This is one of my last two 2-mile runs until I taper at the very end the week before the half-marathon.
I'm going to miss 2 miles. It's such a nice short distance.
I was able to do my 2 miles quicker today, which is good, because I'm supposed to be able to.
First mile: 10:46 with a 141 average bpm.
Second mile: 10:31 with a 164 average bpm.
Average: 10:39, 152 bpm.
Tomorrow's a day off. Thursday is 3 miles. Whoop whoop!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
in the nick of time
It is currently pouring outside. Like full-on storming. Sheets of rain, thunder, lightning. Good thing I only had a 2 miler today to do, because it all started as I was on the last block of the run.
Yesterday, I was supposed to run. But my legs still hurt from Thursday (I pitched in my baseball game after the morning 2.5 miles) and then I ended up walking 7.5 miles getting to, marching in, and then getting back from the G20 protests yesterday. So, I took yesterday off of running.
And that was a good thing, I think. Because today's "EZ" (easy, but they spell it EZ on my training program) run of 2.5 miles was easy on the lungs (check out the pace below) but not on those tired legs. I guess that's why it's an EZ run . . .
Tomorrow is a day off, but if it doesn't rain, I have a baseball game. However, I won't pitch, so it won't be too hard on my legs.
Mile 1: 12:40 min mile 129bpm.
Mile 2: 13:01 min mile 140bpm.
Tuesday will be 2 miles again, but not EZ this time. I like having a training program to guide me now, rather than just making up what I think I ought to do!
Yesterday, I was supposed to run. But my legs still hurt from Thursday (I pitched in my baseball game after the morning 2.5 miles) and then I ended up walking 7.5 miles getting to, marching in, and then getting back from the G20 protests yesterday. So, I took yesterday off of running.
And that was a good thing, I think. Because today's "EZ" (easy, but they spell it EZ on my training program) run of 2.5 miles was easy on the lungs (check out the pace below) but not on those tired legs. I guess that's why it's an EZ run . . .
Tomorrow is a day off, but if it doesn't rain, I have a baseball game. However, I won't pitch, so it won't be too hard on my legs.
Mile 1: 12:40 min mile 129bpm.
Mile 2: 13:01 min mile 140bpm.
Tuesday will be 2 miles again, but not EZ this time. I like having a training program to guide me now, rather than just making up what I think I ought to do!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
running in the rain
So, on this morning's run, I realized that it may have only been coincidence that each of the last three times that I went running on a rainy day it cleared up completely for me run. Because today, it decided to start pouring about halfway in to my 2.5 miles.
Let me tell you, though, if running at 7:15 am isn't enough to make you feel hardcore, running at 7:15am in the pouring rain certainly is!
I decided to start a half-marathon training schedule for beginners. The problem is that most of them are 12 weeks long. I have 18.5 weeks left til my half. (Thank goodness it isn't the other way around!) So, I've decided I'm going to do a few weeks on one training schedule and then switch over to a slightly more intense one that includes some speed work and hill work and then just do an extra week or two of the middle weeks of that. I need to finish the schedule on schedule so that I can correctly taper for the half-marathon.
This is the training schedule I'm going to start with: http://running.about.com/od/racetraining/a/basichalf.htm
Today was a 2.5 mile day (first thursday of the schedule). I did my long run this week on Tuesday, but I'm going to switch over to the Saturday long run schedule that this program has. (Most have them on Sat or Sun because they figure most people have time those days to run for longer.) I'm a bit ahead of this schedule in terms of how long my long run was this week, but not in terms of overall weekly mileage. So I'm going to go with this schedule more or less (maybe add .5 miles to the first two Saturdays; we'll see) for a few weeks.
These were today's mile breakdowns--pace and heart rate:
11:40 136bpm
11:37 151bpm
11:06 (per mile pace for the last half mile) 162 bpm.
Obviously I started slower than I finished today. This was in part because my legs needed to loosen up from Tuesday's 5 miles!
