It's Monday again which means that my schedule calls for a 7 mile tempo run. Last week I ran my 7 mile tempo in 1:02:03 which is 8:51 pace. While I was driving to where I park, I was doubtful that I could pull this off again. I'm not sure why, maybe because when I weighed myself this morning I was 5 lbs over my goal weight. I was so upset about that. I've been hanging out 2-3 lbs over my goal for a few weeks and it's driving me crazy. I just want to get myself back under control. Anyway, I guess I did have it in me because this tempo run, the same route as last week, I ran in 1:00:49. Less than a minute over 1 hour and over a minute faster. The average pace today was 8:41. Next week the distance of the tempo run goes up to 8 miles! I'm not sure I could keep up that pace for another mile but we'll see!
I wish I'd have taken a picture of my Garmin but I didn't and I've already uploaded it to Garmin Connect so it doesn't show on the screen anymore.
I'm so excited for Wednesday night's Red Carpet Run! My dress is sparkly and ready!!
Runner Nerd
on the road to Chicago
Showing posts with label tempo runs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tempo runs. Show all posts
Monday, August 5, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
10 weeks to go
Here I am, 10 weeks away from the Chicago Marathon!! I guess I didn't do a very good job of catching up from July 4th until now.
My long runs have been going quite well. I ran 15.5 miles this past Saturday at a 9:29 average pace. Most of my miles were in the low 9s until the last 1.5 which were 10:22 and 10:25. I was beat! My plan called for 15 miles, the group run was an 8 mile out and back course. Nobody else was turning around at 7.5 miles so I decided to go all the way to the end since I ran 14 last week and a 2 mile increase would be fine.We took a wrong turn in town and ended up cutting a half mile off; the others went around the block to get the half mile but I called it quits because I was beat.
Last week my 14 mile run came in at a 9:36 average pace and the week before 12.5 miles came in at 9:47. I was running with my friend, Erika, and we were running along in the high 8s to low 9s. It was Art Fair weekend in Ann Arbor which means quite a few streets downtown are closed off and there are hundreds of artists with booths. Art Fair wasn't open yet when we were running in the morning and the course wound through Art Fair before heading out of town and then came back through on the way back. As we were heading back into the Art Fair area, I tripped on an electric cord that was laying across a street. I fell hard, I scraped my left knee just a little. I was more embarrassed than anything. After I fell, I never really got back up to the pace I was running, I really slowed down. We missed a turn and ended up running an extra 1/2 mile.
My Monday tempo runs have also been going well. Last Monday, I ran 7 miles at 8:51 average pace. The week before I ran 6.3 miles at 8:43 average pace at 8pm after working a 12 hour day shift.
I've been doing speedwork with the triathlon group on Wednesdays. Last Wednesday, we did 6 1200s with a 400 recovery. The first 4 came in under 8 minute pace, the last 2 at just over 8 minute pace. I can live with that! Oh, did I mention that it rained the whole time and I was soaked and miserable? The week before we did two 2 mile repeats in a park. My first 2 miles were 7:53 and 7:46. The second 2 miles were 7:57 and 7:56. Pretty good for me! I was barely moving by the time we got back to where our cars were parked which was almost a mile from where the repeats end.
After all these tempo runs, speed workouts and 9:30s long runs, running a marathon at a 10:15 pace should be easy, right!! I can only hope!
Two weeks ago, I did a virtual 5K. It was organized online by "From Fat to Finish Line", a group of 12 people who have all lost at least 100 lbs and formed a Ragnar relay team and a documentary is being made about them. It was a Sunday which is supposed to be a short, easy recovery run. I ran my 5K in 26:26 for an 8:32 average pace!! Oh well, it was fun! This is the picture/results I posted on their Facebook page:
I was standing behind my car because that made the sun behind the camera; I didn't intentionally take my picture next to my 26.2 sticker! I noticed it later when I was getting the picture ready to post to their page! I made my virtual race bib number -35 because I lost 35 lbs in 2005.
So, that's about it. This week is one of my favorite events - the Red Carpet Run. It's on Wednesday night. I call it prom night for runners! The theme is formal wear. I ran it last year with my friend, Erika. We had a blast. Erika and I are going "over the top" this year! We are wearing long dresses that we found at thrift shops. Mine is sapphire blue and is sparkly!! I'm so excited!
