First speed work in... two years?

It seems that going to bed early has made quite the difference in getting me up and running (literally) in the mornings. Today, I dressed in my running clothes again when I woke up, and decided I'd run after dropping the kids off at school. I think that running before I return home in the mornings will be helpful. When I was regularly running 4-6 days a week, it was always in the mornings.

Last night, I really didn't want to go to bed--it was hard making myself go to bed by 10:45. My target is 10:30, but I was really caught up in a book, so I pushed it a bit. I'd started reading "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. This is one of my favorite books I've ever read--which is surprising, because it's about 1,000 pages long and I'm a super slow reader. 

While I loved The Pillars of the Earth, I found the sequel, "World Without End", to be even better. It was over 1,000 pages and I finished it in about two weeks--which is insanely fast for me. I couldn't put it down! Anyway, it's been a while since I read them, so I decided to start them again. 

This morning, I took the kids to school and then stopped at the State Park again. I decided to do run/walk intervals today. I hesitate to call it "speed work" because I'm certainly not speedy right now, but I think adding intervals will help with my calorie burn.

When I was training for the 10K, I think it was the combination of super slow, easy running + intervals + tempo (an 80/20 ratio of easy to hard work) that helped me to drop weight. After I was at my goal of 133, I continued to drop weight fairly easily without much effort--and I'm pretty certain it was the change in my training method (along with calorie counting). 

I set my Garmin for 8 intervals of 2 minutes hard, with 1 minute walking in between. I started with a 5-minute warm-up jog at an easy pace. When I started the first interval, it felt so odd (running with a hard effort). I definitely felt a little rusty, and I wasn't sure if I could even continue. I didn't pay any attention to my pace--I just kept going and hoping that I could actually finish the interval.

It was the longest two minutes EVER.

When the Garmin beeped for me to start walking, I was so relieved. Only to find out that it was the shortest minute EVER.

Beep. Start running hard again. Wondering how two minutes could possibly feel so long. Beep. Walk.

After the fourth interval, I knew there was no way I could do eight. I don't know what I was thinking! I would never have a beginner start with eight, and that's pretty much what I am--a beginner (again). So, I chose to shoot for six. 

Interestingly, after my sixth interval and the one minute walk, I was exactly back at my car. I hadn't planned that, and I had taken a route I'd never done before (hoping it would be 2.5 miles or so). It ended up being two miles, but that was perfect for the six intervals (plus warm-up). 

I was pretty surprised when I checked out my pace from the run. I assumed I'd been running "hard" at a 9:30-10:00/mi pace (considering my "easy" pace run was about 12:00 yesterday). But I managed to run four of the intervals at a sub-9:00 pace, so I was pretty happy with that. Three of them were the exact same pace (8:48)--I couldn't time it like that again if I tried. 

Running at a hard pace like that made me feel really good afterward. I always used to love that feeling after a hard run--like I had really pushed myself, making my muscles tired and a little achy the rest of the day. 

---

Jerry's birthday is on Friday, but he is going to be working, so we're going to celebrate it tomorrow. I have something fun planned, but Jerry's been reading my blog lately, so I will have to write about it afterward ;) 

Continue Reading...

Running Games for Kids

In my previous post, I shared tips for coaching a kids' running club or cross country team. In this post, I'll share the games that my cross country kids loved playing after getting in their mileage for the day. The games still involve running, but the kids don't even really realize it because they are having so much fun!

Connect 4

I bought a Connect 4 board game, and we used that in a few different ways. There is a hill in the park where we practice, so to get them to run hill repeats, we placed all of the game pieces (the little red and yellow discs) on the top of the hill. Then we placed the game board at the bottom of the hill. We divided the kids into the yellow team and the red team (trying to make them equal based on how fast the kids were).

Each team lined up at the bottom of the hill, and when I blew the whistle, the first person on each team ran to the top of the hill, grabbed one game piece, and ran back to the bottom to put their piece on the board. When they reached the bottom, the next person from their team headed up the hill. This went on until one of the teams got four tokens in a row! We usually fit in two or three rounds of this game.

Another way to use the Connect 4 game is to do a relay like I wrote above, only instead of a hill, they can run a straight line or in a loop.

Sharks and Minnows

This is a game that the kids actually taught me. Using orange cones, we set up a large rectangular play area. You choose two kids to be "sharks", who start in the center of the rectangle. The rest of the kids are "minnows", and they line up across one end of the rectangle. The goal is for the minnows to get from one side of the play area to the other without getting tagged by a shark.

When I blow the whistle, the kids all run as fast as they can to the other side, and try not to get tagged by a shark. If they get tagged, they become "seaweed" and they have to sit down on the spot they were tagged. The seaweed can then tag minnows as well as the minnows run by, but they have to stay seated. You do several rounds of this until there is only one minnow left standing, who is the winner.

Musical Hula Hoops

This is basically musical chairs, but instead of putting a bunch of chairs in a circle, I put a bunch of hula hoops in a giant circle in the field. For 20 kids, we started with 8 hula hoops and we allowed 2 kids per hula hoop.

When I blew the whistle, the kids would start running a circle around the circle of hoops, just like in musical chairs; and then when I blew the whistle again, they had to scramble to find a hoop to stand in. Only two kids were allowed per hoop, so the leftover kids were out. Then we took away one of the hoops, and continued. We did this until there were two kids fighting for one hoop. Last one standing is the winner.

Obstacle Course

I set up a simple obstacle course for the kids to run relay-style. They had to weave in and out of cones, hop over three hurdles, jump rope five times, do a hopscotch-like thing with the hula hoops, and maybe a couple of other things that I came up with. First team to finish wins. Or, you could combine this with Connect 4, and have them pick up a token after the last obstacle and run it to the game board.

Scavenger Hunt

This was a little different than your average scavenger hunt. I bought about 10 small buckets from the dollar store, and a large package of plastic toy food items. On index cards, I wrote down the name of each food item. Then, I placed 3-4 items in each bucket, and placed all the buckets spread across the field randomly. I divided the kids into two teams, and they lined up relay-style. I handed each kid one of the index cards with an item written on it.

When I blew the whistle, the first kid from each team ran off to look in the buckets for their item (if they were lucky, it would be in the first bucket they checked; but if not, they had to keep searching). When they found their item, they ran it back to the team, and the next person took off. The first team to find all their objects was the winner. The kids are allowed to help their teammates--if the first kid, for example, saw the banana in one bucket and knew their teammate was going to be looking for it, they could tell their teammate what bucket the banana was in.

Matching Game

I bought a few packs of Matching Game cards from the dollar store (the deck consists of cards with pictures on them, and each card has a match). I would have the kids run their laps and collect ONE card after each lap (without peaking at the cards). They were divided into two teams, and each card they collected was put in a pile for their team. Once all the cards were gone, the teams got together to see how many matches they made. The team with the most matches was the winner. The kids learned that the faster they ran, the more laps--and therefore, more cards--they would get.

Marbles

This game is for a hill, but you could modify it for short sprints on flat ground, too. I bought two bags of marbles--one blue and one green. The blue marbles were worth 1 point, and the green marbles were worth 3 points. We placed a bucket with all the blue marbles halfway up the hill, and a bucket with the green marbles at the very top of the hill.

We divided the kids into two teams of equal ability, and when we blew the whistle, all the kids run at the same time up and down the hill, picking up one marble at a time and returning it to the bottom of the hill. They could choose to get the 1-point marbles and only have to go halfway up the hill, or they could choose the 3-point marbles by going to the top of the hill. At the end, we totaled the points for each team, and the team with the most points was the winner.

