Penny

Mostly easy miles (8-8:15) with a one mile "tempo" ish thrown in. It felt great actually... around 6:50-55 (mile split didnt quite line up with my laps). Tried not to look at watch and just run "comfortably hard". I was happy with how the pace felt; breathing felt easy and legs felt light.... obviously its a different story when you start doing proper tempos at this pace though :)

Easy miles in the freeeeeezing cold. Avg of 7:50. First and last miles were about 8:20, then I pretty consistently ran 7:45s the rest of the way, feeling comfortable and easy breathing, but probably faster than usual because (a) it was cold, and (b) I wanted to get home quick because... wait for it... it was cold. I know, 28 degrees is probably balmy for a lot of people, but for this little weak-skinned Aussie (who spent the last two years in socal) its quite chilly.

 Am contemplating taking all of next week off running before launching into actual marathon training (ie, adding back in hard workouts). I have a few niggles that I feel would heal up if I gave them a little rest. Also I am mentally waning a little, and less enthused about running at the moment (especially after a couple of disappointing races) than I could be. In fact, I barely took off any time (3-4 days at most?) after those races, which could explain the general "meh" feeling I have about running right now. Perhaps a week's break would also bring back some fresh enthusiasm?

I can be a bit obsessive about getting my sweat on, so this wouldnt be a week off entirely; just no impact aerobic, strength and yoga allowed.

Any thoughts? Any chance I could suddenly lose all my running strength and end up injured if I go back to running 40-50 miles per week after a week off?

No running: Day 2. Holding strong. 

Insanity core cardio and balance; a very low impact workout that always works my hip flexors and lower core which is feeling kinda weak at the moment. 

Extremely stressful day; doing cross-examination at trial in federal court. Managed to sneak in a leg workout in the morning. 

Warmup: 1 min jump rope (without the rope) jumps; 1 min mummy kicks; 1 min star jumps

3 x

20 x pushups

20 x sumo squats with lateral leg raise

20 x lunges with front leg raise (each side)

13 x side lunges

15 x bridge + leg raise (works the hamstring kinda like curls on a swiss ball)

Stretch

XT: 65 mins elliptical intervals. 15 mins stair master. Good long stretch. 

Day four of no running. 

Day 5 no running. Still holding strong. 

Insanity core cardio and balance again. This is such a great little workout. Not at all heavy, but really targets some running muscles that dont get much attention. 

Plus 45 mins elliptical intervals. 

Elliptical 60 mins + 60 mins yoga

60 mins elliptical + core cardio and balance

I SURVIIIIIIIIVED. My one week off running. I strength trained and yoga-ed and cross-trained instead. It was naaaasty. 

This was an 8-miler in 28 degree weather. Usually too cold for me, but I needed to get out! 8:05 pace around the hilly Central Park big loop. Felt a little tired and that was not 100% easy pace, but I think my legs were probably burnt out from all the strength/cross training... in a good way :)

First speed session of this cycle! Did it on the treadmill, because I just find speed easier that way (I dont have access to a track, otherwise that would be the best option).

 1.5% incline.

1 mile easy. 12 x 400 repeats at roughly 5K pace (6:18min/mile or 9.5mph on tready), with 400m recoveries at around 8:30-9 pace.

Tough workout (though not as bad as 800s!), but really felt strong. My leg began to lock up at one point but after stretching my hip a little and focusing on allowing my hips to rotate with each turnover, it completely stopped. Reinforces my theory that tightness in the front hip flexor muscles is forcing my glutes to work harder than necessary, which makes them seize up and grab hold of the sciatic nerve, causing the leg lock. It only ever happens when I have been lazy about stretching those muscles....

My other niggles - namely posterior shin splints and some ITB tightness - are gone gone gone.

Im about 12 weeks out from NJ marathon. Im really happy that I took a break from running, as I am reeeeearing to go.

40 mins easy elliptical

Easy 8 on slliiiiiiippery paths. It would have been about 8:00 pace, except for all the sliding around attempting to avoid falling on my ass. 

 Going to see sports doc today re hamstring/butt. Its still about a 0.001 on the pain scale, but marathon training is going to be a big ramp-up from where I am at currently. I want a proper diagnosis on this thing now so that if there is a gait issue or muscle imbalance, I can correct it now before it becomes a chronic problem that prevents me from training hard. 

This was to be a tempo run.... but quads were still sore from my first speed session.

Marathon tempo attempt #1.

 Ok so two things to note.

(1) marathon tempos are easier than HM tempos. That's nice.

(2) My body got pretty good at finding and holding HM pace (6:50-6:55) in tempos.

(3) My body has absolutely no idea where marathon pace (7:10 ish) is.

 So I did 2 easy miles to warm up... by mile three my toes were still numb. I attempted my first tempo mile, but decided to run slow toward the end, as I wasn't able to hold pace (still cold and running into the wind). Turned around, and did 4 miles of "tempo" running. The award for uneven splits goes to......

