Category: Weekly Recap

Happy Tuesday!

I hope your week is off to a good start and that you enjoy a day off (from work) tomorrow. I’ll be doing a 4 mile race to celebrate the Fourth of July!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 06.25.18 – 07.01.18:

Monday – Easy: 8 miles (8:29 pace)

Rebecca met me for an easy run before work again this week! I did a couple of Jasyoga videos Monday afternoon.

Tuesday AM – Quality: 8 miles (8:05 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:15 pace)

My workout Tuesday morning was *supposed to be* a two mile warm up, 1 X 1600, 8 X 400, 1 X 1200 and a two mile cool down. Tuesday was one of those days where the workout simply didn’t go as planned. The first mile of the workout was supposed to be done at close to 5:55 pace, which isn’t crazy … I ran that as the first mile of a workout a couple of weeks ago and I also ran close to that pace for the Hot Trot 5K. My legs wanted nothing to do with that pace on Tuesday though. They simply would not GO. I ran 6:17 for the first mile and at that point, I knew it was going to be a rough day.

I even thought about calling it at that point and maybe trying again the next day, but ultimately decided to keep going (at least for a little while longer). I wasn’t really worried about not hitting the paces. I just wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to keep pushing it or not. I think sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between when it is good to just suck it up and keep going and when it might be best to just call it a day. I ended up doing 6 X 400 and then deciding that I was just done. I guess that was somewhat of a compromise between sucking it up and giving up. My splits for those were 86, 90, 89, 91, 93 and 99. They were supposed to be 82. Yeah … that wasn’t happening.

There are a lot of logical “excuses” or “explanations” as to why this workout didn’t go well. We were on day four of no air conditioning and even though I know it may sound a bit silly, I kind of felt like a wilted flower (#snowflakestatus). I was also on day four of something else as well (I know … TMI … but it can affect running (sorry guys)). I also ran more miles last week than I have in the past few weeks. This was on purpose and as planned, but also affects the ability to be fresh for every single workout. All that really is just to say that, I had a bad workout. It happens and contrary to what I have just done by writing a mini-novel about it, there is really no reason to dwell on it. Onward and upward.

Wednesday – Easy: 10.5 miles (8:52 pace)

Speaking of going upward, Daniel and I met Kenny and Bowie to run all the hills on Wednesday morning. We changed our route slightly from the week before and got about 800 feet of climbing. Still likely not enough to prepare us for the Colorado Rockies, but at least it’s something.

Thursday – Easy: 4 miles (9:21 pace) 

I did an easy four miles before work Thursday morning. I had intentions of doing a workout later that day, but that didn’t happen.

Friday – Quality: 8 miles (8:19 pace)

I did manage to get the workout done Friday morning. It was a two mile warm up, followed by a 1600 with three minutes recovery, an 800 with two minutes recovery, a 400 with four minutes recovery, a 1600 with three minutes recovery, an 800 with two minutes recovery, one last 400 and then a two mile cool down. I set the workout up on my watch and just went with it. My goal time for the miles was 6:05 (I did 6:05 and 6:07), for the 800s was 2:58 (I did 2:58 and 2:59) and for the 400s was 1:28 (I did 1:29 and 1:28). I took it really easy on the recoveries and tried to regroup for the next repeat.

I’m pleased with how this one went down. My legs were sore for a couple of days afterwards as well (in a good sort of way), so I know that I got some solid work in.

Saturday – Easy: 8.15 miles (9:42 pace)

Saturday morning I got to run in one of my favorite spots (Seaside, FL). I didn’t worry about my pace or my route at all. I just set out on an exploration run at the beach. I ran on the road for a bit, on some trails for a bit and on the beach for a bit. It was wonderful! The water was absolutely beautiful!

Sunday – Easy: 5.35 miles (9:47 pace)

Sunday morning I kept it on the beach for the entire run. I only did five miles and those five miles in the sand were tough. I love running on the beach though, so I definitely wanted to soak it up while I could.

Total – 57 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Happy Monday!

The current situation at our house is a bit warm. Our air conditioner went out Saturday morning and it’s been a bit toasty ever since. Thankfully we have a portable unit that is keeping our bedroom cool so that we can sleep okay, but the rest of the house is a different story. Hopefully we will get it fixed today! In the meantime, we are really taking this heat acclimation training very seriously. Ha.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 06.18.18 – 06.24.18:

Monday – Easy: 8 miles (8:29 pace)

Rebecca met me for an easy run before work!

Tuesday AM – Quality: 9 miles (7:25 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:15 pace)

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#tracktuesday this morning was 12 X 90 seconds hard with 90 seconds jogging recovery in between. I wasn’t really feeling the workout at first, but of course now I am SO GLAD that I did it. Averaged 5:50 for the hard intervals! #instarunners #runchat

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 19, 2018 at 4:52am PDT

My workout this week was a two mile warm up, 12 X 90 seconds hard with 90 seconds recovery and a two mile cool down. I’ve gotten to where I really enjoy these interval workouts based on time instead of distance. For some reason 12 X 90 seconds sounds less intimidating to me than 12 X 400 meters, even though they are practically the exact same thing. Actually each 90 second interval was a little bit longer than a 400 would’ve been. I averaged 5:50 pace for hard sections of the workout.

