Cross Training Day

Today my schedule called for a 40-60 minute Recovery Run but I decided to do some cross training instead. I'm still trying to stay focused on building strength in my upper body and core. This morning I did Jillian Michaels' The Biggest Winner Front Side and Back Side. Basically it was an hour of cardio and strength rolled into one. I sweat so much when I do this workout. Afterwards, it feels like I really accomplished something. I've been doing this workout at least twice a week for a month or so now and I can definitely feel a difference in my strength. 

My plan for the afternoon was to go to the gym and bike for a while but I stayed late at work and really just wanted to go home. I did do a half hour of yoga which made my muscles happy. I've been really stiff lately. 

Food wise I feel like I've been doing pretty good. I've gone back to eating more smaller meals throughout the day instead of three big meals. I was doing this most of last year and liked it. I don't know how I got out of the habit but I'm back now and hopefully going to continue. 

Time for bed! Tomorrow morning is a Progression Run with Hills. Fun!

New Training Plan Week 1

This week I have started a new training schedule. I decided to switch to a new training plan because I felt I needed something more structured and detailed. After a lot of searching I settled on this plan from Runner's World. So far it has been going very well.

Monday was a rest day aside from 5K Coaching. They are up to 1.5 miles, 2 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. Everyone is doing great. They really seem motivated. I hope it sticks!

On Tuesday I did 4.57 miles in 46:16. Then I did 3 x (3 x 30 meter) sprints. I couldn't get to a track so I just ran from the house to the left of my to the house to the right. It was a little over 30 meters but I figure the consistency of the distance was more important. My average time was 9.10 seconds. Not bad I guess. I got faster toward the end. 

Today I did 4 x 1 mile  and 4 x 200 meters. I was supposed to do the miles at 8:45 - 8:55 per mile pace. I was a little faster than that. My splits were 8:11, 8:26, 8:43, 8:38. I set my Garmin so that I couldn't see time or pace. I didn't so this on purpose. I used the Interval feature and I didn't realize I couldn't see the time/pace until I started. The whole time I was thinking how slow I felt I was going and that my splits would probably be over 9 mins. I was really excited when I saw I was actually faster than 8:45 every time. In the end I think it was better that I couldn't see the pace because I might have slowed down more than I needed to. 

The 200m were really 0.12 miles. My average time was 57.16 seconds. The last two were way faster than the first two. I think I hold back too much in the beginning because I'm nervous that I won't be able to finish. 

I know its only day two of the training plan but I'm really enjoying the hard, structured workouts. It makes me feel like I've accomplished more and makes the runs go by so much faster. I'm always thinking about what I have to do next. 

Tomorrow is a Recovery Run day. I think I'm going to cross train and work on weight training instead. 

Intervals

After reading an article about Intervals in this months Runner's World I decided to try them Thursday morning. I started off with a 10 minute run and then did 2 minutes running as fast as I could and 2 minutes walking. I did this 6 times. I followed it by a 10 minute jog. 

It really wasn't that bad. I've done stuff like this before but not this exact thing. I don't do enough speed work but when I do I enjoy it. It sucks and is hard to run so fast but I just keep thinking about the 2 minutes of walking I get to do after. My fast running was between 7:30-8:30 minutes/mile. I tried to stay more consistent toward the end but it didn't work out all that well.

This run, reading other blogs, and looking at the training plan RW has for Half Marathoners looking for a PR has made me think I need a new training plan. The plan I get from my running group really doesn't have any speed work with it. They tell you to run part of your long run at HMP and do a Tempo run once a week but I don't think that's enough for me. I've been looking for a plan that will still let me run with the group on Sunday's but give me more quality workouts to do during the week. 

I think I am going to use this plan from RW but with a few tweaks. It seems to look a lot like the FIRST plan, I've seen and read good thing about from many bloggers, except that there are 4 key workouts a week instead of 3. My first tweak would be moving everything back a day so that my long run would be on Sunday and I would be off or doing a Recovery Run on Monday. My next tweak is I think I would make some of the Recovery and Aerobic Runs Cross Training instead. I still want to work on strengthening my upper body and core and I would like to get to the gym more to bike, get on the elliptical or swim. 

