I had another good week of training. So far I wouldn't consider any of my runs as being total duds. My tempo last week wasn't the greatest, but I still hit my target pace so it wasn't a complete failure (I know, I shouldn't even complain about it). This week I felt great all week and thought that all of my runs were well executed.
I got a little anxious mid week when I realized that it was the last week of training that FLAB had given me. She wanted to see how well I responded to the first 4 weeks before she put all the effort into the remainder of my training plan. I am a planner so I panicked when I realized I didn't know what I would be running next week. It really isn't a big deal- I am just a freak of nature. I emailed FLAB all of my training times from the last 4 weeks and she said that she would get me something by Friday afternoon. When I got her email as I was leaving work, I got a little excited to see what she had pulled together for me. After reading the email, I got a little nervous! This is what her email said:
This is a really aggressive plan for a sub 7:00 min pace!! So if you don't meet the times, don't freak out. You will still kill the BQ time. You could easily add 15 seconds or more to the tempo runs and long runs, and I believe you would still be on target to beat the BQ qualifying time. That is a no brainer at this point. Now we're just going to see what you can do. If you feel ANY body issues at all, back off pace, rest, and let's re-evaluate. The primary goal is to walk that fine line of training hard and staying injury free.
I hope you like this and also have a little fun trying to meet the times. And please send me some of your times on the tempos & long runs. I'm very curious how this will go for you. If you are consistently missing the times, then I will re-write it. I don't want you to feel defeated, or overly competitive. We're just seeing what you're capable of. If you can beat the interval times, that would be interesting as well.
Let me know what you think.
Good luck, Sunshine!!!
Hmmm, aggressive? All that was running through my head was "HOLY MOLY"!!!!!! After looking it the training plan she had created I had a mixed range of emotions. I was excited, scared, ecstatic, nervous etc. I was more excited and I guess slightly nervous. I am VERY competitive. VERY, VERY, VERY competitive. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks and seeing how the new plan goes. I know that I can push myself more. I want to be the best that I can possibly be and I don't want to have any regrets.
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 6 am SJ class. It was a tough one! First day of my next 10 week session with the famous FLAB (Fearless Leader Amy Black). We ran stairs (ugh) and did lots of leg work (ugh). I was beat after class! I got home from work and was tired, but felt like I could go out and run an easy 3 miles. Fall is my absolute most favorite time of the year. I love running in the evenings when the leaves are changing and the air is crisp. It is perfect running weather. I ran a very easy 3 around my neighborhood and it felt good. I got home and the hubby and I went to Qdoba for dinner and then I sat in the hot tub. It was the perfect night.
Wednesday: Wednesday did not start off good. I woke up with a really bad stomach ache. Decided not to run in the morning because I wasn't sure how far I would get with how I was feeling. Slept in until 6 am and then did some stuff around the house before going to work. Luckily, Cam wanted to go to the gym after work so I called him to arrange a time to meet him there. I really (as stated before) don't like to run after work, but sometimes you just have to roll with it.
I am pleased to report that I nailed my workout- it was AWESOME! I almost want to say that it is my best workout to date. I ran a 16 minute WU (1.66 miles) and did some stretching. My interval workout consisted of 2 sets of 6 X 400 meter repeats. I had a 90 second rest in between my repeats and a 2min 30sec rest in between the sets. My target time was 1:30 for each 400 meter- that equates to a 5:50/mile pace.
My 400 repeat times were:
1:33.8
1:25.5
1:24.3
1:22.5
1:25.0
1:22.2
1:22.4
1:23.1
1:23.1
1:19.4
1:21.2
1:17.5
I covered the 3 miles in 16:40 which equates to a 5:40/mile pace. I followed this up with CD that took 10:09min (1.15 miles). I felt great during this workout. I actually think some of my times were faster than it shows because it was difficult to hit the lap reset AND the stop button on my Garmin at the same time. I am not the best at multi tasking sometimes. :-)
Thursday: SJ class at 6 am. Did lots of arm work today. Probably won't be able to feel my shoulders for a couple of days....
