Marathon Training: Week 4

Another week closer....hip hip hooray! I have already started thinking about what I am going to wear.....the decisions! If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

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)

After that I took in some much needed R n R until it was time for my hair appointment. I LOVE getting my hair done. Once that was done and I was looking all cute I went home to hang out with the birthday girl before the hubby and I headed out to EWU for the annual Oktoberfest event. This is our 3rd year going to Oktoberfest and it is so much fun- who doesn't love an excuse to drink wine/beer in the library? They have a silent auction that has gotten very popular, especially with my hubby. Even though he always gets the most randome things..... :-) All in all, Saturday was busy, productive and FUN day!

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

Marathon Training: Week 3

Well, looks like I am ONE week closer to CIM. 3 weeks down, 9 weeks to go! :-) This was another great training week. I am surprised at how well my body has responded to training. I don't remember training the training for Portland or Boston being this easy. Well not easy, but you know what I mean.....

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: 6 am SJ class (thankfully there were no massive amounts of lunges)

Wednesday: 6 X 800 repeats at 2:58 with 90 second recovery. 20 minute WU and 10 minute CD. I dislike intervals, actually I hate them. Even though I don't like them, this was a good workout. Instead or working out in the morning, I ran this at the track after work. Not the ideal time for me to run, but with the husband gone I had to improvise. The 800s were good- I ran them all below my target pace. Running intervals on the track is a million times different than the treadmill. It was a nice change of scenery.

I did get fairly disgruntled when people were WALKING in lanes 1 & 2 on the track. Doesn't everyone know about track etiquette??? I finally had to politely (while gasping for air) tell people to move out to lanes 5 & 6 or else I was going to plow over the top of them. I did notice several signs telling people which lanes were for walkers, but apparently people in Spokane don't know how to read or they don't think the rules apply to them.

Thursday: 6 am SJ class. I contemplated taking Maisy for a run or going to FI, but decided to just rest after work.

Friday: 8 mile tempo run, 6 miles at target pace of 7:00/mile. I really, really struggled through this run. I ran it after work (bad idea...again) and I was exhausted from the week and it was on the warm side of 85 degrees. I barely, barely came in under 7:00/mile by finishing my 6 miles in 41:53 minutes (6:57/mile pace). I literally (no joke) wanted to lay down on the sidewalk and just sleep once I hit the 6 mile mark. I felt awful- my stomach was killing me, my knee was throbbing, my shins hurt, and heck my shoulders were even throbbing! I shouldn't necessarily say that I struggled because I was still below my target pace, but it just felt difficult to maintain.

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: Long run day! Technically, I had 19 miles to run, target pace of 8:11/mile, but I was feeling like an over achiever and decided to make it 20 miles. It was a pretty good run and I was glad that I was able to get it out of the way in the morning. I was smart and brought my water with me and 3 Clif gel packs. I consumed all 3 gels, which I typically wouldn't have done, but I think that it helped me. I took my first gel at mile 5, the second at about mile 12 and the third at mile 16.5. Having the 3 gels really helped me and I figured that it will be a good habit to get into prior to CIM. I had to stop once at a McDonald's to fill up my water because the water fountains in the city parks have already been turned off for the season. Other than that, I powered through and felt really great.

Last week when I ran 17.41 miles on Sunday I wasn't sore on Monday. Today, I am proud to report that after a 20 mile run, I am not sore. :-)

My 3 positive things from this last week:

1. I tried something new on my long run (3 gels) and found out that it worked well for me.

2. The weather was awesome all week and I got to do all of my runs outside- so much more refreshing!

3. On my long run I ran under a BQ pace...pretty much awesome!

Total Mileage: 34.37

--Tasha

Marathon Training: Week 2

Now that my second week has been completed, only 10 more weeks to go. Another great week as far as training goes. I can definitely tell that the intensity has been kicked up a notch with this new training plan. It is a good feeling and I love pushing myself in my workouts. The only thing that would make it better is if I had a training partner-any takers?

Monday: OFF. After work I did some light stretching followed by abs and my foam roller

Tuesday: SJ class at 6:00 am. Took Maisy out for a short run at about 9:00-9:20/mile pace for 2.25 miles. When I got back I did some stretching, abs & used my foam roller. I was already feeling a little sore from my SJ class. We did LOTS of legs and lunges always make me feel like someone took a bat to my quads and hamstrings.

