Progress Check In

After my bummer of a long run, I was a little down on myself. Running does that sometimes, but I'm thankful it happened on a training run vs. a race. When this happens, instead of dwelling on the bummer, I try to make myself focus on progress instead.

So Sunday, while procrastinating my recovery run in the blazing heat and humidity, while enjoying a relaxing afternoon, I decided to pick up my training log from last year to see where I was at. Last summer was the first time in years that I really felt like my training was coming together. I was running some consistent miles, including some bigger weekly mileage. I was staying consistent-ish with my weekly long runs, and was having success adding in some speed work here and there. Last summer I was finally having some fun with training.

I took a look at my long runs to start. Most of them were in the 10:40+ pace range, with the exception of some that had race pace finishes. These long runs were half the distance of my long runs this summer. And my stinker of a 20 miler? Was a 10:20 pace. Whoa. Ok. That's some much needed perspective check.

Then I took a look at my tempo workouts. Last summer my tempo goal paces were 9-9:20 pace. That was a pretty big jump up from the spring, and I was really proud of that. Now this summer, that's my goal marathon pace. What I would shoot to do for 20-40 minutes at a time last year, I'm now (hopefully) in shape to do for ~4 hours. That blows my mind.

So I would highly recommend that any time you're feeling a little ho hum about a performance, to take a few minutes to look at where you are compared to where you were (just avoid looking at those years where all of your PRs live, because that's a different comparison trap altogether :P).

Progress Post

I am heavily inspired by seeing progress in my running. Sometimes it's hard to see progress once you've been running for years and years. The major PRs every race are long in the past. For me, mine are in the very far past, but I hope to change that!

For the past several years, I've trained loosely by heart rate. The last season I used heart rate training for was Fall 2011. I ran the Fargo FM half in 1:55 after being up all night, and morning with food poisoning. I ran the Philadelphia marathon with friends and ran a 4:25, helping a friend snag a 25 minute PR. If someone offered me $1000 to run a 4:25 right now, I wouldn't be able to do it. And that was a comfortable 26.2 miles.

So I firmly believe that heart rate training works, and works well, especially for those who've hit a wall with their progress and improvement as a runner (heart rate training post coming soon!).

Over the past several years, I have trained loosely by heart rate training, but because I was rarely in really good shape, heart rate training can be very defeating. When you're out of shape AND trying to keep your heart rate in a super easy zone, it can result in paces that look more like walking than running, especially if you're running in the summertime!

During my last "long" run for the Too Cold to Hold half, I was shocked at where my heart rate stayed during a run where my pace looked and felt speedy for my current fitness level. Two days later, I had a 5 mile general aerobic run. The first mile was around 11 minutes, which is pretty typical for my general aerobic heart rate zone, at some point I looked down at my pace during the second mile and it was 10:15. I waited for my watch to switch to the HR screen as I assumed I was running at too hard of an effort level, and was shocked to see I was on the low end of my heart rate zone for the run.

Whoa.

I ended the run with an average pace of 10:22, and that's with an 11 minute first mile. To see your pace drop almost 45 seconds/mile on a run is huge, and I let that propel a massive runner's high the rest of the day.

I may not be shooting for a massive PR this spring, but I am excited to put in the work to see where I can get my body. I'm excited for the base building cycle I'm doing right now, and I'm excited to continue that base building once I start my actual training program. I think this base will help to keep me injury free once the speedwork (my fave!) starts up.

So cheers to celebrating and taking time to notice your progress along the way. You deserve it!

Progress + Happy Birthday Mom

As a runner, I thrive on progress. Yes, I enjoy competition, but when I compete, it's primarily against myself. Occasionally I'll use a person in front of me in a race or on the bike trail during a speed session as a competitive figure head to drive me forward, but to me a PR is a win.

It's been three years since I've set PRs (uff, that hurts to type a little bit) and it's safe to say that my decreasing speed, and increased school load contributed tremendously to me losing my love of running over the past couple of years. I'd get a wild hair to run, or train for something, and I'd be so discouraged by how slowly and painfully I was moving, that I just couldn't get the l-o-v-e back.

