Running Club Begins!

So yesterday was just 5 miles easy and then teach Body Combat. The gym was packed and so that meant class was pretty full which always makes for a fun night! A lot of people are really starting to like the new release which is good to hear. Sword katas are fun now that we know how to do it!

After I taught I was starving so I went to Baskin Robbins only to discover it was 31 cent scoop night. You would think this is good, but in my opinion it ruined my treat. It was absolutely packed with kids and their parents, you have to pay for it BEFORE you get in line, and then I find out it's a KIDS scoop! So after I ate dinner finally at just before 9, I watched the Blind Side, which was a heart-warming movie but really hardly about football at all.

Today was 6 miles easy 2 of which included 10 45 sec pick ups at 8k-10k pace so the splits were 8:01,7:42,7:42,7:50,7:56, and 8:19. Then sissy and I met for lunch again which is good bc eating at home gets boring. Tried to restore my faith in ice cream stores by going to Coldstone to get sorbet/fat free sweet cream, only to find AGAIN (it seems to be a trend during the day at coldstone) that they were stingy. I'm pretty sure it barely filled the cup. Next practice which was 6 200s for the distance people which I tried to convince them was really hardly anything at all, compared to what they've done in other practices.

Tonight was the first night for the Brick Bodies Running Club which went well- everyone is really motivated and already seem to be encouraging each other! They also all want to get started on their personalized programs right away which is a great sign!

Mile Repeats - The (More) Fun Way/ Why must the Kenyans steal my thunder?

Today was my last workout of mile repeats before the race Sunday, only 3 of them. It is suppose to be at 10 sec per mile faster than half marathon pace, so about 6:40. That was somewhat hard to hit and it ended up being 6:43,6:44, and 6:50, which I'm really not even worried about because sometimes it is hard to get into a rhythm during taper week, plus I did it on the trail and it is even harder to get into a rhythm there compared to a track. I'm trying to incorporate more forward lean and BACKWARD arm swing like I learned in ChiRunning, but really it's not a good idea to change too much right before a race. 2 mi WU and 2 mi CD plus .5 mi jogs in between repeats made it 8 mi total.

Then for lunch met with sissy at CPK where I did not in fact get pizza, but instead my favorite new dish Chicken Milanese - lightly breaded chicken with arugula, diced tomatoes, and sliced mozzarella -delicious! Practice was good but I was ready to crash after, probably because I didn't get enough sleep last night - I am often restless when I know I am waking up early to drive to the trail.

On to another topic that is actually really annoying me. So, first let me say, to any race directors, for my sanity's sake, please do not post entry lists!!!! All this results in is my reading them, scanning for who listed their half marathon PR, and stalking them on athlinks.com! Seeing as this is a small race this weekend I was hoping maybe I could place. However, I forgot one issue: it is in Alexandria, which neighbors DC, more of a hotbed for running than some other places in the MD/DC/VA area. So as I scroll down the list I see a 1:18!!!! Who is this? A Kenyan. Can they like not count, please, just this once?! Or perhaps lets have a race just for the Kenyans, so we can let the running gods compete against one another, and the rest of us mortals race each other. Also, I found out that some of the people who listed 1:30 or less PRs actually do not run anywhere near those times which I found amusing.

Anyway, off to maybe start watching the Blind Side which I will finish tomorrow.

Taper Mode

Today marks official taper mode for this Sunday's half marathon. I wasn't sure whether to do a few easy miles or not, but when the track meet was postponed til next Monday, meaning I had to teach both of my Monday night classes, I decided to take a day off from running. Generally, before a longer race, I try to take 2 days off from running the week leading up to it, so I will take Friday off completely as well.

Franklin practice went well for those who showed up. Christine couldn't make it so I was in charge of the sprinters which is always a fun change up. They did 8 150's. Attendance is no where near where it should be, but those who consistently come are making huge improvements. They are also starting to understand the benefits of drills, warming up, running at 80% effort, coming on time, etc. No meets this week until Saturday so we need to have a good week of attendance and effort at practice!

