6/22

LT run today
2 m warmup (started at 10/mile and worked up to 9:/22)
3 m @ HMP (8:49 m)=26:27
2 m cooldown (ran this too fast)--around 9:05/mile

Overall thoughts--still sick enough that the HMP in the middle felt hard, but sustainable--not as easy as I wish it did. I definitely ran the cooldown part too fast and need to work on that in future, but I think I did a decent job on the warmup.

4/21

Tempo run today; started at 6.5 and worked up to 7.5. Worked back down a bit and then hovered between 6.9 and 7 with the occasional minute at 7.5 until the end.

4.6 miles in 39:36 for 8:36/mile; one water stop at 2.5 miles

One thing I've realized is that my injuries over the last couple of years, coupled with marathon training, made me focus on steady mileage over pace. I told my running buddy that marathon training had actually made me slower while I focused on building up the ability to run for so long, and it really is true. Now I need to focus on maintaining the mileage base while picking up speed again.

11/19

No run yesterday because my foot was aching so much. :-(

Speedwork today 8x 400-meter repeats. Not quite at my 5K pace at the beginning but I was getting there by the end! Had to start slow as always to stretch out my foot, so I did 8:34/mile for the speed part and 9:40 for the recovery. Worked my way up gradually until I was able to do 8/mile and 9:13/mile. As always, my stride feels so much more natural once I pass 8:30/mile or so--just like everything is working as it should.

Totals: 4 miles and 8:53 average pace for the whole run

6/24

Tempo run today, starting at 10/mile and up to 7:47/mile and back down ending at 8:49/mile. 30 minutes; average pace 8:49 over the course of the whole run. I've got to drop a few pounds to get my speed back up.

3/13

6x400 today; worked up in pace (first one out was at 8:34 out and 9:05 back, the sixth was at 8:00 out and 8:34 back).  Knee pain, iced afterwards.

I am really struggling with my self-esteem right now about my pace and mileage.  I have PT again tomorrow and I feel like it's worthless; I'm going to ask for a brace.  I am so tired of my knee hurting all the time, even when I'm not running. And I feel like I'm not pushing myself because I'm worried about my knee; my run today was harder than I have been running but it wasn't anywhere near exhaustion.

3 miles; avg pace 8:30

3/6

30-minute tempo run today; started at 9:05/mile to warm up and worked up to 8:00/mile.  Hit the 3.5 mile mark at 29:30 so I stopped there.  I was definitely running harder than I have been lately--I think I've been kind of lazy.  Knee started hurting about halfway through--never very bad, but uncomfortable enough that it seemed a little swollen afterwards, so I iced it.

3.5 miles; 8:25/mile

2/28

5x400 today; 8:34/out and 9:05/back for recovery.  Had to stop after the 3rd one for Luke.

2.5 miles total; iced afterwards because my knee was popping and grinding

8/31

10x400-meter repeats today--started running at 9 pm (definitely not my preferred time of day). 

1st repeat (warm-up) at 8:00/mile out and 8:12/back.
2nd repeat at 7:53/out and 8:12/back
3rd repeat at 7:53/out and 8:06/back
4th-10th repeats at 7:47/out and 8:06/back

NO STOPS!  Yay!!  I was really proud of myself--I ran the whole 5 miles much faster than usual without stopping.  I'm not exactly sure what the final pace was, since the treadmill didn't click over to the mileage until 40:05, but I at least know that the whole 5 miles was sub-8:00/miles averaged out.

(I do have to say that after I finished I just started walking around and I got super dizzy so then I had to get back on the treadmill and walk for 4 minutes to cool down before I fell over or threw up or something exciting like that.  I should be running like this more often so that it doesn't affect me so much.)

8/17

So on Monday night I was working until midnight on my courses for fall (they just made the sites available at 7 pm Monday, hence why I waited until the last week before the semester starts to do it...).  And then I was worrying about things and fell asleep at 2 am, and Luke woke up for the day at 6, and I spent the next hour groggily hoping that he would go back to sleep.  In other words, I didn't get up early to run Tuesday like I was planning to. 

Then I spent Tuesday afternoon during naptime working on my website again, and the same thing at night--I finished around 10 pm and Neil told me to just go to bed instead of running (too bad I didn't fall asleep until 12:30; I should have just run anyway).  I was so stressed about not running and trying to work out if I could run Thursday instead of taking a rest day, etc.

Anyway, so I finally did get to run today and boy was it a tough one...I keep beating myself up mentally about my times, comparing them to last year when I'd been running 25 miles a week all summer (although at this time last year I was pregnant and still putting up pretty good times...aaah, the self-beating-up continues).  Anyway. 

9x400-meter repeats today, except I wasn't running them on a track so I just ran 2 minute intervals, which means that my "fast" pace was going longer than 400 meters.  It was not the best run for me today.

I ran the first three at 7:30 pace out and 8:20 back (I think I ran the first one back a little slower but then I bumped it up).  Then Luke started screaming so I gave him his pacifier and ran another 2 at 7:30/8:20.  Then he started screaming like CRAZY so I put him in his bouncy seat and ran another 2 at 7:30/8:20 and I started getting the worst side ache, and I do NOT get side aches.  I can tell you when I had the last one--mile 8 of my first half-marathon in April 2010 running up the biggest hill I've ever run in my life.  And that's the only one I can remember since I ran a cross-country training run too fast in 7th grade.

