So my summer training has started off a little slow but it getting into a groove now. My first day back from taking 2 weeks off to study and take my finals was filled with adrenaline and then some serious soreness for the next few days. I did too much my first day back and had some bad groin soreness and I was scared that I had injured myself again. I had tried to run 3 days after doing my first run and first cycling after 2 weeks and I couldn't take 3 strides. I had to stop. Luckily it was just soreness and I am back to 100% again. I took it easy this past week to heal and do some cross training in the pool.
Due to hubby's crazy and ever changing work schedule I have to go with the flow and adjust my outdoor run days as I can. I'm starting cycling and swimming as my cross training. The swimming part I absolutely love because if I can't get to the olympic size pool on base then I can take my kids here to our community pool and they play while I do laps. I've been getting in a good hour and half with and without fins and speed intervals. I also tow the kids occassionally too to that adds to my strength and they get a kick out of it. I'm getting back into my core/strength routine as well. I've had to lower my sets to 3 until after this next week then I will resume my 6 sets.
I'm excited to see how my summer training goes and excited to do some new things. Trying to qualify for Boston in December is a big challenge for me. I still have a long way to go on maintaining my speed and that is very tough for me. All I can do is my best and pray. The fall will be tough for me because I will be in class again and getting ready for a big move. We will be moving close to Christmas time. Lots on my schedule of accomplishments and must do's for this year. Pray and hope it is my time.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Successful week
Well, I've had a great week. I've learned that my migraine trigger is caffeine so now that I have eliminated any source of caffeine in my diet I have had a week 100% migraine free! Not even a hint! What a great feeling that is!
Anyway, on to my actual training...I did well this week and had an extra motivator of Boston being held this past Monday. On Tuesday I found out I can try and qualify here at the Honolulu marathon. I think it may be a little tricky being a "tourist" marathon but I'm going to give it a go. I've been consistent with my strength training because I see the results in my speed and being able to maintain it more each time I run. I've amped it up to 6 reps of 8 on all leg exercises and finally hit my plank goal of 3 minutes and even hitting a few seconds beyond that. My weekly miles are not where I want them to be so I have to work on getting out the door by 5:25 to be running by 5:30. I can get 6-7 miles in a hour and that is what I need with an occassional 8 and then my weekend long run. This week I got my first long run in since about 3-4 weeks and I think I did pretty good. I need to do better but that's work in progress, baby steps. I was scheduled to do 12 but the route I planned out came out to be 13 and I ran a PR of 2 hours. Last year I ran 13 in 2:04. Now to work on getting that down to 1:51. Today's run was an avg of 9:13 pace. I actually did mile 7 in 8:05 if I remember correctly, mile 6 was 8:30ish. I tuckered myself out by doing that but it felt great and I'm glad I did it. My marathon goal pace is 8:35. All week I've been running nice and fast once I've warmed up my legs. I feel wonderful and hope to get better over the next 7 months. Time's a tickin!
Overall, great week and got at least 36 miles in. I would like to be doing 40-45 a week before peak training starts. I've also got to work on my endurance again so maybe I will concentrate on that over speed for the next couple months on my long runs.
Now to see what I can do this next week.
I live. I dream. I run.
Anyway, on to my actual training...I did well this week and had an extra motivator of Boston being held this past Monday. On Tuesday I found out I can try and qualify here at the Honolulu marathon. I think it may be a little tricky being a "tourist" marathon but I'm going to give it a go. I've been consistent with my strength training because I see the results in my speed and being able to maintain it more each time I run. I've amped it up to 6 reps of 8 on all leg exercises and finally hit my plank goal of 3 minutes and even hitting a few seconds beyond that. My weekly miles are not where I want them to be so I have to work on getting out the door by 5:25 to be running by 5:30. I can get 6-7 miles in a hour and that is what I need with an occassional 8 and then my weekend long run. This week I got my first long run in since about 3-4 weeks and I think I did pretty good. I need to do better but that's work in progress, baby steps. I was scheduled to do 12 but the route I planned out came out to be 13 and I ran a PR of 2 hours. Last year I ran 13 in 2:04. Now to work on getting that down to 1:51. Today's run was an avg of 9:13 pace. I actually did mile 7 in 8:05 if I remember correctly, mile 6 was 8:30ish. I tuckered myself out by doing that but it felt great and I'm glad I did it. My marathon goal pace is 8:35. All week I've been running nice and fast once I've warmed up my legs. I feel wonderful and hope to get better over the next 7 months. Time's a tickin!
