This is a busy week, in both my training schedule and my other life, so I'm going to make this entry snappy.
Last Saturday I did 4 800's with my friend Brittany. It was a beautiful morning and despite battling a headcold, it turned out to be a great work out. We ended up using a straight and flat street for the repeats instead of my normal route, which requires a couple of turns. With a stroller especially, I think this makes a difference. I was using my nike app for measurement, so I know it was probably a little off, but I am still pleased with my performance. Much improved from last round of 800's.
According to McMillan, I should be doing my 800's between 3:35-3:45. Here were my times:
3:23
3:20
3:27
3:22
I took Sunday off and on Monday did 5 hill repeats. It was a good workout. Not seeing much improvement in my speed up the hill, but I could feel that my legs were still a little fatigued by the 800s. The highlight of this workout was the post-run visit to the zoo. Susannah played with the goat, slid down the big-girl slide and saw the tigers.
Tuesday I did an 8 mile pace run. My legs were definitely feeling heavy but I pushed through and felt pretty good after the first couple of miles. Here are the splits:
8:54
8:19
8:28
8:31
8:49
8:28
8:22
8:19
All for an average pace of......drumroll please.......8:31!! Yay! I know it sounds crazy, but anytime I hit 8:31 right on the head, I know it isn't coincidence.....God is orchestrating those results and it makes me so excited for race day!
Then Wednesday, I had to do 16 miles. I know that doing all of these runs back to back is a stupid idea, but with childcare and scheduling, it is the only way for me to make it work right now. I figure if it doesn't completely debilitate me, it will only make me race better when my legs are actually refreshed from a nice long taper. From the moment I took off I knew I was in for a tough morning. I didn't feel awful, but I definintely wasn't excited about this long run. (Usually long runs are my favorite work-out.) I prayed that God would give me the strength I needed and that he would give me the faith to rely on his strength rather than my own. Little did I know he was going to use my prayers for a little cosmic comic relief........I never felt great, but I never really felt awful either. I had planned to take a break and eat the Luna Bar I brought with me at mile 10 so during the first 10 miles I was basically telling myself to make it to that point and then I could rest and refuel. So you can imagine my dismay and horror when I grabbed for my White Chocolate Luna Bar and realized it had fallen out of my pocket somewhere on the trail. All I could do was laugh. I immediately remembered my earlier prayers and knew that God was laughing at me. Now, for these last 6 miles I would HAVE TO depend on his strength. I have never run 16 miles with no fuel. My immediate future felt very daunting. But I knew that finishing was my only option so I took one last swig of water from the fountain, turned up my music, and hit the trail. My leg fatigue, the strong headwind, and my lack of nourishment combined into some pretty slow miles at the end, but I'm proud to have finished. I'm refusing to listen to that voice in my head that says that my time goal is out of reach since I didn't stay in my pace range on this run (I dipped into the 10's 5 times). I'm going to stay positive and remember that I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.
Here are the splits:
9:15
9:18
9:24
9:26
9:23
9:24
9:26
9:46
10:05
9:53
10:01
10:04
10:17
10:13
9:42
9:31
Tomorrow is an 8 mile tempo........ Then: 2 days of REST! Yay Rest!!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A bumpy fall back week
This week is supposed to be an easy week with a 10 mile long run and no added mileage for the other weekly runs. And it is a good thing considering the week we have had so far. Monday's run was supposed to be 7 mile pace run. By mile three though, I knew I was way too fast, and since I was feeling good, decided to make a mid-run change and call it my 60 minute tempo run instead. (I was planning on doing the tempo the following day.) I felt good the whole time. Definitely a confidence building run. Here are the splits:
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:00
Mile 3: 8:04
Mile 4: 7:31
Mile 5: 8:21
Mile 6: 8:19
Mile 7: 8:48
I was looking forward to a 7 mile pace run on Tuesday since I had already gotten my tempo run for the week out of the way. Unfortunately, Susannah did not react well to her 3 vaccination shots on Monday afternoon, so we were up most of Monday night with fever. I made a mid-run pitstop at Rite Aid and ended up cutting the run short. So my 7 mile pace run became a 4.25 mile run. (avg pace 8:43) It was windy and cold and Susannah and I both felt tired and yucky. I could hear Hal Higdon's voice (Not really....I've never heard his voice.....probably more accurate to say I could see the words on his website.) saying "It is better to do less than more. Always ere on the side of taking it too easy." So I feel good about my decision not to push it.
