Track Tuesday

It was a very stormy afternoon. But Roman and I agreed to meet and run anyway. I will run in rain. But if there's lightning I kind of feel like a target, so that was where I'd call it. Luckily, when we got there, it wasn't even raining anymore and held off the entire time.

We warmed up together for a mile, chatting about work and leg pains, and watching the sky. We saw a really cool cloud that was huge, spiral-y and scary looking. I am still not adjusted from my cleats. My legs are taking a beating from them and hurt. I have new shoes now, but didn't wear them because it was supposed to rain. Didn't want to break in the shoes all soggy-style. I am SO DONE with these old shoes. There is nothing left in them I'm afraid.

Anyway, after we warmed up and stretched, Roman was going to do a couple of mile repeats. I did 100s. I did 7, not counting, just hitting my lap button on my GPS. I love that thing.
Here are the 7, with walking 100 in between to recover:
22:79
24:12
21:38
21:52
20:48
22:15
19:79

These are a lot slower than the 100s I did a couple of weeks ago. Also, I noticed my legs were really slapping when I struck the ground. I decided my body was too tired to handle 100s without making my shins and knee even more sore. So I switched to 200s, smother and slower.

Here are the 4 I did, with walking 100 in between to recover.
50:79
51:75
53:48
51:72

Sooooo yeah, not the speediest, but it was still a good workout. Roman and I walked 2 laps after that and then hit BW's. Thursday I'm supposed to hear back about my blood work I had done Monday. Maybe there will be some explanation for how I've been feeling lately.

Track Tuesday

Warmed up 1 mile.

Then did 14 x 100. I've never done that many 100s. I don't know what got into me.

Plus, I looked up my 100 times from last April...and they were all about 22 - 23 seconds each while my times today were 19 - 20. Sooooo....either my GPS was screwed up or the track is wrong or I am stopping my time funny? It just seems really hard to believe that my times were faster today, because I was in way better shape last year. Perplexing...

Anyway, here are my times. So I have them as a benchmark. My favorite was my last one. Because I told myself to push, listened, and pushed. It got a 'fuck yeah' when I was done.

19:30
19:45
19:62
20:27
19:80
19:25
19:02
19:00
19:55
19:00
19:48
20:03
19:35
18:75

Busy Work Week

Christen and I are getting ready for our Open House at the office and the workload is just nuts. But, I'm determined to not let it get in the way of working out.

So far this week:

Sunday - I kind of lifted and did some leg exercises.

Monday - I ran 3.3 miles at lunch. It was a pretty awful run. I had to stop and walk a few times. I'm really not sure what is going on with my legs. The ache is bad and is the entire leg. Eventually it can go away. But it's so painful...and a recent development in things. I just don't know.

Tuesday (tonight) - I ran 8 x 200 at the track. I don't know if that was enough, a good amount, or what. It was hard. By the time I came to the end of each 200, I could barely breathe. The weather got super humid all of the sudden, so I'm sure that is part of it - the other part of it being I haven't been doing this.

I'm trying to get some consistency back into my workouts. I feel like I've been trying to do this for quite some time though.

Plans for the rest of the week... I can't ride my bike tomorrow because I have a bunch of errands to do. But perhaps I'll lift and run. Thursday and Friday I could ride... I just don't know when to do my runs. My schedule is all out of whack still and I'm not sure how to fix it.

Track Night

We tried a different track- Sycamore. It was cold and windy. That's nearly all I remember.

Ok, not really. There were a whole bunch of little kids there practicing, which was entertaining but kind of scary at the same time. They just don't watch what they're doing and move so irregularly!

I ran a mile to warm up with Roman. Then I did 4 x 400...in lane 8. So I guess it was more than 400, but it doesn't matter. By the third one I was very down about the experience and so freakin' cold and grumpy. I felt like a snail. I didn't take a watch, still continuing with just worrying about effort rather than any times. I tried to tell myself I was at least pushing and working hard. But I just felt crummy. I did the last 400 anyway, because I knew I'd be really upset if I didn't. Then I cooled down a mile. Then I sat in my sun-warmed car and thawed my legs. Man it was cold!

Today is beautiful though. Not getting out today, but hopefully tomorrow after work? Work is just nuts. I can't wait for this week to be over.

Track Night

We tried out a different track this week - the Sycamore Jr. High track. I'd been there with Fleet Feet running groups before and knew it was very much open to the public. It seemed so small compared to Mason. Only 6 lanes instead of 8, and the surface was a black old style one, probably part asphalt and part tires?

Tonight's crew was me, Greg, Roman, Erin, Christen and Christen's friend Paige. Shaun was absent. He's doing a 50K race this weekend. Crazy.