Overall, great week and got at least 36 miles in. I would like to be doing 40-45 a week before peak training starts. I've also got to work on my endurance again so maybe I will concentrate on that over speed for the next couple months on my long runs.
Now to see what I can do this next week.
I live. I dream. I run.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
My exciting news of a BQ right here in Hawaii!
So I was casually looking for a BQ for 2011 in CA since that is where we will be moving to in January and guess what I found? The Honolulu marathon is a BQ! I got so excited I was all giddy and then started to sweat.... ANYWAY, I told my trainer and he got all excited for me as well and it's a go. I am going to try and qualify this December!! I still have a lot of work to do but I'm feeling confident. I've done up to 6.7 miles at around a 8:30-8:45 pace minus my warm up mile that is, so I still have 20 miles to go and I know it will be tough. I have an advantage, I know the course already and where I know I will have to push instead of slacking off. Diamond Head. Not so much the beginning as the end at mile 24. I have to believe in myself and have faith in God to help me accomplish this dream.
The past couple weeks have been trivial with migraines and sinus infection AND sore throat, but I have still been able to hold that pace and it feels good. I have increase the reps and weight to my strength training and I finally hit my goal plank time of 3 minutes. Today I surpassed it by 10 seconds. I am very encouraged at this point and I am maintaining my discipline to get strength training in at least 5 days a week. I feel my two days off are essential to my training just as the running itself. It keeps me from feeling bogged down with college, the kids, kids activities, housework, errands, and running. It gets a bit crazy and tiring. This summer I will have off from college so I should be able to get good solid training time in and hopefully I can hold it through the fall semester.
I'm very excited and have a new sense of motivation because I will actually have the chance to qualify this year. I was thinking about it earlier today and I thought to myself that other than the birth of my two children, this would be my biggest accomplishment. My heart and spirit want it now I have to train my body to take it.
My destiny awaits in December 2010.
The past couple weeks have been trivial with migraines and sinus infection AND sore throat, but I have still been able to hold that pace and it feels good. I have increase the reps and weight to my strength training and I finally hit my goal plank time of 3 minutes. Today I surpassed it by 10 seconds. I am very encouraged at this point and I am maintaining my discipline to get strength training in at least 5 days a week. I feel my two days off are essential to my training just as the running itself. It keeps me from feeling bogged down with college, the kids, kids activities, housework, errands, and running. It gets a bit crazy and tiring. This summer I will have off from college so I should be able to get good solid training time in and hopefully I can hold it through the fall semester.
I'm very excited and have a new sense of motivation because I will actually have the chance to qualify this year. I was thinking about it earlier today and I thought to myself that other than the birth of my two children, this would be my biggest accomplishment. My heart and spirit want it now I have to train my body to take it.
My destiny awaits in December 2010.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ford Island Bridge 10k race 2010
Well, I had two goals in mind today and I knew I would meet at least one of them. Keep my pace under 9, preferrable between 8:30-8:45, and/or run it in 52:30. Well, I met the goal pace but missed my goal time. That's okay though because I know I did my best today.
I woke up at 5am with finally a full 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The past two nights I've been woken up every couple of hours by the kids for some reason or another so last night I went to bed at 8:30 and was fast asleep in a matter of minutes. I woke up with a positive mindset and refreshed. It was rainy and a little cool out before the race started but the rained stopped and the weather was beautiful but a little windy. Before I got out of the car I prayed for strength, endurance, and courage to fight and push myself.
