Yay for improvements in pacing!!

But before I talk about the awesome tempo run that I'm referring to in the title, I'm want to report on my first hill workout.   I did it on Friday and my friend Brittany was kind enough to come with me.   Since we live on an island that has absolutely no hills, I've been putting this workout off for the first three weeks of training.  (My plan calls for hills once every three weeks starting with week one.   This means that since I procrastinated I now have to do hills 2 weeks in a row, but such is life, right?)   I googled "hill repeats in San Diego" since I had absolutely no idea where to do my workout.   I had considered running in the zoo because it has some monster hills and I know it would be safe, but found a better option during my googling.   It is a long, not too terribly steep hill in Balboa Park that I realized I had actually run on twice during a 5k and a 10k that I did last fall.   So, we parked at the zoo (which is in Balboa Park) and jogged the mile or so to the bottom of the hill.   Then we ran up it as hard as we could.  It took around 2 minutes.   Well, the first time it did.   Each of the three repeats were a little slower of course.   I have to say, hill repeats with a baby jogger are quite the challenge.   I was so appreciative of Brittany because things always seem brighter when someone is going through the same torture as you are.    All in all, I would count the workout a success.   I'm glad I have found "my hill."  And I think I'm just going to set my sights on the goal of doing all my repeats in under 2 minutes.    Here's to hoping that hill work + baby jogger = PR marathon. 
As a little sidenote, Matilda the Koala was in the zoo parking lot after our workout. Mommy had the bright idea to introduce her to Susannah.....

Mommy was definitely a bigger fan of Miss Matilda than Susannah.  

I took Saturday and Sunday off (walked 3 miles or so, but no running).   So I was ready for my 7 mile tempo run today.   My training plan actually calls for a 35 minute tempo, but since I am trying to fit 6 days of running into 4 days,  I'm adding easy miles to some of my runs and today was one of those days.   My plan was to run mile 1 super easy, then pick it up in mile 2 but really concentrate on holding back some too (I was thinking around an 8:45-9:00 for mile 2) then start really picking it up mile 3 and then hold my tempo pace of 7:45-8:05 for mile 4 and half of mile 5.  Then we would be to the grocery store where we needed to stop and pick up a few items.   Then we would finish the last couple of miles at an easy pace.  

Not sure if anybody besides me has noticed, but so far, I don't think I've managed to actually hit all my goals for a training run....yet.....until today.   Check out these splits:
Mile 1:  9:29
Mile 2:  8:25  (okay, so now I'm noticing that this was a little faster than what I had intended.)
Mile 3:  7:52
Mile 4:  7:46
Mile 5:  9:06
Mile 6: 9:09
Mile 7:  9:20

 I'm feeling really good about this run because I never felt super tired.   I finished feeling refreshed and energized which was a first.   I know I still have a looooong way to go before that 8:31 feels like my go-to race pace, but I feel like I'm making progress which is all I can be hoping for at this stage in my training.    Thank you LORD!! 

Doing Hill Repeat workout number 2 tomorrow.   This week is 4 repeats instead of 3.   Dreading/looking forward to it at the same time.   I think I like hill repeats more than 800's.   

Happy running friends!!

Fall Back Week

This week was my first "fall back week" of this training schedule.   Oh, how I love these weeks.   I love how they refresh you, and I love how, by the end of the training cycle, you find yourself saying things like: "Oh, this week is an easy week.   My long run is only 14 miles."   This week though, my long run was only 8 miles and it was a great run.   I forgot to pause my gps when I dropped Susannah off after mile one, so the entire run my splits were wacky because they were averaging with a 14 minute first mile.   I almost reset my gps so I could have an accurate pace reading, but then I decided I would just go by feel and run what felt comfortable and easy.   If I felt myself picking it up too much, I would try to pull back.   I love training with these strict pace guidelines because I'm finding that most of the time, I'm having to concentrate much more often to slow down than speed up.  So, I often catch myself thinking about how this plan seems easier and less intense. I'm counting on the mental and emotional benefits of this kind of training to carry me straight to the PR I'm looking for in June.   I finished the run feeling great and excited to look up my splits on the computer.   Unfortunately, I instead had to get in the car and drive back over our last mile route so that I could find Susannah's sock and shoe that she threw out of the stroller.    (The sock and the shoe were at least .5 miles apart and the sock was thrown out first, which I find so odd.)  

