.0-7.3....Log 4 miles
Friday: Snowshoe track, slow-going but log 3 miles.
Saturday: TM hill/speedplay, 5 miles
Sunday: Snowshoe track 13 laps, last 6 without stopping- finally got into a groove. Avg 3:15/lap ended at 3:04. Finally felt good and productive on the snow shoes! Log 5 miles
Summary
Much better week. Still haven't been following a plan, but can tell I need to and finally want to stop being a slug! The snowshoe track has been fun- Greg did a lot of work packing it down nicely during his many snow days. I made it last year and measured it to almost exactly 1/4 mile. Makes for an easy workout when snowed in. I finally got comfortable on them today (wearing Greg's Atlas snowshoes) and felt like it was a quality workout.
This week...get a plan and stick to it! I think I have time to get back into some sort of shape and maybe even improve for the Amherst 10-miler. We'll see how much this little hiatus has hurt me. It's a process...and I love it!
The videos are at the beginning of my workout... I become less Clydesdale and more runner-like later (that's what I am telling myself)...don't mind the little slip- happens all the time!
Just some pictures...
Tuesday: Snow day! Got to leave work early and snow shoe on my track in the yard. Greg had already made it nice and wide, but I wasn't able to run much. I tried Greg's snowshoes and did a lot better. Griffin got in a good workout. Tough conditions but fun to be out there. Log 2 miles.
Wednesday: 2 mile progression warm-up. Core. 5 mile progression run. Yoga stretched + more core. Log 7 miles. Felt good to get a decent workout in.
Thursday: TM 25 minutes uphill 3-5% +12 minutes 0% @ 7.0-7.3....Log 4 miles
Friday: Snowshoe track, slow-going but log 3 miles.
Saturday: TM hill/speedplay, 5 miles
Sunday: Snowshoe track 13 laps, last 6 without stopping- finally got into a groove. Avg 3:15/lap ended at 3:04. Finally felt good and productive on the snow shoes! Log 5 miles
Summary
Much better week. Still haven't been following a plan, but can tell I need to and finally want to stop being a slug! The snowshoe track has been fun- Greg did a lot of work packing it down nicely during his many snow days. I made it last year and measured it to almost exactly 1/4 mile. Makes for an easy workout when snowed in. I finally got comfortable on them today (wearing Greg's Atlas snowshoes) and felt like it was a quality workout.
This week...get a plan and stick to it! I think I have time to get back into some sort of shape and maybe even improve for the Amherst 10-miler. We'll see how much this little hiatus has hurt me. It's a process...and I love it!
In this one Greg is standing up near the driveway as the track goes along the river and comes up parallel to the road. It's kinda boring, but shows more of the course...we are so proud! (Tried to play with the soundtrack and captions, but only works sometimes....something else to distract me from work and running!)
Just some pictures...
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| Down along the river |
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| Coming down the hill from the house |
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| Griffin running to Greg |
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| Greg and Griffing coming up the hill during a snowstorm on Tuesday...poor Griffin taking it in the face! |
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| Going into the figure 8 loop of the course... |
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| Going down the hill toward the river... |
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| Going up along the road |
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| view of most of the course in the morning from the driveway... |
Sunday, January 16, 2011
WEEK 2: 13 miles
Monday: off
Tuesday: 2 miles TM + Spin class (60 min), some stretching/yoga
Wednesday: SNOW! Packed down my snowshoe track in the yard with Griffin...not much running though (well, Griffin did). 60 minutes. Log 1 mile
Thursday: off
Friday: TM workout: 2 x 1mile (6.5, 6.7, 7.0) + .5 mile @ 7.3 + .25 mi@ 7.5; 5 miles, core + stretch
Saturday: 90 minutes in Pisgah with Griffin snowshoeing....not much in the way of running though. Log 1 mile.
Sunday: Burt Hill Road, Log 4 miles
Real impressive, I know.
Tuesday: 2 miles TM + Spin class (60 min), some stretching/yoga
Wednesday: SNOW! Packed down my snowshoe track in the yard with Griffin...not much running though (well, Griffin did). 60 minutes. Log 1 mile
Thursday: off
Friday: TM workout: 2 x 1mile (6.5, 6.7, 7.0) + .5 mile @ 7.3 + .25 mi@ 7.5; 5 miles, core + stretch
Saturday: 90 minutes in Pisgah with Griffin snowshoeing....not much in the way of running though. Log 1 mile.
Sunday: Burt Hill Road, Log 4 miles
Real impressive, I know.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
WEEK 1: 25 miles
Monday, Jan 3: 4 miles on 119/Ashuelot Roads, chilly.
Tuesday, Jan 4: Strength + 2 miles, pretty lethagic
Wednesday, Jan 5: Spin (Ramona's class, endurance hills) + 4 mile progression TM run, yoga stretches; good workout - the run felt tough, need more of those.
Thursday, Jan 6: Back Ashuelot Road with 3 x 12 sec steep hill sprints, 2 x medium hill sprints; Core and Yoga stretches, 5 miles, surprisingly good workout in the afternoon.
Friday: Home projects, 0 miles
Saturday: pretty lethargic, 20 min trainer + light lift
Sunday: 10 miles, Fyffe's 10-mile loop in Putney, 91 minutes
25 miles. Starting out slowly this year, but today's run in VT was a much needed self-motivating run. My course was very challenging (thanks Fyffe), but I felt pretty good considering my lack of miles lately. I haven't totally lost it...yet. If I get into gear here soon I might be ok for making some gains this spring. Maybe something flat next Sunday- like 13 miles. At the same time the boys did their 18 miles and the "Putney Plunge" (video on fyffe's blog). Jess made us an amzing recovery breakfast. Good times.
