Sunday: 10 min racewalking on the track and I knew I was NOT going to do a track workout. Legs were heavy and I didn't feel good. So later, I did 30 min elliptical.
Today: I am feeling better today than yesterday, but when I went out for a racewalk, it was clear that I am not fully recovered. I planned on 8-10k depending on how I felt, but by 2km I could see that my heart rate was pretty high for what I was doing, and I knew that 8km might not be the wisest. I'm glad I turned back for home, because by 5k I was done, and by 6k I was really done! NO weird soreness, though - yay! Just tired legs and hard to breathe. I've had sinus issues all weekend and runny nose, along with headache, sore throat, and fatigue.
Total: 6km in 39:18 for 6:33/km with ave HR 155 (!high! obviously still not feeling good!)
It's an improvement that I could RW today, but clearly things are not normal yet. Tomorrow I will try a fartlek and see how it goes, unless I wake feeling worse. I will plan on just trying for 5K, and going longer IF and only if I feel good. And I'll bail altogether if I feel bad.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Saturday, March 28, 2015
feeling a bit better; casual walk
I woke feeling better, but not ready for a serious workout yet, at least not if I am being super cautious. Last year at this time I pushed it after my half marathon and paid in relapse. I am NOT doing that this year. I probably could have worked out hard this morning, but I'm just scared to. Tomorrow, if I am feeling good, I will try something more.
For today, I took Sugar on a long walk around town, at a brisk casual pace (8:45/km). Did a few hills, focused on my posture, stopped at Walgreens for some B12, and went to SugarHouse Park. Here are some photos below. Spring is here - the trees are budding, and it was a beautiful morning.
Garmin data here.
For today, I took Sugar on a long walk around town, at a brisk casual pace (8:45/km). Did a few hills, focused on my posture, stopped at Walgreens for some B12, and went to SugarHouse Park. Here are some photos below. Spring is here - the trees are budding, and it was a beautiful morning.
Garmin data here.
Friday, March 27, 2015
sick
I woke up feeling quite sick today. Actually, the weirdest thing is that I fell out of bed last night. Seriously!?!?!?! I thought I dreamed it but Loren confirmed that it was quite dramatic. Not sure what is up with that, but when I woke up I had a very bad sore throat and felt so fatigued, like I'd been hit by a truck. This has been going around, and Loren had it this week, so I am not too surprised.
Needless to say, no track workout for me. I stayed in bed and called in sick to work. That was a good decision, as I went back to sleep and slept until almost 11am. That's not like me, so I know I needed it.
We'll see how I am tomorrow. Maybe a day off will make me feel good enough to work out.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
8K fartlek
I got up a bit late this morning and was dragging. I went to the track and it was windy and a bit chilly at 2.2C. But the wind...ughhhhh. I knew I was running a bit too late to really do the workout justice, and on top of that I did one warm-up lap and felt iffy. So I decided I'd head home and get the kids off to school and do it later, or not at all. I was pretty mad at myself and grumpy that I hadn't tried harder to get out of bed earlier and that I wasn't willing to put up with a bit of wind.
After getting the kids off to school I felt like I really wanted to try again, so I dressed in shorts and threw some sweats on top and got on the bus to the U to work out at the indoor track before work. I knew then I'd be a bit late to work, but my hours are flexible and I figured I would just stay late. That ended up working out very well.
At the indoor track I did 5 laps to get warmed up, with strides on the last lap. Each lap is 292.608m, so it was a bit less than 1.5km for the warm-up, but I felt good and ready to go. My legs felt pretty well recovered from Saturday's half as well as from yesterday's 6km. I calculated that 27 laps is 7.9km on the nose, so I decided to do 3 laps fast then alternate 2 medium 2 fast until the finish. That worked out very well, too.
I did my first 3 laps and it felt very good and fluid. I am taking my coach's advice to heart and working very hard on keeping my posture good with hips tucked under as much as possible. I really can feel the difference when I'm doing that. The first 3 laps were in 5:03.4, which equates to 5:46/km. Nice! Yeah, that's slow compared to 1km intervals at the pace I used to be able to do, but I cannot think that way. For now, that is faster than I've been going, and so I'm happy with it. The remaining 2 laps medium/2 laps fast (6 more) were very consistent at 3:23.3-3:25.0 for the fasts (which works out to 2:53.7-2:55.2 for 500m) and 3:34.6-3:44.1 (3:03.4-3:11.5 for 500m equivalent) for the mediums. Total time for 7.9km was 47:28, or 48:03.5 for the 8km equivalent. That is almost a minute faster than last week, and I am VERY happy about that. I wish I could've gone under 48, but that will come.