---

Speed Workouts for Kids

Speed workouts for kids are pretty much the same as for an adult. The kids' races are short (about 1-1.3 miles), so I gave them short sprint workouts for speed. I always liked seeing the kids to speed workouts, because they would leave just dripping in sweat!

Sprints: Set up two cones about 50 meters apart. If you have a large group of kids, you may want to separate them into "waves" that start about 10 seconds apart so that they aren't getting trampled. When you blow the whistle, the kids sprint as hard as they can from one cone to the next. Then, they turn and walk back to the first cone. Repeat 5-10 times, depending on how hard it is for the kids. My team was whipped after doing just five, so we usually did 5-6.


Fast Finish Runs: The kids run their usual laps, but on the last lap, they run as fast as they can get it done without stopping or walking. This teaches them to finish strong on tired legs.

Time Trials: We only did a time trial on Day 1 and at the end of the season, but you can do them periodically in place of speed work. It's basically like racing, so they're pushing themselves to the max.

Loops with Speed: Instead of a short sprint with a short walk after, we would have the kids run their laps, but whenever they got to a particular cone, they would sprint to finish out that lap; then, do an easy run for another lap until they got to that cone again.This has a longer recovery period between sprints, but they should jog between sprints instead of walk.

Animals: I made little signs, each with the name of one of four animals on it--turtle, pig, horse, or cheetah. I put the signs on cones that were set up in their loop where they run laps. Turtle means walk; pig means jog slowly; horse means run steady; and cheetah means sprint. Each time they came to a cone, they would have to run like the animal on the cone.

Out of all the speed work, I think the kids liked the Animals workout or the plain old Sprints workout the best. Actually, they hated the sprints, but they did mention how much they love the way they feel when they're done.

---

Overall, I absolutely LOVE coaching kids' cross country! If you ever have an opportunity to coach, you will probably have a lot of fun with it. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year :)

Continue Reading...

Getting back to speed work

What a crazy week! Cross country is coming to an end soon, so things will calm down a bit then. Right now, it keeps me pretty busy, though. Thankfully, it's super fun and I love coaching!

I had a really great run yesterday, too. It's been SO hard for me to get back in the habit of having a running schedule. It's kind of odd--for six years, since I started running, I NEVER had a problem with getting in my runs. But the past couple of months have been so difficult getting back in the groove. I've been lacking in discipline and motivation.

Anyway, I was dreading doing any sort of speed work, so I found myself procrastinating again. Yesterday, I promised myself I would do it... and I did. On the schedule was a 10-minute warm-up, 4 x 5:00 with 2:00 recovery walks, and 10-minute cool down. Translation:
Jog 10 minutes.
Run 5 minutes fast then walk 2 minutes (repeat for a total of four times)
Jog 10 minutes.

After my humbling race pace run last week, I wasn't expecting this to feel "easy". I should have checked what pace to aim for, but I guessed it would be right around 9:00/mile. So, I wasn't even going to try to go much faster.

After the warm-up jog, I started the first interval. I was right--it felt tough! I used to do those at a 7:30 pace, and now I'm having a hard time with 8:45. I even started to doubt my ability to pace Stephanie to a sub-60 10K next month; but, when I first started 10K training for my sub-50, my pace was nowhere near where it "should have" been, because I just wasn't able to do it. As I continued to try, though, eventually I was able to hit the pace. Hopefully, that will be the case here! Of course speed work is going to feel hard when I haven't been training much all summer ;)

I had to bribe myself a little throughout the run, but I did end up getting in all four intervals at my target pace. And I felt WONDERFUL. Truly, I need to remember that feeling for the next time I'm having zero motivation to run. I love love love the feeling after nailing a hard run!

I had to stop and take a picture of the lake. The clouds over the lake looked so cool! The picture doesn't do it justice (they never do).

At cross country practice yesterday, I made a new game for the kids to do after their running workout. I set up an obstacle course for them, and after the last obstacle, I had a bucket of the tokens for Connect 4. They would grab a token and run it back to the starting line, where the Connect 4 game was set up. Then they would drop in their token for their team to try and Connect 4. Repeat until one of the teams wins.

It worked out really well, and I think the kids had fun with the obstacle course! We played a couple of games of that and then headed home. It was actually 41 degrees when we left practice! It's been pretty cold for a few days, considering it was 80 degrees last week. Michigan weather is crazy.

Today, I met up with an old friend from high school. Andy and I were pretty close friends back in the day, but I hadn't seen him since we graduated, so it'd been 16 years. (I can't believe I graduated 16 years ago--wow.) He's been living in San Diego, and he just came home for the weekend. It was really great to catch up with him! We took a journalism class in school, where we worked on the school newspaper together (coincidentally, when I was writing a story for the paper one day my junior year, I went to another school to interview some students, which is how I met Jerry).

That journalism class was my favorite class I've ever taken (high school or college), and I was telling Andy today how it is one of the only things I learned in school that I put into use in real life. When writing my blog, I think of so many things that we learned in that class--even when I named my blog, I thought of the "headlines rules" for journalism. We had a really awesome teacher in that class, and sometimes I can still hear his voice in my head when I'm writing. I never would have guessed how useful that class would be in my future! ;)

The Detroit Marathon is this Sunday. I just decided (yesterday) that I'm going to go spectate this year. The only person I know that is running is Nathan (my brother), and he's doing the International Half. I really love that race, though, so I'm going to go to Mile 8 (just after the tunnel coming back into the U.S.) and cheer people on. I think Becky (my sister-in-law) is going to come with me.

And then on Monday (super early!) I'm heading to New York City for a short overnight trip. Purina invited me to their annual Better With Pets Summit again, and I'm super excited for it. I've gone the last two years, and I've learned so many awesome things about pets and people. It was even what inspired us to adopt a dog last year!

Jerry is going to come with me to NYC, which will be fun. He'll probably hang out with our friend Mike while I'm doing the Summit. Then we fly back home on Tuesday night. So, it'll be a short trip, but I'm looking forward to it!

Continue Reading...

High Intensity Intervals

I recently spent some time looking at my 10K training, to see if maybe there was something I was doing then that helped the weight drop off so easily (like I said, I wasn't trying to get below my goal weight; but shortly after I started the 80/20 training, my weight started dropping again pretty easily for some reason). I had tried a new training plan that involved a lot of short intervals--something I wasn't used to. I had never done 45-second or 60-second intervals before.

It made me wonder if maybe the high-intensity intervals, coupled with the very slow, easy runs, helped me drop the weight. I have no idea, but I training that way made me realize that I really enjoy doing short intervals like that. It's a very tough workout overall, but you only have to focus on short little bursts of effort at a time, before you get a break.

I recently wrote an entire training plan made up of high-intensity short intervals and very slow, easy runs--the same thing I was doing before--and I thought I'd give it a try for a while. Since I'm not really training for anything, I can basically just experiment however I want to. (If I find the plan worthwhile, I'll post it on my Training Plans page). For the plan, I have intervals ranging from just 10 seconds to 60 seconds--but nothing more than 60 seconds of hard effort at a time.

Yesterday, I did the most extreme of the short interval workouts--60 x 10 seconds with 20-second recovery walks. SIXTY intervals. It sounded crazy, but the total time would only be 30 minutes (not including a warm-up). I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try, so I set up my Garmin for the intervals (I had to use a work-around to get the workout to show up--adding the workout to my calendar and then syncing the calendar. No idea why I can't get the workouts to sync by themselves!)

