I'm sure I was legal today. I watched my shadow, and I felt my right knee straightening under me. I was careful to stand upright and use my left glutes. I also worked this one very hard, because after all, it was only 3K. After a thorough 1600m warm-up at a moderate pace with some nice hard strides on the last 400 (in a fast 9:21 total), I did my dynamic stretching and got going. I worked the first 1km really hard, doing 2:35 and 2:40 for the 500s for a total of 5:15 for the km. I eased off a little but still did a 2:50 medium effort! Then worked it very hard to get 2:39, 2:55, 2:39 to finish with 16:18 for the 3km, 6 seconds faster than my RACE PR of 16:24. Nice! I was a bit surprised I could go so hard, because my legs were fairly sore from the glute workout on Tuesday, but obviously not too sore to go fast! My heart rate was pretty high, as you'd expect, averaging a whopping 172 on the last 500, with 176 max at the end.
Garmin data here.
***
It was a short workout, so I biked to work for a little more cardio. I think the biking is helping my glutes, too. The hill from my house to work is a great workout...up 700ft in just a little over 3 miles.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
8K uphill
This morning I was to do 8K. I was a bit sore from yesterday's weight room stuff and the figure skating. I wasn't terribly sore this morning, though...but I am now (in the evening)!
Regardless, I was going to do the 8K. I had to end at the gym, though, to pick up the car. We had left one of the cars there because Loren couldn't drive home after spraining his right ankle last night at ice skating. The gym is considerably uphill from our house, and also not 8K away. So I started by going uphill to 1500 East and then over to SugarHouse Park and around the park. Then I came back up 15th East to Sunnyside, crossed over to Guardsman way and went to 500S and then back to the parking lot at the gym (about 700 south?). That was 8K. The net uphill was about 100m (a bit over 300ft), though there are also undulations along the way; it's quite a hilly route. I was pleased to finish in 51:25 for 6:25/km with average HR about 150. I thought that was pretty good for the hills.
I got in the car and drove home, and afterward I biked the kids to school and then biked uphill even farther to work. My glutes have been getting quite the workout lately!
Tomorrow is a little speed work to ease back into things. I think I'm ready to train again, but glad it's a short one.
Edited to add: Garmin data here.
Regardless, I was going to do the 8K. I had to end at the gym, though, to pick up the car. We had left one of the cars there because Loren couldn't drive home after spraining his right ankle last night at ice skating. The gym is considerably uphill from our house, and also not 8K away. So I started by going uphill to 1500 East and then over to SugarHouse Park and around the park. Then I came back up 15th East to Sunnyside, crossed over to Guardsman way and went to 500S and then back to the parking lot at the gym (about 700 south?). That was 8K. The net uphill was about 100m (a bit over 300ft), though there are also undulations along the way; it's quite a hilly route. I was pleased to finish in 51:25 for 6:25/km with average HR about 150. I thought that was pretty good for the hills.
I got in the car and drove home, and afterward I biked the kids to school and then biked uphill even farther to work. My glutes have been getting quite the workout lately!
Tomorrow is a little speed work to ease back into things. I think I'm ready to train again, but glad it's a short one.
Edited to add: Garmin data here.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
cross-training
This morning was a cross-training day, as my new schedule starts tomorrow. I went to the gym and did 30 min on the elliptical, and then I did some weight training. I did some step-ups (3x12 on each leg), some sideways walking with a resistance band (3 sets each leg), and another set of exercises Jim told me about that are hard to explain. With elbows on the ball and knees on the mat, lift one leg behind you (glutes), then bring leg to the side, then back and down. I did a bunch of those on each leg; they work the core too.
Then I biked the kids to school and biked to work. Took the kids swimming after work, made dinner, and then went to our figure skating lesson. Wow...that was a workout for me today. I learned how to do lunges on figure skates. Serious glute work for sure while I tried to figure out how to balance and how to get my trailing foot to drag on the ice on the boot not on the blade. It took a while, and I sure did a lot of lunges on each side. I also got a bit of cardio, as I did a whole bunch of bunny hop jumps in a row to practice them - that got me breathing a bit!
Yeah, my glutes are going to be sore tomorrow. At least I just have 8K easy to do.
***
While I was practicing bunny hops, Loren was taking his hockey skating lesson. I didn't see it, but he took a bad fall, and he said he felt something pop in his ankle. He was in quite a bit of pain, and they got a lifeguard from the pool to come and look at it. Several people helped him get his skates off, shoes on, and walk/hop out to the car. I drove him to the urgent care, where they x-rayed it. The x-ray was negative for a fracture, though of course a radiologist will look at it tomorrow. Now he's resting with some ice and aleve, and hopefully he will feel better soon.
Then I biked the kids to school and biked to work. Took the kids swimming after work, made dinner, and then went to our figure skating lesson. Wow...that was a workout for me today. I learned how to do lunges on figure skates. Serious glute work for sure while I tried to figure out how to balance and how to get my trailing foot to drag on the ice on the boot not on the blade. It took a while, and I sure did a lot of lunges on each side. I also got a bit of cardio, as I did a whole bunch of bunny hop jumps in a row to practice them - that got me breathing a bit!
Yeah, my glutes are going to be sore tomorrow. At least I just have 8K easy to do.
***
While I was practicing bunny hops, Loren was taking his hockey skating lesson. I didn't see it, but he took a bad fall, and he said he felt something pop in his ankle. He was in quite a bit of pain, and they got a lifeguard from the pool to come and look at it. Several people helped him get his skates off, shoes on, and walk/hop out to the car. I drove him to the urgent care, where they x-rayed it. The x-ray was negative for a fracture, though of course a radiologist will look at it tomorrow. Now he's resting with some ice and aleve, and hopefully he will feel better soon.
Monday, May 28, 2012
some weekend walking
On Sunday the weather was a bit dicey. It was 48F (about 9C) and very windy and overcast, with a rain shower here and there. I went for a short walk anyway, and though I was chilled a bit at the start and my baseball cap almost blew off my head, I warmed up quickly and it felt pretty invigorating. Except for the wind, which I just had to put up with.
I've been enjoying NOT walking in Liberty Park. My local flat routes have gotten a bit stale, and the hills suit me right now, so I did a loop of SugarHouse Park instead. I felt quite good and fast, and finished the route in 35:58 for 6:16/km (just over a 10-min mile) with ave HR of 140. I focused a lot on standing tall, using my core to tuck my rear end under, and using my left glutes. My diagnostic tool? If I see my hands in front too much as Becky admonished about "piano playing" hands at the 15K, then I know that I'm not tucking my rear end under and remaining upright and using my left glutes as Jim has pointed out that I need to do. That's a lot to think about, but I'm motivated. I want to fix those technique problems and be faster.
Garmin data here.
***
Today is a holiday, thankfully. I needed another day off work to really rest and recuperate a bit. I've been driving myself pretty hard between work, training, and spending time with the kids doing fun things as well as homework, sports, etc.
I allowed myself to sleep a bit later than usual, not getting out of bed until 7 AM. I was all ready to leave the house for a nice 10-12 km walk (whatever I felt like), when my coach called. Jim just wanted to tell me that he had my new schedule for me (thanks, Jim!) and chat a bit about random stuff. I enjoy talking with Jim, so we chatted for 10-15 min and then I really had to get going on my walk so that I could be back by 9:30, as my friend Ye was bringing her son Adam over to play with my kids today.
The weather was glorious this morning. It was 45F (~7C) when I left the house, but the sun was out and there was only a slight breeze, so it felt pretty comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. I walked uphill again to start and did a SugarHouse Park loop, then headed over to 20th East and walked around that neighborhood a bit before walking back. It ended up being almost exactly 12km of rolling hills, and it was a great workout. I worked a lot on my technique again, concentrating really hard on it, and I was faster than yesterday on the same hills. It felt great. I did 1:14:00 for 12km, for an average pace of 6:10/km with average heart rate of 144.
Garmin data here.
***
After that, I took the kids figure skating (and we took along Adam as well!) and then swimming. The Salt Lake City sports complex is close to our house and has 2 ice rinks and 2 pools, indoor and outdoor. It was nice today, with a high around 70F (21C), so the kids spent a couple hours swimming in the outdoor pool, while I lounged around reading a book and the newspaper. Ahhhhh...relaxation.
I've been enjoying NOT walking in Liberty Park. My local flat routes have gotten a bit stale, and the hills suit me right now, so I did a loop of SugarHouse Park instead. I felt quite good and fast, and finished the route in 35:58 for 6:16/km (just over a 10-min mile) with ave HR of 140. I focused a lot on standing tall, using my core to tuck my rear end under, and using my left glutes. My diagnostic tool? If I see my hands in front too much as Becky admonished about "piano playing" hands at the 15K, then I know that I'm not tucking my rear end under and remaining upright and using my left glutes as Jim has pointed out that I need to do. That's a lot to think about, but I'm motivated. I want to fix those technique problems and be faster.
Garmin data here.
***
Today is a holiday, thankfully. I needed another day off work to really rest and recuperate a bit. I've been driving myself pretty hard between work, training, and spending time with the kids doing fun things as well as homework, sports, etc.
I allowed myself to sleep a bit later than usual, not getting out of bed until 7 AM. I was all ready to leave the house for a nice 10-12 km walk (whatever I felt like), when my coach called. Jim just wanted to tell me that he had my new schedule for me (thanks, Jim!) and chat a bit about random stuff. I enjoy talking with Jim, so we chatted for 10-15 min and then I really had to get going on my walk so that I could be back by 9:30, as my friend Ye was bringing her son Adam over to play with my kids today.
The weather was glorious this morning. It was 45F (~7C) when I left the house, but the sun was out and there was only a slight breeze, so it felt pretty comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. I walked uphill again to start and did a SugarHouse Park loop, then headed over to 20th East and walked around that neighborhood a bit before walking back. It ended up being almost exactly 12km of rolling hills, and it was a great workout. I worked a lot on my technique again, concentrating really hard on it, and I was faster than yesterday on the same hills. It felt great. I did 1:14:00 for 12km, for an average pace of 6:10/km with average heart rate of 144.
Garmin data here.
***
After that, I took the kids figure skating (and we took along Adam as well!) and then swimming. The Salt Lake City sports complex is close to our house and has 2 ice rinks and 2 pools, indoor and outdoor. It was nice today, with a high around 70F (21C), so the kids spent a couple hours swimming in the outdoor pool, while I lounged around reading a book and the newspaper. Ahhhhh...relaxation.
Friday, May 25, 2012
hilly 10.3K
I felt like racewalking this morning; however, I wanted it on my terms. No obsessing about my 500m splits, no stressing about anything, and walking a route I don't normally do. I decided to walk up to 900 S (it's quite uphill to get there...!) and then down and around SugarHouse Park. I took some pictures along the way (below).
The weather was threatening rain and thundering, but it was actually quite nice! It was about 56F (13C) and overcast; the air was cool and pleasant, and I enjoyed watching the clouds and hearing the occasional thunderclap. Once I started my watch, I put a piece of tape over it so I could not see the 500m splits, hoping it would keep me relaxed. It worked pretty well.
I focused a lot on working on my technique, and I felt good for the vast majority of the walk. When I concentrated on it, I felt the proper technique kicking in and it was really smooth and fluid. I haven't had time to put together the videos from the race, but one thing that Becky Klein (the chief judge) told me about my technique really dovetails with what my coach Jim has been telling me. I put it together in my mind this week. Becky said I am "playing the piano" - i.e., my hands are too much in front. She's right...but it's a symptom, not the problem. The main problem is what my coach has been saying: I'm still leaning forward a little from the hips, and not tucking my rear end under. This causes my hands and arms to be in front too much. So, this week I've been thinking about standing up straighter, tucking my rear end, and using my left glutes more (the left side is weaker, resulting in my right hip hitching). This seems to be helping, as I do feel much smoother when I'm thinking about it. Now I just have to keep working on it until that is natural all the time. Of course I've been thinking about these things since last summer and haven't fixed them yet, but I feel I've made some small improvement and plan to improve some more if possible.
My total time today ended up being pretty good despite the hills: 10.31km in 1:05:25 for 6:21/km with average HR of 142.
Garmin data here.
***
Later, I rode my bike to work. That makes 4/4 days this week :).
The weather was threatening rain and thundering, but it was actually quite nice! It was about 56F (13C) and overcast; the air was cool and pleasant, and I enjoyed watching the clouds and hearing the occasional thunderclap. Once I started my watch, I put a piece of tape over it so I could not see the 500m splits, hoping it would keep me relaxed. It worked pretty well.
I focused a lot on working on my technique, and I felt good for the vast majority of the walk. When I concentrated on it, I felt the proper technique kicking in and it was really smooth and fluid. I haven't had time to put together the videos from the race, but one thing that Becky Klein (the chief judge) told me about my technique really dovetails with what my coach Jim has been telling me. I put it together in my mind this week. Becky said I am "playing the piano" - i.e., my hands are too much in front. She's right...but it's a symptom, not the problem. The main problem is what my coach has been saying: I'm still leaning forward a little from the hips, and not tucking my rear end under. This causes my hands and arms to be in front too much. So, this week I've been thinking about standing up straighter, tucking my rear end, and using my left glutes more (the left side is weaker, resulting in my right hip hitching). This seems to be helping, as I do feel much smoother when I'm thinking about it. Now I just have to keep working on it until that is natural all the time. Of course I've been thinking about these things since last summer and haven't fixed them yet, but I feel I've made some small improvement and plan to improve some more if possible.
My total time today ended up being pretty good despite the hills: 10.31km in 1:05:25 for 6:21/km with average HR of 142.
Garmin data here.
***
Later, I rode my bike to work. That makes 4/4 days this week :).
Thursday, May 24, 2012
working through stuff
This morning I was in a bit of a mood. I did NOT want to racewalk. I am still a bit disappointed in myself about the race on Sunday. I know, I know...I could not expect better after the technique fiasco of the last few weeks, and sometimes races just don't go as you planned. But I guess I just need a week to sulk a bit and get it out of my system. Regardless of why, I just wanted to do something else this morning.
So, I did 45 min on the elliptical, and then walked the kids to school and rode my bike to work. Lots of good cross-training.
With all the good cross-training this week I'd probably be shaping up well, except that I've been eating lousy. Grrrr. Like I said, I'm in a mood. I'm allowing myself another day to sulk and then it will be time to let it go and move on.
So, I did 45 min on the elliptical, and then walked the kids to school and rode my bike to work. Lots of good cross-training.
With all the good cross-training this week I'd probably be shaping up well, except that I've been eating lousy. Grrrr. Like I said, I'm in a mood. I'm allowing myself another day to sulk and then it will be time to let it go and move on.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
5K and some biking
This morning I thought about going to the gym and doing the elliptical, but it was nice outside (52F or 11C) and clear so I went for a short walk. I decided to keep it to 5K and just ride my bike to work to get a bit more exercise.
