Month: June 2016

Hello there!

In my last post I mentioned that the treadmill and I were on the outs. Well … good news. We made up. I had a really good run on the treadmill today (yes, that really is possible).

It seems that one of the keys to a successful (read: not dreadful) treadmill running experience, for me at least, is to give the run a purpose. Sometimes I can enjoy an easy run on the treadmill by zoning out and catching up on some TV shows, but lately that doesn’t seem to be the working for me. Those miles go by so incredibly slowly that it is almost painful. I don’t enjoy it and that is definitely no bueno. I don’t want to be running junk miles on the treadmill just to meet my mileage goals for the week.

I knew that I needed to take a step back and reevaluate the situation. After Sunday’s run, another run on the treadmill Monday really wasn’t all that ideal, but it was my only option. I don’t run outside alone when I am out of town. Period. So … that meant that I had to suck it up if I wanted to run. Um yeah, I wanted to run. Duh.

I came up with a really good workout. The short version is this:

1. Start running and adjust the pace by .2 mph every 2 minutes for 30 minutes.
2. Once you get to 30 minutes, you will be moving pretty quickly. Good job. Hold that pace for 1 mile.
3. Decrease the pace by .2 mph every mile (and hold that pace for an entire mile) until you are ready to stop.

I made a note on my phone to share and so that I could remember what I did. If the abbreviated version didn’t include specific enough directions for you (rule followers unite!), here is exactly what I did:

You can definitely adjust the workout to be slower or faster, depending on what speed you want to go. You could also make the workout shorter or longer as well, depending on how many miles you are looking to run.

One thing that I really liked about this workout was the variation. By changing the pace every 2 minutes, I stayed engaged mentally and it didn’t feel mundane at all. Another thing that I liked is that you increase the pace relatively quickly for the first 1/3 of the workout and then when you start slowing down and holding those paces for longer durations, the same paces that felt a little fast on the way up suddenly feel really comfortable. That’s a really good feeling! I know I got in a good quality run (i.e., it had a purpose), but the workout wasn’t overly taxing on my body.

It had been quite awhile since I have run at a gym. I enjoyed that more than I was expecting to. For some reason having other people working out around me helps me to have a better run. When I run on the treadmill at home, it can be really lonely. I am probably just needy, but I definitely need a running and/or workout buddy. I had the pleasure of working out next to my mom today. She was on the swearmaster right next to my dreadmill. Ha.

Another really nice thing about the gym was that it was really nice and cool inside. Much cooler than front porch with no central AC where the treadmill is at home. I think that made a huge difference, although I was still drenched by the end.

We had fun and I broke out of my treadmill running rut. Mission accomplished! Try the workout and report back! Let me know if you love it or hate it 🙂

Happy Monday folks! Did you have a good weekend? Here’s what I’ve been up to …

Started off Friday morning with a run that felt really good! Some days you feel good, so days you feel okay and some days you just feel bad. Friday was one of the good ones and I welcomed it with open arms. Daniel and I ended up doing an unintentional progression run (steadily dropping the pace) for the first few miles and then I was supposed to pick the pace up during miles 11 and 12. Done and done.

I had some errands to run. One of which was getting my driver’s license renewed. It expired a few weeks ago. Oops! I didn’t have to wait in line at all at the DMV. I couldn’t believe it. In all of my 14 driving years, I don’t think that has ever happened!

Next errand (not quite as important priority wise) was to purchase a swan. Our Ragnar family is planning a swan fleet reunion and we are all going to float on our swans.

Then I picked up lunch for Daniel and his co-workers Friday and took it to them at work. Five Guys for them and some froyo as a treat for the delivery girl.

I came home to find a snake in the yard. By “find” it, I mean that it was less than a foot away from my foot while I was throwing the ball for Brooks. Ick. I took Brooks inside and then all I could think about was that dang snake. Sometimes when we are gone during the day, we leave our porch door cracked so that Brooks can go sit on the balcony. He loves to sit out there. Unfortunately that also means that it is possible for critters to come inside. I like to think that Brooks would bark and/or scare them away if they tried to come in, but I’m not entirely sure how logical that line of thinking really is.

Needless to say, I was a little bit skittish after we came back inside the house. Everything that brushed against my leg made me jump out of my skin. I knew what I had to do … I had to go find and kill that snake. I went outside, found a shovel and sure enough the snake was laying right in the middle of the yard waiting for me. I was so torn. I wanted him dead, but I didn’t really want to kill him. I know that makes no sense.

I found this awesome picture, which sums up my sentiments perfectly (and coincidentally looks almost exactly like the snake) …

To make a long story longer, I swung at him with the shovel, but only hit his tail. He scrambled back off and burried himself under our kayak in the bushes right beside the house again. Lovely. Daniel actually “found a dead snake in the yard” the next day, so I’m going to just pretend that was the same one and that he died of natural causes. I didn’t ask any questions.