 7:30, 7:13, 7:06, 6:52, 6:55.

Hmmmm. They all felt pretty much the same, effort-wise, so I guess its fine, because effort is what matters with tempo running, right?

It might take a little longer to find my marathon pace. HM pace was easy; it was really just below lactate threshold, and I felt like it was the hardest pace I could hold while still being mostly aerobic and not building up lactic acid too quickly. Marathon pace is hard because its a slightly lesser effort, and I have to hold that pace for 26.2. It'll be interesting figuring this out as my tempos get longer.

 In other news, I went to the sports doc, who said my butt/hamstring problem was simple: I have "white girl weak butt" syndrome (his words). Haha! Apparently my quads and hamstrings are very strong, and are just overpowering my backside. Easy to fix, and should be fine with about 6 weeks of some strength training focusing on the gluts, hips, piriformis etc.

Easy miles on the tready at the gym, 1% incline at around 8:20 pace. I much prefer running outside, but it was 25 degrees with some serious wind, and I didnt want my face frozen off.

Did the majority of my first strength workout, targeted to my gluts. Already feel the difference; Im experiencing no more hamstring twinges at all. I think the exercises serve to release the piriformis, as much as it does strengthen; and that in turn gives all the muscle around the sciatic nerve a rest.

Includes: squats, jump squats, lunges, jump lunges, deadlifts (light weights), single-leg squats and jump-squats, core work (push ups, crunches, planks, plank-rows), burpees and upper body strength stuff combined with some squats and one-legged balance work. 

I finished it all except the burpees, as I knew my core and quads were plenty worked out by the end, and I was too fatigued to carry on.

Easy miles around 8:10 pace. Muscles still sore from strength training on Sunday!

Speed! Treadmill, 1% incline.

8x600s at 6:22 (5k ish pace I think) with 400m jog recoveries. 

This was surprisingly hard! Not quite as quickly over as the 400m repeats, but almost as fast....looking forward to the slightly longer slower repeats coming up on the plan - I forgot (from training for Vegas) how hard these things are. I was totally freaking out (unnecessarily) about it all day. Its the only workout I allow myself to listen to music to! But done and done.

Tready run-lunch....runch! 

 Ooph, this was a hard one. Five-mile tempo. 1% incline. 

2 miles easy, 2miles @ 7:19, 2 miles @ 7:13, 1 mile @ 7:08, 1 mile easy.

Not sure why this felt so hard. Running on the treadmill is easier for speed, I feel, but absolutely blows on tempo running.7:08 felt like 6:50 outside.

Thinking about readjusting marathon goal. Not sure where to aim for. Without wanting to inflate myself, my racing times just dont reflect my fitness right now, Im sure of it.

Then again, I really dont feel like I can run 7:10 for 26.2! Any other ways to test preparedness to run the big one at a certain pace? I need another race soon to test my fitness!

Easy miles, around 8:30. Running a half marathon tomorrow, so wanted to take it easy. I'll be running it as a long run, not racing. I decided this at the beginning of the week, because my legs are fatigued from the training Ive done so far, and racing this would definitely take me out of commission for at least a week. Plus, this way I can run it with a friend, and dont have to worry about all the nutrition/bathroom etc stuff you normally do for a race. 

Oh yeah, and did I mention that its around Central Park (ie really hilly) and there were 25mph winds forecast? May have had something to do with my decision :)

Originally signed up for this race thinking I would run it as a marathon tempo. Then weather forecasted rain, snow and 25mph winds on an already very hilly course through Central Park. So I decided to run this with a friend as an easy/long run. I ran 9 miles yesterday, and did a tempo on Friday, so I was just hoping my legs were good for it.

 Well, low and behold, the weather (as I should have known, if I paid any attention to Murphy) was perfect running weather. Overcast, cool in the 40s, barely any wind!

 Ah well, it was really nice doing a race with 0 expectations other than to have fun. 

Overall a  1:44-ish for a average pace of 7:53 min/mile (with a bathroom break - first time in a race ever!) All miles felt pleasantly aerobic with a bit of effort going up those Harlem hills.

Again I'm reminded at how far Ive come. This was an easy/long run for me. A year ago, I had never even run a half marathon.

Iron Strength Workout from Dr Metzl. Hits everything - a great one for runners.

Easy at 8:07 avg pace. Tired legs, but feeling good. Butt-sore from strength last night - at least I know its working haha!

Speed, treadmill, 1% incline.

6 x 800s at 6:22min/miles (9.4mph) with 400 jog recoveries at about 9:30-10 min miles. 

 Wowzas, this felt hard. I cant believe I did 10 of these last cycle (albeit at 6:27pace). Though its possible that I was walking my recoveries back then... jogging/running increases the difficulty a lot.

 Im pleased with how the training is going so far. Excited to have another crack at the tempo tomorrow. Partially because its not going to hurt as much as this workout, but also the weather is great in NYC right now, and its a good opportunity to get in some nice morning miles.