Had a delicious chicken TBM sandwich at Cosi followed my lowfat ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I also slept very late this morning which was great since I needed it. I certainly didn't mind no running today since it was raining when I woke up! Teaching went well as I finally have eliminated almost all errors when teaching the new releases and the members are starting to enjoy them. Also had like 6 new people total in both classes which is great!

Everything Coming Together

Today was a pretty relaxing Sunday. I got about 8.5 hours of sleep, then woke up to go to Loch Raven and did a few hill repeats on to the Dam in the middle of my run. This makes for a pretty painful second half. I came home and decided to get a massage, because I was due for one and not only did the hills make me pretty sore but after attempting pull ups several times (with Mike's iron gym that I am convinced will break the molding on my doorway) my back/triceps are pretty sore. And by attempting, I mean I am able to do one full one, but then I can't get back up for a second. I will keep trying though because this is one of my goals - more upper body and core strength. The whole upper body thing leads me to a question I have been thinking about: just how does proper arm swing help running performance? I have watched elite and highly competitive runners and noticed one common thread: their upper body form is impecable - elbows swing far back, arms bent, etc. This is something I will mention later when I talk about the new book I am reading.

Anyway, so I went home and had my spinach and chicken salad (which I managed to eat, thanks to the cheese, cranberries, walnuts, and chicken in it), fell asleep on the couch, and got my massage which was good. I am sure every massage therapist that works with me thinks "WHAT on earth does this girl do to her body?" because I am so tight and have so many knots. Then after the massage came home to a good meal of chicken sandwich w/ hummus with rice and veggies.

I am beginning to think that the better nutrition is really helping my running and that everything is coming together. I recover faster after hard workouts, and I am able to hit faster paces during workouts with the same effort I used to expend hit slower paces. I also think come June I will be ready to try out some 5ks again in hopes for a new PR. I am reading a new book called ChiRunning (actually to update my PT cert, kinda cool) and it talks about avoiding "power running" where you strain your leg muscles to go faster, but to actually lean slightly forward, let your stride open behind you, and keep the same cadence as your stride will increase with speed. I want to work on this.

So last night Mike and I watched (well I watched, Mike passed out during) Public Enemies with Johnny Depp which was much better than the funny, but sort of stupid movie, Date Night, that we saw Friday. Then tonight is Army Wives which is sadly now my only show on TV that isn't back to repeats. I will have to wait til next season for Millionaire Matchmaker :(

Vary your veggies (or just eat a lot of them!)

Aside from running going pretty well lately (even my longer runs are a little faster paced) I've been managing to get a lot more nutrients into my diet. Mike and I went to California Pizza Kitchen last night and I got Chicken Milanese, which is lightly breaded chicken with arugula, diced tomatoes, thinly sliced mozarella, and olive oil. It was delicious and made me think I should be brave and attempt to eat salad. So, when we went to Chicken Out tonight not only did I be brave and eat a turkey burger (my new obsession) with a side of VEGGIES but I also got a chicken spinach salad to go! So that will be my experiment for lunch tomorrow.

My long run went well today, dropped down to 12 miles (instead of the usual 16) in preparation for next week's half marathon. Almost all miles were in the 7:40s and the last few were 7:28,7:21, and 7:10 which is decent for a long run. Tomorrow morning perhaps I will attempt to do hills at Loch Raven. The sleep hasn't been going as well as I would like but I managed to sleep in a bit to catch up on a few hours the last few nights.

10k time trial/Penn Relays

The title basically sums up my morning and evening highlights for the day. For the morning, I did a 10k timed trial at Half Marathon pace on the NCR trail (warmup from 0.5 to 2, stretch, out to 6 and back to sparks (3.8). Splits were 6:47,6:52,6:55,6:59,6:52,6:54,and 1:17 for .2 for a total of 42:39, which is pretty much what I got for the only 10k race I ever did back in 2008. So that's a good sign that what my race times used to be are actually now my workouts. Bad news is then I had to jog 3 miles back to Papermill parking lot haha. The knee didn't bother me much today but I suppose that could be from the advil, haha.