I started up in the front of the pack with the elites just to find my own road and I did and it was great! I stayed focused and ran my own race. I held my 8:30-8:45 pace for 98% of the run. I got slowed a little when we hit the runway due to wind but not too much, only to about a 9:09 but I got myself back under that in no time. I lost time again going back across the bridge from wind and pushing up the hill and slowed to a 9:44 at one point. I was not happy about that at all but made sure to pick the pace back up once I got to the top and had some downhill slope. Once I rounded the turn for the finish line I just went as fast as I could trying to avoid any dips or holes in the ground.
Garmin time was 53:55, not sure of chip time yet. I bet my time from last year by 2 minutes 51 seconds. It was a good day and a good race. Next up for me in a 5k in May then a half marathon in June.
My overall pace was 30 seconds faster than last year. Training is paying off! Now to train harder.
Lap 1: 8:37
Lap 2: 8:35
Lap 3: 8:42
Lap 4: 8:46(wind runway)
Lap 5: 8:51
Lap 6: 9:02 (bridge/wind)
Lap 7: .2 miles 7:53
I live. I dream. I run.
I woke up at 5am with finally a full 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The past two nights I've been woken up every couple of hours by the kids for some reason or another so last night I went to bed at 8:30 and was fast asleep in a matter of minutes. I woke up with a positive mindset and refreshed. It was rainy and a little cool out before the race started but the rained stopped and the weather was beautiful but a little windy. Before I got out of the car I prayed for strength, endurance, and courage to fight and push myself.
I started up in the front of the pack with the elites just to find my own road and I did and it was great! I stayed focused and ran my own race. I held my 8:30-8:45 pace for 98% of the run. I got slowed a little when we hit the runway due to wind but not too much, only to about a 9:09 but I got myself back under that in no time. I lost time again going back across the bridge from wind and pushing up the hill and slowed to a 9:44 at one point. I was not happy about that at all but made sure to pick the pace back up once I got to the top and had some downhill slope. Once I rounded the turn for the finish line I just went as fast as I could trying to avoid any dips or holes in the ground.
Garmin time was 53:55, not sure of chip time yet. I bet my time from last year by 2 minutes 51 seconds. It was a good day and a good race. Next up for me in a 5k in May then a half marathon in June.
My overall pace was 30 seconds faster than last year. Training is paying off! Now to train harder.
Lap 1: 8:37
Lap 2: 8:35
Lap 3: 8:42
Lap 4: 8:46(wind runway)
Lap 5: 8:51
Lap 6: 9:02 (bridge/wind)
Lap 7: .2 miles 7:53
I live. I dream. I run.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Weekly update
So...after suffering from 2 migraines this week I still managed to get a decent number of miles in, 34. I have an appointment Tuesday to see the doctor about them, again...and get more medicine...again.
Runs were good this week. I had a couple easy paced runs but also had some faster ones. Fartleks were good this week and I hadn't done them in awhile. Friday I had the chance to run Diamond Head and even had a little off road adventure treking downhill to the beach. It was a good run and workout on my legs for hillwork but the hour rest on the beach was fabulous. :) I took Saturday off to prep for today's long run, well, semi-long. I had to be back home by 7:15 so hubby could leave for work so my 12 miler turned into a 10 but I made it a good one. Hills throughout the run one of which was a steady incline for 1.5 miles and my cheeks were feeling the burn! I took the pace easy the entire run but the last two miles I did pick it up without realizing it to a 9min mile.
My core/strength workouts have been consistent this week. I love some of my new core exercises. My weight is now 126, waist 26, hips 38. Not bad at all. Lean but still got my curves! When I started this new training in January I was at around 133, waist around 27, hips too big, lol! I had gained weight 6 weeks during my injury down time before the marathon so I wanted to get back to my normal weight and such. Thanks Mickey!