I felt pretty good on the 5K; I worked quite hard on focusing on my technique and I think I was doing everything I was supposed to. It occurred to me that the "piano playing hands" Becky (chief judge on Sunday) told me about are a symptom of the problem. When I tucked my rear end under more, the piano playing hands were no longer so far in front of me. It's going to take a while to make this habit second nature.
I did the 5K in 6:03/km - 30:13 total; ave HR 144.
Garmin data here.
I'm typing badly enough that I think I need more sleep!
I felt pretty good on the 5K; I worked quite hard on focusing on my technique and I think I was doing everything I was supposed to. It occurred to me that the "piano playing hands" Becky (chief judge on Sunday) told me about are a symptom of the problem. When I tucked my rear end under more, the piano playing hands were no longer so far in front of me. It's going to take a while to make this habit second nature.
I did the 5K in 6:03/km - 30:13 total; ave HR 144.
Garmin data here.
I'm typing badly enough that I think I need more sleep!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
rest day; cross-training
I rested on Monday, except for some figure skating practice.
***
Today I did 15 min on the elliptical, and rode my bike to work. My legs actually feel really good today, and are hardly sore at all. Unusual for after a hard race...but I guess this one wasn't so hard, since I was so slow? Regardless, I'm recovering well.
Tonight the whole family went for our usual Tuesday night family skating lesson. The kids are doing well and will probably pass their levels with a little additional practice. I can now do an inside Mohawk on both sides, outside and inside 3-turns on each foot, and power 3-turns on each foot. I seem to be improving, gradually. I'm still terrified of spins and jumps, though. Well, one thing at a time. Oh, and I ordered some ice skates today! Loren got them for me for my birthday, and I'm just now getting around to ordering them. The bad news is that my size is backordered until June 27th, but I've waited this long, so what's another month?
***
Today I did 15 min on the elliptical, and rode my bike to work. My legs actually feel really good today, and are hardly sore at all. Unusual for after a hard race...but I guess this one wasn't so hard, since I was so slow? Regardless, I'm recovering well.
Tonight the whole family went for our usual Tuesday night family skating lesson. The kids are doing well and will probably pass their levels with a little additional practice. I can now do an inside Mohawk on both sides, outside and inside 3-turns on each foot, and power 3-turns on each foot. I seem to be improving, gradually. I'm still terrified of spins and jumps, though. Well, one thing at a time. Oh, and I ordered some ice skates today! Loren got them for me for my birthday, and I'm just now getting around to ordering them. The bad news is that my size is backordered until June 27th, but I've waited this long, so what's another month?
Monday, May 21, 2012
eclipse
This was an amazing day - first the 15K, then the eclipse. I admit I'm a sucker for solar eclipses. I saw my first partial solar eclipse as a child in Wisconsin, using a pinhole setup, and I was hooked. The best one I have seen until today was the annular eclipse in San Diego in January 1992 - it was a total annular eclipse right at sunset and it was amazing. However, today's was better - mostly because I had $2 glasses from the planetarium that allowed direct viewing. I also put them over the lens on my point-and-shoot camera and took pictures that way. So much fun!
I was on my way home from the race when I saw the eclipse. I happened to have a flight that went through Las Vegas, and had to change planes and hang out in the airport. Vegas was closer to the path of totality than either SoCal or Salt Lake, so it was the perfect viewing spot. I enjoyed it immensely!!!!! I shared my glasses w/a lot of random people in the airport to save their eyes - a remarkable number of people were not using any sort of eye protection at all or unsuitable eye protection (sunglasses).
Here are some pictures.
Can't wait until August 21, 2017, when there is a total eclipse in Idaho! Before then I plan to get a solar filter for my SLR so that I can get really good pictures that are not blurry and have higher resolution. Hmmmm, maybe a new telephoto lens too... :)
All of the rest of the pics are on my Facebook page.
I was on my way home from the race when I saw the eclipse. I happened to have a flight that went through Las Vegas, and had to change planes and hang out in the airport. Vegas was closer to the path of totality than either SoCal or Salt Lake, so it was the perfect viewing spot. I enjoyed it immensely!!!!! I shared my glasses w/a lot of random people in the airport to save their eyes - a remarkable number of people were not using any sort of eye protection at all or unsuitable eye protection (sunglasses).
Here are some pictures.
Can't wait until August 21, 2017, when there is a total eclipse in Idaho! Before then I plan to get a solar filter for my SLR so that I can get really good pictures that are not blurry and have higher resolution. Hmmmm, maybe a new telephoto lens too... :)
All of the rest of the pics are on my Facebook page.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
15K national championships
It was a bit warm this morning for the 15K national champs. At race start it was OK, but by the time I got to 5K I was pretty hot and dumping water all over myself. At every water station I drank and tried to keep cool; it wasn't THAT hot (maybe 70-75 by the finish?) but hot enough for one who is not acclimatized. It was quite humid too, and still, which didn't help.
I felt sluggish on the warm-up. I walked once around the course, which is 1703m, and threw in some strides. I just didn't feel smooth and fluid, and I was a bit sleepy/tired/off. No excuses, just explaining how I felt. I was concerned after the warm-up, but you never know.
On the first (partial) lap I had planned to do a 7:35. I did a 7:55. Oops. That wasn't too good. (Though later, my friend Alex told me that he was also 20 sec fast on that first partial lap and then when he got to the start it was right on, so he wondered if the course was measured correctly?). In any case, I eased up just a bit and did the 1st whole lap in 10:02 - a bit slower than my planned 9:48 but not too awful. I tried to speed up a bit but my body just didn't feel right. I just never really got in the groove today. I think I was low on carbs, because after I took my gel at about 8km I felt better and was able to go faster; however, that coincided with my friend Alex passing me and encouraging me to keep up with him, so it's hard to know.
When I got to 5K in 29:22 I knew it was NOT my day to get the All-American standard of 1:26:37. I'd have to do about 28:50/5k to get that, and I was already hopelessly behind and not feeling good. Then I switched my goal to keeping the pace and beating last year's time, which I was able to do.
My next laps were 10:14, 10:15, 10:21, then Alex caught me and I went 10:08, 10:05, 10:05 and finally 9:56 for 1:28:41 on the lap counter's sheet (though the official time ended up 1:28:42). I screwed up on my watch and missed the first 0.2km or so, and so my watch time is not at all right though the splits are good after the 1st one.
Looking at the pictures, I was struggling the whole race - I am all work and no play in my face. It was just a hard race. I'm proud that I pushed hard and regained my composure after the 10:21 lap and finished strong. I worked really hard today; my average heart rate was 161 and max was 174. I gave it my all, and hey, I can't complain about a PR, 2nd place in the Open division, first place in Masters (ages 35+) and winning $100, can I? Besides, I got to hang out with amazing racewalkers all weekend :).
Garmin data here.
Pictures here.
I felt sluggish on the warm-up. I walked once around the course, which is 1703m, and threw in some strides. I just didn't feel smooth and fluid, and I was a bit sleepy/tired/off. No excuses, just explaining how I felt. I was concerned after the warm-up, but you never know.
When I got to 5K in 29:22 I knew it was NOT my day to get the All-American standard of 1:26:37. I'd have to do about 28:50/5k to get that, and I was already hopelessly behind and not feeling good. Then I switched my goal to keeping the pace and beating last year's time, which I was able to do.
Looking at the pictures, I was struggling the whole race - I am all work and no play in my face. It was just a hard race. I'm proud that I pushed hard and regained my composure after the 10:21 lap and finished strong. I worked really hard today; my average heart rate was 161 and max was 174. I gave it my all, and hey, I can't complain about a PR, 2nd place in the Open division, first place in Masters (ages 35+) and winning $100, can I? Besides, I got to hang out with amazing racewalkers all weekend :).
Garmin data here.
Pictures here.
Friday, May 18, 2012
6K
This morning I did an easy 6.25ish-km around Liberty Park. I felt pretty good - nothing was too sore or tired, and I felt rested. The weather was great at 56F (13C) and sunny; later it was chilly and windy and raining so I dodged the bullet there.
Nothing too remarkable - I watched my technique carefully and it felt solid so I think I'm ready on that front. I was reasonably fast today, especially coming back up the slight hill where I was able to hold my pace much better than on Tuesday's 10K.
Total time: 38:34 for 6:08/km for the 6.28km. Average HR nice and low at 142. I think I'm ready for the race!
Garmin data here.
Nothing too remarkable - I watched my technique carefully and it felt solid so I think I'm ready on that front. I was reasonably fast today, especially coming back up the slight hill where I was able to hold my pace much better than on Tuesday's 10K.
Total time: 38:34 for 6:08/km for the 6.28km. Average HR nice and low at 142. I think I'm ready for the race!
Garmin data here.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
3x1km @ 85% effort
More video today. It's helping, though. I walk a lap, look at the video, adjust, walk another lap, etc. I am sure I will be legal for the race now, but the question is how fast will I be?
Today I did the 3x1km. It was nice at the track: 57F (14C) and sunny and clear. This time I remembered to set up the camera OPPOSITE the sun so that you can see better.
My warm-up was better today. I was legal by the end of the first 400m. The second 400m was iffy, but then I was fine on the 3rd and 4th warm-up laps. Total time for all 4 laps was 9:28, though I stopped in between each one to check the video briefly.
I really worked on straightening up today - my coach said if I didn't lean so much from the waist/hips that it would help. I felt a LOT better and much smoother, and it looks better too, I think. It's still not perfect...tuck my butt under, keep the right hip low as I bring it through, stay straighter, etc. However, I was encouraged by two things 1) I was a bit faster today, and 2) I felt smoother and stronger and able to push a bit harder and know that I was still legal. The hours spent poring over video are paying off I think. I hope.
Split times: 1st km was 2:43, 2:46; 2nd was 2:44, 2:45; 3rd was 2:46, 2:46. I will admit that it was more like a 90% effort than an 85% effort, but my heart rate was not too high. It averaged 156, 161, and 162 on the 2nd 500m of each of the 1km intervals.
Here's the video:
Garmin data here.
***
I'm feeling better about the race now. I think I was much more illegal on my warm-ups than I ever was while doing the interval workouts over the past few weeks. I suspect that some of my fitness gains are real, and so hopefully I'll at least be able to get the All-American Masters standard for my age group, which is 1:26:37. If I have a bad day on race day all bets are off, but if not, it should be attainable.
Today I did the 3x1km. It was nice at the track: 57F (14C) and sunny and clear. This time I remembered to set up the camera OPPOSITE the sun so that you can see better.
My warm-up was better today. I was legal by the end of the first 400m. The second 400m was iffy, but then I was fine on the 3rd and 4th warm-up laps. Total time for all 4 laps was 9:28, though I stopped in between each one to check the video briefly.
I really worked on straightening up today - my coach said if I didn't lean so much from the waist/hips that it would help. I felt a LOT better and much smoother, and it looks better too, I think. It's still not perfect...tuck my butt under, keep the right hip low as I bring it through, stay straighter, etc. However, I was encouraged by two things 1) I was a bit faster today, and 2) I felt smoother and stronger and able to push a bit harder and know that I was still legal. The hours spent poring over video are paying off I think. I hope.
Split times: 1st km was 2:43, 2:46; 2nd was 2:44, 2:45; 3rd was 2:46, 2:46. I will admit that it was more like a 90% effort than an 85% effort, but my heart rate was not too high. It averaged 156, 161, and 162 on the 2nd 500m of each of the 1km intervals.
Here's the video:
Garmin data here.
***
I'm feeling better about the race now. I think I was much more illegal on my warm-ups than I ever was while doing the interval workouts over the past few weeks. I suspect that some of my fitness gains are real, and so hopefully I'll at least be able to get the All-American Masters standard for my age group, which is 1:26:37. If I have a bad day on race day all bets are off, but if not, it should be attainable.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
video session in the park
I did 30 min on the elliptical this morning before work.
After work, I met Nancy at the park. She very kindly agreed to watch me walk, offer suggestions, and videotape me. I told Jim I'd do tomorrow's workout (3x1km @85% effort) today but that didn't happen - I got lost on the way to the park as I'd never been there before. Add in a lot of wind and very hot weather (86F...and I'm used to working out at 50F right now!), and it was not good. Nancy advised me to can the intervals and just warm-up well and then walk a bit for the video.
She did take video of the warm-up, and boy was it ever ugly. I'll have to fix that eventually (maybe my hip is tight, according to Jim), but for now if I warm up thoroughly it should be fine.
Then we took these videos. Jim says I am still leaning forward too much from the hips, and that I'm not tucking my butt under enough. I can see that on the video pretty clearly. It's not awful, but it could be improved and I'm sure that will help me use my glutes more and be faster. Of course, I also felt a bit odd today - even after the warm-up I just didn't feel that great. I'm not used to walking in the afternoon or in the heat and I'm sure that has something to do with it.
Here's the ugly warm-up. Very embarrassing.
Here's the first clip once I was warmed-up. I'm legal, but it could look better.
The second clip:
The third clip: Sorry, technical difficulties...will try again tomorrow.
The fourth (and last) clip: Sorry, technical difficulties...will try again tomorrow.
And yes, Calvin can now officially run faster than I can racewalk! I'm proud of him!
And this one was just for fun...Nancy was egging me on, OK?
After work, I met Nancy at the park. She very kindly agreed to watch me walk, offer suggestions, and videotape me. I told Jim I'd do tomorrow's workout (3x1km @85% effort) today but that didn't happen - I got lost on the way to the park as I'd never been there before. Add in a lot of wind and very hot weather (86F...and I'm used to working out at 50F right now!), and it was not good. Nancy advised me to can the intervals and just warm-up well and then walk a bit for the video.
She did take video of the warm-up, and boy was it ever ugly. I'll have to fix that eventually (maybe my hip is tight, according to Jim), but for now if I warm up thoroughly it should be fine.
Then we took these videos. Jim says I am still leaning forward too much from the hips, and that I'm not tucking my butt under enough. I can see that on the video pretty clearly. It's not awful, but it could be improved and I'm sure that will help me use my glutes more and be faster. Of course, I also felt a bit odd today - even after the warm-up I just didn't feel that great. I'm not used to walking in the afternoon or in the heat and I'm sure that has something to do with it.
Here's the ugly warm-up. Very embarrassing.
Here's the first clip once I was warmed-up. I'm legal, but it could look better.
The second clip:
The third clip: Sorry, technical difficulties...will try again tomorrow.
The fourth (and last) clip: Sorry, technical difficulties...will try again tomorrow.
And yes, Calvin can now officially run faster than I can racewalk! I'm proud of him!
And this one was just for fun...Nancy was egging me on, OK?
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
slow 10K
Anyone with half a brain would predict I'd be slow today. I was. So why am I disappointed, stressed, etc.? I'm human! I'm trying to stay positive though. A friend at work reminded me that this is supposed to be FUN. She pointed out that it's not like I'm ever going to the Olympics or the World Cup, after all! I have to be realistic - I'm a master's racewalker of moderate talent and nothing more. I'm doing this because I enjoy it, and I have to keep my competitive side a little bit reined-in or I'll be disappointed.
