Week One Intervals

I kicked off marathon training this week and I'm back doing intervals.  I haven't done any speed work in months and intervals always scare me the first time back at them.  Today was a simple 6 x 400:  Warm up for 2 miles, then run 400 meters 6 times with 200 meters rests, and cool down for a mile or so.  The goal for these intervals is about 2 minutes each.  Here's how they went:

Interval 1: 2:09
Interval 2: 2:11
Interval 3: 2:13
Interval 4: 2:13
Interval 5: 2:08
Interval 6: 2:22

That last interval really bummed me out.  I was pushing the pace since I knew it was my last one.  About half way through the interval I went around a curve on the sidewalk and the sidewalk was blocked.  A quick u-turn and I was back on my way.  The next turn dead ended, too!  One more u-turn and I had to cross a street and make another turn!  My stride was completely thrown off and was just happy to finish it.

All in all I am happy with how these went and now it's time to start improving!

On a side note, I won't be posting my weekly training plan for this marathon.  I decided to just put the entire plan on a new page on the blog.  You can check it out here.

What kind of speed work do you do?  Love or hate it?

Cycling for Runners

I think I've mentioned a few times here how little I've been running this summer.  I've stayed active by riding my bike.  I've ridden almost twice as many miles as I've run this year.  So when I started marathon training last week, especially my first interval session, I was pretty sure my running would be way off.  But it wasn't.

While I was riding on Thursday, I started wondering.  My riding here in Hawaii is different than what I had done in California.  I have a mountain bike in California so I do lots of climbing.  My hybrid here climbs good but I also do a lot of flat riding.  Flat riding = moving the legs a lot faster.  I Googled "cycling for runners" and the first article was from Competitor.com, "Start Cycling to Become a Better Runner."  You can read the entire article, but here are some highlights:

Petra Kilian-Gehring, coach and co-owner of Speed Cycling in Madison, Wis., says the biggest benefit runners can get from road biking is the ability to do more work with less stress on the body.  I can attest to this after last year's marathon.  I consistently cross trained on the bike, made it to the start line injury free, and had a seven minute PR.

Try to find a mostly flat or mildly rolling section of road for these workouts (avoid steep hills at all costs!), which allows for a balance of moderate resistance and a quick cadence of around 90 RPM. “Since a runner should take around 180 steps per minute, when you get on the bike 90 RPM is replicating that cadence,” Kilian-Gehring says.  This describes the riding I've been doing here in Hawaii to a T.

Although bike intervals can contribute greatly to running fitness, nothing can replace the specificity of running workouts. “You still need to engage the running muscles and build up the body’s running structure,” Kilian-Gehring says. By adding biking into your running regimen, you’re able to build fitness without wrecking your legs. This translates into bumping up not only strength, but also that anaerobic threshold, allowing you to run faster, longer.  Run faster, longer?  I think that's something we all want to do.

I put this theory to the test again this week.  I bike commuted with Les yesterday - 13 miles in about an hour.  I told Les I wanted to keep it really easy since I had intervals today.  On my way home, I was solo and into the wind.  I kept an eye on my heart rate and did my best to keep it about 120-125.  I averaged 122 for the bulk of that part of the ride - a 4.5 mile stretch of flat highway.

I got up this morning with intervals on the schedule.  I thought I had programmed my watch correctly but I hadn't.  Since my plan was 3x400/2x600/2x400 I knew using what was on my watch wasn't going to work.  I thought about just doing a steady run.  I warmed up for 2 miles, then restarted my watch because it was beeping constantly.  I ran for another mile or so and decided to do speed bursts, known in the running world as fartleks.  They don't have a set time or distance.  I did a total of 11 fartleks ranging from 17 to 58 seconds.  I tried not to look at my watch, I just ran as fast as I could until I started fading.  I averaged 6:43 for 30 seconds and again for 23 seconds.  My longest interval was 55 seconds at 7:35.

I've seen it many times - if you want to become a better run, you must run.  I was surprised and happy with these speed bursts today and the confirmation that cycling is making me a better runner!

How do you do speed work?  Fartleks, intervals, other or none?
How much cycling or other cross training do you do?

Sleep is a Wonderful Thing.

As I had hoped, my insomnia has gone away.  I slept about 10 hours on Saturday night, took a nap on Sunday then slept about 8 hours that night.  I took my rest day on Sunday and took another one yesterday.  At this point, missing 3 miles is probably not going to be a game changer on November 7th!  I slept another 8 hours last night and I feel like myself again.

