Month: April 2016

Oregano’s Training Log – 4.29.2016
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TRAILZ!
TRAILZ!

Plan for the week: Third week in the three week build, catered to contain a VO2 Max test on Thursday morning.

 Saturday 4/23: I decided to switch things up and went out to the trails near where I grew up. It was absolutely beautiful, and so much fun to run somewhere different. However, about seven and a half miles into the wilderness by myself I got a bit uncomfortable (having not seen anyone else in miles), so I turned around and looped some of the beginning again to hit my mileage. I need to bribe some friends into joining me on these adventures. And then there was the fantastic bonus of stopping by my parents house for lunch on the way home! Run – 17 miles (trail – 2,992 ft elevation gain)

Sunday 4/24: Back to my usual trails – added some varying paces in the middle six miles. Run – 12.2 miles (trail – 1,313 ft elevation gain with varying paces)

Monday 4/25: Run – 6 miles easy + core/strength

Tuesday 4/26: I had only a mini workout this week because of a VO2 max test on Thursday. Run – 6 x 400m @ 90sec’s, total: 8 miles

Seriously. Oregon is the best.
Seriously. Oregon is the best.

Wednesday 4/27: My dad’s birthday! Had a lovely evening with family and my mom’s strawberry rhubarb pie. Mmmmmmm. Cross-Train = Core/Strength, 20 min. swim, 20 min. pool run

Thursday 4/28: VO2 Max test in the morning. This was quite an experience. In short,before having breakfast or coffee, while breathing through a tube and with electrodes stuck all over my chest and a blood pressure cuff on my arm, I walked/ran on a treadmill at 10% incline at increasing speed until it got really hard. For the record, it got really hard when I was barely jogging. My legs were totally cooked. Other than the treadmill portion of the test, there was also lots of breathing into tubes. If you’re interested, according to this test my VO2 max is 63.1. I went to work in my running clothes and then ran with my friends a bit later in the day. Run – 5.5 miles

Friday 4/29: Much-needed introvert night. Run – 7 miles + core/strength

Total Mileage: 55.7 miles

Summary: A decent week. My legs are pretty tired though, and I don’t think my 32-mile weekend is going to be very easy. We shall see.

5 Kernels of Wisdom from Contenders at the USA Half Champs
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champs-ring_lgWe’re here in Columbus at the Cap City Half and have had a full day including a press conference, a reception, and a little one-one-one with some of the top seeds. The elites were out in full force, sharing their wisdom in their quest for the One Ring, a load of cash, and a national title.

They’re not rocket scientists or Nobel Laureates; however, their achievements as athletes cannot be denied. They have congregated upon this concrete oasis surrounded by a desert of cow pastures and cornfields this weekend, and, dear reader, we have followed them to the invisible mountain (it’s very flat here) to gather their seeds of wisdom and sow them unto you.

From much talk about training, pre-race nutrition, the weather, and the pros and cons of the course, we found the kernels. Read on and learn a thing … or five.

Read more >>

What the Heck Are Strides?
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imageIt took me years of consistent training before I made a big breakthrough with running and broke into the sub-elite ranks of the sport. Sure, I ran a lot of miles, I did long runs and tempos and intervals, but I chalk a lot of my success up to something you might not suspect. My favorite secret to getting faster? Strides!

If you’ve perused our training logs you’ve seen that many of us incorporate strides. Strides, sometimes called striders, are a common component of high school and college training programs and they should be in your training program too. But what exactly are strides?

While there certainly are a few of us who have no idea, many of us have at least a passing knowledge of what strides are. But even if you have included them in your training for years, do you actually know what purpose they serve in your training? Do you know when it’s ideal to incorporate them into a run? Are you doing them correctly? Let’s discuss! Read more >>

How To Sound Like You Know What You’re Talking About When You Talk About Running Shoes
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emma_shoesLooking at the display of shoes at your local running store and the clerk comes over to help:

You should definitely try these. The last seems to fit most people’s feet really well, with plenty of room in the vamp, but good lockdown through the midfoot. Some people feel a little bulge underfoot on the medial side, but you should try them and see how you like them.

You nod, put them on and go outside for a jog around the store.

“So, what did you think?” the clerk asks, looking down at your feet.

