Tag Archives: hill training

Training, Uncategorized

Weekly Recap: 3/24-3/30

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Hey friends! Welcome to another Sunday night. I hope you had a good weekend!

Can I just point out the tomorrow is already the end of MARCH?! Holy cow. I’m thrilled that it’s spring and warmer weather is coming, but man, that month went fast. We have less than two months of school left. That’s insane.

Anyway, on Thursday, I posted my general plan for the next few weeks of training. I want to start building mileage, but since the last two weeks were kind of mini-tapers, I decided that this week’s mileage should be the same as three weeks ago. I don’t think that sentence made any sense. Sorry. Pretend you don’t know that I’m a writing teacher.

Poor writing aside, the week went pretty well. And if soreness is an indication that my muscles are getting stronger, I will have some powerful glutes by the end of this thing. Holy DOMS,

Here’s how the week went:

Monday: 5.2 miles easy, 15 minutes core
Tuesday: AM: Eight sets of Greg McMillan’s 6/7s workout (one of my favorites, in a hurts-so-good kind of way) for a total of 7 miles
PM: 45ish minutes strength training
Wednesday: 6.1 miles easy, 10 minutes core
Thursday: AM: 2 x 15 minutes at an incline (I bumped the treadmill up or down every minute, staying between 5 and 11%) with 5 minutes of flat running between sets. WIth warm-up and cool-down, it was 6 miles. I decided for the first few weeks to do the long hill climbs in minutes rather than miles, because my ego gets sad seeing how slowly I have to run on inclines.
PM: 45ish minutes strength training
Friday: I knew we’d be busy Saturday, so I moved my “long run” to Friday. 9 chilly, windy miles. Next week, I’ll be back in double-digits and I’m so excited.
Saturday: 5 recovery miles, then 8-Minute Abs with my blue-tights friend and the gang.
Sunday: Rest. There was no yoga. But I took a walk, so that’s…something.

Total: 38.3 miles. Next week should be back in the 40s, and I’ll start feeling more like myself again.

Other news from the week:

  • Standardized testing is horribly boring, at least for the proctors. But the good news is that on Friday, kids didn’t have to come to school except for make-up tests. I had to administer one of those, but the rest of my day was free, which meant I got a ton done and could leave at 3:30. That was pretty stellar.
  • Yesterday, we went to the 9 News Health Fair. J got the blood tests, but I didn’t, as I generally try to avoid being stabbed with needles. While we were there, we both signed up to be on the national bone marrow donor registry. Did you know that they don’t have to actually get marrow from donors anymore? They can do it all from blood. So for minimal pain and a few hours of time, you can save someone’s life. That’s awesome.
  • Also yesterday, I spent the Runner’s Roost gift certificate that I won in the Loveland Sweetheart Classic. I was really tempted to buy a Brooks jacket that I fell in love with, but even on sale, it was $50 and my gift certificate was only $25. So I did the responsible thing and put the gift certificate toward shoes, since I actually needed shoes. Being a grown-up is lame. But I like the new colors Mizuno has this year.
    photo
  • After this week, we’ll have spring break…. which is kind of crazy, because we get out for the summer in the middle of May. But hey, it’s spring break.

That’s about enough rambling for tonight, methinks. Have a great week!

Have you ever donated an organ/fluid besides blood?

Other teachers/students: When is/was your spring break? Any fun plans?

 

Uncategorized

So, What’s Next?

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Hi friends! Thanks for all the sweet comments on my last post! You guys are the best. Seriously.

Now that my goal 10k is over and spring has officially arrived, it’s time to think about what comes next. Actually, I’ve been thinking about what comes next for a while, so it’s time to start what comes next. And I’m excited for it!

My next race is the Run to the Shrine 10k in Colorado Springs in May. I wrote about this race in my favorite Colorado races post, and of course I’m excited to do it again! It’s incredibly challenging and incredibly fun, and the top three finishers get the most unique medal I’ve ever seen: It’s made of poop (freeze-dried and sealed in plastic). The first year I ran, it was elephant. The next year, it was rhino.

(image from the race website linked above)

I’m not sure what it is this year, but I WANT ONE. That’s weird, I know. But I don’t care.  I was fourth in 2012 and fifth in 2013; I want to be third or better in 2014 and get that medal.

Anyway, now I’m on a poo-medal ramble when I meant to be telling you about my training plans for the next several weeks. Back on track now. I have a few main goals:

  • Build mileage. Marathon training will start the week after Run  to the Shrine. I want to have completed several weeks in the 50+ mile range before starting training, so it’s time to build back up!
  • Run hills. So many hills. The first four miles of Run to the Shrine are on an average 8.5% grade. Hill training needs to happen. I’ve been doing some hill work, but now it needs to be my focus instead of a supplement.
  • Build strength, especially core. Past years at Run to the Shrine have shown me that a strong core is really beneficial for pulling the ol’ body up the massive hill. You should’ve seen the abs on last year’s women’s winner. Whoa.
  • Shed a little body fat. I almost didn’t share this goal, because I feel like goals like this are touchy in the healthy-living blog world, especially if the blogger is already at a healthy weight (I know I am. Don’t yell at me). But remember when I wrote about trying the Paleo diet, and I mentioned that I’d gained a few pounds on it? Well, those pounds are still hanging around, and I’d like them to go away. To clarify, I don’t think a few extra pounds are big deal, but if I gain a few pounds every year, suddenly it’s not a few anymore, and then it’s a problem. And also to clarify, I’m not doing anything drastic — just keeping a closer eye on my intake and gradually upping mileage.

    (I don’t really know the relevance of that image, but I like it.)

Last weekend, I wrote up a training plan for the eight weeks between now and Run to the Shrine. It’s nothing fancy and is flexible, but it should get me better prepared for the climb and get my mileage back up safely. I won’t bore you with the week-by-week details, but here’s an overview:

Monday: Easy + core
Tuesday: Short hills + strength
Wednesday: Easy + core
Thursday: Long hill climb + strength
Friday: Easy + core
Saturday: Long run
Sunday: Rest and maybe light yoga (because that’s the only kind I do.)

So that’s two hill days a week to start. In a few weeks, I’ll also start taking my long runs out to the only decent hills near me, but I’ll give my legs some time to get used to hills before I do that.

(source)

Since the aforementioned hills are neither all that long nor all that convenient, my mid-week hill runs will have to be treadmillers. I made those double days (run a.m., strength p.m.) because it’s a lot easier to commit to the treadmill when it’s early and dark than when it’s after work and sunny. Then, if it’s nice out in the evening, I can either walk or easy jog to the gym to lift and still get in some of my beloved Vitamin D.

So that’s the plan, Stan. (If I have a reader named Stan, you now get bonus points).

What do you think of my plan? Any pointers?

What unique race medals have you seen/ do you own?