Runner Nerd
My long runs have been going quite well. I ran 15.5 miles this past Saturday at a 9:29 average pace. Most of my miles were in the low 9s until the last 1.5 which were 10:22 and 10:25. I was beat! My plan called for 15 miles, the group run was an 8 mile out and back course. Nobody else was turning around at 7.5 miles so I decided to go all the way to the end since I ran 14 last week and a 2 mile increase would be fine.We took a wrong turn in town and ended up cutting a half mile off; the others went around the block to get the half mile but I called it quits because I was beat.
Last week my 14 mile run came in at a 9:36 average pace and the week before 12.5 miles came in at 9:47. I was running with my friend, Erika, and we were running along in the high 8s to low 9s. It was Art Fair weekend in Ann Arbor which means quite a few streets downtown are closed off and there are hundreds of artists with booths. Art Fair wasn't open yet when we were running in the morning and the course wound through Art Fair before heading out of town and then came back through on the way back. As we were heading back into the Art Fair area, I tripped on an electric cord that was laying across a street. I fell hard, I scraped my left knee just a little. I was more embarrassed than anything. After I fell, I never really got back up to the pace I was running, I really slowed down. We missed a turn and ended up running an extra 1/2 mile.
My Monday tempo runs have also been going well. Last Monday, I ran 7 miles at 8:51 average pace. The week before I ran 6.3 miles at 8:43 average pace at 8pm after working a 12 hour day shift.
I've been doing speedwork with the triathlon group on Wednesdays. Last Wednesday, we did 6 1200s with a 400 recovery. The first 4 came in under 8 minute pace, the last 2 at just over 8 minute pace. I can live with that! Oh, did I mention that it rained the whole time and I was soaked and miserable? The week before we did two 2 mile repeats in a park. My first 2 miles were 7:53 and 7:46. The second 2 miles were 7:57 and 7:56. Pretty good for me! I was barely moving by the time we got back to where our cars were parked which was almost a mile from where the repeats end.
After all these tempo runs, speed workouts and 9:30s long runs, running a marathon at a 10:15 pace should be easy, right!! I can only hope!
Two weeks ago, I did a virtual 5K. It was organized online by "From Fat to Finish Line", a group of 12 people who have all lost at least 100 lbs and formed a Ragnar relay team and a documentary is being made about them. It was a Sunday which is supposed to be a short, easy recovery run. I ran my 5K in 26:26 for an 8:32 average pace!! Oh well, it was fun! This is the picture/results I posted on their Facebook page:
 |
| virtual 5K |
So, that's about it. This week is one of my favorite events - the Red Carpet Run. It's on Wednesday night. I call it prom night for runners! The theme is formal wear. I ran it last year with my friend, Erika. We had a blast. Erika and I are going "over the top" this year! We are wearing long dresses that we found at thrift shops. Mine is sapphire blue and is sparkly!! I'm so excited!
Runner Nerd
Monday, July 1, 2013
Best Tempo Run Ever
Today, a 6 mile tempo run was on the schedule. I headed out to run in the small town of Chelsea. It started sprinkling on the way there which did not make me happy because I do not like running in the rain. The sprinkles stopped and started a few times on my way there. It was just lightly sprinkling when I got to my parking spot. I decided to go for it and hope that it did not rain any harder than what it was at the time. I got really lucky because it just sprinkled on and off a few times.
It took me most of the first mile to get going and get up to speed. I figure that anything under 9 minutes is ok for a tempo run. I'm training for a 4:30 marathon so, really, anything under a 10 minute mile would be considered a tempo pace! My first mile came in at 9:15. After that, all miles were under 9 minutes: 8:45, 8:42, 8:48, 8:52, and a, how did this happen, 8:18!
