Charlevoix Half Training - Week 5

Monday
Supplemental Training: strength training, flexibility, core, and lots of foam rolling!

My right calf was still feeling a bit tight from Saturday's race so I was grateful to have another day off from running. I was pretty sure it was just a tight knot in the muscle that needed to be worked out, as opposed to being an actual injury. Overall I think I made the right decision in taking Sunday off.

Tuesday
Distance: 8.25
Pace: 9:01 average pace with 10 strides

After two days off I was ready to run! This run felt great! My calf did not bother me at all during or after the run.

Wednesday
Distance: 5.00
Pace: 9:49 recovery run

Thursday
Distance: 10.25
Pace: 9:17

Ugh. This. Run. Sucked. I ordered some new running shoes this week and they were delivered on Thursday. I ordered two pairs of the same shoes in size 9.5 and 10 so I could figure out which size fit better. The size 10s must have been mislabeled because they were SMALLER than the 9.5s. What the hell? My new shoes should be here this week and *fingers crossed* they will actually be the size I ordered.

So after spending 30 minutes on the phone trying to get that sorted out, I was all cranky when I left for my run. All I wanted was to finish my run and drink a beer, which wasn't likely to happen since the fridge was empty. Fortunately my husband managed to read my mind and picked up some beer AND made pizza while I was running. I love that man!

Friday
rest day

Saturday
Distance: 4.1
Pace: 9:57 recovery run
Supplemental: flexibility

Sunday
Distance: 15.25
Pace: 9:18

My long run felt great! I started my run at 6:30 am which allowed me to finish my run before 9, beat the heat/humidity, and I even got lucky and missed the downpour that started right after I finished my run. I started my run with a slow mile, around 10:00 pace, and then settled into 9:15-9:30 for most of the run. Since I was feeling awesome, I picked the pace up for the last four miles and ran all of them at a sub 9:00 pace.

Totals
Distance: 42.85 miles
Speed work: strides + fast finish
Supplemental: 2 flex, 1 core, 1 strength

In terms of running, this week was perfect. I easily managed to run the prescribed distance each day and I am quite please with where my paces have been landing. My long run average pace is a bit deceiving since the last four miles were significantly faster than the previous 11 miles (9:30 average pace compared to my last 4 mile splits of 8:51, 8:49, 8:43, 8:22). I would not typically expect a long run to be quite that fast...although the paces felt easy/comfortable. So perhaps my endurance has been improving over the past few months.

I still am slacking on the supplemental training. Core work really needs to be done 2-3 times per week. For this next week I am going to add it to my recovery run days, before the run, so I have zero excuses!

2015 Run 2 Save Our Youth

On Saturday, June 6, 2015 I ran the 9th annual Run 2 Save Our Youth 5k. As I mentioned in my training check in, this 5k was not a new PR and I pretty much did everything wrong when it came to getting ready for this race. All things considered, I am really happy with how this race turned out. Also I was a terrible blogger and took approximately 0 pictures.

Goal: just run fast and see what happens!
Actual: 21:36 

Since I finally bought a Garmin I can now analyze my splits. Look who started too fast and faded hard in the last mile!

Three things I did wrong leading up to this race...

1. Ran 9 miles the night before the race. Literally less than 24 hours before the race.
2. Ate and drank all the things while on vacation the week of the race.
3. Filled my vacation with ATVing, which can be really hard on your quads. I know I'm sitting in the picture, but imagine me standing and using my legs as shock absorbers. It was basically a million squats every day of vacation (plus a run on top of that). 

I have run this race every year since 2009 (okay, fine, I walked it a few of those times), but this year they moved it to a different location. Instead of being a lovely out and back course, it is now a twisty loop with 15 (!!!) ninety degree turns and one 180 degree turn. That is a lot of turns for just 3.1 miles. I miss the old course, even though it had a few rolling hills and this one is pancake flat.

The morning of the race I could tell that I was just not in peak performance mode. Mr. Shoe was not aiming for a PR, my friends who were running were not aiming for PRs. It was just not a PR sort of day. My warmup felt slow and sluggish. I did not feel ready to race mentally or physically. When it was time to line up for the start, I had no idea what to expect. I managed to hold the lead for about half a mile when a woman (Amy, I would later learn) passed me. I managed to stay with her for the next mile.

