Twin Cities 10 Training Week 10

Week of September 11-17

Monday Planned: Recovery 3 miles
Monday Actual: Two mile recovery run. Kyle came out on his bike and kept me company. My calves were super tight, so I stopped to stretch a million times.

Tuesday Planned:  General Aerobic + Speed 5 miles 2 sets 4x150m strides
Tuesday Actual: Rest. I slept for ten hours and skipped my run. I did spend some significant time foam rolling and doing core work.

Wednesday Planned: General Aerobic 7 miles 
Wednesday Actual: General Aerobic 7 miles + yoga. I got in 3.5 miles before the group run with Chris, and another 3.5 with the group followed by yoga.

Thursday Planned: POWER + LT 8 miles, 36 min tempo 
Thursday Actual: POWER + Rest. My stomach was angry. There was no way I could do a hard workout, in the heat wave with that terrible stomachache. Uff.

Friday Planned: Recovery 4 miles 
Friday Actual: LT 8 miles, 36 min tempo. I had the day off on Friday but skipped the coffee run because I thought Toni had overslept. Luckily she was free to do our missed tempo run after supper. I can't believe how early it's getting dark already! :'(

Saturday Planned: Rest
Saturday Actual: 4.14 miles shakeout run. Just a few hours after the evening's tempo run. Had planned for 5 but cut it early.

Sunday Planned: Endurance 11 miles
Sunday Actual: Hilly long run 11 miles. We hit all of the hills on this long run to prep for TC10!

Total Mileage Planned: 37 miles
Total Mileage Actual:  32.24 miles

Fall Race Plans

I've had tentative fall race plans in the works for some while now. Kyle and I had been talking about a fall wedding as far back as October. But it's hard to set a wedding date when you're not yet engaged, amiright? So there were a few races chilling on my race calendar with a big ol' question mark over their heads waiting for some plans to be solidified.

Well, in case you missed the news, Kyle and I got engaged on March 1st, and wedding plans are in full swing. Since a date has been finalized (wahoo!) I have the full go ahead to plan my racing schedule. Phew! I don't think we'll be honeymooning immediately following the wedding, so that should lead to maximum fall race training!

This fall, I plan to race the Sioux Falls Half Marathon for the 11th consecutive time (!) on September 13th. I'm also planning to run the Good Life Halfsy in Lincoln, NE on November 1st. I'm hoping that we'll get some nice and cool fall weather and I'll be able to capitalize on that. I'll also get to spend some time with Niki and her freakin' adorable boys! There's a half mid-October in Fargo that I like to do, but I'm currently scheduled to work that Saturday. If I could wiggle things around a bit, I may also consider that.

Yoga teacher training should wrap up the end of June, so I'll be able to dive right into training for fall races, and I'm super excited! I think the best thing I could've done for my running was taking a mental and physical break from it! And certainly the stretching and strengthening I've been focusing on haven't hurt the cause at all.

Can't wait to get back into my running shoes more regularly!

Fall Race Plans

My brain is an interesting place.  I would say one of my best qualities is that I’m able to think things through thoroughly, and very quickly.  Give me an issue or problem, I’m able to give you 6 solutions, and rank them in order of best to worst, offering up the negatives and positives that caused them to be ranked in such a way.  Because of this thinking process (or over-thinking process, as is probably more accurate), I sometimes have a tough time making decisions.

For the couple of weeks leading up to the Brookings half marathon, I started to enjoy running again.  And after the race, that only got stronger.  So much so that I started to think about the fall and what my plan was.

Just for fun, I’d like to take you through the hours long thought process that I endured.

Known Items

September 9, 2012.I will run the Sioux Falls half marathon (8^th consecutive year).  I will be doing it for completion vs. racing because the race director confirmed via email that the course route will still be jacked up for construction this season.  I value my IT bands, no thanks.

October 14, 2012.  I will run the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco with my running besties.  Since the course is hilly as I’d imagine hell to be, it’ll definitely be a race to do vs to race.

Unknown Items

Do I want to race a full marathon in the fall?

Do I want to race a half marathon in the fall?

I want to race a full marathon if it’s somewhat close to home (aka driveable), low in cost (splitting a hotel room, shacking up with a friend), cool weather, and provides me enough time to recover to complete NWM, or is enough time after NWM to be recovered for.

Just a few variables.

I made my way over to marathonguide.com knowing I’d need to find something in early to mid-September (barf) or November.  Shockingly, there are no races around here in November.  Lame.  As long as there’s no ice on the ground, I almost thinking racing in a blizzard would be awesome.

9/15/12 Northface Endurance marathon in Madison, WI.

A quick tweet to Krista confirmed that this is a trail race.  EEP!  For 6 seconds I pondered the 50k trail option.  Then removed it from the list.

9/15/12 Walker North Country marathon in Walker, MN.

I used to go on vacation up here, and it is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s.  Plus it’s NORTHERN Minnesota, so it’s gotta be cooler for mid-September right?  Plus, there’s good fishing (Kyle: 1).  Upon further inspection, the 6 hour drive seemed slightly long, but the 9am start time sealed the deal.  GROSS.  Also, I learned that approx. 5 miles of the course is on paved routes, the rest is on gravel, dirt, grass, etc.  26.2 miles is hard enough thankyouverymuch.