I sat a fair amount at work this morning, looking under the microscope at zebrafish embryos, and my legs felt quite good. I was a bit stiff, with maybe the teensiest amount of soreness (maybe the weird soreness?). I'm not concerned though - I feel I am recovering well and actually kinda wish I was walking tomorrow. But I'm cross-training and will do 5x1km intervals Friday and 12K Saturday, so better to have the day off tomorrow!
My favorite part about this morning was that when I went to the locker room to shower and change before work, a middle-aged woman (who I know by sight from working out on campus at the Field House) who was on the elliptical while I was on the track said, "You're really fast! You were doing 9 minute miles!" I thanked her, but protested that they were more like 9:15s, but it sure made me feel good to hear the compliment. She said she gets bored on the elliptical so watches/times the people on the track. Kinda fun! Later, on the way up to work, I calculated that my 1:40 laps were about 9:10/mile pace, so she was pretty close.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
6K
I am recovering OK. I still have some soreness from the race; it was most noticeable in glutes, hamstrings, shins, trapezoids, and lats. Yup, arms and legs both...I worked harder than I thought.
Yesterday I did 30 min elliptical. I wanted to do more, but I was short on time and also felt really, really tired and decided 30 min was enough.
Today I was to do 6K plus 5x200m @85% effort. I got out there and did the 6K, but in the last km my legs were very tired, so I opted not to do the 200s. I just decided that I didn't want to chance anything. I got sick again last year after the Canyonlands race and I am paranoid right now, so I just stopped and went home. The 6K went great for the most part. I did it at 6:24/km for 38:21 total, but about 15 sec of that was watch error (long story - stopped for dog issues with another dog) and so I was probably more like 6:21/km, and my ave HR was 150. I worked VERY hard on posture as Jim watched my video from the end of the race (crappy video, but well...still can see something) and said I'm still "sitting", which is true - but I wonder how I looked earlier when I wasn't so tired? In this video I just look tired, slow, and overweight :/. Grrrr. Here it is if you want to watch it. But it's not that great :(.
Garmin data from today's walk here.
I am feeling decent after the 6K this morning. My left piriformis is a little sore, but no weird soreness or anything else. I'm still pretty tired, and I should probably get to bed a bit earlier tonight. My excuse for last night was that I was chatting on FB messenger with my best friend from high school, which I enjoyed immensely...but probably should have stopped sooner :).
Yesterday I did 30 min elliptical. I wanted to do more, but I was short on time and also felt really, really tired and decided 30 min was enough.
Today I was to do 6K plus 5x200m @85% effort. I got out there and did the 6K, but in the last km my legs were very tired, so I opted not to do the 200s. I just decided that I didn't want to chance anything. I got sick again last year after the Canyonlands race and I am paranoid right now, so I just stopped and went home. The 6K went great for the most part. I did it at 6:24/km for 38:21 total, but about 15 sec of that was watch error (long story - stopped for dog issues with another dog) and so I was probably more like 6:21/km, and my ave HR was 150. I worked VERY hard on posture as Jim watched my video from the end of the race (crappy video, but well...still can see something) and said I'm still "sitting", which is true - but I wonder how I looked earlier when I wasn't so tired? In this video I just look tired, slow, and overweight :/. Grrrr. Here it is if you want to watch it. But it's not that great :(.
Garmin data from today's walk here.
I am feeling decent after the 6K this morning. My left piriformis is a little sore, but no weird soreness or anything else. I'm still pretty tired, and I should probably get to bed a bit earlier tonight. My excuse for last night was that I was chatting on FB messenger with my best friend from high school, which I enjoyed immensely...but probably should have stopped sooner :).
Sunday, March 22, 2015
sorta rest day :)
I went hiking today with the kids. Not hard, but my muscles are definitely sore from the race yesterday and so I definitely noticed the activity. But I'm a believer in working sore muscles just a bit - it actually seems to help ease the soreness if you hit the sweet spot. The 4-hr car ride home after the hike? Well, that, not so much...I drove my friend Diane home in her car (hubby drove our car home) because she fell at mile 7 and broke her nose, and really wasn't in good condition to drive. But there's none of the weird soreness, or very very little, so I'm not too concerned.
Other than the 3 mile (5km) hike and the drive, I rested. So, it was a sorta rest day :).
My coach actually gave me a schedule for TWO weeks. He hasn't done that in a long time, because I was too unpredictable. Here's hoping I can do it, and that things continue to go well. I'm pasting the schedule here in case I need the reference.
x-train tomorrow, 6km + 5 x 85% effort 200s tuesday, fartlek wed, 5 x 1km fri, 12km sat
the next week:
Mon 10km Tues 5 x 1km Thurs 8km fartlek Fri 6km + 5 x 85% effort 200s Sat 16km
Other than the 3 mile (5km) hike and the drive, I rested. So, it was a sorta rest day :).