I did a five-minute jog to warm-up, and then heard the beep to start my first interval. I couldn't believe how quickly it went by! Ten seconds is NOTHING.

But before I write about that, let me explain how the intervals work on the Garmin. When you are five seconds from starting an interval, the Garmin does one beep per second (as a countdown, so you know it's coming up). Then, during the interval, when you're five seconds from the end, it will beep each second for the last five seconds.

So, for 30 minutes, it sounded like this:
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. 5 seconds of quiet. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. 15 seconds of quiet. Repeat--SIXTY times. Hahaha! So much beeping.

The constant beeping actually wasn't so bad, though, because when I started each interval, I only had to run for five seconds before it started counting down to walk. So, I would start running hard, count up to five in my head, and then count down from five to the tune of the beeps and start my 20-second walk.

Now, how effective was this workout? In theory, it sounds like nothing: sprint for 10 seconds, and then literally walk slowly for 20 seconds.

Oh, Friends. It was HARD.

In fact, after about 35 of these intervals, I was ready to quit. I just wanted one goddamn break that lasted longer than 20 seconds! I stopped my Garmin, and started walking, thinking I'd quit at that point, and then next time, try to get in 10 more or something. Sixty was just too much. But, then I thought about my previous blog post, and how I've been struggling lately. I knew I had the rest of the workout in me, I just didn't want to put in the effort.

So, I gave myself a kick in the ass, took a deep breath, and then started the Garmin again to complete all 60 of the intervals. And I did it!

So sweaty. So exhausted.

It was really interesting to look at the data, afterward, too. (For comparison's sake, I'm going to ignore the 5-minute warm-up jog at the beginning of the interval session, and just focus on the 30 minutes of run/walk intervals.) Even though I only ran hard for 10 minutes of the 30-minutes of intervals, my heart rate stayed almost constant the entire time--and it was high! In fact, my average heart rate during the 30-minutes of intervals was 167 bpm--which is 90% of my maximum heart rate.

The reason for that dip in heart rate at around the 23:00 mark is from when I stopped my Garmin and took a walk break for about 60 seconds.

When I did my "RUNch" a few days ago, I ran an 8:40 pace for 3 miles (26 minutes), and that felt really hard. My heart rate averaged 164 bpm. Yesterday, I did an easy warm-up for 5 minutes, ran hard for a total of 10 minutes, and walked for a total of 20 minutes. My average heart rate was actually three beats per minute HIGHER than the 3-mile RUNch!

During the RUNch, I burned 256 calories; and during the high-intensity intervals, I burned 240 (that does not include the warm-up). In terms of calories burned per minute, the interval workout burned 8/min, and the RUNch burned 10/min. The difference is, I was putting in hard effort for 26 minutes during the RUNch; and only 10 minutes during the intervals.

It was a very different workout from what I'm used to, and I look forward to trying more like it (30 x 20 seconds, for example, or 12 x 30 seconds, etc.). From the research I've done on high-intensity intervals, there are a few key notes: 1) Put in 100% effort on the intervals; 2) Keep the duration of the recoveries to no more than two times the hard interval, and make the recoveries VERY easy; 3) Keep the entire interval session between 10 and 40 minutes long; 4) To make it harder as you get fitter, decrease the duration of the recoveries and/or increase the duration of the intervals.

I have to say, I was surprised at how tough of a workout this ended up being! The time flew by, both during each interval and during the workout as a whole. The beeping was a little annoying, and this was definitely not a "zone out and daydream" sort of run--but it was very effective in terms of heart rate and calories burned. I liked trying something new!

SaveSave

Continue Reading...

Journaling and speed work

I don't want to jinx anything, but ever since I stopped the no-grocery-shopping challenge last Monday, I've been doing really well with my eating. I've been eating what I really want, feeling satisfied with normal-sized portions, and my calories have been at a good maintenance level. (And interestingly enough, I've been craving fruits and vegetables more than ever this week.)

At my last therapy session, my therapist wanted me to start writing down the times where I feel urges to overeat or binge (or just eat when not hungry), and what I was doing before I got the urge. I've been doing it all week, and it's been very interesting, if nothing else!

Something I hadn't really paid attention to is how much cues from TV or books or radio trigger those thoughts. I always assumed my bingeing was from emotional eating, but a lot of the urges have come from seeing someone eating ice cream on a movie, for example. It's like an instant switch goes on inside of me that makes me want ice cream--and not just a small portion, but the mentality of "I'll just eat ALL the ice cream!" kind of thinking. Lesson? Maybe I should watch less TV ;)

I know keeping a diet or binge journal is something that pretty much every article you read about the subject tells you to do... but I've never actually done it, because it sounded kind of dumb. I never expected to actually learn anything new about myself. I already knew that stress and anxiety were triggers, but I had no idea that seeing someone eat or reading about someone eating was a trigger.

I also didn't expect that the simple act of jotting down a few notes (literally about 2-3 fragmented sentences) about what I was doing before an urge would actually stop the urge very quickly. Almost by the time I get done writing it down, I no longer feel like I'm fighting an urge. As cliche as the advice to keep a binge urge journal is, I highly recommend trying it for a couple of days--you might be surprised about what you find out!

---

Jerry started his 12-week training plan for his half-marathon yesterday. He's never done speed work before, but I included a little in his plan each week just to keep him from being bored. Today was his first interval workout, and he was SO nervous--it was funny! But I totally get it, because I get super nervous before my speed work sessions, too ;)

He did awesome! It was a mile warm-up, then 10 x 60 seconds fast, with 90 second recoveries. I knew exactly how it would go, and I even told him my predictions--he would do his warm-up too fast, because of nerves, then do his first interval too fast, because it's hard to gauge how long you can hold a fast pace. Then he would jog the first recovery, even though I told him to walk. He'd realize just how hard it was, and walk the rest of the recoveries. After I told him my prediction, he said he'd prove me wrong. Well, we laughed when he got back, because I was 100% correct! haha. When I do short intervals, I always walk the recoveries, because the intervals are much harder than they read on paper.

When he finished his workout, he said it was very difficult, but he felt really good about it. Seeing him sweaty and exhausted made me want to do a tough workout, too, so I decided to do the exact same workout. I haven't done much speed work lately, because I'm not training for anything, so I had no idea how it would go.  (I totally wasn't thinking of the fact that I just did my longest run in a couple of months yesterday--six miles--so my legs were probably tired enough.)

Well, let's just say it did not go as I'd hoped. I jogged a mile for a warm-up (too fast, because nerves); then struggled through a 6:40-ish pace for 60 seconds. (The last time I did this workout, my pace was in the very low 6:00's.) I started walking, and realized that my recoveries were set for 60 seconds instead of 90, and I really wished they'd been at 90. I made it through just three intervals before I called Jerry to come pick me up!

I was not feeling good at all. I barely got any sleep last night, so that may have been why; but it could be the fact that I haven't been training hard and my weight is up about six pounds from when I was at my peak 10K training. Probably a combination of it all. Some runs just suck, and today's was definitely a sucky one.

I don't expect to be in top running shape year-round, of course! Even elites gain about 10 pounds in the off season and slow their paces/decrease their mileage. Through the summer, my biggest priority is to keep my weight at or under 133, since that is what I have the toughest time with (weight gain in the summer). If I can do that, and I decide that I want to race in the fall, I think I'll be able to get back into racing shape without too much struggle. I think I can probably consider the low 120's my "racing weight", and the high 120's to low 130's my "normal weight"--and I'm good with that.

