PART I: RUNNING...
As I mentioned before, I tweeted wondering if you guys thought I could run a half marathon in four weeks. You guys said to go for it. So I amped up my running and ran 4 days last week and hiked 4 miles on Sunday. I ran Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and raced 10 miles on Saturday. All in all, I ran 25 miles last week and hiked an additional 4. And it felt great!
I hoped this week would be more of the same, but the heat wave hit and work was really busy. I know I complain about my long hours away from my house- but its true, the work day and my long commute takes a lot of me. Last week I was able to sneak out during lunch a few times. This week I wasn't so lucky. Combine that with the fact that my hips and achilles are a bit sore and I decided to take it a bit easier. Meaning, so far this week I've only run 1 day. But it was a great run and I'm super happy with my speed workout. I do plan on running tomorrow AM with Corey for a long run though! On Wednesday morning I headed to the treadmill for a workout I received from my local running club. As I've mentioned before, due to where I live and work, it's hard for me to do speed on a track, so I often do my speed workouts on the treadmill.
Workout: 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 (with 400 RI)
My goal as always is to get faster with each intervals.
1 mile warmup- 10 minutes, 6.0mph
400: 1:42 (6:50 pace)
400 rest (1/2 walking, 1/2 jogging)
600: 2:40 (7:09 pace)
400 rest (1/2 walking, 1/2 jogging)
800: 3:37 (7:16 pace)
400 rest (1/2 walking, 1/2 jogging)
1200: 5:28 (7:19 pace)
400 rest (1/2 walking, 1/2 jogging)
800: 3:33 (7:08 pace)
400 rest (1/2 walking, 1/2 jogging)
600: 2:33 (6:50 pace)
400 rest (1/2 walking, 1/2 jogging)
400: 1:33 (6:14 pace)
Cooldown- 6 miles
Curious about how to run 600s on a treadmill? Check out this post- one of my most popular : )PART II: 7 Links (or maybe more...)
Speaking of my posts, my buddy Theodora over at Losing Weight in the City tagged me in "Seven Links." In case you're not aware of this fun blogger quiz thats going around the interweb, here are the rules/goals.
I'm going to go with my two of my most beautiful posts: 1 Year of Marriage and A Year Ago.
If you ever wanted to see what my wedding was like, check this post out. "A Year Ago" shows you a collage of my most amazing vacation: The Mediterranean cruise I went on last summer.
MOST POPULAR
My most popular blog posts in the running world was my Boston Marathon Race Recap. No surprise there.
In the food end of things, my most popular was my Best Meals of 2010 and my Valentine's Day dinner I made. I'm still so proud of that dish- it was restaurant quality in my opinion!
Most of you didn't read my blog when I wrote this, but I wrote a post called Pearl Izumi and the Great Debate: What Makes a Marathoner?
MOST HELPFUL
As I mentioned above, I get a lot of hits from my How to Run Speed Workouts on the Treadmill post. As you all know, I'm a huge believer in speed work, and an even bigger advocate for the treadmill. I also think my three posts that led up to my marathons were helpful too because they were honest and real about my feeling of the 26.2 distance. Here they are:
THE RACE (before Providence Marathon)
Home Stretch, I'm ready to Go! (Before NY Marathon)
Prepping for THE RACE (Before the Boston Marathon)
An excerpt from THE RACE..."running has been my best friend and my enemy. I've run to win, run to finish, run with teammates, run with friends, run through heartbreak, run through conflict, run through love, run with hundreds of people on the treadmill on the track through many states and cities. I choose to torture myself in the cold and in the heat, through pain and injuries. I chose this sport. And I love it.
I'm scared to death about Sunday. I'm scared about my sore throat. My achilles. The weather. The heat. The course. My stomach. More than anything I want to finish. More than anything I want to finish and not be disappointed."
SURPRISE SUCCESS
Any post I write about myself- my confessions, my simple things- it always surprises me that people are interested. But mostly, I was really happy with the support I got from my Marathon Perspective post. I still want to run a successful marathon but I need to do it when I'm fully committed.
