Staying Healthy, Running Faster! Fitness Journal, CW!

[mrsdrake625]

OK - I will finally do this. Just fun to have somewhere to write it all down and see progress. I have a blog but it's a "family" blog, so no need to clutter up the posts. Comments are welcome but c'mon, this is pretty boring, right? I'm not training for a Disney race... yet... The goal is to do the full marathon one day at WDW. I want to really do it well and avoid injury, and that means train/run a few halfs first.

I was inspired by Ariel484's chronicles of her training, and it was very helpful to see that some weeks were great, others were not, and lots in between. The race is really just the culmination of all of the work you put in. So... here we go...

I signed up for a half marathon today! It's Oct. 5 - 10.5 weeks away from now. I won't be able to complete the whole training program, probably, but I will certainly try.

I'm following Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon plan. I did Hal's plan for a 5k recently and it was wonderfully helpful. I have run a few half marathons before, but never trained for one. I managed to complete them, through sheer stubbornness and stupidity and being in shape from gym fitness classes, but I really paid for it the next week, both times! I could barely walk and it was probably a very very bad idea to run the race at all. So this time I would like to properly complete the race - training included.

This week's schedule:
Sun: rest (actually ran 3 miles)
Mon: 3 miles (X)
Tue: 30 min tempo ( )
Wed: 3 miles+weights ( )
Thu: rest
Fri: 3 miles race pace ( )
Sat: 6 miles ( )

Today (tuesday) I'm feeling pretty crappy - major GERD issues, so I'm hoping to take a break and get back to it by Thursday at least. Can switch out a rest day for another run day - especially since I did 3 miles on Sunday.

I ate fairly well today because of the GERD issues. Practically anything tasty makes my reflux flare up something awful. no coffee, dairy, or chocolate for a few days.

Breakfast - 2 eggs
Snack - banana
Lunch - steel cut oats with blueberries and maple syrup, no sugar
Snack - small slice GF bread with almond butter (yum!)
Dinner - scallop linguine with spinach and parsley
Snack - apple with almond butter

Alright, thanks for reading if you got this far!

 

[mrsdrake625]

Wednesday: 35 mins tempo run (or something)

This was fun; I experimented with cadence and figured out my stride is way too long. I had read recently that shorter, quicker steps were better, so I tried that out, and when I looked down at my GPS I saw that I was running close my 5k pace!! So I guess it worked.

Still feeling the GERD but it's better every day, so I'm very hopeful that pattern will continue.

Ate pretty well, don't remember every single thing.

Thursday (today): rest day again.

Going to take it easy until the GERD heals. Tomorrow I think I'll do 3 mi pace, then easy 3 or rest on Saturday, then my long run Sunday morning. We will see.

Food:
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: veggies, hummus, apple and almond butter, 3 (small!) slices GF toast
Dinner: strawberry summer salad (strawberries, grapes, almonds, feta cheese, vinaigrette)

Hmm no snacks. That's not good.

Tried Lifesavers and gum to help with the GERD after eating, seemed to work at least a little bit.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Thursday: rest

Friday: 3 miler, easy

Saturday: lifting furniture!

Sunday: 6 miles, easy

GERD starting to feel better a little bit by little bit!! Hooray.

The 6 mile run felt fantastic. Got up nice and early and out the door at 6:30. I had the hydration pack today, and a gel for energy. I'm trying out different forms of energy, I must say I like solid much better than gel. My fingers just felt sticky the whole time, and I had to the half-used gel packet back into my nice new bag I think I'll stick to gummies while I run. Anyway, the gel made a difference - I didn't bonk in the run and I haven't hit that post-runners high wall that usually comes after a good hard workout. I think I'll work that into the routine a little more.

I saw a recipe online for energy gel; I wonder how hard it would be to make gummies with some extra Gatorade in them? I've made gummy candy before with Jello and gelatin; I'd love to try adding electrolytes and salt and see what happens.

I got an email from Disney Destinations today.