Looking further ahead...DH Jones 10 Miler Feb. 27 and New Bedford Half Marathon March 20. Gotta get a move on! It's a process, and I love it!
Tuesday, Jan 4: Strength + 2 miles, pretty lethagic
Wednesday, Jan 5: Spin (Ramona's class, endurance hills) + 4 mile progression TM run, yoga stretches; good workout - the run felt tough, need more of those.
Thursday, Jan 6: Back Ashuelot Road with 3 x 12 sec steep hill sprints, 2 x medium hill sprints; Core and Yoga stretches, 5 miles, surprisingly good workout in the afternoon.
Friday: Home projects, 0 miles
Saturday: pretty lethargic, 20 min trainer + light lift
Sunday: 10 miles, Fyffe's 10-mile loop in Putney, 91 minutes
25 miles. Starting out slowly this year, but today's run in VT was a much needed self-motivating run. My course was very challenging (thanks Fyffe), but I felt pretty good considering my lack of miles lately. I haven't totally lost it...yet. If I get into gear here soon I might be ok for making some gains this spring. Maybe something flat next Sunday- like 13 miles. At the same time the boys did their 18 miles and the "Putney Plunge" (video on fyffe's blog). Jess made us an amzing recovery breakfast. Good times.
Looking further ahead...DH Jones 10 Miler Feb. 27 and New Bedford Half Marathon March 20. Gotta get a move on! It's a process, and I love it!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
WEEK .5: 12 miles and my first PR of 2011
I went down to the Westfield 10k for the Boys and Girls Club in MA for the first race of the year. I did Montague last year- but it was small and quite a difficult course. I was tempted to see how much I would have improved on that course, but the flat course in Westfield was a sure PR...and I was right. This was also a small, no frills race and I had to go solo as Greg was running the Millenium Mile, but the weather was great and I desparately needed a good workout after a couple weeks of lethargy.
I got there early and did a 2+ mile warmup on the course. It's an out and back and on the way out there is a slight climb for awhile before it levels out...then you get to come back the downhill grade. This felt good even on the warmup.
There were only about 125 people between the two races (there was also a 5K). The race starts in the road -which isn't closed to traffic and they mentioned there wasn't any traffic control on the course so "be careful"...nice. I went out mid pack and tried to stay relaxed. I started to pick people off at about the mile mark and then the 5kers hit their turnaround so I could see who was left. I passed a few more people through the second and third miles. I wasn't particularly thrilled with my 5K split of 24:33 at the turnaround, but was encouraged to see how many people were behind me and that only 2 females were ahead (although way ahead). Anyway, I knew it was level and downhill from here so I just tried to keep pace and prayed the last couple females I passed on the way up weren't closing the gap. I did the second 5K in 23:38 for a 48:11 finish (7:46 pace) and a 2:44 PR. I was pretty consistent per mile and even had a little kick at the end when i saw the clock under 48 minutes on my way into the finish...unfortunately I have good eyesight and that quickly ticked away. No one passed me the entire race. At a point around 4 miles I realized I really didn't need to be huffing and puffing like I was and could just relax and probably run faster - this is what I mean about getting tougher this year! I might have been holding back worried I would poop out, but this is stuff I can only learn with experience.
I'm not sure what this race tells me. Maybe Greg and the boys will have some insight. I still haven't mapped out my races for the year other than focusing on the shorter races to get faster. However, I like to keep the Half Marathons in my schedule - they're my favorite! I will put the full marathon off another year to get stronger, but it does cross my mind every other day.
This week- get organized! Put together more strength circuits and pack down my snowshoe "track" in the yard and try to get out in Pisgah! Most importantly, figure out what's next! It's a process....and I love it!
I got there early and did a 2+ mile warmup on the course. It's an out and back and on the way out there is a slight climb for awhile before it levels out...then you get to come back the downhill grade. This felt good even on the warmup.
There were only about 125 people between the two races (there was also a 5K). The race starts in the road -which isn't closed to traffic and they mentioned there wasn't any traffic control on the course so "be careful"...nice. I went out mid pack and tried to stay relaxed. I started to pick people off at about the mile mark and then the 5kers hit their turnaround so I could see who was left. I passed a few more people through the second and third miles. I wasn't particularly thrilled with my 5K split of 24:33 at the turnaround, but was encouraged to see how many people were behind me and that only 2 females were ahead (although way ahead). Anyway, I knew it was level and downhill from here so I just tried to keep pace and prayed the last couple females I passed on the way up weren't closing the gap. I did the second 5K in 23:38 for a 48:11 finish (7:46 pace) and a 2:44 PR. I was pretty consistent per mile and even had a little kick at the end when i saw the clock under 48 minutes on my way into the finish...unfortunately I have good eyesight and that quickly ticked away. No one passed me the entire race. At a point around 4 miles I realized I really didn't need to be huffing and puffing like I was and could just relax and probably run faster - this is what I mean about getting tougher this year! I might have been holding back worried I would poop out, but this is stuff I can only learn with experience.
I'm not sure what this race tells me. Maybe Greg and the boys will have some insight. I still haven't mapped out my races for the year other than focusing on the shorter races to get faster. However, I like to keep the Half Marathons in my schedule - they're my favorite! I will put the full marathon off another year to get stronger, but it does cross my mind every other day.
This week- get organized! Put together more strength circuits and pack down my snowshoe "track" in the yard and try to get out in Pisgah! Most importantly, figure out what's next! It's a process....and I love it!
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