Sunny and Bright Afternoon Track Workout

Despite yesterday's cooler temps, today ended up being quite beautiful!  And, because we ended work at around 1:00 pm due to a teacher in-service day, I took full advantage of the weather and made it my goal to complete a track workout with a longer warm-up before my kiddies got off the bus.    

Upon dismissal from the day, I headed over to the track at my husband's school.  The plan was to do a longer warm-up for some extra mileage, so I ran 35 minutes {which equated to about 4.5 miles}.  Following my warm-up, I did my drills and strides.  For some reason, I wasn't feeling quite right.  My stomach felt queasy and my mouth felt dry...however, I decided to power on through.  Once I got going, I felt a little better so it was worth it to struggle in the beginning in order to have a positive outcome.  

Here's the workout:

35 minute warm-up / strides / drills

3 x 400 - 79.6, 79.4, 78.6 {on 1 minute rest}
3 x 300 - 59.6, 59.9, 58.4 {on 1 minute rest}
2 x 200 - 38.1, 36.6, 35.6 {on 45 seconds rest}

1.5 mile cool down / stretching  

The watch surprised me with that last 200 split, but I'll take it!  

Once I got home, Willsey and I were fooling around outside while waiting for the kids to arrive from school.  I haven't decided if these little blue flowers are a weed or an actual plant since I can't remember them from the last two summers.  Any ideas?

And, he wasn't cooperating with the camera until we came inside.

All in all it was a pretty good day!  Have you done any track workouts lately?  

Early Morning Track Session and a Sweet Potato Salad

For the last few weeks my husband has decided to start an exercise program with some friends, so every weekday morning he gets up bright and early to meet them at the track.  Up until this point he’s been walking, but just this week he started running the straights and walking the turns.  I am so proud of him for his efforts.  It’s not easy to get out of bed every morning at 5:30 am to exercise! 

So as we sat watching TV on Tuesday night, he mentioned that I should come along to do a workout of my own.  I thought about it for a brief moment and couldn’t agree more that it was a great idea!  The track is between 2 – 2.5 miles from our home depending on the route taken, so I decided to meet them so I could get in a warm-up and cool-down. Here’s how it went:

Workout: 200, 300, 400, 400, 300, 200 {on a minute rest}

Warm-up: 2.5 miles and easy drills

200 – 38

300 – 59

400 – 79

400 – 78

300 – 59

200 – 38

Cool-down: 2 miles {due to time}

My workouts have been sporadic, so I wasn’t looking to set the world on fire.  I just wanted to throw some intervals into my training and yesterday was the perfect opportunity.  Plus, I was happy to have some company in my general running vicinity. In addition, the day was slated to be a wash out, complete with rain and thunderstorms, so I was extremely happy to get the workout in before the impending weather.

On another note, the other night I made a delicious vegan meal created by Mark Bittman.  I found it on Pinterest and immediately thought it was a winner.  Bittman recently released a new book titled "VB6: Eating Vegan Before Six" and I am looking forward to reading it. 

Recipe: Sweet Potato Salad

I did add two ingredients to the recipe: about a cup of thawed corn and a splash of agave nectar to the dressing.  Plus, I cut the potatoes and onions up and prepared foil packets in advance so my husband was able to cook them on the grill…which made for easy clean-up.  

This meal received top scores from my husband.  Even better…I had all of the ingredients in my fridge.  Both are bonuses in my book!  Enjoy the day!

Workout with a Friend

Good morning!  I have to say, I'm fully taking advantage of Lauretta being home.  Yesterday morning she arrived at my house and we ran to the track for a little session full of 2's, 3's and 4's.   

Post run, awful picture of us! 

From my place, we ran a 2.5 mile warm-up.  I can't say this enough...it is soooooo great to have someone to run and train with, even if it is for a few days.  Once we arrived at the track, we did some drills and strides.  Lauretta said that she hasn't been on the track since October...but one would never know!

Our workout was on the lighter side.  Depending on how we felt, we decided to make it up as we went along.  It was such a beautiful morning with little wind...a rare occurance on that track.  Here's what we did:

3 x 200 - 37.7, 37.6, 38.2 
2 x 400 -  78.7, 79.9 
2 x 300 - 57.5, 57.8 
3 x 200 - 38.2, 37.5, 36.5  

Everything was at about a minute rest, give or take a few seconds.  I felt decent but those 400s always get me.  Last week I did 6 x 400 on the track at 79-80 {5:20 mile} pace.  Comparing the two workouts, I definitely felt better yesterday than last week.   