So I got all excited, right? A PIN CODE! but.... it wasn't. It was just the "complete your booking!" email.

HOWEVER...

I have never gotten an email from Disney Destinations before. SO. Perhaps that's a good sign. Waiting to see about the possibility of a discount for January. I know the mailed PINs went out already but you never know.

Just wanted to share the (half) excitement, haha.

 

[momof2minnies]

Hi following along here- you are doing great.Yeah the gel can be quite a mess and you are supposed to have water with them so they never really do the trick for me on shorter training runs, I usually only use them during a race at the water stops.

Good luck with the 1/2 Oct 5th- did you say where it was? I don't remember.


Mickey mail is always fun isn't it?


Linda

 

[mrsdrake625]

This Week's Schedule:

[x] Monday: rest
[x] Tuesday: easy 3 miles + strength
[ ] Wednesday: fun run 5k test
[ ] Thursday: 6x400 @ 5k pace
[ ] Friday: rest
[ ] Saturday: 6 miles

Today's 3 miles were supposed to be "easy," but I had a tough time, at least mentally. My pace was fine, I just felt very sluggish. Perhaps I didn't have enough carbs?? No idea. It got done though.

Garmin fogged up today! That has never happened before, in hot or cold weather. It was fine when I started my run, but about .5 miles in there was a round circle of fog inside the face. I still have the warranty so I'm not terribly worried about it but hmm.

For strength workouts, I have to say I am very unmotivated. So I will try starting small and going from there. Accomplish something and move on, instead of trying and failing repeatedly!

Today's strength:
8 pushups
10 s side plank, 1x each side
"Mountain climbers" x8
lunges x 6 each side

repeat sequence

So nothing fancy or difficult but enough for me.

Hi following along here- you are doing great.Yeah the gel can be quite a mess and you are supposed to have water with them so they never really do the trick for me on shorter training runs, I usually only use them during a race at the water stops.

Thanks for following!! Yeah, taking gel without water would be disgusting. I don't tend to use any kind of energy or water on shorter runs but today I could have used it.

Good luck with the 1/2 Oct 5th- did you say where it was? I don't remember.

I didn't say. It's the NH Marathon, around Newfound Lake.

Mickey mail is always fun isn't it?

Of course!

 

[mrsdrake625]

Well, wednesday's fun run never happened. We have been doing tons of house stuff since moving and I was too wiped out. I did manage to get my office and a closet painted in the past two days! It was a good arm workout - not the main arm muscles, but the stabilizing ones, so I am happy enough.

The color is Behr Fresh Day, which looks an awful lot like Cinderella's dress color, so you can decide whether it's white or blue. It looks great, so happy with it.

So, switched out the 5k fun run to do a progression run/mile repeats or something like that today. Basically I picked a loop route that was about .8 miles and ran it three times, trying to get faster each time. I worked on my cadence and maintaining a quick foot turnover, which was good practice - LOTS of hills on this route. It also started raining, so I had to whip off my hydration pack to get my raincoat, which was... complicated... but managed in the end! I was a little worried about my Garmin in the rain seeing as it fogged up last time I used it, but it seems fine.

Tomorrow will be an easy 3 miles I think and then a long run sometime this weekend. I did Sunday last week, which was nice and quiet early in the morning. We leave for church around 8:45 so I didn't have to wake up too early, but once the runs get longer I may reconsider that!!

 

[mrsdrake625]

Friday - 2.5 miles easy
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 5.5 miles long run

Feeling pretty good. I hate having "rest days" because they usually mean I didn't get around to doing what I had on the schedule, but I think I'm realizing that they are necessary to continue doing what's on the schedule (without getting injured/worn out).

Today I tried peach rings (candy) as a fuel source while running. Interesting results gastrointestinally, to say the least. I think the more sugar (refined or not) is in the food, the worse I do with it. It messed with my GERD a little bit, too, which wasn't great but with water readily accessible wasn't a huge issue. Sorry, TMI, I know. I ordered some sport beans this week so I will see how those work out, and then look into other types of carbs (besides straight sugar, I mean).