I did a Jasyoga core session and two quick resets on Tuesday afternoon and then met Rebecca for an easy double. It was crazy hot, but we had a good run!

Wednesday – Easy: 5 miles (9:25 pace)

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5 miles this morning at 9:25 pace. Slower than my typical “easy run” range, but it’s what my body felt like running today. You’ve gotta slow down on the easy days in order to get faster on the hard days! #soimportant #oftenoverlooked #runitfast #butalsorunitslow #womensrunningcommunity #runchat #instarunners

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 20, 2018 at 4:36am PDT

I was supposed to do another day of easy doubles on Wednesday, but I didn’t get home from work until after 7:30 Wednesday evening. I know that’s not late for some of you, but I rarely run after 6:00 p.m. The missed miles just got redistributed and rearranged a bit, which worked out fine.

Thursday – Easy: 11 miles (8:42 pace)

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Humidity + hills = humility. #ivebeenhumbled #themountainsarecalling #iwishtheydjusttext

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 21, 2018 at 7:10am PDT

Thursday morning Daniel and I met Kenny and Bowie to run all the hills. In actuality, it was only about 700 feet of climbing, but we basically ran every hill in town. We are trying to add some hilly runs in before we head to Colorado for Ragnar in August. The race starts at around 9,000 ft. and climbs up as high as 11,000 ft. before descending down to 6,000 ft. and climbing back up to 9,000 ft. It’s going to be insane SO MUCH FUN!

Friday – Easy: 8 miles (9:09 pace)

Daniel and I ran a loop Friday morning and then I headed back out for a few more miles to get eight for the day.

Saturday AM – Quality: 8 miles (7:30 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:54 pace)

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2 mi. WU, 6 X 1000 w/ 2 minute standing rest, 2 mi. CD. That one was a bit of a doozy. Fastest pace was 5:41 and slowest pace was 5:59 😬🤗 #track #1k #summerofspeed #summerrunning #saltyrunning #runchat

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 23, 2018 at 6:15am PDT

Saturday’s workout was a two mile warm up, 6 X 1K with 2 minutes standing rest and a three mile cool down (that I shortened to two miles). I thought I was going to be flying solo for this workout, but it ended up that Daniel was able to run with me for four of the repeats and that helped tremendously! We got going around 6 a.m. Saturday morning, which is a little later than a typical weekly workout, but no so late that we were baking at the end. Don’t get me wrong, it was extremely warm out … it just could’ve been much worse.

My goal pace was 5:46 per mile for the thousands (two and a half laps around the track). Actual paces were 5:47, 5:41, 5:43, 5:48, 5:58 and 5:59. I ran much faster for the first four repeats as I was chasing Daniel around the track and then the last two were just about survival. I definitely contemplated being done at four when Daniel stopped, but I resisted the temptation and finished the workout even though my paces were slower. I’ve never not finished a race, but for whatever reason I do have a tendency to quit during workouts sometimes and I want to work on getting better about not doing that.

Sunday – Easy: 11 miles (8:51 pace)

Sunday morning was a pretty standard group long (ish) run. The group was a bit smaller than normal, but we had a good run. Sunday afternoon I did a Jasyoga plank video and also one called “booty lock mitigation” that was great for stretching out my hips and glutes. Given the lack of AC at our house, I think these videos likely qualify as “hot yoga.” I also played tennis for two hours late Sunday afternoon! I haven’t played tennis in a very long time … like, maybe two years or more … I can’t even remember. It was so much fun and I’m hoping to get back into it a little bit somehow.

Totals – 70 miles, 5 Jasyoga videos and 3 sets of tennis! 

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Hi! Hey! Hello!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 06.11.18 – 06.17.18:

Monday – Easy: 6 miles (9:07 pace) 

I started the week off with an easy treadmill run after work Monday evening. Still struggling to get out of bed in the mornings, but in some ways I think knowing that I can just run in the evenings if I don’t run in the mornings gives me an easy out. If I know I won’t have the chance to run later in they day, it’s a lot easier to actually get up and get it done. In the meantime, I’m thankful for a schedule that allows for some flexibility.

Speaking of flexibility though, it must be noted that up until this week I had only been somewhat “loosely” following my training plan. I was getting the workouts in, but I was basically just rearranging the easy runs however I wanted, which was usually based on what anyone else was doing. My coach pointed out that there was in fact “a method to the madness” and that sticking to the actual plan was going to be a key component of reaching my goals. Noted!

Tuesday – Quality: 9 miles (7:50 pace)

Tuesday morning Daniel and I hit the track for some “light” speedwork to keep the legs fresh for the upcoming race we had on the schedule for Saturday. I did a two mile warm up, 13 X 1 minute hard with 1 minute jogging recoveries and a 3 mile cool down. The goal pace for the hard minutes was 5:45 and I ended up averaging 5:51. During timed intervals, I don’t specifically look at my pace while I am running and I really just try to focus on getting in the appropriate effort. Daniel ran some 200s while I was doing my minutes and he averaged around 5:20 pace for those. We were both happy with how the workout went!