Moving on …

The Grandman Triathlon (a sprint tri) was Saturday morning. One of our Ragnar teammates, Becca, did the race and several of us met early to run and watch the race afterwards. We made several signs. My two favorites were Ride the Swan and GrandWOMAN!

Becca did great! She finished in 1:32:17, which gave her 2nd in her age group and 10th place overall female! Beast mode!

After the race I came home and looked over some of my coaching stuff. Training plans and excel formulas … oh my! I am pretty sure that I have found the perfect job that combines my love of all things Excel and RUNNING. Someone pinch me please.

Side note: I knew this computer was going to come in handy at some point. I hardly ever use it for accounting anymore (not that I’m complaining).

My brain and body needed a rest Saturday afternoon. The weather was a little bit iffy and it made for perfect napping conditions. Now that I think about it, I don’t know what imperfect napping conditions would even be.

I finally wised up and got my stuff laid out ahead of time for my long run. The 4 a.m. alarm Sunday morning is never fun, but if I have everything organized and ready to go, I can get out of the door a heck of a lot quicker and without distributing Daniel. You’re welcome honey.

The 4 a.m. alarm went off and unfortunately there was 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Rebecca and I decided to play it safe and not run. There’s always next weekend. I ended up doing 7 miles (that felt like 20, so maybe we can count that) on the treadmill. The treadmill and I are having some issues lately. Basically this …

After my run, I packed up and headed to see my mom and dad for a quick 24 hour trip. They are in the process of cleaning out (in hopes of moving one day soon-ish) and they needed my help to sort through the mess in my old room. I lived in the same house my entire childhood (where they still live now) and there was what felt like approximately 20 years of accumulation. Lots of memories!

It took about 6 hours to sort through, but we made some good progress. Seeing all of the old pictures and cards, etc. that I kept over the years was fun. It was a flood of memories and now I am feeling super nostalgic. A little piece of my heart will always live here on the Alabama River.

Meanwhile, the rest of my heart (i.e., Daniel and Brooks) are still at home on the bay. Daniel sent me a picture of the beautiful sunset sky while I was gone.

He also sent me a picture of my little booger.

As we sorted through the closets, we found some gems. Please note: 1) my eighth grade cheerleading uniform, 2) some size 6 rain boots that I got at some point in college even though they are about two sizes too small, just because they were cute and 3) a crown (I have no recollection of why in the world I have this).

It was quite a walk down memory lane! I’ve still got soooo many pictures and old notes to still go through. That’ll be a job for next trip though. I’m headed back south today.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Hello friends! Happy Global Running Day! I hope that you all celebrated in some form today. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with the traditional #WorkoutWednesday and a bonus celebratory easy run with some of my favorite running friends!

Check out some of these fun Run Happy facts from Brooks (the running company, not our dog) …

97% of runners believe that running makes their day better?! That’s pretty awesome.

I learned in the RRCA coaching course that a hill workout can replace a speed workout, but a speed workout can’t replace a hill workout. Hill workouts are great multi-purpose workouts. They can help improve strength, stride power and running economy. My coach wrote a very informative blog post last week about hill repeats. You can read it –> here. I had a sneaking suspicion that I might see this workout pop up on my training plan sometime soon and I was right.

Another thing that I learned in the RRCA class was that you should ask your runner was his or her least favorite workout is … and then make them do that. Sounds kind of cruel I know. If I ask myself that question though, the answer would most definitely be hills. I’m really not a big fan of hills. We have never really gotten along very well. I guess it is time to change that.

The workout today was 12 X 400 meter (quarter mile) hill repeats. You run fast up the hill (my target pace was 6:30 (so 1:35-1:40 per 400)) and then recover (jog slowly) down the hill. I knew that the workout would go better if I ran by feel than by a specific target pace, so I decided not to look at the pace at all during the workout.

I knew from coach’s post (and instructions on my training plan) that I could do this workout on the treadmill or I could find an actual hill outside and just run up and down it a bunch of times like a crazy person. The idea of doing this workout on the treadmill was really not appealing and we actually have several very good hills that would be perfect for this workout close by. Luckily Rebecca had a hill workout scheduled this week as well, so we decided to join forces and do our workouts together. Daniel joined us too! Misery does indeed love company.

My splits were 1:50, 1:48, 1:56, 1:58, 1:54, 1:54, 1:50, 1:49, 1:48, 1:52, 1:56, 1:55. This was slower than my target pace, but I am still super happy with how the workout went and how I felt during the run. I haven’t done hill repeats since I trained for Boston in 2012. I think I did them once during that training cycle and that did me in. I never wanted to see another hill repeat and yet here I am today, feeling happy after my hill repeat workout! I guess I’ve matured as a runner? Or perhaps I’ve gotten crazier? Let’s go with option A.

As a further continuation of the global running day celebration, Lizzie and Jill planned an evening run from Running Wild. We printed out our Brooks bibs and headed out for a nice, easy evening run.

Lots of fun running went down today! It was the perfect global running day celebration!

See ya later!