Running Errands Part 2: Grocery Run

Thursday's run was sort of like being in the middle of a Sonic the Hedgehog game -- I found 52 cents while I was running! Of course, I saw a penny, stopped. Ran some more, found another penny, stopped. Found a quarter. Then another quarter. Sweet!

I planned my run to end at the Kroger just a few blocks from home so I could pick up the last ingredients for last night's quiche. Of course, you can't really run with a pie crust and half-and-half, so I just walked home. With my 52 cents.

Tuesday I did my first workout in ages, starting with some cruise interval 800s. So pretty much just 6x800 at tempo pace, 2 minute recovery. My, how the mighty have fallen. I hit pace (based of an estimate of 5k fitness) and never felt awful, but was definitely working. After, I couldn't decide if I felt good for running as planned -- or bad for how slow I've gotten.

Race calendar is full-up at the moment; there are a ton of good races coming up that I just can't miss. We will test out the racing into shape theory with races 5/28, 6/5 and 6/11. Then it's off to DCAC running camp for a week 6/26-7/2, then probably a Fourth of July race. (Bluegrass 10,000 or Crescent Hill 5k.)

Short run tonight, long run Saturday, short run and massage Monday. Details and weekly recap coming soon.

Workouts are flexible

What a hellacious week. Kicked it off Sunday with a solid 15-miler, no gels, mid-70s and humid. Felt good, but was totally wiped out when it was over. Laid on my living room floor for a while when I got back.

No getting squirelly on Monday, stuck to the muddy, hilly trails in anticipation of Tuesday hill repeats. When we got to Maple for the repeats, it was nearly 80 degrees. I averaged three seconds slower than the week before, with my heart rate max the same, so not bad.

Thursday was my track workout, but coach didn't tell me what it was in advance. That was okay, because it meant I didn't sit around all day Tuesday dreading it. We ran to the track, and coach sent me off on 4x1k at cruise pace (6:15ish). He's trailing me by about 50 meters, and as I finish the first lap, he yells, "Okay, go ahead and open it up; we'll make it a Vo2 workout."

Not one of my favorite phrases. Vo2 max means hard. I yell back and ask if he's serious, he says yes, so I shift into the next gear before I'm out of the curve. Cruise through the lap, and as I'm going into what I think is the last 200 meters, coach yells that the workout is now 1200s.

Damn.

I get through the lap, finishing the interval in 4:25 after coming through the first lap at 6:15 pace. That means I knocked out a 2:51-ish 800, which is flying for me. I'm not sure I've ever recorded an 800 at that speed. Even if I went through the first lap in 90 (hell if I remember), that's still a 2:55 half-mile. Zoom! That is really good giddy-up for this slow-twitch gal.

Unfortunately I needed to do three more 1200s, and was supposed to hit about 4:25 for them all, just under 6 pace. Eighth-grader Max Mudd (see Cades Cove race report) offered to pace me, which I declined because really that's just embarrassing.

Then I tanked the next interval, with a dismal 4:37. Hit pace on the first lap, then relaxed too much on the second -- I tried to get comfortable and maybe got a little tooooo comfortable.

So of course coach put Max on me for the last two. Now that I didn't need to pay attention to my pace -- 6 min/mi is as easy for Max as texting -- I got to check out my heart rate. Bad decision. Seeing 190s after the first lap is frightening. Apparently that's what I was supposed to be doing, and it doesn't appear to have killed me.

With Max goading me the whole way, we did the last two in 4:27 each, 5:56 pace. Any time I am running sub-6 pace I get nervous. (Hence the summer of 5k training.)

Then we blasted a couple of 400s for fun, I knocked off a couple 82s, then we ran home.

Of course, then Friday felt terrible -- I almost bagged the run a quarter mile in. I thought I was going to die. Coach insisted I would feel fine for the race Saturday, so I wore my compression tights, took an epsom salt bath and crossed my fingers.

If you've read the race report yet, you'll know the finger-crossing was futile. I think the heat and multiple hard sessions took their toll and wiped me out.

But hey, I did finish up the first week of the pushup challenge!

Treadmill intervals, ouch

Last night was my last interval workout before USATF Club Cross Nationals on Saturday. It was 40 degrees and pouring rain all day yesterday, so I decided to hit the treadmill.

I was scheduled for 6x400 at 1:32 and 4x200 at :36. Doing 200s on the treadmill is nearly impossible; you can't hit the buttons fast enough. You go through the first 100 before it's up to speed. Damn things. Plus I forgot what the split was supposed to be anyway. Went through the 400s in 91 average, then the 200s in about 44. If I could have operated the controls, I definitely could have run the 200s in at least 40.

It's always hysterical to crank the treadmill up to about 10.5 mph while other people are doing 10 minute miles next to you. The girl to my left was walking and reading a book, in pants and a long sleeve -- meanwhile, I'm flinging sweat off my elbows in a crop and split shorts.

As a nice bit of irony ... I ran inside, which I hate, to stay dry and warm. I put my warmups back on, then stood in the cold for 10 minutes waiting for the bus. Then stepped in two huge puddles walking home. End result pretty much the same.

A reminder to myself: flats do not make the leg and foot injury feel better. It hurts like hell this morning, so day off to try and heal before the race. I'll probably take Friday off as well, depending, then play it by ear once the race is over. I need to be training hard the week after Christmas for Shamrock ... Yikes.

Spring! Finally!

It finally feels like spring, thank goodness. Running in shorts makes me happy -- it doesn't take much, I know.

Tuesday night I went over to Waggner High for KCRS Track Tuesday, a weekly event that has gone on for over 20 years. It's an all-comers speed night, and this time of year it gets pretty busy. Many people are training for the Triple Crown or other spring races, plus the weather's nice. (There aren't so many people in mid-January when it's sleeting and 25, but we're there!)

Because I'm about to run a marathon (yikes), the interval workout planned for everyone wasn't great for me. So I went and did my own thing, and tried to just stay out of the way. I did 5x1200 with a slow lap between each repeat. It was my first chance to wear my new NBx racing flats, which is good because I plan to wear them in the 15k.

Yesterday morning was just an easy 8 miles, no heavy breathing allowed. Nothing really notable there, Rebekah and I just looped around St. Matthews -- over the Reservoir and around Seneca Park, pretty much.

Rodes City Run 10k is this weekend -- good luck to everyone who is racing!

Yesterday Eileen and I met at Sawyer for some two-mile repeats. She's training for her second half, so she did two sets; I did three. I think I may have essentially run faster than my 10k PR. (Which isn't very good, so maybe I shouldn't be too proud.)

Sawyer has a gravel loop that is almost exactly a mile (my garmin pegs it at .97 or so) -- it's also flat and not usually crowded. (Lots of people come walk from maybe 5-7 p.m. when the weather is nice.) It was pretty cold yesterday, so I did a 1.75 mile warmup to get everything loose, not to mention checking on any kinks lasting from Sunday and Monday.

After talking to a couple of guys with way more experience than I have, we estimated my VDOT at 52, which makes 6:40 a nice pace for me on this workout. Then again, my times are a little all over the place, so I range from a 48 to 52, depending on race distance.

Times: 6:28/6:40, 6:42/6:36, 6:33/6:32.

Oops.

So I'm not sure what that means. My VDOT is higher for my 5k PR I ran last May than the marathon I just ran, even though I think the marathon was a much bigger accomplishment and required a lot more work. And is a much more impressive time than my 5k. Curious stuff.

The Mason-Dixon Games are this weekend at Broadbent Arena -- if you live in Louisville or nearby, it should be a fun meet to watch.