I digress.  Side ache really bad, and I wanted to stop sooo bad, but I finished out the repeat, and then slowed down to 8:00 out/8:20 back.  Then it sort of gets hazy because I was playing mind games with myself trying to finish out the last repeat and I ran at 8:12 for a minute, then 8:06 for 30 seconds, then finally up to my 8:00/pace for a minute, then it was the "back" and I slowed it down to 8:06, then realized I really wanted to finish in less than 36 minutes so I went back to 8:00 and finished there.  The treadmill didn't flip over to the mileage until 36:09 (it alternates between showing speed and mileage) but I'm just going to call it at 36.

4.5 miles; 9x400 repeats; avg. pace 8:00/mile.

this might be the longest training log post ever.

8/10

40-minute tempo run today; started out at 8:49/mile and worked up to 7:30/mile, then back down to end at 7:53/mile.  Stopped for a drink at 27 minutes and ran an extra 38 seconds to finish out the 5 miles.

5 miles; 8:07/mile

8/3

8x400-meter repeats today.  Ran at 8:00/mile for the first 400 and then the recovery 400 varying between 8:34 and 8:20/mile.  Stopped after the second set of repeats to check on Luke and after the fifth to get a drink.

4 miles; average pace 8:15/mile

7/6

Pretty similar to last time; tempo run starting out at 9:05 a mile; up to 8:00/mile (finished there, climb in pace was slower this time). 

4 miles; 8:41/mile

7/4

Tempo run on the treadmill, starting at 9:05/mile, gradually down to 8:20/mile, and finishing at 8:34/mile.

4 miles; average pace 8:41/mile

6/29

Pushing it harder to make up for Monday; 4 mile tempo run, starting speed 9:09/mile, up to 8:00/mile, finishing back down at 8:20/mile.

4 miles; average pace 8:35/mile

12/1

So I think some of the stomach pain I've been experiencing is just round ligament pain from running (I know, I'm brilliant, it took me forever to realize this).  For the last month or so I've had a terrible stomachache four or five hours after I run, and I think it's just the stretching on the ligaments...I think I'm going to look into support bands, even though it doesn't bother me at all when I run.  The run itself feels awesome, it's just a few hours later where I start to feel this weird pain.  Anybody else experienced that?  Or have any brands of bands they'd recommend?  I'm having trouble finding one specifically designed for running.

STATS:  4 miles, 9:00/mile (6.5 and 6.8 mph repeats, trying to build up on speed again!)

9/21

Speedwork today.  I've been fighting a really killer headache since about 10 pm last night (the kind where you're lying with a wet towel on your head at midnight wishing you were unconscious) and it definitely kicked in while I was running--I think I just haven't been drinking enough, which ALWAYS triggers headaches for me.

So I ran the first 7 400-meter repeats okay (although I did stop after the 6th set to take a drink), but during the 7th, my head starting pounding so much I was having trouble staying upright.  I slowed down and kept running, then slowed down some more.  It's sort of okay now, but I need to be drinking a LOT more--I didn't hydrate well over the weekend, since I wasn't home Friday through Sunday, and I'm paying for it now.

First 7 400-meter repeats at 8:00/mile out and 8:20/mile back
gradual slowing during last 2 repeats, ending run at 8:41/mile

STATS:  9x400-meter repeats (4.5 miles), 37 minutes, avg pace 8:13/mile

Okay, so I really feel pretty crappy right now.  Stupid headache, I loathe you.  

9/14

Tempo run today for 40 minutes; started out at 8:42/mile and worked up to 7:30/mile, then back down again.  I ran at my slower warm-up pace for too long, since I forgot to check the time, so I ended up running the first ten minutes at 8:42/mile.  Oops. 

STATS:  4.8 miles, 8:26/mile average pace

9/7

My run got pushed to the very end of the day today, which meant I didn't want to run too hard, since I'm up before six to go running again.  And to be honest, I just don't have anywhere near the energy at the end of the day that I do first thing in the morning...

Theoretically this was a speedwork day of 8x400-meter repeats, but it was pretty pathetic--my top speed was an 8-minute mile, whereas last time I was at a 7:30 mile.  My main motivation in running today was that I haven't missed a run yet while I've been training for this half; I feel like if I miss one, it will make it easier to skip again.  As long as I can keep my streak going, it's much easier to convince myself to just do it, even if it's not up to the usual standard.  Every little bit helps, right?  And a not-so-fast run is better than no run at all.

At least that's what I'm telling myself today. 

STATS:  4 miles, 8:30ish/mile

8/31

Last run of the month!  I've run about 93 miles in August.  Not a whole lot if you're training for an ultra-marathon, but it's cool to me, since when I very first started running again after Juliet was born--I hadn't run much since middle school--I was running about 9 miles a week, or under 40 miles a month.    (Of course, the flip side of this is that my shoes wear out a lot faster...)

Today was a 40-minute tempo run (on the treadmill while Jules and Isaac were asleep).  I started out running an 8:50 mile, worked up to an 8-minute mile, and back down again.  I always feel like I'm running much more slowly when I do tempo runs than when I do interval training--it's so much easier for me to do those 400-meter repeats at a faster pace than it is to do a steady build.  Which is why I train with both, I suppose.

STATS:  4.7 miles, 8:28/mile

8/26

Speedtraining today; 7 x 400-meter repeats.

Alternating between 8 mph for the 400 meters, then 7 mph for the 400 back.

It was doable, but barely.  I don't think I could have gone much past the 400 at 8 mph (7:30 mile).  This is definitely a 5K pace right now rather than a half-marathon pace.

STATS:  3.5 miles; average page 8:00/mile