Monday, February 25, 2013
Week 7 Training - A New Dilemma
A lower training week this week than I wanted but I guess I needed a break??
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 3 mile run and 30 minutes (7.4 miles) on the bike trainer
Wednesday - 3.5 mile run
Thursday - 5.2 miles running and 50 minutes (11.3 miles) on the bike trainer
Friday - 1500 yard swim (a good swim!!)
Saturday - 9 miles running and 1 mile walking
Sunday - Rode outdoors! 2 hrs 12 min for 31.2 miles 14.18 mph
Well, looking back at the stats for the week, I guess I thought it was a low week because my running miles were down. Well, they were down, but my swim and bike time and distance were both up. So I guess it evened out?! It's hard for me to think it's a good training week when my running miles are down. I am sure that is because running not only my favorite but also my strongest of the three activities. As a runner, I am finding it hard to train for this triathlon as a triathlete rather than as a runner doing cross training. I think that is why I have had such a hard time coming up with a training plan (which I still do not have). The training plans are teaching you to train like a triathlete and I see myself as a runner and I feel so guilty when I don't run much! I could bike and swim everyday of the week but if my running miles were down I would feel guilty!
One thing is for certain when it comes to the bike - I need to get a proper fitting for my bike! I have had the bike for some time now and have never done a bike fit. Well, awhile back the doc said I have piriformis syndrome. If you don't know what that is well, it's kind of a pain in the butt, literally! So I've aggravated that muscle and I cannot seem to get it back in check unless I steer clear of the bike. My big dilemma is that I kind of want a tri bike :) I like the Felt B16W - well I like the pictures online anyway. So I don't know whether to get some aero bars and a bike fitting for my road bike or just save up and get the tri bike. Hmmm, maybe I could win the lottery?!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Week 6 Training
Well, this week started off very crazy at work so the first couple of days there wasn't enough time left for anything else but sleep :)
So training went like this:
Monday & Tuesday were unscheduled rest days
Wednesday 4 mile run 9:20 pace
Thursday was tempo run day about 6.5 miles total with 4 miles at: 8:51; 8:54; 8:40 & 8:45
Friday scheduled rest day
Saturday 16 mile long run at 9:51 pace
Sunday 1050 yard swim - a very hard swim
Thursday's tempo run goal pace was 4 miles at 8:45. The wind was really rough that day and definitely impacted my pace. Still it was nice to get really close to the goal with that kind of wind! It is so much easier to run hard when you have people running there with you!
So what happened on Sunday? Well, I don't know. It was just not a good swim day for me. I am sure it was partially because I had not swam in 2 weeks. It is just so hard to make yourself do something that you really don't like to do at all! Honestly, if I would have had a computer with me at the Y this morning I would have cancelled my half ironman in a heartbeat. So now I am back to struggling with motivation and whether this is really the right race for me. Maybe I should reconsider and stick to some shorter races until my swim improves? Or maybe I should just survive the swim (as my friends say)? I don't know. Hopefully now that work will calm down a bit I can get back to my routine and start to feel more confident about this race again!
So training went like this:
Monday & Tuesday were unscheduled rest days
Wednesday 4 mile run 9:20 pace
Thursday was tempo run day about 6.5 miles total with 4 miles at: 8:51; 8:54; 8:40 & 8:45
Friday scheduled rest day
Saturday 16 mile long run at 9:51 pace
Sunday 1050 yard swim - a very hard swim
Thursday's tempo run goal pace was 4 miles at 8:45. The wind was really rough that day and definitely impacted my pace. Still it was nice to get really close to the goal with that kind of wind! It is so much easier to run hard when you have people running there with you!
So what happened on Sunday? Well, I don't know. It was just not a good swim day for me. I am sure it was partially because I had not swam in 2 weeks. It is just so hard to make yourself do something that you really don't like to do at all! Honestly, if I would have had a computer with me at the Y this morning I would have cancelled my half ironman in a heartbeat. So now I am back to struggling with motivation and whether this is really the right race for me. Maybe I should reconsider and stick to some shorter races until my swim improves? Or maybe I should just survive the swim (as my friends say)? I don't know. Hopefully now that work will calm down a bit I can get back to my routine and start to feel more confident about this race again!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
2013 Greater Louisville Half Marathon Race Report
2/10/13
Today was the inaugural Greater Louisville Half Marathon in Jeffersonville. For the first year, it was overall pretty well done. Here is how it went . . .
