Long Run Saturday

Plan:
2 miles warm up/easy
1 mile at 'goal race pace' and that was changed by my coach to 10:40/mile
1/2 mile easy
1 mile at 'goal race pace' and that was changed by my coach to 10:40/mile
1/2 mile easy
1 mile run/cool down
Actual Mileage: 1st hard mile was around a 10:30/mile.  2nd hard mile was around a 10:27/mile.  I had issues lapping my watch.

 Route: Inside on the track.  A 10:00 mile is easy to pace on this track.  1/4 lap needs to be done in 25 seconds, 1 lap needs to be done in 100 seconds.  The 1/4 laps are really easy to time because of where the clocks are.
Struggles of the workout: Before the 'hard' part, I was nervous for myself and kind of bargaining.  "try it on the track, you can always go to the treadmill" I finally found a thought that worked for me.
High Points of the workout: I ultimately told myself, there's 12 laps of work and to see how many of those 12 laps I could get right.  I was usually on time or 1 second slow when I was paying attention to 1/4 lap time.
From the high points, I learned: It was good for me to 'feel' this effort.  It wasn't as crazy hard as I thought, though it was work. It's also showing me I need to improve to hit the race pace I want.
From the struggles, I learned: 'Bring a good attitude' is everything.
Next steps: Work on speed? Keep bringing a good attitude. 
Bonus: I did abs after the workout, then changed shoes and walked 3 miles with Dungeon Master.

Quality Miles Monday Wednesday

Plan: Same as this torture session.
1 mile w/u
4x: 0.5 miles at 10:30 pace, 0.5 miles at 12:00 pace
1 mile c/d
Actual Mileage: 6 miles
Route: Actually had to do this one on the track too, which was not my first choice.  It was to rainy and "weathery" outside. 
Execution:
1 mile warm up: done
0.5 miles at 10:26/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:18/mile
0.5 miles at 10:18/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:08/mile
0.5 miles at10:23/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:24/mile
0.5 miles at 10:26/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:46/mile
1 miles cool down: also done
From today, I learned: I told my coach I was afraid if I did this well, she'd keep writing this workout for me to do over and over and over and over.
The lesson I keep learning over and over again here is that these workouts are generally harder in my mind than they are in my body.  Though this one was pretty tough on both.  I kept telling myself I had to run my mile anyways so just see how many sets I could do.
Bonus: I ordered clothes from InkNBurn and they came today.  I may be wearing some of them on race day.  I hope I get a chance to wear my race vest with a singlet once before the race.  I need to check for chaffing issues.

Quality Miles Monday

Plan: 1 mile w/u
4x 0.5 miles at 10:30/mile, 0.5 miles at 12:00/mile
1 mile d/c

Actual Mileage: 6 miles

Route: Indoor track, 6 laps is a mile

Execution: This was a hard workout.  I would've hit the paces better on the treadmill, but I was happier on the track
1 mile w/u
0.5 miles at 10:20/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:02/mile - ok; first set was right on
0.5 miles at 10:46/mile, 0.5 miles at 12:06/mile - second one was a little slow really pretty good.  It's hard to pace on the track
0.5 miles at 10:32/mile, 0.5 miles at 12:30/mile - fast part good, slow part was too slow
0.5 miles at 10:46/mile, 0.5 miles at 12:36/mile - fast part was hanging on, slow part was trying not to die
1 mile c/d

From today, I learned: This was a lot more 'hard' or 'harder' running than any of the past tempo workouts.  Most of those were a few minutes on and then an easy portion.  This was 4 miles of pretty hard, and then hard running.
Later, talking with my coach, she says "my athletes usually hate me for this one".  It wouldn't have helped me to know that before today. 

Bonus: One of the trainers at the gym came over to me today and was all "I didn't know you were a streaker"  She's at about 2 years and thinking 'how will I keep this going after the marathon?"  I did one run the day after a marathon and it was one of my more painful runs ever. 

