WEEK 11/17 HM Training - Run#3+ A Shrunken Tempo

Oy it's a hot and humid one out there ... is it really September?

I went for a short run last night (2.7 km); I ran from the fitness club after yoga home. :) It was such a muggy evening so I took it slow and steady. My hip flexors were still aching so I opted out of my scheduled tempo run yesterday, instead switching it with today's rest day. Fortunately, yoga was very good for opening up the hips and gently stretching this area so it felt better after class.

I slept in a little later today (8:00 a.m.) before heading out with William Wallace for my tempo run. I had sweat running down my body by the time I was done my 2 km warm-up; eek! It's hard to believe that it is now "fall" with the heat and humidity as high as it is today.

I set the bar lower today for my tempo run (40 minutes @6:45/km). The air was soup-like and I'm not crazy - the environment/conditions for running over-rules scheduling. My desired 6:30/km will have to wait until after my Springbank Half Marathon. Wallace and I started out on target and there were a few fluctuations on either side of 6:45, but by the 10 minute mark, I was cruising at a pace faster than 6:45/km. Very cool! I started thinking about how my ego needed this (ha!), and after Tempo #1 went so well and Tempo #2 *sucked* ... it was great to be on track for another good tempo albeit not the one I originally desired ...

... until I saw my friend, Sheila, walking her dog, Tasha. Sheila is a good friend of mine and I dog-sit Tasha on a regular basis. Sheila does not run and she is not the kind of person who would understand it if I ran by her without stopping (she is very much an English lady even after living in Canada longer than she did in Britain). She would not understand if I called out, "I'm 3/4 of the way through my tempo run ... I can't stop now!" It's just not in my nature to do this to her, either. People trump run schedules. So William Wallace and I stopped to say hello, chat and to gush over (me)/lick (Wallace) Tasha.

We chatted for awhile to catch up. It was so much in my heart to resume my tempo and go for the gusto for 10 more minutes, but my heart is not connected to my hip flexors. :( They had stiffened up in the time I was chatting, and it was quite clear that I could not resume my workout. Oh well! It was good while it lasted and I revel in the fact that I was doing better than my lowered bar when I was stopped. :) However, the rest of the run home felt long, as it often does when my planned workout is stopped mid-stream, but I took it very easy because of my tender hips.

I still don't really know what I did which created this tenderness in this area, but I think my body is needing another recovery week and I have a race taper week scheduled so this should do the trick. :)

16 km tomorrow - nice and slow and easy is on the agenda. :) Before I sign off, I want to share this link with you. One of the blogs I follow is called, Lazy Girl Running (she is running the London Marathon in a few weeks). I find her very funny and witty (I think Canadian humour tends to be more British than American in this respect). Let's just say that I had a good laugh about her post about body image and using the Red Riding Hood analogy ... I like her encouragement to be The Wolf! Amen, sister! :) While you are on her site, check out her tour of the 2012 Summer Olympics Marathon tour, too; it's very, very cool IMO. :)

GYM UPDATE

Kundalini Yoga last night was good as always, but I will say that that there were moves that I didn't enjoy as much as usual. There is usually a very sweaty and stinky kickboxing class ahead of yoga on Friday nights (I plan to join the sweaty, sticky people someday!), but their class was cancelled for the evening. I was dropped off early at the fitness club by Benny so I walked easily on a treadmill for 15 minutes so I could watch a bit of TV (not very good TV; the videos on Much Music are kind of crappy these days) until my yoga instructor showed up. She opened the room early to us and it was neat to see how most of us, casual and comfortable with each other, used this time for personal deep breathing and meditation. THIS is what I like so much about this class and the people who attend it. This is my kind of environment and camaraderie. :)

Tonight's class was about returning to the basics. I found it a bit challenging because of my hips; there was some discomfort for me as I did various poses and stretches, but I knew that this was doing what I needed it to do. Funny how we have to attend a class to do this because we won't do it on our own at home, eh? :)

It was sweet to end the class with both Judy and June asking after my mother. :) Judy was thrilled to hear that Mom enjoyed yoga and was looking for a class to join in Peterborough, and June happily passed on to me that she received pics by email of my cousin's new baby.

Did you know that I have been faithfully attending this class for almost as long as I have been running this year? Cool! :)

Week 9/17 HM Training - Run #3 Tempo (Session #1)

Tempo Run for 40 minutes

w/u 2 km @7:15/km

Tempo 6.03 km @6:38/km (10:41/mile)

c/d 2 km @7:27/km

Not a bad workout! :)

It's a busy posting day on my blog. First, it's Food Rules Friday so if you are looking for it, sku down a few posts or click on the link. Second, I posted the blurb from my training book on Tempo Runs so again, sku down a post to read this or click on the link. :) The beauty of having pre-written posts scheduled for certain days. :)

Even though I wasn't feeling like being a speed demon when I headed out this morning with the dogs in tow, I was determined to get this tempo run done today. I decided ahead of time to set my 'quick interval' Garmin option for 6:45/km pace for 40 minutes. It's been awhile since I've run at this pace for a training run (my South Huron 8K race excluded) - I'm a little rusty with the speed after so much longer, slower mileage. Rather than going out there "full hog" to try to run a 6:30/km pace, I thought I would ease into it so I aimed for 6:45/km instead.