I'm excited to work on my Summer Running checklist this summer! It starts on Monday, and I would love for people to join me in checking off some fun runs. Amanda left a comment on the last post that I should create a hashtag for people to use when sharing their runs on social media, and I LOVE that idea! So, if you are doing the checklist runs, and you share to social media, it would be awesome if you use the hashtag #CookiesSummerRunning. :)

---

I was thinking this morning about how we've had Joey for almost a year and a half now--it's gone by so fast! He's such a good dog, and I never dreamed how much the boys would become attached to him.

The kids have loved playing hide-and-seek with Joey. Noah takes Joey into his bedroom and closes the door, while Eli hides somewhere in the house with a treat. When Eli yells, "Ready!" it's like watching a bull being released from his pen at a bullfight. Joey tears through the house, looking in each room, until he finds Eli's hiding spot and gets his treat. Then the kids switch, and Noah hides while Eli waits with Joey. It's so cute to watch!

Continue Reading...

Global Running Day

Apparently, yesterday was "Global Running Day". I have no idea what that means, except that people were posting about running all over social media--I loved it! ;)

Bart Yasso, from Runner's World magazine, posted about making yesterday the "World's Biggest RUNch"--meaning, everybody running at lunchtime, globally. I did run at lunch time, but my reasons were more for procrastination than the camaraderie of a group virtual run, haha. I didn't have anything going on yesterday until the afternoon, so I really enjoyed a quiet morning.

Finally, at around 11:30, I headed out for a "RUNch". I did a running workout I haven't done in a very long time--if ever? I think maybe I've done it once or twice. Anyway, I'm talking about a Fartlek run. Fartlek means "speed play", and a Fartlek run is basically where you vary your speed during the run without rhyme or reason.

You might sprint to the mailbox, then jog to the corner, then run moderately until you see a blue car, etc. Very spontaneous and unstructured.

I don't know why I don't do this more often! It can be as easy or as hard of a workout as you want, and it's a great workout for runners who are just starting speed work. Instead of having them do 8 x 400 meters at 5K race pace or something, you just tell them to vary the speed whenever they feel like it, including hard and easy running.

During my 10K training, I did a LOT of very slow running, with a sprinkling of very fast running--but nothing in between. I almost forgot what a 8:30-9:30 pace felt like! I did several hard short-interval sessions at a 6:00-7:00/mile pace, a few 10K race pace sessions at 7:55/mi, and about 10,000 very slow sessions at 10:30-12:00/mi (10,000 might be a small exaggeration, but that's what it felt like). Yesterday, I decided to just try out different speeds and see how they felt.

First, I started with a true tempo pace, which is 8:10-ish per mile. It felt hard after the first quarter mile, probably because I haven't been doing much speed work lately. After about a half mile, I thought, I wonder if I can finish this mile under 8:00--so I picked up the pace to 7:45 ish for the duration of that mile (which felt much harder than I remember!) and clocked 7:56 for the first mile. I was happy to see that I still had a sub-8:00 mile in me!

I walked for a few seconds, then alternated jogging and moderate running for the whole second mile. At about mile 2.25, I decided to run at a pace that felt like what I USED to call "easy", even though it was actually moderate. Remember how I wrote about the importance of the easy run? (If you haven't read that post, go read it now--it's one of the most important posts I've ever written.) I used to call a 9:30 pace "easy", until I started heart rate training, and I realized my actual easy pace was 11:30--big difference!

Anyway, I started running at the effort level that felt like what I used to call "easy", and it ended up being about a 9:15 pace. My heart rate was at 162 bpm, but I think it would have been lower if I hadn't run that first mile so hard. Also, it was like 80 degrees outside because I waited until midday to run! I picked up speed for the last quarter mile to about a 7:40 pace, and finished the run at mile three.

It was actually really nice to go for a run without a real purpose and just run how I felt! I had turned off my heart rate alert, otherwise it would have been beeping the entire time, and I just ran at whatever pace I was feeling in the moment. A pretty fun way to run for Global Running Day.

For dinner last night, I made one of my favorites--Cabbage with Sausage. It's ridiculously easy, with only a few ingredients, but cabbage is my very favorite vegetable. Even when I was a kid, I would get really excited when my mom would make cabbage casserole.

I made Cabbage with Sausage one day when we were running very low on groceries. I had a smoked turkey sausage and a head of cabbage in the fridge, so I just heated up some butter in a large pan, cooked the sausage for a minute and then added the cabbage, salt, and pepper and cooked until it was soft. So few ingredients, super fast to make, but it tastes so good! I wish it was prettier to photograph, but judging by the ingredients, it looks just how you would expect. Like cabbage and sausage.

My kids really liked it, too, thankfully. They never used to be picky eaters when they were little, but as they get older, they're getting harder to please.

Tonight is going to be crazy busy, so I'm not sure what we'll do for dinner. Noah has a track meet from 3:30-5:15, Eli is performing a concert at school at 5:30, and both the boys have baseball practice at 6:30. I'll probably have to pack something to eat in the car between track and the concert. Today is the last day of track, so things will be much less chaotic from now on! :)

Continue Reading...

Track Tuesday

On my TimeHop today, I was reminded that it was seven years ago since my infamous "before" photo was taken during the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon. I can't believe it's been seven years! I walked that half-marathon with a time of 3:51, which earned 29,458th place out of 30,280 finishers. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good throughout that race--MUCH better than I had the year before, despite being 40 pounds heavier. I had trained for it, which made a big difference.

Anyway, I kept that outfit--the blue shirt and black pants that I'd bought especially for that race, so that I could look good in my photos ;) Hahaha, I was horrified with my photos from the year prior, so I wanted to have photos I was proud of. Instead, when I saw the race pics, I nearly died on the spot. I couldn't BELIEVE that the girl with the blue shirt was me! Was I seriously that big? As a size 24, I didn't see myself as that large--I thought I probably looked like I was a size 16 or 18. But the race pics confirmed what I just wasn't able to see.

Today, I thought it would be fun to take some photos in "the outfit" for comparison's sake:

I wanted to try and post like I was for that photo, but I couldn't let go of my pants, because they would fall right down to my ankles. I had to hold them up. I can easily fit both of my legs into one pant leg, and the shirt is twice my width. I'm so glad that I saved those clothes! They really make me realize how far I've come. They used to FIT me--the shirt is a size 3XL and the pants are a 2XL. It was fun to see the pictures :)

---

When Jerry came home from work this morning, he was kind of excited and said that he saw a beaver at the end of our street (it had recently been hit by a car, so it was dead). I asked, "You mean a woodchuck?" because I'm 34 years old and I've never seen an actual beaver in my life. Jerry insisted it was a beaver, and even showed me a picture he took of it on his phone.

When he was driving by, he thought, "What in the world is that?" because it was huge--much bigger than the usual raccoons or possums that we see here all the time. He pulled over, and at the same time, another man going the opposite direction pulled over to check it out as well. They were both shocked to discover that it was a beaver! They moved it out of the road (it was about 50-60 pounds--not exactly something you want to leave in the middle of the road).