Today was my 10 mile run. Susannah's Wednesday play date was cancelled because her friend was sick, so that meant that I was doing my 10 miler with the stroller. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we were both feeling much better after a good night's sleep. I felt good and was happy to hear that my "easy pace" was in the low 9 minute mile range. For long runs I do an out and back down the silver strand bike path that connects Imperial Beach to Coronado. There is almost always a headwind on the way back to Coronado, but today it was pretty strong. And the stroller canopy acts as a parachute so the run back was significantly more difficult. I still felt perfectly fine, but my speed was obviously affected by the wind. As evidenced by these splits:
Mile 1: 9:41
Mile 2: 9:03
Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 9:00
Mile 5: 8:55
Mile 6: 9:06
Mile 7: 9:26
Mile 8: 9:22
Mile 9: 9:39
Mile 10: 9:25
After looking at these splits, I've decided to start praying now for a non-windy race day. Thankful for all these stroller runs though, because I know they are making me stronger. Susannah was such a good sport too. She brought her baby doll along and only threw her out of the stroller once. I thought I would share a couple of photos of the views I enjoy on my long runs every Wednesday.....I can't imagine a more beautiful place to train.
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:00
Mile 3: 8:04
Mile 4: 7:31
Mile 5: 8:21
Mile 6: 8:19
Mile 7: 8:48
I was looking forward to a 7 mile pace run on Tuesday since I had already gotten my tempo run for the week out of the way. Unfortunately, Susannah did not react well to her 3 vaccination shots on Monday afternoon, so we were up most of Monday night with fever. I made a mid-run pitstop at Rite Aid and ended up cutting the run short. So my 7 mile pace run became a 4.25 mile run. (avg pace 8:43) It was windy and cold and Susannah and I both felt tired and yucky. I could hear Hal Higdon's voice (Not really....I've never heard his voice.....probably more accurate to say I could see the words on his website.) saying "It is better to do less than more. Always ere on the side of taking it too easy." So I feel good about my decision not to push it.
Today was my 10 mile run. Susannah's Wednesday play date was cancelled because her friend was sick, so that meant that I was doing my 10 miler with the stroller. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we were both feeling much better after a good night's sleep. I felt good and was happy to hear that my "easy pace" was in the low 9 minute mile range. For long runs I do an out and back down the silver strand bike path that connects Imperial Beach to Coronado. There is almost always a headwind on the way back to Coronado, but today it was pretty strong. And the stroller canopy acts as a parachute so the run back was significantly more difficult. I still felt perfectly fine, but my speed was obviously affected by the wind. As evidenced by these splits:
Mile 1: 9:41
Mile 2: 9:03
Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 9:00
Mile 5: 8:55
Mile 6: 9:06
Mile 7: 9:26
Mile 8: 9:22
Mile 9: 9:39
Mile 10: 9:25
After looking at these splits, I've decided to start praying now for a non-windy race day. Thankful for all these stroller runs though, because I know they are making me stronger. Susannah was such a good sport too. She brought her baby doll along and only threw her out of the stroller once. I thought I would share a couple of photos of the views I enjoy on my long runs every Wednesday.....I can't imagine a more beautiful place to train.
 |
| The mountain backed bay on one side...... |
 |
| And the beautiful Pacific on the other. Perfect! |
Sunday, March 4, 2012
But I count it all as loss......
