March 30th Update

     

Another update!!  Another update and a countdown on my two races coming up!!  There are only 13 days ‘til my rust buster half marathon here in Charlotte and only 12 weeks ‘til Grandma’s Marathon!  Training has been going really well these past 2 weeks and I feel stronger after every workout.  It’s time to take training to full blast and get ready for Grandma’s, so I’ll be able to unleash the beast in Duluth. ;)

2 week overview of workouts:

March 19^{th  -} 6 x mile repeats on the track- May have added another repeat but still knocked some time off on this workout.

March 22^nd  - 20 mile easy paced long run at McAlpine Greenway- Stretching my long runs out every time as I’m getting ready for a marathon now, feels good to run on the trail for these long runs.

March 24^th - 12 x 350m hill @ 4% steepness grade- Decided to switch it up a bit this week and did hills instead of 600m repeats this time.  Now these hills will tough and will put some stride power and strength in your legs.

March 27^th  - 5 mile tempo on the road- Knocked more time per mile off on this tempo run, was so happy to have warmer weather for this workout ( above picture ^)

March 30^{th  -} 18 mile tempo long run on the road: 4 warm up, 10 tempo, 4 cool down- Felt so strong today on this tempo and was able to get into a nice rhythm during it.  Was a little windy this morning but I had no problem pushing through. (bottom picture)

P.S. Happy Birthday to the best dad ever J

March 16th Update and Exciting Announcement

AHHH!  Exciting news!  I am proud to announce that I will be running Grandma’s Marathon on June 21^st.  I’m very excited to be running this marathon as it’s a nice flat course, in a great city/area and works out great timing wise for me.  I also got a really neat training shirt from the race, it’s neon orange so everyone will see me training haha. :)   Though it matches my blue and orange shoes so I like that.  Well on the topic of races I’d like to go ahead and let you know that I am also doing the RaceFest Half Marathon April 12^th, here in Charlotte to get a good sense of where my race fitness is.

Training has been going great these last 2 weeks.  I have gotten back into full length workouts now and my mileage is back to around 100 miles a week again.  I believe my strength is pretty much back to what it was in December.  My speed isn't back all the way quite yet, but I feel as though it’ll be back within a few weeks more weeks of having strong workouts like I have been.

Now for my training recap of the past 2 weeks of good workouts:  :)

March 5^th: 5 x mile repeats on the track- felt really strong and was very consistent with my times

March 8^th: 18 mile easy paced long run at McAlpine Greenway- was a little muddy out but still a great run, I enjoy going out to the trail and just cruising around (bottom picture)

March 10^th: 12 x 600m on a road straightaway- wasn’t able to get to a track for my speed workout so did this on a flat road we have measured out but I still ran them faster than last time

March 13^th: 5 mile tempo on the road- I feel stronger every time I do my short tempo, was able to keep pushing even when tired

March 16^th: 3 mile warm up, 10 mile tempo, 3 mile cool down=> 16 mile long run on the road- felt very smooth and strong the whole way on the tempo piece, very comfortable running at that pace

P.S. Thanks to Dad for taking these pictures for me :)

March 2nd Update

    

I’m back for another training update on the past two weeks! Training has been going very well and I’m feeling so strong now that I have had a few weeks to get back into training full swing now, secondary runs included now.  My schedule has turned into a 2 week cycle, where I do 5 stress workouts within the 2 weeks, and it works really well for me right now and I love it. 

    

Along with workouts being in full swing, I have been back to doing my drill circuits 4 times within the 2 week cycles and I feel like they have immensely helped in getting my strength and stride power back so quickly.  It’s hard to not feel strong after doing a drill circuit :)

  

Now for a recap on my workouts for this 2 week cycle :)

February 19^th: 4 x mile repeats on the track- was very consistent in times for each repeat

February 22^nd: 16 mile easy paced long run out at McAlpine Greenway- felt great to be back out doing long runs on the trail, enjoyed my chocolate milk afterwards ;) (first picture)

February 24^th: 10 x 600m on the track- took me a few repeats to get into the pace, but I ended up averaging a faster pace than last time I ran 600s even though I added 2 more than last time

February 27^th: 4.5 mile tempo run- felt very in tune with my body while running and felt smooth during this faster tempo run

March 2^nd: 3 mile warm up, 9 mile tempo, 2 mile cool down => 14 mile long run- Felt a little off in the beginning of the tempo section, however was able to run through it and felt much better around half way through and ended up significantly negative splitting my tempo

By doing all these workouts I can feel my strength and speed returning and couldn’t feel better about where I am right now.  I’m slowly starting to get back to the shape I was in back in December and that’s awesome!