Sometime after the Madison Marathon, or possibly during the training for it, I finally stopped comparing myself to the runner that I used to be. Instead of focusing on the training paces I used to run, or the PRs that I haven't come close to hitting, I started searching instead for progress. Of any kind.

• I didn't want to die on a long run! Progress.

• I took 44 seconds off my half marathon time in 6 months (lolz). Progress

• I was able to complete a long run without walk breaks. Progress.

• I was able to start adding speed sessions to my training. Mega PROGRESS!

• I took 12 minutes off my half time in six weeks. Progress!

And in doing so, I've slowly but surely started to feel more like my former runner self. I'm still not where I was prior to starting grad school, but I can see that runner not too far in the distance.

Two weeks ago I hit my fastest mile repeats in over two years. When I look at my mile repeat paces from a couple of years back, it's easy to be discouraged by my "new" fast time. But I also would've thrown in the towel two years ago on a mile repeat workout in the temps and humidity that I completed them in. So, I consider that progress. Of the mental kind. which I've always desperately needed. Wahoo.

When I was doing my May in Review post, I was excited that I spent 90 minutes less running in May than I did in April, and ran roughly the same miles. Which prompted me to look at my other months of running this year. I did some rough calculations, and came up with the following:

Month	Mileage	Time	Avg Pace
Jan	60.5	11	10.91
Feb	80.2	14.66	10.97
Mar	52.2	9.25	10.63
Apr	65.7	11.33	10.35
May	61.5	10	9.76

To go from an 11 minute overall pace to a 9:45 pace in the past five months, gives me the much needed inspiration to tackle my marathon training cycle in a week and a half. Bring on the progress!

And now to switch gears completely:  Happiest of Happy birthdays to Mama Bear, the biggest Team Green fan on the planet!

How to Make a Comeback

Once upon a time (roughly 2008), I swore off running.  It sucked.  I sucked at it.  And it wasn't fun anymore.  Flash forward a year, and I broke 2 hours in the half marathon for the first time, and took 26 minutes off my previous half marathon time from 2008.  Getting back in to shape sucked.  And I vowed to never stop running again, because --say it with me now-- getting back in to shape sucks.

Did I mention it sucks?

Oh.  Ok.

Well here I am again.  Apparently I can't even take my own advice.  If you've found yourself in a rut, or are way more out of shape that you swear you were about 15 seconds ago, perhaps you can glean some inspiration from the following*:

1.  Cut yourself some slack.  You are not going to be as fast as you were (insert date of last stellar race performance here).  It took you awhile to get out of stellar running shape, and it's going to take you awhile to get it back.  Further, if you *try* to run at some of these previous paces you will either a) be super discouraged at how OMG RUNNING IS HARD, those paces are and/or b) wind up injured.  If you end up with neither predicament, than clearly I hate you.

2.  Take some time off from the running watch.  Prior to two weeks ago, I had switched my garmin screen to no longer show me my current pace.  My focus was getting in some miles, and not to worry about how fast or slow (ok just slow) I was going.  If you can ditch the data altogether, do it.  I wanted my HR data, and I thrive on seeing progress in that, so checking my HR on the run and logging my overall time (to consult at later dates when I wasn't as slow as molasses) was enough to not drive me batty.

3.  Be smart.  If you haven't ran any speed workouts in a few months, probably best to not start running a tempo run and interval workout in the same week.  If your longest run has been 4-5 miles, it's probably not smart to jump to a 10 mile long run.  If you haven't been running AT ALL, probably not best to run 7 days a week and/or 30-40 mpw.  Again, if you can do this, and not end up broken, I hate you.  :)  The 10% rule is a good one to follow.  If you're injury prone, I'd err on the side of caution **waves white flag in defeat on this one**.  My marathon training starts in mid-July.  I calculated the number of weeks I had prior to starting to see where my weekly mileage would have to start in order to increase by 10% (or less) a week, and still be where I needed to be for training to start.  If the math doesn't add up, you should probably alter your training program.