I started reading online about them, because I was really curious about it being here. Apparently, beavers used to be endangered because they were trapped for their fur; but they've been making a big comeback, and they're all over the place now. I had no idea.
I was really sad that it was dead, but I think it's kind of cool that we have beavers living in front of our house now. Ever since the DNR flooded the land across from our house, we've seen a lot of wildlife showing up--turtles, frogs, geese, ducks, and now beavers. (There is a family of geese living on the dike--there are six goslings, and they're adorable! The mom and dad get very angry whenever I run by them, haha)

---

After my 10K last month, I cut my speed work back to once a week--just for maintenance. I like doing my speed work on Tuesday, for some reason, and today I decided to do intervals. It was super foggy this morning when I drove Noah to school, so instead of running on the roads (and risk getting hit by a car), I chose to head to the high school's outdoor track. The last time I did speed work on the track was in October 2014!

I ran a mile warm-up, and as I was running, I was wondering if I ran as fast as I could, what my mile time would be. I don't think I've ever run a mile as fast as I can, because it just seems so torturous! I was debating doing that instead of the 5 x 400's I had planned on. As I was rounding the fourth lap of my warm-up, I remembered that I'd already set up my Garmin for the intervals, so I decided just to stick with the original plan. One day, though, I'd like to run a mile at all-out effort just to see what I could do. According to McMillan's calculator, and based on my 10K time, I could run a mile in 6:48. A sub-7 mile?! That just seems crazy. My fastest recorded mile is 7:36, which was part of a 5K run.

I definitely did the first interval too fast today, because I was unsure if I could even continue after that! Haha, I felt spent. For recovery, I walked 300 meters, then jogged 100, and then started the next interval. I was hoping for a pace between 6:40-7:00 for my intervals, but I didn't look at my pace at all during the workout. It was tough, and I was glad I was only doing five intervals!

My splits ended up being 1:36, 1:42, 1:41, 1:39, and 1:42 (which translates to a pace of 6:26, 6:49, 6:47, 6:37, and 6:50). I was thrilled with these!

It's kind of interesting--I went back and read about my last track workout, which was in October 2014. It was the same workout that I did today, but my pace was MUCH slower. My pace back then was 8:20, 7:45, 7:56, 7:53, 7:48, and that was giving it my all out effort. Average pace in October 2014 for these splits on the track was 7:56; today, it was 6:41! I'm kind of stunned at the improvement--and that workout in 2014 was before I got injured, which shows just how out of shape I'd gotten.

Anyway, I'm going to alternate doing an interval workout with a tempo run every week--so next week, I'll do a tempo, and then the following week, I'll do another track workout. That way, I'm not always doing the same thing and I'll hit different paces. Other than those, I'll be doing a lot of low heart rate running. I'm curious to see what happens in the summer! My heart rate is always higher in the heat, so my pace will probably get slower as it gets hotter; but I'm looking forward to running nice and easy throughout the summer, because I'm not training for anything in particular.

Continue Reading...

New running goals

I've been getting emails asking if I'm okay because I haven't written, so I thought I'd better write a quick post. I'm fine! Life is just really boring right now, and I don't really have anything to write about. I feel redundant when I post about my running, even though that's what I enjoy writing about the most.

I really need to come up with another goal, and I've been thinking a lot about it. Without a goal, I feel kind of lost--like I'm running a race with no finish line. I'm still not interested in any distances longer than a 10K, so I was thinking of setting a 5K goal for the fall. My current PR is 24:51, but I think I am capable of running about 23:45 right now.

So, I was thinking I may try to aim for sub-23:00 in the fall. It sounds totally crazy! But so did a 10K PR last year, when I set the goal, and I did it.

When I plugged in my recent 10K time into the McMillan calculator, I got these predicted race times:

(These are the race time equivalents based on my 10K time.) The half-marathon time prediction is 1:49:21, which is tempting to try! A sub-1:50 goal was on my radar for a couple of years after I ran my PR race of 1:52. But I really don't want to run any halfs in the foreseeable future, so that goal is out. But seeing these predictions makes me think that if I work on it, I could probably run a sub-23:00 5K in the fall.

Anyway, I did speed work today, same workout as last week: 10 x 45 sec. It went much smoother now that my heart rate monitor is working! I ran a 10-minute warm-up, and then did the 45-second intervals. Between intervals, I walked slowly to bring my heart rate down to 136 bpm. Once it hit 136, then the next interval would start.

It's interesting to see that the further I got into the workout, the longer it took to recover from each interval.

One of the things I really like about doing the same workout periodically is to see the improvement very clearly. My splits were a little more even than last week:

Last week, I mentioned how cool it would be to see an interval in the 5:00's, and today, my last interval was a 6:01 pace--so close! (Keep in mind, these are just 45-second intervals, so they're only about 200 meters long.)

Other than the running stuff, my week has been pretty terrible as far as my motivation. I'll write more about it tomorrow on my Wednesday Weigh-in post (spoiler--the scale will most likely show a gain this week). I haven't binged, but this whole week I've felt totally unmotivated to get anything done, and it has made me realize that I need to set a new running goal. It was my 10K goal that kept me focused all winter, and like I said, I feel kind of lost without a goal right now.

Anyway, I'm here, I'm alive, everything is fine :) I'll write more tomorrow!

Continue Reading...

Spring sprints

Speed work today! I wasn't too enthusiastic about it, because I'm not really training for anything right now. I had been planning to take the whole summer off of doing any sort of speed work, and just focus on endurance training (at a low heart rate); but I was listening to a podcast during my long run and the guest (I think it was Matt Fitzgerald, actually) made a really good point...

He said that if you're not used to doing speed work, it's best to just focus on building a base of endurance training during the off season. If you've been doing speed work, however, and then you stop for a while, you'll be more likely to get injured when you resume speed work because your muscles will have to adapt to that again.

That makes a lot of sense! Speed work increases risk of injury, especially when you first start doing it; so by doing a small amount of it even during the off season, you are reducing your risk of injury when you start training hard again.

He said that you don't have to do much at all--just some very short, very fast sprints will be great, and have little risk of injury.

Out of all the speed work, the short and fast intervals are my favorite. Today, I decided to do a 10 x 45 second workout that I did back in December. I've done it a few times, but I think the last time I did it outside was in December--I usually do it on the treadmill, because the intervals are so short. I was curious to see how my speed today compared to a few months ago.

I'm getting bored with the roads around my house (one of the problems with living on a peninsula is that there is only one road to get OFF of the peninsula, so I know that road like the back of my hand.) To get a change of scenery, I went to the State Park this morning, even though my run was going to be really short.

I wore the yellow shirt that I wore for my first marathon, and this was the first time I've worn it since that race. It was snug when I wore in 2012, and then in 2014-2015, it was TOO tight to even wear in public. I was really surprised when I put it on this morning, then, when I found how big it was! It's an Under Armour shirt that is meant to be form-fitting, but it was very loose on me today. I wore it anyway, but I don't think I'd wear it to a race or anything. That was a fun (and unexpected) non-scale victory!

I chose the 5K loop, and ran 10 minutes to warm-up. The new heart rate strap I bought isn't working, so I spent the first 10 minutes adjusting it, trying to get an accurate reading. So frustrating! I might just need to buy a whole new monitor (the strap is cheap, about $15; but the monitor is about $100). The workout on my Garmin was set to 45 seconds fast, and then recovery until heart rate reaches 136 bpm; and since my HR strap wasn't working (it was reading very high), I knew I'd just have to manually start each lap of fast running. I settled on a one-minute recovery, which ended up being pretty perfect.

When I do the 45-second sprints, I like to do a walking recovery, because I run the sprints nearly as fast as I can. As soon as I hit the first sprint, I was surprised at how clumsy my legs felt. The first interval is always the hardest (I read somewhere that the first being the hardest is very normal, because your legs need to be "primed" for the intervals--and that first one is the primer).