I was supposed to have an easy double Tuesday evening, but the weather didn’t cooperate. I couldn’t bring myself to get back on the treadmill that evening either, so on day two of #committotheplan and #trusttheprocess, I had to text my coach and ask how I should redistribute the missed miles over the course of the week. I have never really  thought of texting my coach for something like this in the past. I think it has something to do with not wanting someone to think that I was “needy” and not wanting to bother someone. I need to get passed that nonsense …

Wednesday – Easy: 8.5 miles (8:37 pace) 

Wednesday evening Daniel and I ran a variation of our regular loop that gave us a bit more mileage, so that I could get my scheduled eight and a half in.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj-9n4GhJ0B/?taken-by=mobilebayrunner

Thursday – Easy: 7 miles (8:47 pace)

We actually drug ourselves out of bed and ran before work Thursday morning. Daniel did a loop with me and I added on a couple of miles at the end to get my seven for the day.

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If you don’t run 7 miles and take a shameless mirror selfie before work, you’re doing it wrong #kidding #justlivingmybestlife #runnersofinstagram #instarunners

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 14, 2018 at 6:23am PDT

Friday – Easy: 4.75 miles (9:10 pace)

Friday morning I did a solo easy loop and listened to the Ali on the Run Show episode with Wesley Little. Wesley is a couple’s therapist and it was fascinating to hear about how she became and therapist and how therapy can help so many different people in so many different ways. I’m all about some therapy though, so it makes sense that I enjoyed this episode!

Saturday – RACE: 10 miles (7:59 pace)

Saturday morning we ran the 36th annual Doc’s Hot Trot for ARC 5K at LuLu’s in Gulf Shores. I did a two and a half mile warm up, raced the 5K (recap coming soon!) and did a four mile cool down.

Sunday – Easy: 11 miles (8:42 pace)

Sunday morning I got in an easy “long” run with some of the best running friends! Sunday is usually a good group run day, but it was even better this week because our friend Robyn was in town! We haven’t seen her in over a year and it was so good to catch up over some easy miles.

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Good miles with great friends 😍🤗 #runningfamily #runningfriends

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 17, 2018 at 8:32am PDT

Oh. I did another thing Sunday afternoon as well and went biking with Daniel! I mean, what?! We’re talking about riding a bike in the road. I borrowed our friend Kristan’s hybrid bike (that has elements of both a road bike and a mountain bike) and took it for a spin. I’ve still never ridden a true road bike, but this was definitely a good stepping stone. I was slow as Christmas, but we rode for an hour and had a good time!

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I rode a bike that didn’t have a kickstand 😂😱 #suchabiggirl #sobrave #onthatgrind

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 17, 2018 at 11:41am PDT

Totals – 56.3 miles run and 12.5 miles biked! 

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Happy Monday Tuesday!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 06.04.18 – 06.10.18:

Monday – Off

I know “they” say #nevermissamonday, but this runner missed a Monday and lived to tell the tale. In all actuality, I planned to run after work but didn’t end up getting home until close to 7 p.m. and I had a workout scheduled for the next day, so I decided that it made more sense to just take the day off and be ready to roll in the morning.

Tuesday – Quality: 8.75 miles (7:45 pace)

Tuesday’s workout was a two mile warm up, 10 X 400 and a three mile cool down. Daniel ran this one with me and that helped me out so much! It’s really amazing how much of a difference it makes to have someone to pace off of and work with during a workout (especially at the track). My splits were 86, 84, 83, 84, 85, 83, 83, 83, 83, 81 and Daniel’s were all about 2 to 3 seconds quicker. We knocked this one out before work Tuesday morning and were both really pleased with how it went!

Wednesday AM – Easy: 10 miles (8:20 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:00 pace)

I met Rebecca at dark o’clock (i.e., we were done with our run before 5:30 a.m.) on Wednesday to celebrate Global Running Day. Jessica was supposed to meet us as well, but she was sick (boo!).

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10 #runhappy miles with @beccambell to celebrate #globalrunningday! Even though every day is basically global running day in my mind, I am especially thankful for all the ways running has enriched my life. Running has brought me purpose, given me confidence and most importantly fostered some of the best relationships and friendships I’ve ever had 🏃‍♀️😍 #cheesyrunningpost #runlove #instarunners #saltyrunning #warehousegrinders #loweralabamarunners

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 6, 2018 at 3:47am PDT

Thursday – Easy: 5 miles (8:55 pace)

My legs were definitely a bit tired Thursday. I did an easy loop before work.

Friday – Easy: 8 miles (8:16 pace)

Admittedly, Friday’s run was a bit of a mess. We went fishing all day Friday and I couldn’t decide whether it would be good to try to get my other workout for the week out of the way on Friday or whether I should just wait and do it on Saturday. I wanted to do it Friday because I figured I would be worn out Saturday after being out in the sun all day long. The problem was that I needed to be done with my workout by 5:30 a.m. Friday morning in order to make the fishing trip. I knew that the early wake up was possible (I mean, I did it Wednesday), but I also knew that it was going to be tough.

