Intervals in the 'Hood + Logging Online

I'm what you call an "old-fashioned" runner.  All of the new gadgets, knee high compression socks and mile tracking phone apps associated with the modern day running community were not around when I was in my competitive heyday.  Needless to say, it's a learning curve for me. 

An example of my vintage habits would include my handwritten training log.  Below is a sample page from last year...

To bring me up-to-date and to better organize my training, Jesse suggested an online training log to keep track of workouts and runs.  Since it's time to plan out my spring/summer training and racing schedule, he thought a good approach would be to use running-log.com for this very purpose.  

This tool is valuable for several reasons: 

• It will allow me to more specifically log each run including mileage, type of workout, distances and times.  Plus, I can keep track of warm-ups, cool downs and intervals.
• We both can access it to adjust future training plans and review past sessions. 

One of my resolutions was to organize all facets of my life and this is definitely one way to begin with a more structured running regimen. 


Speaking of running, on Saturday I did a lactate threshold {tempo} workout in a neighborhood full of rolling hills.  These types of workouts are important in the base phase of training when a runner is predominantly working on workouts and training that stress aerobic development. 

Here's what we did:

1.5 mile warm-up and 4 strides

2 mile tempo - 13:06 {6:40, 6:25}  

4 minutes rest  

1 mile tempo - 6:18

2 minutes rest

1 mile tempo - 6:07

1.5 mile cool down

Overall, I felt pretty good and my paces were under the projected times that Jesse set before we began.  This was the first of many workouts to come in the new year.     

On Saturday night, Fred and I enjoyed a relaxing dinner with some friends, hibachi-style.  I ordered the filet mignon and chicken with noodles and Fred got the filet mignon/scallops combo with noodles.  It's always fun to have your meal prepared right before your eyes!    

Sunday started with a 5 mile run, followed by a quick trip with Fred to the market and breakfast at Panera Bread...Ginger Peach tea and steel cut oatmeal with berries, pecans and cinnamon.   

Sunday afternoon my mom came over to help me prepare my chocolate chili and it turned out great!   

In addition, she helped me bake for my "Birthday Club" buddy at school.  On the docket:  Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers and PB & Chocloate Pan Cookies.  Both are located on my Pinterest boards under "Sweets" and they are definitely worth trying!  

Enjoy your day!

  

 









 

3 x 2k, Cross-Country Style

I don’t know about you, but my allergies are driving me crazy!  I have been really stuffy and my throat has been sore.  Plus, lately my time is very limited to fit in quality runs.  My husband’s schedule is perpetually busy and my daughter just started her after school activities, leaving me with a small margin of time to workout.  Because of all of this, I had to run my hard workout last night, with no choice.

I met Jesse at Bicentennial Park to do some intervals and I arrived early to do a two mile warm-up since he couldn't get there until 6:45pm.  To my surprise, I felt decent on my warm-up and quickly realized that the workout may not be as bad as I thought.  

On the docket was 3 x 2k {roughly 1.25 miles} at 6:30 pace.  Here's how it went:

1st: 8:05.7 {6:29 pace}

3 minutes rest

2nd: 7:57 {6:22 pace}

3 minutes rest

3rd: 7:50 {6:17 pace}

4 x 30 second strides, each progressively getting faster on 1:15 rest

1.5 mile cool down 

Overall, I was pleased with the results.  My Achilles was holding up, I felt strong while running, and my strides at the end were fast.  By the time the workout was over it was after 8pm, so I stopped at Panera Bread for some soup and a cookie.  I was on my own for dinner so that seemed like a logical choice.  Here was the site from my computer while writing this post...

How do you make time to fit in your workouts?  It is a challenge for me and I'm sure that I'm not alone.  Have a great Wednesday! 

Progression and Panera.

Hi Guys!

I thought I would do a quick post this evening about tonight's progression run with Lauretta.  Since I am racing on Sunday, I didn't want to go "super crazy" so here's how it went...

For 5 miles...we went out in 19:00 "on the nose" for 2 1/2 miles.  

Coming back, we ran 16:47 for a total of 35:47.  The last two miles were at approximately 6:37 pace.  We were still talking the entire time, so we were pretty comfortable. 

Her watch said that we ran the last mile in 6:31.  Can Garmin watches be THAT different if we were running stride for stride?  We decided that we liked her final time better!  