I love how short the 45 seconds feels! It's almost like as soon as I get into a rhythm, I only have to hold it for about 10 seconds before it's time to walk. I did a 45 second sprint, 1 minute walk for a total of 10 times, and then jogged the rest of the way to my car to cool down. It felt like a good workout, and it went by SO quickly.

I know, I was totally impressed by that elevation gain, too. I really should choose a flatter course next time ;)

I was pretty psyched when I saw my pace on the intervals! Here they are, compared to December 21st:

The fastest one was a 6:17 pace. I'm in awe of the elites who run full marathons at a sub-5:00 pace! I think it would be pretty cool to see a 45-second sprint at a sub-6:00 pace one of these days, but sub-5:00? Mind-blowing.

I can't believe today is only Tuesday... it feels like it should be at least Thursday! I'm totally ready for the weekend.

Continue Reading...

Blooms to Brews 10K Race Report

Well, the big race day was on Sunday. I can't even begin to describe how nervous I was for this race! It was "only" a 10K, but I had trained my ass for for this race all winter, and I felt so much pressure (from myself, mostly) to hit my goal. I had been talking it up for MONTHS on my blog, and I'm sure my friends and family were sick of hearing me talk about this 10K. But to me, this goal was more significant than any other race goal I'd ever set...

Back story: It all started last year, when I was about 160 pounds (27 pounds over my goal weight) and injured with a stress fracture. Even before the injury, my pace had slowed significantly since my previous 10K PR in 2013. That 10K in 2013 was my proudest moment in running--I never DREAMED I would run it under 50 minutes! However, in 2014-2015, I put on 27 extra pounds, and my pace slowed more and more.

In August 2015, when I was in Portland for the weekend with my brothers, I had a couple of training runs to do--one of which was 10 miles. My friend Thomas (who lives just outside of Portland) said he'd ride his bike alongside me for company. It was a hot day (it felt like 120 degrees, although Thomas swears it was only like 75). I had a pretty miserable run--I ran an 11:00/mile pace, but struggled through the entire thing, and I probably complained more than Oscar the Grouch.

I decided that I was really tired of the extra weight and not feeling good on my runs anymore. I impulsively made a bold statement to Thomas that I was going to get back down to my goal weight and PR my 10K in 2016--a goal that was nearly impossible, given my current situation. I thought that by making a statement, instead of a goal, I would be forced to do my best to make it happen. (The difference between motivation and determination).

Anyway, the 10K time that I had to beat was 49:23 (a 7:57/mile pace). In 2015, my pace had dropped to about 11:00/mile (probably could have done 10:30 if I really tried to). To hit that goal was a HUGE task in front of me. I decided to choose a race near Portland, so that Thomas could pace me--I kind of wanted to redeem myself from my terrible 10-miler, and prove that I wasn't a total wimp. I ultimately chose to do the Blooms to Brews 10K in Woodland, Washington, on April 10th. It was a flat course, which is hard to find in the Pacific Northwest, and I needed every advantage I could get!

I spent the fall working on losing the weight I'd picked up. I couldn't run, because of my stress fracture, so I just focused on my diet (counting calories) and I got back to my goal weight by Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving Day, I ran a 5K race, giving it my all. I wanted to see what my current pace was, so I would know how to train for the 10K. I finished in 27:00, an 8:41/mile pace. Not my best time by a long shot, but much better than I'd expected. However, my goal 10K pace was 7:55, so I would have to take 46 seconds off of my 5K pace... and DOUBLE the distance! Impossible? Pretty much ;)

I started training a little differently than I was used to, hoping to stay injury-free. I ran my easy runs VERY easy (an 11:00-12:00/mile pace, typically) and I ran like hell on my speed work. I was excited to see my pace improving quite a bit!

---

Now, to the whole point of this post... the race report!

We got to the race with enough time to stand in the porta potty line, which was pretty long. There was a dog there who was begging anyone who would look at him to throw his tennis ball. It was so adorable! He'd bring his ball over to the line, and just toss it out of his mouth at someone, and look at them like, "C'mon, throw it!"

I'm kind of glad we didn't have much time to stand around at the start, because I was so nervous I thought I was going to vomit. This race has been all I've been able to think about for months, and for the last several weeks, I was feeling very doubtful about whether I could pull it off. I didn't care what my finish time was, as long as it was a PR (49:22 or better). I told Thomas not to let me go any faster than a 7:50 pace, because the last thing I wanted to do was crash mid-race.

The weather was PERFECT for running! Overcast, zero wind, and probably 50 degrees or so. We lined up at the start, and in just a minute, the horn blew and we were off. My plan was to look at my watch as little as possible, and just try to stay next to Thomas, who would be running 7:55 (my goal pace).

I'm in pink on the far left

I tend to know at the beginning of the race whether it's going to go well or not; and thankfully, I felt good a mile in. The pace felt do-able, and my heart rate was in the 160's, which is a tempo range for me (when it hits 175, I tend to crash and burn). I wasn't planning to talk at all during the run, but I told Thomas that I felt good and thought I could actually do it.

At around mile two, we came to the only hill on the course; which, thankfully, was a very short hill. I sprinted up, thinking I would catch my breath on the downhill. That was stupid of me, because it turned out there was no downhill! I felt really winded, and had a hard time catching my breath. I was dying to walk for a minute, but I knew I couldn't afford to. I felt my pace slow a bit, but I was still under 8:00/mile.

I was really thrown for a loop when we hit a spot around mile three that we had to turn onto a gravel trail. I had no idea that some of the race was on gravel! Running on gravel is tough, and my pace always slows down. I felt doomed when I saw that, but I just hoped it would be a short path, and then we'd be on the road again. My legs felt like rubber, and they were screaming at me to slow down. My pace slowed into the 8:00's, and I felt like it was just over. I focused on getting to mile four, because remember my crash and burn during my four-mile race? I just wanted redemption from that!

The gravel was never-ending, and when I got to mile four, I was ready to call it quits. My heart rate had hit 175, which is always when I realize that I just can't continue. I saw my pace was in the 8:00s for a couple of splits, and there was less chance by the minute of me making that up later. I gasped to Thomas that I just couldn't do it, and I told him to go ahead, that I would try to catch up. (I knew I wouldn't actually try to catch up, but I really just wanted him to go ahead so I could sulk and jog it in).

Thankfully, Thomas is the kind of friend who doesn't let me bullshit him. Instead of telling me it's okay, I did my best, he told me to suck it up, quit saying I can't do it, and keep going. I finally quit arguing, and just tried to keep up.

I was dying to get off of the gravel! Finally, with less than a mile to go, we turned back onto the road. Instead of feeling the relief of running on concrete, my legs felt SO weird--you know that weird feeling when you get off of a trampoline or roller skates, and you try to walk again? It was like that. It only lasted about 30 seconds, though, and then I just ran my hardest (which at that time, was just barely a sub-8:00 pace).

If I made it, I knew it was going to be very, very close. I started thinking about how pissed I'd be if I had to do it all over again because I missed it by mere seconds, or even a minute. There was a girl about 20 yards in front of me, so I used that mental "rope" trick, where you imagine lasso-ing someone and reeling them in. I focused on passing her, and once I did, I realized I would feel like an ass if I slowed down and she passed me back. Thomas said he was going to continue at 7:55 just behind me, even though I'd sped up just a tad; and that way, he could act as a "sweeper" if I slowed down at the end.