Anyway, we warmed up for a mile. There were some kids streaming onto the field, playing football and soccer and cheerleading/dance kind of stuff. There were also a lot of adults streaming onto the track. I figured there would be some Fleet Feet training groups going on. It got crowded quick. Unfortunately, there was no track etiquette followed whatsoever. Walkers just chose lanes and went along not paying any attention to what was going on around them. There were groups 3 to 4 abreast starting in lane 1 to lane 4. On a 6 lane track that had about 20-25 people going around it. Ug. I got to witness some crabby lady who was walking in lane 1 complain about Greg and Roman passing her. Right after they went by her, she haughtily started throwing her elbows around while complaining, as if to say she'd elbow them next time...and I passed her (on the left) at the same time as she was doing this. Crazy lady. It reminded me of the cars that drive 35 mph at an angle across the Meijer parking lot and then give you a dirty look and throw their arms up in the air when they have to stop in order to not hit you as you properly travel down the marked lane. Oy, people. Maybe I should make up some track etiquette flyers for next time. I would have thought the Fleet Feet coaches would have told them about lane speeds, but I guess not. We all had bad experiences this evening with these people, who clearly owned the track tonight. Next time we all decided we'd just start yelling "track!" and push when they don't move :)

Anyway, the workout was overshadowed by stupid people, but I still had a good run. I did 4 x 800, so ran a total of 3 miles. :)  The first 800 was a little quick, at 4:07. Then the next two were 4:17. Last was 4:20. I'm happy with it, given the unfortunate distractions the entire time.

Track Night in the Heat

I didn't do the 4 x 800 as planned. Everyone kind of felt like switching things up.

- 1 mile warm-up.

- 1 mile of Line Sprints? Not sure what to call this. Everyone runs in single file and then the last person sprints to the front... repeat for all people. BRUTAL. I think our mile pace ended up being 8:36, but it felt way more of an effort than that. That's what the heat will do.

- Some laps of cooling down. Christen had goosebumps - not a good sign. She was a bit too warm, so we ran a couple laps and then walked a few.

All in all, a great workout!

Track, Wednesday and What's Next

Tuesday track night went better than it has been going recently. I had a little nap at the studio in the afternoon, and I really think that helped for me to not have the dragging, "I just want to lay down" feeling I have been having at track. It also helped that Christen and Shaun decided to come. I think the fresh faces made it more exciting.

The four of us warmed up a mile. Then after a lot more chit-chat, I pushed everyone out onto the track. There were jokes of me being team captain. But it was 6:25 already! I didn't want to be a stickler on the time, but I also wanted to get out of there at a decent time. Plus Erin was making dinner for us.

Shaun attempted to stick with Roman for some 800s, but only lasted 300. He's never done a track workout, so it isn't at all surprising that he didn't know what kind of pace he could hold. Later it looked like he was running 400 of the 800 Roman would do, so that was good. It's so amazing how fast Roman is. Shaun was definitely faster than me and Christen. He's probably somewhere around Greg's pace. So next time, when Greg is there, the two of them will probably make a good pair.

Christen stuck with me. I could tell she was struggling with the last one, but she agreed that it was a good workout. She has just recently started running again. We did 400s, all at a very consistent 1:53. I did an extra one at the end in 1:47. Felt pretty good about that. Overall it was a good workout. The marching band (or more likely, a section of the marching band) was practicing marching on the field while we were there. It took me back a little bit to those fun drills in the sun - practicing heal-toe 8 to 5 over and over and over to the beat of the electronic metronome. Soooo boring! :)  It also made me think about how I still would really really like to volunteer for a local high school's band...Kings seems to be a similar caliber and style of band as what I was in, so maybe I could be of use there.

Anyway, Wednesday's run was good despite my shitty leg soreness, as reported :) After my legs finally loosened up a bit, it was just my breathing to contend with, which was pretty terrible. It makes me look forward to fall, or whatever break from humidity we might get any time soon. I couldn't suck in the air quickly enough.

Speaking of fall... the Cincinnati Half Marathon is October 23rd and I'm super excited about this being a next goal for me and Casey. I am enjoying the 5Ks, but distance is my love. Upon making the decision to do it, I finally feel settled again with my running and just in the right place, for lack of better words. Woohoo! It's going to be awesome!

Track and Wednesday Four

Track Tuesday:
1 mile warm up
4 x 400, walking 200 in between repeats:
   1:53
   1:49
   1:51
   1:51
1 mile cool down, 10:20 pace


Wednesday: 
4 miles in I don't remember what and the watch got reset while in my bag, but it was under 10 pace.
Rough morning. Legs were a little stiff but loosened. Breathing was difficult. Thanks for putting up with me, Casey.

Week is looking pretty good running-wise. I'm not eating all that well. Hmmmm. Really need to get to the grocery store, also known as my most favorite place on the planet.

Tuesday Track and Wednesday 4

Track Night:

Went into it with pretty dead legs thanks to the 40 mile bike ride. So I decided I'd just get through it all however necessary and not kill myself.
1 mile warm-up
1 mile of alternating hard/easy 100s
1 mile of alternating 200 repeats with walking 200 - 200s were 51 seconds each.
1 lap jog
3 laps walking


Wednesday 4 miles:

What great weather!!! A nice break from all of this nasty, thick humid air. My legs felt good. This is the last push week before taking it a little easier next week before the duathlon. I still have a brick to do this week, probably Friday. Next Monday night I'll ride with the group. Tuesday will probably just be easy at the track and Wednesday would be good for a quick 3 miles to get my leg speed familiar for the weekend. :)

4 miles in 39:12 = 9:48 pace
Thanks for going slowly with me, Casey! Did you notice how I was asking all the questions to get you to talk so I could just huff and puff along? ;)