Let me tell you, though, if running at 7:15 am isn't enough to make you feel hardcore, running at 7:15am in the pouring rain certainly is!
I decided to start a half-marathon training schedule for beginners. The problem is that most of them are 12 weeks long. I have 18.5 weeks left til my half. (Thank goodness it isn't the other way around!) So, I've decided I'm going to do a few weeks on one training schedule and then switch over to a slightly more intense one that includes some speed work and hill work and then just do an extra week or two of the middle weeks of that. I need to finish the schedule on schedule so that I can correctly taper for the half-marathon.
This is the training schedule I'm going to start with: http://running.about.com/od/racetraining/a/basichalf.htm
Today was a 2.5 mile day (first thursday of the schedule). I did my long run this week on Tuesday, but I'm going to switch over to the Saturday long run schedule that this program has. (Most have them on Sat or Sun because they figure most people have time those days to run for longer.) I'm a bit ahead of this schedule in terms of how long my long run was this week, but not in terms of overall weekly mileage. So I'm going to go with this schedule more or less (maybe add .5 miles to the first two Saturdays; we'll see) for a few weeks.
These were today's mile breakdowns--pace and heart rate:
11:40 136bpm
11:37 151bpm
11:06 (per mile pace for the last half mile) 162 bpm.
Obviously I started slower than I finished today. This was in part because my legs needed to loosen up from Tuesday's 5 miles!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
slow and long
So the running magazines (yes, picking up a copy of Runner's World at the grocery store makes me feel like a runner) and the half-marathon training plans for beginners all say to do one long run a week and make it slow--a conversational pace.
I always figured that it was impossible for me to run at a conversational pace until I became a much better runner. (That is, I always just assumed that even super slow for me would be too difficult to be an easy, conversational pace.)
But today, I found out that if I really do just slow down and run whatever pace my body feels like running, no matter how slowly my watch says I'm going, I can actually run at a comfortable pace.
It took me a while to get into it. I didn't start feeling relaxed until after the first mile and it wasn't really even until the third mile that I really knew I'd finish all four. I think that was probably a combination of getting into the running zone and partly that when I'm first starting, even my slow jog is too fast for long run pace, so I have to start to fatigue into mile two and three to actually slow down to long run pace.
When I was at about 3.5 miles and exploring a new neighborhood, I thought that maybe I could go more than 4 today. As I approached 4 miles and was already at 51 minutes (like I said--slow!), I decided to shoot for an hour. Then as I was nearing an hour, I figured I might as well do the last little more than a third of a mile and be able to finish off at 5 miles.
And I did! I ran 5 miles!
Here are my pace per miles and average heart rates: 11:47 146 bpm; 12:26 156 bpm; 12:56 159 bpm; 13:30 160 bpm; 13:24 162 bpm. Overall average: 12:49 min mile and 156 bpm
So, I think I'm going to start an official beginners half-marathon training plan now. I will modify it as necessary, but I'm going to try to stick to one long, slow run a week, the speed work they recommend, the faster shorter runs, and the recovery runs. My friend Vivian sent me a link to one she swears by, but now it's not working any more. :(
I always figured that it was impossible for me to run at a conversational pace until I became a much better runner. (That is, I always just assumed that even super slow for me would be too difficult to be an easy, conversational pace.)
But today, I found out that if I really do just slow down and run whatever pace my body feels like running, no matter how slowly my watch says I'm going, I can actually run at a comfortable pace.
It took me a while to get into it. I didn't start feeling relaxed until after the first mile and it wasn't really even until the third mile that I really knew I'd finish all four. I think that was probably a combination of getting into the running zone and partly that when I'm first starting, even my slow jog is too fast for long run pace, so I have to start to fatigue into mile two and three to actually slow down to long run pace.
When I was at about 3.5 miles and exploring a new neighborhood, I thought that maybe I could go more than 4 today. As I approached 4 miles and was already at 51 minutes (like I said--slow!), I decided to shoot for an hour. Then as I was nearing an hour, I figured I might as well do the last little more than a third of a mile and be able to finish off at 5 miles.