Well leading up to the race I had spent a whole week doing nothing due to illness. 7 full days of NOTHING! Yikes! I knew this would hurt my pace but I was hoping it wouldn't hurt it too much. The week before the race I ran about 15 miles. Not much. My original goal was to beat my November time of 1:55 however, that was starting to seem unrealistic.
Saturday - Well I had hoped to get in a short easy run but it just didn't happen although I have no good excuse. So I did errands (and I took a nap!) and picked up the race packet. This was pretty uneventful. Packet pickup was located at the Sheraton in Jeffersonville. When I went, I didn't have to wait at all. I got my bib #, my chip timer, my bag of advertisements, and my shirt. Sweet, it's a tech shirt. Bummer, it's unisex so it's way too big. Saturday night, I did not choose the best pre-race meal - Moby Dick fish - it's yummy but probably not the best choice!
Sunday - The clock went off at 6 am but I was already awake. I did not sleep well at all - maybe I shouldn't have taken that nap after all. I eat my normal PB&J sandwich and get dressed to go to the race. I get ready to leave and get the car out of the garage only to find out that it's raining. I had not planned on that at all. So back in the house I went to get my running hat, my old shoes, and my running jacket. Now I have no idea what to wear during the race. It's about 40 degrees which is great except for the rain. I get to the Sheraton and change my shoes to my old shoes as I don't want my new ones getting wet. I walk in to the hotel to find a bathroom and run in to several friends that I had not seen in awhile. After catching up I went back to the car and decided to change what I had planned on wearing. Well, take my advice - don't do that!! I had planned on a tank top with a long sleeve running shirt and my capri running tights. At the last minute I decided to lose the tank top, keep the long sleeve shirt and wear the jacket. I go back in to the hotel as it is almost time to start the race and immediately regret my decision to change my outfit. The running jacket is great when it's cold but it's not that cold and I am already getting warm. Oh, and it's not raining now either.
Time for the race to start so we all head outside and the race begins. My Garmin lost the signal right away because we started under some part of the hotel :( So my garmin says I am running a 6:51 pace - well that cannot be right! I don't think I can run that pace in my dreams! The garmin clicks mile 1 long before I hit the mile marker. Bummer. Looks like it will be off the entire race. I decide to just try to keep my pace around 9 minutes/mile. We run along the river which was cool and would be really great on a pretty day. I am now running with another lady and we just pass mile 5 when the guy in the lead passed us on his way back to the finish line. Well, at least I made it to mile 5 before he went by!
Another mile and a half and I am at the turn around. There was no one at the turn around watching the runners - I found this odd as what would keep someone from turning early? Oh well, halfway now. Around mile 8.5 a lady starts to pass me - well I don't want that to happen so I try to just hang with her for as long as I can (turns out I could all the way through the finish line). When we hit the next mile marker that should have been for mile 9 - it read 10! Well, either I missed a mile and am running really fast or that is just wrong. It was definitely wrong as soon there were two mile 11's! Around mile 11 the girl I was running with and I passed an elderly man who was running the race too. He said to us that if we keep running we will still be running when we are his age - he was 70! Wow! Not sure I will be running then but if I'm still around, I hope to be! Can't believe it took me 11 miles to pass him, hope he doesn't pass me back in the last couple of miles!
Mile 12 - that one was faster and I can definitely feel it - that week off is definitely being felt at this point. That's ok, one more mile and I still have someone to run with! Her goal was to get under 2 hours which was my revised goal also. So we just pushed through it together. She had her iPhone on her arm playing music so that was nice as I forgot my iPod :(
We're getting close now, we turn left and there is one more turn and then the finish line. We make that last turn and the clock says 1:59:20 something. We pick it up and finish at 1:59:35. Wow. That was tough. My legs are DEAD! But we did it and in under 2 hours :)
Overall I thought the race was pretty well done for the first year. It started only a couple of minutes late and there were plenty of water stops with both water and gatorade. The course had some nice views of the river and would be really great on a sunny day. The results were posted very quickly. I think I saw a photographer at the finish line too. My only complaints were the mile markers being off for a few miles and the shirt - I really think all races should have gender specific shirts.
What did I learn today? I shouldn't second guess my outfit at the last minute. I won't do that again as I did get too warm on the run today. I probably should not have wore my old shoes as my legs and feet are hurting - those shoes just need to be retired! And most of all - I have to try really hard to not get sick and miss another week before my next half!!! Which is already scheduled for March 23rd . . .
