Akron Half Marathon Training: Week Five

July 13, 2015August 5, 20151 Comment

I had a fresh start this week with rested legs and a more motivated mind. Unfortunately, things got busy and I couldn’t get all of my workouts in. Even though I was far from mileage, I did have some good workouts.

Monday: 4 Miles

Tuesday: 4.75 Miles, 1 Mile W/U, 4×800 w/400 recovery, 1 Mile C/D

Wednesday: 0

Thursday: 0

Friday: 0

Saturday: 11 Miles

Sunday: 0

Total Miles: 19.75 Miles

Monday I met up with Mallory for some easy miles along Lester trail. It was super hot, humid and buggy so we kept a very easy pace, between 9:45-10:00. It was nice to get a run done on a Monday for once, I felt like I had more energy than normal, and I can start the week not staring down a 0.

I originally planned on doing Jasyoga on Tuesday because I had a dress fitting. But when my appointment was pushed back a week, I knew I’d have time to squeeze in a workout. With the threat of a storm I decided to run on the treadmill in case my workout was cut short. I did four 800 repeats and increased the speed on the last two. I felt ok, but I’m looking forward to getting back out on the track again.

Saturday was my first double digit run of the training cycle. I was a little nervous due to the lack of mileage I’ve been able to get in, but decided to just let my legs do the talking. We had a small group that started at Buckeye Woods to run the HD loop. From BW, we went down the inlet and off on some back roads. The early morning fog was still rising and made for some beautiful views.

From there we made our way towards Chippewa Lake on the back roads. We stopped for a pit stop around mile 4 or so.

Chippewa Lake in the distance

We followed along the outside of the lake and passed the old amusement park grounds. We had some hills, but nothing too major. I took a Honey Stinger Chew at mile 7 and had a small increase in energy for the next few miles.

We finished up around the lake, and headed back towards the inlet. Once we finally got back to our cars, I had 10.77 on my Garmin, so naturally I made a few laps around the parking lot to make it an even 11. I felt fairly strong throughout the run, our pace stayed between 9:20-10:00.

Beautiful morning on Chippewa Lake

Week Five’s Thoughts:

This week was the third long run I’ve done using Honey Stinger Chews. So far I haven’t had any stomach issues during the run or after, so I think I may be on to something. They’re much easier to take while running, and I feel full enough after one piece, that I don’t need to eat them as often. Fingers crossed that I can keep up this new fueling plan.

I had a plan to get all five workouts in this week, but clearly that didn’t happen. I’m looking ahead at my calendar, and appointments are popping up left and right to finalize things for the wedding. It’s clear that with just under 6 weeks to go, running may not be the top priority all the time. I need to accept that some runs will need to be rescheduled, and some may have to be skipped. As much as I don’t want to change my training cycle too much, I may need to adapt the mind frame of run what I can, when I can. Worse case scenario, I’ll have a minimum of three runs per week- one speed, one long, and one recovery.

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Seven

July 21, 20141 Comment

Week seven in complete, and it was a strong one! This week was a big game changer for me, and I feel more confident about my training than I have the previous weeks. Like always, I started the week with Body Fusion. I finally used heavier weights, but class was still a little easy for the newer classmates. I left wanting to sweat more, so hopefully things will ramp up again over the next few weeks.

Tuesday was 800 repeats day on the track. We all started together, but when Bob and Beth showed up, they broke us up and helped us work on the pace that best suited our marathon goals. Even after 6 repeats I felt comfortable with my pace, and wanted to do more. This workout was the key to figuring out how I need to refocus my track workouts. I’ve been too concerned with going as fast as I can rather than focus on a pace that will help my marathon time.

My Tuesday’s

Wednesday I headed out to Chippewa Lake and ran a new trail that I noticed on Sunday. Unfortunately the trail was only a half mile long, but it did have some beautiful views of the lake. Instead of running the same path back and forth, I packed up and went to Buckeye Woods where I finished the rest of my run on my favorite dirt trails.

Hidden gem of Chippewa Lake

Thursday and Friday I was off, but I had big plans for Saturday. I ran the Trail Monster 5k and 15k down in Wooster. I’ve been craving some trails lately, and since I knew I had 16 miles on the schedule, I decided to run both and finish up the last of my needed mileage after the races. I’ll have a recap later this week, but wow was it tough. I finished up the last miles on the road outside the park and felt pretty good. My legs welcomed an even, solid path to run and although the time on my feet was longer than last week, I felt good after my long run.