Wednesday: Now this was a workout! I woke up not feeling tired, but feeling incredibly sore from the day before. My quads were just burning with soreness. I really dislike running on the treadmill, but it is too dark to run on the track or roads when I get up. Ideally, I like to get my run finished before work so that I don't have to do it after work when I am exhausted from my work day. Unfortunately, this means I get to run on the treadmill at 5:00 am. There might be some weeks I can switch to an afternoon run, but I already had stuff planned for after work so that I could get ready for my parents to be in town over the weekend.
I ran 1 mile for a warm up- it was very slow. I started to loosen up towards the end of the mile and once I was done ,I stretched for a good 10 minutes. My workout consisted of 2 x 1200 meters @ 4:33 with a 2 minute recovery and 4 x 800 @ 2:58 with a 2 minute recovery. This was an epic fail for me! I am not trying to be negative, but it sucked! Running on the treadmill made it even worse- I almost stopped mid workout because I was mentally rearranging my afternoon so that I could run this on the track. I didn't hit any of my target times according to the treadmill, BUT I was below what the pace should have been. This royally pissed me off because technically I should have been below on every repeat by at least 6-8 seconds. According to my pace calculate that I use on Runner's World my 1200s should have been at 6:06/mile pace and my 800s should have been at 5:58/mile pace. I ran below both of those targets, but never hit the initial goal time. I was trying to not let it bother me, but as you can tell it does bother me. After today I am going to make every attempt to run these outside and just use my garmin. I trust my garmin way more than a stupid treadmill. GRRRRRRR.

After completing some research due to my lack of real world attention after my workout I started to feel a bit more positive with what I found. According to the McMillan Running Calculator a long distance runner should be hitting these target times on speed workouts based on 3:15 marathon:

Speed Workouts
	Middle Distance Runners	Long Distance Runners
400m	1:26.1 to 1:29.8	1:27.8 to 1:32.9
800m	2:55.7 to 3:03.7	3:03.5 to 3:12.0
1000m	3:49.4 to 4:00.1	3:55.1 to 4:04.1
1200m	4:35.6 to 4:48.1	4:42.1 to 4:56.4
1600m	6:16.1 to 6:30.6	6:24.1 to 6:38.2
2000m	8:00.1 to 8:14.0	8:08.2 to 8:17.8

After seeing that chart, I suppose I can sleep at night. :-)

Thursday: SJ class at 6:00 am. I was so SORE when I woke up it was ridiculous. The pain from the lunges on Tuesday really set in and combined with my workout the day before I felt like a hot mess. It took a while to loosen up in class, but I noticed other people saying they were sore too so that made me feel better about my little situation.

Friday: Tempo day! Today was my first day using my Garmin foot pod so that I wouldn't have anymore frustrations with the treadmill. Garmin foot pod = amazing. My tempo was 7 miles with 1 mile easy, 5 miles at 7:00/mile and 1 mile easy. My average pace on the 5 miles was 6:55/mile. Not drastically below my target pace, but I was below it. The foot pod really helped me hit my times. The workout was a good, but not so great to my poor little heel! It hurt the whole workout, but of course I couldn't stop! I didn't realize it was bad until I was finished. Ouch! Note to self: remember to pack band aids in my gym bag. :-)

Saturday: OFF. Celebrated the day in Cheney with my family and some EAGS football.

Sunday: Long run day (17 miles). I like to get my run over first thing in the morning, but I had to take my hubby to the airport at 7:00 am and my parents were here. After I took Cam to the airport I came back and my parents and I went to Chaps for breakfast. I love their blueberry french toast- it is to die for! After breakfast I hung out with my parents before they had to leave. By this time I was getting tired from not having any rest from the previous week. My parents left around 11:30 and me and the girls went to snugggle. Ended up taking a much needed 2 hour nap. When I woke up around 2:00 pm the weather had obviously changed- it was windy and sprinkling. Definitely not the weather to put me in a good mood to go run 17 miles! I decided to buck up and get the run over with. My target pace Amy had me at was an 8:11/mile. I figured that this would be easy to obtain. I started off pretty slow because of the wind and then settled in a groove at about 8:00/mile. The first couple of miles I was actually having fun. Then about mile 5-6 I hated my life (pretty typical long run feeling) and once I hit mile 10 I was happy again. I ended up running 17.41 miles because I miscalculated my route home and was not walking .41 miles back to my house- much easier to just run it.  My overall time was 2:15:13 which equates to a 7:45 pace. Not too bad. I felt great after and I am not even sore. I am looking forward to seeing how I handle the 19 miles next week.