And I did! I ran 5 miles!
Here are my pace per miles and average heart rates: 11:47 146 bpm; 12:26 156 bpm; 12:56 159 bpm; 13:30 160 bpm; 13:24 162 bpm. Overall average: 12:49 min mile and 156 bpm
So, I think I'm going to start an official beginners half-marathon training plan now. I will modify it as necessary, but I'm going to try to stick to one long, slow run a week, the speed work they recommend, the faster shorter runs, and the recovery runs. My friend Vivian sent me a link to one she swears by, but now it's not working any more. :(
Saturday, June 19, 2010
hot day!! but at least i ran
Apparently if it's a Saturday afternoon and it's been raining in the morning and it's supposed to rain all day, all I have to do to get it to completely clear up is decide to go for a mid-afternoon run during one of the non-raining spells. This is even more likely to succeed if I completely forget about sunscreen.
That's what happened today and two weeks ago.
I really need to run more often. No more of this huge chunks of time off from running for comps or baseball tournaments. It totally undermines my training and makes the few runs after I start again not very much fun.
Between letting my running lapse and the heat/humidity/sun today, I ran into high heart rate issues that caused me to have to slow down significantly.
I did 5k today in 36:18. (Since I have my GPS watch now, I know it was actually 5k, whereas before, I only knew that it was approximately a given distance.) That's an 11:42 min/mile average. But look at these times: 11:07 first mile, 11:43 second mile, 12:25 third mile (and there would have been more of a discrepancy if the first mile hadn't been a slow ascent while the third was a slow descent).
My average heart rate for the first mile was 148 bpm. For the second 169. And for the third 174 bpm. (Overall average 164.) Ideally, I think (based on various online calculations), I want to train at below 156-168 bpm. No wonder I was struggling with mile three!
My fancy gps watch (birthday present from my parents!) helped me figure out all that stuff about pace per mile and heartbeats per minute. But I don't need fancy technology to help me conclude these two things about how to help get my heart rate down on runs:
1) don't take 10 days off from running
2) don't run at 2pm on hot days
I may not have worked out the physical part of this running thing yet, but I'm getting the gear and the strategy totally figured out!
On Tuesday, I will go for a 4 mile run. I have a baseball game on Monday and so I can't do it then and a 4 mile run wouldn't work for me tomorrow after the 3.1 miles today.
That's what happened today and two weeks ago.
I really need to run more often. No more of this huge chunks of time off from running for comps or baseball tournaments. It totally undermines my training and makes the few runs after I start again not very much fun.
Between letting my running lapse and the heat/humidity/sun today, I ran into high heart rate issues that caused me to have to slow down significantly.
I did 5k today in 36:18. (Since I have my GPS watch now, I know it was actually 5k, whereas before, I only knew that it was approximately a given distance.) That's an 11:42 min/mile average. But look at these times: 11:07 first mile, 11:43 second mile, 12:25 third mile (and there would have been more of a discrepancy if the first mile hadn't been a slow ascent while the third was a slow descent).
My average heart rate for the first mile was 148 bpm. For the second 169. And for the third 174 bpm. (Overall average 164.) Ideally, I think (based on various online calculations), I want to train at below 156-168 bpm. No wonder I was struggling with mile three!
My fancy gps watch (birthday present from my parents!) helped me figure out all that stuff about pace per mile and heartbeats per minute. But I don't need fancy technology to help me conclude these two things about how to help get my heart rate down on runs:
1) don't take 10 days off from running
2) don't run at 2pm on hot days
I may not have worked out the physical part of this running thing yet, but I'm getting the gear and the strategy totally figured out!
On Tuesday, I will go for a 4 mile run. I have a baseball game on Monday and so I can't do it then and a 4 mile run wouldn't work for me tomorrow after the 3.1 miles today.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Pop quiz: How long since I last ran?
Were you able to answer that without looking back to my last post? My guess is no since it has been ages (or 10 days) since I last ran.
