Pre-Race Workout

Goal:
3xmile @ 5:30 +4x400m

Actual:
3 mile warmup
2xmile in 5:53, 5:53, 2:30 jog rest, 3x400m
3 mile cool down for 9 miles total

It's finally gotten pretty humid down here in North Carolin again and it's definitely taking its toll on workouts!  It definitely has an impact on my workouts and this felt harder than it should have.  I'm not sure if that's because of the humidity or if that's the way a typical pre-race workout feels. Regardless, I was grateful for Caleb's company because Laurie had to bail after the warmup since she had an allergic reaction to a prescription she had taken. Aside from the insane amount of sweat that accumulated on my clothes, nothing else of much significance happened. I'm ready for the half champs!

5x1000m on the Track

Goal:
3x1000m + 4x400m

Actual:
3 mile warmup
5x1000m with 2:30 rest at 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16
3 mile cool down for ~10 miles total

Woke up at 515AM to get out the door by 530 to meet Caleb at his house before running to the JCSU Track together for our workout.  We were supposed to catch a group from the Dowd on the way, and didn't see them so kept on going towards the track.  Only David Willis showed up a couple minutes later, so it was a smaller group that we typically had at the track.  This is mainly due to the fact that several people have been heading to the Summer Track Series on Tuesday evenings to get in their workouts.

I started this workout with the expectation of running 3:20, and was pleasantly surprised to find my splits under that mark.  David was about 10 seconds ahead of me while Caleb was about 10 seconds behind me on each interval, so I was basically alone for the workout.  Sometimes I struggle when I'm in no man's land like that, so I employed some tactics to keep myself focused.  Lacking Laurie's encouraging presence, I kept my eyes straight on David's back so that I wouldn't slow down.  Everything felt very relaxed and controlled, so I came out of the workout feeling pretty confident for the race on Friday in China Grove.

In other news, Garrett was picked up by the Trois Rivieres Aigles in Quebec, Canada.  I'm hoping to get a chance to visit him in late June / early July, but it will be an expensive trip.  It's been exactly four weeks since I last saw him, so by late June I'll undoubtedly be getting a little antsy to see my husband.

Tempo + 400s

Goal:
Pre Race workout with tempo + speed

Actual:
3 mile warmup
4x400m in 72, 73, 73, 72 w/ 1:30 rest b/w and 3:00 b/w set
2 mile tempo in 11:09 - 5:36, 5:33 (4:00 rest)
4x400m in 73, 75, 75, 74 with 1:30 rest
3 mile cool down for 10 miles total

Today Garrett left for baseball for the entire season, so it was silly of me to think that I'd actually wake up to do a workout with Laurie.  After a fitful night of sleep because I was undoubtedly thinking about Garrett leaving for 5+ months, I woke up to cancel on Laurie and sleep for an additional 2 hours.  By 8AM, Garrett dropped me off at work before embarking on a ten hour drive to Indiana to begin his baseball season.  Our goodbye went something like this as we left the house:

Garrett (heads for the door):  Alright, let's go.
Caitlin:  Uh...don't I get a hug or something.
Garrett (perplexed):  Oh, right...
Caitlin (gives Garrett a hug):  See you in July, I guess.
Garrett:  Yeah, I'm so excited to start pitching.

...In other words, peace out, wife!!  And Garrett left like giddy kindergartner on the first day of school while I remained the dejected, unpopular kid left behind.

Having said all that, I ran my workout in the evening with Caleb and Eric on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  I was really excited about all the splits I ran and felt really comfortable, but as I cooled down I realized that the times may have been a little too aggressive for a pre-race workout.  I'm hoping to win the 10k on Saturday, so I should have put on the brakes a little bit so I didn't feel so gassed after the workout.  We'll see what happens!

6x800m with Caleb

Goal:
Pre race workout

Actual:
5k Warmup
6x800m with 2:00 rest at 2:35, 2:38, 2:37, 2:37, 2:38, 2:38
3.3 mile cool down for 10 miles total

Caleb and I opted to sleep in and do this workout in the afternoon instead.  I was open to workout options as it was pre-race and really just wanted company. Caleb had an 800m workout prescribed as one of his last workouts leading up to the Boston Marathon, so I said yes and headed to the Dilworth Speed Loop with him to get this done.

There isn't too much to report for the intervals except that we went out too fast on the first interval and I felt like my legs paid for it on the others.  I felt really good and strong, but I would have rather finished in a 2:35 than begun with one.  Caleb and I were together for the first 4 intervals, but on the final two, he fell back a little bit and I was left to push hard on my own terms.

I'm ready for a nice 8k in Greensboro on Saturday, but I'm definitely not looking forward to the hills around the course.