Last Sunday at church, the sermon was on the book of Ecclesiastes and the pastor attempted to answer the question of finding meaning in our lives. According to Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, the key to a meaningful life is a relationship with God, our creator. The apostle Paul, in the New Testament, takes this idea a step further by saying that all of the meaning in our lives should come from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The pastor ended his sermon with this verse from Phillipians:
"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ." Phillipians 3:8
During the next few days after church, I spent a lot of time pondering over whether I could make the same claim as Paul. Do I really count EVERYTHING in my life as a loss when I compare it with my my love for and from Jesus? Do I really find my identity and self worth ONLY in my relationship with him? Almost immediately I was able to answer these questions with a big, fat, resounding "NO." I decided to make a list of all the things, that, if I'm honest, I do not count as a loss when compared to my faith. And, for those of you who are wondering when I'm going to tie all this to running, one of the first things on the list was running, specifically my training for the marathon in June.
After making this realization I felt sad and guilty and humbled all at once. So during my Wednesdsay long run, I spent a significant amount of time praying, confessing to God and asking him to purify my heart and my intentions. I told him that I knew this hobby was a gift from him and I wanted it to be only for his glory and his good purposes in my life. Not for my own glory. Because, when we are honest, setting personal records is all about pride. It is all about us and what we can do and how much faster we are than the other runners on the course. God allowed me to see the futility of this mindset. After praying, I felt comforted, that God's grace would be sufficient to change my attitude towards running. I felt a peace that he would, in his timing, transform my perspective to one that honored him and him alone. I continued running, enjoying the beautiful desert scenery. (and keeping a watch out for my beloved jack-rabbits. The sighting count for this run was 2. So cute!)
I had been planning to run the last 3 miles at race pace. (My training plan calls for this every three weeks as a way to train the body to run hard even on tired legs.) I was sort of dreading it because I didn't feel super fresh and I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to hold an 8:31. But God is good and he had a plan to answer my prayers, right there on the dusty Silver Strand bike path. At mile 9, I accidentally ended the workout on my GPS and when I restarted the app, it occurred to me that this was a perfect opportunity to go ahead and pick up the pace a little. I could let the last 5 miles be a different run in my mind; hoping that maybe the fresh technological start to the run would spread to my legs and they too, would feel a little more fresh. I didn't want to speed up to race pace right away so I just decided to stop holding back and just run exactly what felt comfortable. (on my long runs, I am almost always holding back to a certain degree to ensure that I stay in the mid 9's) I was expecting the mile update to tell me I was running around a 9 minute mile exactly. Imagine my shock when my Nikeplus man said, "1 mile completed. In 8 minutes and 31 seconds. Your pace is 8:31 per mile." I know this may seem like a stretch for some of you, but I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was not a coincidence. A few short miles before this, I had humbled myself before God, surrendered my prideful attitude and self-glorifying goals and what did he do? He gave me the desires of my heart. This was the first time that 8:31 didn't feel fast for me. And it was on mile 10 of a 14 mile run. And, to make it even better, check out my splits for the last 5 miles of the run:
Mile 10: 8:31
Mile 11: 8:47 (I think I slowed down because I was looking around thinking, "OMG! God is on this bike path with me!)
Mile 12: 8:21
Mile 13: 8:09
Mile 14: 8:08
And they didn't even feel that fast!!!
But, the most amazing part? The part that is even more awesome than the physical accomplishments of Wednesday morning's run? After that morning, I can easily say that "compared with the infinate value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord, I count a PR in June as a loss.....as garbage." But I also feel gloriously free to keep training, relying on God's strength to motivate and encourage me; and to hope that it will be his will for me to run a fast marathon in June....for his glory. Oh, how fun it is to run knowing that it is a gift from God, not something that I'm holding back for myself. And, as icing on this unbelievably delicious cake of a run, check out what I saw during mile 12......I had to take a photo.