My three positive things from this week:

1. I wasn't sore from Sandpoint....does that mean I am in shape????

2. I can officially run inside on the treadmill with my new Garmin foot pod (amazing!!!!)

3. I killed my long run and it felt awesome!

Weekly Mileage: 32.16


--Tasha

Marathon Training: Week 1

I signed up for CIM in March and ever since I have been excited to start my training. A couple of weeks ago I started to get nervous when I realized that I was quickly approaching the 12 week mark. I really don't know why I was nervous, I am in great shape and I am more than prepared for this. I am thankful that my super trainer, Amy Black, created a training plan for me that far exceeded my expectations.

My first week of training went by great. I was excited for my first workout on Wednesday- kind of the way you feel about the first day of school. I went to bed early on Tuesday and double, triple checked that my alarm was set for 4:30 am. I may have hit the snooze button at least once, but that is pretty typical. :-)

I also decided to invest in a foam roller for myself to have at home. I use one at the club, but I can't always drive down there to use one for 10 minutes. So far I have used it several times over the course of the week. It will be a great to now have one at home I can use after long runs.

My new foam roller

I decided to keep a hand written training journal so that I can chronicle my upcoming journey to have something to look back on. My workout partner and runner extraordinaire, Angie (aka "CM")  bought me this as a gift a couple of months ago and I figured that filling it up with CIM training stories would be perfect. I am also using the Garmin training log online and the Daily Mile. I know, I have training OCD!

Yes, I love cupcakes...

Here is a glimpse into my week....

Tasha's work out codes
Work out: WO
Warm up: WU
Cool down: CD

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: SJ class at 6:00 am. Ran an easy 1 mile at 7:00 pm followed by foam rolling, stretching & abs

Wednesday: Workout at 5 am (18 minute WU, 3 *1600 repeats at 6:12 pace w/1 minute recovery, 10 min CD). Repeats were as follows-- 6:11, 6:07, 6:05. Followed this with foam rolling, stretching & abs

Thursday: SJ class at 6:00 am. Went to FI at 6:00 pm and ran an easy 3 miles. Cam wanted to go and have a beer (such a supportive hubby) so we rode our bikes to FI and back home. The bike ride was about 6.5 miles.

Friday: Workout at 5 am- I was tired! (2 mile WU, 3 miles at 6:45, 1 mile CD). I was right on target, BOO-YAH! Followed workout with foam rolling, stretching & abs. It might take me a couple of days to get back into the routine of getting up early more than just 2 days a week. I was seriously dragging at the gym!

Saturday: Off, slept in, was a lazy bum. :-)

Sunday: Sandpoint 1/2 Marathon. This was a great race, course was beautiful, the event was incredibly well organized, and the volunteers were awesome. I would run this again and I would recommend this to anybody.  My only complaint was that the other was awful (and I know that isn't anyone's fault)- rainy and very cold prior to the start. Once the race started there was just a nasty head wind, but that's what you get living where we do. So, how did the race go? To sum it up, I was pleased with how I ran. I had a slight/potential bought of food poisoning and woke up not feeling good at all with some stomach/GI issues. I decided to make the trek to Sandpoint in case I started feeling bad once I was up and moving. Got up to Sandpoint and still didn't feel good. I had to use the restroom A LOT, which IS NOT GOOD! Was trying to decide if I might actually throw up about an hour before the race started. I decided (because I am CRAZY) to go ahead and warm up. Once I started warming up I started to feel a tad bit better. By 8:15 I decided to go ahead and run with the worst case scenario having to drop out. I felt great the first half and was averaging a 7:12-7:15 pace. By about mile 8 my stomach/GI issues returned and I had no choice but to stop at the port a potties by mile 10. I lost several minutes at my pit stop, but I was far enough ahead of the next pack the nobody passed me. Once I started running again I took a while to get back up to my pace. I eventually caught 1 more fella heading into mile 12 that I had been staring down the whole race. I ended up finishing in 1:36, just barely missing my PR. I think I missed it by 10 seconds. If I wouldn't have stopped at the port a potties I would easily have ran a 1:32-1:33. I was bummed that I didn't hit my goal, but I really had no choice about stopping. Looking back at my week I ran a total of 32 miles which is more than I have been running, I hit or beat all of my training pace goals and I had no rest/recovery leading up to Sandpoint so even just missing my PR by 10 seconds is not a big deal to me at all. I was the 10th place OA female and got 2nd in my AG. The gal who got first in my AG ran with me at EWU and she is incredibly talented and fast. I don't think I ever would have passed her. :-)