Minuters on the DSL

Goal:
3x2 Mile

Actual:
3 mile warmup
12x Min (@ 4:50-5:15 pace)+ 400m in 74
3 mile cool down for ~ 10 miles total

I felt like I had done 2 mile repeats only a couple weeks ago and I realized that I hadn't done any speedwork lower than 800m in a while, so I decided to keep Billy company on a pre-race workout.  I've also felt a little run down, so I figured this switch would be a good move.  We ran really fast for the first 6 intervals, around 4:50 pace and then slowed up a little bit towards the end.  However, the average for the total run, with rest, came out around 6:06 pace, so it shows that we basically ran a decent tempo for 4 miles.  After we finished 12 minuters, we did a 400m with Caleb and the guys flew past me, making me feel like I was for sure running an 80 sec quarter.  Instead, I came through in a surprising 74, even after slowing up considerably as I neared the finished line.  In all honesty, this workout felt ridiculously hard.  It was nice to get some speed in the legs because I am focusing on some of the shorter distances in the upcoming month.

4xMile Repeats on DSL

Goal:
4-5xmile with 2:30 rest

Actual:
3.4 Mile Warmup
4xmile with 2:30 rest @ 5:31, 5:29, 5:30, 5;31
2 mile cool down for 10 miles total

My trusty sidekick Caleb joined me for probably the fourth week in a row for this early morning workout, yet again on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  Phil and Aaron joined us for the specific mile repeats while Jason and Paul did their own thing.  From the start, I felt great.  My legs felt light and my feet bounced easily off the pavement.  My breathing was definitely heavy, but mentally I didn't let it get to me.  After the third one, I could tell that everyone was feeling a little sluggish and down on the workout, and Phil and Caleb said they were done.  I made a deal with them that we would just do one more 800m and then be done.  Secretly, it was my way to get them to do at least half of the next interval with me so that I could have some company.  At the 800m mark for the 4th interval, they all stopped and I kept on going.  Aaron had been pulling away from us and when he saw that I was still powering on, he slowed up to push me along for the final half.  His company was very helpful because I was finally starting to feel a little tired.  I was very pleased to run all of these at basically the same pace.  Back in October, I ran 6xmile in ~5:47 average and was totally smoked by everyone I was running with.  My fitness continues to get better with each passing week!

16 Mile Long Run w/ Tempo

Goal:
5k Race Rumba on the Lumber

Actual:
No race
16 miles with 4 miles at 607 pace

So as of last night, I was supposed to do the Rumba on the Lumber 5k in Lumberton, NC.  In fact, we were even going to get a hotel for Friday night and stay over so that we could sleep in.  Well, by Thursday night, I had already nixed the idea of getting a hotel room because it was too much for my taste.  Then, by Friday night, I had nixed the idea of going to the race altogether because of two main things:  (1) the prize money was not $500 for the win as I thought and was instead $250 and (2) because of the reduced prize money, the cost / benefit analysis came out negative, when factoring in time lost to drive there.  So, we scrapped the plan to go to the race, and instead I made plans with Matt to run with a group at McMullen.

Now back to this morning, it was 8AM and I still had two hours before our run with Caleb and Danielle. I looked out the window, and it was snowing. No big deal.  An hour later, the snow flakes had tripled in size and were coming down in larger numbers.  I made a point on our Facebook thread that the wooden pathways at McMullen would be very slick for a tempo, and Caleb immediately made fun of me for being a weakling.  Once we got to McMullen though, Caleb realized that I had been right and we had to make a change to the tempo course to avoid the slick boards.

Going easy on the boards was just fine, just a little slick, but no big deal.  However, when picking up the pace, it definitely would have been difficult, so instead we did two loops around the church for a total of four miles before Caleb kept going straight on Pineville Matthews.  We hit splits of 6:15, 5:58, 6:15, 5:58 for each uphill/downhill mile. After the long run was over, I realized that we had averaged 7:05 pace for the easy portion of the run, which was definitely satisfying to see as that did not feel hard at all.  Unconsciously, I was pushing the pace so that I could warm my legs up which seemed to be absolutely freezing the entire time the snow was falling.

Although I scrapped a race, I was happier with the long run because it will prepare me for a solid half in the summer.

3x2 Mile

Goal:
3x2 Mile with 2:00 Rest at 600-555-550 pace

Actual:
2.7 mile warmup
3x2 mile with 2:00 rest
11:36 (5:50/5:46)
11:31 (5:46/5:45)
11:17 (5:40/5:37)
2.3 mile cool down for 11 miles total

Just like last Tuesday, Caleb, Charlie, Brad and I rolled out of bed to meet at the speed loop for some 2 mile repeats.  We had a guest appearance from Jaskot, which was a appreciated addition to the group, especially for me.  The weather was pleasantly perfect, with temps in the upper 40s and little wind.  We started and the boy immediately took off ahead of me, as I settled into what felt like a comfortable pace with Matt.  After 3/4 of a mile, Matt had fallen off my pace, and I was still 10-15 meters behind Caleb and Charlie.  I finished with a solid time and made it my goal to continue to get closer to Charlie and Caleb. By the second interval, I had closed the gap from 10 meters to 5 meters.  At the start of the third, they weren't too far ahead of me, so I made a move to charge a couple of strides to tuck in directly behind them.  I stayed with both of them through 1.5 miles and then Charlie and I began to pull away from Caleb.  I felt absolutely great the entire workout and was pleased to close in such a solid time.

What I liked most about this workout was that I was basically alone for the first four miles of the workout and still found the motivation within myself to push hard.  Last fall, I really struggled with this mental tenacity and I feel really confident that my mentality is finely tuned again!  This also proves that running 60-65 miles a week is really enabling me to bring my quality back to what it should be.