I'm not sure that I'm completely recovered from my loss of sleep because I ended up with two different colored socks on this morning.  I showed Les just before I left and said, "If these intervals go good today, I'm wearing mismatched socks in the marathon!"

Loving my Bombas socks!

We are finally started to cool off.  Perfect temp this morning:

Today's interval workout was called the Mile Breakdown. 2 mile warm up, then 1 x 1600/ 1 x 1200/ 1 x 800/ 1 x 400/ 1 x 1200/ 1 x 800/ 1 x 400.  The goal pace is basically 2 minutes for each 400 meters.  So 8 minutes for 1600, 6 for 1200, etc. I did my 2 mile warm up and noticed it was a bit breezy, in my neighborhood that means things could get a little crazy.   But this quote from Runner's World really inspired me yesterday:

Here's hoping that these hard paces will feel great on race day!  So how did they go?
 
1600 8:14
1200 6:16
800  4:36
400  2:09
1200 5:55 - I said, "yes!" out loud when I saw this one!
800  4:04
400  2:00 - fist pumped this one and looked up to see Les riding his bike towards me!

So happy to see the times on those last three intervals!  It's funny how the first couple of intervals always seem to take forever, then before I know it I'm done.  

Mismatched socks for the win!

To Interval or Not to Interval. Plus, I Get to Run, And Why

While we were finishing up our stay in Hawaii last week one thing I was really looking forward to was coming home to cooler temps.  I kept seeing low 60s in the morning.  That's pretty much perfect.  I got up this morning and checked my weather app:

Oh wait!  That's Honolulu... we're home in Simi Valley now:

This is a cruel trick of Mother Nature!  California hasn't gotten the memo that it's Fall now.  The highs have been in the 90s everyday since we got home and this morning was the warmest yet.  My schedule was intervals.  Mile repeats.  I was ready mentally until I saw the temperature.  That was warmer than last Friday when I started getting heat exhaustion.  I knew it would be a mile by mile decision.  I did my 2 mile warm up then hit the lap button to start running my first interval.  I started pushing the pace and felt okay for about a half mile when my heart rate started ramping up and I started feeling nauseated, again.  I'm really trying to be smart without being a major wimp, so I backed off and just ran easy for 7 miles.  I had water with me, but I think my body is sending early warning signals at this point.

This was a tough decision for me.  I really wanted to see improvement.  I wanted to feel like I was flying again.  But 79 degrees is not the day to find out if heat training has helped.  I got home to an email from MapMyFitness.com.  "6 Highly Effective Habits of a Consistent Runner."  It was exactly what I needed!  Point number one was on point:

1. Listen to your body.
Tweaks, niggles, whatever you want to call them … if your body is warning you that something may be off, don’t ignore it. Often times, when runners fear missing out on training, they’ll run through the pain, which, unless they are some sort of genetic freak, will almost always lead to injury. I prefer to take the cautious route and give any issues time to heal before I hit the road again.
By now, I know my body well enough to decipher between a serious threat and a minor issue. But even so, I’m not hesitant to tend to the sore area for a few days, cross-train, foam roll, get a massage. Sitting out of a workout or two can be frustrating, yes, but it’s a far better option than being forced on the sidelines for months further down the road.

So I'm not the only one who is cautious?  This was written by longtime runner and triathlete, Sarah Wassner Flynn.  I've DNF'd my share of training runs but I've never had a long term injury or stress fracture.  (Knocking on wood here!)  I need to remember this when I'm feeling like a wimp and realize that maybe I'm being smart instead.

One of the many thoughts going through my mind while I was running was, "I get to run."  Running isn't my job, I won't lose a paycheck because I didn't do today's intervals.  PRs and medals are cool, but running is much more than that to me...

On April 27, 1990, I celebrated my 26th birthday (I'll save you the math and tell you I'm 51 now.)  On that same day my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She was 50.  She fought an 8 1/2 year battle and we lost her on October 10, 1998.  My mom gave birth to four children in five years.  She loved her family and put taking care of us ahead of herself.  She struggled with obesity for years and lived a sedentary lifestyle.  I started running about a year before we lost her.  I knew that the odds for me were stacked because of Mom's breast cancer, but I also knew a healthy life style could make a difference.  (I've had annual mammograms since my 30s and they've always been fine.)