When we got to the very last turn, and I could see the finish line, Thomas told me that it was going to be very close--I needed to give it everything I could. I certainly did not want to fail by just seconds, so I pulled every last bit of energy out of me (which wasn't much) and ran my hardest across the finish line. I had no idea whether I made it or not, and I wasn't even really thinking about that. I didn't want to pass out by abruptly stopping, so I continued jogging and then grabbed some Gatorade and chugged it.

Thomas crossed the finish line and said that I did it. It took a second to even register--my mind was so foggy for some reason! But then I just felt this ENORMOUS sense of relief. I finally looked at my Garmin for the first time since crossing the finish line, and I saw that I'd done it. My Garmin said 49:12, but I had forgotten to stop it right away, so I knew my official time was a little less than that. Jerry texted me my results right away, before I even had a chance to look them up--I had finished in 49:03, a 20-second PR!! AND, I somehow managed to come in first place in my age group.

I felt bad having to wait an hour for the awards, but Thomas insisted that we wait--and then we learned that he, also, placed first in his age group! We had a post-race beer at the beer tent, and then at 10:00, went to the awards ceremony. We got our medals (I even had to stand on the little "1" platform!), and then headed out. I had been dreaming about Cajun Tots from McMenamins for months, and I promised myself that if I got my PR, I could eat as many tots as I wanted after the race ;)

It took a while to really sink in that I had done it. I set a nearly-impossible goal, and I DID IT. It was the hardest I'd ever trained, but looking back, it was totally worth every drop of sweat. It did more for my self-confidence than anything else, and now I feel like I could set some laugh-worthy goals while being sort-of-serious. I'm so happy that I proved to myself that it really is a big mental game. Physically, I was capable of this all along; but mentally, I had some serious doubts.

Anyway, as I write this, I'm on the train to Seattle to visit Laurel (a reader-turned-friend); Allison (an old high school friend); and even meet up with some other readers tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to be trying cupcakes from around Seattle (Laurel surely knows how to celebrate a PR! ha) and I head home on Wednesday morning. This has been a great trip!

Thank you, by the way, for all the kind comments on my social media posts about the race! I was too excited to wait to share the news in my race report ;)

Continue Reading...

The Importance of the Easy Run (a must-read!)

I've been running for six years now, and I've done races from a 5K to a marathon several times over. I am an RRCA-certified running coach. I have read countless books on different training methods. I've studied websites, and have tested out training methods on myself. I feel pretty comfortable saying that I'm "experienced", and I feel very confident when I talk about running.

However, there is one key part of training (in nearly every method out there) that I was ALWAYS doing wrong. It wasn't because I didn't know how I was supposed to do it, it was just that it felt counterintuitive, and I felt silly when I did it correctly.

I'm talking about "easy runs".

Easy runs make up the majority of most major training plans available. They're called easy runs because they are meant to be run at an easy pace--a pace that requires little effort, sometimes called a "conversational pace" because you should be able to hold a conversation while you run. It's very simple! You don't worry about trying to hit certain times or paces during these runs--you just run "easy".

However, the majority of recreational (even competitive recreational) runners do their easy runs too fast. Some may feel ridiculous going at a slow pace, some may be impatient and want to get it over with quickly, some may like to compete (even with themselves) to improve at each training run. For a lot of us, running hard feels like we've really accomplished something--the sweat, sore muscles, heavy breathing--it feels good. Easy running doesn't FEEL like you're doing anything worthwhile (but I hope to help you realize that the easy runs actually are doing something very productive). There are numerous reasons that runners may run their easy runs too fast, but the point is, we need to do the easy runs how they are meant to be run: easy.

I always ignored this bit of training info for myself. When writing training plans for other people, I was sure to include the slower pace suggestions for easy runs; but when doing my own training, I convinced myself that what I was doing was "easy", when, in fact, it was more "moderate" in effort. I just felt embarrassed by the slow pace required to keep my effort easy. Running slowly is very difficult in a mental aspect--we tend to feel silly about it.

However, easy runs are the bread and butter of a training plan! After spending most of 2015 with a stress fracture, I finally decided to change the way I was training. The first thing I did was to run my easy runs at a truly easy pace, using a heart rate monitor to ensure that I didn't convince myself that a moderate run was easy.

This was a typical self-proclaimed "easy run" for me (in reality, it was a moderate run):

October 2015 (9:32 pace; HR 165)

Using a heart rate monitor is the best way to ensure you're running easy enough, especially in the beginning. You may be surprised at just how much slower you need to run in order to keep your heart rate in the "easy" zone. When I was doing what I called easy runs before changing up my training, my "easy" pace was about 9:30. Once I started using a heart rate monitor, I realized that was definitely a moderate effort run, and to keep my heart rate where it needed to be, my pace had to be about 11:30!

Here is one of my first TRULY easy runs, keeping my heart rate at less than 146:

December 2015 (11:36 pace; HR 143)

I made the decision to keep my easy runs at a low heart rate (I used Dr. Phil Maffetone's 180 formula), no matter how slow I was. And you know what? I really started to ENJOY my runs! Before, I was always dreading having to go for a run. It was a chore to me, and I never looked forward to it--particularly my long runs. Once I started the low heart rate training, I actually really enjoyed the running itself. I dare say that I even started to look forward to my runs, which I never did before.

I still did some speed work, however. I now follow the 80/20 ratio of easy running to hard/moderate running... basically, 80% or more of the time spent running each week should be at an easy effort; and 20% or less should be spent at a moderate to high effort. Personally, I've been running five days a week, with two of those days being spent doing a modest amount of speed work. The other days? I kept my heart rate under 146 bpm, no matter how slow my pace had to be to keep it there.

I got so much faster as a runner, and pretty quickly, too! My 10K pace had slowed to about 11:00/mile in 2015, due to some extra weight and poor training. I set a goal to run a 10K at a 7:55 pace in the spring of 2016, and that became the focus of my training. That's over a three-minute-per-mile improvement, which is a very LOFTY goal--but I did it (well, nearly--I'll find out for sure on Sunday! Regardless, I've done five miles at a 7:50 pace, so I feel confident). It only took me about four months of solid, good-quality training.

I really feel that the easy runs have played an enormous part in my success. I also feel that the easy runs have helped me to drop to my lowest weight ever. Once I switched up my training, the weight came off pretty easily, and I had no idea why--the only thing I was doing differently was running very slowly on my easy runs.

I could get very technical and scientific about WHY running at an easy pace is so important (it involves a lot of talk of cells, mitochondria, capillaries, slow twitch muscle development, and things like that)--but that kind of chat usually goes in one ear and out the other of the typical runner. Here it is, without all the anatomical info:

Throughout training, your body is constantly making adaptations in order to get fitter. The ideal scenario is that you can run fast while using minimal effort--but it takes a lot of training and adapting to get there. For someone who is just starting out, just running a mile takes an enormous effort and your body has to work very hard. As you continue to train, your body adapts by doing all the scientific stuff in order to make it easier. Your body doesn't WANT that run to feel hard, so it changes what it can to make it easier for you the next time.

There are different ways that your body does this, and it requires different training efforts on your part during your training in order to make all of the necessary adaptations. When you run at an easy effort, your body is making very specific changes that are NECESSARY to getting your body in ideal shape; when you run at a hard pace, it is making different changes, which are also necessary. There are very good, necessary reasons to run at several different effort levels in order to get your body to adapt. That means you need to run at an easy effort sometimes, a moderate effort sometimes, and a hard effort sometimes in order to get all of those anatomical changes to happen.