“Oh, uh …”

You know what you want to say, they felt good in general but the pinky toe area seemed a bit tight and the top part of the shoe cut in a little bit, and the squishy part seemed too squishy. But how do you say it so you sound like the expert you are? You know that you know what you’re talking about, but you want to start sounding like it. So take a time out, read the rest of this article and be transformed into a shoe nerd. Read more >>

Who Are the People Running Marathons?
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image
A lot’s changed since my first marathon five years ago, except my feelings about the marathon.

Nearly five years ago, I ran my first and only marathon. In spite of having run regularly for most of my life, training for that marathon proved to be a huge challenge! Each and every long run beat me up, I was exhausted, and I got injured. I made it through the race, but just barely. At the time, and even years later, I chalked my difficulties up to being a newbie at focused training. I thought my inexperience with workouts and long runs alone could account for what I had experienced. But here I am five years later, now a seasoned middle-distance racer with many workouts and long runs under my belt and now I’m training for my second marathon. To my surprise, it is no easier. I am still struggling.

Most would agree marathon training takes a profound physical and mental toll. And yet, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like there are post after post showing joy-filled, glowing people reveling post-long run or race. Marathon participation is soaring; the most recent data from Running USA, the 2014 Annual Marathon Report, cites 2013 as a blockbuster year for marathons, in spite of the Boston Marathon bombings and several other large marathon cancellations. In the 1,100 marathons that were run in the US that year, all-time highs were set for male finishers (308,400 finishers), female finishers (232,600 finishers), and Masters finishers (254,300 finishers). I have many friends, serial marathoners, who vigorously extol the virtues of this iconic race distance.

So who are the people who can’t seem to get enough of the marathon?  Read more >>

Migraines and Running: Yep, It’s A Thing.
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migrainesCutting off my own head is not something I normally fantasize about, but last week in the grip of a migraine, decapitation seemed like the only logical way forward. It has been about a year since my last migraine and last week I had two. I hope it’s not going to become a trend.

This throbbing, intense, one-sided pain behind one eye is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and extreme fatigue. When I have one I can’t do anything other than lie in bed for the rest of the day, and there is an intense hangover-feeling the next morning. And it always comes on during or immediately after a run: exercise-induced migraine. Read more >>

Poppy’s Training Log – 4.24.16
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The beginning of this week focused on recovering from the track 10k and the end of the week involved running a half marathon.  I really wanted to do this particular half marathon because I ran it last year and really enjoyed it and the people involved with the race.  However, the timing of it wasn’t great as it fell right in between the track 10k and the 10 mile race I plan to do next week.  So, the half became more of a workout than an all-out race.  It went well – I felt good and I had another enjoyable experience there.  I seem to have some residual strength from all that marathon training I did last year.  I really do like the half marathon distance.  I’m hoping to run a fast one in the fall.

Monday: easy 6 in the morning, easy 4 in the afternoon

Tuesday: 12 miles with a few light strides, which I later found out I wasn’t supposed to do.

Wednesday:  easy 4 in the morning, easy 4 in the afternoon w/ 6×20 sec strides

Thursday:  12 with workout.  Plan was to do a 90 min run w/ a 6 mile stretch on the rail trail, which has marked half miles.  For 5 miles I was to run a half mile at 10 mile race effort, followed by a half mile easy.  I then was to run the 6th mile doing 30 seconds fast/30 seconds float.   Coach stressed the importance of running by effort and not running to hit specific paces as I still might be recovering from the 10k.  He also stressed cutting the workout short if I felt like I wasn’t recovered.  Ended up feeling pretty good from the start of my warm-up so was optimistic I’d feel good on the workout portion. Tried to just channel how I felt during a majority of the 10k, because really, there’s not much difference between 10k, 10 mile, and 1/2 marathon effort for me.

Felt pretty good and strong throughout. Legs were a little tired by the end of the 30/30 mile, but overall things felt fine.