Pre-Race Workout

Goal:
3 mile tempo at 6:00-5:50 + 4x400m

Actual:
3.5 mile warmup
3 mile tempo in 6:10, 5:56, 5:56 + 4x400m with 1:00 rest.
3 mile cool down

4 miles in the pm

This felt harder than it should have, but I've had other workouts where I could barely break 6:00 pace before a race and then really crushed the race, so I walked away feeling pretty good about my effort, and confident about the prospect of a race in DC.  Caleb, Laurie, Eric and I all met up at the Speed Loop way before the sun came up, and started the workout without much thought.  For the first mile, we were all in a comfortable little pack, talking a little too much, and it was eerily similar to my Army Ten Miler pre-race workout last year.  Except, this year we went through the first mile much more slowly and then Caleb and Laurie took off and I tried to hang on desperately, but my leg wouldn't do it.  Then I hovered around the same pace for the last mile, watching Caleb and Laurie run smoothly about 30 meters ahead.  After a half mile jog, we started the 400s and again, my legs felt heavy to lift, but I completed them feeling strong.  On the cool down, I enjoyed the cooler weather and felt really positive about the weekend.

Then, in the afternoon, I felt my hamstring revert back to where it had been a couple weeks ago--exceptionally tight.  When I really thought things were starting to get better in my hammy, a little workout went ahead and threw it all off.  It really all comes down to the fact that I was slack on my glute exercises. Like most runners, I've got a weakness in my left glute, which is causing my hamstring to do a lot more work than necessary, therefore causing my hamstring some wear and tear.  Hopefully it will hold up for Army Ten Miler!

A Glimmer of Light (6x800m)

Goal:
8x800m with 1:30 rest at 2:43-2:37

Actual:
3 mile warmup
6x800m with 1:55 jog rest at 2:42/2:45
3.7 mile cool down for 10 miles total

PM:  1.5 hours of dance!

I might be back!  Just maybe.  Caleb and I started a bit later this morning--at 6:30--to get some extra hours of much needed sleep.  We did just 6 repeats, two shy of my goal, but I felt positive about how I stayed mentally in the game.  I didn't look at my splits and even asked Caleb to not share the splits with me as we finished. I did cheat a little though by asking him what he ran, since he was a little ahead of me, I could still gauge how fast I was going.

I have to start somewhere, and I feel like this a great start!  I enjoyed the workout and felt very positive in my thoughts during each interval.  Positivity at this point is very important and definitely a step in the right direction. I'm finally beginning to believe that I'll start feeling like a new person--meaning, a person with normal iron levels--in just a short period of time.

I'm going to do a 10 mile progression run with the intent of putting in the full effort, even if it means the pace may be a bit slower than I would like to see right now.  Like Laurie told me on our Sunday long run, at least when my iron is back, I'll feel fantastic!

16x400m Repeats

Goal:
16x400m with 1 min rest at 78-83

Actual:
3 mile warmup
16x400m at 78-83 with 1:00 rest
2.5 mile cool down for 9.5 miles total

pm:  4.5 miles for 14 miles total

After learning that I've got low iron and that I'm trying to do too much at this point in my life, I decided to do 400s.  Why 400s? Because they are easy to handle mentally and I didn't have to even look at my splits on the speed loop.  I was fortunate to have the company of Spada and Caleb for this workout in the early morning hours on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  We started off and I felt okay, not too winded but not a walk in the park, either.  I let Caleb and Spada speed ahead in front of me, and felt no worry. I didn't look at my splits, which helped a lot.  Towards intervals 10, 11, and 12, I felt terrible, and when I looked at my splits after the workout, my times reflected this (81-83 splits here), but then I was able to pull it back together by the last set.  In fact, I really wanted to quit after 12 intervals, but I vowed to myself prior to the workout that if things started getting tough that I would just slow it down.  I didn't even have to slow it down once I reached what I thought was my breaking point; I just needed to get my mind focused and in the right spot and I was able to fight through my own mental shortcomings.  All in all, the focus of this workout was to run fast time.  Instead, it was to come out of it feeling mentally stronger than when I went into it, and I achieved just that.

7.5 MIle Progression

Goal:
8 miles from 6:20-5:50

Actual:

2 mile warmup
7.5 miles in 45:30 (6;04 pace)
6:13, 6:08, 6:05, 6:04, 6:00, 6:00, 6:05, 3:02
3 mile cool down

Legs got a little tired towards the end, and my hamstring felt really tight so I called it quits a little early. Definitely not what I wanted, but if stopping early means that I didn't pull my hamstring, then I'm going to stop.  I fortunately had the company of Chris, Brad, and Caleb on this one and even though we started at 5:20am, it was totally worth it for getting it done.  The humidity level was rather high, which definitely affected our pace, but I was happy with the effort for the first 6 miles for sure.

I'm probably going to scratch my workout of mile repeats for later this week because I can tell that my hamstring doesn't react well to the speedy stuff whatsoever.  Hopefully that will be what I need to keep my streak of high mileage going strong.