This morning though, when I finally checked the splits, I was happy to see these:

Mile 1: 14:06
Mile 2: 8:59
Mile 3: 9:17
Mile 4: 9:14
Mile 5: 9:16
Mile 6: 9:24
Mile 7: 9:24
Mile 8: 9:20

  So happy to see that even in the wind, this is my easy pace.   I have that wonderful feeling of being right where I am supposed to be for this moment of the training program.  

On Tuesday, I ran a 4.5 mile pace run.  It was supposed to be 6, but we got a late start and I needed to do two errands before lunch/naptime, so we had to cut it short.   My marathon pace is 8:31.   I have decided to let the first mile of pace runs be a warm up though because I think it sets the wrong mental tone for me to bolt out of the door.   I was pretty pleased with these splits too.....
Mile 1: 9:03
Mile 2: 8:24
Mile 3: 8:16
Mile 4: 8:45

I think the slower mile 4 was due to a redlight and my decision making moments when I was deciding whether to turn off my original intended route to make sure I got the errands in.    So, in sum, my last two runs have been really encouraging and I'm feeling hopeful about the goal I have set for myself.   Tomorrow I'm going to do my first set of hill repeats.   I'm pretty sure they will be interesting when I factor in the stroller.   By interesting I mean butt-kicking.   ;)

2 weeks in and already behind....

Well, when I decided to blog about this training plan, my intention was to post about each run on the day that I ran it.   Obviously, I have already fallen waaay behind on this.   I think I may revise my strategy and post twice a week.   I'm only running 4 days a week, so this means I can write about 2 runs in each post.   This seems like a more realistic goal.

But, before implementing the new plan, I need to play catch up.   So, since I last wrote I have completed 4 training runs.   The first being a 5 mile run with 3 miles at race pace.    I did this last Tuesday and was pretty pleased with myself.   Here are the splits:
Mile 1:  9:38
Mile 2:  8:15
Mile 3:  8:06
Mile 4:  8:13
Mile 5:  8:50
While technically this run wasn't a success since I ran too fast for the three pace miles(My race pace is 8:31.), I would rather be misjudging my pace in the too fast direction than the too slow direction.   But I know that the author of my training plan, Hal Higdon, would be none to pleased with my pushing too hard.   He harps and harps on his website about not ever pushing too hard.   So, tomorrow during my 6 mile pace run, I'm going to try extra hard to hit those 8:31s right on the money.

On Wednesday I did my long run of the week (THANK YOU to my friend Shannon who has volunteered to keep Susannah for my weekly long run!).   The run was a little disjointed.....Half mile to the dog groomer with Meadow and Susannah in tow.   Then a fast 1 mile to Shannon's house because I did the math in my mind wrong and thought that I needed to be fast because Meadow needed to be picked up sooner than I expected.   Luckily I eventually realized that I actually had plenty of time.   So after dropping Susannah off I had a nice, much needed 8 miles in the sunshine.   Have you ever had those days when you needed to run?   I mean really NEEEED to run.   Well, I have had a couple of those days this week, and Wednesday was definitely one of them.   I didn't even turn on my music.   I just ran.   And talked to God.   And ran some more.   And listened to God.    There is something about the combination of rhythmic steps and physical exertion that makes me more aware of the amazing creation around me and the creator that designed it all for us.   It took all 8 of my stroller-free miles, but I'm happy to say that by the time I picked Susannah up and headed back to the groomer for Meadow, my head and my heart were clear and content again.   Ah, the joys of this sport.  (I averaged 9:30 for this run.)

Thursday and Friday are days off for me because I am exclusively a morning runner and we have morning committments on both of these days.   As my mileage builds and it becomes tougher to combine two runs worth of mileage into one day though, I realize that I may have to sacrifice and run on Fridays which will mean a very sweaty and stinky bible study for me and all of the poor women in my group.  