Mom's High School Band picture in 1956

I thought a lot about my Mom during this morning's run.  It's been 17 years and I always think about her even more during Breast Cancer Awareness month.  I may never win any races, there are plenty of people who are faster than me, but I still get to run and my number one "why" is for my health.  I'm dedicating the rest of my runs this month to her memory.  She's totally bald in the picture below, wearing a hat that said, "Another Bad Hair Day!"  She never let cancer take away her sense of humor.

What's your "Why" for running?  
Do you run through pain or are you on the cautious side?

Intervals, Mind Games and Hills

I've had two mornings off this week due to rain.  Monday was my planned rest day.  I was suppose to do intervals yesterday but it was coming down pretty hard so I stayed in bed.  Rain has been so rare around here that I just wanted to enjoy it.

I got up this morning and knew I had to get my intervals done.  I've been running them on a pretty flat route but decided to find some hills today.  I knew the pace wouldn't be as fast, but I was hoping to have a strong sustained effort.

I warmed up for about 2 miles then started my interval timer.  I use the Suunto Ambit Intervals App Designer to input my workout for the day then upload it to my watch.  It beeps at the end of each interval.  When I hit the lap button the next interval begins.

Today's workout:  1 x 400/1 x 800/1 x 1600/1 x 800/1 x 1600

1 x 400 @ 2:02, 1 x 800 @ 4:08.  I was actually a little surprised to see those paces.  Right where they were suppose to be even though I wasn't feeling super fast.  As my watch was beeping for my next lap, I hit Stop instead of Lap.  I'm not exactly sure what happened, but the workout stopped completely and the file was lost.  Ugh!  Now what to do? 

Naturally my legs said, "oh, just give up and go for any easy run."  My head said, "No!  I am going to do the rest of these intervals!"

1600 @ 8:08, 800 @ 4:11, and 1600 @ 8:48.  That last 1600 really hurt.  The road turned up and my legs were not happy about it.  But mind over matter won today.

M4T W7 Partial Results

I'm posting most of this week's activity today and will do a follow up tomorrow or Sunday.  I'm going to do my long run on the actual Revel Canyon City Marathon course, so I'll be gone a while.  I also want to make that a separate post.  Les is going to provide SAG and we've been working out the details all week!

My legs really felt last Saturday's tempo run, when I decided that I would do my long run on the actual course I wanted to make sure I was completely rested so my efforts dropped off significantly.

Sunday - Rest day
Result: Rode 10.8 miles in 59:27, 10.9 mph
I love these recovery rides!

Monday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Rested
I really prefer taking Monday as my rest day.

Tuesday - Intervals - 8-9 miles
Result: Ran 3.82 miles in 53:08, 13:55 pace
I had nothing!  I usually start off feeling slow, but by the time I've done my warm up miles I'm ready to go.  Not this time!  My first interval was 400 meters - I couldn't even hold a fast pace for that distance, I knew I wasn't going to hit anything on my 800 and 1600 intervals.  Once I had decided what Saturday's run was going to be, everything else this week was pulled way back.

Wednesday - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result: Rode 13.12 miles in 1:20:58, 9.7 mph
I rode the trail and was able to pull of my best effort on a 2.4 mile, 4% climb!

Thursday - 4 miles hills (no planned pace)
Result: Ran 4.48 miles in 55:43, 12:27 pace
I went back to the trail for some off-road running.  My knees were feeling a little achy, pretty sure that was from hitting the pedals so hard on Wednesday's ride!

Friday - Rest day
Result: Rested

Saturday - LSD 16 (10:35-10:50 pace)
Result:  TBD
Training Peaks said this about my long run for this week, "If possible, do some running on the course before the race. Note the locations of turns, hills, and landmarks. The familiarity will help you feel confident going into your big event. If you can't get on the course, check the topography and try to find similar terrain on your run."  Excellent advice!  I think I'll take it!

Total planned miles 36
Total through Friday
Running 8.30
Cycling  23.92
Total 32.22

M4T W6 Results

I had another great week!  I am loving my cross training, I can't believe what a huge difference it is making!

Sunday - Rest day
Result:  Rested

Monday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result: Rode 8.77 miles in 46:17, 11.4 mph

 

Tuesday - Intervals - 8-9 miles
Result:  Ran 6.48 miles in 1:10:06, 10:49
I did my usual "I don't think I can do these, I'm so stiff and sore, blah, blah, blah" during my warm up, but did a pretty good job on my intervals.  6 x 800 with a goal of 4 minutes each, my reality:  4:00, 4:08, 3:59, 3:59, 4:23, and 4:10.  Not too shabby!  That fifth one really hurt with more uphill than I wanted, but I am seeing a huge difference.
Also walked 1.57 miles for my cool down.