I had this in mind, too:

Springbank Half Marathon (before track training on Sept. 11)

Course with a few hills and varying inclines

Ideal Goal 2:25 = avg. pace 6:52/km (11:04/mile)

Niagara Falls Half Marathon (after track training on Oct. 23)

Course is very flat with a few inclines near the end

Ideal Goal 2:20 = avg. pace 6:38/km (10:41/mile)

My splits from today's tempo:

1 km - 6:30

2 km - 6:44

3 km - 6:39

4 km - 6:38

5 km - 6:44

6 km - 6:40

0.03 km - 5:23/km (LOL!)

Truth be told, I actually could have run this faster. Unfortunately, I had a little bit of a dead weight with me. :( Angus was not at his fastest today. I didn't think the temperature or the distance would be difficult for him, but just during the warm-up run, he was beginning to slow behind me so I knew then that the tempo might be a challenge for him. He was fine for the first half, but during the second half of the tempo, I could feel 'one' leash at my waist tugging from behind. :( He didn't drag me down completely, but the small, consistent pull from him made it more challenging for me to maintain pace. :( I need to make a judgment call about taking him with me next Friday, when I have my next tempo run scheduled, basing my decision on the weather, temperature, and his fitness that day. I am a little bothered by it; for a young, extremely fit dog, I find it hard to believe that my slow running pace is "too" fast for him for 10km. :(

I have Kundalini yoga tonight. :) I am playing it by ear as to whether or not I head out for a recovery 5K tomorrow. I may I opt out for another rest day because I have a 19.5 km run (12 miles) scheduled for Sunday (I am at 973 km for the year with today's run). :)

I may also shift all my runs by one day next week because I have the Ingersoll Harvest Run on the following Sunday:

• Mon - rest day (as scheduled)
• Tues - 11.5 km (cancel and complete hill workout instead)
• Wed - hill workout (change to Tues and take off instead)
• Thu - 5 km or rest (change to Wed and complete tempo run instead)
• Fri - tempo run (change to Thu and take off instead)
• Sat - 5 km or rest (change to Fri and run 16 km instead)
• Sun - 16 km (change to Sat and run Harvest Festival Run 10K, making up for cancelled 11.5 km on Tues)

Half Marathon Training Continues! Phase II: Strength Work (Tempo Runs)

"How to Run a Personal Record: Cover the Ground in Front of You Faster Than Ever Before," by Dave Kuehls, pg. 15-16.

Tempo Runs:

The other cornerstone workout of the Strength Work phase, tempo runs, take a little time getting used to, but once you do, they will be an effective tool that carries over to the Track Work phase. Tempo runs are done on Thursdays Following your hill work (Note: Fridays in my case because of my shifted schedule). On a flat, soft surface run 20 to 40 minutes at a pace that is just below the point where you would be uncomfortable trying to hold that pace for a good length of time. This will be tricky at first, and you may go out too fast only to slow down severely after a couple of minutes of running, blowing your first attempt at a tempo run. Instead, start slowly, gradually work up to a pace that is uncomfortable, then back off slightly to find tempo pace. A flat surface is key because you are getting your body to push your anaerobic threshold up by holding a pace that is just below it for a consistent amount of time - and this would be hard to do on an up-and-down course. Warm up for a mile or two before beginning a tempo run, and cool down afterward with the same distance.

Wk11/D3 - Running a Tempo with Angels

Warm-up: 2K @14:02

Avg. Pace - 7:02/km

Tempo Run @20 minutes

3.3K

Avg. Pace - 6:01/km

Cool-down: 1.5K @10:21

Avg. Pace - 6:55/km

In complete contrast to the snipers I ran with last week, today I ran with angels in my head. :) :) What a difference one week can make !!

Today I ran first thing in the morning. The warmer temperatures were a good reminder to me that I need to return to a "first thing in the morning before anything else" running schedule as I am encountering humidity later in the day, and the weather forecasters are calling for yet another dry, humid, and hot summer. :( The best thing for me to do right now is to re-accustom myself to running early when it's the coolest in preparation for a miserable summer of half marathon training.

So this is what I did differently for my run. I also left the dogs at home because I didn't want anything slowing me down on my run ... Angus dragged me down a little last week on my humid tempo so I didn't want to take any chances with him today. Sorry, pooches! :( After last week's sniper-fest, I made every effort to ensure that today's run would go as "well" as possible. I went to bed early last night after getting all my running gear ready, and I left for my run thinking nothing, but positive thoughts. :) I wanted my 5K race pace today!