On Saturday all the joy and peace that Wednesday's run had provided had long worn off, so I was once again in the "I ABSOLUTELY MUST RUN IN THE NEXT HOUR OR MY HEAD WILL EXPLODE" kind of mood.   In the course of our 7 year marriage, Peter has learned when to say, "Babe, I think you should go run.  Please, just go.   PLEASE, we will be fine."   Saturday was definitely one of those days.   So I left he and Susannah at the playground and took off.  Once again, with no music.   Just me, the gray clouds, the strong breeze, and the one who created it all.   I did 6 miles at an easy 9:30 pace.   (I must admit though, that the "easy" 9:30 pace didn't feel as easy as it should have.   I think the fact that it is girl scout cookies season may have something to do with my sluggishness on Saturday.... pretty sure two sleeves of do-si-dos is more than the recommended serving size for one person.    Even with the girl scout cookie induced sluggishness, though,  at the end of this run, just as on Wednesday, I finished feeling like the burden sack on my back only weighed 100 lbs instead of 1000.  

After taking yesterday off, I was ready to go this morning.   I had a 45 minute tempo run planned.   I forced myself to start slow, knowing that I would need energy to get me cranked up to an 8 minute pace by mile three.   So when my trusted NikePlus man told me my 1 mile split of 9:23, I thought okay, right on target.   I must admit though, that I didn't feel right on target.  I felt tired and winded.   (Possibly due to the conversation hearts and pizza I had last night?)   I picked it up anyway though, surprisingly feeling less tired as I picked it up.   By mile 2 I was feeling all right and felt GREAT when I heard that my pace avg for the first 2 miles was 8:33.   Wow!   That means I just did a sub 8 and it didn't even feel that fast!   Yes!   My tempo pace is supposed to be 7:45-8:01, so even though my goal was to just build to an 8 minute pace and hold it for mile 3, I decided to keep pushing considering my energy level.   I kept pushing, concentration on keeping my stride short and was excited to hear that by mile 3 my pace average was 8:15.   (My nike plus won't give me splits on each mile, so I have to do the math in my head to figure out my splits.   Yes, I could use my watch, but the math actually gives me something to focus on during tough runs.   And, it is oh so fun to check my splits online after I get home and shower.)  We slowed down after mile three, stopped at Boney's Grocery at mile 4, and jogged very slowly home for the fifth mile to avoid breaking any of the groceries I had stuffed into all pockets and crevices of the stroller.   So, in sum, this was a great run with very encouraging splits.  
Mile 1: 9:23
Mile 2:  7:51
Mile 3: 7:36
Mile 4: 8:32
Mile 5: 10:00

Hope everybody else is enjoying some good running this week!   Next post, I'll let you know how the first hill workout goes.......

Settling In

I'm definitely still in the "settling into a new training regimen" phase.   I'm a little stiff and tired after every run, but it feels good to be pushing myself again.   On Saturday I did my first 10 miler in weeks.   Before getting sick, my typical 10 miler would be an 8:30-9:00 minute pace, so I was looking forward to these 10 miles being really easy since McMillan prescribes my ideal long run pace at a 9:30.   I forced myself to start off really really slow and it felt awkward the first minute or so, but then it felt great.   That is, until my little Nike plus man told me my 1 mile split of 9:50.  I was expecting a 9:30, maybe even a 9:40, but 9:50?   I am very proud of myself for the amount of self control I used in that moment.   While everything in me was screaming, "PICK IT UP SLOWPOKE!  HOW ARE YOU GOING TO RUN A SUB 3:45 MARATHON IF 9:50 FEELS COMFORTABLE?" I managed to ignore that voice and listen to the calm, rational voice instead.   The calm voice was saying, "Remember, this was your plan in the first place.  Start really slow and you will have energy in the end."  Stay calm and keep the pace light and easy."   So, that is what I did and I had an awesome run.  (Take that evil, crazy voice!)  I ran down the bike path that travels from Coronado to Imperial Beach.   The morning was so clear and blue.   I  still marvel at the beauty of the desert landscape.   To have beautiful mountains on one side of my gaze and the sparkling Pacific on the other is pretty perfect.   And, on the way back I saw two rabbits playing on the trail.  They were darting in and out of the shrubs that line the trail and they were so cute.  They look just like the rabbits in the southeast, but with much bigger ears.   I ended up averaging exactly a 9:30 pace and finished feeling a little tired, but mostly grateful for such a perfect morning.    Looks like listening to the calm voice instead of the crazy voice definitely pays off in the end.  