Sure enough, when push came to shove, I hit snooze a few times and didn’t get started as early as I needed to. I had a three mile warm up, so I planned to do that on the treadmill and then head over to the track for the workout. Daniel was going to come up to the track around 5 to check on me. For whatever strange reason, the treadmill cut off on me about a mile and half into the run, so I was kind of forced to go ahead and go to the track. I don’t like running by myself in the dark, so I really didn’t want to have to go over there any earlier than absolutely necessary. It wasn’t ideal, but I knew it would be fine. By the time I finished my warm up miles, it was already 4:45 and I knew that there was no way that I was going to have time to do the workout and the cool down, so I decided to just do an easy run around the track instead.

Saturday – Quality: 9 miles (8:12 pace)

Saturday morning I did a three mile warm up, a workout of 1 X 1600 followed by 4 X 800 with two minute standing recoveries between and a three mile cool down. The workout was actually supposed to have two more 800s and another 1600 at the end, but I didn’t make it that far. I waited until a bit later than usual to run and I felt like I was cooking in the heat on the track. I ran 5:53 for the mile and 5:50 average for the 800s. I messed up the actual splits on my watch because of the standing recoveries. I should’ve just set up the workout on my Garmin and done it that way, but I decided I could figure it out on my own and that didn’t exactly work out for me.

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Tough workout this morning! 3 mi. WU, 1 mile (5:53), 4 X 800 (5:50 avg.), 3 mi. CD. I was supposed to do 2 more 800s and another mile hard at the end, but I couldn’t handle the heat today. I’m happy with the work that I did. Hopefully it will pay off next weekend at Hot Trot! . . #mckirdytrained #instarunners #runitfast #instarunners #runlikeagirl

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Jun 9, 2018 at 8:40am PDT

Sunday – Easy: 8 miles (8:12 pace)

I finished up the week with an easy group run at Warehouse. My legs were definitely feeling the effects of Saturday’s speed work!

Total – 55.3 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Happy Monday!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 05.28.18 – 06.03.18:

Monday – Easy: 10.25 miles (8:18 pace)

I got in a longer than usual Monday morning run on Memorial Day. I ran a few miles with Rebecca and then we joined the Daniels for a few more miles.

Tuesday – Easy: 5 miles (8:38 pace)

For some reason, I am having a really hard time getting out of the bed in the mornings. I am usually a morning runner, but the last few weeks it has been a different story. I think I’ve only gotten up two out of the five weekday mornings the last few weeks. It’s crazy! Tuesday evening I did a loop with Reed and D Holley while my Daniel did a group run with the ProCycle group.

Wednesday – OFF

Wednesday was an unscheduled rest day. I had a workout that needed to be done, but it was storming Wednesday morning and by the evening I wasn’t into it and decided to take a day off instead.

Thursday AM – Quality: 8.5 miles (7:25 pace) + PM – Easy: 7.5 miles (8:06 pace)

Thursday morning I actually got up and got my workout in. I did a two mile warm up, a 15 X 1:00 hard with 1:00 easy recovery and a two mile cool down. My fastest minute was 5:27 pace (the last repeat (#lastonefastone)) and my slowest was 5:57 pace. The 15 minutes hard averaged out to a 5:41 pace and I am thrilled with that. I pushed myself hard, but didn’t feel completely depleted at the end of the workout. Don’t get me wrong, I still seized the opportunity to lay down and collect myself after the workout before getting ready for work. This has become a new post-workout tradition …

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Apparently laying on the ground after a workout is my new thing 😂 Today’s workout was 15 X 1:00 hard with 1:00 easy recovery. I averaged 5:41 for the “hard” minutes! 💪🏽😱 @instabrookser thought this was a tough one too it seems 🤣 #track #intervals #instarunners #saltyrunning #summerrunning

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on May 31, 2018 at 5:18am PDT

Friday – Easy: 5 miles (8:16 pace)

Daniel and I did an easy loop Friday afternoon after work.

Saturday AM – RACE: 6.2 miles (7:44 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:19 pace)

Saturday morning I did a three mile warm up (at 9:08 pace) and a race (recap is here). I didn’t do a cool down after the race, but Daniel wanted to run later that afternoon when he got home from work. I decided to do a loop with him as somewhat of a delayed cool down.

Sunday – Easy: 12 miles (8:22 pace)

I ran with Jessica, Kenny and Bowie Sunday morning. Jessica had some marathon pace miles to do and we tried to hang with her for most of that. We did 7 miles at her goal marathon pace, which is definitely a victory in this weather!

Total – 59.4 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Happy Memorial Day!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 05.21.18 – 05.27.18:

Monday – Easy: 5 miles (8:26 pace)

I started the week off with an easy loop after work Monday evening.

Tuesday AM – Quality: 10 miles (8:04 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:21 pace)

My workout Tuesday was a 3 mile warm up, 3 X 800, 3 X 600, 3 X 400 and a 2 mile cool down. We (the Daniels and I) hit the track early Tuesday morning. We are getting to the time of year where you have to pick your poison with the workouts. Do you go in the morning and suffer in the humidity or do you go in the afternoon and suffer in the heat? I am apt to choose a morning workout over an evening workout regardless of conditions, so the choice isn’t really that difficult for me. Morning > evening (almost) every time.