My coach actually gave me a schedule for TWO weeks. He hasn't done that in a long time, because I was too unpredictable. Here's hoping I can do it, and that things continue to go well. I'm pasting the schedule here in case I need the reference.
x-train tomorrow, 6km + 5 x 85% effort 200s tuesday, fartlek wed, 5 x 1km fri, 12km sat
the next week:
Mon 10km Tues 5 x 1km Thurs 8km fartlek Fri 6km + 5 x 85% effort 200s Sat 16km
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Canyonlands Half Marathon 2015
Thursday: rest day
Friday: elliptical, 40 min
Saturday: Race day! I love this race - the scenery is amazing and it's always a great time. It is hilly by racewalking standards, but a great course meandering along the Colorado River and with so much red rock. Awesome.
I woke up feeling great and ready to go. It's cold at the start (probably 40F, 4C) and I had a coat and hand warmers and gloves and sweats, so I was OK. You have to wait around a while after they bus you up there (about 90 min) but I had put some Kindle books on my phone, so I was entertained. Usually I go with friends and have someone to chat with, but this time I came with just my family, and Calvin was doing the 5-mile race, so I was alone at the start (Loren and Grace spectated).
I didn't warm up. I was just going to do easy pace, so no need. My toes didn't thaw out until about 2 miles (3.2km) into the race, though! By the time the race started at 10 am, it was 12C (about 54F) and perfect race weather; by the finish on the highway into town it was warm but not too awfully hot at about 66F (19C). It was sunny and beautiful, and unlike last year there was just a slight breeze and not a horrid wind. Perfect.
I have done zero hills, though...and so while I felt fantastic through 15-16km, after that my legs just quit. They were DONE. Finished. Tired. No weird soreness, but I just felt like I hit the wall. The elevation increase along the course is 347ft, and the decrease is 424ft. Not too hilly by runner standards, but hilly by RW standards. Jim pointed out that this is probably why I felt so crappy. No matter. I had a great time anyway. Yeah, the last 5km was not too fun, but the rest was awesome, and I am enjoying getting away for the weekend with my family. Course profile here.
I was at 5km at about 31:30, and 10K by about 1:03. After that it got slower :). The course does have a lot more downhill in the first half, so this makes sense. I'm pleased with how I did, even though it was a minute slower than last year, because I am feeling OK (minus the achy/restless legs from overdoing it - but no weird soreness!) and I felt a LOT better in the first 15km than I did last year. Of course, there wasn't the wind, so it's hard to compare.
Total time 2:17:14 for 6:30/km with ave HR 158.
Lots of pictures below! I took photos while RW :).
Garmin data here.
Friday: elliptical, 40 min
Saturday: Race day! I love this race - the scenery is amazing and it's always a great time. It is hilly by racewalking standards, but a great course meandering along the Colorado River and with so much red rock. Awesome.
I woke up feeling great and ready to go. It's cold at the start (probably 40F, 4C) and I had a coat and hand warmers and gloves and sweats, so I was OK. You have to wait around a while after they bus you up there (about 90 min) but I had put some Kindle books on my phone, so I was entertained. Usually I go with friends and have someone to chat with, but this time I came with just my family, and Calvin was doing the 5-mile race, so I was alone at the start (Loren and Grace spectated).
I didn't warm up. I was just going to do easy pace, so no need. My toes didn't thaw out until about 2 miles (3.2km) into the race, though! By the time the race started at 10 am, it was 12C (about 54F) and perfect race weather; by the finish on the highway into town it was warm but not too awfully hot at about 66F (19C). It was sunny and beautiful, and unlike last year there was just a slight breeze and not a horrid wind. Perfect.
I have done zero hills, though...and so while I felt fantastic through 15-16km, after that my legs just quit. They were DONE. Finished. Tired. No weird soreness, but I just felt like I hit the wall. The elevation increase along the course is 347ft, and the decrease is 424ft. Not too hilly by runner standards, but hilly by RW standards. Jim pointed out that this is probably why I felt so crappy. No matter. I had a great time anyway. Yeah, the last 5km was not too fun, but the rest was awesome, and I am enjoying getting away for the weekend with my family. Course profile here.
I was at 5km at about 31:30, and 10K by about 1:03. After that it got slower :). The course does have a lot more downhill in the first half, so this makes sense. I'm pleased with how I did, even though it was a minute slower than last year, because I am feeling OK (minus the achy/restless legs from overdoing it - but no weird soreness!) and I felt a LOT better in the first 15km than I did last year. Of course, there wasn't the wind, so it's hard to compare.
Total time 2:17:14 for 6:30/km with ave HR 158.
Lots of pictures below! I took photos while RW :).
Garmin data here.
finishers!
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