Sunday I did a short recovery run around the neighborhood. I ran the first mile with Darren and finished up the last mile plus on my own. My legs were incredibly sore and for the rest of the day I had some weird twinge in my right leg. I’m still tight/sore, but hoping after some more foam rolling and stretching, my body will be back to normal.

Monday: Body Fusion Class – 30 minutes of lifting/abs/squats & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 6 Miles,1 mile w/u, 6×800 repeats(4:06,4:06,3:58,4:28,4:30,4:27)with 4×400 recovery, 1 mile c/d

Wednesday: 3.6 Miles

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Trail Monster 5k/15k + 3.6 Miles

Sunday: 2 Miles

Total Miles: 28 Miles

This next week my weeknight schedule is finally back to normal so I don’t have to stress about moving around runs. I also want to focus on keeping my track workout at the same pace and increasing the amount of 800’s I run. And of course, I’ll have the pressure of the long run waiting over my head all week, 18 miles seems to be the most stressful for me.

How do you prepare for your long run? What distance training run makes you the most nervous?

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Six

July 14, 20142 Comments

This week was a little challenging, but it started off with some great news! Monday I had the opportunity to join Oiselle as one of their Flock members. Oiselle has been a company I admired for over the past year or so. Not only do they provide running clothing for women, but their team is comprised of runners from all over. The passion they have and share is absolutely amazing, and I’m so honored to be part of this team!

Anyway, back to training, I didn’t get all of my workouts in, but when I did, they were spot on. I started the week with Body Fusion. We had a bunch of new people in class so it was relatively easy and lighter than normal. Next week it’s time to step up the weights again!

Tuesday I was at the track. After last week’s failed attempt at mile repeats, I was a little nervous. I started out a little too quick, but I managed my first sub 7:30 mile in quite some time. I can tell my speed is getting quicker, I just have to work on keeping my times closer together.

Wednesday I went out to my favorite hill to work on some repeats. Each repeat is a half mile long, so I started with a warm up, attacked the hill six times, and followed it up with a mile cool down. The first three repeats I felt strong, at number four I could feel myself fading a bit. I had to dig deep for number five, but finished strong for my last one. This hill is one of my favorites because it winds up and around a development, the top is so far from the beginning, you can’t help but push yourself the entire time.

Hill repeats for dinner

Thursday I had evening plans, but had full intention of running Friday before going out of town for the weekend. But then I was plagued with a horrible headache until Saturday afternoon that kept me from running.

Monday: Body Fusion Class – 30 minutes of lifting/abs/squats & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 4.5 Miles, 1 Mile W/U, 3×1600(7:27, 7:36, 7:45), .5 Mile C/D

Wednesday: 5 Miles, 1 Mile W/U, 6x .5 Mile Hill Repeats, 1 Mile C/D

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Off

Sunday: 15 Miles

Total Miles: 24.5 Miles

Sunday was my scheduled long run for the weekend, and I was able to meet up with some MCRR members for a nice long run. I was a little unsure about the run because I only had four hours of sleep, and about a pound of deeply buttered popcorn in my stomach. (Note to self, stay away from popcorn the night before a long run!)

When I started I felt ok, and we had a big group of about 12. Within the first mile we started to break apart, and the core group of 7 stayed together for the first twelve miles. We began our run at Buckeye Woods and headed down the inlet towards the back roads to Chippewa Lake. The views were absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately I left my phone in the car, so I couldn’t take any pictures.

We managed to make our way on the back roads and around the lake, it was relatively flat with a few rollings hills. We kept an easy pace and my legs felt great, but my stomach was not so happy. Between miles 6-9 I had some major cramping, and running was the last thing I wanted to do. I managed to make it through and we finished up back in the parking lot with 11 miles.

At this point, I refilled my water with ice and Nuun, and we stretched for a few moments before the last four of us went out for our remaining miles. We went back on the inlet for two miles and made our way back, finishing with a solid 15 miles for the day.

Sunday’s group

This long run was rough. We started with an easy pace, but by mile 12/13, I was getting pretty worn down. We lucked out on weather, even though it was quite humid. We dodged the heat and storms with the occasional sprinkle which helped to cool us down.

My only two issues with this run was my stomach and how sore I felt after I finished. When I do my long runs on Sunday I need to focus more on what I eat all weekend and try to drink more water the day before.

Even though I didn’t get as many workouts in this week, every single workout was where it needed to be. I’ll be pumping up my mileage again this week and I have a trail race on Saturday. I’m only weeks away from my first 20 miler of the cycle, so hopefully my long runs will become a little easier each time. I’m now a third of the way done with training, and so far I feel like I’m on the right track.

Do you prefer track or hill workouts more? What do you do when a long run doesn’t go like you planned?