I know my technique was solid, though. It felt right. It also was tiring after yesterday's track workout. I tried not to ask myself "If I can barely do 10km, what am I doing a 15K race on Sunday for?" but couldn't keep the question out of my mind. So I tried to answer that positively: I'm doing the race because 1) I'll feel MUCH better after a few days adjusting back to proper technique, 2) I love to see my racewalking friends, and 3) given 1) I'm still likely to break my PR of 1:29:03. So there.
I pretty much phoned in the last 3-4km today. I didn't push it at all because I knew that would be counterproductive.
Total time: 1:05:06 for 6:30/km with ave HR 141.
And I was tempted to bike to work this morning - it's gorgeous out (60F (15C) for my workout! High of 90F today!) - but didn't, since I need to save my legs for Sunday. I'm stupid sometimes but am trying to be careful this week.
Garmin data here.
***
More debriefing about my technique issues.
My coach and I had a long FB chat about things. He said I've allowed a bad warm-up habit to become a bad habit. A bit harsh, perhaps, but it's the truth and I shouldn't shrink from it. I'm glad he can tell me the truth (though I will admit I wanted more sympathy! Sometimes what we want is not the best, though.) It wasn't intentional at all, but it happened. But Jim was positive about things: he said it was easily enough fixed and that I'd be walking much better by the end of the week. We have thrown in a couple extra workouts to try and get things moving in the right direction.
I regret not catching this sooner. I've been a bit concerned about a soft right knee for a while, and delayed videotaping myself because I couldn't find someone to do it and didn't think of the tripod method until last weekend.
On the plus side, I suppose this does show that I have pretty good body awareness (I suspected something was wrong) and that I need to learn to listen to the inner nagging voice a bit sooner. Jim and I were discussing when this first happened and he argues it was after the SLC 1/2 marathon (April 21) because my knees are straight in those pictures. I think it was before that that I first had issues with this though - on April 17 I had hip pain from the previous day's workout. I think that was IT band problems from "running" - i.e. RW with soft knees. Perhaps I was legal in the SL Half; I might not have ingrained the bad habit by then. Hard to say. I'm embarrassed that I was walking around like that though :(.
For sure I was doing something wrong by April 24 - I had quad spasms during/after the workout and that was obviously (in retrospect) from bent knee. Bent knee = using quads much more = spasm when you are not used to it.
Well, now I have a few weeks of a bad habit to undo, and not much time to do it. In addition, I've been training the wrong muscles for several weeks minimum. This does not bode well for my race. That is disappointing. Part of me wants to cancel the trip and save the $ to go do a race when I am better prepared, but the reasons in the 2nd paragraph above mean I'm still going. I just have to (somehow) get a new perspective before then. One day at a time.
I know my technique was solid, though. It felt right. It also was tiring after yesterday's track workout. I tried not to ask myself "If I can barely do 10km, what am I doing a 15K race on Sunday for?" but couldn't keep the question out of my mind. So I tried to answer that positively: I'm doing the race because 1) I'll feel MUCH better after a few days adjusting back to proper technique, 2) I love to see my racewalking friends, and 3) given 1) I'm still likely to break my PR of 1:29:03. So there.
I pretty much phoned in the last 3-4km today. I didn't push it at all because I knew that would be counterproductive.
Total time: 1:05:06 for 6:30/km with ave HR 141.
And I was tempted to bike to work this morning - it's gorgeous out (60F (15C) for my workout! High of 90F today!) - but didn't, since I need to save my legs for Sunday. I'm stupid sometimes but am trying to be careful this week.
Garmin data here.
***
More debriefing about my technique issues.
My coach and I had a long FB chat about things. He said I've allowed a bad warm-up habit to become a bad habit. A bit harsh, perhaps, but it's the truth and I shouldn't shrink from it. I'm glad he can tell me the truth (though I will admit I wanted more sympathy! Sometimes what we want is not the best, though.) It wasn't intentional at all, but it happened. But Jim was positive about things: he said it was easily enough fixed and that I'd be walking much better by the end of the week. We have thrown in a couple extra workouts to try and get things moving in the right direction.
I regret not catching this sooner. I've been a bit concerned about a soft right knee for a while, and delayed videotaping myself because I couldn't find someone to do it and didn't think of the tripod method until last weekend.
On the plus side, I suppose this does show that I have pretty good body awareness (I suspected something was wrong) and that I need to learn to listen to the inner nagging voice a bit sooner. Jim and I were discussing when this first happened and he argues it was after the SLC 1/2 marathon (April 21) because my knees are straight in those pictures. I think it was before that that I first had issues with this though - on April 17 I had hip pain from the previous day's workout. I think that was IT band problems from "running" - i.e. RW with soft knees. Perhaps I was legal in the SL Half; I might not have ingrained the bad habit by then. Hard to say. I'm embarrassed that I was walking around like that though :(.
For sure I was doing something wrong by April 24 - I had quad spasms during/after the workout and that was obviously (in retrospect) from bent knee. Bent knee = using quads much more = spasm when you are not used to it.
Well, now I have a few weeks of a bad habit to undo, and not much time to do it. In addition, I've been training the wrong muscles for several weeks minimum. This does not bode well for my race. That is disappointing. Part of me wants to cancel the trip and save the $ to go do a race when I am better prepared, but the reasons in the 2nd paragraph above mean I'm still going. I just have to (somehow) get a new perspective before then. One day at a time.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Darn it! 8K fartlek
I've been wondering for a bit if my right knee was soft. On Saturday, I timed a race for the club and did some videotaping. I had someone videotape me too. It was ugly. OK, I wasn't warmed up at all, and my right knee does tend to be iffy when I'm not warm. Still...it looked BAD. I spent the rest of the weekend panicking, and then this morning I did something about it.
(Oh, and FYI, I biked a lot on Saturday for cross-training, and took a rest day on Sunday).
***
I brought my video camera to the track and set it up on the tripod because I couldn't find anyone crazy enough to meet me at the track at 6:15 am. I did one lap of warm-up and looked at the tape, which got me almost at the end of the 400m lap. Oh boy...not good, not good at all. I did another lap, adjusted the video camera to get a closer view, and it was still ugly. Ouch. I resolved that I was going to fix it then and there no matter what. I have no idea exactly what I did, other than concentrating on bringing my knee through lower and feeling it straight underneath me, but it worked like a charm. Voila! Straight! I could feel that it was right for the 3rd and 4th warm-up laps.
I stopped for a brief restroom break. Calvin had some stomach virus on Saturday and I seem to have gotten it. I was not throwing up but had intestinal discomfort, big time, both last night and this morning. I knew I could still do the 8K fartlek though; and besides, there are now a couple porta-potties at the track which is huge in case of emergency. I didn't need them once I got started though.
My technique did feel different. Not hugely, but different. Crap. And guess what? I was slower, too. All those gains I thought I'd made? Nope...just bent knee. This is why they have rules in racewalking! I was not trying to cheat, but somehow my technique took a nosedive. Seriously, I have no idea how it happened. I didn't feel pressured by my coach or my friends to get faster in a hurry; I was just trying to do my workouts well. Darn it!
My fast 500s ranged from 2:46 to 2:50, except the first which was 2:41. My medium 500s were 2:56-3:05. Total was 46:21 with average HR 165 (high...ughhhh). Yup, much slower. But I know I was legal, and that is all that matters. I still want to do a 1:26:37 or less in Riverside for the 15K to earn my Masters All-American certificate, but if I can't, I can't. Darn it. Darn it. Darn it.
Overall, it's good though. I was easily able to fix the problem, I know what it feels like to do it right, and I should be able to complete the race. I am still faster than last year before the 15K and I'm still in great shape. I'm just not as fast as I thought I was. Oh well! That's my sport, and I still love it.
Here's the video.
Garmin data here.
(Oh, and FYI, I biked a lot on Saturday for cross-training, and took a rest day on Sunday).
***
I brought my video camera to the track and set it up on the tripod because I couldn't find anyone crazy enough to meet me at the track at 6:15 am. I did one lap of warm-up and looked at the tape, which got me almost at the end of the 400m lap. Oh boy...not good, not good at all. I did another lap, adjusted the video camera to get a closer view, and it was still ugly. Ouch. I resolved that I was going to fix it then and there no matter what. I have no idea exactly what I did, other than concentrating on bringing my knee through lower and feeling it straight underneath me, but it worked like a charm. Voila! Straight! I could feel that it was right for the 3rd and 4th warm-up laps.
I stopped for a brief restroom break. Calvin had some stomach virus on Saturday and I seem to have gotten it. I was not throwing up but had intestinal discomfort, big time, both last night and this morning. I knew I could still do the 8K fartlek though; and besides, there are now a couple porta-potties at the track which is huge in case of emergency. I didn't need them once I got started though.
My technique did feel different. Not hugely, but different. Crap. And guess what? I was slower, too. All those gains I thought I'd made? Nope...just bent knee. This is why they have rules in racewalking! I was not trying to cheat, but somehow my technique took a nosedive. Seriously, I have no idea how it happened. I didn't feel pressured by my coach or my friends to get faster in a hurry; I was just trying to do my workouts well. Darn it!
My fast 500s ranged from 2:46 to 2:50, except the first which was 2:41. My medium 500s were 2:56-3:05. Total was 46:21 with average HR 165 (high...ughhhh). Yup, much slower. But I know I was legal, and that is all that matters. I still want to do a 1:26:37 or less in Riverside for the 15K to earn my Masters All-American certificate, but if I can't, I can't. Darn it. Darn it. Darn it.
Overall, it's good though. I was easily able to fix the problem, I know what it feels like to do it right, and I should be able to complete the race. I am still faster than last year before the 15K and I'm still in great shape. I'm just not as fast as I thought I was. Oh well! That's my sport, and I still love it.
Here's the video.
Garmin data here.
Friday, May 11, 2012
8K fartlek - PR!!! (and race PR at 5K!!!)
Yesterday I cross-trained by biking everywhere I went: to work, to a bookstore, to get the kids, to do another errand, then home. I didn't drive my car anywhere yesterday! I biked a total of 16.3km, which is not that far, but keep in mind that biking to work is a really hilly workout. It fit with my day, and it felt good.
***
Today was an amazing workout. The weather was perfect, at 46F (8C) when I arrived at the track, and clear and sunny with a slight breeze. Lovely! The long days of late spring are here, and it's been so nice to have the sun up for my early morning workouts.
I started off with a very fast and fluid warm-up, 1600m in 9:14 (that used to be my interval pace for those!) with a few 100m strides thrown in. I was feeling great, and I thought it would be a good day. Usually the warm-up doesn't mean too much, as you can have a lousy warm-up and a good day, and you can have a good warm-up and a lousy day. But today felt especially good, for what it's worth (not much, in terms of scientific evidence!).
I told myself not to go out too hard, because I had 8km to do. I started off pretty easy but still got to 500m in just 2:35, and then 2:40 for the next 500m. Nice. Things continued this way and I arrived at 3km in just 16:26 - only 2 seconds slower than my 3K PR!!! WOW! About 4km, I realized I might PR at 5 km - not just a fartlek PR but a RACE PR! Sure enough, I got to 5K in just 27:41, 7 seconds faster than the race PR I set last June at the Art Attack 5K in SugarHouse Park. Amazing. And what's more, I was not too tired to do 3 more fast 500s and finish the 8K fartlek in only 44:41 - a fartlek PR by 34 seconds, and my fastest 8K ever, I believe.
My fast 500m (after the first very fast 2:35) were all from 2:40-2:42, and my medium 500m were all 2:53-2:58. My average HR for the whole workout was just 159 (lowish!) and on the last interval I was working it, with ave HR 166 and max of 169.
I'm totally thrilled with how things are going. 44:41 for 8K is 5:35/km and 8:59/mile. Yup, I averaged under a 9-min mile for 5 miles! Never thought I'd do that.
Garmin data here.
***
Today was an amazing workout. The weather was perfect, at 46F (8C) when I arrived at the track, and clear and sunny with a slight breeze. Lovely! The long days of late spring are here, and it's been so nice to have the sun up for my early morning workouts.
I started off with a very fast and fluid warm-up, 1600m in 9:14 (that used to be my interval pace for those!) with a few 100m strides thrown in. I was feeling great, and I thought it would be a good day. Usually the warm-up doesn't mean too much, as you can have a lousy warm-up and a good day, and you can have a good warm-up and a lousy day. But today felt especially good, for what it's worth (not much, in terms of scientific evidence!).
I told myself not to go out too hard, because I had 8km to do. I started off pretty easy but still got to 500m in just 2:35, and then 2:40 for the next 500m. Nice. Things continued this way and I arrived at 3km in just 16:26 - only 2 seconds slower than my 3K PR!!! WOW! About 4km, I realized I might PR at 5 km - not just a fartlek PR but a RACE PR! Sure enough, I got to 5K in just 27:41, 7 seconds faster than the race PR I set last June at the Art Attack 5K in SugarHouse Park. Amazing. And what's more, I was not too tired to do 3 more fast 500s and finish the 8K fartlek in only 44:41 - a fartlek PR by 34 seconds, and my fastest 8K ever, I believe.
My fast 500m (after the first very fast 2:35) were all from 2:40-2:42, and my medium 500m were all 2:53-2:58. My average HR for the whole workout was just 159 (lowish!) and on the last interval I was working it, with ave HR 166 and max of 169.
I'm totally thrilled with how things are going. 44:41 for 8K is 5:35/km and 8:59/mile. Yup, I averaged under a 9-min mile for 5 miles! Never thought I'd do that.
Garmin data here.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
12K
I was to do 12K this morning. I felt decent when I woke up, though my legs were a little sore as I stretched out while still lying in bed. I am not sure they were sore from racewalking! I wonder if the little jaunt up the hill to work on my bike made me sore, or if I'm a little sore from the track workout on Monday? I also did some figure skating on Sunday and last night, but that doesn't usually tax me at all. So I don't know why, but I was a bit sore.
What I do know is that the weather was glorious this morning at 48F (9C) and sunny and calm. I started off well and felt great until about 8.5km when the wheels totally fell off. I was at 8km in 48:11 (6:01/km) and then all of a sudden around 8.5km my legs just felt like sludge. I don't know how to explain it. They were just suddenly horribly tired and wouldn't move. I didn't feel awful or anything, but my legs were just tired, and though I had no problem finishing I was really slow. Going up the slight uphill from the park I could barely manage 3:18, 3:18 and 3:22.
Total: 12km in 1:13:52 for 6:09/km with ave HR 144.
Garmin data here.
***
Afterwards, I biked with the kids to school and then got ready for work and biked to work again. The weather is just too nice NOT to be outside. After work I plan to bike to get the kids and then we're going to do a little figure skating practice together.
