Today's six miles really sucked. It was bad and it had NOTHING to do with my legs - well, despite the fact that they felt heavy. The odd thing was that my arms were really sore and I felt that my legs were carrying my arms. What's up with that? Who ever says, "Yah, I had a bad run today cause my arms were really sore." It just sounds stupid.
Jen and I started our 4:1 interval which turned into a 2:1 - this was the smartest move we made. The last two miles were far more tolerable than the first four. I'm hoping this was my bad run of the season - I've got 14 miles to do on Saturday and it's gotta feel better than the six miles did today.
12 Rounds of Core Strength
'Tis the season to continue track workouts. Cancer doesn't take a break so why should Team in Training? It was a small group tonite since so many people were out of town or getting ready for the holidays. (By the way, I have 11 coming for Christmas dinner - but I showed up.)
Tonite Coach Kris put together a "fun" little Christmas carol inspired circuit training workout - 12 circuits total, with one lap of jogging in between each circuit. The carol? 12 Rounds of Core Strength to the tune of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The carol led us through our training. AND YES...what we sang was EXACTLY what we had to endure. Sing it with me!
On the first round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
A fifteen second front plank.
(jog a lap)
On the second round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
Two standing squats,
And a fifteen second front plank.
(jog a lap)
On the third round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
Three jumping jacks,
Two standing squats,
And a fifteen second front plank.
(jog a lap)
........and so on...you get the picture, leading to the final round...
On the twelfth round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
Twelve blazin burpees,
Eleven toes a-prancing,
Ten crabs a-walking,
Nine count side planks, (both sides, no cheating!)
Eight butts a-kicking, (not the coaches, kick your own)
Seven speed skaters,
Six runners running,
Five push-ups!
Four walking lunges,
Three jumping jacks,
Two standing squats,
And a fifteen second front plank!
Well done on the carol, Coach Kris! I'm sore already. So...those of you who missed track - you've got no excuse to say, "I didn't know what to do?" By the way, don't sass the coach - 'cause she'll sit on your hip while you do the side plank (both sides).
Coach Bob and Coach Doug did a different training rendition of the 12 days - check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2oPio60mK4
Whatever your holiday ---- enjoy this time of year with your friends and family!
Tonite Coach Kris put together a "fun" little Christmas carol inspired circuit training workout - 12 circuits total, with one lap of jogging in between each circuit. The carol? 12 Rounds of Core Strength to the tune of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The carol led us through our training. AND YES...what we sang was EXACTLY what we had to endure. Sing it with me!
On the first round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
A fifteen second front plank.
(jog a lap)
On the second round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
Two standing squats,
And a fifteen second front plank.
(jog a lap)
On the third round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
Three jumping jacks,
Two standing squats,
And a fifteen second front plank.
(jog a lap)
........and so on...you get the picture, leading to the final round...
On the twelfth round of core strength, my mean coach sent to me
Twelve blazin burpees,
Eleven toes a-prancing,
Ten crabs a-walking,
Nine count side planks, (both sides, no cheating!)
Eight butts a-kicking, (not the coaches, kick your own)
Seven speed skaters,
Six runners running,
Five push-ups!
Four walking lunges,
Three jumping jacks,
Two standing squats,
And a fifteen second front plank!
Well done on the carol, Coach Kris! I'm sore already. So...those of you who missed track - you've got no excuse to say, "I didn't know what to do?" By the way, don't sass the coach - 'cause she'll sit on your hip while you do the side plank (both sides).
Coach Bob and Coach Doug did a different training rendition of the 12 days - check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2oPio60mK4
Whatever your holiday ---- enjoy this time of year with your friends and family!
TWELVE Fantastic Miles!
TWELVE fantastic miles in Sawyer Camp along the Crystal Springs resevoir on Saturday. I felt great throughout the run - best I've felt doing this distance. But I'm getting ahead of myself.The day before was a day full of weather - cold and rain. But Saturday? Well, 36F and ice on the windshield at 6:45am when I left my house. But clear skies on the drive to San Mateo...until we saw Crystal Springs - dense fog over the water. Pea soup fog. Holy crap fog. Did-I-bring-enough-gear-to-keep-dry-and-warm kind of fog...but I was dressed perfectly. Had my camera and everything and started running with a great group that kept on getting bigger - apparently we were at the right pace and the 4:1 interval was working for a lot of people. We had a great time chatting and couldn't believe it when we hit the four mile mark where we bid farewell to Simone. Then 5 mile mark and we said, "so long" to two more. And all along the way MY CAMERA WOULD NOT WORK. It's a dinky little thing that distorts action shots in a kind of cool way. These were the only pictures that came out - so no picture of Andria running on the dirt trail with grass edging the barbed wire fence. No group picture on the Crystal Spring Dam. No pics of Toni flying down the hill or the lone deer at mile 9. No picture of the post-run feast at Hobbies - Florentine scramble with extra spinach, home fries, endless cuppa joe with half 'n' half, and for dessert - blueberry coffee cake. Hey, just ran 12 miles...what do you expect? Non-fat yogurt for breakfast?
