I spent a good amount of time after Chicago (three months ago now? Another yikes), being fairly low key with my running. I think I needed some time to not think about workouts, mileage and race times for a while, and it was nice. Actually really nice – I ran however far I felt like whenever I wanted, did some spinning, some yoga and some nothing here and there too.
Towards the end of December, the itch to run with more of a “purpose” finally started getting stronger, so I did some basic workouts like hill repeats and fartleks to help get back into the swing of things. Then I signed up for two goal races this spring – the NYC Half on March 15 and the New Jersey Marathon on April 28. Usually signing up for races is pretty motivational to get things moving with training, and for the most part, it’s working. But I’m going to be honest here and say that my motivation still kind of waxes and wanes. I think it’s partly because my training is getting a little stale. I’ve been doing the same workouts for a while, and since I run mostly alone, think that maybe I don’t push myself as hard as I should or would if I were in a group or with a buddy (Betsy moved to Brooklyn!).
definitely have the running shoes down, though…
Case in point – my first race of 2015 on Jan. 10 (a 10K). I’m terrible at 10Ks, so that’s always in the back of my mind, and my PR is pretty crap (for me). So I thought a little one could be possible even though I have no idea where my speed or fitness is at. Long story short, I finished in 47:54 (7:43/mile), and didn’t come close to PRing. During the race – especially the first couple of hilly miles – I was pretty content with just running “comfortably” and not pushing it. It wasn’t until the last couple of miles (my fastest) where I picked it up, mostly because I wanted to beat this tall dude dressed in all black who had been flanking me for a while. I beat him by about 2 seconds, but it kind of goes to show that I probably could have run a faster race if I tried a little harder and embraced the discomfort/pain a bit more.
So where does that leave me? I’m not sure. The only way to attain different results is to change what you’re doing to get there. This advice can relate to many aspects of life (dating, travel, happiness, work, etc.) and is one of my new favorite mantras. Running-wise, I’d like to break 1:40 in the half and BQ (DAMMIT) in the marathon. That means changing up the workouts, trying to run with (faster) people more often and maybe getting some advice/guidance from some kind of coach.
totally got homemade brunch down too – two egg omelet with veggies, baked sweet potato “fries”
Last week I did pretty well workout-wise and hit just shy of 60 miles for the first time in a good while, so I guess that’s a good start!
Monday: always an XT/rest day – I either do a spin class, yoga class, both or nothing
Tuesday: 9.5 miles, lifting at the gym. still felt kind of tired from Saturdays race, so took it nice and easy on the run. One of my goals this year is to do strength work at the gym at least 1-2 times per week to help get/stay strong.
Wednesday: 10 miles with 8x800m repeats, 400m rest in between. Did this workout on the Central Park roads and actually had no idea how quick each one was until I checked my Garmin at home. Ended up being all between 3:28-3:33, which if you listen to Bart Yasso, is right on target for a 3:30-ish marathon. I’ll take it! These felt great.
Thursday: 9 miles easy, core work
Friday: 13 mile long run, 8:35 average pace. Had to work on Saturday morning and it was supposed to be 20 degrees warmer on Friday, so got up a bit early and knocked out somewhat of a long run. Had no workout plan but ended up picking up the pace for about 3-4 marathon pace miles (8:05-8:10) and felt great.
Saturday: 8.5 miles easy, core and arm work
Sunday: 9 miles easy, wanted to hit 10 for a 60 mile week, but the roads turned into an icy mess about halfway through my run and I’m just happy I made it home in one piece. Did an afternoon yoga class with my favorite instructor that was pure bliss.
Total: 59 miles