What I do know is that the weather was glorious this morning at 48F (9C) and sunny and calm. I started off well and felt great until about 8.5km when the wheels totally fell off. I was at 8km in 48:11 (6:01/km) and then all of a sudden around 8.5km my legs just felt like sludge. I don't know how to explain it. They were just suddenly horribly tired and wouldn't move. I didn't feel awful or anything, but my legs were just tired, and though I had no problem finishing I was really slow. Going up the slight uphill from the park I could barely manage 3:18, 3:18 and 3:22.
Total: 12km in 1:13:52 for 6:09/km with ave HR 144.
Garmin data here.
***
Afterwards, I biked with the kids to school and then got ready for work and biked to work again. The weather is just too nice NOT to be outside. After work I plan to bike to get the kids and then we're going to do a little figure skating practice together.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
10K
I actually felt well-rested when I woke up this morning. My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's track workout, but I didn't feel too bad. The weather was good, too - 50F (10C) and breezy. I'm enjoying our nice warm spring this year, after the really cold springs we had the last two years.
I focused on staying legal today, as I did yesterday at the track. I've been worried that my right knee is a bit soft, so I am taking care to be sure it feels straight. The last thing I need is to get DQ'd after traveling to do a race!
I felt very good today until about 8km (5K split on the slight downhill was 29:45), and then I was tired on the last couple km up the slight incline home. Still, I was quite fast considering that I had a hard track workout yesterday.
Total time for 10km: 1:00:31 (6:03/km) with average heart rate of just 143.
Garmin data here.
***
Edited to add: after my workout I biked with the kids to school, returned home and got ready for work, and then biked up the hill to work. It felt good to work some different muscles. I'm trying to drive less and bike/take public transit more. Yesterday I took the bus to work. Let's see if I can avoid driving the car to work all week.
I focused on staying legal today, as I did yesterday at the track. I've been worried that my right knee is a bit soft, so I am taking care to be sure it feels straight. The last thing I need is to get DQ'd after traveling to do a race!
I felt very good today until about 8km (5K split on the slight downhill was 29:45), and then I was tired on the last couple km up the slight incline home. Still, I was quite fast considering that I had a hard track workout yesterday.
Total time for 10km: 1:00:31 (6:03/km) with average heart rate of just 143.
Garmin data here.
***
Edited to add: after my workout I biked with the kids to school, returned home and got ready for work, and then biked up the hill to work. It felt good to work some different muscles. I'm trying to drive less and bike/take public transit more. Yesterday I took the bus to work. Let's see if I can avoid driving the car to work all week.
Monday, May 07, 2012
7x800/200...er, no, make that 6x800/200
I was really tired this morning. I stayed up too late hanging out with my husband watching TV! Yeah, not the smartest thing to do, but I don't regret it. Plus, my legs were still a bit tired this morning from the 20K. I forgot to mention on Saturday that my right hip was bothering me a bit for the last 5km or so, but nothing serious. It felt a little tight this morning, but after the warm-up and some good dynamic stretching it really didn't bother me. Whew.
The weather was OK this morning. It was about 45F (7C) and sunny, but it was quite windy. Not windy enough that I would consider postponing the workout, but windy enough to be annoying and to slow me down by a second or two each time I came around the south side of the track (the wind was blowing from the east). I just looked, and it appears that the wind was steady at 10 mph (16 kph) with 20 mph gusts (32 kph). On the plus side, it wasn't cold, and it wasn't raining. I'll take it.
I was a bit late to the track but with my hip a little tender I knew I'd better do the full 1600m warm-up with strides and dynamic stretches. I warmed up well, in 9:25 for the 1600m and felt OK though a little sluggish on the strides. The stretching felt great and then I was ready to roll.
I knew I only had time for 5 or 6 repeats, even though I was supposed to do 7. I thought I'd only be able to fit 5 in, but I squeezed out a 6th despite the time crunch and though it was close I did manage to get the kids to school on time. I felt OK this morning, but not great. It seemed like more effort than last week for some reason, though my times were comparable (if a little slower) and I'm sure I could have done one more repeat at the same pace if I'd had time.
All my 800s were between 4:09-4:11 and my 200s were 54-56 seconds. The 1km totals were 5:04-5:06. Very consistent! Slower than last week, but not too bad considering the wind. Total for the 6km was 30:34, and my average heart rate for the fast segments was 157. I was pushing hard, though - the max on my last rep was 170.
Now the taper begins in earnest. A couple 8k fartleks Friday & Monday and 3x1km @85% effort next Thursday are the only hard workouts left. Race day is May 20th!
Garmin data here.
The weather was OK this morning. It was about 45F (7C) and sunny, but it was quite windy. Not windy enough that I would consider postponing the workout, but windy enough to be annoying and to slow me down by a second or two each time I came around the south side of the track (the wind was blowing from the east). I just looked, and it appears that the wind was steady at 10 mph (16 kph) with 20 mph gusts (32 kph). On the plus side, it wasn't cold, and it wasn't raining. I'll take it.
I was a bit late to the track but with my hip a little tender I knew I'd better do the full 1600m warm-up with strides and dynamic stretches. I warmed up well, in 9:25 for the 1600m and felt OK though a little sluggish on the strides. The stretching felt great and then I was ready to roll.
I knew I only had time for 5 or 6 repeats, even though I was supposed to do 7. I thought I'd only be able to fit 5 in, but I squeezed out a 6th despite the time crunch and though it was close I did manage to get the kids to school on time. I felt OK this morning, but not great. It seemed like more effort than last week for some reason, though my times were comparable (if a little slower) and I'm sure I could have done one more repeat at the same pace if I'd had time.
All my 800s were between 4:09-4:11 and my 200s were 54-56 seconds. The 1km totals were 5:04-5:06. Very consistent! Slower than last week, but not too bad considering the wind. Total for the 6km was 30:34, and my average heart rate for the fast segments was 157. I was pushing hard, though - the max on my last rep was 170.
Now the taper begins in earnest. A couple 8k fartleks Friday & Monday and 3x1km @85% effort next Thursday are the only hard workouts left. Race day is May 20th!
Garmin data here.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
20K
It's been a long week and I wasn't sure how my body would handle this workout today. I figured I was recovered enough to have a decent walk, but you never know.
I was pretty careful about what I ate yesterday and did my usual pre-long-workout imodium, but for some reason my GI system was not happy this morning. I have heard that there is something nasty going around, so maybe that is it, but I don't think so. It seemed like the usual racewalking trouble. It's been better of late, but every once in a while it strikes.
The weather was decent, at 46F (7.8C) and overcast, but with a fairly stiff breeze on and off. The wind didn't hinder me too much, though, and I didn't get cold, so I can't complain.
I took the first 5K nice and easy, and the slight downhill got me there in 30:17. I got a little tired around 6-7km, but recovered nicely with some clif shot blocks at 8km, and got to 10km in 1:01:13 (30:55). Then my GI system started acting up and I had to stop just before 11km at a gas station. Once I got going again I felt fine and made it to 15K in 1:31:51 (30:38). However, about 17km my legs got really tired and my GI distress increased again. Ughhhh. I slogged my way through to 20K in 2:03:46 for a slow last 5K of 31:56.
Still, I'm pleased, because I was under 2:04 on a day when I had some distress at the end. I'm sure I'd have been under 2:03 if not for that last 3km. I was very attentive to my technique today and sure I was legal. I've been a bit concerned about that since making such fast progress, but I think it is probably OK as long as I'm paying close attention to it.
This was my last long one before the 15K race on May 20th. I think I'll be ready for a fast time!
Garmin data here.
I was pretty careful about what I ate yesterday and did my usual pre-long-workout imodium, but for some reason my GI system was not happy this morning. I have heard that there is something nasty going around, so maybe that is it, but I don't think so. It seemed like the usual racewalking trouble. It's been better of late, but every once in a while it strikes.
The weather was decent, at 46F (7.8C) and overcast, but with a fairly stiff breeze on and off. The wind didn't hinder me too much, though, and I didn't get cold, so I can't complain.
I took the first 5K nice and easy, and the slight downhill got me there in 30:17. I got a little tired around 6-7km, but recovered nicely with some clif shot blocks at 8km, and got to 10km in 1:01:13 (30:55). Then my GI system started acting up and I had to stop just before 11km at a gas station. Once I got going again I felt fine and made it to 15K in 1:31:51 (30:38). However, about 17km my legs got really tired and my GI distress increased again. Ughhhh. I slogged my way through to 20K in 2:03:46 for a slow last 5K of 31:56.
Still, I'm pleased, because I was under 2:04 on a day when I had some distress at the end. I'm sure I'd have been under 2:03 if not for that last 3km. I was very attentive to my technique today and sure I was legal. I've been a bit concerned about that since making such fast progress, but I think it is probably OK as long as I'm paying close attention to it.
This was my last long one before the 15K race on May 20th. I think I'll be ready for a fast time!
Garmin data here.
Friday, May 04, 2012
10K w/2x5' @15K pace
We have been having the best weather this spring. I'm loving it! It rained a bit last night but this morning it was clear and dry, with a temperature of 50F (10C). Lovely!
My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's track workout, but much better than they were on Tuesday, so that was a relief. I started off pretty fast on the gentle downhill, getting to 5K in just about 30 min exactly. I did one of my fast segments starting at 3km, and my first 500m was 2:51, which was right about where I wanted to be. The next fast segment started at 5K, after waiting for a traffic light. I was pretty fresh after the 2 min break, so I did a 2:44 on the slight downhill for that first 500m, which seemed about right.
The rest of my walk was a bit uninspired, as my legs were pretty tired by about 6 or 7 km. I had to shorten things up a tiny bit so I could get the kids to school (got up a little late so I was rushing!), and so I ended up only doing 9.76 km total. My time was 59:44 for 6:07/km with average heart rate of 144.
Garmin data here.
My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's track workout, but much better than they were on Tuesday, so that was a relief. I started off pretty fast on the gentle downhill, getting to 5K in just about 30 min exactly. I did one of my fast segments starting at 3km, and my first 500m was 2:51, which was right about where I wanted to be. The next fast segment started at 5K, after waiting for a traffic light. I was pretty fresh after the 2 min break, so I did a 2:44 on the slight downhill for that first 500m, which seemed about right.
The rest of my walk was a bit uninspired, as my legs were pretty tired by about 6 or 7 km. I had to shorten things up a tiny bit so I could get the kids to school (got up a little late so I was rushing!), and so I ended up only doing 9.76 km total. My time was 59:44 for 6:07/km with average heart rate of 144.
Garmin data here.
Thursday, May 03, 2012
6x1500m
Today's workout was a tough one: 6x1500m with 2 min rest. Pacing would be critical so that I wouldn't die at the end, and since I've been getting faster, it's tricky to figure it out. Jim suggested 8:15/1500m, which would be 3x2:45. That was about what I was thinking, and it turned out to work quite well.
I was still a bit sore in the hamstrings and glutes this morning, but it wasn't too bad. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, which really helped me get my game face on for the workout. It was about 53F (11.7C) with a slight breeze and partly sunny. I warmed up for 1600m with strides in 9:30ish, and was feeling good. The dynamic stretching helped my hamstrings and glutes loosen up and I felt ready to go.
I tried to take it pretty conservatively for the first two intervals, and I think that was mostly successful. Intervals 3 and 4 were a bit harder, and the last two were quite hard. It felt just about right; I had a bit of room to spare until the last two, when I had to really push to get the times. But I stayed very consistent and felt on top of this workout. Whew. I think I was worried about how it would go, with the sore muscles, but it was all right. Definitely very hard work at the end, but I wasn't totally dying and felt within my capabilities. I'm happy with the way I paced it.
Here are my times: 8:11.2, 8:14.7, 8:14.9, 8:15.1, 8:12.6, 8:14.6. Wow. Very consistent. My heart rate ranged from an average of 149 for the first interval to 162 for the last interval. Perfect. Average pace was 5:29/km for the workout. Edited to add: that's 8:50/mile. Sweet!
Garmin data here.
I was still a bit sore in the hamstrings and glutes this morning, but it wasn't too bad. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, which really helped me get my game face on for the workout. It was about 53F (11.7C) with a slight breeze and partly sunny. I warmed up for 1600m with strides in 9:30ish, and was feeling good. The dynamic stretching helped my hamstrings and glutes loosen up and I felt ready to go.
I tried to take it pretty conservatively for the first two intervals, and I think that was mostly successful. Intervals 3 and 4 were a bit harder, and the last two were quite hard. It felt just about right; I had a bit of room to spare until the last two, when I had to really push to get the times. But I stayed very consistent and felt on top of this workout. Whew. I think I was worried about how it would go, with the sore muscles, but it was all right. Definitely very hard work at the end, but I wasn't totally dying and felt within my capabilities. I'm happy with the way I paced it.
Here are my times: 8:11.2, 8:14.7, 8:14.9, 8:15.1, 8:12.6, 8:14.6. Wow. Very consistent. My heart rate ranged from an average of 149 for the first interval to 162 for the last interval. Perfect. Average pace was 5:29/km for the workout. Edited to add: that's 8:50/mile. Sweet!
Garmin data here.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
cross-training, resting metabolic rate
I was so glad to cross-train today. My legs were very sore when I woke up - hamstrings, calves, etc. I went to the gym and did 30 min on the elliptical, and returned home to take the kids to school. Calvin has just learned to ride his bike w/o training wheels (yay!) and so we all biked to school.
I took a cue from them and biked up the hill to work for the remainder of my cross-training. It seemed to actually help my legs loosen up a bit. They are feeling better now and hopefully will be good for my track workout tomorrow morning.
***
In other news, out of curiosity, I had my resting metabolic rate tested. For work, if we do certain wellness activities we get a discount on our health insurance premium. So, not only was the test free, but it qualified me for my discount. I sort of expected my metabolic rate to be a tad on the slow side, as a side effect of the weight loss. It wasn't though - it was basically normal. Interesting. Essentially, the result is that my body burns about 1368 calories per day at rest. Add in about 400 cal for normal activities and then add in exercise, and that's about how much I can eat to maintain my weight.
I took a cue from them and biked up the hill to work for the remainder of my cross-training. It seemed to actually help my legs loosen up a bit. They are feeling better now and hopefully will be good for my track workout tomorrow morning.
***
In other news, out of curiosity, I had my resting metabolic rate tested. For work, if we do certain wellness activities we get a discount on our health insurance premium. So, not only was the test free, but it qualified me for my discount. I sort of expected my metabolic rate to be a tad on the slow side, as a side effect of the weight loss. It wasn't though - it was basically normal. Interesting. Essentially, the result is that my body burns about 1368 calories per day at rest. Add in about 400 cal for normal activities and then add in exercise, and that's about how much I can eat to maintain my weight.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
15K on tired legs
My legs were SORE this morning. I felt like I'd done a race yesterday. Hmmm, guess I pushed harder in the track workout than I thought.
The weather was more cooperative than predicted. Rain was predicted, but we just had some light showers, which stopped maybe 10-15 minutes into my workout. It wasn't cold either, at 50F (10C).