4.  Reward yourself.  Preferably not with food.  Uh...ooops.  Guilty.  Kyle works at a sporting goods store, and for the first time in the 2.5 years we've been dating he didn't use his monthly discount.  Surely I could use some adorable new running clothes right?  A few new running tanks had me feeling ready to run.  If I keep up my training, a bright green pair of Pro Compression socks have my name on them at the end of the month (I think it was kismet that the socks I've been eyeing are June's sock o' the month, and are 40% off with code NEON).  Duh, team green.  (Side note:  I heart my Pro Compression socks and am in no way affiliated with them, or being compensated for this mention.)

5.  Make goals.  Both short and long.  Short term:  I want to run consistent mileage.  I want to look forward to most runs (I'll probably always dread certain hard workouts, such is life).  I want to keep up with my stretches, foam rolling, etc. to stay healthy.  And I'd like to be back to normal-ish paces by the time marathon training starts (4 weeks?  5 weeks?).  Long term:  Stay healthy and finally make some progress on some long standing PRs.  Namely the half in September and full in November.

6.  Make running fun.  Make running dates with friends.  Make a super fab-o running playlist.  I made a playlist for my long run this past weekend that had an assortment of running songs from back when I *was* running well.  It made ALL the difference on the run.  I swear it flew by and was 95% effortless.  It's been awhile since I've been able to say that.  Plan a fun race weekend with friends.  I run for the camaraderie.

7.  Celebrate your progress.  A long run that feels effortless?  Pat on the back.  A general aerobic run that's at a decent pace and right on HR target?  Self-high five!  Another mile tacked on to your LR from last week?  Kudos.  Highest weekly mileage of 2013?  Huzzah!  (yes, that may have been me last week) and will likely continue to be me.


*Caveat:  Obviously a comeback of full blown injury proportion would and should require way more than this general "go get 'em!" inspirationz.

Anything I'm missing?  If not, feel free to give me your INSPURASHUNAL words regarding your comeback so I can feed off your awesomeness and give my own a break for a minute.  :)














Oh, and here's a random picture of me post-run where I SWEAR it looks like I'm enjoying running again.  #proof or whatever the kids these days are saying.

Tough Tempo + Runner Doolittle

Since I had been putting off my tempo run due to cold temps and insane wind trapping me indoors, it was finally time to take care of it on Thursday.  I was to do 10 miles with 8 at tempo pace of 8:28.  It was so stinkin' cold it took awhile for me to warm up.  Literally.  When I got about 4 miles from home I realized that it was pretty dark, so I decided to turn around at 4.5 miles and not do a cool down lap.  Cool downs are for sissies.  (jk, I totally did a quick walk in lieu of a full jogging mile).  This was seriously one of the tougher workouts I've done.  Miss Alyssa was totally my inspiration on this run, because she had knocked out an 8 miler a couple of days previously at what "felt like an easy pace" and was at 8:05 or something crazy fast like that.  Alyssa when did you leave me in your dust?!?!?  :(

Anywho, I didn't quite hit my goal pace, averaging 8:30 for my tempo miles, but I was still pretty impressed with my run.  Usually when I start sucking on a tempo run, I find a reason to quit and just take the remaining miles at an easy pace.
1. 9:29 
2. 8:29 
3. 8:31 
4. 8:24 
5. 8:27 
6. 8:35 
7. 8:35 
8. 8:29 
9. 8:35

I was a little bummed that I wasn't able to kick it any faster for the final mile, but then John tweeted that I did great on the run, and bet that I couldn't have done that a year ago.  Well then, I had to set about proving him wrong.  :)  For some reason I have it in my head that I'm roughly the same speed that I was a year ago, but he was right.  Last year at this time my tempo paces might've been a little faster but they were also only 4-5 miles tops.  Then I had to check the last round of MARATHON TRAINING!!!!!  and realized that this run was actually at a faster pace (and longer distance) than those tempo runs too.  Fine, you win this time.  :)


The coolest part of the run was running up on a mama deer and her baby deer during the final mile (hey maybe that's why it wasn't super speedy, I slowed down not to scare off the deers...duh....).  I have this weird habit of greeting animals when I run up on them to make sure they understand that I am friend and not foe, but I swear one of these times there's going to be someone within ear shot and I'm going to start to be known as "that weirdo Dr. Doolittle wannabe runner chick."  Can't wait.....