I still have 12 weeks until my half marathon. This training plan is only 10 weeks but I still think I am going to start it next week. I can foresee myself needed a week to work up to all the speed work that comes with this.

What do you think? Is this a good plan?

Backpacking, etc

It's been a pretty busy week for me. I apologize for slacking on posts. Tuesday I skipped the track workout because I really need to go pick up a prescription and run other errands. When I got home I did an hour of a Jillian Michaels' Workout DVD. That thing whoops my butt but makes me feel realyl strong. 

I also bought a pair of Montrail Continental Divide Trail Running Shoes. The boyfriend and I went on a hiking/camping trip this past weekend so Tuesday morning I tried on my hiking boots to see how they felt. They did not feel good. I couldn't imagine hiking for several miles in them so I thought this would be the perfect time to buy Trail Running Shoes. Hoping it would give me motivation to go hiking more and find more trails around me. I went to my local running store and found out they don't carry Trail Running Shoes. Probably because there really aren't any trails in Buffalo. They did happen to have the old pair of Montrails they originally brought in for running in the snow but they didn't do too well with that. They happened to have my size and they also happened to be 50% off. Win, win!

Wednesday I ran in the morning. I did 4 miles in 38:57. Not bad. 

Thursday I did the Jillian Michaels DVDs again. I also increased the weights from 5lbs to 8lbs for most of the exercises.

Friday I took a rest day. I didn't want to be sore for all the hiking we were doing over the weekend. Plus I still had so much to do to prepare for our trip.

Saturday morning we headed down to the Morrison Trail in Allegheny Nation Forest. The plan was to hiking 6.5 miles to the campsite, stay overnight there and hike 5.5 miles back Sunday morning. We set off into the beautiful woods carrying all our gear. My pack was about 20lbs and the boyfriend's was about 40lbs (he had the tent). It was a beautiful hike and the Montrail shoes we wonderful. I was surprised how much easier it was to hike with 20 extra pounds than I originally thought. I was nervous I would be holding us up a lot and want to stop and take breaks but that wasn't the case. I think we each asked to stop and rest an equal amount of times. The hike on Saturday was downhill over the whole 6.5 miles but there were uphills mixed in. Here are some pictures from the Saturday hike:

It took us about 3 hours to get to the campsite and we were both pretty tired. We took pretty much the first campsite we found. It was uphill from the lake and away from people. We wanted something on the beach but it seemed like there were a lot of people down there and we didn't want to be right next to a bunch of screaming kids. We set up our tent and took a walk around. Of course, on our walk we found a perfect campsite right on the water. It was fairly secluded. We could hear the people next to us but their were bushes and trees between us. After some convincing on both our parts we decided to move down there. We were both glad we did. It was great to watch boats out on the water and just have a great view. 

The View!

Our Campsite

Once we got settled the next task was to get a fire going. We brought hot dogs and smores for dinner we needed to "cook". It had rained the night before so all the decent sized wood we found was wet. We had a pitiful fire but it did it's job. the rest of the night we relaxed, enjoyed the view, watched boaters, and went to bed early. 

Sunday morning we were up a little before 8am. We ate breakfast (bagel and peanut butter) and packed up to leave. We decided to take a shorter trail back (3.8 miles instead of 5.5) because we were both pretty sore. Boy were we glad we did. The way back was mostly uphill and steep uphills too. I wish I had my Garmin with me, though I know it wouldn't have worked under the trees. It would have been nice to see a map of the elevation changes. It took us about 2 hours to get back because of the hills.

Sunday Hike

It was a really great trip, especially for it being our first time doing something like this. We didn't forget anything crucial and we learned a lot about what we need and don't need to pack.

Just about finished!

I'm still sore today; my shoulders the most. But it's not too bad. I have 5K Coaching tonight.

Sorry this post wasn't really about running. Hopefully this week will bring some quality or at least interesting runs to share. 