I felt great for about 3km, and then I was not surprised that my legs were just thrashed. I did about 30 min flat for the first 5K, and it wasn't that hard...but then the last 10K took me about 1:05. Yeah...ouch. It really did hurt. A lot. I'm glad tomorrow is a cross-training day.
Total time: 1:34:52 for 6:19/km with ave HR 148. Ugh.
Garmin data here.
The weather was more cooperative than predicted. Rain was predicted, but we just had some light showers, which stopped maybe 10-15 minutes into my workout. It wasn't cold either, at 50F (10C).
I felt great for about 3km, and then I was not surprised that my legs were just thrashed. I did about 30 min flat for the first 5K, and it wasn't that hard...but then the last 10K took me about 1:05. Yeah...ouch. It really did hurt. A lot. I'm glad tomorrow is a cross-training day.
Total time: 1:34:52 for 6:19/km with ave HR 148. Ugh.
Garmin data here.
Monday, April 30, 2012
elliptical; rest day; 8x800/200
Saturday I cross-trained, doing 1 hr on the elliptical. I also weighed in at Weight Watchers, and my weight was down a little. It had gotten as high as 153-154 lb, after being sick and eating too much dessert. But I was more watchful this week, and that combined with my training has helped, as I was 151.2 (68.7 kg) at my meeting on Saturday, and 150.2 on my home scale (68.3 kg). That's still a little too high, but it's moving the right way. I feel optimistic that it will be down a couple more pounds (1 kg) before my 15K race on May 20th.
***
Sunday was a rest day. We had a birthday celebration for my dad, and I made him apple pie. I will confess that I did eat a rather large slice, as it was the best pie I've made in a while...losing that kilo might be harder than I think :).
***
Today's workout was a tough one: 8x800/200 at the track. 800m, rest 30 sec, then 200m, rest 2 min, and repeat 7 times. Whew. I was a bit pressed for time as I had accidentally left my Garmin on after Saturday's cross-training, and so I had to stay home an extra 20 min to charge the battery, which fortunately lasted the whole workout. So, I only warmed up for 1200m with some strides and dynamic stretching. My legs felt awesome, though, and I thought this could be a good one.
I got started and told myself to take it EASY on the first one, as there would be 7 more. Despite that self-admonition, I did it pretty fast (4:04), though it did feel easy. Still, it was obviously too fast, as it ended up being my fastest one. I felt pretty good through about the 6th one, and then I did struggle on the last two. The last one was especially difficult, and my HR was really high (ave 166 for the 800 and 170 for the 200!). Ouch! It's always tricky to know how to pace oneself, and I came close today, even if I was a bit fast to start. I was able to finish, and only slowed a little bit.
Here are my times: 4:04, 53.8, 4:07, 53.7, 4:07, 54.2, 4:06, 55.6, 4:07, 54.4, 4:08, 55.2, 4:07, 55.0, 4:10, 54.2. Total time for 8km = 40:13.5 (5:01.7/km). Nice! Things are looking good.
Garmin data here.
***
Sunday was a rest day. We had a birthday celebration for my dad, and I made him apple pie. I will confess that I did eat a rather large slice, as it was the best pie I've made in a while...losing that kilo might be harder than I think :).
***
Today's workout was a tough one: 8x800/200 at the track. 800m, rest 30 sec, then 200m, rest 2 min, and repeat 7 times. Whew. I was a bit pressed for time as I had accidentally left my Garmin on after Saturday's cross-training, and so I had to stay home an extra 20 min to charge the battery, which fortunately lasted the whole workout. So, I only warmed up for 1200m with some strides and dynamic stretching. My legs felt awesome, though, and I thought this could be a good one.
I got started and told myself to take it EASY on the first one, as there would be 7 more. Despite that self-admonition, I did it pretty fast (4:04), though it did feel easy. Still, it was obviously too fast, as it ended up being my fastest one. I felt pretty good through about the 6th one, and then I did struggle on the last two. The last one was especially difficult, and my HR was really high (ave 166 for the 800 and 170 for the 200!). Ouch! It's always tricky to know how to pace oneself, and I came close today, even if I was a bit fast to start. I was able to finish, and only slowed a little bit.
Here are my times: 4:04, 53.8, 4:07, 53.7, 4:07, 54.2, 4:06, 55.6, 4:07, 54.4, 4:08, 55.2, 4:07, 55.0, 4:10, 54.2. Total time for 8km = 40:13.5 (5:01.7/km). Nice! Things are looking good.
Garmin data here.
Friday, April 27, 2012
6K easy (Thursday); 12K fartlek - new PR! (Friday)
I was too busy to post yesterday. Or too tired. Or something.
Yesterday I did an easy 6K; actually 6.25K since I went around Liberty Park. I felt great for the first 3K, and then I felt tired and sluggish. I think I'm still recovering from the hard half marathon and from the track workout on Monday.
The weather was pretty nice - it had threatened to be windy, but the wind waited until later in the day, thankfully. It was about 58F (14C) and calm. Still unseasonably warm, but I'm not complaining one bit!
I did the route in 37:59, which I believe is the fastest I've done it on an easy day. My average was 6:05/km for the 6.25km, with average heart rate of 143.
Garmin data here.
***
Today's workout was a 12K fartlek, which is always a hard one. I thought the weather might keep me from this today, as it was supposed to be pouring rain and really windy. Well, I got lucky. It poured rain most of the night but dried up before my workout. The cold front came in, so it was colder than it has been, but seasonably chilly at 43F (about 6C). It was windy last night, and is VERY windy now - in the afternoon - but it was just a little breezy for my workout and no problem.
I warmed up well, doing 1600m with two 100m strides in 9:28. I felt good, and did some dynamic stretching. I was feeling optimistic and figured today would be a good, fast workout.
I felt great to start, doing the first 1km in 5:22 (2:40+2:42). I continued fast, doing the medium 500s in 2:55 and the fast 500s in 2:45 until the 4th km, when all of a sudden it felt like I was racewalking through mud. Seriously. My quads felt SO tired, and the only way I can explain this is that they weren't fully recovered from the 5x800/200 on Monday and the hard half marathon on Saturday. It was hard to keep going and I started to wonder how this one was going to turn out. I managed ~3:00 and 2:51 for the next 2K, and then I adjusted to the tired feeling a bit. It's not that my legs felt better, but more that I got used to it? The rest of the fast 500s were 2:48-2:50 to the end of the workout, and the medium 500s were 3:02-3:04. That's a lot better than I thought I'd be able to do, considering how my legs felt. I realized I was going to PR the workout, and I was happy about that, but a little disappointed as I knew I could do this one faster if I'd felt better. You could argue that I started out too fast, but I think I started out at a reasonable speed given my conditioning; I just had tired legs today and couldn't hold it on this particular day.
Total time: 1:09:33 with average HR 161. I worked this one really hard and am proud that I kept going when I knew it was going to really hurt for 8km.
I know my coach is going to say this predicts good things for the 15K. I'm sure it does...but I'll tell you one thing - there was NO WAY I was going to do another 3K today at that pace. My legs were DONE! I think that is more a reflection of lack of complete recovery than my fitness, though, judging from the racewalking-through-mud feeling I had. Considering that I didn't feel stupendous, it's a good result.
Garmin data here.
Yesterday I did an easy 6K; actually 6.25K since I went around Liberty Park. I felt great for the first 3K, and then I felt tired and sluggish. I think I'm still recovering from the hard half marathon and from the track workout on Monday.
The weather was pretty nice - it had threatened to be windy, but the wind waited until later in the day, thankfully. It was about 58F (14C) and calm. Still unseasonably warm, but I'm not complaining one bit!
I did the route in 37:59, which I believe is the fastest I've done it on an easy day. My average was 6:05/km for the 6.25km, with average heart rate of 143.
Garmin data here.
***
Today's workout was a 12K fartlek, which is always a hard one. I thought the weather might keep me from this today, as it was supposed to be pouring rain and really windy. Well, I got lucky. It poured rain most of the night but dried up before my workout. The cold front came in, so it was colder than it has been, but seasonably chilly at 43F (about 6C). It was windy last night, and is VERY windy now - in the afternoon - but it was just a little breezy for my workout and no problem.
I warmed up well, doing 1600m with two 100m strides in 9:28. I felt good, and did some dynamic stretching. I was feeling optimistic and figured today would be a good, fast workout.
I felt great to start, doing the first 1km in 5:22 (2:40+2:42). I continued fast, doing the medium 500s in 2:55 and the fast 500s in 2:45 until the 4th km, when all of a sudden it felt like I was racewalking through mud. Seriously. My quads felt SO tired, and the only way I can explain this is that they weren't fully recovered from the 5x800/200 on Monday and the hard half marathon on Saturday. It was hard to keep going and I started to wonder how this one was going to turn out. I managed ~3:00 and 2:51 for the next 2K, and then I adjusted to the tired feeling a bit. It's not that my legs felt better, but more that I got used to it? The rest of the fast 500s were 2:48-2:50 to the end of the workout, and the medium 500s were 3:02-3:04. That's a lot better than I thought I'd be able to do, considering how my legs felt. I realized I was going to PR the workout, and I was happy about that, but a little disappointed as I knew I could do this one faster if I'd felt better. You could argue that I started out too fast, but I think I started out at a reasonable speed given my conditioning; I just had tired legs today and couldn't hold it on this particular day.
Total time: 1:09:33 with average HR 161. I worked this one really hard and am proud that I kept going when I knew it was going to really hurt for 8km.
I know my coach is going to say this predicts good things for the 15K. I'm sure it does...but I'll tell you one thing - there was NO WAY I was going to do another 3K today at that pace. My legs were DONE! I think that is more a reflection of lack of complete recovery than my fitness, though, judging from the racewalking-through-mud feeling I had. Considering that I didn't feel stupendous, it's a good result.
Garmin data here.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
cross-training
Ahhhh...easy week...I needed this after the half-marathon.
Today I cross-trained on the elliptical for 40 min.
The rest of the day was quite busy: work, dentist, house cleaning, and hosting a group of church friends for dinner. I'm tired!
Today I cross-trained on the elliptical for 40 min.
The rest of the day was quite busy: work, dentist, house cleaning, and hosting a group of church friends for dinner. I'm tired!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
5x800/200
In a hurry to get Calvin to the dentist so this will be fast.
Weather: warm and clear with a breeze. It was 65F (about 17C) this morning! We are having record-setting heat, and I don't mind one bit. Today it is supposed to be 86F.
Warm-up: 1600m with strides in about 9:30. Fast! Felt great!
The workout: In a nutshell, flying fast, though with some quadriceps spasms in each leg. The worst was in the right leg on the last 200m; it's still a bit sore but clearly a spasm and nothing serious. In general I felt great and was able to push these pretty hard as there were only 5. 800s were from 4:01 (the last one! yup, really a 4:01!) to 4:09 (the first one) and 200s were 53 (last one) to 55 (one shows as 56 on Garmin data but I had trouble pushing the lap button and lost 1-2 sec). Heart rate was up to 172 on the last set. I felt good and smooth and fast.
Total for 5K: 24:59. Yes, you read that right...under 25! Yeah, it's intervals, but still...wow!
Garmin data here.
Weather: warm and clear with a breeze. It was 65F (about 17C) this morning! We are having record-setting heat, and I don't mind one bit. Today it is supposed to be 86F.
Warm-up: 1600m with strides in about 9:30. Fast! Felt great!
The workout: In a nutshell, flying fast, though with some quadriceps spasms in each leg. The worst was in the right leg on the last 200m; it's still a bit sore but clearly a spasm and nothing serious. In general I felt great and was able to push these pretty hard as there were only 5. 800s were from 4:01 (the last one! yup, really a 4:01!) to 4:09 (the first one) and 200s were 53 (last one) to 55 (one shows as 56 on Garmin data but I had trouble pushing the lap button and lost 1-2 sec). Heart rate was up to 172 on the last set. I felt good and smooth and fast.
Total for 5K: 24:59. Yes, you read that right...under 25! Yeah, it's intervals, but still...wow!
Garmin data here.
Monday, April 23, 2012
rest day; cross training
Yesterday I took a rest day. Ahhhhhh. My muscles were quite sore, including my abs. I was glad to have a day off, and the weather was beautiful - warm and sunny, and at 86F we broke a record for heat yesterday. We all enjoyed it, though. I took Calvin with me to get a new hammock for our backyard, and we read books in it for a while.
***
Today was a cross-training day. I went to the gym and did 40 min on the elliptical and then did core work with Lisa. After taking the kids to school and getting ready for work, I biked to work, which is another good 25 min of cardio. It's only a bit over 3 miles (5K) to work, but it's a serious uphill climb of 600ft (180m). My muscles are still sore today, though not too bad.
Here's an interesting article from the Salt Lake Tribune on commuting by bike to the University of Utah, which I do when the weather is nice. I'm definitely a fair-weather cyclist! If it's too cold or rainy, forget it.
***
The official race photos are up. Mine are pretty good, though I most likely won't buy them.
Edited to add: I placed 115/375 in my age group vs. runners. Not too shabby!
***
Today was a cross-training day. I went to the gym and did 40 min on the elliptical and then did core work with Lisa. After taking the kids to school and getting ready for work, I biked to work, which is another good 25 min of cardio. It's only a bit over 3 miles (5K) to work, but it's a serious uphill climb of 600ft (180m). My muscles are still sore today, though not too bad.
Here's an interesting article from the Salt Lake Tribune on commuting by bike to the University of Utah, which I do when the weather is nice. I'm definitely a fair-weather cyclist! If it's too cold or rainy, forget it.
***
The official race photos are up. Mine are pretty good, though I most likely won't buy them.
Edited to add: I placed 115/375 in my age group vs. runners. Not too shabby!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Salt Lake Half Marathon, 2012 edition
This is the 6th time I've done this race. It was my first half marathon in 2007, and I've done it every year since. In 2009, I didn't have a time, as I was coaching for Team in Training and actually did a marathon that day, all on the half marathon course. I have not raced it hard every year; I did in 2007 and this year, but the last couple years I've done it as a training walk. Anyway, I love the course, and so I do it every year. I always see people I know out there too. Today I saw a former Team in Training friend, Stephanie, and at race end I saw Megan from work, my Team in Training friend Cara (who now lives in Nebraska!), and my former Masters swimming coach, Malaika, who took 3rd in the women's race with a time of 1:24:xx (a PR for her). Malaika is an amazing pro triathlete whose blog I follow.
The weather was picture-perfect for a race, though a little warm by the finish for someone who has been training in sub-50F (sub-10C) temps all spring. The temperature at the start was about 51F (10C) and it was probably 62-64ish by the finish. My face and body were crusted with salt from sweat at the end of the race. It was sunny and clear, and not windy at all - just lovely. I didn't even have to check any gear.
