It is hot in the Twin Cities. Too hot. I have been doing a great job of adjusting to the heat and have really been proud of how I've fought through some tough temps to get my workouts in. But today it was just going to be too much. As of last night, the high was going to be 97 (before heat index). I first decided I just had to start today's 16-mile long slow run at 5:00am to beat the heat. Then I looked at the hourly. At 5am, it was already going to be 81. And it's just so darn steamy here. I talked to coach, and we both decided my best bet would be to hit the 'mill. Problem is, I don't have a gym here. Fortunately, the friend who I am living with this summer has a membership to a fabulous health club and she volunteered to take me this morning. Perfect.
But I am a bit ahead of myself. I haven't reported anything I have done in the past 13 days. That's mostly because I have been terribly busy with my summer job. It's also because I have just had a series of stellar workouts. Really, really solid training. Last weekend I upped my long run to 14. It went much better than the previous week's hot 12 and though I was definitely spent at the end (because of the heat) I felt good and was happy with my pace. I have also been happy with how great my legs feel. I am just getting stronger and stronger.
Wendy has started adding some speedwork which I LOVE. She has to prescribe things relatively specifically to reign me in because I love running fast. I am a sprinter at heart, after all. For the first couple of weeks it was just some steady pick-up miles in the middle of my run. Not looking at pace, just picking up to a steady, marathon-like pace. Those are fun, because I never really know what pace I am running. It's always interesting to look at the data.
Last Saturday, we added my first more specific speed workout. It's slightly silly to say it was specific, because it was a fartlek - my very first one EVER. For those who aren't familiar:
I had heard of fartleks for years...all the way back to high school where I teased the cross country/distance runners on the track team about their funny sounding workout. But I always shied away from them because the lack of structure - which is the entire point of the exercise - stressed me out. How far do you run fast? How do you know? Which mailbox or light post or tree do I choose? Was that far enough? Fast enough? Wendy anticipated that this lack of structure and direction would be difficult for me, so she made a suggestion that ended up working perfectly. She suggested I use my music and pick up the pace during the choruses of the songs and then run easy during the rest. Brilliant. She had basically taken the exact thing that makes me love spinning class and put it in a running workout. I was in heaven. I have spent my entire life studying music and nothing feels better to me than being able to USE music to guide me. Whether it's a soundtrack I make specifically for a bus trip or subway ride, choreography for a dance, or the background music on a wedding video, I love using music to say more. A quote I've always loved: "I like myself best when I am listening to my favorite music." So true. So...being able to use music to guide my workout was a blast. It was still random. The music was on shuffle and I never knew what was coming next. Some songs have REALLY long choruses, as it turns out. And some very short. I had SO MUCH FUN. I can't wait until the next one.
Yesterday, I ran my first Pace workout. Pace workouts are intended to get my body used to feeling the speed we are aiming for as my average marathon pace in November. I have hesitated to say what our goal is, because I don't want to jinx myself. There was something about leading into Grandma's without ever talking about how huge a drop in time we were shooting for (after only 3 weeks of true training and 2 weeks of taper) that made that experience exciting and magical. But we've got about 16 more weeks to go here. And I want to talk about my workouts, my progress, and the other races I will be doing as tests along the way. So heregoes:
I intend to break 4 hours in New York City. Yup. On a way harder course, packed with 45,000 people...I plan to drop another 24 minutes from my time. And, minus an injury or other problems along the way, I am fairly confident that I can...I will...do it.
So, during yesterday's workout, I ran 9 miles with 4 at Pace. I ran the pace miles around 8:50 and it felt great. It felt fun. It felt doable.
So back to today - hamster day. I ran 16 on the treadmill. Anyone who knows me, though, knows that I truly don't mind - and even like - doing long runs on the treadmill every now and then. And it's the hamster-ness that I like about it. Especially when I am training for a big race. I guess I just love the pure fitness of it. Sure, I like running outside in nature, over hill and dale, that's great. But I also kind of like just banging out some miles for the sole purpose of bettering my fitness. I recognize that it is not the same as running outside. But on a day like today, I am certain that I was able to complete a much better workout indoors. I ran 10:21 pace at 1.0% incline for 16 miles. Easy, fun, and even kinda relaxing to be in a hoity toity health club.
I am loving training right now. I am getting up at 5:00am 2-3 days during the workweek and loving it.
And, of course, I still love and absolutely adore my coach. Wendy's instruction, guidance, and encouragement has been good for me on more levels than I can articulate. She's changing me in ways far beyond my running. She just rocks.
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