It's like baking cookies--there are necessary ingredients that must go into them in order for the cookies to turn out well. If you skip one or two ingredients, you may still get something that resembles a cookie--but it's not going to be the perfect, ideal cookie. It may taste bad, it may have a poor texture, or it just may not resemble a cookie at all.

Doing all of your running at a moderate or hard effort is like leaving out half the ingredients in your recipe! You will still get some changes and adaptations, but it will be far from ideal. When you have all of the necessary ingredients (or training runs), you will have an amazing batch of cookies (or turn into a master running machine!).

Some of the adaptations in your body can't occur when doing ALL of your running at a hard effort, so you won't get any better. In fact, MOST of the adapting comes from easy running, which is why it's important to do the majority of your runs at an easy effort. The easy running is like the whole base of a good cookie (flour, sugar, butter, etc)--and the moderate or hard running is the extra mix-ins, like chocolate chips or walnuts, to make it even yummier.

In running, training begins (or should begin) with "building a base". Basically, that is a LOT of running at an easy effort--very little or no speed work. For a beginner, this could take six months to a year; for a seasoned runner, a few weeks will do. It just depends on the person. But during the base building period, the runs should be done at an easy effort in order to maximize your aerobic conditioning. Once you build that base, you can start sprinkling in some speed work. The speed work will go much more smoothly when you have a good aerobic base to start with.

I realize this post is very long, and it really is just a long-winded piece of advice: "Make your easy runs EASY!", but I hope that I've convinced you to actually do it. I read all about it over the years, and thought, "Yeah, yeah, I know--easy runs should be easy." I convinced myself that what I was doing WAS actually easy, but after utilizing the heart rate monitor, I realized that I was just kidding myself.

One thing worth mentioning is that running truly easy on your easy runs makes your performance during hard runs much better. One of the first things I noticed when I switched up my training was that I had more energy to devote to my hard runs, and I was able to put in a really great effort; before, I was doing my easy runs too fast and my hard runs too slow.

In conclusion, I want to share what MY experience has been with easy runs. These are just some of the changes I've noticed:

• I enjoy my training much, much more than I did before.
• I have more energy during ALL of my runs--easy and speed work.
• I'm able to give a much better effort during my hard runs.
• My hard pace has improved dramatically--I PR'ed my 5K after just a month and a half of making the switch to easy running.
• My weight and body fat continued to decrease, even when I wasn't trying to lose more.
• I have stayed injury-free, even with the very hard effort I give during speed work.
• Because I am doing much less speed work, I actually look forward to doing it. It feels good to run hard once in a while.
• I've learned that my body doesn't HAVE to run fast all the time in order to maintain my fitness. Even just running hard once a week will keep me in good shape. The easy runs are doing their job, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Here is a recent easy run, which shows that even my easy run pace has improved. Still keeping my heart rate under 146, my pace has gotten faster (from 11:30-ish to 10:00-ish):

March 2016 (10:06 pace; HR 142)

I wish I had done my easy runs at an easy pace from my very first training plan, but I obviously can't turn back the clock. I just hope that I can convince those of you that may be doing your easy runs too fast to give it a try and see what happens :)

Continue Reading...

Speed work comparison

This week is going by so slowly! I'm super excited to head to Portland on Friday, but I'm also super nervous about the race on Sunday. I'm taking it easy this week as far as running goes, but I wanted to do one more speed workout (nothing too intense) before I leave. I thought it would be pretty cool to do the same workout as my first speed work when I started the low heart rate training.

That first speed workout was 12/24/15:
1 mile warm-up
6 x 2:00 fast (recovery until HR is less than 136 bpm)
4 x 1:00 fast (recovery until HR is less than 136 bpm)

I remember doing that workout, and it felt so tough! Running 2:00 fast (for me) is roughly 1/4 mile, so I can compare these intervals with previous 400-meter workouts I've done. Anyway, today, I figured I would run the exact same route and do the exact same workout as 12/24, so that I would have a direct comparison.

It was cold this morning! We're starting to get winter temps now that it's springtime. Go figure! I layered up, and wore my older 920xt Garmin heart rate strap with the new Garmin 620 monitor that hooks to it. I was having some issues with the 620 strap (I really need to replace it, because it's nearly three years old). I hoped switching it up would help.

I set my Garmin for the workout (it automatically logs splits and gives me an alert for each interval). During the warm-up, I was running very easy, but my heart rate was showing 160, which I knew wasn't correct. Today was not the best day for my heart rate strap not to work! By the end of the warm-up, though, it looked legit at 135 bpm. My Garmin beeped for the first 2:00 interval, so I started running hard.

I actually kind of like doing the shorter intervals (and for some reason, running 2:00 seems so much shorter than running 400-meters, or 1/4 mile, even though they are all roughly the same for me). I wasn't too worried about my pace today; I just wanted to run hard in order to compare the times with my previous intervals.

Between each interval, I had a hard time getting my heart rate to read, and when it did, it was reading much higher than I knew my actual heart rate to be. It was frustrating. My Garmin wouldn't start my next interval until my heart rate was under 136 bpm, and I was walking very slowly.

Something must have happened with the heart rate monitor during my fifth interval. As soon as the Garmin beeped to stop that interval, I slowed to a walk to get my heart rate down. I didn't even walk three steps when my Garmin beeped for me to start the next fast interval. What the heck?! The HR monitor must have read my heart rate as being under 136, when I knew it was closer to 170.

I tried pushing the lap button, to start the next walk segment, but again, it immediately read my heart rate as being under 136, so it told me to run hard again--this time for 1:00. At that point, I just said screw it. I ran home at one solid pace, and figured that running five 2:00-intervals was better than nothing.

I was very surprised (in a good way) to see how much my intervals have improved in just a few months! Compared to the first five 2:00-intervals I did on 12/24:

The run on 12/24 seemed like it felt harder than today's, also. I compared today's splits with some other previous workouts (either 400-meter intervals or 2:00 intervals), and these are the pace comparisons:

I didn't include any treadmill runs--just outdoor runs. The one on 12/8/15 was my first outdoor speed work since my injury (not counting the Turkey Trot 5K that I raced hard), so it's nice to have that as a comparison. I was kind of surprised to see how much slower my pace was in January 2014. I looked back at that post on my blog, and saw that I had run at the State Park, and it was very icy. So that's why the splits were so inconsistent. (One of the things I love about having a blog is being able to go back and read about what went on during a particular day.)

Anyway, I was very pleased with today's speed work. Now I just have a couple of easy runs until my race on Sunday! I'm going to run easy tomorrow and Friday, and take Saturday off. I've discovered that I do best on speed work after a rest day, so I'm hoping that's what will happen for my race.

I've been so focused on my race that I haven't really thought about what I'm going to do when it's over! If I don't hit my goal on Sunday, I may try again in a few weeks (I know that I'm physically capable right now, but if things don't go my way on Sunday, I'll have to try again). If I do hit my goal, I'm not sure what I'll do next! I think I may focus on really building my aerobic base over the summer (tons of low heart rate training).

In the fall, maybe I'll try for another PR. I still don't have a desire to do a distance longer than a 10K at this point, so half-marathons and marathons are out. I signed up for the Tour de Troit bike ride again, so I'll probably do a lot of bike riding this summer. My goal for the Tour de Troit is simply to finish it, because now I know how to change a flat tire! ;)

Continue Reading...