Sunday Long Run - Inside Sadness and Madness

Plan: Plan A was to do all 14 miles on the track
Plans B+, B and B-  were to do incrementally less distance on the track and add in treadmill distance.
Plans D- and forward involved both treadmill and some amount of elliptical miles, which is a thing I'd use in some of my older marathon training days.
BTW, I've done a 10 mile run all on the track, and an 11 mile run mostly on the track and ending on the treadmill.  And every time I'm all "never again", but this winter has been rough.

Actual Mileage: 14 miles total.

Route: Indoor track, 6 laps is a mile basically.  And then, a little bit of treadmill because I was done with turning and corners.

Weather: Weather is the reason I'm inside.  We're having record cold weather for March.  It's the middle of the day and still not above 0* air temperatures.  And then there's wind. I've run outside during the polar vortex when it was this cold, but that was a very short run (3 miles).  I couldn't be outside in this for a long run without a related lesson in treating frostbite.

Wardrobe: To make myself feel better, I wore my favorite summer shorts and summer singlet.  I wore my Xero Prios, and this marks their longest run as well. So far, I'm thinking they will be my race day shoes, but wishing I could get a long run on concrete done in them before the big day.  Thus far, I'm not sure the snow will be melted here before the race.

Execution:
Warm up: The track is about 40 feet short of "6 laps is a mile", so I walk an extra 40' for every mile planned as part of the warm up.  And then I did about 0.5 miles of walking to get started.
Running: I have been listening to The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin since this run, and I'd hoped I'd be done with the book by the end of this run. I did really sink into the book.  We're into the Taft Presidency now.
Cool down: Somewhere after lap 72 but before lap 78 I felt a real twinge in my knee (inside leg on the turns) that meant "WTF, I am so done with all these turns", so I abandoned the track and lap 78 (13 miles), and did my cool down on the treadmill.

Nutrition: Best part of running inside is not having to carry everything with me at all times.
I had a water bottle and gummy chews.
I took water and 2 small chews every 3 miles.
This run was fasted because I was still full from last night when I woke up.

From today, I learned: I learned a lot about my mental health, and how to approach hard things.  Here's the back story.  I'd thought to do a long run Thursday, but I felt lousy, and didn't have enough daylight (afternoon run).  Then I'd thought to do the long run on Saturday which had the better weather of the two days, but I generally felt sluggish and lousy on Saturday so that didn't happen either.  So, I'd spent several days trying to plan a pleasant long run, then not getting it done, and feeling BAD about not getting it done.  Plus I'd had some time to dread the massive amount of time I was about to spend on the track.  And feeling BAD about not getting this done outside.
When I got to the gym today, I approached it more like my job.  No emotions; I just need to make this long run happen; it's my marathon training job for today.
And, I'm glad it's over, but it was okay while it was happening.  But also, I never want to do this again.

Bonus: There was a basketball tournament downstairs from the track, and there's these vendors that sell donuts and today sausage apparently.  I really hate the smell of food wafting up to me on the track.  Vindictive me is all "I should call the Minneapolis health department, because legit, there's no water, these food service people have no way of washing their hands or any utensils when they serve this food...." all so I don't have to smell your donuts while I'm running. 

Quality Miles Monday: Tempo

Plan: Warm up; 5:00 tempo, 2:00 rest - repeat 5 times; cool down
Actual Mileage: 5.5 miles
Route: Indoor tack at the gym
Execution:
Warm up: walking and then running for a total of 9 laps; had my first watch SNAFU here
Tempo section: it's hard to pace on the track.  1/2 lap in 50 seconds or 1/4 lap in 25 seconds is a 10:00/mile; 1/2 lap in 1:00 or 1/4 lap in 30 seconds is a 12:00/mile.  Anything else, the math is too hard.  So once a lap or so, I'd check to see if I was running around a 10:00/mile pace, which I was.  I never got to three full laps in 5:00, but I was always pretty close, which says I was running at about the right pace.  All the rest of my watch SNAFUs happened here.
Cool down: I ran for a few laps once I was done with the work, and then walked a few to bring my heart rate down.
Nutrition: 1/2 a salted avocado before the run
From today, I learned: I was surprised I enjoyed the tempo work on the track, despite the limited information I had about my pace.  As always, it felt good to really just run, which is not a thing happening outside a ton right now becuase of the weather.  Wowsers!
I think if I did this on the track again, I'd change it to 3 laps tempo and 1 lap easy because that's just easier to count/measure on the track.
Bonus: I moved Monday weights to some other day and did Friday weights today.  My knee is still a little WTF about life, but it's not hurting while I'm lifting so I'm going forth.