Easy 33:21 up, easy 17:36 down

2:55/3:39

2:57/3:42 (mostly uphill mile)

2:49/3:37 (mostly downhill mile)

2:53/3:41

2:51/3:39

30/30 mile in 6:09, which was pretty evenly split (went through 1/2 mile in 3:04)

Friday:  single 6, solo

Saturday:  easy 4 in the morning and easy 4 in the afternoon w/ 8×20 sec strides

Sunday: 19 w/ half marathon. I tried to go out at an effort that felt like steady state/MP and then just kind of hold it there. Was in the lead for the women, but not sure by how much. At a turn-around near mile 6 I saw that the second place woman wasn’t that far behind me. I threw in a little surge to distance myself a bit since I was feeling pretty controlled and holding back. Once we hit the trail, which was just before 7, I didn’t really have anyone to run with. There was a guy ahead of me that I tried to focus on to keep me engaged. I caught up to him around 9 and thought we could run together, because it seemed like we were running the same pace. I separated from him on one of the uphills and apparently I pulled ahead of him by quite a bit over the next 3+ miles as I ended up finished ~40 seconds ahead of him. Around the time I passed that guy (who ended up being 2nd place masters), the trail surface was getting rough. I was warned about this the night before by someone who is involved with the race. Apparently, the rain the area got recently did some damage to the trail’s surface. Just before 10 there was a sign they posted that said “rough footing ahead”. There were some potholes and the dirt was softer and more slow-going than last year. My legs were feeling the surface by the 11th mile. And just like last year, once we got back onto the road with ~1.5 miles to go, my legs felt funny from the change in surface.

By 11 I knew I had the win, so I just settled back into a steady state sort of effort, though I did pick it up a little once we entered the track to finish (clocked a 100m stretch at 22 there). Fun to cross the line and break the tape again.

Like last year, there was a lot of good entertainment and support on the course. Several of the bands played Prince songs. Loved hearing “1999” near the 1 mile mark (a childhood favorite) and Conrad’s favorite, “Raspberry Beret” out around the 10k mark. Also, The Crooner was out at 9 again.  Also, the bibs had our names on them. Soooo many people yelled “Go Cathy!”.  I don’t think the Carly on my bib looked like Cathy, but whatevs. I appreciated the cheers.  The spectators at this race (and the other runners who you see at a few turnarounds) are just great.

Splits were off in a few places, just like last year. And for the longest time I thought I was running more like 1:21-1:22, so was surprised to cross the line in 1:20:4x.

Splits:

6:03 (largely downhill mile)

6:16

6:10

6:12

5:37 (short)

6:08

5:56

6:21 (maybe long?)

5:52 (think this may have been short as it was on the trail and didn’t feel like I was running that fast)

6:46 (long, but this was an uphill mile w/ the roughest footing)

6:05

6:14

6:59 (last 1.1)

75 miles for the week

Elites Descend on Columbus for 2016 USATF Half Marathon Championship
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11203506_1587402638203085_2140938430_nNow that the Olympic Trials Marathon and Boston are over, it’s easy to think there isn’t much going on in the world of road racing until the Olympic marathon in Rio. Au contraire! On Saturday, April 30, some of the best runners in our sport, including Olympians and National Champions and our very own Spearmint, will gather in the heart of Columbus, Ohio to compete for the title of 2016 USATF Half Marathon Champion.

Every year the championships are held in conjunction with a different race around the country. The previous two years the Championship was run in Houston, hosted by the Chevron Houston Marathon. This year, the host race, the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon, is offering a record-breaking $90,000 of prize money to the top 20 men and women finishers, as well as to the top five masters men and women. A record $12,100 will be awarded to the winning man and woman at the race, a nice bonus in a sport that doesn’t typically offer multi-million dollar contracts.

Oh, and did we mention? We will be there, covering the race from the lead up to the big day to the finish line interviews! Picking the brains of some of the best in our sport, sharing the exciting stories sure to happen during the weekend, capturing moments to help you feel like you’re there too, all the while trying to contain our excitement and not fan-girl too hard. Are you ready to get pumped?! Just take a look at the top-ten seeds who will be toeing the line in Columbus this Saturday!
Read more >>

What Overtraining Taught Me About Running
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Slack for iOS Upload-15There is no PR, no amount of running success, no breaking of the tape worth the constant physical and emotional pain of overtraining. Running is a joy, a gift and a symbol of health, vitality and humanity. Running is like the brightest sharpest Instagram filter for life. Or it’s supposed to be.