After taking Sunday off, I did my first speed intervals yesterday.   The schedule called for 4 x 800.   I decided to add a mile warm-up and a mile cool down.   And I walked/jogged for a couple of minutes in between each interval.   My target time for 800's is 3:30-3:40.   I did them on the bike trail that is over on the bay side of Coronado.   I have done mile repeats over there before so I had a general sense of distance.   I used my Nike plus app too.   I am not too confident that my distances were exact, but I feel like for a middle-packer like me, a few meters here and there will not make any difference in my race performance. My first interval took 3:48, but that included stopping to pick up my phone and plug it back in when it fell off the stroller.   So, I'm going to call that a 3:40.   My second one was 3:43.   Third was 3:41.   And for the fourth, I have no idea because I was planning on running to my old mile repeat marker, but when I got there, my watch read 3:15.   So I kept pushing for another 15 seconds for good measure.   I have no idea how long that last one was though.   I would like to think I was running faster because I knew it was my last one, but I think the more realistic conclusion is that my last 800 was probably more like a 700.   Oh, well.  Hopefully by June I'll have the distances figured out.  The one mile cool-down I had planned turned into a 1.5 mile cool down with a stop in the middle at the grocery store.     I think I will use map my run to figure out a more exact 800 for next time.   Luckily, this training plan only calls for intervals once every three weeks, so I have some time to figure it out.   The good news is that Susannah did great in the stroller with the stopping and starting.   I was worried that she might cry to get out each time I slowed to a walk, but she did great.   I would appreciate any prayers for this to continue.  ;)

Today I am going to do a 5 mile run with the 3 middle miles being at race pace.   It is supposed to start raining sometime this morning so I'm hoping to squeeze it in before the rain starts falling.    Fingers crossed......

Race Pace

Yesterday I did training run #3, which was supposed to be a 5 miler at race pace (8:31).    As for the success of this run, let's just say that I'm glad I have 4 months to learn and practice holding race pace.   Even though I knew better, I ran the first mile waaaay too fast.   I always seem to do this, even though I know it is such a rookie mistake.   But no matter how rational I try to be, I always seem to succumb to that voice in my head that tells me I won't have enough energy in the last miles, so I should smoke the first miles to give myself some wiggle room at the end.   After years of missing time goals in races with this strategy, I know better.   But yesterday was like so many other days when knowing better doesn't translate to doing better.   So my first mile I felt good, but was breathing too hard and knew that it would be a struggle to hold this pace for the entire run.   Even after the first couple of minutes, I was almost positive that I was well under 8:31pace, but instead of trusting myself, I listened to the voice that tells me I'm not fast, not in shape, ect and forced myself to keep pushing.   Of course, when I hit mile 1, I was discouraged and encouraged simultaneously when I heard the nike plus voice telling me that my avg. pace was 8:03.  

I tried to pull back on the reigns and slow down, but again, that voice was in my head, whispering that I was probably pulling back too much; that I would be so disappointed at mile 2 when I realize I had slowed down to a 10 minute pace.   So mile 2 ended up being almost just as fast...8:08.   During mile 3, I was started to feel pretty tired and just wanted to be finished so I still didn't let myself let off on the effort.   The split was a little slower though (8:35) because of a stop we had to make to retrieve our sippy cup.  Mile four and five were the same....I was tired and dragging.   I was using the same effort as I had in the first miles, but I could feel that I was much slower (8:37).  

So, while my overall pace average was actually pretty close to target (8:21), I feel that this run was a perfect example of what not to do on my next pace run.   After all, the purpose of a race pace run is to build confidence.   Ending a run feeling as spent as I did yesterday is most definitely not a confidence builer.   Keeping that in mind I am promising myself that next week, I will start SLOW.   I will ignore the evil voice and I will listen to my body.   I will be even more recovered from the bronchitis so I will have the energy to make up any time that I lose in the first couple of slow miles.   This is my plan.   Keeping fingers crossed that I will implement it.   The good news is that I have approximately 15 more race pace training runs until the marathon.   It looks like I may need all of them.