5K Coaching - Day 1

Yesterday was my first run as a coach of a 5K beginners group. The group consists of about 110 people. 15-20 of them are either returning or beginners that can run for a complete mile. The rest are run/walkers. 

There are 6 coaches. Alice is in charge of the group and hangs out during the run, watching everyone's stuff and setting up water. Dan goes with the runners. And the 4 of us (all girls) go with the run/walkers. 

We took them on a 5 minute or so walk to get warmed up a little then onto the run. This week we did one mile with 1.5 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. Not everyone can run for the 1.5 minutes but they try their best. Myself and another coach had a bell to ring when they should switch from running to walking or walking to running. 

I was in the middle of the pack so I chatted with a few people but most people had friends/family doing it with them. There was a woman in front of me that was walking and we only had a few more seconds of running left so I called out, "Only a few more seconds" hoping that would make her run for the last bit. It didn't. I caught up to her and asked her if everything was ok. She said yes. When it was time to run again she didn't start so I said, "Come on at least for a little." She complained about her shins but started running. I told her to run to the curb, then the next curb, then the driveway. We did this for about minute and I knew she probably needed to stop so I didn't say anything more and she did. But we were about to cross a street and I did look behind to see her running to cross. 

Afterwards several people asked us about stretching so I got down on the ground and showed them the stretching I do.  It was fun and weird to be the one who they were coming to with questions. 

I'm excited to see where the next two months goes for them. I feel happy and lucky to be apart of it and hopefully I'm able to help them at least a little. The goal race is Sunday, September 27th. 

Boilermaker 15K - Race Report

This was a fun filled weekend. The race went well and we had a great time. 

It started on Saturday morning. I headed out to Rochester to meet up with my friend D then we headed out to Utica. We got to the race expo and tried to find where packet pickup was. Since it was supposed to rain they had moved the packets from inside a tent to some garage near the start which was about half a mile away. So a bunch of us were standing there trying to figure out where to go to get them. The volunteers were very helpful and let us get our goody bags first before heading over there. They just asked us to please remove the goody bag tag on our bib and not to get another one. That was fine with me. The goody bags consisted of a Walmart reusable bag and a pint glass. I'm glad they didn't get us the regular mass of papers and junk but I was expecting a little more. Oh well. Not a big deal.

So goody bags in hand D and I headed over to find the packet pickup. We realized when we got there that we took the long way. But it was the most straight forward for someone to explain. We also got to pass the start and I got to take this "lovely" photo. 

We made it to the packet pickup and there was a mass of people because they were still setting everything up. We eventually got in the garage and got our packets. I also happened to see a coworker through the crowd so we chatted for a bit. Then D and I walked back to the car. We had a few steps to get back to the car and it started to rain. Good Timing! We headed back to Syracuse where her parents live and we were staying for the night. It's about an hour drive so not too bad.

We woke up bright and early (4:50) Sunday morning, got ready, and left by 5:30. I ate in the car, D had eaten before we left. I just had some dry Special K Strawberry (or Red Berries?). I realized I didn't bring any Clif Shot Blocks or Luna Moons. So I planned on drinking Gatorade during the race. I usually drink mostly water during races so that I'm not all sticky when I inevitably spill it all over myself.

We got into Utica around 6:30 and headed to the finish. We decided to park near the finish and take the shuttle to the start instead of having to worry about it later. We found some random overpass to park under. People we parking everywhere. Luckily it was a Sunday and I doubt any businesses were open.

Here's a photo we took before we left the car:

We started walking in the direction we thought we should go. We saw a police officer and asked him where the shuttle pickup was. He knew exactly where the closest one was and gave us directions. I love that people actually knew where things were. In Buffalo I doubt the officer would have known. 

We got to the shuttle pickup around 7:00 and there were a lot of people but the buses were coming every 2-3 minutes so the line moved really fast. 

We got to the start and threw our jackets in my bag and dropped it of at the baggage truck. Then headed over to the porta potties. The line was long and wasn't moving very quickly. We finally got there and luckily mine had toilet paper. D wasn't as lucky :(.