Pre-race, I drove to the university, where the start is, and parked in a garage near work. I had a little stuff to do in the lab for about 20 min, and then I warmed up with a nice brisk racewalk to the start (probably 1km?). I didn't warm up as much as I usually would because I didn't want to overtax my hip. By the way, the hip gave me just a twinge here and there, so I think it's fine; my left quad had some tightness/minor pain during the first mile but otherwise was fine.
I was to meet some friends pre-race, but couldn't find them in the crowd. Oh well. It was still great being out there in the race atmosphere. I really enjoy it, all the more so since I usually train alone.
The gun went off and I took a nice moderate pace down the hill for the first couple miles. I felt decent but not great. I was able to keep a fast pace on the downhill but not as fast as I would have liked with a moderate effort. The first mile was fine - an 8:45. The second mile is flatter, but still...only a 9:10. The third mile was 8:57, which was good, but I knew I'd have to be faster on this first part if I wanted to go sub-2:00. Not that I was disappointed with my time so far overall - I reached 5K (by my watch, not the course) in 27:40, which is actually a PR for 5K by a few seconds. Downhill helps though - my average heart rate was just 146 for the first mile, 153 for the second mile, and 154 for the third mile (normally in a fast 5K my HR would be in the upper 170s at the finish). Still, I knew that I wasn't feeling good enough to go sub-2:00, so I tried to ease up and save a bit of energy; I figured I could get a PR anyway.
I had trouble with the aid stations today for some reason. They were much better organized than in past years (thanks to the new race director), so that was fine, but I just had trouble drinking out of the paper cups today. I think I've been spoiled by the bottles you can use in racewalking races. Perhaps I should have carried my own water. Anyway, I had to walk more slowly through the aid stations and lost some time there, starting about mile 5ish. I still made it to 10K pretty fast, in 56:45 (by my watch, not by the course markers) which was 29:05 for the second 5K AND a PR for 10K (EDIT: nope, close, but not quite a 10K PR - had 56:31 last summer in a downhill race). Funny...it wasn't that hard to go 10K that fast downhill :). The 2nd 5K was slower, but it was flatter with probably 1km slightly uphill in the section in SugarHouse Park. They changed the course here, so there was a bit more uphill here than in past years (though it's very slight). By my watch, I got to the halfway point in 1 hour exactly. While the first half of the course is 118m downhill (by my watch), the second half is only a net 53m downhill, with a tough hill in the last mile. I figured 2:02 was the fastest I'd go, but I doubted that would be possible as I was pretty tired despite keeping my heart rate and effort moderate through 10K.
I knew the last hour would just be holding on, since I was already tired. Each time I reached a mile marker I was a bit disappointed with my mile splits, but I knew if I pushed harder it would cost me more in the end. Last year when I did this race at 85% effort, I did 1:02:45 for the first half and then 1:04:52 for the second half - much better pacing than today. I guess I should not have tried to go out at a sub-2:00 pace today, because that cost me at least a minute off of my final time. Well, if I'd been feeling good I might have kept the pace, so it was worth a shot, especially in a race that was inexpensive (local, entered early for $45) and not a goal race.
The last half is a bit of a blur now. I got to 15K in another PR time (by my watch, not the course markers - they didn't have any km markers) in 1:26:20, faster than my goal race pace for the 15K in Riverside in May, but only 29:35 for the third 5K; I was slowing down. The Riverside race is flat which will be much more challenging than this course, but I'm encouraged that I can do my goal time on a downhill in a half marathon. I think that bodes well for May, and last year I did about 1:30 for the same and then went on to do 1:29:03 in Riverside.
The last 6K was tough. I grimaced at the photographers in Liberty Park (one of them actually cheered me on using the word "racewalker!") and pushed as hard as I dared, knowing that the hill on State Street was still to come. I made it to 20K just before the hill, in 1:56:50 (yet another PR!). The way the course was re-jiggered meant that the hill came about mile 12.5 instead of mile 12, and it was tough as usual. But I knew there wasn't far to go, and managed to do the last 1.1 miles in 10:34, 5:57/km pace despite the hill. My average heart rate for that last 1.1 was a whopping 169! I guess I did give it my all there at the end.
Total time was 2:03:50, with ave HR 158.
Oh, one more thing - the comments from runners were more numerous than usual this year. They seemed really impressed by my pace, especially early on when everyone was feeling pretty good. Several of them asked me how long I thought it would take me to do the race. They were all quite respectful, though, and seemed genuinely interested in racewalking. Some of them even knew that it is an Olympic sport.
Garmin data here.
Here are all my pictures.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
cross-training; 10K
Yesterday I cross-trained. Not for very long, though. I caught some stomach bug from Loren and spent an hour or 2 in the middle of the night tossing and turning and feeling nauseated. When I woke up, it was late and I only managed to get in 20 min on the elliptical, which was about all I could manage in my nauseated state anyway. I only worked for a few hours before heading home to nap for a while before picking up the kids from school. I barely ate all day, but by evening the nausea abated a bit and I was able to eat some.
***
Today I felt OK when I woke up, so I went out for 10K. I didn't have high hopes, coming off the stomach thing and with my hip in an iffy condition. Jim said it was most likely a spasm, and I think he was right, because it felt OK today. It bothered me a tiny bit to start, and I stopped to stretch it at about 4km, but other than that it really felt much better than on Tuesday. I think I just pulled it a bit in the fast track workout on Monday (which made my quads hurt, by the way), and then on Tuesday it was still tender. After a few days of rest and anti-inflammatories, it's mostly better, I hope.
What surprised me was the speed of my workout. I took it easy, as evidenced by my heart rate (ave 144), but I was very, very fast. I finished the 10K in just 59:15, for 5:55/km!
I have a half marathon on Saturday and I'm now hoping for a really good fast time. It's a mostly downhill/flat race, so chances are good as long as my hip is 100%.
Garmin data here.
***
Today I felt OK when I woke up, so I went out for 10K. I didn't have high hopes, coming off the stomach thing and with my hip in an iffy condition. Jim said it was most likely a spasm, and I think he was right, because it felt OK today. It bothered me a tiny bit to start, and I stopped to stretch it at about 4km, but other than that it really felt much better than on Tuesday. I think I just pulled it a bit in the fast track workout on Monday (which made my quads hurt, by the way), and then on Tuesday it was still tender. After a few days of rest and anti-inflammatories, it's mostly better, I hope.
What surprised me was the speed of my workout. I took it easy, as evidenced by my heart rate (ave 144), but I was very, very fast. I finished the 10K in just 59:15, for 5:55/km!
I have a half marathon on Saturday and I'm now hoping for a really good fast time. It's a mostly downhill/flat race, so chances are good as long as my hip is 100%.
Garmin data here.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
5K - hip pain
I was to do 15K today but that was not in the cards. My hip started to hurt about 1km in, and by 2.5km I was wondering if it was wise to continue. I stopped and stretched a couple of times, but it didn't help that much. By 3.5km I knew it wasn't going to get better. I think it might be the IT band where it attaches at the hip, though I'm not sure. The pain is worst during the part of my gait where the right leg (the painful one) is weight bearing, and it hurts less when I walk on the left side of the road, where the cant of the road is sloping toward the right leg. I stopped at a little after 3.5km and walked home slowly (just brisk regular walking) and it hurt a lot less doing that. I arrived at home at 5km on my Garmin (35:xx). However, walking in to work from my car and walking to today's earthquake drill at work has made it ache just sitting here at my desk.
When I got home from my walk, I took an anti-inflammatory (naprosyn) and rolled on the foam roller and stretched a bit. It does not seem to be the piriformis; I've had that hurt before and this feels different. I also did a few hip hikes on the stairs to work my abductors a bit and will do some of the IT band PT exercises I had from when my left leg had IT band problems a few years ago. I'm not sure that is the problem, though, as I've only had it hurt in my knee before. I know it can hurt in the hip, but since I have no personal experience with it I'm not sure that's it.
In any case, I am supposed to cross-train tomorrow, so hopefully a day off, stretching, anti-inflammatories, etc. will do wonders for this. Somehow, I'm not optimistic, though. Seems like I generally have something like this right before a race when training is going really well :(.
When I got home from my walk, I took an anti-inflammatory (naprosyn) and rolled on the foam roller and stretched a bit. It does not seem to be the piriformis; I've had that hurt before and this feels different. I also did a few hip hikes on the stairs to work my abductors a bit and will do some of the IT band PT exercises I had from when my left leg had IT band problems a few years ago. I'm not sure that is the problem, though, as I've only had it hurt in my knee before. I know it can hurt in the hip, but since I have no personal experience with it I'm not sure that's it.
In any case, I am supposed to cross-train tomorrow, so hopefully a day off, stretching, anti-inflammatories, etc. will do wonders for this. Somehow, I'm not optimistic, though. Seems like I generally have something like this right before a race when training is going really well :(.
Monday, April 16, 2012
5x800/200
Yes, I know, I was supposed to do 7x800/200. I overslept my alarm again :(. Apparently I'm still a bit overtired, despite a nice nap for an hour yesterday afternoon. Of course, before the nap I did go to church (and play the piano for prelude, offertory, and communion - the usual), do a Costco run, and take the kids to a birthday party. It was a swimming party, and I was in the pool with them a good deal of the time. Obviously I need to learn to slow it down a bit on my rest days, but it's very difficult balancing home and family life with training. I was thinking about that this morning, as I knew I was running late, and Calvin woke and asked me to fix the tape on his toe (a toenail ripped off a bit too short). I did that, and then he wanted my attention about a few other things, and finally I told him "I really have to go to the track now, Calvin. I'm late!" I felt bad about that, but Calvin can really keep you going for a while if you let him, and you have to draw the line somewhere. It's a balancing act.
So, while I was warming up on the track, I was thinking about what kind of mother I am. I was worrying that I don't have the right balance. I enjoy doing lots of things with my kids: Kindermusik, piano lessons, ice skating, helping them with homework, and special things like taking them to the planetarium, more-than-weekly playdates with their friends. However, I know that none of my friends who have kids this age expect their kids to get dressed and get themselves breakfast in the morning while mommy is off working out (and daddy is home sleeping), and I do expect mine to do that. And actually, most of the time, they DO it. They might not match their clothes well, and sometimes they dress too warmly or not warmly enough. They don't always make the best breakfast choices, either, but they are doing better. I guess as I write this that I see the benefits of expecting them to fend for themselves a bit in the mornings. But still, sometimes I wonder if I'm doing it well enough.
The weather was perfect this morning - 45F (7C), sunny, and calm. Despite that, I almost left the track after 2 warm-up laps. I knew I didn't have time to do all seven 800/200s, and the mommy guilt was getting to me. But I felt good and I told myself I'd just do ONE 800/200 and see how it went. Then if it went well, I'd keep going. I only warmed up for 1200m total with some strides and some dynamic stretching, and then got started.
The first 800 I took it pretty easy, remembering last time I did this workout that I went out too fast and it wasn't good at all. I did a 4:16.1, with average heart rate of just 142 and max 152. Wow, that was fast for the easy effort. However, my right hip was hurting a little bit...annoying...but I kept going as I basically felt pretty good. After 30 sec rest, I did the 200, and it was a smokin' fast 53.9 seconds. The 2 min rest felt nice and long, and I didn't even consider quitting. The hip continued to nag me a bit during the workout, but it never got to be more than a twinge. I was revved to keep going despite the hip. I continued to do them fast and well, feeling really in control and surprised at my times. 4:11.1, 53.1, 4:10.8, 54.0, 4:08.0, 53.5, 4:10.7, 53.1. By the last one, I was working hard but not unmanageably so. I probably should not have done that last one due to time, but I did it anyway, because I was having such a good workout. I did manage to get the kids to school on time as well :) so it all worked out just fine. I feel sure I could have done 2 more under 4:15 and 0:55; I was fatiguing, yes, but not so much that I couldn't do a couple more...but of course I didn't have time.
Well, I did the best I could, and this is my best set of 800s ever. Too bad I couldn't do all seven. My only concern is technique. I wonder what is going on w/my hip, and also hope I am still legal. I feel that I am, but any time you make progress like this you do worry a bit if you are holding your form correctly. Am I lifting? Are my knees bent? Hopefully the answer to both is no.
Edited to add: The total time for 5K today was 25:24...wow! OK, so I did rest in between, but still...wow!
Garmin data here.
So, while I was warming up on the track, I was thinking about what kind of mother I am. I was worrying that I don't have the right balance. I enjoy doing lots of things with my kids: Kindermusik, piano lessons, ice skating, helping them with homework, and special things like taking them to the planetarium, more-than-weekly playdates with their friends. However, I know that none of my friends who have kids this age expect their kids to get dressed and get themselves breakfast in the morning while mommy is off working out (and daddy is home sleeping), and I do expect mine to do that. And actually, most of the time, they DO it. They might not match their clothes well, and sometimes they dress too warmly or not warmly enough. They don't always make the best breakfast choices, either, but they are doing better. I guess as I write this that I see the benefits of expecting them to fend for themselves a bit in the mornings. But still, sometimes I wonder if I'm doing it well enough.
The weather was perfect this morning - 45F (7C), sunny, and calm. Despite that, I almost left the track after 2 warm-up laps. I knew I didn't have time to do all seven 800/200s, and the mommy guilt was getting to me. But I felt good and I told myself I'd just do ONE 800/200 and see how it went. Then if it went well, I'd keep going. I only warmed up for 1200m total with some strides and some dynamic stretching, and then got started.
The first 800 I took it pretty easy, remembering last time I did this workout that I went out too fast and it wasn't good at all. I did a 4:16.1, with average heart rate of just 142 and max 152. Wow, that was fast for the easy effort. However, my right hip was hurting a little bit...annoying...but I kept going as I basically felt pretty good. After 30 sec rest, I did the 200, and it was a smokin' fast 53.9 seconds. The 2 min rest felt nice and long, and I didn't even consider quitting. The hip continued to nag me a bit during the workout, but it never got to be more than a twinge. I was revved to keep going despite the hip. I continued to do them fast and well, feeling really in control and surprised at my times. 4:11.1, 53.1, 4:10.8, 54.0, 4:08.0, 53.5, 4:10.7, 53.1. By the last one, I was working hard but not unmanageably so. I probably should not have done that last one due to time, but I did it anyway, because I was having such a good workout. I did manage to get the kids to school on time as well :) so it all worked out just fine. I feel sure I could have done 2 more under 4:15 and 0:55; I was fatiguing, yes, but not so much that I couldn't do a couple more...but of course I didn't have time.
Well, I did the best I could, and this is my best set of 800s ever. Too bad I couldn't do all seven. My only concern is technique. I wonder what is going on w/my hip, and also hope I am still legal. I feel that I am, but any time you make progress like this you do worry a bit if you are holding your form correctly. Am I lifting? Are my knees bent? Hopefully the answer to both is no.
Edited to add: The total time for 5K today was 25:24...wow! OK, so I did rest in between, but still...wow!
Garmin data here.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
25K
Really briefly - before I teach piano - busy day today!