Marshmallow Training - 18 Weeks to Go

Sunday Planned: 11 Miles
Sunday actual: 11 Miles of running inside.  I feel like I'm still going up and down and over and over.
From today, I learned: Patience and relaxation during the run.  I also finished a book I was listening to.

Monday Planned: 2 miles w/u; 15 mins tempo; 2 miles c/d; Monday abs; Monday weights
Monday actual:
Run: Completed as written.  My outside tempo was more like 10:55 than the 10:45 Coach prescribed.  I'm taking it for now.
Monday abs: done
Monday weights: done, very slowly this week for some reason.
From today, I learned: Run the hills by effort, not by pace.

Tuesday Planned: 1 Miles
Tuesday actual: 1.25 miles, inside, on the treadmill.  It is too freaking cold outside.
Bonus spin class with the Dungeon Master.
From today, I learned: I am so hacked off with my Garmin watch.  Workouts weren't syncing properly so I had to re-set the watch.  And now my heart rate zones are ten kinds of screwed up.

Wednesday Planned: Wednesday Weights, 5 easy miles
Wednesday actual: Weights in the morning.  4.63 miles along the river in the afternoon.
From today, I learned: Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.  I first headed over to Medicine Lake because it's been well plowed in the past.  And today?  Oh hell no, the paths were glare ice inside the park, and snow crust along the lake shore.  I was out.  I headed down by the river which has been clear so far and ran there.

Thursday Planned: 1 Miles
Thursday actual: 1 mile outside. 
From today, I learned: I feel like garbage.  Carb flu is real people

Friday Planned: Friday Weight, 4 easy miles
Friday actual: Running: yes, very slowly.  Weights, no.  I just didn't feel up to it.
From today, I learned: Again, Carb flu is real.  But I had a blast out on the trails.  This is the first day in a while I've really run in the 'snow crust' and the footing was great.

Saturday Planned: 3 easy miles
Saturday actual: 3 miles, relatively low heart rate.  Carb flu is getting better but my endurance hasn't rebounded yet.  The weather was great today.  Nokomis isn't in quite as good shape as the river is, but it was okay footing and there were tons of people out.
From today, I learned: I'm trying to look at these super slow frustrating slogs as an opportunity to be grateful for what my body can do, and celebrate being able to run, instead of "WTF?!? What am I so slow?!?  I'll let you know how it goes.

Sunday Long Run: Inside. Booo!

Plan:
Plan A: Do all of the miles on the track
Plan B: Do most of the miles on the track, end up on the treadmill.
Plan C: Do a few miles on the track and most of the miles on 1 or 2 treadmills
Actual Mileage: 11 miles of not so much fun. It was better the first time because I didn't know what I was getting into.  Also, there were no food smells that day.
Route: Miles 1-7 were on the indoor track.  Once my outside arm and inside leg (on the turns) got stiff, I headed over to the treadmill for the finish.
Weather: Well, see, that's why I'm inside. It's ice covered crap out there.
Wardrobe: LOL.  I wore my new Prio Shoes, so that was fun.
Execution:Ugh.  Plan B was the winner.  I mean, I did fine.  I stopped looking at my watch after mile 4 which was the right decision. I lapped my watch manually every real mile.  As predicted I got sick of the food smells coming from down below the track.  Vindictive me wants to call Minneapolis restaurant inspections and send them over here.  Literally, there's no sink, how are you washing your hands?  But that's mostly because I hate the smell of donuts or onions or meat while I'm running.
Nutrition: I ran fasted.  I did have water a couple times on the treadmill.
From today, I learned: Patience and relaxation.  This is gonna take a while, just sit back and do it. I really focused on good relaxed posture, especially on the treadmill.
Bonus: Bonus 1 was lunch with Olive.
Bonus 2 - I checked out the trails in St Paul and they are much clearer than what we have in Minneapolis, so I may head that direction and run outside tomorrow.