NOT ENOUGH ATTENTION
I'm floored you guys read my blog (and comment) at all so I'm happy that any post gets attention! Most of my earlier posts didn't get any comments, mainly because I didn't understand that you have to engage. I feel sooo lucky that I've met such amazing friends through my blog. Becky, Lauren, Corey, I'm talking about you. I talk to these girls almost everyday via email or gchat and I feel beyond lucky. These girls aren't just my BLOG friends anymore. We don't just talk about running or healthy eating. We talk about life. Relationships. Happiness. Jobs. So don't underestimate the power of your blog, you can meet lifetime friends on here : ) I met Corey and Becky in my Blogger Meetup Post. I actually can't remember when I met Lauren, but I do remember that she sized me up before really liking me (you know its true LB). But seriously, my blog friends support me in ways I never thought someone I met on the internet would. So thank you. Not just to you three, but to everyone out there who reads this blog. It really means the world to me!
Hands down my most proud moment is finishing my First Marathon. Followed shortly by running the New York marathon. New York is {in my opinion} the greatest marathon on the planet. Running through the five boroughs, seeing the fan support, NYRR... everything about this marathon is top notch. The race I am most proud of is the National Half. I ran negative splits- something I never thought this former sprinter was capable of!
Are you still with me? Hope you enjoyed my Seven (ahem, 15) Things!
Now time to pass on the tags so here we go!
Elina at Healthy and Sane
Meg at Meg Musings
Liz at Liz Runs DC
Kimmy at Tales of a Endless Runner
Daisy at Indulge Inspire Imbibe
To copy Lauren- If you didn’t get tagged and want to play along, you should share a link for your favorite category in the comments, or do a post of your own!
thanks for tagging me girl!
ReplyDeleteFirst, on your running this week...I think you are 100% better off doing 1 very quality workout than doing 2-3 easy runs. Very smart week of training. The reality is, life does get in the way of training sometimes and that's okay. You will still be more than prepared for the half.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I am rereading these posts now...I think I missed the Great Debate (very interesting to me), and your wedding pictures are too beautiful! I have loved reading your blog for the past year, and meeting you this past winter was a blessing for me. Being with you before your first Boston was an experience I will never forget, and I value your friendship so much.
Can't wait to run with you tomorrow!
Whatever. You weren't sure if you liked me right away either. ;) But now I know I'm lucky to have you!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm so happy you participated in the series because I knew there were a lot of old gems on this blog of yours that I haven't read! You already know I went back and looked at your wedding post (love!!) but I also went back and FINALLY read your marathon/Izumi post (yes, I'll admit, I kept forgetting to do it until now.) I'm really glad you linked to it because it IS controversial and I DO think more people should read it.
Here's the thing - I don't care how fast you run. Whether you're a 7-minute miler or a 13-minute miler. The point is that you're running. I see many people heading out to do a marathon with no intention of actually running it. If your plan is to walk and stop and take pictures along the course, etc etc, then you cannot say you "ran" a marathon. Yes, you finished. Yes, that is something (being on your feet for 6 - 7 hours is tough!). But there is a huge (HUGE!) difference between completing a marathon and running a marathon.
Obviously marathons are tough and things can happen on race day that cause you to walk, or run slower than you had trained for. And there's nothing wrong with that. I agree with you that it's the training you put into it. The marathon distance is flippin' tough! These days it's so mainstream that people tend to forget that. I don't know...maybe I'm a running snob, but it's all about the respect a person has for 26.2.
Okay...stepping down from my soapbox now...
Thanks for the link love!
ReplyDeleteLove this recap of posts!! And it's true - I've made so many friends through blogging. My every day life would be so boring without these people (even our gchats make the work day pass by :) )
I love these 7 links posts! It's been fun reading through posts I may have missed and seeing your thoughts on them. My most proudest post will probably be very similar to yours! Can't wait to run NYCM again this year.
ReplyDeleteNice running this week, lady! Can't wait for this awful, hot as balls weather to calm down
I'm loving these 7 links chains - so neat to grab and read posts I might have missed in the past!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry work got in the way of your runs. I still think you'll be ready for the 1/2.
ReplyDeleteI love your links, and I'm so glad we've become blog buddies over the past year. I just can't wait to finally meet you! It'll happen someday ;)
I'm so impressed by your runs lately! You're motivating me to get out there!
ReplyDeleteI love that we met through this blog. What would I do without my Lizzy?!
thanks for the link love. I am about a week behind on posting (just posted about last sunday nights dinner - yikes) but once i find the time! I love doing / reading posts like this.
ReplyDeleteWhat great links! You're quite the impressive little runner/blogger, if I do say so myself :)
ReplyDeleteI love this idea and posted my own today! and thanks for all the links - several of those were new to me!
ReplyDelete