Today was the inaugural Greater Louisville Half Marathon in Jeffersonville. For the first year, it was overall pretty well done. Here is how it went . . .
Well leading up to the race I had spent a whole week doing nothing due to illness. 7 full days of NOTHING! Yikes! I knew this would hurt my pace but I was hoping it wouldn't hurt it too much. The week before the race I ran about 15 miles. Not much. My original goal was to beat my November time of 1:55 however, that was starting to seem unrealistic.
Saturday - Well I had hoped to get in a short easy run but it just didn't happen although I have no good excuse. So I did errands (and I took a nap!) and picked up the race packet. This was pretty uneventful. Packet pickup was located at the Sheraton in Jeffersonville. When I went, I didn't have to wait at all. I got my bib #, my chip timer, my bag of advertisements, and my shirt. Sweet, it's a tech shirt. Bummer, it's unisex so it's way too big. Saturday night, I did not choose the best pre-race meal - Moby Dick fish - it's yummy but probably not the best choice!
Sunday - The clock went off at 6 am but I was already awake. I did not sleep well at all - maybe I shouldn't have taken that nap after all. I eat my normal PB&J sandwich and get dressed to go to the race. I get ready to leave and get the car out of the garage only to find out that it's raining. I had not planned on that at all. So back in the house I went to get my running hat, my old shoes, and my running jacket. Now I have no idea what to wear during the race. It's about 40 degrees which is great except for the rain. I get to the Sheraton and change my shoes to my old shoes as I don't want my new ones getting wet. I walk in to the hotel to find a bathroom and run in to several friends that I had not seen in awhile. After catching up I went back to the car and decided to change what I had planned on wearing. Well, take my advice - don't do that!! I had planned on a tank top with a long sleeve running shirt and my capri running tights. At the last minute I decided to lose the tank top, keep the long sleeve shirt and wear the jacket. I go back in to the hotel as it is almost time to start the race and immediately regret my decision to change my outfit. The running jacket is great when it's cold but it's not that cold and I am already getting warm. Oh, and it's not raining now either.
Time for the race to start so we all head outside and the race begins. My Garmin lost the signal right away because we started under some part of the hotel :( So my garmin says I am running a 6:51 pace - well that cannot be right! I don't think I can run that pace in my dreams! The garmin clicks mile 1 long before I hit the mile marker. Bummer. Looks like it will be off the entire race. I decide to just try to keep my pace around 9 minutes/mile. We run along the river which was cool and would be really great on a pretty day. I am now running with another lady and we just pass mile 5 when the guy in the lead passed us on his way back to the finish line. Well, at least I made it to mile 5 before he went by!
Another mile and a half and I am at the turn around. There was no one at the turn around watching the runners - I found this odd as what would keep someone from turning early? Oh well, halfway now. Around mile 8.5 a lady starts to pass me - well I don't want that to happen so I try to just hang with her for as long as I can (turns out I could all the way through the finish line). When we hit the next mile marker that should have been for mile 9 - it read 10! Well, either I missed a mile and am running really fast or that is just wrong. It was definitely wrong as soon there were two mile 11's! Around mile 11 the girl I was running with and I passed an elderly man who was running the race too. He said to us that if we keep running we will still be running when we are his age - he was 70! Wow! Not sure I will be running then but if I'm still around, I hope to be! Can't believe it took me 11 miles to pass him, hope he doesn't pass me back in the last couple of miles!
Mile 12 - that one was faster and I can definitely feel it - that week off is definitely being felt at this point. That's ok, one more mile and I still have someone to run with! Her goal was to get under 2 hours which was my revised goal also. So we just pushed through it together. She had her iPhone on her arm playing music so that was nice as I forgot my iPod :(
We're getting close now, we turn left and there is one more turn and then the finish line. We make that last turn and the clock says 1:59:20 something. We pick it up and finish at 1:59:35. Wow. That was tough. My legs are DEAD! But we did it and in under 2 hours :)
Overall I thought the race was pretty well done for the first year. It started only a couple of minutes late and there were plenty of water stops with both water and gatorade. The course had some nice views of the river and would be really great on a sunny day. The results were posted very quickly. I think I saw a photographer at the finish line too. My only complaints were the mile markers being off for a few miles and the shirt - I really think all races should have gender specific shirts.