11 miles at the Baylands!
11 miles and 42 degrees on clear, still day at the Palo Alto Baylands. It w
as a 10 mile run along the bay with ducks, pelicans, blue herons, and other birds ignoring us all along the way. Great running with Andria and Rakhee and maintained
a fairly consistant pace while running a 4min run/1min walk interval. First time running that interval for a long run and it worked for me. I decided to run with the wave 2 folks, but I'll be doing track workouts with wave 3 to work on speed work. Long runs are all about the mileage, track is all about the speed. Ahh, now it's coffee with half 'n'half after the bagel with lox shmear. Yumma.
as a 10 mile run along the bay with ducks, pelicans, blue herons, and other birds ignoring us all along the way. Great running with Andria and Rakhee and maintained
a fairly consistant pace while running a 4min run/1min walk interval. First time running that interval for a long run and it worked for me. I decided to run with the wave 2 folks, but I'll be doing track workouts with wave 3 to work on speed work. Long runs are all about the mileage, track is all about the speed. Ahh, now it's coffee with half 'n'half after the bagel with lox shmear. Yumma.
5K Time Trial
WOOT WOOT!! This week's track night was the infamous 5K time trial. The moment of truth when the run team runs 12 laps to determine the waves we'll be placed in for the season. What would my time be? Would it be an improvement from the summer time trial? Will I run intervals or straight through? As much as I loved running with Wave 1 over the summer - I really did, we had lots of fun, and I met by running BFFs - I wonder if I will move up in the waves?
I conservatively pushed myself and did not take any walk breaks and I shaved NINE MINUTES (9 and remember I am J9) off my time. During the summer I ran a 5K in 42:09 and this time I ran it in 33:07. This is huge people - HUGE I tell you. When input into a pace chart, my marathon time would be 5hrs 23 minutes. That's an HOUR off my Nike Marathon time! Also consider that I have 2 and a half months of training left, will more time be shaved? You betcha. Now I'm waiting for the email from Coach Kris indicating my wave. Stay tuned...
AND YES! I have progressed from Wave 1 to Wave 3! (six waves total).
I conservatively pushed myself and did not take any walk breaks and I shaved NINE MINUTES (9 and remember I am J9) off my time. During the summer I ran a 5K in 42:09 and this time I ran it in 33:07. This is huge people - HUGE I tell you. When input into a pace chart, my marathon time would be 5hrs 23 minutes. That's an HOUR off my Nike Marathon time! Also consider that I have 2 and a half months of training left, will more time be shaved? You betcha. Now I'm waiting for the email from Coach Kris indicating my wave. Stay tuned...
AND YES! I have progressed from Wave 1 to Wave 3! (six waves total).
Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot
On Thanksgiving Day I ran the 10K Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. I started off with 5 of my TnT friends and ended up running nearly the whole thing with two of my mentees (James and Andria)! That's them in a pic. We had fun running in and between children, strollers, and walkers. I ran it in 1:10:15. I felt like I pushed myself and made a very foolish error with about three-quarters of a mile to go. I bolted way too fast thinking the 
end was nearer than it. I couldn't sustain the speed and soon Andria came up effortlessly behind me as I huffed and puffed. I'm glad we caught up with each other, because it was really nice running across the finish line together. After picking up my swag and eating a banana, I 
made it to the kids' fun run area just in time to see my oldest run across his first finish line at the very front of the pack! The little guy ran a few minutes earlier and came in second. They were super excited to earn their first medals. What a great way to start off Thanksgiving!
Back on Track!
FINALLY, I am back into the training routine:- Mon/Weds - circuit training and stretching for 60-75min.
- Tues - Track (Kris hammered the circuit into us with drills focusing on core and leg strengthening)
- Thur - 6am Buddy Run - 4-6 miles
- Sun/Fri - recovery/rest
- Sat - long run (today's along the MIGHTY Guadalupe River Trail)
Last season, my marathon training goal was to train to endure a marathon from start to finish. This season, I'm training to shave off time. However, at this point in the season, my big focus is to support new participants. Some of the participants are new to running and/or are training for a half marathon. I remember how IMPORTANT it was to get mentor support during these early stages, so I want to give back and do the same for others. It's so easy to get down on yourself for not keeping up with the person passing you, or because you can't do the plank for more than 5 seconds. It can be hard to convince yourself that patience, is indeed a virtue. Strength and endurance will come as long as you keep up with the training.
So, in order for me to get my mileage in while help people out, I've been running some pre-run runs. During this time, I'm running faster and with a longer run interval (4:1 or 5:1). We'll see how it pays of when I run the 10K Turkey-Trot on Thanksgiving Day - I'm aiming for a consistant pace and speed in this one. We'll see what happens!
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