Friday: I had a 6 mile tempo run, target pace of 7:00/mile. I ran a 2 mile warm up before tempo (18.11) and then I picked up the pace for the tempo portion. I decided to run downtown on the Centennial Trail because I was hoping to also swing by the Double Tree on my CD and pick up my race number on my way back to the Spokane Club. It was a little chilly and very windy. I felt like I really struggled the last couple of miles to keep my pace in a decent range. I ended up finishing my tempo in 42:22 which is a 7:04/mile pace. I was pretty bummed and disappointed in myself. I started my CD and stopped by the Double Tree and picked up my race number. I saw some good friends there so that lifted my mood a little, but I don't like the feeling of failure. Needless to say, I was in a sour mood the rest of the night. :-( I was hoping that the 1/2 marathon on Sunday wasn't going to be a total bust.
Saturday: Off. I was so busy, I don't know how I would fit in a run. Saturday (10.8) happened to be my sweet Tia's 4th birthday (she is sich a big girl!) so I took both her and Maisy to Sbux for a little treat. They love whipped cream! After Sbux the girls got to go to Petco and buy some treats. Maisy has never been to Petco before so I was a tad apprehensive at how she would act. She ended up being a very good little girl- I think that they both had a lot of fun. The cashier gave Tia a special birthday cookie. She was totally living up her special day. :-)
This was Tia when we first picked her up in North Bend, WA (12.08.07)
Tia when she first got to her forever home
She was so sleepy
Tia's first snow (one of my favorite pictures of her)
Sunday: Spokane 1/2 Marathon. This was my 10th 1/2 marathon, craaaazy! (read about my other Spokane 1/2s here) I had so much fun at this race this year AND I totally rocked my new pink Team Sparkle skirt. It was chilly, but I was prepared and after I warmed up I sat inside for a bit and stretched so I wouldn't get too cold. I was surprised that I didn't see anybody that I knew before the start. The Spokane running community is fairly small. I started the race out pretty slow. There are some bugger hills along the course and I didn't want to burn out too fast. I kept my pace in the 7:30ish range and felt pretty comfy. It always gets to me in the beginning when tons of people are passing me, but I know as long as I don't let it get to me, I will pass them towards the end. I got tons of compliments on both my pink Team Sparkle skirt and my pink CEP compression sleeves. There were some disgruntled gentleman who muttered that they didn't mind being passed by a girl, but they really didn't like being passed by a girl in a pink glitter skirt. Too bad that they just got chicked! About mile 7 I started to pick up my pace. Before this point I was about 66th overall. I slowly picked up my pace until I hit Doomsday Hill at mile 9. I slowed down to a 9:00/mile pace and once I got to the top I picked up my pace again. I started to pass a TON of people at this point. I felt good so I kept on pushing myself because I knew that I had less than 2 miles to go. I finished 13.13 miles in 1:35:25. I was pretty excited about it because it was a course PR by 6:11 and a 1/2 marathon PR by 1:06. Not too shabby! I ended up 49th OA (told you I passed a TON of people in the last 2 miles!!!!), 7th OA female, and 2nd in my AG. :-)
I will post a better race recap this week.....
Garmin Splits
1.27 mile WU, 9:03/mile
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 1:35:24.6 | 13.13 | 7:16.1 |
| 1 | 7:33.1 | 1.00 | 7:33.2 |
| 2 | 7:18.5 | 1.00 | 7:18.6 |
| 3 | 7:13.4 | 1.00 | 7:13.5 |
| 4 | 7:35.2 | 1.00 | 7:35.3 |
| 5 | 7:12.5 | 1.00 | 7:12.6 |
| 6 | 7:24.7 | 1.00 | 7:24.8 |
| 7 | 7:30.0 | 1.00 | 7:30.0 |
| 8 | 7:10.1 | 1.00 | 7:10.1 |
| 9 | 7:15.6 | 1.00 | 7:15.6 |
| 10 | 7:32.0 | 1.00 | 7:32.0 |
| 11 | 6:57.1 | 1.00 | 6:57.2 |
| 12 | 7:02.5 | 1.00 | 7:02.6 |
| 13 | 6:51.5 | 1.00 | 6:51.5 |
| 14 | :47.7 | 0.13 | 6:21.0 |
More photos to come in my "official Spokane 1/2 Marathon recap"
My 3 positives from this week are:
1. I can tell that I am getting faster. I nailed those 400s!
2. Fall is here!!!! My favorite season (now if sbux would make a SF PSL I would be ecstatic!)
3. I had both a course PR and a 1/2 marathon PR at the Spokane 1/2 marathon. YAY!!!!!
Weekly Mileage: 32.27
--Tasha