What did I learn today? I shouldn't second guess my outfit at the last minute. I won't do that again as I did get too warm on the run today. I probably should not have wore my old shoes as my legs and feet are hurting - those shoes just need to be retired! And most of all - I have to try really hard to not get sick and miss another week before my next half!!! Which is already scheduled for March 23rd . . .
Week 5 Training - Recovering!
Well, Week 5 was definitely more productive than Week 4!! I didn't get in as many workouts as my pre-sickness weeks but it was better than nothing! Work was crazy this week so there wasn't a lot of time left for training. But, here is what I did do:
Monday - Good 50 minute trainer ride 12.3 miles for 14.73 mph followed by a 5 minute cool down
Tuesday - 4 mile run with 9:29 average pace
Wednesday - 5.1 mile easy run at 10:01 pace
Thursday - this is normally a speed day but with a Half Marathon coming up on Sunday I opted to skip the speedwork for the day. Ran 5.3 miles in 51:30 for a 9:41 average pace
Friday is a scheduled rest day
Saturday - well I was so excited to not be at work that I did nothing! hehe oh well, spent some time with my boy and got ready for Sunday's race
Sunday - Ran the Inaugural Greater Louisville Half Marathon with a time of 1:59:35 - I will put out a separate race report on this one shortly.
Overall it was a decent training week even though I didn't get in enough bike rides or any swims :( Sometimes we just have to make adjustments in the schedule when recovering from illness or when work is just really crazy.
I read a running book on Saturday (since I didn't work out!) - The Hanson Marathon Method. Have you read it? I'm very intrigued. I think I might have to try it out for my next marathon. I want a PR!!
Monday - Good 50 minute trainer ride 12.3 miles for 14.73 mph followed by a 5 minute cool down
Tuesday - 4 mile run with 9:29 average pace
Wednesday - 5.1 mile easy run at 10:01 pace
Thursday - this is normally a speed day but with a Half Marathon coming up on Sunday I opted to skip the speedwork for the day. Ran 5.3 miles in 51:30 for a 9:41 average pace
Friday is a scheduled rest day
Saturday - well I was so excited to not be at work that I did nothing! hehe oh well, spent some time with my boy and got ready for Sunday's race
Sunday - Ran the Inaugural Greater Louisville Half Marathon with a time of 1:59:35 - I will put out a separate race report on this one shortly.
Overall it was a decent training week even though I didn't get in enough bike rides or any swims :( Sometimes we just have to make adjustments in the schedule when recovering from illness or when work is just really crazy.
I read a running book on Saturday (since I didn't work out!) - The Hanson Marathon Method. Have you read it? I'm very intrigued. I think I might have to try it out for my next marathon. I want a PR!!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Week Four Training - Sidelined
Well as you probably know from last week's ending this week didn't start off very well! That stomach virus is a nasty bug!! http://www.cdc.gov/features/norovirus/ even though the main symptoms were gone pretty quickly some symptoms hung on for about a week.
So this week I did a lot of sleeping. I didn't work out at all until Sunday. On Sunday I swam about 1000 yards and then ran 3 miles in just under 27 minutes on the treadmill. I met friends for the swim and run at the new Y so it was pretty easy to be motivated!
So . . . The new Y - Norton Commons - what did I think of it? Overall I thought it was nice. The facility is very open and they seemed to have a lot of exercise equipment. The locker rooms were very nice. The pool was nice too and the chemicals didn't bother me like they do at some of the pools. My only real complaint is that the lap pool only had 3 lanes :(
So I am not going to let the week of inactivity worry me because there is still plenty of time to train before Racine. I am gong to take it easy this next week and come back slowly so I don't wear myself out and end up sick again.
So this week I did a lot of sleeping. I didn't work out at all until Sunday. On Sunday I swam about 1000 yards and then ran 3 miles in just under 27 minutes on the treadmill. I met friends for the swim and run at the new Y so it was pretty easy to be motivated!
So . . . The new Y - Norton Commons - what did I think of it? Overall I thought it was nice. The facility is very open and they seemed to have a lot of exercise equipment. The locker rooms were very nice. The pool was nice too and the chemicals didn't bother me like they do at some of the pools. My only real complaint is that the lap pool only had 3 lanes :(
So I am not going to let the week of inactivity worry me because there is still plenty of time to train before Racine. I am gong to take it easy this next week and come back slowly so I don't wear myself out and end up sick again.
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