Finally got some order/structure planned out for strength workouts this week. Pinterest is our friend!

Monday: modified at-home HIIT workout (7 minutes, nothing too intense)

Tuesday: 35 min tempo run

Wednesday: plyo workout, 30 mins easy flat running

Thursday: 3 miles @ goal race pace

Friday: rest + strength - flex arm hang (goal is to do pullups) and modified handstand (goal is to learn handstand)

Saturday: 7 miles

Sunday: rest

Looking at that schedule, I think it's a little much. We'll see how I do with it.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Monday: HIIT Workout

It was actually kinda fun - definitely challenging. It was supposed to be 30s on, 10s off, but I started with 20s on, 10s off. Glad I did.

Tuesday: 35 min tempo run

This turned into a little bit of a progression run instead, I don't think I did a very good job of reining myself in. I felt really good, so I really pushed the last speed interval a little too fast. The good part was that I learned I can go a lot faster than I think I can go. It almost feels like there's a governor on the engine, so to speak, and I need to take it off! I ran that 3 miles around the same time as my 5k PR, and the run I did included a warmup of 10 mins easy running. So I know I can go faster now.

Wednesday: really tired, rest (was supposed to do 3m + strength)

Glad I rested this day, I think I benefitted from the break. I am not used to strength training, so taking it easy in the beginning is probably wise. However...

Thursday: rest again... just never got outside.

We had carpet installed Thursday (it was supposed to be installed Monday ) so I stayed home while the installers were there, then we had to move all of our furniture back into the bedroom. Then I had to make lunch. Then I had other stuff... and then I realized we had no food, so a trip to the grocery store was in order... so it just got out of hand. But the hubs and I ended up going on a little date, so it all worked out

Friday: 3 miles, plyometric workout

I was supposed to do a "pace" workout yesterday, but I think I'll keep the speedwork to one day a week for now. I thought about doing the pace today, but I opted for the 3 miles easy and the plyo instead. I don't even know how far I ran, I just ran 32 minutes, so it's definitely not 3 miles. The goal was to get out there and run. It was raining, so I felt a little more tough after skipping two days of working out.

Plyo was interesting... had no idea what was supposed to be happening so I tried starting jumps from a low stance, one at a time, and that was pretty hard. Next I did continuous jumps, reaching for the ceiling each time. That was hard too but easier to do form-wise. I will have to look up what is supposed to be happening here!

I also tried doing a chinup workout. The goal is to get you into shape to do a chinup, something I've always wanted to be able to do. It was tough - at the moment I can flex arm hang for about five seconds, two times. The third time, I dropped like a stone! So, I am excited to plot progress on this item. Next week I can try for close to ten until I get there, etc.

Coming up -
Sat - long run
Sun - rest and weights/chinup!
Mon - 4 miles
Tue - hill workout

 

[momof2minnies]

Hi thanks for stopping by my journal! The Applefest is a beautiful race but at about mile 8-9 ,if I remember, the massive incline starts.

I loved it. The scenery was nice,the weather great and the food and music at the end was awesome, something Disney needs to work on.


Give it a try-they do fill up fast-they only take about 1200 runners.Nice bling too.


Linda

 

[momof2minnies]

Hi thanks for stopping by my journal! The Applefest is a beautiful race but at about mile 8-9 ,if I remember, the massive incline starts.

I loved it. The scenery was nice,the weather great and the food and music at the end was awesome, something Disney needs to work on.


Give it a try-they do fill up fast-they only take about 1200 runners.Nice bling too.


Linda

 

[mrsdrake625]

Well, where were we?

Saturday: Hiking!

We went to a local mountain to do a hike. It ended up being 7 miles... the distance of the long run I was planning on doing today. It sounded long, but I figured, "it's just walking..." Yes, but walking UPHILL! My husband has done it several times and said I would have no problem with it. We did fine, but I was definitely sore the next day. The view was totally worth it - I've never really been hiking before, so this was fun and I'm willing to make it a new hobby. Hubs likes it a lot, and he can't really run (bad knees) so this could be a great fitness thing we can do together.