Each finisher got a free 5 X 7 picture

Training is hard- there is nothing easy about it. It isn't supposed to be easy. If it was, everyone would be running marathons. Not every workout will be great, some will be awful, but some will be awesome. I live for those awesome days and dread the days that don't go as planned. Such is the life of training. I am going to make it a point to say THREE positive things about each week of my training for CIM. Positive thinking= Positive attitude! My positive thoughts/comments for this week are:

1. A lady whom I don't know at SAC came up to me after a workout and said that I was a hard worker. I took that as a huge compliment. I have come so far since January and I am driven to go even further.

2. My foam roller! I purchased my very own foam roller this week and it has already been put to good use.

3. I ran well at Sandpoint despite the issues I was having and I got to meet a new running friend that I met through the Daily Mile website. It was great to meet Kris and person and I give her huge kudos for her awesome finish in the 10K with her step mom.

I will post more on Sandpoint later.....

Week 1 Mileage: 31.49

--Tasha

Running into fall

My fall training and racing schedule is shaping up to be quite busy. My marathon training officially commences on 9/12 giving me 12 weeks of solid training before CIM. Luckily, I have a great training base under my belt from this summer. It will be interesting to see how my body responds to marathon training this time around. I am hoping for the best because I feel like I am in better shape than I have been in the past and I am healthy AND injury free (knock on wood!!!!).

My race schedule has changed a tad, but not too much. Instead of doing a 10K on 10/9, I am going to run a 1/2 marathon. My long run on that day was already scheduled to be 13 miles so I am not making any drastic changes to my plan. This particular 1/2 marathon isn't my favorite- I have ran in it twice and it isn't fun. If you are familiar with the Bloomsday course, Doomsday Hill is at about mile 9. Not fun.

I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow I have Warrior Dash in PDX, Sunday I have Pints to Pasta 10K in PDX and next weekend I have the Sandpoint 1/2 Marathon. I haven't ran at Sandpoint before, but I heard that it is a great out and back course.

The HTC blog is coming....I promise....I haven't organized my photos and thoughts yet, but it is almost done. :-)

--Tasha

Yep, I am still here!

This last week I have been in recovery mode from HTC and ramping up for my next adventure- Labor Day weekend in Seattle with my college bestie Adrienne. There will be a full blog coming soon dedicated solely to the awesomeness of HTC. I have so much to say that it has taken me a while to put my thoughts together. Be looking for a blog next week. :-)

As of 9/11/11 it will only be 12 weeks until CIM. I went into panic mode yesterday when I realized how close my big day was coming. It was a good/excited type of panic. I am getting anxious to see what I can run, but I am trying not to get my hopes up. A part of me is sad that I didn't sign up for Portland in October, but I know that the timing for CIM with my training is going to be perfect. Let the official countdown to Marathon Madness begin!

--Tasha

CEP compression sleeves

I finally broke down and bought a pair of compression sleeves for my legs. I wasn't sure how I would like running with them, especially during the summer, but so far I like them. I wore them on a 9 mile run yesterday and they felt good and my legs didn't cramp as much. The sleeves run about $40 and the socks are $60. I decided not to get the socks because I already have socks that I like to run in and the sleeves seemed like a better deal. They come in multiple colors ranging from hot pink, kermit green, white & black. You can guess what color I got....I am interested in testing out the sleeves more, especially on longer runs while training for CIM.