From the sounds of it we are here until January so the Honolulu marathon will be my 3rd and hopefully my 4th marathon will be a BQ. We shall see. I still have a lot of speed to do and maintain. That equates to a lot of praying and hard work!
I live. I dream. I run.
Runs were good this week. I had a couple easy paced runs but also had some faster ones. Fartleks were good this week and I hadn't done them in awhile. Friday I had the chance to run Diamond Head and even had a little off road adventure treking downhill to the beach. It was a good run and workout on my legs for hillwork but the hour rest on the beach was fabulous. :) I took Saturday off to prep for today's long run, well, semi-long. I had to be back home by 7:15 so hubby could leave for work so my 12 miler turned into a 10 but I made it a good one. Hills throughout the run one of which was a steady incline for 1.5 miles and my cheeks were feeling the burn! I took the pace easy the entire run but the last two miles I did pick it up without realizing it to a 9min mile.
My core/strength workouts have been consistent this week. I love some of my new core exercises. My weight is now 126, waist 26, hips 38. Not bad at all. Lean but still got my curves! When I started this new training in January I was at around 133, waist around 27, hips too big, lol! I had gained weight 6 weeks during my injury down time before the marathon so I wanted to get back to my normal weight and such. Thanks Mickey!
From the sounds of it we are here until January so the Honolulu marathon will be my 3rd and hopefully my 4th marathon will be a BQ. We shall see. I still have a lot of speed to do and maintain. That equates to a lot of praying and hard work!
I live. I dream. I run.
Monday, March 22, 2010
After a week off of running
This was not by choice really but I just had company in for 3 weeks, 2 sick kids, a big test I had to study for and then cleaning my house after company left. My body was exhausted and needed the break! I started back out this morning and did 5 miles and my pace seemed to still be on track with sub 9 pacing. I've been doing a lot better. The week before I took a week off I did nothing but speed runs. Well, to me it was all speed because I aimed for sub 9 paces every run. The only exception was my 12 miler where I did the first 4 at an easy 9:30, next four were just sub 9 at around 8:50 or faster, then another easy 4 at 9:30. I still need to work on the endurance at at least a 8:45 pace. That's why I have been pushing myself to run harder. I slow it up if my body needs it during a run but I increase my pace again as soon as I feel I can do it for another half mile or mile or more.
I have a 10k on April 4th and I'm hoping to PR. Last year I think my time was 56:04 and that time surprised me so after training in speed lately I'm hoping to shave some time off of my 10k.
My nutrition has been helping me run better as well. Not that it was ever really bad just not as much usable fuel for my body. No breads, no pastas, no sweets, little or no saucy type foods. If I need something sweet I indulge in plain yogurt with fresh blueberries and raspberries. I'm very proud of myself in that respect!
My measurements are also where I like them. I'm back at a slender 127 and have lost over an inch in my waist and hips since January when I started my training. I can feel and see the improvement so I have to keep reminding myself that all my hard work and discipline is paying off and I just need to stick to it.
Train smart, race hard.
I have a 10k on April 4th and I'm hoping to PR. Last year I think my time was 56:04 and that time surprised me so after training in speed lately I'm hoping to shave some time off of my 10k.
My nutrition has been helping me run better as well. Not that it was ever really bad just not as much usable fuel for my body. No breads, no pastas, no sweets, little or no saucy type foods. If I need something sweet I indulge in plain yogurt with fresh blueberries and raspberries. I'm very proud of myself in that respect!
My measurements are also where I like them. I'm back at a slender 127 and have lost over an inch in my waist and hips since January when I started my training. I can feel and see the improvement so I have to keep reminding myself that all my hard work and discipline is paying off and I just need to stick to it.
Train smart, race hard.