I did get to use my new hydration pack and break in my trail running shoes, so all was good. It also felt like good cross training; I feel my legs getting stronger.

Sunday: Rest

Obviously.

Monday: Long Run

Alright, so back to the long run. I waited until about noon to start, but the daylight ended up being a good thing - the road I tried was very windy (mountains, too) so I felt like I was hard to see. It's not a busy road, but it's just not a good place to run, so that's noted. Gotta try new things, though!

Used the sport beans, they worked great. They are a little hard to chew while running, which I guess is the benefit of gels. I almost choked one time and thought, "I would have to do the heimlech maneuver on myself on the road... this could be bad." Having water is definitely a necessary thing for eating anything while running.

I added some "power miles" into the mix. I wanted to see if I could run a "race pace" and then maintain my long run pace afterwards. I ran two of the seven miles as a "power mile," trying to stay in the 10s (what I'm hoping to run in the half... maybe). My splits actually ended up being negative - 11's for the regular miles, 10s for the power miles, so that was cool to see. I have a hard time pacing myself (see thursday below) so this was a good encouragement to start a little slower and work your way up.

Considering that a 12 mm was a huge accomplishment not that long ago... this was a great morale booster!!

Tuesday: Hill Workout


This was fun. There are two hills that meet at the bottom of the college campus near us. You can run up and down both from the same spot. So I did 3x the really steep, short one, and then 1x the longer one. Tried to run each repeat faster than the last. I learned about form and made a few adjustments that were helpful in my regular run on Thursday. Definitely a tough workout, and I probably should have done a third set. Next time.

Wednesday: Rest


Just didn't get around to it in time today. We got our closets delivered and put together - they are AWESOME.

Thursday: Pace Workout


The goal was to run 3 miles at my race pace. I started the pace without looking at my watch to see what I thought "Race pace" was. Well, I ended up running my 5k pace and it was way too fast to sustain for very long. So I need to make some adjustments and learn how to pace myself better for the half - good thing to learn today!

Coming up:
Friday: 3 miles easy, strength workout
Saturday: Long run, 8 miles!!
Sunday: rest
Monday: 4 easy miles
Tuesday: 40 min tempo run
Wednesday: 3 easy + strength

There's a 10k race next weekend... I'm not registered but it might be fun to set a new PR. My only other 10k times are awful - didn't train and really wasn't running at the time at all. So they'd be easy to crush. Good mental boost!

Hi thanks for stopping by my journal! The Applefest is a beautiful race but at about mile 8-9 ,if I remember, the massive incline starts.

I loved it. The scenery was nice,the weather great and the food and music at the end was awesome, something Disney needs to work on.


Give it a try-they do fill up fast-they only take about 1200 runners.Nice bling too.


Linda

It sounds really fun. It's actually the exact same date as my race - that's good, I need Saturday races schedule-wise. Thanks for the tip!

 

[2TxAgs]

Hey mrsdrake.... I've tried the Target brand fruit strips for energy. They taste good and two is roughly equal to a bag of sports beans. Much cheaper too.

Keep up the good work! I'm registered for my first half at the end of the year. I've spent the summer doing mostly 3-4 miles, building up my base, trying not to overdo it in the Texas heat and taking care of these 50 year old knees. My training plan starts with longer runs, 4+ miles, in a couple weeks, so I'm hoping all goes well.

Take care

 

[mrsdrake625]

Updating a little sooner than last time! Maybe the posts won't be so abysmally long.

Friday - 3 miles easy (including one big hill) and a HIIT workout again.

I marked the hill as a course on mapmyrun, so it will be fun to see if I can improve my going up the hill time. It's a nasty hill. The intervals workout was good, tried for 30s on a few of the items on the last set but I also skipped the legs (squats and lunges) since I had just finished running.

Saturday - rest day

Sunday - long run day (8 miles!)