The workout itself went pretty well. The warm up was longer than usual, but I never mind that. It takes me a little bit longer to get warmed up in the mornings anyway, so that actually worked out great. My splits for the 800s were 3:01, 2:59, 3:00 (6:00 average pace), for the 600s were 2:13, 2:15, 2:14 (5:51 average pace) and for the 400s were 1:25, 1:24, 1:23 (5:36 average pace). The Daniels did 5 X 1200, so I didn’t run with them, but it was nice to have them out there.

Wednesday – Easy: 5 miles (8:24 pace)

Wednesday was another easy loop after work. For whatever reason, I had a really hard time getting myself out of bed in the morning this week. I think part of that is due to the general fatigue that comes from getting acclimated to the heat. I’ve been feeling more worn down in the last few weeks than usual.

Thursday – OFF

In the spirit of resting when I feel like I need to, I decided to take a day off Thursday. I got dressed to run, laid down on the floor for some snuggles and didn’t get back up. Ha.

Friday AM – Easy: 10 miles (8:46 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:52 pace)

Friday morning I felt so much better! I did a loop with the Daniels and another loop by myself. I listed to the Ali on the Run Show interview with Sarah Clancy of Sarah Marie Design Studio. I loved hearing about all of the behind the scenes things that go into running her business.

Saturday – Easy: 10.25 miles (8:06 pace)

Saturday morning was a pretty standard group run. It sprinkled on us a little bit in the first few miles, which actually felt quite nice. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to be nearly as humid as it has been the past few weeks. We also got to see a beautiful rainbow that looked like it ended less than 100 yards from the road we were running on. After the run, we did the typical coffee + breakfast + conversation thing at Warehouse.

Sunday – RACE: 10.75 miles (8:11 pace)

Total – 61 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Hey-o!

I believe that summer is officially upon us (well not officially official until June 21st … but you know what I mean). It was very hot and humid this week. I know that will likely the broken record running report from now until approximately mid-November, but maybe in between now and then we will all get a bit more acclimated to the heat and humidity than we are right now.

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Nothing says summer running like having to order 3 drinks after a long run ☕️🥤💧#summerrunning #instarunners #allthemiles #allthedrinks

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on May 20, 2018 at 6:06am PDT

Here is what my training looked like the week of 05.14.18 – 05.20.18:

Monday AM – Easy: 6.2 miles (8:38 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:31 pace)

We started off the week off with an easy run around campus in Auburn. It was fun to run on the streets where I first starting running. At the time, I could barely keep up with my friend, Carol, who ran with me on her recovery days.  She was one of those “crazy” runners who ran 10 miles every Saturday and had run lots of marathons (including Boston!). No offense to Carol (if you are reading this), but I truly thought you were off of your rocker!

Who’s crazy now? Likely both of us!

We got back home Monday afternoon and did an easy loop with D Holley that evening. He was nice enough to stay at our house while we were gone to keep Brooks company. He sent us “(p)updates” throughout the weekend, which we loved!

Tuesday – Easy: 5 miles (8:59 pace)

I was in major procrastination mode on Tuesday (with regards to running). I pushed my workout back a day and was |thisclose| to not running at all. I needed to do some thinking about my work schedule and so I decided to run alone and without any music or a podcast. Isn’t that bananas? I got some great thinking done! I forgot how nice a run without any distractions can be sometimes.

Wednesday – Quality: 9.65 miles (7:23 pace)

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TFW your workout almost kills you 😂 Some people take post-workout jumping selfies whilst others couldn’t jump up if our lives depended on it. 2 mile warm up, 15 X 90 seconds hard with 60 seconds easy and a 2 mile cool down today. I’ll get up from this yoga mat and make it to work eventually … and yes, my face is very red and my stomach is very white 😂 #workoutwednesday #treadmillworkout #instarunners

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on May 16, 2018 at 5:07am PDT

My workout Wednesday was a two mile warm up, 15 X 90 seconds hard (5:56 goal pace) with 60 seconds easy in between each set and a two mile cool down. I did this workout on the treadmill. I didn’t want to run at the track because that basically would’ve been 15 X 400 and when I thought about it that way, it just seemed ridiculous. Doing the workout on the treadmill allowed me to pace my intervals evenly and to give an honest effort. Once I start a workout on the treadmill, there is rarely (knock on wood) any backing down, whereas when I run outside, I tend to be easier on myself for some reason. Anyway … inside or outside, this workout was going to be tough!

It’s crazy how long 90 seconds can feel when you are running hard. It doesn’t sound that bad, but those 90 seconds start to feel like 90 minutes (engaging in hyperbole from dramatic effect) once you get to the end of that workout. Oddly enough, the 60 seconds easy FLY BY. Why is that?! I ran at 10.1 mph on the treadmill for each of my hard intervals and I definitely got a solid effort in!

Thursday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:25 pace) + PM – Easy: 8 miles (8:46 pace)

I overslept a little bit Thursday morning (actually Daniel turned my alarm off by accident and his wasn’t set until later), so I only had time for five miles. Truthfully, I didn’t really have time for five, but going to work with wet hair and no makeup can do wonders to give you extra time in the morning. I planned to do eight miles in the morning and five in the evening, so basically those runs just got flip-flopped. I was able to met Rebecca after work Thursday for part of my run, so that worked out really well. We haven’t run together much at all recently and were overdue for some catch-up time.