Yes, they look a little silly, but they are comfortable

Check out my Brook's ST 5s!!!!

According to the information on the box CEP compression sleeves or socks have multiple benefits:
1. Improved blood circulation
2. Preventative function
3. Muscle & joint stabilization
4. Improved coordination

Positive effects from wearing CEP include:
1. Reduced risk of injury
2. 30-40% improvement in blood flow
3. Stabilization of ligaments & tendons
4. Reduced muscle vibration
5. Fewer muscle pains
6. Accelerated regeneration

Check out their website at CEP Sports

--Tasha

Is it really August?!

I still can't believe that it's August, this summer has flown by. I have been busy the last couple of weeks training and just trying to stay focused on my goal in December at CIM. I have gotten in some great runs and some not so great runs. The last week has been a little rough and I can't really pin point a reason as to why. I think maybe I was over training a bit, but now that I have cut back I feel like I am running in circles and not really going anywhere. I will admit I have noticed that I don't feel quite as tired as I have previously so that means that I am letting my body have a chance to recovery between workouts. I am glad that I have Amy to keep me in check. :-)

Last Saturday I had a long run (11 miles). I felt like it didn't go that great, but at the same time my pace was fairly on target so in general it wasn't a bad run. I just didn't feel my best.  Everyone is bound to have what they consider to be an off day every once in a while. They are frustrating, but not every run can be perfect.
I took Sunday off which I felt was much needed. It had been a hard week and that 11 miler took a lot out of me. On Monday I had a 5 mile tempo run. I didn't go until after work so I was already a little on the tired side and it was between 85-90 degrees, which isn't ideal to be running a tempo in. BUT, it was my best and fastest tempo pace to date for 5 miles. A couple of weeks ago I ran a 6:53 pace, but on Monday I ran a 6:48 pace. I don't know where that came from or how in the heck I am getting so much faster. I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I trained hard for CIM I could run in the 3:20-3:30 range, but now I am thinking I can break 3:20 and maybe even run 3:10-3:15.......I know that the summer base training I am building up will be a great foundation to start my marathon training this fall. December will be here before I know it!

I am loving my new Garmin! I have been learning about all of the cool new training features on Garmin Connect over the last week. I am very impressed with everything you can utilize. I figured out how to download a workout to my watch yesterday so I am antsy to try it out and see how it works. I am hoping that it will be easier than having to keep track of the splits and distances in my head. I am not the best with numbers. :-)

--Tasha

Training for Helvetia

After work tomorrow I leave for Portland to run the Helvetia 1/2 marathon Saturday morning. Where have the past several weeks gone!? I signed up for Helvetia back in February and June 11th seemed so far away then.....time flys when you are having fun!

This will be my second year running Helvetia with Cassie, and I hope not the last. I already have a feeling that it will be a great weekend! I am really looking forward to my Helvetia burger after the race too...I can't remember the last time I had a hamburger-December??? January?????

Helvetia is a pretty challenging course- there are a lot of rolling hills! They seem never ending, but I have been running hills like crazy on all of my runs to try and be prepared. Luckily, it shouldn't be as hot as it was last year so I am hoping that I don't die on the course like I felt like I was going to last year. I have been tracking weather.com all week and it looks like Saturday will be a high somewhere between 65-70 degrees and partly cloudy. Perfect morning running weather.

After much thought over the last week I have decided against wearing my IPOD. I am hoping that this decision doesn't come back and bite me in the butt. I figure I need to really keep my pace in check and my music/IPOD might be distracting. I am also always in my "zone" and don't ever really pay that much attention to my music during a race like I would on a training run anyways. At Windermere I was so yucky and sweaty that the last couple of miles my ear buds wouldn't stay in place and it was annoying having to mess with them.

It has been almost 4 weeks since Windermere I am feeling fantastic. I have gotten in several solid runs and mixed up my cross training with class, spin, and TRX. I am pretty stubborn (SHOCKER!!!), but I am finding that by listening to Amy, I am actually making some great strides in my running. On my 10 mile run, I took 3 minutes off of my overall time and on a 5 mile tempo run I averaged a 7:04 pace (these runs were in the same week!!!). I don't think that I have ever ran a 5 mile tempo run that fast before. I was shocked, but mostly shocked that it felt awesome. Woo! Hoo! I am mildly obsessed with spin- it is incredibly addicting. I like to "compete" against myself to see how many miles I can get in. It is also some of the best cross training I have ever done.