Wednesday  - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Ran 2.50 miles in 35:45, 14:20 pace
Short trail run with Les - perfect recovery from Tuesday's intervals.

Thursday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result: Rested

Friday - Rest day
Result:  Rode 10.48 miles in 51:05, 12.3 mph

Saturday - LSD 9 miles w/2 miles @ tempo
Result:  Ran 10.5 miles in 1:53:24, 10:48 pace
I ended up running longer than planned, but I'm really happy with how it went:
Warm up: 5.16 miles in 56:30, 10:57 pace
Tempo: 3.02 miles in 25.42, 8:31 pace - tempo pace was suppose to be 8:33, so I really nailed this.  My legs wanted to fall off during the last mile, but I did it!!
Cool down: 2.33 miles in 31:12, 13:24 pace


Total planned miles 29
Actual
Running  19.48
Walking 1.57
Cycling 19.25
Total 40.30

M4T W4 Results

I took a bit of a step back this week.  I was tired, Les was out of town so I didn't sleep well, and my hormones were a little wonky!  I actually only ran once.   Not whining, just sharing my reality!

Sunday - Rest day
Result:   Rested

Monday - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result: Rode 10.55 miles in 46:51, 13.5 mph
I had a slight crash at about mile 5 on this ride.  I was making a U-turn and ended up in some sand.  I am okay, just a little bruised.

Tuesday - Intervals - 8 miles
Result:  Ran 6 miles in 1:03:25, 10:34 pace
This is what is called a "Ladder Interval."  I call it the "Interval Ladder of Pain."  Intervals are tough - I start each run thinking, "I don't know, I feel stiff, I probably won't be fast today..."  And somehow I get it done.  This was my closest to goal pace yet!
Goal paces for intervals - 400m in 2:00, 800 in 4:00, 12:00 in 6:00.
My reality:
2 x 400 - 2:06, 2:04
800 - 4:10
1200 - 6:17
800 - 4:10
2 x 400 - 2:10, 2:00
Also did 0.93 cool down.

Wednesday  - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result: Rested
I went to bed planning on going for a trail run.  I woke up so sore - both from my crash and the intervals.

Thursday - 4 miles hills (10:35 pace)
Result:  Rode 9.32 miles in 42:59, 13.0 mph

Friday - Rest day
Result:  Rested
I had planned on doing my long run, but slept fitfully with multiple hot flashes/night sweats.  It was one of those "I feel like I've been hit by a truck type of mornings."

Saturday - LSD 10 miles  (10:35-10:50 pace)
Result: Rested
Les was suppose to arrive around 9:30 Friday evening.  I thought I'd be home and in bed at a decent hour.  I should have known better!  I'm pushing my long run to tomorrow, which puts two longs runs in one week.  I may just do 8 miles, but make it a hilly one.

Total planned miles 28
Actual
Running 6.93
Cycling 19.87
Total 26.80

Intervals ~ Mind Over Matter

It's Tuesday, so that means intervals were on the schedule.  Today's plan was 3 x 400 meters, 3 x 800, 1 x 400.  I did my 2 mile warm-up and was feeling very doubtful.  My legs just felt a little achy.  But before I could talk myself out of it, it was go time!

My goal for these intervals is to run 400 meters in 2 minutes and 800 meters in 4 minutes.  My reality:

3 x 400 - 2:05, 2:06, 2:12
3 x 800 - 4:30, 4:45, 4:15
1 x 400 - 1:57 - I left everything on the road for this final interval!

Those 800 meters (approximately 1/2 mile) are tough!  The workout it suppose to be done on a track, but I just run in my neighborhood.  That means it's not flat, but a marathon isn't run on a track, so I think this is a better test.

I just kept telling myself, "No speed work, no speed!"

Intervals Take 2

I did another set of intervals this morning.  I did a different route, mostly flat.  I started out too fast and wasn't sure I would get through all six intervals until I decided to actually walk during my recovery time.  Once again I set it up for 6 intervals of 2 minutes each with 1 minute recovery.

