Let’s catch up with what has been going on since we last talked …
Monday I decided to get a massage, which is definitely NOT a normal thing for me. In fact, I haven’t had one in over 3 years I am fairly certain. It only seemed fitting after my post about anxiety that I do something relaxing though. I actually had a gift certificate that Daniel gave me for Christmas in 2013 that I had never used (relax much?), and even though it had an expiration date, thankfully they still let me use it. I’m not really big on having strangers touch me, but I actually found the whole experience to be very nice and VERY relaxing. I was not ready for it to be over!
After that, I headed to my “yoga for runners” class at RW. I was so zen by the end of this day! The classes seem to be getting a little big more challenging each week and this week we learned the crow pose. We have mainly just been doing more stretching type of things before this, so I was excited to try something challenging (not that I can do the stretching poses at all, but still). Here’s what it theoretically looks like (and no, this isn’t me).
Maybe next week I will have it mastered and can get a picture. I wouldn’t count too much on that though.
Tuesday was a double run day. I did a humid, hilly run that morning. As I was running, I had a revelation that when you combine humidity and hills you literally end up with humility. The total elevation gain for my run was just under 500 feet, which probably isn’t much to some of you out there, but for lower AL, that is a hilly run! I tend to avoid hills at all cost, but I know that they will make me stronger and I’m going to have to run a few of them in New York so might as well get to it.
Tuesday evening was the usual group run at RW. I met at the store a little early to discuss the marathon training group that I will be leading (eek!). The official kickoff is next Thursday and the group will be training for the Pensacola Marathon on November 8th. I am really looking forward to this. Runners are awesome in general, so I know we will have a fun group and I can’t wait to get to know everyone and hopefully help them reach their marathon goals. After the meeting, we ran an easy 6 miles. Lizzie, Rebecca, Savannah and I after the run (i.e., sweaty and happy) …
And today we are back to workout Wednesday! Today’s workout was a 3 mile warm up, 5 mile tempo, and a 3 mile cool down. My goal range for the tempo portion was 6:30 to 6:35 pace.
A tempo run is a faster-paced workout also known as a lactate-threshold (LT) run. Tempo pace should be “comfortably hard.” Tempo running improves a crucial physiological variable for running success, our metabolic fitness, by increasing your LT, or the point at which the body fatigues at a certain pace. During tempo runs, lactate and hydrogen ions—by-products of metabolism—are released into the muscles. The ions make the muscles acidic, and eventually lead to fatigue. The better trained you become, the higher you push your “threshold,” meaning your muscles become better at using these by-products. The result is less-acidic muscles (that is, muscles that haven’t reached their new “threshold”), so they keep on contracting, letting you run farther and faster.
My actual paces for the tempo portion were 6:35, 6:35, 6:33, 6:29, 6:25. I was very pleasantly surprised that I was able to hit these paces! I had already checked the temperature and humidity this morning and had my adjusted pace ready to go if I needed a “B” goal for the workout. If you missed my post on that, check it out here.
Next week is 16 weeks out from the NYC Marathon (November 1st)! This is the race that I will be training for (while the group I am leading trains for Pensacola), so my “official” training is going to be getting started next week. I’ll probably do some weekly training summary posts just to keep it organized and be able to look back on my workouts and mileage totals for the next race I train for. I enjoy reading those types of posts from other people, so hopefully y’all will find it interesting as well (or at least the runners out there that are reading will).
That’s all I’ve got for now. I am fixing to spend some time with Meb (unfortunately via his book and not in real life) and learn how to run, think and eat like a champion marathoner. Sounds intriguing, no? I will let you know what I find out 🙂
Gotta run!
You didn’t tell me about your massage. How nice! Great workout this morning! You continue to impress me. 🙂
HUMILITY!! I love it, Sam!! I may have to borrow this from you-ha! Kudos to you on a great training week and I’m glad you enjoyed your massage. I don’t like touching, either, but I do enjoy a good massage! I loved Meb’s book; can’t wait to see what you think!