When overtraining starts creeping, every run hurts. Wincing in physical pain through many many miles is one thing, but, perhaps worse, is the nagging feeling that no step she takes is good enough. The gnawing of failure is the thing that keeps an overtrained runner from seeing the truth of what is happening to her. She continues to claw and scrape and scratch trying to get away from failure’s grip, which only tightens it.

What the overtrained runner views as failure is her body’s plea for mercy. “Stop!” it screams as it sends pain coursing through her body and blankets her with exhaustion that no amount of caffeinated gel or pump-up music can correct. “STOP!” it screams as it sucks the joy out of every step and triggers negative thought loops through even the easiest of runs. But she plugs on believing in the power of her will. “It’s just soft tissue,” she tells herself. “Maybe my iron is low,” she thinks. “I’m just not tough enough,” she reasons. She hurts to walk. She hurts to sit. She hurts to lay in bed. She feels like she doesn’t belong with her team. She feels like she’s a fraud, that anything she ever achieved was a fluke or didn’t really happen. Read more >>

Kaitlin Gregg Goodman Believed She Could So She Did
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Running towards a new personal best in the 10K.
Running towards a new personal best in the 10K.

Kaitlin Gregg Goodman has been methodically and meticulously plugging away for years. She’s weathered many ups and downs, but finally, over the last year-and-a-half, her persistence is paying off. Through consistent training, positive thinking, and with a supportive crew, she steadily chipped away at her old personal bests, but the biggest breakthrough came in 10,000 meters last year at the Stanford Invite where she earned her Olympic Trials “A” qualifier. Kaitlin achieved her big dream goal while juggling a full time job and coaching. Though Kaitlin may not be a household name (yet), she is already an inspiration to so many other women, including me.

Come July 2nd, she’ll be toeing the line among the country’s best 10k runners vying for her first Olympic berth. As of today, Kaitlin is one of only four women who have the Olympic “A” standard in the 10,000 meters and also competed in this past February’s U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. And she’s in some good company. The other three women? Amy Cragg, Shalane Flanagan, and Liz Costello. Kaitlin has proven over a successful road racing and track campaign that she is more than deserving to be on that list.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kaitlin about her running past, present, and future. Grab a cup of coffee, kick back, and get inspired!  Read more >>

Pumpkin’s Fargo Marathon Training Log: Week 14
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Just a quick post for today! This past week was absolutely average. I got in all of my runs and all of my miles. None of my runs this week were particularly horrible or particularly excellent. It was… fine!  Oh, but in exciting news- I did top the 500 mile mark this week. Last year I only reached 552 for the entire year, so this is pretty great! As exhausting as this training cycle has been, I have to say I think I’m starting to enjoy being a higher mileage runner!

Monday 4.18: 5 miles, recovery pace

Tuesday 4.19: 2 x 3 miles, 1 mile recovery. 9 miles total. Did this run on the treadmill and it felt like it took foreverrrrrrrrrrr. Happily, this was my only treadmill run for the week.

Wednesday 4.20: Rest!

Thursday 4.21: It was windy as F this day. Was supposed to do 9 miles at tempo pace today, but decided to flip flop my days and do Friday’s easy run this day and do my tempo the following day when the wind wasn’t supposed to be so intense. Did 6 miles, though I later discovered I only needed 5. I guess I’m an overachiever? Also, this was supposed to be easy pace and probably because I was feeling impatient, I ran this one slightly faster than easy.

Friday 4.22: Okay, this run was sort of awful. 11 miles total, 9 at tempo pace. It was 63 degrees and bright sunshine when I did this run and I went into the run way under-fueled and not hydrated at all. The first few miles I went out a little fast, and I definitely paid for it the last few miles. After I hit my halfway turnaround, I had to stop 2 more times to drink out of a bathroom faucet. I didn’t bring water, and had only planned on one water stop at the halfway point. By the last couple of miles I felt like I was running in quicksand. I need to really focus on hydration now that the weather is warmer!

Saturday 4.23: 8 miles, easy pace. This run felt like a struggle, likely because of the quick turnaround from last night’s tempo, as I did this run right away in the morning. I was incredibly thirsty and felt sloggy. Still probably under-hydrated from yesterday.