Mentally this one wasn't hard; I knew I had done 7 miles last week and felt great so 8 didn't seem that much harder. It was pretty hard physically - my legs didn't feel as strong today as they did on Monday. I think weights and the hill workout and the overdone pace workout on Thursday taxed them a little more than I expected. After about 3 miles I started settling in, but the roads I was running on were cambered quite a bit - my feet and ankles hurt a lot on the "out" portion. On the "back" portion, though, the other side of the road didn't seem as bad.

So, no "power miles today," but I finished strong and that's what counts. I think my average pace was somewhere around 11 - 11:30, but the last 1/2 mile (where I could see my car and had Metallica playing on my headphones) I just blasted it, and averaged more like a 8:30 pace... so I think I made up some of that average and the total time was 90 mins for 8 miles, just over 11mm. Wish I had actually run that the whole time, but whatever. My husband said, "Hey, if it were a race, it would still count." I'm happy I finished.

I think I am going to make this a periodization week - so next week taper back a little bit, and then pick up where I was last week, and start from there and go up again.

Hey mrsdrake.... I've tried the Target brand fruit strips for energy. They taste good and two is roughly equal to a bag of sports beans. Much cheaper too.

Keep up the good work! I'm registered for my first half at the end of the year. I've spent the summer doing mostly 3-4 miles, building up my base, trying not to overdo it in the Texas heat and taking care of these 50 year old knees. My training plan starts with longer runs, 4+ miles, in a couple weeks, so I'm hoping all goes well.

Take care

Hi! and thanks!

I did the same thing to work up to the training for the half and I am really glad I did (build a good base like you said). You'll do great! Oh, the heat - we used to live in Mississippi and the heat was unbelievable. So exciting about the first race!! You'll do awesome. Is it a big race or a more local one?

The fruit strips sound like a great idea, thanks for the tip. Easier to eat.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Another good but challenging week:

Monday - Rest
I felt sore and tired, so I rested today.

Tuesday - 3 miles on the treadmill + abs + chinups
Not a huge fan of the treadmill to be honest but it's gotta start soon since winter is coming! The abs workout was fun - it's "fast abs" from Runners World if you're interested. Also tried to work in chinups today - did 3 flex arm hangs for 10s each: yay!

Wednesday - 40 mins tempo run, 3.71 miles!
This was surprisingly fun. Warmup for a few minutes, did 10 mins at 1/2 marathon pace, then faster, then around 5k pace to finish. Also discovered some great trails very close to our house - turns out they are open to the public for running/hiking/mountain biking in the spring/fall/summer, and in the winter you can pay $5 for XC skiing (or trail run for free).

Thursday - rest and gardening, which was a good workout itself!

Friday - did some trail running on those trails! SO FUN.

Saturday - rested.

Sunday - 8.25 mile run. There was an almost 2 mile incline near the beginning, but it meant a beautiful 3 mile stretch at the top looking out over the ridge, watching the sun set. Awesome.

Monday - sick today, gluten I think. Stayed in bed most of the day. Moved some workouts around; I'm skipping speedwork for this week and focusing on the medium-length runs and strength instead.

Tuesday (today) - 4.5 miles on the treadmill + weights
Weights was mostly lifting/strength type work. I'm trying a new website called quadfit.com if you're interested in checking it out. It may be geared more towards those who have gym access and/or weight equipment, but you can easily sub exercises if you don't. There's just a little less variety that way.

Coming up:
Wednesday: 3 miles easy
Thursday: 4 miles pace
Friday: weights/plyometrics
Saturday: 9 mile run

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Wednesday: 2.25 easy miles on the treadmill, just to loosen up the legs.

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Gym Workout - weights/strength with a little bit of cardio. This killed my legs, I think. I am not used to doing strength in general, and the routine does a lot of quads (squats, plyo, etc). I might need to scale that back and focus on core and back instead.

Saturday: Long run, 8.8 miles

The long run was supposed to be 9 miles, but I was thwarted by a stalker. Some creepy man decided it would be fun to follow me around for the last mile or so. I wrote out the whole story on another thread, but I was not happy and I am not happy today either.