Monday, February 15, 2010
First race since new training
Let me start off by saying what a tough week I just had. I had two good running days, Monday and Tuesday, had Wednesday and my scheduled day off. I headed out Thursday morning for my second fartlek run of the week but had to stop after 2 miles due to a migraine onset and mother nature working against me. Well, the migraine really beat me up this time. It took 2 doses of my medicine to help get rid of it but before it left my feeble body I was visiting the bathroom. Friday I was weakened from lack of nutrition from all of it leaving my body the day before so I tried eating as best I could. Saturday disaster hit again at night. I had tried two new supplements for running and one of them triggered another migraine that evening. I woke up at 1am to take my migraine medicine in hopes that Sunday I could rest up from the effects and get my nutrition up to par again. That is my prelude to race day, lol!
So the past 4 weeks I have been training hard and very happily running faster. My fartlek runs have been right on and I've been doing well and feeling great. I've also cleaned up my nutrition and have lost 4 lbs and lost and inch in hips and waist. I'm getting leaner and faster and I'm happy. Today was a test for me on speed endurance but unfortunately I had a few obstacles that I couldn't seem to get away from. The run was 8.1 miles, distance wise, cake, speedwise for me? Trivial still. I had issues with slower runners lining up towards the front so right from the get go I was dodging people for 4 miles but at least still able to maintain a 8:30-8:45 pace, then the last 4 I was next to the military formations with flag bearers getting out of formation and running AGAINST runner's and yelling. The aid stations were not fun either. The guys wouldn't drink the water, instead they were throwing on each other and I kept getting smacked in the face. I also kept getting shoved closer and closer to the curb no matter how hard I tried to keep my space. Cadence callers would stop and run in place outside of the formation too. So it was I either deal with the slower pace or risk an ankle injury by turning my road race into a trail race. That being said, since I'm trying to have an injury free season I opted the slower pace but wasn't at all happy about it.
I just have to learn race strategies. I haven't done many of the smaller races enough to know the do's and don'ts if I want to run fast so my trainer and I are going to work on this. He's been there done that so he'll show me the ropes. My time was 1:16 with avg pace of 9:15. I wanted to be at least just under a 9 min avg pace but things just didn't work out that way for me today. It is still a PR for me just not the one I was shooting for. I do thank God for giving me the strength to do what I did today. It was a tough week for me physically. I can do nothing without him.
I live. I dream. I run.
So the past 4 weeks I have been training hard and very happily running faster. My fartlek runs have been right on and I've been doing well and feeling great. I've also cleaned up my nutrition and have lost 4 lbs and lost and inch in hips and waist. I'm getting leaner and faster and I'm happy. Today was a test for me on speed endurance but unfortunately I had a few obstacles that I couldn't seem to get away from. The run was 8.1 miles, distance wise, cake, speedwise for me? Trivial still. I had issues with slower runners lining up towards the front so right from the get go I was dodging people for 4 miles but at least still able to maintain a 8:30-8:45 pace, then the last 4 I was next to the military formations with flag bearers getting out of formation and running AGAINST runner's and yelling. The aid stations were not fun either. The guys wouldn't drink the water, instead they were throwing on each other and I kept getting smacked in the face. I also kept getting shoved closer and closer to the curb no matter how hard I tried to keep my space. Cadence callers would stop and run in place outside of the formation too. So it was I either deal with the slower pace or risk an ankle injury by turning my road race into a trail race. That being said, since I'm trying to have an injury free season I opted the slower pace but wasn't at all happy about it.
I just have to learn race strategies. I haven't done many of the smaller races enough to know the do's and don'ts if I want to run fast so my trainer and I are going to work on this. He's been there done that so he'll show me the ropes. My time was 1:16 with avg pace of 9:15. I wanted to be at least just under a 9 min avg pace but things just didn't work out that way for me today. It is still a PR for me just not the one I was shooting for. I do thank God for giving me the strength to do what I did today. It was a tough week for me physically. I can do nothing without him.
I live. I dream. I run.
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