Sunday 4.24: 10.5 mile long run. This run went much better than the past couple of runs. The wind was 24 mph, but luckily it was generally a cross-wind. My heart rate was great and I held a pretty consistent pace. I rocked the ol’ fuel belt today because I knew my route wouldn’t take me near many water opportunities. It was a slightly humid morning, so I was glad to have a little extra water with me.

 

Total miles: 49.5

My first really sweaty run of the year!
My first really sweaty run of the year!

Pimento’s (Newport Marathon) Training Log 4.23.16
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FullSizeRender (57)This week was a scheduled cut-back week, and luckily (or unluckily) the illness that started with my son and then moved on to my husband over the last two weeks hit my three-year-old hard on Monday night. Her fever stayed in the 101+ range (topping out at 104) until Thursday.

My coach told me to start on a Vitamin C and zinc regimen but, alas, by Wednesday evening I was sick too with a low-grade fever and body aches from Hell. I took Thursday completely off, my first day not running since March 25, spending most of the day on the couch with my daughter’s pillow unicorn. Alora told me the unicorn’s “magical, swirly horn would mend me.” Kind of, I guess. She’s a budding believer in homeopathy.

On Friday I attempted the workout I skipped Thursday, but didn’t complete it and ended up miserable on the couch, until that night when I started feeling better but my voice started to go. I actually ran my long run on Saturday morning well, but afterward my voice turned into nothing but a rasp. Sigh. Thank goodness this coincided with a scheduled down week!

Sunday: 6 mile run, 11 mile bike ride with my daughter on the tag-a-long bike attached and my son on his bike.

Monday: 8 miles, recovery pace pushing the stroller.

Tuesday: 9 miles, pushing the stroller. Upper body/core in the evening. I ran in 75-degree weather and my little sicky napped.

Wednesday: 10 miles, pushing the stroller. Very warm again, little one napped again.

Thursday: off

Friday: 8 treadmill miles, with 2.5 @6:40. Ewww. Upper body/core in the evening.

Saturday: 14 miles, with last three fast (7:15, 6:55, 6:40). Chaperoned prom in the evening with no voice. 50 quick pushups.

Weekly total: 55 miles, two core workouts

Readers’ Roundtable: What Does a Runner Look Like?
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imageMy track team at West Point had an unofficial motto, “If you can haul it, you can have it!” As Army girls, we were required to do pushups, pullups, march with heavy rucksacks, and perform other physical tasks that most civilians in running programs didn’t have to do. All this work made us very strong, but also made us look very big and muscular. Standing on the starting line at competitions we always felt beefy compared to the other college runners. Our team captain, a sprinter who happened to be a multiple league champion, had a booty beyond compare. And since she could haul it, well, she certainly showed everyone that she could have it.

During the Boston Marathon, the announcers made much of statistics showing the top runners have grown shorter and lither through the years. Runners are tiny people?

I’m 5’2″. Over the years, I’ve had multiple people comment about how difficult it must be for me to keep up with people who have long legs. Have you ever heard someone say about someone else, “Shouldn’t she be smaller since she runs so much?”  Or the reverse, “Look how thin she is! She runs too much.”

Clearly there is some image people have in mind for what a runner looks like. What is it? Do you look like a runner?  

Salty’s Training Log – 4.24.16
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WHAT?!? SALTY IS POSTING A TRAINING LOG!

Well, someone sure fell off the training log cliff. Oopsy. I was doing well and starting to get consistent with 40-50 miles per week and a tempo, but then in mid-February, I tripped on a toy on the way to the treadmill and strained my VMO tendon in my knee. It was such a frustrating setback, made only slightly better by the fact that I could continue running despite it being pretty painful at times. I managed to maintain some semblance of decent not-training miles, with some weeks the knee bothering me more than others, but I was so annoyed that I couldn’t bear to write more logs complaining about something.

While I didn't log anything here for a while, I maintained my log on running2win.com (LauraG). You can see after the blue dotted run in mid-february when I had my "incident."
While I didn’t log anything here for a while, I maintained my log on running2win.com (LauraG). You can see the “other” after the blue dotted run in mid-february when I had my “incident.”

Finally, though, my knee is feeling good and I’ve now strung four decent weeks of strength building, all of which included strides/fartlek/track, a tempo, and a longish run except for two weeks ago when I just ran a ton of decent miles in a few days in San Francisco. I even did my first timed track workout in 14 months this past week and I didn’t even care that it was slow and I felt like Bambi on ice. So, no more excuses and no whining! It’s time to get back into the swing of things and enjoy it!