I'm not scared of him, necessarily, but going out for a run today just doesn't sound like as much fun as it used to a few months ago. Between my legs hurting and thinking through all of the changes I want to make because of what happened (bring the phone even for short runs, avoid less populated areas, etc) I think I am experiencing a little burnout - my muscles are sore, and I am just frustrated that this happened (with the creeper). I know how to stay safe but at the same time, it's easy to think through all of the "what ifs?" instead of how great the run is going to feel.

Sunday: rest (planned and welcomed!)

Today: I have on my schedule to run a 4.5 miler. Tomorrow is supposed to be a fast workout, followed by a 3 miles + strength on wednesday. That sounds like an awful lot so I'm debating between rest today with some light weights/strength work, or just doing a few easy miles on the treadmill at home.

I also know that I need to get "back on the horse" quickly as far as feeling afraid of being followed again. The longer I wait to get out there the harder it will be and the more he will have "won."

I hate this! I'm not really a feminist or anything but why do women have to be afraid to do anything anymore? Why can't I just go running? Why am I now concerned about varying my routes (which I already do), bringing a cell phone, and knowing self defense - just to exercise? really? Is it that appealing to follow and attack women who just want to stay healthy??? I understand why we should take precautions, but come on. I'm hoping I won't see him again but it just makes me sad. I'm very grateful today that we have a treadmill but I want to use it when I want to use it, not because I feel forced.

So some good news to counteract the bad - my long runs have been consistently within range of my goal pace for the half marathon. SO I think I can do a decent job and get a time I am happy with.

And welcome, wiigirl! thanks for following along!

 

[mrsdrake625]

Soo... it's been awhile!

Running Plan update: I did it! I missed one long run, half because I didn't schedule very wisely, and half because of things I couldn't have forseen. It was the last long run before my race, so I subbed another quality workout (4 tempo miles) and it went pretty well (see below).

Race update: PRRRRRRR BABYYY!! 2:13:54. My last PR was 2:46:00!

I ran my first half basically on a dare. We were doing this kind of "biggest loser" challenge within my family. I did "train" for the race, best I knew how, which was not very well. The longest run I had before the race was 5 miles - I had no idea there were training plans for this sort of thing! I managed to finish and run the whole thing, for which I was extremely proud. I was also miserable for the week afterwards...

I did another half a few years after, got basically the exact same time and exact same result with the exact same preparation.

So, this time I decided to do it right. I had discovered Hal Higdon (via Ariel848 ... or is it 484??) and her trip report for the Princess. I did the Intermediate plan. Apparently it worked! I'm also in much better shape and weigh a bit less than I did last time. Those factors combined did quite a bit and I'm really happy with the result.

Higdon Pros:
- easy to follow, not overly technical
- allows you to choose a level that's appropriate for your fitness

Cons:
I wish he had some more detail for pace goals for various workouts. I slowly discovered that what I thought was my "fast" pace wasn't as fast as I could run, etc. That's just a benefit you get with something like SmartCoach, I guess.

Next time I'll use smartcoach to find paces for various workouts and use the Higdon plan - except I would rather run a few more medium-length runs during the week, and alternate a speed workout every Saturday with the long run. I think that would have prepared me better but I don't know... I'll try next time.

Fuel:
I ended up going with powerbar and a few clif blocks. HATED the clif blocks. So hard to chew and not choke. I think I'm moving to gels now... bummer because they're kind of expensive. Oh well. My favorite flavor was definitely the chocolate - I didn't expect it to taste very good at all, but it was amazing! I had tried it during training and made sure to bring one to the race - saved it for last, which was a great mental and physical boost

Anyway, it was a great race and I'm so happy.

Stalker: I saw him again a few weeks after the first time and notified the campus security of the college nearby. I do run with a cell phone, don't wear a ponytail, and I pay MUCH more attention to my surroundings. Anyway, enough on that.