Interval 1: 0.27 miles - 7:29 pace
Interval 2: 0.25 miles - 8:04 pace
Interval 3: 0.23 miles - 8:30 pace
Interval 4: 0.21 miles - 9:36 pace
Interval 5: 0.25 miles - 7:53 pace
Interval 6: 0.26 miles - 7:47 pace

As you can see, my third and fourth intervals were not looking good.  I thought I was going to blow up completely during the fourth one.  Instead of slowing my running, I walked during my recovery intervals and was happy to see that I was able to pick it back up and finish strong!

I'm actually amazed that I am hitting paces below 8 minutes a mile.  My new motto, "If you don't do speedwork, you won't get faster!"

Interval Training

I've started looking at my training plan and noticed that TrainingPeaks has made a few changes.  The most significant one is a weekly interval run.  This will be every Tuesday.  I haven't done intervals, really I haven't done speed work, since I trained for my first marathon in 2012.  It's my fastest marathon to date.  Could there be a correlation?  Yes, I'm sure there is!

When I ran my first marathon, I used a Garmin.  It fell completely apart and now I wear a Suunto Ambit2.  The features are slightly different, but it's a much sturdier training partner.  I decided to give intervals a try yesterday.  I set it up for 6 intervals of 2 minutes each with 1 minutes rests.  I can do distance or time, and decided to go with time for now.  I have to make the changes through the desktop software, but as long as I do it the night before a run, I can pretty much do any kind of interval I want.

So how did yesterday's run go?  Surprisingly well!

Interval 1: 0.25 miles -8:07 pace
Interval 2: 0.23 miles - 8:44 pace
Interval 3: 0.25 miles -  8:07 pace
Interval 4: 0.23 miles - 8:36 pace
Interval 5: 0.27 miles -  7:30 pace
Interval 6: 0.25 miles - 8:02 pace

I know that is extremely slow for some and super speedy for others, but I was really happy with those numbers!  I just need to get them more consistent.  My only complaint is that the Suunto doesn't count down before the next interval starts, so I have to pay a little more attention during my rest intervals than I want.  I'm sure I'll get use to it.  For now, those 2 minutes went by really quickly.

Two Days, Two Runs, Two New PRs!

I took three complete days off this weekend and enjoyed the beautiful island of Maui.  We flew back to Honolulu on Tuesday morning.  We fly to Los Angeles tomorrow morning, meaning my miles for this week will be low.  I wanted to make them count!

Who wants to run when you have this view??

I've been running around Diamond Head on a regular basis.  At least once a week, I also run up Pokapahu Place - the entrance to the actual crater.  I've slowly gotten faster and moved up in the Strava leader board.  Last week I noticed that the actual segment started sooner than I thought.  Which meant I needed to up my speed sooner.  And that's what I did yesterday morning to accomplish this:

• 4th overall on Pokapahu Pl Climb (3:03)

The Pokapahu Climb is 0.3 of a mile with an average grade of 15.2%.  In other words, it's short and steep!  Last week I did it in 3:11 and a couple weeks before that I did it in 3:14.  Both of those put me in 5th place overall.  So I was happy to see not only an improvement in my overall time, but also in my placement.

This morning I decided to do intervals at Ala Moana Park.  Run 5 minutes, walk 1, repeat, repeat, repeat.  There is one segment called Magic Island.  I have held 6th Overall for quite some time.  The first time I got it, I didn't even know it was a segment.  I went out last week with the intention of PRing, but part of the sidewalk was blocked so I didn't run the entire segment.  I went for it again this morning and improved a ton!  My previous best was 10:53, today was 9:40! 

• 6th overall on Magic Island (9:40)

Still 6th Overall, but greatly improved!

The funny thing about placing high in the overall is how quickly that can change.  My 4th Overall on Pokapahu dropped to 5th Overall about two hours later!  But no one can take a Personal Record away - that's mine and always will be... until I set a new one!

Two Days in a Row

I had another great run this morning.  I was sore from yesterday, so I wasn't sure how it would go.  I decided to do intervals and was pleasantly surprised with my results.  My intervals were 5 minutes running, 1 minute walking:

Warm up: 3 minutes
Interval 1: 10:25 pace
Interval 2: 10:12 pace
Interval 3: 10:22 pace
Interval 4: 10:17 pace
Interval 5: 10:09 pace
Interval 6: 10:13 pace
Interval 7: 10:25 pace
Interval 8: 10:36 pace
Interval 9: 10:30 pace

Total 5.08 miles in 55:00, 10:50 pace
Ave HR 142
Max HR 156
Calories burned 499

I'm so pleased with how April is starting out!  March was such a tough month, I'm glad to put it behind me.