Weather - started at 44F (about 6C) and breezy, and partly sunny. Ended at 48F and breezier and threatening rain. It actually started raining right after I finished.
Before the 25K this morning I timed our club 5K race, so I didn't get started on the 25K until 9:30ish. I ate a couple bananas (in a hurry...), one before leaving the house and one before starting the 25K.
I felt tired today. My legs were heavy and sore from about 10K on. That's a long time to be sore and heavy-legged. However, I wasn't as slow as I felt. I still managed 6:16/km for the 25K. I'm missing 0.2km of the distance and time from my watch because I accidentally forgot to start it after stopping for traffic once. Oops.
Total: 25K in 2:36:38 (extrapolated the extra 0.2km = 73 sec) with ave HR of 147 and very tired and sore legs. Done!
Garmin data here.
I loosened up my legs afterwards with a little figure skating with the kiddos. I have now mastered the Mohawk, 3-turn, and today I figured out power 3-turns! Plus my legs feel better after skating a bit - not so tight.
***
Edited to add: figured out 5K splits from this walk, adding the 73 seconds to the last 5K. 30:55, 31:23, 31:29, 31:25, 31:24 - that's pretty good! Much better than I thought it was.
Weather - started at 44F (about 6C) and breezy, and partly sunny. Ended at 48F and breezier and threatening rain. It actually started raining right after I finished.
Before the 25K this morning I timed our club 5K race, so I didn't get started on the 25K until 9:30ish. I ate a couple bananas (in a hurry...), one before leaving the house and one before starting the 25K.
I felt tired today. My legs were heavy and sore from about 10K on. That's a long time to be sore and heavy-legged. However, I wasn't as slow as I felt. I still managed 6:16/km for the 25K. I'm missing 0.2km of the distance and time from my watch because I accidentally forgot to start it after stopping for traffic once. Oops.
Total: 25K in 2:36:38 (extrapolated the extra 0.2km = 73 sec) with ave HR of 147 and very tired and sore legs. Done!
Garmin data here.
I loosened up my legs afterwards with a little figure skating with the kiddos. I have now mastered the Mohawk, 3-turn, and today I figured out power 3-turns! Plus my legs feel better after skating a bit - not so tight.
***
Edited to add: figured out 5K splits from this walk, adding the 73 seconds to the last 5K. 30:55, 31:23, 31:29, 31:25, 31:24 - that's pretty good! Much better than I thought it was.
Friday, April 13, 2012
hilly 10K
I could NOT get out of bed this morning. That's not like me. I was sooooooo very tired until about 11am, and then I started to feel more normal. I went to the gym this morning and did some core work, but did not racewalk until this afternoon. Luckily, it was a slowish day at work, so that was fine.
It's hilly at work. I did the flattest course I could, but it is still rolling hills. I was supposed to throw in 2x5' fast segments, but I didn't because 1) I was tired, and 2) the hills did that for me. Some parts were pretty steep.
Anyway, I felt OK, albeit tired, and my time was decent. I did the 10K in 1:01:26 for 6:09/km with ave HR of 148. That seems pretty good with the hills.
I wore a new pair of retro New Balance 420s, and I liked them; they seemed like they did the job all right. Nothing special, but they worked. They were on clearance, and they are bright red, so why not :)?
I hope I feel better for my 25K tomorrow. I am just so very tired today! The boss commented that maybe I am overtraining. He is an athlete himself (running, biking, and triathlons mostly) so it's possible he's right. Personally I think I just had a bit of a tough week sleep-wise, despite trying to get better sleep, and that is partly responsible. But I have been putting in a lot of hard miles, so I suppose I'll just keep an eye on things.
Garmin data here.
It's hilly at work. I did the flattest course I could, but it is still rolling hills. I was supposed to throw in 2x5' fast segments, but I didn't because 1) I was tired, and 2) the hills did that for me. Some parts were pretty steep.
Anyway, I felt OK, albeit tired, and my time was decent. I did the 10K in 1:01:26 for 6:09/km with ave HR of 148. That seems pretty good with the hills.
I wore a new pair of retro New Balance 420s, and I liked them; they seemed like they did the job all right. Nothing special, but they worked. They were on clearance, and they are bright red, so why not :)?
I hope I feel better for my 25K tomorrow. I am just so very tired today! The boss commented that maybe I am overtraining. He is an athlete himself (running, biking, and triathlons mostly) so it's possible he's right. Personally I think I just had a bit of a tough week sleep-wise, despite trying to get better sleep, and that is partly responsible. But I have been putting in a lot of hard miles, so I suppose I'll just keep an eye on things.
Garmin data here.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
12K fartlek on tired legs
The title pretty much sums this one up. My legs felt sore last night, but were OK by this morning. Still, it was clear by a few km into the workout that it was just going to be a struggle to finish this one well. That's really not surprising given that I did 7km of intervals on Monday and 15K pretty fast yesterday, plus biking to work Monday & Tuesday. Oh yeah, and I was up until 11:30 pm for work and then had to get to the track by 6:15 am to do the workout before taking the kids to school. So, considering all of that, it went pretty well I guess.
It would have been nicer to have the cross-training day today that my coach originally scheduled, and do this workout tomorrow. However, a big storm is due to arrive and they say that the wind gusts tomorrow morning could be 45mph, so a track workout might not be so good then. More rest would have been nice, but I suppose that if I could get through this one OK on tired legs, then I'm doing all right.
I got up a tad later than I wanted after being up late for work, and so I had to rush my warm-up a bit. I did 1200m instead of the usual 1600, though I did do my dynamic stretching. I felt good and reasonably fast on the warm-up, and did some strides during the last lap.
I started the 12K fartlek, and the first km (fast) felt good, at 2:40 and 2:46 for the 500s for 5:26 for the km. I wanted to be a little conservative on that first km, and I felt that I was. However, on the medium 500 following it, I felt a bit stiff and ungainly, and was a bit slowish in 2:59. I pulled out a nice fast 2:44 for my next fast one, but then I just didn't feel so great on the 3rd km and that's when I knew it was going to be a long slog of a workout. I thought "at least I'm 1/4 done" and kept going, though I will admit the thought of quitting did cross my mind. I told myself that champions don't quit, and pushed on.
I slowed down just a little after that, and it helped. I knew I'd have to in order to complete the workout. I still got to 5K pretty quickly - in 28:54, faster than when I was in New York City. But I paid for that. The second 5K was 29:53, and the last 2K was 12:07. Ouch.
Total time: 1:10:53 and average HR 159.
Edited to add: Garmin data here.
Well, at least it's done.
It would have been nicer to have the cross-training day today that my coach originally scheduled, and do this workout tomorrow. However, a big storm is due to arrive and they say that the wind gusts tomorrow morning could be 45mph, so a track workout might not be so good then. More rest would have been nice, but I suppose that if I could get through this one OK on tired legs, then I'm doing all right.
I got up a tad later than I wanted after being up late for work, and so I had to rush my warm-up a bit. I did 1200m instead of the usual 1600, though I did do my dynamic stretching. I felt good and reasonably fast on the warm-up, and did some strides during the last lap.
I started the 12K fartlek, and the first km (fast) felt good, at 2:40 and 2:46 for the 500s for 5:26 for the km. I wanted to be a little conservative on that first km, and I felt that I was. However, on the medium 500 following it, I felt a bit stiff and ungainly, and was a bit slowish in 2:59. I pulled out a nice fast 2:44 for my next fast one, but then I just didn't feel so great on the 3rd km and that's when I knew it was going to be a long slog of a workout. I thought "at least I'm 1/4 done" and kept going, though I will admit the thought of quitting did cross my mind. I told myself that champions don't quit, and pushed on.
I slowed down just a little after that, and it helped. I knew I'd have to in order to complete the workout. I still got to 5K pretty quickly - in 28:54, faster than when I was in New York City. But I paid for that. The second 5K was 29:53, and the last 2K was 12:07. Ouch.
Total time: 1:10:53 and average HR 159.
Edited to add: Garmin data here.
Well, at least it's done.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
fast 15K
I felt great today! I guess it helped that I didn't quite do all of the workout yesterday...but enough beating myself up over that. It's done now.
The weather was gorgeous: 50F (10C) and calm and clear. Perfect shorts and T-shirt weather :) (50F is my cutoff for that). No gloves either...ahhhh so nice!
I started off fast, but my heart rate wasn't high at all (upper 130s) and I felt I was taking it easy. At 5K I was surprised to see my time was 29:48! Granted, it's a slight downhill, but still...that was fast. The next 5K felt good as well, and was also fast, in 30:19. The final 5K I was working harder (HR about 150) but not too hard, and finished in 30:43 for a total of 1:30:50 for the 15K (6:04/km!) with ave HR of only 144. Wow. That's the fastest "easy" 15K I've ever done.
After the workout, I took the kids to school and then punished my glutes with a bike ride up the hill to work. Ouch! But it felt good :).
Garmin data here.
The weather was gorgeous: 50F (10C) and calm and clear. Perfect shorts and T-shirt weather :) (50F is my cutoff for that). No gloves either...ahhhh so nice!
I started off fast, but my heart rate wasn't high at all (upper 130s) and I felt I was taking it easy. At 5K I was surprised to see my time was 29:48! Granted, it's a slight downhill, but still...that was fast. The next 5K felt good as well, and was also fast, in 30:19. The final 5K I was working harder (HR about 150) but not too hard, and finished in 30:43 for a total of 1:30:50 for the 15K (6:04/km!) with ave HR of only 144. Wow. That's the fastest "easy" 15K I've ever done.
After the workout, I took the kids to school and then punished my glutes with a bike ride up the hill to work. Ouch! But it felt good :).
Garmin data here.
Monday, April 09, 2012
3x2K, 4x1K DNF :(
Don't panic! Yes, I did not finish (DNF) this workout, but it was only due to oversleeping/poor sleep and not due to injury. Whew.
Still, I am really mad I didn't finish, because I was doing really well. I'm totally mad at myself for 1) staying up too late last night, 2) eating too much Easter candy, and consequently oversleeping my alarm this morning. I fell asleep on the couch last night at about 10:30pm and woke disoriented at 12:30pm and dragged myself to bed. I slept fitfully and heard my alarm but pushed snooze too many times :(.
Goal for this week: GO TO BED EARLIER! Seriously...lights out at 9:30. Well, I won't be able to do that Tuesday night, as I have a hypoxia experiment at work that will keep me up until 11 pm (or later), but at least Wednesday morning is a cross-training morning, so that should work OK.
All right, I'm still mad, but at least I've mostly gotten it off my chest. Now on to the workout.
Arriving late at the track, I did a short warm-up of only 1200m with strides. I did a few dynamic stretches and then got started. I wasn't in a very good mood but know from experience that doesn't necessarily matter too much. The 2Ks went well. I took it easy on the first one and was still fast - 2:45, 2:45, 2:46, 2:49 for 11:05.7 w/ave HR 153. The next two I worked a bit harder but was able to hold my speed; by the third one I was working very hard at the end but by then I knew I didn't have time for all of the 1Ks, so I figured I might as well push harder. The second 2K was 11:06.7 (ave HR 160) and the third 11:08.2 (ave HR 163).
I thought I'd have time for two 1Ks at this point, but obviously don't do math well when working out at high intensity :). I did one in 5:33.2 (2:46.5, 2:46.7) and when I looked at my watch it was just too close to do another one before getting the kids to school. My legs were tired at this point but I am 100% sure I could have done one more at the same speed. After that I'm not sure what would have happened, obviously. I think I would have done pretty well, and I'm still mad that I couldn't finish and find out.
Oh, and the weather was perfect too, so it would have been really nice to finish. It was 45F (7C) with a light breeze. It's predicted to get to 78F today! Of course, this being Utah, it's supposed to snow on Thursday I hear.
Grrrr.
Garmin data here.
***
Edited to add:
1) Yesterday was a rest day, and so I took the kids figure skating, and practiced a bunch myself. My Mohawk is finally getting better! I'm working hard on my 3-turns but they're not good yet.
2) After DNF-ing the workout I decided I'd bike to work for a little more work for the legs. Penance of sorts, if you want to call it that. It's gorgeous out and I'm biking over to a friend's after work while the kids are at Mad Science (extra afterschool program) and we're going to bike together (easy, slow :)!).
3) I forgot to post some Easter pictures. Here they are. My favorite is my husband posing with the hammer. He replaced the roof on the shed, which was just pure awesomeness.
Still, I am really mad I didn't finish, because I was doing really well. I'm totally mad at myself for 1) staying up too late last night, 2) eating too much Easter candy, and consequently oversleeping my alarm this morning. I fell asleep on the couch last night at about 10:30pm and woke disoriented at 12:30pm and dragged myself to bed. I slept fitfully and heard my alarm but pushed snooze too many times :(.
Goal for this week: GO TO BED EARLIER! Seriously...lights out at 9:30. Well, I won't be able to do that Tuesday night, as I have a hypoxia experiment at work that will keep me up until 11 pm (or later), but at least Wednesday morning is a cross-training morning, so that should work OK.
All right, I'm still mad, but at least I've mostly gotten it off my chest. Now on to the workout.
Arriving late at the track, I did a short warm-up of only 1200m with strides. I did a few dynamic stretches and then got started. I wasn't in a very good mood but know from experience that doesn't necessarily matter too much. The 2Ks went well. I took it easy on the first one and was still fast - 2:45, 2:45, 2:46, 2:49 for 11:05.7 w/ave HR 153. The next two I worked a bit harder but was able to hold my speed; by the third one I was working very hard at the end but by then I knew I didn't have time for all of the 1Ks, so I figured I might as well push harder. The second 2K was 11:06.7 (ave HR 160) and the third 11:08.2 (ave HR 163).
I thought I'd have time for two 1Ks at this point, but obviously don't do math well when working out at high intensity :). I did one in 5:33.2 (2:46.5, 2:46.7) and when I looked at my watch it was just too close to do another one before getting the kids to school. My legs were tired at this point but I am 100% sure I could have done one more at the same speed. After that I'm not sure what would have happened, obviously. I think I would have done pretty well, and I'm still mad that I couldn't finish and find out.
Oh, and the weather was perfect too, so it would have been really nice to finish. It was 45F (7C) with a light breeze. It's predicted to get to 78F today! Of course, this being Utah, it's supposed to snow on Thursday I hear.
Grrrr.
Garmin data here.
***
Edited to add:
1) Yesterday was a rest day, and so I took the kids figure skating, and practiced a bunch myself. My Mohawk is finally getting better! I'm working hard on my 3-turns but they're not good yet.
2) After DNF-ing the workout I decided I'd bike to work for a little more work for the legs. Penance of sorts, if you want to call it that. It's gorgeous out and I'm biking over to a friend's after work while the kids are at Mad Science (extra afterschool program) and we're going to bike together (easy, slow :)!).