We got to our starting corral (the last one) 2 minutes before the start. It took us 11 minutes to get to the starting line anyway so it didn't really matter. We were finally off and it was going well. HIs and LOWs from the race:

- All the people cheering pretty much the whole way

- Lots of music. Bands, belly dancers, etc

- Hoses and "rain machines"

- Spectators handing out water and ice

- Spectators handing out popsicles

- Passing the Utica Zoo and seeing a Donkey. The zookeepers had brought it out to the sidewalk.

- Running up a hill and being able to see the top then making a left turn and running up an even steeper hill

- Running up hill and seeing people to your right, across a golf course, running downhill. However, they were a lot higher up then we were.

- The hill to get to the highest point was gradual and not as bad as we thought it would be

- The downhills :)

- Fireman hitting the horn on the fire truck and laughing when everyone jumped

It was a great race. The first half was slow for us. And it took me a while to start feeling good. Once we hit the downhill at the highest point of the race we cruised doing well under 10 minute/mile pace. We kept that pace the rest of the way except on a few hill and when we walked to drink water. 

The crowd support was great and I solved my lack of block shots problem by splitting a popsicle with D. 

We finished in 1:35:03. Not a PR for me but with all the hills I wasn't expecting one. For me it was a fun race. For D it was the longest race she's ever done! She ran track in high school and college as well as cross country a few years but had never run more than 6 or so miles in a race. She was tired but excited and is even planning on doing a Half Marathon in September. She said, "It's only 4 more miles". Yay!

We gave our chips back and got our finishers pin and started walking with the crowd. We figured out where we were and where the car was so we went back to the car to change into flip flops and get my camera. Here is us back at the car:

We headed back over to the party and the mass of people. We got my bag and BEER :). I got a pair of sweatpants that have the Boilermaker logo and I bought D a hat since she drove us around all weekend and wouldn't take gas/toll money.

We finally found food (we passed it the first time). They only had sandwiches left but at least it was food. We walked around for a while. I got another beer and we enjoyed the music. Then headed back to the car and back to Syracuse. Then Rochester and me back to Buffalo. 

It was a great weekend and a great race. I would definitely do that race again. I might even spring to say in Utica though driving from Syracuse wasn't bad at all. Here are some more pictures from the post race party. 

I'm going to be a coach!

I run/train with Fleet Feet Buffalo. In case you don't know, Fleet Feet is a running store located in different cities around the country. FF Buffalo has several different training groups from 5K to a full marathon. I've been running with them for a year now. I joined right after my first half marathon because I knew I wanted to continue running and also wanted to meet people in Buffalo that liked to run. I have met a lot of great people and close friends from the group and would definitely suggest joining a running group.

Anyway, yesterday the FF owners (our coaches) sent out their weekly training email about our long run on Sunday and various other things. In the email they asked for volunteers to be coaches for their 5K (No Boundaries) program. I gladly volunteered. I'm really excited about doing this. I'm excited to help people start running but also to learn from them. 

Monday is their second group run and my first with them. I'm glad it's on Monday's since this is usually my rest day and we won't ever be running more than 4 miles. 

Track, Rest, and More...

It's been a busy couple of days. 

Tuesday night after work I headed over to the track to workout with the GBTC (Greater Buffalo Track Club). I decided to run to the track. It's only 2 miles and it was a nice day. I got there right at 6pm and we started doing our normal drills (high knees, butt kicks, a,b,c skips, strides, scissors, etc). Towards the end of the drills our Coach told us to think of a hard, but obtainable 5K time that we would like. Since my 5K PR is 27:36 I went with 25:00. Then, of course, he tells us that we are going to do that tonight. I thought, yea right. 

He had us do 12x400m and 1x200m with a 1 minute break between each. It was hard. I remember thinking I'd never be able to keep this pace up the whole time. I just kept mentally preparing myself to not be able to do it. Then there were only 2 left, then 1, then the 200m. I finished in 24:52!! I was so excited and so exhausted. The run back home was definitely a SLOW one. I wound up doing over 7 miles. I definitely wasn't expecting that. 

