onward and upward

Today Steph and I were doing our hill run and got really bored because it was so easy and we decided we had to spice things up a little (just kidding we actually couldn't breath enough to even discuss this until we were going downhill). We thought maybe 12 minutes of cardio was not enough to justify getting up at 5 a.m. so we are going to try some intervals next week. Here is the plan:

Car to flat part= 10 min. uphill
flat part back to gate = 4 min. downhill
gate back up to flat part = 7 min. uphill
flat part back down to gate = 4 min. downhill
gate back up to flat part = 7 min. uphill
flat part to car = 8 min. downhill

total uphill = 24 min.
total downhill = 16 min.
total workout = 40 min.*

* all times to be confirmed next thursday

Why are we doing this again?

I don't know what happened this morning, but the tempo run was hard! I think I'm still a bit sore from hill running last week and I was sore from the 10 mile run on Saturday, AND I was TIRED! It seems like last week, the run was hard, but not seemingly impossible from the first step to the last. We did slow it down from last week, and I think we were closer to a race pace we could keep up for an hour (8:33; although as Steph said, it would be a painful hour), but still the run killed me.

So to renew my motivation for the Monday workouts I did some research.

Benefits of Tempo Running:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263-265-6141-0,00.html
First: Training variety improves your fitness, staves off injuries, and keeps motivation high.
Second: Tempo runs make you a less fatigued marathoner.

Benefits of Speed Training:
http://www.sportscoach.netmx.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1066&mode=mode=thread&order=0&thold=0&POSTNUKESID=9cce284756e1c6a47764a3b4246de95a
Speed training works on three things essential for improving marathon speed: lactate threshold, VO2 max and leg speed.
- Lactate threshold: Muscles can burn glucose two ways, aerobically (with oxygen) and anaerobically (without oxygen). In the anaerobic version, short-term energy stores are depleted rapidly, and lactate builds up in the muscles. At that point, you can't go any farther. Running long distances uses the aerobic system. But eventually, the lactate begins to accumulate in the bloodstream. "It's that burn you feel at the end of a race," says Jake Goldsborough, who helps run Fleet Feet's summer speed work sessions. But by doing interval work, you help your body learn to deal with that lactate buildup, says LeAnn Harris, an exercise physiologist and manager of the BJC WellAware Center.
- VO2 max: VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen you can transport to your muscles. The science regarding this can get a little confusing, says Harris; just know that numerous studies show that you can increase your VO2 max by working out at higher intensities. And the better shape you are in, the better your capacity for VO2 max, says Harris.
- Leg speed: When you train slowly, you only activate your slow-twitch muscle fibers, so the fast-twitch fibers stay untrained. By sprinting or running faster you activate your fast-twitch fibers, which can help you toward the end of a long run.

Conclusion: Monday workouts will keep us from getting tired as soon as we would otherwise and when we've used up all our regular muscle and stamina, we might be able to tap into a small reserve we build from speed training. Sounds important. These might be the workouts that really make our marathon experience. Now if I could just figure out the benefits of the 5:30 a.m. spinning class . . .

ice, ice baby

I have been told to take an ice bath or jump in the river or something immediately after running to avoid getting sore. I have yet do take that advice but I do ice my knees 20 minutes after all my long runs and I really think it helps. On Saturday Steph, Mike and I did a trail run and it turned out to be really hilly and uneven ground. It was fun but I was expecting to be sore and am happy to report, I felt fine. I credit the icing.

Alarm Fiasco

So it takes me all evening to pump myself up to get ready to wake up and train on Monday morning. Yesterday was no different. Shyla sent the text that we were going to meet at 5:30 at river run. Jon (my husband) said I needed to set my cell phone alarm because he didn't want to wake up at 5:00 (completely understandable). So at 7:00 this morning when I woke up to his alarm I was confused...Turns out I didn't turn the p.m. setting to a.m. Sorry gals, but if it is any consolation I was 20 minutes late to work. Gotta love Mondays.

Training Log 7/17

Hill run/Lucky Peak
12 minutes up, 12 minutes down= 24 minutes.

Roughly 5,000 ft., 280 ft. climb = 5.6% grade

Hell... I mean Hills

I officially hate running up hill. Although I was thinking it might be better for me than speed work because it still hurts, a lot, even if I slow down. Today we just ran up to Lucky Peak for 12 minutes and then back down. My throbbing calves seem to think that was a plenty strenuous workout. However, we could also mix it up by trying something like this:

• Find a moderately steep hill (five- to 10-percent grade) that takes you 60 to 90 seconds to ascend at a hard pace.
• Start with an easy 15-minute warmup, preferably on rolling hills to waken your climbing muscles.
• End your jog at the base of your hill, then try five to eight charges at a hard pace. Add one or two charges each session, or do the same number while gradually improving on your time to the top.
• Keep time from precise spots at the bottom and top, to track your progress.
• Practice good hill-running form. Run with a slightly higher knee lift. Pump your arms higher and more vigorously. Lean slightly forward. Keep your head up.
• Jog slowly on each descent.
• If your breathing and heart rate remain significantly elevated, take a short break before starting the next charge. If that doesn't work, call it a day.
• Cool down with a 15-minute jog on level or gently rolling ground.

scout

Since I will be in Logan this weekend anyway, I am thinking about scouting the marathon route by running my 10 mile run along part of it and driving the rest. This would have the added benefit of being a downhill run so I can see how I do.

