Track Repeats & Freekeh

• 0 • 13.1 Training, My Running

You can do it put some track into it! 

Hit the track this morning for my second workout for the Maine Coast Half Marathon in May! Yes… it’s starting. I had great results with Greg modifying Jack Daniels’ workouts for me for the Maine Half Marathon in October, but I wasn’t able to spend as many weeks in each phase as he would have liked because I didn’t start until school let out in June. This time, we’re starting around 18 weeks ahead of time to build in a buffer for any off weeks due to illness or vacation and to make sure I don’t rush through any of the phases before I’m ready for things to ramp up.

I had a 1 mile warm-up, then 12 x 200 meter repeats with a goal of 8:04-8:30 pace followed by 200 meters active recovery, 1 mile cool down.

I had to work for some of the first ones, but by the end I was hitting the repeats without any warning buzzes from my Garmin.

I almost ran this run on the treadmill, not so much because of the weather which was in the thirties and sunny, but because I was dreading the run to and from the track with its elevation and longer mileage than I really need to warm up or cool down. I was debating whether to run the first intervals on the road leading to the track, when I realized hey – I have a car. I will already be in said car dropping my kids off at school. I could just drive straight to the track, warm up and cool down there, and not have to face the giant hill leading into my neighborhood that would put me at higher mileage than strictly necessary.

So I did that, and I got to run outside in the fresh air and work on the mental discipline of making myself run the required interval speed rather than letting the treadmill make me do it.

The only downside was the irritation I felt when two women cut into the track and started walking their dog in the fast lanes. The thought of a dog using the bathroom on the track preoccupied my thoughts on all my recoveries, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak to them and suggest that maybe it’d be more hygenic not to have a dog in a place where college students do push-ups before track practice and the turf and track material has no drainage except over on the side which is meant for runoff.

I can’t police the local track 24/7, but I can remind all of you to wash your hands in between push-ups and eating wherever you do them, and don’t wear your running shoes inside.

After my workout I used my InstantPot to make freekeh for a breakfast grain bowl. By the time I’d showered, I had cooked freekeh which I topped with cinnamon, frozen raspberries that thawed when I mixed them in, and molasses to sweeten it. I think maple syrup would be delicious, too, but I love the taste of molasses and it’s a better source of iron and calcium.

Freekeh is also crazy healthy – I had 1/2 cup dry which means two servings. That means I got 32% of my daily fiber, 160% of my manganese (whaat?), 40% of my iron (not even counting the molasses), plus 12 grams of protein, which is 26.8% of my protein. I also had a glass of unsweetened soy milk with 8 grams of protein, bringing this post-run breakfast up to 44.8% of my daily protein with 20 grams. Plant power indeed!

This is good news because I did not finish my carrot smoothie this morning BECAUSE IT TASTED LIKE CARROTS. And not the good, sweet, fresh carrots. It tasted like old, overcooked carrots. We are having a blueberry goji smoothie tomorrow instead because the best thing I can say about this smoothie is it looked very nice with Will’s pajamas.

500 miles of running in 2018 complete – and my 2019 New Year’s Resolution!

• 0 • Motivation, My Running

A beautiful 5 mile run up in Maine this morning completed my 500-mile goal for this year!

I love New Year’s Resolutions and often find them game-changing in terms of habit formation and getting myself to stick with something enough to fall in love with it. This year was no exception. I loved the number of times this goal got me out for a run when I otherwise wouldn’t have.

I’ve never run so much in December in my entire life. Usually without a race looming it’s tempting to let the holidays and the cold weather get the best of me and not get out the door or onto the treadmill, but I ran 46 miles in December so I could finish my goal.

Last December I ran 3.4. In 2016 I ran 3.6. In 2015 I ran a whopping 16.15. Now, those are runs that are logged into Garmin, so it’s possible I hit the treadmill for some additional miles… but I’m sure it didn’t get anywhere close to 46.

That’s a lot of runs boosting my spirit and giving me more energy at a time when I need it most, the busy holiday season when I want to be genuinely jolly and not a giant stress ball. The extra running made a noticeable difference in helping me embrace travel and entertaining and planning and all the joy that should come with it but sometimes becomes overshadowed by stress.

I like that the goal had me tracking mileage, too, it’s fun to see the numbers and reflect on the year and to have them to look back on later. (I often look back at the year of my half marathon PR to see how many miles of running it took to get those results!)

My New Year’s Resolution for 2019:

More of the same BUT – I’ve decided I love the way this goal works for me to get me to do what I love consistently… so I’m going to add onto it.

500 miles of running

AND

500 miles of biking

AND

50 yoga practices

BONUS GOAL: try 50 different baked goods recipes in my quest for delicious, fast, healthy breakfast and snack options. I’m fine letting this one go if the stress and the mess outweighs the fun.

Note that I said yoga practices – that doesn’t have to be yoga classes. 15 minutes on the mat at home solo doing sun salutations and hanging out in downward facing dog counts. (5 minutes doesn’t. There, it’s in writing.) My reasoning for this is that I’d like to practice more at home since yoga has been so helpful at keeping my plantar fascia issues at bay and it’s such a great complement to my running.

500 miles of biking sounds like a lot, but biking is so much faster than running that a 50 minute studio class is often 10-12 miles, so that’s averaging about one ride a week for the year. Doesn’t that sound awesome?

To meet these goals, on average it’s about 10 miles of running a week, 50 minutes of biking a week, and one 20 minute yoga session at home or a studio class per week. During half marathon training, I’ll hit 25 miles a week and build a buffer. During the summer when I’m up in Maine I sometimes do 15-20 mile rides and get ahead there.

There’s flexibility, there’s wiggle room, but there’s no losing focus or I’ll get so behind I won’t be able to make it up.