Friday – Easy: 7 miles (8:59 pace)

I got in an easy 7 miles Friday morning before work. I had to get out and run over to my parents’ house to take out their garbage. That really was my main motivation. Whatever works I guess! Ha. I listened to the Rambling Runner Podcast with Becky Snelson, who placed fourteenth at the Boston Marathon (based on overall time). She didn’t start with the elite women, so the BAA technically didn’t have to award her any prize money, but they ultimately decided to this year. Apparently men that don’t start with the elite men are still eligible for prize money, but women who don’t start with the elite women are not … things that make you go “hmm.”

Saturday – Easy: 5 miles (8:27 pace)

I slept in Saturday morning and ran with Daniel once he got home from work. We went around noon and it was quite toasty. 

Sunday – Quality Easy: 15 miles (8:24 pace)

I was supposed to do a workout as part of my long run Sunday, but I scrapped that as my legs felt really fatigued even during the first few miles of the run. I’m still not entirely sure why the fatigue was there, as I hadn’t done any quality work since Wednesday, but either way, it is what it is and I decided to just chill and not try to push it when I wasn’t feeling it. Sometimes it’s good to push yourself and sometimes it’s better to listen to your body and take it easy. I pushed myself Wednesday and took it easy Sunday.

Total – 65.9 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Hey-o!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 05.07.18 – 05.13.18:

Monday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:42 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:26 pace)

I started the week off with a solo easy run and followed it up with a group easy run that afternoon.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 3 miles (9:11 pace) + PM – Quality: 9.8 miles (7:41 pace)

My workout Tuesday was a 2 mile warm up, 3 X 800, 6 X 400, 3 X 800 and a 2 mile cool down. I had a two minute walking rest between the 800s and a one minute walking rest between the 400s. I knew this workout was going to be quite challenging just looking at it, especially because the 400s were going to be done all out (my goal pace per 400 was 74 (4:58 per mile)). I’ve definitely never done any sort of repeats that fast before and, spoiler alert, I didn’t this time either. The 800s were at a much more manageable pace (my goal pace per 800 was 2:57 (5:56 per mile)).

Daniel and I did this workout together Tuesday evening and we had lots of company at the track! Kenny, Daniel Holley and Cody did 12 X 400 and Brad, Larry, Tracey and Mike were out there as well, doing some 1000s and 200s. The first few 800s were peachy. We hit those in 2:58, 2:57 and 2:57. Once we got to the 400s, *things* got real. We tried to jump in with the guys that were doing 400 repeats, but I couldn’t hang at their paces. They were also doing a 400 recovery and I was supposed to be doing a 1 minute walking recovery, so after running two or three repeats with the group, Daniel and I finished the 400s on our own. His paces were faster than mine, but mine were 80, 83, 84, 83, 86 and 86. All in all, not terrible. Nothing in the 70s, but still respectable.

The problem was that we still had three 800s left. I was huffing and puffing like I was about to blow down three little piggy houses. I actually can’t remember the last time I was breathing that hard! My last three 800s were 3:01, 3:07 and 2:59. I’m glad that I stuck with it, even if I couldn’t get my time back down to where they should’ve been. The reality is that all of our workouts are about putting in the effort to produce the desired adaptations that we are seeking and I know without a doubt that my effort was on point with this workout!

Wednesday – Easy: 5 miles (9:04 pace)

I kept it indoors Wednesday with an easy treadmill run. Tuesday’s track session was quite intense and I just needed to chill on Wednesday. I did a 20 minute “run your core” Jasyoga video. The focus of this video was on building core strength to stabilize your structure for functional (running!) movement, so that you can gain and sustain power when you get tired. Most of the poses mimic common running movement patterns, which makes sense.

I also got a deep tissue massage Wednesday evening! I spent more time on recovery than on actually running on Wednesday and it was much needed.

Thursday – Easy: 5 miles (8:58 pace)

I was still feeling a little tired and sore (likely from both the track workout and the massage) Thursday, so I kept it to another easy five mile run. I ran outside before work and listened to the Man Bun Run podcast interview with Sarah Sellers. This was the third interview with Sarah that I have listened to and it was just as interesting as the first.

Friday – Easy: 8 miles (8:59 pace)

Friday morning I did some climbing. I didn’t really plan this, but once I got out there, I decided that it would be fun to see how many hills I could run within about a mile of my house. I didn’t even get all of them and I ended up with 8 miles and 700 feet of elevation gain. Not too shabby! But also likely not anywhere near what I will need to do to prepare for the mountains of Colorado (side note: we are doing a Ragnar in Colorado in August!).

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When you live at sea level and are going to be racing a @ragnarrelay in Colorado, you start running up and down, up and down. How many times do we think I have to run these hills prepare myself for the mountains? Like twice? 🤷🏼‍♀️😂😬 #humidity + #allthehills = #humility

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on May 11, 2018 at 8:19am PDT

Saturday – RACE: 7.8 miles (8:06 pace)

Race recap is here! The TL;DR version will be this: I ran a trail race. It was not a goal race, but just a for fun race. I love running on trails! The end.