We even had a visitor...my college coach Mark Will-Weber.  At one time, Mark coached Lauretta when she was living here in Bethlehem too.  I always love seeing him!  

Overall, it was another good workout to put me back into the groove.  The rest of the day was gorgeous!  I sat out on my porch for a bit...

...and spent time with my kids and husband..and of course, Willsey.  

How did you spend your Easter/Spring break?  Enjoy your day!  

 

 


 

Track 800's and Some Food Ideas

Ugh!  Stop this madness already! 

The winter of 2013 has been a long, cold, icy wind-blown season of not so pleasant freezing temperatures and I have officially had my fill.  The conclusion of Tuesday’s rainy, slushy mix brought the 25-30 mph winds into our area and they were not particularly pleasant for a workout on the track.  I am ready for spring.

Last night’s track workout consisted of the following: 5 x 800 on descending rest and 2 x 200.   

This picture was from a few weeks ago but it was taken at the exact same track in the exact same outfit.  It worked.....

Here’s how it went:

Warm-up – 2 miles + drills

1 –3:01 {2:30 rest}

2 –2:58 {2:00 rest}

3 –2:58 {1:30 rest}

4 –2:56 {1:00 rest}

5 –2:54 {1:00 rest}

2 x 200 - 37.2, 36.9

Cool down - 2 miles, plus hurdle mobility drills/stretches at home

Running on the homestretch was a little rough due to the wind, but the rest of the pace felt relaxed.  I can't say that I went "all out" for this workout since I'm just getting back into speed, but it was a good session to begin the progression into spring training.  

 

Onward to food…

I made my chicken and brown rice soup on Monday night and my family has been enjoying it for a few days now.  That’s the beauty of soup…it can be converted into several meals, both lunch and dinner, while getting tastier as time goes on.  The only difference between this batch and the original recipe was that I used a plain, organic rotisserie chicken from the market rather than roasting my own and I added brown rice rather than noodles.  The result was equally tasty...AND I saved about a half hour in cook time. 

I also made banana muffins from Jesse's leftover bananas from a track meet using this recipe.  I swear, this is the best banana muffin recipe that I have come across in a while and everyone who tries them asks how I get them so moist.  The trick is the sour cream {I used light}, but next time I want to try Greek yogurt in its place.  

Last night I whipped up tomato sauce using a 28-ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, some spices, a teaspoon of sugar and a tad of butter.  Every time I make this sauce, my family gobbles it up like nobody’s business.  San Marzano tomatoes are a little more expensive than regular canned tomatoes, but they are well worth the extra dollar or two.

What are your workouts or what are you whipping up for dinner?

Back on the Track

Despite yesterday morning's ice and freezing rain, the afternoon ended up being fairly decent -- about 45 degrees and foggy.  I met Moravian's team for the second day in a row for a workout on the track. I tried to go back in my schedule to figure out the last time I was actually on the track and it's been quite a while, especially with a workout consisting of shorter, faster intervals.  Even with the warmer temps, the track was still a tad slippery {Jesse shoveled the first two lanes earlier in the day} and very wet and we felt like we were kids running through the rain! 

This is what the track normally looks like on a nice, summer day...

This workout consisted of sets of intervals totaling 600 meters which were broken apart.  After each set, we had a three minute break.  

Here's how the workout went: 

Warm-up: 2.5 miles and some drills 

3 x 200 - 38, 37, 38  {45 seconds in between each}

{3:00 rest} 

2 x 300 - 58, 57  {1:00 rest in between each}

{3:00 rest}  

600 - 2:01

{3:00 rest} 

2 x 300 - 58, 57  {1:00 rest in between each}
  
{3:00 rest}   

3 x 200 - 38, 37, 37  {45 seconds in between each}

{3:00 rest} 

400 - 80

Cool down: 1 mile

Workout total: 5.86 miles

In a perfect world, I would have done a longer cool down, but I had to scoot out to be home in time for my daughter.  For the first time on the track in a while, I was fairly happy with the results.  That last 400 meters was supposed to be "ballin" in Jesse's terms, but I wasn't feeling so "ballin" at that moment.  In the end, I was glad to have that workout under my belt while looking onward to the next one.  

What speed workouts have you recently done?