9/15/12 Bismarck Marathon.  North Dakota is flat right?  7:30am start time, not bad… 7 hour drive… barf.  NORTH Dakota= cold, right?  Possibility.  And then I realized I don’t really have a desire to run in ND again unless it’s flat Fargo, and a review of the course map revealed 2 giant MOUNTAINS* in the course profile.

9/23/12 Fox Cities marathon, Appleton, WI.  7am race start.  I heart Wisconsin. Could probably convince Kyle to come and turn it in to a fishing trip.  Contender.

9/23/12 Omaha Marathon, Omaha NE. 7am race start, 3 hour drive.  Cheap/free lodging at Chez Niki.  Hilly-ish course.  Possibly close enough for my family to come spectate.  Could be hot, but will be training all summer long in extreme heat, so maybe it’d be ok.  I think we have a winner.

Then I went back to if I wanted to actually race a full this year, or if I should seek out a half to finally get sub 1:50 on (yes, I’m beginning to think it’ll never happen either….. join the club).

9.1.12 Clear Lake IA

9.2.12 Green Lake WI

9.2.12 Storm Lake IA

9.29.12 Grand Forks ND

Meh.  Nothing really stood out.  I also have a rule** that I don’t spend more time driving to a race than I’d spend running it.

So Omaha it is.  I told Kyle before bed that was my plan.  No general fanfare, but still excited that I’m excited to train for one again (hi this early spring was mis-er-a-ble!).  And then I wake up to see that my brother and sister-in-law bought a new home in Dallas!

And all previous plans were thrown out the window.

Originally I had planned to do Dallas White Rock because I :

a)      Don’t have to train through the summer.

b)      Know late November/early December is IDEAL race temps for sweaty Jerbear

c)       Need to meet my precious baby niece, Harper.

But the $400-500 flight+race fee+hotel costs were putting it out of my price range.

So after all of that thought and careful consideration, one small change helps me get my way and do the race I originally wanted to do.  Ahhhh I love when life caters to my selfish ways. J

*possible exaggeration.

**often broken, but still.

Hard-Easy Principle + Fall Races

When I was planning my training program for the Sioux Falls Half, I consulted Coach Jason, as I typically do.  In previous years I've had 2 easy runs, 1 tempo run, 1 speed workout, and a long run each week.  I really wanted to keep the same format, but because I was starting the training while still not 100% post-Fargo, I was concerned about the two speedy days since those typically cause me to get/stay injured.  He suggested I do only one speed work day, but that I throw in some striders at the end of one or two of my easy runs.  Okie dokie!

After doing more heart rate training reading and research (yes, I like to read, especially about running, it's obnoxious, I realize!) I realized that the main purpose of heart rate training is to capitalize on the hard-easy philosophy.  Basically you can train almost everyday and should avoid injuries as long as you're following the hard-easy principle:  every hard workout is followed by an easy one (heart rate wise).  During my training I was having 3 or 4 "easy" runs and only 1 hard and 1 long (which is considered hard effort even though the HR is kept lower).  Hmmm. 

While I created my training for the Fargo half similar to my Sioux Falls half training, I have decided to throw in some "harder" workouts if my body feels like it on one of the "easy" days.  Tuesday and Thursday are considered easy since I only have about 30 minutes for a run between work and class, and yes that means I'm dripping sweat during class.  Thankfully it's at my computer not around people with noses.

Monday night I took advantage of this "freedom" and decided to run a route by feel and not pay much attention to my watch.  It's much easier to not pay attention to my watch when it's dark out FYI.  I ran harder than I do during as easy run, but easier than a tempo run.  I kept thinking, "Ok, if you had a 10 mile tempo run, what pace would you run it at?" 

And shockingly it was a great effort and a lot of fun.  The first mile was a bit of a "warm up" but still a lot faster than I usually do my warm ups at.  Plus it was on a hilly route.  I tried to focus on a quicker turnover, and "running on eggshells."  When all was said and done I had a pace at the slow end of my tempo range, and a heart rate toggling in between my easy and low end tempo/LT pace.  And I wasn't hating life while I did it (general theme for legit tempo runs).  I think I'll be throwing these in going forward!

I did 4 miles in 34:25 for a pace of 8:37.
1.  8:52
2.  8:32
3.  8:32
4.  8:29

One of the reasons I was happiest about forgoing the fall marathon was that I could race a bunch of shorter races (hopefully before the snow, ice and freezing temps arrive)!  Plus, since Danielle will likely blow my crappy marathon time out of the water for our "challenge" I need to bank some time in our shorter distances.  ;)

On deck is:

Fargo FM half marathon October 8th.

Hope Reins 5k October 22nd.


Trick or Treat trail 10k (although trail means bike trail, not trail-trail) October 29th.

Jingle Bells 5k November 25th. 

TV update:  I cancelled my cable and DVR and my service was up last Wednesday.  And when I realized the horrible timing with sweeps week this week I almost cried.  Please keep me posted on tv shows I must watch online, mmmk?  I caught the New Girl pilot on Hulu this weekend and loved it. But I could probably watch Zooey stare at a wall and call it quality entertainment.