As we neared the halfway point of the race, a guy slowly started to pass me and Amy. I forced myself to follow him and reclaim the lead. Unfortunately Amy was not about to give up and she stayed right on my heals. Amy and I both slowed during the final mile, but as we rounded the corner to the finish line she shot passed me.

This is the one part of the race that I am not thrilled about. For a few seconds I didn't even bother trying to stick with her, I just let her pull away. Then I realized that I still had a bit of speed left in me. I tried to catch her, but in the end I ran out of road. She crossed the mat just 2 seconds in front of me. If I would have treated this race as a goal race and went into it rested and prepared, it might have turned out differently. But I didn't and that's that. On the upside, I was still almost 40 seconds faster than my best 2014 race!

Next year's goal: learn to execute a stronger finish!

After the race I congratulated Amy on her win and had a really nice chat with her while I waited for my husband and friends to finish the race. She and her husband are aiming to run a marathon in every state, which is like the super version of our plan to run any race in every state. Mr. Shoe came in at 27:14. After the race we really only stuck around long enough for me to claim my award; we had a busy day of brewery visits ahead of us. And also a concert. And also a middle-of-the-night-milkshake because I was hungry after the concert.

Charlevoix Half Training - Weeks 3 & 4

Sorry for the lack of blog updates in the past couple weeks! I was on a mini vacation in northern Michigan for 5 days and then spent the next few days getting caught up at work and at home.

Monday
Rest day. It was supposed to be a strength training day, but I had the day off for Memorial Day and was completely lazy instead. 

Tuesday
Distance: 10.3
Pace: 9:00 average pace

It was quite hot and humid during this run. I spent the entire run convincing myself to just keep running for another mile and then I would take a walk break. I never actually stopped for a break but it helped to think about running just one more mile instead of thinking about the 6 miles I still had to run.

Wednesday
Distance: 4.0
Pace: 9:51 recovery run

Thursday
Distance: 8.0
Pace: 2 miles easy, 4 miles at HMP (7:43), 2 miles easy

Friday
rest

Saturday
Distance: 14.2
Pace: 9:40

I got up early Saturday morning to do my long run so I could get it out of the way before leaving on vacation. I tested out a new hydration pack during this run and was super impressed! A full review will be coming later this month; I want to use it a few more times first.

Sunday
Distance: 4.1
Pace: 9:57

Totals
Distance: 40.6 miles
Speed work: 1 tempo run
Supplemental Training: yeah, no.

Monday
Distance: 10.0
Pace: 9:24

Mondays are typically a rest day, but this was the one day of vacation where I had nothing else planned. Even though my legs were a bit tired, this run was amazing. The road I ran went through the woods next to a lake. There was a nice mix of sun and shade and I ended my run by jumping in the lake. So refreshing!

Tuesday
rest day

Wednesday
Distance: 5.0
Pace: 10:11 recovery run

Thursday
rest day

Thursday was my downfall of the week. I got home from vacation late Wednesday night and even after a long nap Thursday afternoon, I just did not have the energy to go for a run.

Friday
Distance: 9
Pace: 10:01 average pace with 10 strides

I kept the pace nice and slow during this run because I had a race the next morning. Not my greatest plan, but I didn't want to skip Thursday's run completely. This was only meant to be an 8 mile run, but I miscalculated my route.

Saturday
Distance: .5 mile warm up + 3.1
Pace: 6:57 (21:36)

This wasn't really a goal race for me and I blew my chances of getting a good time when I chose to run 9 miles the night before the race. That said, I'm pretty pleased to have finished only about 30 seconds slower than Shanty 2 Short's! Full race recap later this week!

After the race my husband and I spent the afternoon visiting breweries and we ended the night at a concert (Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness). It was a very busy day, but it was an absolute blast!

Sunday
Distance: 0.0

My training schedule called for a 15 mile long run. I got as far as mapping out a basic route before I decided to take a rest day. My right calf is super tight and painful. By taking Sunday off, I get two rest days in a row. Plus instead of spending 2.5+ hours on a run, I was able to prep my breakfasts and lunches for the week. Week 5 should be back on track.


Totals
Distance: 27.6 miles
Speed work: strides + 5k race
Supplemental Training: Hahaha...no.