Mon: 6 easy back in forth in front of my house while my daughter napped. She’s been really inconsistent with napping so I never know when she’ll go down. I was hoping she’d take an early nap or no nap so we could do a stroller run in the afternoon before the bus, but she fell asleep after the early slot, but before I could get out, so I settled for running 51 minutes back and forth in front of my house. You do whatcha gotta do!

Tue: 6.5 with track! Goal was 3 x [200, 200, 400] at 6:40 pace (:50, :50, 1:40) with same distance jog rest. I actually ran 50, 49, 1:38; 48, 46, 1:37; 47, 47, 1:35.

Wed: 7 easy with the single stroller. First 4 on trails (hard!) and last 3 on paved path (felt so easy!)

Thu: off

Fri: 8.5 with tempo workout. I call this the Wadamere Workout because it’s run in a neighborhood. I run down a street that meets another street at a V point and then run back up the other street. It is literally down and then up. Then at the top I do a short jog of 30-60 seconds back to the start and do it again. Each rep is 4:30-5:00 of hard running with a very short rest in between. Great workout! Did 6 sets.

Sat: 6 easy

Sun: 12 easy with my friend Mina. Did some on trails and some on paved path/roads. Tired but good.

Total: 46

Cilantro’s Training Log – 4.23.16
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Hello from Louisville!

I’m finally getting settled, and I got solid training week in before I have to go back to GFK for my final dissertation defense (finger’s crossed, send your positive thoughts my way around 1:30 PM CST on Thursday, please)  It’s so nice to have a home to come back to though. I have only been in Louisville a week, and I can already say I love it here.  I don’t ever want to leave, and this isn’t just because I am enjoying staying in one place for longer than a week. This town (and the people) are amazing. I’m not complaining about the awesome places I’ve gone the last few months, but I’m so so happy to have a home base again.

This week:

Finally, I was able to get back to serious running!

Sunday: 6 miles, easy, around Louisville.  Around a 9:30 pace.

Monday: 5 miles, hilly, 9:00 pace (with a mile at 8:00 because I had to race back to catch the internet guy); CrossFit in the afternoon (AMRAP 10 minutes: 12 thrusters, 12 kettlebell swings; strength: 12 deadlifts, 5,6,7 reps 20 pound bicep curls)

Tuesday: 6 miles, average 8:30 pace; CrossFit in the afternoon (25 dips, 50 push-ups, 75 lunges, 100 sit-ups).

Wednesday:  My first serious workout of the week. 30 mn warmup (I try to maintain a 10:00 pace but keep verging into the 9:30 as my base pace).  4×4:00 at 7:40-8:00 pace, 3:00 at 9:30-10:00 pace.  5 mn cooldown.

Thursday: 10 mn warm-up, 7x:40 at 6:40 pace, 1:20 recovery pace, 2 miles cool-down.  5 miles today. CrossFit in the afternoon: 5 rounds of 8 kettlebell swings, 10 squats with kettlebell, 12 burpees.  Total time: 10:18; strength: 10 deadlifts, 5,6,7 standing overhead lifts, 30 pounds).  For only 10 minutes, this literally kicked my butt.  I finished dripping with sweat and I wanted to quit the entire time.  Man, I love CrossFit.

Friday: Rest day (30 mn on the elliptical)

Saturday:  My final key workout of the week, and this was basically the most fun I’ve ever had on a treadmill.  Seriously.  I did 4 x 12:00 repeats at a 7:30 mile pace (one at a 7 mn pace) with 3 minutes recovery in between.  I did a nice warm-up and cool-down for a total of a little over 9 miles.  This workout hurt so bad (especially the last interval) but it was the kind of pain that was like – hey, you’re running faster than you ever had (and on a treadmill, where I am always slower).  I don’t want to speak to soon, but I think there is something to this crossfit thing.

Total miles: 36 miles

I have to drive back and forth to GFK this week, so I’m hoping to at least get three key running workouts in and three crossfit sessions in.  I might run a marathon on Saturday because there is one here (and why not), but I’m going to see how this week plays out!  Hope y’all had an amazing weekend.