And as hoped, my 20 minutes tempo went exceedingly well. :)

1 km - 5:55

2 km - 6:09

3 km - 6:00

0.32 km - 6:01

I am stoked because, after factoring in race adrenaline, another 1.68 km, and a leeway of 9 minutes, that's my 5K in under 30 right there - LOL! :)

I did my best NOT to look at the Garmin but to see how well I did on my own, using my own sense of speed. I used the "Pace - Average" display again and this does seem to be working for me. Rather than a, "this is my pace right now," I have a, "this is how I am doing in the grand scheme of things" sense. It's probably all semantics and psychologically games, but whatever works best for me, right? :)

And being good to myself in my head was a significant factor. I am not sure what was happening with me last week, but today, I was nothing but lightness, positive thinking, happiness and confidence and it showed. :) It's amazing to me how much of an effect one's head-space can have on a run. Over the weekend, I read various posts from runners on the DailyMile about their half and full marathons (Pittsburg, Toronto, Mississauga). It was incredible to read about one person's high/PR versus someone else's stress during his/her run, and the personal challenges involved. How would I react, if, after all the effort to train and prepare, things just didn't go right that day? Could I overcome it or would it continue to eat at me slowly? I feel exhilarated, too, when I read someone's account of well-deserved success, but I learn more from someone else's "the good, the bad, and the ugly" account. I have to keep this mind for the next time I experience a disappointing race, and feel so reluctant to post anything about it (e.g. Run for Retina).

I also want to add to this post today something that I just realized about my training this year. Last year, when training for my half marathon, I ran four days a week, and I can find weeks during the program when I ran only three days because I opted out. I think there are several factors for this:

1. I am fitter. My body is not as tired from the exertion so I am doing better at adding another day.

2. I have a more specific goal. Last year, I was aiming to 'just finish' in the 2:30-ish zone. For my upcoming 5K, I am specific about running it under 30 minutes; therefore, I am more concerned about missing assigned workouts.

3. I am more of a disciplinarian with myself this year. I am better at getting myself out there to run, even when I am not 'feeling' it.

4. My blog and DailyMile. :) I cannot tell a lie (darn moral upbringing!) so with online friends who are sharing my running experience, I've got to stick to the plan and the goal. :) :) To those of you reading this right now, thank you!! :)

And on that final note, I plan on taking tomorrow off - LOL! I am still very good at taking a rest day after three consecutive days of runs. :) I have a 13K scheduled for Saturday, but I am going to see if I can sneak in another km to make up for lost mileage from last weekend's 10K race substitution for my 13K. However, this is also for an ego boost ... to see if I can run 14K straight without walking. :)

Happy long weekend! ... it's Victoria Day weekend in Canada ... Monday is a holiday! Fireworks! Thank you, British heritage in Canada, celebrating a dead monarch! :)

Wk10/D3 - The Sniper Control Run (Tempo for 20 Minutes)

It's odd to be posting a run so late, but I wasn't able to access my blog when Blogger.com is down. :( It must have been quite the problem on their end because I have not been able to access my blog for two days!

I am back-dating this post to keep the dates of my runs accurate for future reference. I now realize that for anyone who follows my blog from their blog list will be receiving the backdated ones instead of the most recent one (my Goderich race) so I will give a link to here. :)

Warm-up: 2.2K @16:14

Avg. Pace 7:17/km

Tempo Run 20 minutes @6:16/km

Cool-down: 2.5K @27:53

Avg. Pace 11:15/km

This turned out to be a very mentally challenging run ... a mixed bag of sorts.

It was hot and humid and I was feeling blah! During my warm-up, I felt very negative. I was late getting out because I had spent the previous few hours feeling nauseous for some reason (this has been going on for days). I was not happy and my reflected this ...

It's too humid to run ...

Today is just not a good day to run ...

I think I should postpone my tempo run until tomorrow ...

I doubt I can run a 6:19/km pace again today ...

I was forced to conduct an intervention with myself !!

What is going on here?

Where are all these snipers in my head coming from this week?

I WILL run my tempo run today!

I WILL try!

I WILL get this done! ... and

It really doesn't matter if your tempo pace sucks!

So I did it. I started my tempo run in my usual spot and gave it the best that I could. I had a greater challenge this week controlling my pace. Within the first km, I was as high as 5:00/km and as low as 6:45/km. I struggled to find the happy medium of (hopefully) 6:19/km or faster. I think my inability to find an even keel contributed to my tiring after the 10 minute mark - last week I gained speed after 10 minutes, but this was not the case today. :( But I did the best that I could under the circumstances - humidity, tummy issues, sniper attacks and a cranky attitude!

I also want to send out good karma to the runner who passed us during our tempo run. He enthusiastically declared, "The three of you are doing just great!" I am sure my "thank you" sounded more weak than intended - LOL! I was breathing more heavily at this point. :)

I think my running challenges this week must be a counter-balance to last week's, "Best Training Week Ever!" I fully admit that I have been over-exerting myself outside in the yard all week and that this may have something to do with it. I am going to exercise my "rest day" option for tomorrow rather than running an easy 5K. I will go to Kundalini yoga, run an easy 5K on Saturday, and then have a fun, relaxed race in Goderich on Sunday.

There! I am already feeling a little more positive. :)