Additionally, a week after the stalker incident, ANOTHER crazy neighbor watched me, was carrying nunchucks that he pretended were a bow and arrow, shot rainbows at me and barked at me. Like a dog. This guy is legit crazy (obviously) and a neighborhood legend/pest/nuisance, and I think has some issues - the police have been called multiple times to his house. It's a long story. Anyway, I'm not particularly worried about him doing anything to me personally, he's just crazy and likes to cause trouble for anyone who will give him attention. So, I won't. But needless to say, it was an interesting running week for me.

What's next?
Well, we're coming up close (i.e. still a few months, haha) to ski season! So I'm focusing on these things:
- recovering from the race
- strength building and power
- technique/balance

I'll still do a few quality runs and one easy run a week, two strength sessions, and an easy technique/balance workout. I'm hoping to pick up a good pair of XC skis at a swap in the next few weeks, we live next to several different places I can ski so that's going to sub in for a few runs once there is snow on the ground.

 

[Ariel484]

I was inspired by Ariel484's chronicles of her training, and it was very helpful to see that some weeks were great, others were not, and lots in between. The race is really just the culmination of all of the work you put in. So... here we go...

That's meeeeee!

Race update: PRRRRRRR BABYYY!! 2:13:54. My last PR was 2:46:00!

WAY TO GO! That is awesome!!

So, this time I decided to do it right. I had discovered Hal Higdon (via Ariel848 ... or is it 484??) and her trip report for the Princess. I did the Intermediate plan. Apparently it worked! I'm also in much better shape and weigh a bit less than I did last time. Those factors combined did quite a bit and I'm really happy with the result.

Higdon Pros:
- easy to follow, not overly technical
- allows you to choose a level that's appropriate for your fitness

Cons:
I wish he had some more detail for pace goals for various workouts. I slowly discovered that what I thought was my "fast" pace wasn't as fast as I could run, etc. That's just a benefit you get with something like SmartCoach, I guess.

Next time I'll use smartcoach to find paces for various workouts and use the Higdon plan - except I would rather run a few more medium-length runs during the week, and alternate a speed workout every Saturday with the long run. I think that would have prepared me better but I don't know... I'll try next time.

484.

I totally get what you are saying about the pacing! It can get confusing! Have you been using SmartCoach? I've looked into it but have never actually used it to train for anything. I'd be curious to know how it's working for you! Or maybe you're still skiing!

Thanks for the shoutout!

 

[mrsdrake625]

That's meeeeee!

WAY TO GO! That is awesome!!


484.

I totally get what you are saying about the pacing! It can get confusing! Have you been using SmartCoach? I've looked into it but have never actually used it to train for anything. I'd be curious to know how it's working for you! Or maybe you're still skiing!

Thanks for the shoutout!

Yes, it's you!!

I had forgotten about this lonely little thread since I started my blog. I'm glad you saw it and I hope it makes you feel good about all the hard work you put into your trip reports!

Yes, pacing - I actually have been planning on using MacMillan's pace calculator instead once I start race training again. It tells you what paces you should run your workouts, and it's pretty specific. Right now, with winter roads, I'm focusing on running for time, not speed (per HH's instructions, haha) and staying in good aerobic shape, plus strength/conditioning. I'll add in speed again in the spring.

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/calcUsage/calculate

Anyway, so there's MacMillan and then I've also discovered that running by effort for most workouts is a better way to gauge things. I have left my Garmin either at home, or tucked it under my sleeve just to track the distance. I actually run faster when I'm not checking my pace. I think the mental associations with what each pace should feel like are part of training - you have to teach yourself that you can run X fast and feel good doing it? Plus, I've also learned that easy really does mean easy.

We WOULD still be skiing if there was any snow! The polar vortex for us just meant frigid dry weather that froze the snowpack we already had into a block of ice. Lots of the smaller ski resorts are having a really hard time, and the bigger ones that make snow are still not that great. We're supposed to get some more snow here soon, so hopefully that will change. But I was planning on logging lots of time on XC skis by now! Hopefully soon.

Thanks for your comments