I will admit that I have struggled a bit this last week. I only had 2 runs which felt weird- I have always struggled with tapering. On Monday I went to spin at 6 am and then I had a 5 mile tempo run after work. I was tired/crabby and it was cold outside, but I pushed through the run. I couldn't get my pace right so I was getting frustrated- first I was going too fast so I would slow and then I was going to slow. UGH! I finally got into a rhythm about mile 3 and pushed through with an average pace of 7:03. It was faster than the week before, but it didn't feel good because I was exhausted from running so late in the day and from spin class. If it hadn't started to rain on me I probably wouldn't have picked up the pace that last mile.

The last couple of weeks I have also been really focusing on what I eat. I was watching my food intake before, but now I am focused on eating a little more everyday 1300 calories or so and watching my % of fat, protein, and carbs more closely. I also have one day a week where I eat about 1500-1800 calories- that is usually on Saturday so that Cam and I can eat out. Currently I am trying to maintain my daily carb intake to 45%, protein to 30%, and fat to 25%. It took a couple of days to get into the swing of watching my %, but I think that I have gotten it down. I am finding that it helps to plan out my food the day before so that I can make sure that I am eating the correct amounts. I would usually plan out my lunch and snacks, but now I plan everything that I will eat the day before. I am telling you, this being healthy is time consuming- but so worth it.

After Helvetia I am just going to spend the summer focusing on getting stronger, faster and having solid runs to take me into CIM in December. I know that CIM is still months away, but I want to be as prepared as possible. I plan on running a couple more 1/2 marathons and some 10Ks prior to CIM. December will be here before I blink!

So much to be looking forward too in the coming months! :-)

--Tasha

Windermere 1/2 Marathon: Week 4 down, 8 weeks to go!

The last couple weeks of training have flown by. I am amazed at how much faster I am getting each week. Unfortunately since I have to do most of my workouts at 5 am before work I have been running on the treadmill a lot. It is boring, but at least I can really see my speed improving. A couple of weeks ago, my warm up was at a 6.0-6.5. Now I am warming up and cooling down comfortably at 6.8-7.0 for a couple of Smiles. My 5 mile tempo run for the week was done at speeds all above 7.0. I like the feeling of knowing that each week I am constantly improving.

My weekly workouts consisted of 3 classes with Amy, a hill workout, tempo run, and a long run. In class, I am making an extra effort to add more weights so that I can add some upper body strength by the end of this next session. I think I still have little pebble arm muscles. :)

My hill workout was tough! It took me a couple of days to fully recover. The hill by SAC doesn't look too steep until you run up and down it 8 times. I did a 2 mile warm up on the treadmill, ran 8 sets of hills, and finished with a 2 mile cool down on the treadmill.

I completed my long run on the Bloomsday course. I think the Bday course is one of those that it doesn't matter how many times you run, it never gets easier. It was a little chilly and windy on Sunday morning, but I felt pretty good once I got going. I finished the course in 1:01 which is fairly decent for this time of year and where my fitness is at. The stairs that we have been running in class have helped on hills immensely (thank you AB!). I ran an average of 20-30 seconds per mile faster than my 6 mile tempo run the week before so that is a huge improvement.

I have 8 weeks of training left and I am very excited to see where I am at when race day arrives. I know that I am just doing Windermere to see where my fitness level is at and to have some fun. My real training will begin after Windermere for my 1/2 in October and my marathon in December. At this rate I should have some good races in my future. :)

--Tasha

Never say never!

I did something that I never, repeat N-E-V-E-R said I would do again. Yup, I signed up for a marathon! I still can't believe I did it. I really signed up, I mean not only did I sign up but I reserved a hotel room too! On 12.04.11 I will be running the California International Marathon from Folsom to Sacramento and couldn't be more excited. Maybe I am still in shock, but I am a little excited too. I am hoping that Cass will sign up with me so we can do a girls weekend, but so far she is still thinking about it. :)

California International Marathon Website

--Tasha