Sunday – Easy: 7 miles (10:28 pace)

Sunday morning we were in Auburn for Daniel to race the Tri Auburn sprint triathlon at Chewacla State Park. I’m hoping that I can twist his arm to do a race recap post! I was thrilled to be able to spend some more quality time on the trails Sunday morning. The trails at Chewacla are absolutely beautiful! I saw several deer, a few snakes and lots of other various wildlife out there. I also tripped on a rock and busted my butt (actually I busted my knee, shoulder and elbow (but hey, way better than busting my face)) at one point, but I think that pretty much comes with the territory of trail running. I’m definitely wearing my battle wounds proudly.

I spent more time on trails this weekend than I have in the past two years probably and it was AWESOME! Daniel had a GREAT race and it was fun spectating, cheering for him and catching up with some of our good friends from Auburn.

Total – 55.7 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Hey-o!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 04.30.18 – 05.06.18:

Monday – Easy: 8 miles (8:51 pace) 

I started the week off with a solo, hilly eight mile run!

Tuesday AM – Quality: 10 miles (7:40 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:23 pace)

Tuesday morning the Daniels and I hit the track again. Track Tuesday has become a “thing” again and I’m so glad! This week I did a different workout than they did, but as always, it’s just nice to have company out there.

My workout was 15 X 2:00 hard with 1:00 easy jogging recovery between each set. It was a tough workout! 30 minutes of “hard” running is no joke. I wanted to run this one by feel, so I programmed my watch to “workout mode” and I didn’t look at my paces or anything during the workout itself. I was really tempted to stop after 10 repeats, but I’m glad that I stuck it out. After looking at the data afterwards, my average pace for the repeats was 6:11. I am definitely pleased with that. It would sure be nice if I could run for thirty minutes consecutively at that pace, but hey, maybe one day …

I did an easy loop with Daniel Holley Tuesday evening while my Daniel did a group ride at Pro Cycle.

Wednesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:16 pace)

Wednesday evening my students turned in their final exams! Woo! It worked out for the Daniels, Cody and I to do an eight mile run around campus after I collected the tests. The change of scenery was nice and I enjoyed running in a new (to me) location. Both Daniels went to college at the school where I am teaching and so they were familiar with the campus and the route that we ran. Cody and I were clueless and were just along for the ride.

Thursday – Easy: 5 miles (8:53 pace)

I made the mistake of drinking a caffeinated drink Wednesday after our run (only because I was so thirsty and Daniel happened to have a drink in his car). I honestly thought that caffeine had little to no effect on me at this point, but as it turns out, it most definitely does if I drink it in the evening! I was up until after 1 a.m., which made for a less than stellar run Thursday morning and caused me to skip the afternoon group run altogether.

Friday AM – Easy: 8 miles (8:49 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:04 pace)

Daniel and I ran a few easy miles Friday morning and then I tacked on a few additional solo miles afterwards. I procrastinated my second double for the week (which ideally should’ve been done Wednesday (or Thursday at the latest)), so Friday afternoon it was time to make that happen. Luckily Cody wanted to run Friday afternoon and I so I was able to get in an easy loop with some good company.

Saturday – Quality: 15.5 miles (7:35 pace)

Saturday morning it was time for a quality long run. The prescribed workout was a two mile warm up, four miles at pace, half a mile recovery, three miles at pace, half a mile recovery, two miles at pace, half a mile recovery, one mile at pace and a three mile cool down. The pace miles were supposed to get progressively quicker as the workout went by (ideally starting out at close to 7:00 pace and working down to 6:30 for the last set). Writing that all out made me a little bit tired, so you can imagine how running it actually felt.

I thought about doing this run on the treadmill, which likely sounds terrible to many of you, but I know that if I run on the treadmill, I have the discipline to “make myself” do whatever the workout says. If I run outside, I am more likely to “give up,” or bail on a workout, especially if I don’t have anyone to run with. However, I know that doing workouts outdoors is more beneficial and Cody actually agreed to run with me and pace me for most of the workout, so outside it was! The temperature was nice when we first got started, but it definitely warmed up as we got towards the end.

Our splits for the first four mile set were 6:57, 6:59, 6:50 and 6:51. We then had half a mile to recover (which unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) was up a big hill) before it was time to start the second set. The splits for the second set were 6:36, 6:41 and 6:45. We had another half a mile to recover before the next set. The next set should’ve been a little bit faster, but all I could muster was 6:52 and 7:06. I was definitely on the struggle bus at this point, but Cody was able to finish out those two miles really strong. I still had one more mile to run hard for the last set, but my legs really just wouldn’t even go by that point. I told myself that I could try to get one more mile under 7:00 pace, but once I started that mile, the goal changed to trying to get one mile under 8:00 pace (which I did (but barely)).

All in all, it was a great workout! I got some solid effort in and I know that the strength I am building in workouts like this will help me in everything from the 5K to the marathon.

Sunday – Easy: 12 miles (8:30 pace) 

I got in a medium long run Sunday morning with some of the usual suspects. It felt great out and my legs felt surprisingly good.

Total – 76.5 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!

Hey friends!

After a few weeks of lackluster training, it seems that a fire got lit inside of me this week! I had a solid week of training.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 04.23.18 – 04.29.18:

Monday – Easy: 6 miles (8:53 pace) 

I started the week off with an easy treadmill run. I listened to Sarah Seller’s interview on the I’ll Have Another Podcast. I had already listened to her interview on the Ali on the Run Show, but I found this one equally as interesting (even after already having heard her story).