Sunday Long Run: I'm so over it

Plan: Run 7 Miles.  Go early to the gym, stay inside, and try to avoid the "cooking smells" from down below.
Actual Mileage: 7.5 miles.
Route: Track at the gym.  6 laps is a mile, roughly.
Weather: Well it was snowing with 20mph winds when I headed it.  It was the end of the snow storm though, so I had that going for me.
Wardrobe: I was running inside.  I was rocking my new Xero Prio shoes.  I'm liking them so far.  Not sure if I should take out the insoles or not.  So far, I've left them in.
Execution: I did almost 3 laps walking warm up, ran until I completed lap 42 (seven miles), and then walked three laps.
I was an utter grouch this entire run. So my heart rate was higher than it needed to be.  I was hacked off at the snow and the wind.  I was ticked at the parking situation at my gym.  And I was really pissed that people are allowed to cook food below where I run (literally) and I have to smell it, even though I got there early enough they shouldn't have been cooking yet.  So I was in a bad mood for stupid reasons.  This is why I run outside in the cold so often.
Nutrition: LOL.  No.  This run was fasted.  I did have a big fat bottle of water at the end.
From today, I learned: Don't run pissed off.  It's so not worth it.
Bonus: This is my first 'long run' (and I use that term very loosely here) for what I'm calling Marshmallow Training.  Why am I calling it that?  Every time I say "marathon" to Siri, she auto corrects to Marshmallow.  I mean, Freud? This may be the only time I ever explain that too, so enjoy.

Long Run Wednesday - I want this to be the ONLY time this ever happens

Plan: Originally - long run on Thursday morning before a 9am meeting.
Back up - Oh look, that meeting is at 8am!  Consider running inside for 6 miles and finishing on the elliptical
Actual - Well, it's only 60 laps for 10 miles.  See how many laps you can actually run, and then finish on the elliptical if needed, but try for all 60.
Route: Indoor track, 6 laps is a mile.  I never want to do this again.
Weather: Raining cats and dogs outside.  I very much remembered this run in the rain and kept thinking I should just give it a go.  But alas, today's rain was heavy enough to drive me inside.
Wardrobe: A pair of shorts that I think I should retire because wow! chaffing, short sleeve shirt, and NB Minimus shoes which steal my heart every time I wear them.
Execution: This went significantly better than expected.  I did run all 60 laps on the track. I never could've pulled that off if I'd planned to do it a minute longer than 'I pulled in the parking lot, it was raining to beat the band and it seemed worth a shot'. I kept my heart rate very low and even which is a definite plus of the track.
Nutrition: I did not have water or food.  For 150 minutes.  I guess I'm legit fat adapted.  As an aside, I wasn't hungry at all when I was done, and I had to order bite squad to ensure ate I anything.  I ate about half of what I ordered. 

Bonus: I thought I'd turned off my GPS when I started this run.  No.  I did not.  So my pace data is 10 kinds of screwed up. But I have this very entertaining map of my route.  I'm calling it a draw.
I think in the end, it was about 8.5 miles around 14:00/mile, Avg HR 137.  I'll take running for 2hrs at an HR of 137.

Track Thursday

Brrr. And snow.  Mostly windchill.  Therefore, I run on the track.