I can't believe all the odd things that happened during this run! About three-tenths mile into the run, a squirrel came running out and ran right over my feet; it happened so fast but I'm pretty sure that the squirrel jumped over my foot! It scared me and I took a quick step back and stumbled a bit and watched the squirrel continue on to the other side of the street! Just past 3 miles, on a dirt road, a bicyclist was coming toward me and he was drinking from one of those water bottles that attach to the aero-bars and I guess for that moment he wasn't looking at the road because he came toward me on the edge of the road and when he was right in front of me he looked up and he passed by me so close to my side. Even funnier, as he was passing by, he said hello! Just shy of mile 5, I enter a trail through a woods that is part of the Chelsea Wellness Paths and is on the hospital campus. Just as I was coming out of the woods at the hospital driveway, two deer came running through the woods and very close to me made an abrupt stop and turned around to run away from me. That really startled me! Then, right after the deer, a Fed Ex truck was stopped at a drive that is for delivery trucks. The truck was stopped so I thought nothing of it and I continued on. Just as I was beginning to pass in front of the truck, I heard the engine start to rev up and looked and the truck was MOVING!! I stopped and took a couple steps backwards and the driver slammed his brakes on; I'm not sure who was more startled: him at seeing me or me at seeing him moving! On the final stretch of my run, just after climbing quite a steep hill, there were two little boys on the sidewalk on roller blades, they came off of another street and not up the hill I just ran up. I said something to them about being hard to go uphill. One of them said something about going fast and how fast can you go? Next thing I know, I'm racing two little boys on roller blades for about a block!! That's how my last mile came to be my fastest! Well, that and toward the end, I really felt like I was slowing down and I was determined to not let this mile be over 9 minutes so I was really pushing.
I was quite pleased with my tempo run! Next week, it's 7 miles and I don't know if I can keep that pace up for another mile.
Yesterday marked 15 weeks until the Chicago Marathon. I ran with my friend, Erika, on Saturday and she pulled me along at a 9:06 average pace for 8 miles! Yep, that's a good long run pace for a 4:30 marathon!
Coming up Thursday is the annual Firecracker 5 Miler in Hanover, MI. Erika and I are going to run decked out in red, white and blue!
Tomorrow I have orientation for my new job!! I'm going to be working in a hospital that has a unit where long-term ventilator dependent patients live. That's what I do - take care of people on ventilators!
Runner Nerd
runs and dodges animals, bikes and trucks
It took me most of the first mile to get going and get up to speed. I figure that anything under 9 minutes is ok for a tempo run. I'm training for a 4:30 marathon so, really, anything under a 10 minute mile would be considered a tempo pace! My first mile came in at 9:15. After that, all miles were under 9 minutes: 8:45, 8:42, 8:48, 8:52, and a, how did this happen, 8:18!
I can't believe all the odd things that happened during this run! About three-tenths mile into the run, a squirrel came running out and ran right over my feet; it happened so fast but I'm pretty sure that the squirrel jumped over my foot! It scared me and I took a quick step back and stumbled a bit and watched the squirrel continue on to the other side of the street! Just past 3 miles, on a dirt road, a bicyclist was coming toward me and he was drinking from one of those water bottles that attach to the aero-bars and I guess for that moment he wasn't looking at the road because he came toward me on the edge of the road and when he was right in front of me he looked up and he passed by me so close to my side. Even funnier, as he was passing by, he said hello! Just shy of mile 5, I enter a trail through a woods that is part of the Chelsea Wellness Paths and is on the hospital campus. Just as I was coming out of the woods at the hospital driveway, two deer came running through the woods and very close to me made an abrupt stop and turned around to run away from me. That really startled me! Then, right after the deer, a Fed Ex truck was stopped at a drive that is for delivery trucks. The truck was stopped so I thought nothing of it and I continued on. Just as I was beginning to pass in front of the truck, I heard the engine start to rev up and looked and the truck was MOVING!! I stopped and took a couple steps backwards and the driver slammed his brakes on; I'm not sure who was more startled: him at seeing me or me at seeing him moving! On the final stretch of my run, just after climbing quite a steep hill, there were two little boys on the sidewalk on roller blades, they came off of another street and not up the hill I just ran up. I said something to them about being hard to go uphill. One of them said something about going fast and how fast can you go? Next thing I know, I'm racing two little boys on roller blades for about a block!! That's how my last mile came to be my fastest! Well, that and toward the end, I really felt like I was slowing down and I was determined to not let this mile be over 9 minutes so I was really pushing.
I was quite pleased with my tempo run! Next week, it's 7 miles and I don't know if I can keep that pace up for another mile.
Yesterday marked 15 weeks until the Chicago Marathon. I ran with my friend, Erika, on Saturday and she pulled me along at a 9:06 average pace for 8 miles! Yep, that's a good long run pace for a 4:30 marathon!
Coming up Thursday is the annual Firecracker 5 Miler in Hanover, MI. Erika and I are going to run decked out in red, white and blue!
Tomorrow I have orientation for my new job!! I'm going to be working in a hospital that has a unit where long-term ventilator dependent patients live. That's what I do - take care of people on ventilators!
Runner Nerd
runs and dodges animals, bikes and trucks
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