It’s a big goal, but all three components complement each other and will make me stronger, happier, and more balanced.

Whatever you have in store for 2019, I hope it makes your heart sing and is a tool that helps you make time to do the things you love!

6 Weeks of Running Progress in Snapshots

• 0 • 13.1 Training, My Running

I had a great run this morning. 10 miles, hitting all my target paces Greg set up for me. (1 mile warm up, 1 mile under 10:18, 4 miles under 12:00, 1 mile under 10:18, 1 mile under 10:45, 2 mile cool down.)

It was night and day from my last 10 mile run, which was admittedly hot and humid and felt like an enormous struggle despite averaging almost 13 minutes per mile. That pace is about as slow as one can run while still running. It definitely felt like I was shuffling along for a brutal 10 miles.

Part of it was the weather that day, but part of it is the progress I’ve been making. For a neat visual, I decided to pull my snapshots from Strava and look at them over the course of my last six weeks of training. Snapshots like these don’t tell the entire story, because you can’t see the rest intervals dropping my pace after 400 meter repeats, or how hot the weather was, or if I maintained a tempo pace in the middle.

But they still tell a story of improvement. I’m trending longer and faster, and I’m thrilled. I’ve been consistently completing the workouts and I’ve got something to show for it already. YES.

I’m benefitting from Greg’s expertise and ability to create challenging but manageable workouts for me, from the accountability he provides that makes me want to push hard to meet the targets he sets, and from planning ahead to find time for running.

Check it out – and if you want to make your own, picmonkey is a great free online tool for making fast picture collages so you can see your week to week progress too.

First Training Run from Greg!

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Today’s 10 Mile Run

I averaged a faster pace today than I did for half the distance on my first training run of the summer, and that’s thrilling.

Running 10 miles and feeling good gives me hope that I’ll meet my goal to run the Maine Half Marathon on September 30th without walking and with a smile on my face at the finish. (A grimace is acceptable.) It’s been a few years since I ran a half, and it feels good to think that I might be back!

 

500 Miles in 2018 Progress and Half Marathon Training Update

• 0 • My Running

I passed the half-way point for my 500 miles in 2018 goal! Yes, I know June is halfway through the year and not August, but that’s ok because I’m starting to put in 20 mile weeks for half marathon training and it’s really helping me make progress.

500 miles in a year is about 10 miles per week. I completed a lot of 5 mile weeks this Spring when I was swimming and biking and getting ready for the Sebago Lake Triathlon instead of focusing on running, so I entered the Summer fairly behind on my goal.

While I miss the biking especially, I’ve enjoyed dedicating my scheduled workout time to focusing on running.

My half marathon training is going great.

Greg continues to put my training workouts together for me inspired by Jack Daniels Running Formula and how I did the previous week. I transfer the workouts he puts into Garmin (which includes the pace goals, mileage, interval lengths and everything) and then I just hit go.

I’ve been telling myself that it doesn’t matter if I fail to complete any one of these workouts, and it doesn’t even really matter how I do, all I’ve promised Greg is that I’ll make every effort to complete the prescribed workouts. But I’m actually meeting them. Not without struggling and occasionally sprinting towards the end of a mile repeat or tempo run to get my average pace within goal range, but I’m meeting targets.

And now that I’m over a month into completing the workouts he creates for me, I’m less scared of a failed workout attempt, because it’ll be viewed by both of us as an outlier.

Scheduling time to run has been critical for my consistency this Summer

One of the best things I did this Spring was look at my summer calendar and figure out which mornings I would need a babysitter in order to go for a run. I then found a babysitter and hired her for exactly the days I needed, months in advance. I didn’t include weeks the kids were at sailing camp in the mornings or the days we’d be camping in Acadia National Park.

It felt like a crazy and random request to find a babysitter who would be willing to commit to coming 2 hours at a time, 8-10 a.m., 3 days a week, for five non-consecutive weeks out of the summer. BUT I FOUND SOMEONE. I found a teacher who wanted to supplement her summer with a small amount of regular babysitting, who thought these hours would be perfect.

Can you believe it?

I couldn’t really believe it. I kind of felt like I was asking for the moon and now I’m just glad I asked.

But I found her, she’s wonderful, and it’s gotten me out the door for my runs week after week.

Now I’m looking at the first week the kids have school and strategizing for how I’ll shift runs so I can be fully present for their first day (and, honestly, the giant coffee social I’m throwing directly after drop off). Thinking about my running schedule based on other things on the calendar in advance helps me see potential conflicts and plan for them.

View from this morning’s run: I got five bug bites but it was beautiful!

More Writing For Me!

• 1 • My Running

This blog has been such a joy, because it’s given me a chance to combine two things I love. Running and writing. (And gradually triathlon, fitness classes, environmentalism… and, well, life.)

Which is great, because I love writing. It’s fun to take something burning in your brain and figure out exactly how to express it, and it’s even better when it resonates with others.

I had a few recent writing highlights. The first was a post that went over well in a triathlete Facebook group I’m part of:

The fact that someone called me their spirit animal because I wrote a post about sports bras that included a line about butt sweat pretty much made my day.

But not as much as getting into the Online Writing Certificate Program for novel writing through Stanford Continuing Studies!

For the next two years, I’ll be working part time on novel writing! I couldn’t be more excited. I took a class through Stanford’s online writing program this Spring to see if the workload would fit into my life and how much I would like it. I loved it.

I’m excited to keep running and writing, and looking forward to investing creative energy into a larger project.

I’ll still be here, and you can also find me writing blog posts for Sustainable Wellesley.

I’m excited to be on this journey, and so grateful to all of you who have read and responded and e-mailed me and been part of my running and writing life. Your encouragement kept me writing which led me here.

And I love here.