I was emotionally unprepared to run slow at a constant heart rate.  So an interval workout seemed more appropriate.  I tried to keep my heart rate low for the 7 and 6 laps intervals.  And the rest I ran by feel. This track workout has always been a go to for me.  It's long, but it gets more fun and faster as the workout goes on.

My goal is to be able to run 9:00/mile in a marathon.  Today, I could barely hold it for a lap.  Looks like I have a lot of work to do.

Summer Track Workouts

The City of Water is on fire.  Almost literally.  So workouts are being done inside in the air conditioning.

Workout: 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 - I've done this one before. I walked a w/u lap, the ran 7 laps (just over a mile), then walked 1 lap, ran 6 and so on. Total distance for the workout is 6 miles.

Heart rate: The first 7 laps of running were the only ones I cared about my heart rate.  After that, I just kind of let loose.

Pace: One of the few times my Garmin gets way off is running around the indoor track without GPS.  Garmin just can't deal.  I think my interval paces were faster than 11:00/mile except the first two sets.  My last pace was closer to a 9:00/mile based on the times on my watch.  Anything Garmin says is a bit slow on this one.

My attitude: Ok, I was a grump.  Absolute grump.  Before the workout I wanted to stay in bed.  During the workout I wanted to be done.  But then after the workout I was glad I put in the work and felt much better.

Surprise Saturday - indoor track

Weather: When I woke up it was 29*, 28mph winds, wind chill of 14*.  So yeah, I'm working out inside today. 

Plan: When I entered the gym, my plan was to warm up and run my mile on the track, and then jump on the elliptical for an hour to finish the workout.

Actual: I started doing my warmup on the track.  It felt good.  I was in the unusual position of not hating everything and everyone and I was running in circles.  So I just kept going on the track.  I decided I didn't really care about heart rate as long as I was having fun.  I ran a solid five miles, and then used mile 6 as a "cool down" to slow my heart rate back to normal.

This should count as my one track workout for the month I think.

My one track workout for the winter

Today, I accomplished what I hope is one of very few track workouts this winter.  My main gym has a fantastic track.  6 laps is a mile.  It's so fantastic everyone knows it's fantastic.  And everyone comes to play.  It's not a ton of fun for me to be on the track in the winter.  It's so crowded it becomes un-fun.  I view it as more of an "I can't do every single run on the treadmill" kind of thing.  Today, I wanted to run longer than the -20* wind chills would've allowed outside, and I'd been on the treadmill a ton in the past few days.  So I put on my Patient Pants and headed to the track with everyone else.

My mental prep really helped, because I hated being on the track much less than usual at first.  At first I was enjoying being with so many other runners.  After a while the runners mostly dispersed and I was left with walkers which was significantly less fun.  Why must you walk in the running lane?!?  But by then, I was deep into the workout and set on finishing.

The workout itself was one I've talked about before.  It's a descending ladder.  Run 7 laps, walk 1, run 6 laps, walk 1.  Etc. Each set winds up being a slightly faster pace than the one before.  I'm calling this my Race Pace workout for the week.  (Side note, Race Pace workouts may have been the missing ingredient in the 'what should I do besides long runs' question.) This is my heart rate for the workout.  I was nice and aerobic for 1 of the 7 intervals.  Oh well.  Something to shoot for in the future.

There were three ingredients to success in this workout.

First - I told myself that I absolutely had to run the 7 lap interval because that would be mile, and I should give the 6 laps one a try too, and after that if the track was insane or I felt bad I could stop.  Since I never had any pressure to finish, I focused on running in a way that felt good and got to the end nicely.

Second - I'd planned a trip to Seward Co-op afterwards and promised myself a Latte for post run fueling.  It's half milk which is good protein and sugar.

Third - I had a dinner date at Revival.  I knew I'd feel better about eating all the fried chicken and cheesy grits if I had a good workout under my belt today.  I feel so much less guilt about food on days I've worked out hard.  That's probably a post all it's own.  For the locals, the secret to Revival is have your entire party present and ready to be seated by 5pm.  Otherwise, plan to wait at least an hour.  I am not joking.