Tonight marked the last night for my group personal training program. Everyone had MAJOR improvements in muscular endurance with the numbers they maxed out at for pushups, wall sit, plank, situps, and tricep dips. Now for the running club next Thursday!

Also I'm currently watching the Penn relays online. In the 5k, representing Bmore, Laura Paulsen from Johns Hopkins was on the list of runners, but she wasn't in the results so I guess she scratched. Right now the Women's Olympic Development 5k is on and the winner got a 15:43. It's insane to think that that is about the time a very good male might run to win a 5k road race in the Bmore area.

Trail Manners

So since my 8 mile run today was pretty much slow in 8-8:15 min/mile (due to yesterday's workout) and not all that exciting, I decided to talk about a few things I noticed while on the NCR trail.
1. First and foremost, DOGS. Due to my past encounter (s) with dogs, one in which I was knocked over in the middle of the road by one, I have many issues with them. Also, obviously I am not afraid of them if they are on a leash, but it's still not nice to be lunged at! Dog owners: pull the darn leash tighter, that's what it's there for! I have no problem with cute little dogs otherwise, but I don't like it when they interrupt my run. I have also been followed around my neighborhood by many dogs, fearing that they will not find their way home, but then again it is not my responsibility. However, some people keep very good control of their dogs and I give them props.
2. CROSS WALKS. About 0.5 miles into NCR there is a crosswalk that is clearly marked on Papermill Rd. However, as I attempt to clearly step out onto the road, I sometimes back up as many cars continue to speed through it!
3. People walking or running with others across the entire width of the trail, then looking at me as if I should move. I believe it is common knowledge: Stay on the right side, or at least move over to make room. I am not going to run through the woods for you.

So that is my complaining session for now haha. I think this is all stuff that some other runners have noticed as well (or from what I've talked about with other people). One other thing that tends to annoy me that is actually sort of amusing is the people on bicycles with the little bells. I find it funny when they start ringing them repeatedly from very far away, and then I am on the lookout for like forever. Oh and I also ran over a squirrel today (literally, it jumped out in front of me while I was running). Body Combat launch #2 went well today, except for when I went to pump my fist in the air enthusiastically, and everyone thought it was a new move.

8 x 1 Mile Repeats = Death

So as usual, my Tuesday morning workout was tough due to having taught Body Pump and Body Combat on Monday night, especially after the TOUGH new stuff I launched last night (hello upper back and arms)!

Hard (speed/tempo) workouts are generally on Tues and Thurs and I just came off of a crazy workout (3 x 3 mile repeats) Thursday to go straight into another one today (8 x 1 mile repeats) so that I can start to taper for my May 2nd half marathon. So I headed to the Franklin track today planning on doing the repeats around 10 mile race pace which means 6:40-6:50, with 1:30 min recovery jogs in between. Started with 1.5 mi warmup (and cool down) and drills then headed straight into this, first one was too fast and after the second one I realized I would need to increase the recovery to 2 minutes and 3 minutes after the 4th to do the second half strong. So the splits were, 6:32, 6:38,6:36, 6:39, 6:38, 6:43, 6:43, 6:37 - only 2 above 6:40 - all significantly faster than last time I did this workout and in warmer weather. Now if only I can keep that pace during races! Ha if only I had someone giving me my 400 splits.

I've been really good about refueling right after I run and managed to have a ton of veggies at lunch and dinner, which is always hard, so that's a plus. Then got stuck in awful traffic on the way to Towson meet which was no good, but the meet went well and the coaches were all really nice. The one even suggested he should have a blog with "excuse of the day (trying to get out of running)". So I think today mine will have to be Michelle G's "I just had 2 hot dogs and a sprite" haha. Anyway we have quite a few mile and 800 m runners on the verge of a breakthrough for some huge PRs.