Wednesday I gave myself a rest day from running. I did 20 minutes of upper body and went for a couple mile walk with the Boyfriend. 

This morning I went for a 4 mile run. It was pretty slow. 10:13 min/mile pace. My legs still feel tight and tired from Tuesday. I need to get in the habit of doing yoga everyday. It really makes me feel better. 

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing a short 3 mile run and maybe some upper body and core work. Saturday will be a rest day. I'm heading out to Utica, NY with a friend from Rochester to run the Boilermaker 15K on Sunday. Neither of us have done this race before and we are really excited. I know other people from work and running club that will be there as well. It should be a good time. 

Beautiful Morning

It was 58 degrees when I went out for a run this morning. What happened to summer? It is July, isn't it?

I ran 5 miles this morning in 49:46. Not very fast. The whole time I felt like I was running really fast and was disappointed when I looked down at my Garmin and it showed my pace was over 10 minutes per mile. Ugh. I also did 30 minutes of Jillian Michaels Backside workout. 

I'm also starting to go back to eating the way I ate last year when I was losing weight. I was/am eating 5 smaller meals rather than 3 big meals. I need to get back in the habit of doing it. Sometimes at work I get so involved in what I'm doing that I forget what time it is. Maybe I could set an alarm on my phone to remind me. That would definitely help. 

Tomorrow I plan on doing upper body weight workout in the morning and then going to the Track tomorrow night. 

Hills, hills, and more hills

I currently live in Buffalo, NY but I am originally from a suburb of Philadelphia. Whenever I come to Philly I make it a point to run as much as I can. This area is full nice big, steep hills where Buffalo (at least in the city is not). The problem is I'm never here for more than a couple days. There are plenty of things to do, people to see, and late nights out. 

I'm down here for the holiday (Happy 4th of 

July!) and enjoying a more relaxed visit than usual. Yesterday morning I went out for a 4 mile run with a ton of hills. I did the run I usually do when I'm here backwards and WOW. I never realized how many downhills there were in the route until I was going uphill for all of them. It was definitely a workout. I even had to walk some and I still did the 4 miles in 40:08. That's definitely not the pace I need for the half marathon but with all the hills I was surprised I pulled a 10 minute mile. 

Here is the elevation chart but I really don't think it looks as bad as it felt:

Goals

Lose Weight

Get Strong

Be Fast

These are the three things that need to happen in order for me to reach my goal of completing a half marathon in under 2 hours. 

Lose Weight - I need to focus on my calorie intake a lot more than I currently am. I would like to have at least a 250-500 calorie deficit each day so that I can plan on losing 0.5-1 pound a week. When I lost weight before I kept track of everything I ate each day. I need to get back in the habit of doing this. 

Get Strong - I know that having a strong upper body and core will only help my running. I've been doing circuit training/weight lifting workouts about twice a week. I can already feel a difference in the strength my arms have.

Be Fast - This is what my goal is all about. Being fast and getting under 2 hours. I want to start making hill workouts a weekly part of my training. I have joined a Track Club in my area and have been to one track workout. It was fun and completely different than anything I normally do.

Focusing on these three aspects of my training should get me to my goal in October.

First Post

Welcome! A year and a half ago I started training for a half marathon. I had never run more than a couple miles. I wanted to lose weight (as I had for several years) and needed a goal to work towards.  Just "working out" didn't do it for me. I would make up excuses and tell myself I would do it tomorrow instead. Training for the half gave me something else to work towards. I didn't want to miss a run because then I might not be able to complete my goal.

I really didn't lose too much weight in the 5 months I was training for my first half but I gained muscles I never knew could exist and found something I genuinely loved to do. Crossing the finish line at my first half marathon was just the cherry on top, I was hooked. 

Five more halves and one full marathon later here I am, still running and still loving it. This fall I plan on running the Toronto Half Marathon and my goal is to finish it in under 2 hours. The closest I've come is 2:04:40. Speed has been tough for me in the past but I don't think I've devoted myself and my training to it enough. 

I plan on using this blog as a journal for myself to keep track of my progression as I try to become a faster runner. I hope maybe this helps other runners along the way.