Coming up:   First LSD run.....10 miles at 9:30 pace.  Long slow distance on an early Saturday morning.......definitely one of my all time favorite things.

Whitney v/s the Marathon: Part Deux

Well, it has been a little less than three years since I last posted on this blog and, MY, HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.   To say that the last three years have been eventful would be quite the understatement considering that in this time period I:   moved to France, learned to live in a new culture and language, made new friends, joined a new church,  gave birth,  traveled to more countries that I have the energy to count right now, moved from France to Southern California,  lost and replaced half of our family's household goods due to mold, made even more new friends, and joined yet another new church.        

During all of these changes and chaos, though, two things have remained constant:  1.   my relationship with Jesus, and 2.   my relationship with running.    While this blog will be focused mostly on the subject of that second relationship, I'm sure that my faith will ooze over into my writing here as well.   I've decided to restart this journal as a way to document my training for the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon.   The race is four months from now and I started my training program yesterday.   The last time I wrote about training I failed to meet my time goal of four hours for the National Marathon in DC, and I vowed to never again train for a marathon with a specific time goal in mind.  Until now, I have kept that promise.   (I ran two marathons while we were in Europe, Hamburg and Stockholm.   I plan to write up race recaps on this blog sometime in the future.)   But now the marathon sirens are calling to me and I am responding.   Inspired by an encouraging half marathon time this fall (1:45),  I have set a time goal of 3:45 and will be tracking all of my training here.   I will be doing most of my training with Susannah, my 14 month old daughter.   I'm hoping pushing 25 extra lbs for the majority of my runs will help me meet my race day goal.

Yesterday was training run number one, and considering the fact that I'm still on antibiotics for bronchitis and hadn't run in over a week, I was pretty encouraged with my performance.   I did 6 easy miles (according to the Mcmillan pace calculator, my easy run pace should be 9:00-9:30 pace.)   Including stops for redlights and sippy cup retrievals, I kept a 9:25 pace.   I finished the run feeling really encouraged that I hadn't lost as much fitness as I had feared during my illness.  

Today was training run number two and I again felt encouraged.   I was supposed to do a 45 minute tempo run.   According to McMillan, my tempo pace should be 8:00.    In the past I have always done tempo runs on the treadmill so I could moniter the pace, but since I no longer have access to a gym, I was left to my own devices for this one.   I ran the first two miles at what felt like an easy pace (mile 1 9:29   mile 2 8:45) then at mile three I picked it up to what I guessed was an 8:00 pace.   And by this I mean I ran pretty much as hard as I could for mile three.   I figured that I had lost some speed during my week off, so I thought that I would really have to kill myself to hold an 8 minute pace.   During that mile, I felt like I was dying which is most definitely not how one is supposed to feel on a tempo run.  My understanding is that one should feel like they are pushing hard, but also feel refreshed.   Refreshed is definitely not an adjective I would choose when describing how I felt during mile 3.   I was tired.   I was dragging.  I was sucking wind.   I was not refreshed.    My original plan was to run mile 4 and 5 at an easy pace.   When I hit mile 4 though, after allowing myself to slow down enough to catch my breath, I looked at my watch and realized we were going to be late to our ultimate destination, storytime at the library.   So, we cut our run short and instead of an easy mile 4 and 5, we did a faster mile 4.  

I am happy to report that we did make it to storytime and Susannah enjoyed herself immensely.   Thankfully she is too young to be embarrassed by her sweaty mother.   I usually try to arrive a few minutes early so I have time to cool down and change shirts.  I don't want to offend the other moms by dripping sweat on the alphabet carpet tiles.  Today there was no time though and I couldn't help but consider the irony as we sang the opening song, "The more we get together, together, together....The more we get together the happier we'll be."  I'm pretty sure that not one person in that room felt inclined to get anymore together with me or the sweat puddle around me than they already were.   Luckily, everyone was kind enough to pretend they weren't grossed out, even if they were.  

I am also happy to report that when we got home, I checked my splits for the tempo run and saw that during mile 3, I was sucking wind with good reason....7:32 pace!!   While this shows that I definitely need to work on getting to know my body concerning pacing, I am super happy that I had a 7:32 in me after battling this bronchitis for 2 weeks.  