Per Jesse's instructions, I was supposed to do about a half mile of strides upon completion of the progression run, so we looked like fools running up and down my street.  I'm sure my neighbors were wondering what we were doing...!

It's always fun to run with someone and I am really enjoying my weekly dates with Lauretta.  Here we are looking "beautiful" afterwards.

For dinner, it was just Payton and me again so we decided tonight was a Panera Bread kind of night.  Since Panera is literally just around the corner from us, it was a no-brainer.  

Payton got her usual...Cheddar Broccoli soup with a baguette.

They didn't have their Vegetable Soup with Pesto, so I got a bowl of the Cream of Chicken with Wild Rice and a whole wheat baguette.  I ate half of it and saved the other half for lunch tomorrow.  

Here's a trick - I put the rest of my soup in a container and added a little skim milk to: thin it down and add more broth.  That way, I have a full bowl of soup for tomorrow's lunch. 

Now it's time to relax and catch up on some school work.

Have a great night!

Tracy

Progression run and a girls' night.

Hello!  I hope you are all doing well!  It's a little damp and rainy here today, but it's nothing a hot cup of tea can't fix...

Yesterday I really, really REALLY, wanted to get in a long run, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, it didn’t happen.  I finally got to run after I accomplished the few things I had to do.  Because I only had a limited amount of daylight available, I decided to do my progression run for the week.

Here I am getting ready for my run.  It was such a nice day here in the Lehigh Valley!

By the way, I love these types of shirts where the sleeves have the thumb loop built in.  They are perfect for chilly days when you want to cover your hands, but don’t want to wear gloves.

Here it is worn as a regular sleeve.  Cute, right?  It’s the little things that make me happy!! 

Ok, enough about sleeves….

Meet Coach Jesse...

He is the new Director of Cross-Country and Track & Field at my alma mater, Moravian College, and he is currently serving as my training “advisor.” Coach Jesse believes that progression runs are an essential part of a runner’s training.  Here’s what he has to say:

What is a progression run?

There are a few benefits/purposes.  The first is to simulate the end of a race.  You’ll be more tired in the last 3^rd of the race, so by doing a progression, you recreate that scenario.  You’ve accumulated some fatigue (not as much as in a race, but still), and now you’ve got to physically and mentally prepare to fight through that fatigue.  In a race, this requires you to focus on driving your knees forward, getting good heel recovery so you have a faster swing phase in your stride, rolling up onto the balls of your feet, and maintaining good upper body posture, all while you’re a little tired…a progression run recreates this scenario and requires you to do all of these things.

What I like about progression runs, though, is that you should keep them “aerobic,” meaning not dipping too close to your lactate threshold.  You can get in a high quality run, without accumulating a lot of the metabolic wastes that would come with a faster run (e.g. lactate accumulation in the legs which can take 36 hours to remove via the liver, or substantially depleting your glycogen)…so you get in a hard effort that simulates a race, but without being too taxing on the body.  For this reason, I do these a lot 2 days before a race – I can sneak in another workout without beating up athletes.  And usually you feel good about yourself when you can blast out a few good miles at the end of a run that don’t feel too terribly hard.

Additionally, by training at a faster pace that is still predominantly aerobic, you more effectively develop your capillaries within your working muscles, which means more blood is getting to the muscles.  This also means more oxygen than if you ran at a slower pace.  It increases some enzymes and mitochondria within the muscle as well…so basically it enhances a lot of the process that you utilize to deliver oxygen to the working muscles, and use it as an energy source…but again, it’s not overly taxing either from a mental, or physiologic standpoint.

Thanks, Jesse.  Your input was great!  You rock!

So today I decided to do a 5-mile progression run on a course that I like to run.  Here’s the run-down: I did the first 2 ½ miles at a decent pace (about 7:42) and ended up at the turn around point in 19:15.  I stopped for a few seconds to stretch and then immediately began my return home.  My second half was faster, just like I planned.  I completed the second 2 ½ miles in 16:34, which brought me to a final time of 35:49.  Coming back, my pace was just under 6:40 pace, with my last mile at 6:20.  I felt pretty good, the weather was perfect, and my muscles were ready. 

When I got home, I did the normal routine…stretched, foam rolled, and fed Willsey.  Then my daughter and I had a girls’ night complete with Panera Bread soup and a chocolate chip cookie to share.  It was the perfect ending to a good day!  

Tracy