3) I forgot to post some Easter pictures. Here they are. My favorite is my husband posing with the hammer. He replaced the roof on the shed, which was just pure awesomeness.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
20K
Weather: 30F (-1C), clear, and a very slight breeze. Chilly for April, but it was actually quite a nice day to be out. The flowers are in full bloom here and yesterday's snow is all melted. It's predicted to warm to 60F today (15C) and 70F tomorrow for Easter. Nice!
The workout: I felt good today for the first 15K or so, and the last 5K was a bit of a slog, with tired legs. My legs were sore when I got up, probably from the walking lunges I did yesterday at the gym (w/10 lb weights). Those are great, but if I don't do them at least once per week they make me sore when I return to them. I've been bad about lifting, so it's been quite a while, hence sore legs today. The nice thing about having sore glutes is that it makes you more aware of when you are using your glutes and when you are not using them as much, which leads to some good technique work. Still, the last 3K really hurt, and my legs were complaining a lot. After the workout I took the kids to SugarHouse Park for the Easter egg hunt, and my legs were very sore when we were there! It was good to walk around a bit and get the stiffness out.
Here are my splits and total time; my average HR was 149 for the whole workout. 5K 30:27.3, 10K 30:59.5 (1:01:27), 15K 31:10.6 (1:32:37), 20K 31:46.2 (2:04:24).
Garmin data here.
The workout: I felt good today for the first 15K or so, and the last 5K was a bit of a slog, with tired legs. My legs were sore when I got up, probably from the walking lunges I did yesterday at the gym (w/10 lb weights). Those are great, but if I don't do them at least once per week they make me sore when I return to them. I've been bad about lifting, so it's been quite a while, hence sore legs today. The nice thing about having sore glutes is that it makes you more aware of when you are using your glutes and when you are not using them as much, which leads to some good technique work. Still, the last 3K really hurt, and my legs were complaining a lot. After the workout I took the kids to SugarHouse Park for the Easter egg hunt, and my legs were very sore when we were there! It was good to walk around a bit and get the stiffness out.
Here are my splits and total time; my average HR was 149 for the whole workout. 5K 30:27.3, 10K 30:59.5 (1:01:27), 15K 31:10.6 (1:32:37), 20K 31:46.2 (2:04:24).
Garmin data here.
Friday, April 06, 2012
cross-training
I was happy to be cross training today. It was snowing sideways, blizzard-like, when I went to the gym. Cold, VERY windy, and snow. Brrrr! The elliptical for 45 min plus some weight training and core was just perfect for a day like today.
It's supposed to be cold tomorrow morning but at least it is not supposed to be snowing, and it's predicted to warm up to 60F (15C) by midday tomorrow, so not too bad.
It's supposed to be cold tomorrow morning but at least it is not supposed to be snowing, and it's predicted to warm up to 60F (15C) by midday tomorrow, so not too bad.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
5K fartlek - new PR for this workout!
I really did not want to get out of bed today. I was warm and snug, and I'd been up late at work doing a 36-hr time point (I was there from 9:40-10:40 pm), and so I didn't get to sleep until after 11. Add to that tired and sore body and legs from weight training and from racewalking, and it was hard to get up! The weather was decent at least - 36F (2C) and no wind, which I was very happy about. Yeah, a little chilly, but not bad at all. Warm compared with January weather anyway, and tomorrow it's supposed to snow, so I am not complaining at all about today's weather.
I warmed up for 1600m in 9:45ish with strides on the last lap. I did some dynamic stretches and was ready to go. 5K fartlek is a short workout, but you do have to go hard, and I wasn't necessarily excited about that with my sore legs. However, I'd felt good on the warmup so I figured I would see what I could do.
I started off really fast - the first 500 was in 2:37.8 and the second in just 2:41.8 for 5:19.6 for the first km. I was happy with that but a little worried as I still had 4 km to go and didn't want a repeat of Tuesday's 5x800/200 workout. Fortunately, my body held up better today. I was really surprised that all my fast intervals were 2:43 or less! Here are the rest of my splits: 2:53.8, 2:43.6, 2:55.1, 2:42.6, 2:56.4, 2:43.8, 2:56.6, and 2:42.1. I really worked this one very hard - my HR monitor went a bit crazy the last few km, but for the 2nd and 3rd km it was in the upper 160s for the fast segments, so I know I was going hard, and I'm sure that it only got higher as I went on. Note to self: wash out HR monitor strap every day to prevent salt accumulation and weird readings! This did not happen with my last HR monitor, but the monitor part on that was all plastic. This strap is softer and cloth, hence more comfortable to wear, but also more erratic.
Total time: 27:53.6! Yay! New PR by 5 seconds or so. I'll take it!
Legs are sore and so is the rest of me, but I have cross-training tomorrow plus some weight training and hopefully I'll feel a bit recovered for 20K on Saturday.
Garmin data here.
I warmed up for 1600m in 9:45ish with strides on the last lap. I did some dynamic stretches and was ready to go. 5K fartlek is a short workout, but you do have to go hard, and I wasn't necessarily excited about that with my sore legs. However, I'd felt good on the warmup so I figured I would see what I could do.
I started off really fast - the first 500 was in 2:37.8 and the second in just 2:41.8 for 5:19.6 for the first km. I was happy with that but a little worried as I still had 4 km to go and didn't want a repeat of Tuesday's 5x800/200 workout. Fortunately, my body held up better today. I was really surprised that all my fast intervals were 2:43 or less! Here are the rest of my splits: 2:53.8, 2:43.6, 2:55.1, 2:42.6, 2:56.4, 2:43.8, 2:56.6, and 2:42.1. I really worked this one very hard - my HR monitor went a bit crazy the last few km, but for the 2nd and 3rd km it was in the upper 160s for the fast segments, so I know I was going hard, and I'm sure that it only got higher as I went on. Note to self: wash out HR monitor strap every day to prevent salt accumulation and weird readings! This did not happen with my last HR monitor, but the monitor part on that was all plastic. This strap is softer and cloth, hence more comfortable to wear, but also more erratic.
Total time: 27:53.6! Yay! New PR by 5 seconds or so. I'll take it!
Legs are sore and so is the rest of me, but I have cross-training tomorrow plus some weight training and hopefully I'll feel a bit recovered for 20K on Saturday.
Garmin data here.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
10K
My legs were quite sore this morning from the fast speed work yesterday, and they were pretty tired. I figured I'd have a lousy walk, but I knew that didn't matter - I just had to get out and do it.
By the way, I looked up my 800s and the 4:09 that I did yesterday is definitely my fastest ever, along with the 0:55 200m. No wonder my legs are sore!
The weather was great this morning; 45F (7C) and calm. It's been windy a lot lately, so it was nice to have a wind-free workout. It's supposed to get up to 70F here today :) but the wind is coming back this afternoon, or so they say. Tomorrow morning is predicted to be 42F and breezy for my 5K fartlek on the track, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
It was still dark when I headed out at 6 am; I was trying to get to the gym at 7 to meet Lisa. I did get there and do weights with her, but I was about 15 min late. Ah, I digress again.
I started off and felt so very sore. Yet surprisingly, I wasn't slow. I got to 5K in just under 31 min, and though my legs were tired and sore, I was pleased with that. I worked a bit harder on the last 5K, which is a slight uphill, and made it back in 1:02:09 for 6:13/km with ave HR 148. That's pretty fast for being sore and tired! I'll take it! Now my legs are even more sore...5K fartlek tomorrow could be interesting. Or maybe I'll recover well and it will be good.
Plus 3 data here (Garmin website is down...grrrrr).
***
I hopped in my car and drove to the gym and got in some good weight training. Not as many sets as I wanted, but good nonetheless. I did bench press (only 25 lb dumbbells on each arm...sigh...out of shape!), abductor machine/elastic bands (alternating), hamstring curls, lat pull-down (70 lb - my usual weight for this, so didn't lose much there), plank (90 sec), ball crunches front and each side, ball passes from feet to hands, and some light stretching. Hopefully Friday I'll get in a few more.
By the way, I looked up my 800s and the 4:09 that I did yesterday is definitely my fastest ever, along with the 0:55 200m. No wonder my legs are sore!
The weather was great this morning; 45F (7C) and calm. It's been windy a lot lately, so it was nice to have a wind-free workout. It's supposed to get up to 70F here today :) but the wind is coming back this afternoon, or so they say. Tomorrow morning is predicted to be 42F and breezy for my 5K fartlek on the track, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
It was still dark when I headed out at 6 am; I was trying to get to the gym at 7 to meet Lisa. I did get there and do weights with her, but I was about 15 min late. Ah, I digress again.
I started off and felt so very sore. Yet surprisingly, I wasn't slow. I got to 5K in just under 31 min, and though my legs were tired and sore, I was pleased with that. I worked a bit harder on the last 5K, which is a slight uphill, and made it back in 1:02:09 for 6:13/km with ave HR 148. That's pretty fast for being sore and tired! I'll take it! Now my legs are even more sore...5K fartlek tomorrow could be interesting. Or maybe I'll recover well and it will be good.
Plus 3 data here (Garmin website is down...grrrrr).
***
I hopped in my car and drove to the gym and got in some good weight training. Not as many sets as I wanted, but good nonetheless. I did bench press (only 25 lb dumbbells on each arm...sigh...out of shape!), abductor machine/elastic bands (alternating), hamstring curls, lat pull-down (70 lb - my usual weight for this, so didn't lose much there), plank (90 sec), ball crunches front and each side, ball passes from feet to hands, and some light stretching. Hopefully Friday I'll get in a few more.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
5x800/200
Ah, an easy little workout! NOT! This was really hard today, probably because I started off too fast and then my legs were just wasted by the end. I haven't done this one in a while, so it was tough to pace myself properly. I was afraid of going too slow because I've been doing longer intervals, but then I went too fast.
I worked out in the late morning at the track at the U. It's a fairly new track, and I haven't tried it yet, mostly because the one at East High is generally more convenient. But today I got up late and so I skipped the early am workout and went straight to work a bit earlier than usual, so I was able to sneak out for a track workout.
Here's a photo of the track from the U website:
Today it was more beautiful than the picture, though, because it was clear & sunny and the mountains were snow-covered. It was about 50F (10C) and windy at the track. Not so windy that it cost me a lot of time or anything, but it was definitely windy.
I warmed up for 1600m in about 9:45 with a few fast 100s in there to get the legs going. I felt pretty good. I did some dynamic stretching and then started the set. I was to do 800m, rest 30 sec, then 200m, rest 2 min, and repeat for a total of 5 sets. I went way, way too fast on the first 800 (I did stop briefly at 500m to turn off my auto lap - grrrr!). I did a 4:09. Oops. That cost me for the rest of the workout. I followed that up with the fastest 200m I think I have ever done: 55.6. Smokin'! Only I didn't save much for later. The rest of the workout got ugly fast, though it could have been worse. I was hurting a lot - my legs were just totally unresponsive and floppy by the end. The last 800 was very painful and slow, too. Here are my times for the rest of the intervals: 4:16.2, 55.9, 4:24.2, 58.2, 4:17.6, 57.9, 4:26.7, 58.5.
Despite the slowness at the end, I think this is one of my fastest sets of 800s (on average), and the 200s were definitely pretty good. I wish I had been more consistent, though. Sorry coach. This workout takes practice to get consistent, and I haven't done it in a while. That's my excuse anyway :).
Garmin data here.
I worked out in the late morning at the track at the U. It's a fairly new track, and I haven't tried it yet, mostly because the one at East High is generally more convenient. But today I got up late and so I skipped the early am workout and went straight to work a bit earlier than usual, so I was able to sneak out for a track workout.
Here's a photo of the track from the U website:
Today it was more beautiful than the picture, though, because it was clear & sunny and the mountains were snow-covered. It was about 50F (10C) and windy at the track. Not so windy that it cost me a lot of time or anything, but it was definitely windy.
I warmed up for 1600m in about 9:45 with a few fast 100s in there to get the legs going. I felt pretty good. I did some dynamic stretching and then started the set. I was to do 800m, rest 30 sec, then 200m, rest 2 min, and repeat for a total of 5 sets. I went way, way too fast on the first 800 (I did stop briefly at 500m to turn off my auto lap - grrrr!). I did a 4:09. Oops. That cost me for the rest of the workout. I followed that up with the fastest 200m I think I have ever done: 55.6. Smokin'! Only I didn't save much for later. The rest of the workout got ugly fast, though it could have been worse. I was hurting a lot - my legs were just totally unresponsive and floppy by the end. The last 800 was very painful and slow, too. Here are my times for the rest of the intervals: 4:16.2, 55.9, 4:24.2, 58.2, 4:17.6, 57.9, 4:26.7, 58.5.
Despite the slowness at the end, I think this is one of my fastest sets of 800s (on average), and the 200s were definitely pretty good. I wish I had been more consistent, though. Sorry coach. This workout takes practice to get consistent, and I haven't done it in a while. That's my excuse anyway :).
Garmin data here.
Monday, April 02, 2012
catching up
Saturday in NYC I did a hour on the elliptical in the morning before we headed out for a day's worth of activities. We walked around the city a lot, went to the UN but got there too late to do the audio tour, went to Lindt Chocolates (mmmmm), ate lunch, and then pretty soon it was time to leave :(. We had wanted to rent bikes and ride around Central Park, but it was too rainy and cold (misting, and about 40F).
***
Sunday I took a rest day, from exercise anyway. The rest of the day was busy. After getting in late from the NYC trip, I still managed to play our Palm Sunday service, make dessert for our college ministry, teach 2 piano lessons, and make dinner for the family. Whew.
***
Today I tried to get up early enough to get some good x-training in, but failed. I did manage 30 min on the elliptical, and I plan to try to get some more in later somehow. I am taking the kids to practice figure skating this afternoon as well, though that's not much cardio unless I'm skating fast around the rink, which I don't usually do as I'm often trying to practice turns or elements I need to know to pass this level.
I'm glad this is an easy week for racewalking. I do have a couple speed workouts, one of which I'll do tomorrow, but they are short. Saturday will begin three hard weeks of training again; I'll probably do 20K this Saturday and then we'll likely up that. I do have a half marathon planned for the 21st (SLC half; should be fun!).
***
Sunday I took a rest day, from exercise anyway. The rest of the day was busy. After getting in late from the NYC trip, I still managed to play our Palm Sunday service, make dessert for our college ministry, teach 2 piano lessons, and make dinner for the family. Whew.
***
Today I tried to get up early enough to get some good x-training in, but failed. I did manage 30 min on the elliptical, and I plan to try to get some more in later somehow. I am taking the kids to practice figure skating this afternoon as well, though that's not much cardio unless I'm skating fast around the rink, which I don't usually do as I'm often trying to practice turns or elements I need to know to pass this level.
I'm glad this is an easy week for racewalking. I do have a couple speed workouts, one of which I'll do tomorrow, but they are short. Saturday will begin three hard weeks of training again; I'll probably do 20K this Saturday and then we'll likely up that. I do have a half marathon planned for the 21st (SLC half; should be fun!).
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