Well, I guess I should draw this post to a close.    I am really looking forward to blogging about this training cycle.  Feel free to comment.   While I'm mostly doing this blog for my own entertainment, I would love to know that there is at least one or two other people who read this.  ;)  

Happy Running Everyone!

2009 Suntrust National Marathon: 4:11

Well, first of all, allow me to apologize for my total lack of communication during the past 3 weeks.   Despite my absence here, I have been running.....including squeezing in my last 20 miler on a week-day afternoon after 4 hours of class in the morning.   This was necessary due to our most recent snow storm.   

I have a good reason for my laziness with the posts.   My husband and I are moving to France in May and we spent 8 days there recently.   We found an apartment, opened a bank account, and bought new cell phones.....all in French I might add!    Attempting to conduct business in a language that I have only been speaking for 6 months was enough to take up all my time however. I did stay dedicated to my runs though....even in Strasbourg.   

So, I decided to post one last entry about the events of this beautiful and chilly morning.   While I missed my goal of breaking the illustrious 4 hour barrier, The Suntrust National Marathon was a truly great experience.   I think it may even take the prize of my favorite course.   I think a large part of this was due to the PERFECT weather.   Temps in the 40's, zero wind, and the brightest, bluest sky I have seen in a long time made it hard to have anything other than a great attitude.   (Even when my quads and calves were trying hard to discourage me.)    The course was great too......despite the several significant hills.   Some of which were between miles 23-26.  (Almost killed me!) But the crowds were awesome and the scenery was great.   It was really nice running through the entire district.   Even the last 5 miles by the river were beautiful despite the solitude.   

To add to my admiration, the race organizers provided plenty of well-stocked water stops (every 2 miles), and the stadium-armory building was open before the start with REAL bathrooms and a warm space to stretch and relax before the race.   The post race food was great too.....fruit(oranges and bananas), bagels, powerade, and these great big, salty, soft pretzels.   The only thing that was missing were cookies.   I took care of this by buying one from the organic vendor that was in the runner's village.   

As for my race performance, I am sad to have missed my goal, but happy to have a new PR that is 18 minutes better than my previous best time.   I started with the 3:55  pace group and stayed with them until mile 14.    After they left me in their dust, I hoped that I could manage to stay between them and the 4 hour group.   I did until mile 21 when they came calling.   I stayed with them for a mile or two.   My husband said that when he joined me at mile 22 they were only 100 yards in front of us.   Unfortunately, mile 23-26 is the second hilliest part of the entire race and the hills were enough to do me in.   I was doing the Galloway Method......run 4 minutes, walk 1, and I managed to keep this up.   I never cheated and walked extra.   Even when I walked though a water stop during a run portion, I shortened my next walk to accommodate.    For this, I am proud.  

 I am also a huge believer in this method because I know beyond a shadow of doubt that without the walk breaks, my last 3 miles would have been close to if not totally a walk with no running.   Between 23 and the finish, my calves were on the edge of a major cramping episode.   The last minute of each 4 minute run was excruciating.   But, knowing that a walk was coming kept me going.   It felt great to run past all of the people who were walking unintentionally.    I had planned to run the last 6 if I felt up to it, but I most certainly did not.    The last .2 really sucked.   I think I was close to passing out for the first minute or two after the finish.   Peter said he thought he might have to take me to the medical tent.   But I managed to give my chip back, get my medal, grab some food from the food table, and find a comfy seat on the asphalt.   Then I recovered quickly and nicely.   (The pretzel helped!)

I made a promise to myself before the race that if I didn't reach my goal of 4 hours, I would give up running for a certain time and start doing marathons only for fun.    I figured if I couldn't reach 4 hours after 5 marathons and one ultra, Boston was not ever going to be a possibility.    But, in true crazy-marathoner form, in the past 6 hours since the finish, I have already found a marathon in Frankfurt, Germany that advertises itself as "flat, fast, and fun."   Flat and fast?    Maybe I should give my 4 hour goal one more go before throwing in the towel.   After all, how will I be able to live without my weekly treadmill speed work torture?   What will I have to whine about?   

Well, I guess I should sign off now.   Thanks for reading this blog.   It has been really fun to write and I hope that you found it fun to read as well.   Happy Running everybody!!