So tomorrow will be easy run obviously - 8 miles on the trail. With the knee bursitis the trail is good to run on whenever possible. The knee was hurting significantly in the beginning on the track but then it loosened up. So we shall see how sore my legs are tomorrow since they felt pretty dead during the workout and pretty early on. Body Combat Launch #2 at Brick Bodies Reisterstown tomorrow! Should be a lot better now that I got all the kinks out yesterday at Owings Mills.

Every New Beginning Comes from Some other Beginning's End

So that's a quote from Semisonic's song "Closing Time" and I thought it was appropriate for my first post. So, in my first post I think I'll talk about some of the goals that I have for running and all things related this year, especially considering May/June will mark 2 years since what I consider when I began to become a "competitive" (or toying around with the idea) runner. Hence, the end of my being a beginner, but the beginning of me getting serious about doing everything I need to do to get better.

So, a few goals that I have already started on, beginning with the obvious numerical goals:
Short term, to run a half marathon in 1:30 or under and a marathon in 3 hours or under. The latter will probably be hard to hit, as I almost did the first if it weren't for severe abdominal cramping. Also I'd like to run a 5k in under 19 minutes but I am more concerned with the longer stuff.

Work on nutrition. I've already started this by getting a nutritionist, a HUGE step. Not only being a personal trainer, but also since I was an exercise science major who took nutrition classes and physiology classes, I knew the importance of nutrition, but didn't always practice what I preached. I ate "healthy" low fat foods, and enough calories, but didn't eat enough nutrient dense foods. My nutritionist (an amazing runner herself, I might add) is encouraging and helping me to eat more veggies, more natural foods (no more sugar free, fat free crap), more protein, and more healthy fat. I am also trying to eat every 3 hours or so to keep my energy up. Most importantly, I am fueling within 15 minutes of my running, especially hard ones, since that is the "crucial time window" in which the muscles are most susceptible to nourishment. So far I am doing really well with this and even trying to expand my food horizons. I have also weaned myself off of diet coke a good deal which is HUGE since I used to have about 10 cans a day (yes, this should qualify as addicted).

Another goal is to stretch/ice/massage/sleep more. The first two are more important obviously, and I already get massages on a ridiculously regular basis. Not stretching and icing has probably led me to borderline injuries more recently, so I cannot forget to do these things, especially since my mileage has been pretty high. I even took a Body Flow class last week after a hard running workout. In addition I need to incorporate a cut-back mileage week every 3rd week of my training cycle to allow my body to recover from the previous high-mileage weeks. I am sometimes good about sleep (I NEED 8+ hours) but other times not when I have to wake up earlier to run like at the trail.

Be strong mentally during races. So many times I toe the starting line thinking "why am I doing this" or "this is going to suck" or "so and so here and she's is crazy good" or "uh oh, my legs are feeling heavy." Or sometimes, I get into the race and all I can do is look at my clock and think "there's no way I can keep this pace, I'm so tired already" which is usually just due to a shock to the body in the first few miles before I settle in (which I could probably fix a bit by not going out so fast). If I relax mentally, I can relax physically, as I learned from the book Running Within.

Other more specific running goals - more hills, focus on form, run with others. This is starting to get long so I'll just say I need to do more hills. I've done repeats twice but I don't want to insert something new TOO much into training right before a race, plus I already run hilly parts around my neighborhood. I need to work on strengthening my upper body to use my arms more efficiently and definitely increase turnover which is incredibly slow. I really need to run with others to help push myself in workouts as well as get used to something similar to competition. I've also been doing abs and pushups every day which is good.

So that's it for now. I will try to post my workouts from training, but I'll also include some stuff about my Body Pump and Body Combat classes as well as the FHS team and my Brick Bodies Running Club.