I got a chance to meet and have coffee with one of my fellow Salty Running gals in Auburn Monday afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed the connection and meaningful conversation!

Tuesday AM – Quality: 4 miles (9:14 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:36 pace)

Tuesday morning the Daniels and I hit the track for a “fun” 5K workout. The workout was 8 X 400 with 200 “float” recoveries (which aren’t true recoveries). You run one extra 200 at the end of the workout in order to get in the actual 5K distance. We did a 2 mile warm up and then started the workout. We did the 400s at goal 5K pace and the 200s at 1 minute slower per mile than goal 5K pace. For example, my current “goal” 5K pace is right at 6:00 pace, so my 400s were run at that pace (1:30 per lap) and the 200s were supposed to be run at 7:00 pace (52-53 seconds per half lap). In a normal track workout you have a recovery after each hard interval (whether that is a standing recovery or a very slow jogging recovery), but with this workout, you never really get to take a break.

I was slightly under my goal pace for the 400s with a 1:29 average and slightly over my goal pace for the 200s with a 55 second average. I always find it harder to hit my paces on the 200s than the 400s in this workout and I think it’s because I am so used to slowing down dramatically after each hard interval. It’s hard to break that habit! The Daniels ran faster than I did, but it was nice to have them to chase the whole time. I actually ended up passing them because they miscalculated their laps and stopped one lap too soon (they realized it once I kept going and made it up, but it was funny at the time). My 5K time for the workout ended up being 19:20 and I was definitely happy with that time.

Wednesday AM – Easy: 5 miles (9:22 pace) + PM – Easy: 6 miles (9:04 pace)

Wednesday I taught my last class of the semester! I have lots of thoughts and things that I learned from teaching, but that’s likely better suited for another post, another day. I actually found a podcast with an episode on S Corporation Taxation, which was the topic I was teaching and I listened to that on my run Wednesday afternoon before class to help me get “in the zone.” Ha.

Thursday AM – Easy: 4 miles (10:08 pace) + PM – Easy: 8 miles (8:09 pace)

Thursday morning the Daniels and I did something a little different and took our run to the beach. I love running on the beach, but it can be a tad tricky on the bay with various piers to duck under and streams and logs to hurdle. It’s perfect for a change of scenery and a change of pace!

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Hurdling some creeks in an early morning beach run! 4.25 miles at 10:08 pace. It was dark when we started, but beautiful on the way back. No major wildlife sightings today. Thanks to @dgardner56 and @dholley93 for adventuring with me this morning! #lovewhereyoulive #mobilebay #mobilebayrunner #insatrunners

A post shared by Sam Y (@mobilebayrunner) on Apr 26, 2018 at 4:24am PDT

I checked the tides the day before and knew that low tide was around 6 a.m. The run would be nearly impossible at high tide (without some serious wading). We started out around 5:20 and Daniel carried a flashlight. At 5:20 it was still dark, but at least the tide was low. We ran two miles north before turning around to head back south. By the time we turned around, the sun had started to come up and we didn’t even need the flashlight anymore. It was fun to be on the beach at dawn and see the sun rising in the east.

Thursday evening we met up at the park for a group run! There were nine of us and we did a hilly out and back route. The Daniels did a workout during the middle stretch of the run, but for the most part, everyone else took it easy (as easy as seven males running in a group are capable of at least :)). This run included a very philosophical conversation about the various reasons that we all run. It’s amazing and cool how different those reasons can be for different runners.

Friday AM – Quality: 11 miles (7:32 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:17 pace)

Friday morning I did a 6 X 1 mile progression workout. The workout was supposed to be run by effort using the following paces as a guide: 6:40, 6:30, 6:20, 6:20, 6:15, 6:15. I got a little carried away and likely overran the workout a tad, but it felt really good to get in a solid effort and to want to get in a solid effort, so I just went with it. My actual paces were: 6:41, 6:31, 6:19, 6:11, 6:08, 6:03.

Friday afternoon Jessica and I did an easy loop and Brooks and Olivia had a little “play date.” It was the cutest thing!

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I met a tiny human today. She is the best! #goldensofinstagram #goldenretriever #onlychildren

A post shared by Brooks (@instabrookser) on Apr 27, 2018 at 3:29pm PDT

Saturday – Easy: 6 miles (9:24 pace)

My legs were definitely fatigued from Friday’s workout and double. Um, hello. That was likely a bit much, but whatever … I like to run all the miles for a week or two once I am free from taxes.

Sunday AM – Easy: 10 miles (8:35 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:22 pace)

Sunday was supposed to be long run day, but all of my friends ran long on Saturday. I had plans to do 15 or 16 miles Sunday morning by running some at home before meeting up with the rest of the group for 10 miles, but once I realized that meant a 4:00 a.m. alarm, I opted out. I then had plans to run home from the group run, but once I realized that meant skipping coffee and breakfast, I opted out. I did, however, get all of my miles in for the day. Splitting the long run into two runs isn’t ideal, but it also doesn’t really even matter at this point. I was just happy to get the miles in. It was a great week of running!

Total – 79.5 miles

That’s it for now! Have a great week!