(And if you didn't know when I last ran simply because you never look at my blog--you're off the hook on this pop quiz because even avid readers wouldn't have gotten this right.)
This last ten days has been all comps all the time (plus two baseball games). But today, despite the continuing need to do comps work, I went to the gym with Sarah. I ran two miles on the treadmill. I did not die. I even did a couple of speed intervals during the run. Then I stretched and did some core strengthening stuff. My core is definitely the weakest part of my body!
The new A Dare to Remember website has finally launched!! I'm going to put up my page soon (when I take a break from comps, maybe this weekend).
(And if you didn't know when I last ran simply because you never look at my blog--you're off the hook on this pop quiz because even avid readers wouldn't have gotten this right.)
This last ten days has been all comps all the time (plus two baseball games). But today, despite the continuing need to do comps work, I went to the gym with Sarah. I ran two miles on the treadmill. I did not die. I even did a couple of speed intervals during the run. Then I stretched and did some core strengthening stuff. My core is definitely the weakest part of my body!
The new A Dare to Remember website has finally launched!! I'm going to put up my page soon (when I take a break from comps, maybe this weekend).
Saturday, June 5, 2010
summer + running = bad match
So, it was overcast this morning when I decided that I would go for my run today at 12:30, before meeting up with friends at 2.
However, at 12:30 it was sunny and quite warm. I had thought I might do four today. I barely made it through two miles. I ran a 10:53 first mile, but my second was 11:55 and I was struggling. Ugh.
Well, tomorrow is another day; I'll get my running back on track. And maybe I'll learn a thing or two about what time of day to run . . .
The good news is that my fancy water belt is AWESOME!
However, at 12:30 it was sunny and quite warm. I had thought I might do four today. I barely made it through two miles. I ran a 10:53 first mile, but my second was 11:55 and I was struggling. Ugh.
Well, tomorrow is another day; I'll get my running back on track. And maybe I'll learn a thing or two about what time of day to run . . .
The good news is that my fancy water belt is AWESOME!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
GPS Running
For my birthday, my parents got me a cool "GPS-enabled trainer with heart rate". It's one of those big watches that tracks your pace, distance, time, heart rate, approximate calories burned etc. while you run. Pretty cool!!
I got it in the mail on Tuesday. I was supposed to have a baseball game last night (but it got rained out), so I didn't take it out for a trial run until today.
It's awesome! I only did two miles today because it's been more than a week and a half since my last run (what with baseball games and then the baseball tournament in Baltimore this last weekend) and I wanted to easy myself back into things.
Turns out I ran my first and second miles at the same average pace-- 10:51 minute/mile. However, this does not actually mean I'm a consistent runner. In fact, I know from glancing at my watch while I ran (and from looking at the digital upload on my computer) that my pace actually varied quite a bit while I ran. I also noticed that when I focused on my breathing and my running form, I naturally picked up my pace without feeling like I was exerting more effort.
Ah. Technology. :)
It was also nice to just be able to run around the park and make up a route, rather than having to carefully plan it ahead of time so I'd know how far I was going!
Yay for my fun birthday present!
I got it in the mail on Tuesday. I was supposed to have a baseball game last night (but it got rained out), so I didn't take it out for a trial run until today.
It's awesome! I only did two miles today because it's been more than a week and a half since my last run (what with baseball games and then the baseball tournament in Baltimore this last weekend) and I wanted to easy myself back into things.
Turns out I ran my first and second miles at the same average pace-- 10:51 minute/mile. However, this does not actually mean I'm a consistent runner. In fact, I know from glancing at my watch while I ran (and from looking at the digital upload on my computer) that my pace actually varied quite a bit while I ran. I also noticed that when I focused on my breathing and my running form, I naturally picked up my pace without feeling like I was exerting more effort.
Ah. Technology. :)
It was also nice to just be able to run around the park and make up a route, rather than having to carefully plan it ahead of time so I'd know how far I was going!
Yay for my fun birthday present!
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