Since this is already the world's longest post, I'm going to spare you any details of my 7 mile easy run on Saturday. It was 7 miles. It was easy. I averaged 9:04 pace. Susannah had a snack and a snooze. Fun time was had by all.
Happy Running this week everybody!
"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ." Phillipians 3:8
During the next few days after church, I spent a lot of time pondering over whether I could make the same claim as Paul. Do I really count EVERYTHING in my life as a loss when I compare it with my my love for and from Jesus? Do I really find my identity and self worth ONLY in my relationship with him? Almost immediately I was able to answer these questions with a big, fat, resounding "NO." I decided to make a list of all the things, that, if I'm honest, I do not count as a loss when compared to my faith. And, for those of you who are wondering when I'm going to tie all this to running, one of the first things on the list was running, specifically my training for the marathon in June.
After making this realization I felt sad and guilty and humbled all at once. So during my Wednesdsay long run, I spent a significant amount of time praying, confessing to God and asking him to purify my heart and my intentions. I told him that I knew this hobby was a gift from him and I wanted it to be only for his glory and his good purposes in my life. Not for my own glory. Because, when we are honest, setting personal records is all about pride. It is all about us and what we can do and how much faster we are than the other runners on the course. God allowed me to see the futility of this mindset. After praying, I felt comforted, that God's grace would be sufficient to change my attitude towards running. I felt a peace that he would, in his timing, transform my perspective to one that honored him and him alone. I continued running, enjoying the beautiful desert scenery. (and keeping a watch out for my beloved jack-rabbits. The sighting count for this run was 2. So cute!)
I had been planning to run the last 3 miles at race pace. (My training plan calls for this every three weeks as a way to train the body to run hard even on tired legs.) I was sort of dreading it because I didn't feel super fresh and I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to hold an 8:31. But God is good and he had a plan to answer my prayers, right there on the dusty Silver Strand bike path. At mile 9, I accidentally ended the workout on my GPS and when I restarted the app, it occurred to me that this was a perfect opportunity to go ahead and pick up the pace a little. I could let the last 5 miles be a different run in my mind; hoping that maybe the fresh technological start to the run would spread to my legs and they too, would feel a little more fresh. I didn't want to speed up to race pace right away so I just decided to stop holding back and just run exactly what felt comfortable. (on my long runs, I am almost always holding back to a certain degree to ensure that I stay in the mid 9's) I was expecting the mile update to tell me I was running around a 9 minute mile exactly. Imagine my shock when my Nikeplus man said, "1 mile completed. In 8 minutes and 31 seconds. Your pace is 8:31 per mile." I know this may seem like a stretch for some of you, but I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was not a coincidence. A few short miles before this, I had humbled myself before God, surrendered my prideful attitude and self-glorifying goals and what did he do? He gave me the desires of my heart. This was the first time that 8:31 didn't feel fast for me. And it was on mile 10 of a 14 mile run. And, to make it even better, check out my splits for the last 5 miles of the run:
Mile 10: 8:31
Mile 11: 8:47 (I think I slowed down because I was looking around thinking, "OMG! God is on this bike path with me!)
Mile 12: 8:21
Mile 13: 8:09
Mile 14: 8:08
And they didn't even feel that fast!!!
But, the most amazing part? The part that is even more awesome than the physical accomplishments of Wednesday morning's run? After that morning, I can easily say that "compared with the infinate value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord, I count a PR in June as a loss.....as garbage." But I also feel gloriously free to keep training, relying on God's strength to motivate and encourage me; and to hope that it will be his will for me to run a fast marathon in June....for his glory. Oh, how fun it is to run knowing that it is a gift from God, not something that I'm holding back for myself. And, as icing on this unbelievably delicious cake of a run, check out what I saw during mile 12......I had to take a photo.
 |
| Yep....this is what you think it is.....UGA's cousin out for a morning paddleboard session. Oh, what can't these dogs do? |
 |
| Definitely the best running partner I've ever had. |
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