I've got to get one of these speed skirts!

I have a love-hate relationship with our Monday workouts (speed training and tempo runs). What I hate about them is that they are by far our hardest workout. What I love about them is that they are by far our hardest workout.

The High Points:

- The competitive part of me loves that we are working 3x as hard as anyone else we see on the greenbelt (or at least twice as hard . . . or one and a half times as hard . . . well anyway, harder).
- I am hopeful that pushing my body when it feels tired and sore on a Monday run will come in handy during the last part of the marathon.
- I love that I improve a little each week.
- I love that I don’t have to do it alone—I wouldn’t do it as fast, it wouldn’t be as bearable, and I think the cool down would be sort of depressing or something (it’s fun to have someone to talk to about how awesome we did when we are cooling down).

Training Log Catch-Up (6/9-7/14)

I will put our times here... someday.

ode to the greenbelt

I have always thought that the Boise greenbelt was brilliant. It is awesome to have green space throughout the city. But since I started training, I have begun to worship the greenbelt. It is so convenient, comfortable and beautiful. Besides being asphalt, free of motorized vehicles, and shaded by lovely trees, it is even marked at every 1/10 of a mile for optimal training. It is like running on a charming and way less boring track.

aqua jog

I can't decide how I feel about aqua jogging. On one hand, it is such a nice break from all the annoying running we have been doing lately. However, I am not confident that we get as good of a workout. Maybe I shouldn't blame aqua jogging and blame Shyla because she won't sprint because she is scared of getting water on her precious face. It is fun to watch her try though.

Here's some ideas for future workouts: http://www.aquajogger.com/ajtips.htm

jim says...

It will be fun to follow your blog. One thing to factor in: the TOU has a lot of downhill, and downhill running, for the unprepared, takes a huge toll on your quads. So I suggest planning some of your long and medium runs so that they are downhill. This will help prepare your quads for the last 6 miles.

speed

shyla and stephanie are fast.

i am slow.

but even i am a little faster than we had planned.

multiplication and division

We are not good at math. We are good at writing briefs and fixing muscles but we are not good at math.

One unexpected quirk of training has been the mental challenge of trying to sort out how fast and/or far we are going. Today, for example, we were supposed to run 8 miles but because parts of the Greenbelt are under construction, we had to take a detour through the golf course. Shyla is in charge of keeping track of our distance. While Shyla is many things, she is not a GPS device and therefore we are not really sure exactly how far we went today. We thought we ought to be able to figure it out mathematically. However, two lawyers and one calculator later, we were more confused than when we started. Here's the problem:

If you can run 1.2 miles in 10 minutes, how fast can you run 1 mile? (It might help to know that we run 10 minutes and walk for two minutes. And while we are running, I religiously watch to see how many 1/10th of a mile markers go by before we walk again.)

We solved it like this:

• 10 min. = 600 sec. per 1.2 miles (or 12, 1/10ths of a mile)


• 600/12 = 50 sec. per 1/10th of a mile


• 50 x 10 = 500 sec. per mile


• 500/60 = 8.3 min. per mile (or 8 min. 18 sec. per mile)

This actually looked correct to us until we remembered that we ran over 8.5 min. miles for our tempo run the other day and it felt like we were having our lungs ground up in a blender. We finally decided that my estimate that we were going 1.2 miles per 10 minutes had to be optimistic. I think that must be it...

26.2

I am not sure exactly how it happened; something about getting lost and spooked by an unbelievable number of snakes made Stephanie and I decide we just had to sign up for a marathon. We were so determined, we signed up for the Top of Utah Marathon as soon as we found our way back to our cars in the late afternoon of Saturday May 31. Shyla got wind of it and, like the big copy-cat she is, has been tagging along ever since. Actually, if anything, Shyla is dragging us along. She is the only one who has been consistently getting up each morning for over a year to exercise so we are relying heavily on her discipline.

In planning our training schedule, we gave ourselves a crash-course in marathons relying almost entirely on runnersworld.com. It includes less running and more cross training than we expected but we are optimistic about it.

• Basically we do a running workout on Mondays. These used to be really easy but are quickly getting harder as we have started doing tempo runs and will soon do speed runs.
• Tuesdays are supposed to be elliptical training but I always sleep through that so of course I assume Shy and Steph are only pretending to go.
• Same for the Wednesday workout which is a spinning class that I went to once but got kicked out of for being late. So I am punishing the teacher each week by not showing up. (I am sure she is barely holding herself together in the face of my rejection.)
• Thursday is just an easy two-mile run.
• And Friday is the best of all because that is when we AQUA JOG. Aqua Jogging is a very sophisticated exercise where you go to a swimming pool with a big buoyant blue belt and jog in the water. We haven't totally refined it yet so right now it just a notch above just hanging out in a swimming pool wearing bouyant blue belts. But it is a fun break and the old men in the hot tub seem really entertained by our antics.
• Plus it prepares us for the long run on Saturday. We are increasing our mileage weekly until we get to 19 miles. YIKES. I am only assuming we will live because other people do.