It's FRI-YAY! Extra YAY as I am with some girlfriends in Cape Cod (well, I wrote this yesterday in anticipation that I would be in Cape Cod). Looking forward to running my long run on part of the Falmouth Road Race course tomorrow!
Here are this week's links:
Secrets to Success: Dynamic Warm Up
Do you do anything like this? I would like to start.
Fertility and False Choices
I am a big Laura Vanderkam fan, particularly of her blog, although I have read her books. I can always gain some insight/wisdom of how to make time for things from reading her work. Her comments about "work/life balance" in this post resonated with me.
New Season, New Goals
"When I was training for Twin Cities last year, I learned there is an unbelievable amount of magic in utter belief, and when training for the Trials I learned that you can do everything perfectly for 4 months, and it might not matter. Even though that sounds like a crappy lesson to have learned, it's actually kind of liberating."
When I read that, I thought of my Boston 2016. She's totally right. It is a crappy lesson and all these months later, I do feel liberated by it. I don't need to put all this pressure on myself to have good races!
What Do You Like About Yourself?
I like that I keep showing up, dark morning after dark morning. I like that this year, I have consistently reflected on running and have grown from that practice. I like that I can run fast when I am not afraid.
Showing posts with label Visibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Visibility. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2016
Friday, September 9, 2016
Friday Link: Easy on Easy Days
FRI-YAY!
Yesterday, I read this post on Salty Running: When It Comes to Running, What Is Easy?
I definitely do not take it "easy" on my "easy" days. I think it has a lot to do with anxiety I feel to get the run done, mostly because I am fitting runs into small windows of time. With the start of school, my day has much more structure in place in terms of logistics of picking my kids up at the end of the day, getting to work by 7 so that I can leave at 3 to get kids. Thus, I am trying to get my week day runs done in the early morning, prior to work. I also like to sleep. So I have calculated that if I set my alarm at 5, I can be back, shower, help get kids ready, lunches, etc before I am out the door to get to the office. Phew. Just typing that made me anxious.
Today I had an "easy" 4 miler on my schedule and I tried so hard to go easy easy easy. According to the article, my "easy" pace could be anywhere in the 1:30 - 3:00 slower than my 5K pace. My last 5K pace was 6:18 so that leaves me with a 7:48 - 9:18 window.
I got up at 5 and thus was in the dark, save for my knucklelights and neighborhood lighting, chugging along. In addition to the aforementioned anxiety of having enough time, it is hard for me to fully relax during an early morning run because a small part of my brain thinks, "What if some creepy guy is chilling out waiting to pounce on me?". For this reason, I stick to running laps around my quasi-closed neighborhood.
My first mile was 7:55. YES. Definitely felt easy and definitely was working to slow down. It felt really unnatural. I let go of working so hard to think about "going slower" during my other miles and the result: 7:27, 7:30, 7:24. My average pace for my 4.03 run was 7:37. A little faster than my optimal window, but not terrible.
Anyone else not go easy enough on easy days?
Yesterday, I read this post on Salty Running: When It Comes to Running, What Is Easy?
I definitely do not take it "easy" on my "easy" days. I think it has a lot to do with anxiety I feel to get the run done, mostly because I am fitting runs into small windows of time. With the start of school, my day has much more structure in place in terms of logistics of picking my kids up at the end of the day, getting to work by 7 so that I can leave at 3 to get kids. Thus, I am trying to get my week day runs done in the early morning, prior to work. I also like to sleep. So I have calculated that if I set my alarm at 5, I can be back, shower, help get kids ready, lunches, etc before I am out the door to get to the office. Phew. Just typing that made me anxious.
Today I had an "easy" 4 miler on my schedule and I tried so hard to go easy easy easy. According to the article, my "easy" pace could be anywhere in the 1:30 - 3:00 slower than my 5K pace. My last 5K pace was 6:18 so that leaves me with a 7:48 - 9:18 window.
I got up at 5 and thus was in the dark, save for my knucklelights and neighborhood lighting, chugging along. In addition to the aforementioned anxiety of having enough time, it is hard for me to fully relax during an early morning run because a small part of my brain thinks, "What if some creepy guy is chilling out waiting to pounce on me?". For this reason, I stick to running laps around my quasi-closed neighborhood.
My first mile was 7:55. YES. Definitely felt easy and definitely was working to slow down. It felt really unnatural. I let go of working so hard to think about "going slower" during my other miles and the result: 7:27, 7:30, 7:24. My average pace for my 4.03 run was 7:37. A little faster than my optimal window, but not terrible.
Anyone else not go easy enough on easy days?
Thursday, September 1, 2016
August Mileage Recap
AHHH! It's September! My oldest started kindergarten today!
My total mileage for August was: 66.85 miles.
Still on the low end. This was 7.6% lower than August 2015 mileage, so for the past three months, I have been in the negative in terms of percent change. Good thing I had a strong first 5 months of the year because I am still 97.5 miles ahead of last year at this time. I think 10 weeks of half marathon training will secure the notion that 2016 mileage > 2015 mileage (barring any injuries, of course).
However, on the plus side, August's mileage was more than double that of July! So we are heading in the right direction, folks!
I rebounded nicely from Tuesday's debacle. I went to bed at 7:45 PM on Tuesday night and slept until 6:15 Wednesday morning. Yesterday my kids were at their grandma's house so I had an hour in between when I got home from work and when they got home which allowed me to do my fartlek workout in some nice sunny skies. It was a difficult one - I felt so sluggish from the first step to the last, but it was done.
This morning I got up and did an easy recovery run in the dark with my knuckle lights. The air was nice and cool but I am not ready to have most of my runs occurring in the dark. The good news is that with school schedule, I HAVE to get my run in in the morning. I have lost a bit of the flexibility I once had. So far, I have been doing great with getting up and heading out the door in the wee hours of the morning. Time will tell!
How was your August mileage?
My total mileage for August was: 66.85 miles.
Still on the low end. This was 7.6% lower than August 2015 mileage, so for the past three months, I have been in the negative in terms of percent change. Good thing I had a strong first 5 months of the year because I am still 97.5 miles ahead of last year at this time. I think 10 weeks of half marathon training will secure the notion that 2016 mileage > 2015 mileage (barring any injuries, of course).
However, on the plus side, August's mileage was more than double that of July! So we are heading in the right direction, folks!
I rebounded nicely from Tuesday's debacle. I went to bed at 7:45 PM on Tuesday night and slept until 6:15 Wednesday morning. Yesterday my kids were at their grandma's house so I had an hour in between when I got home from work and when they got home which allowed me to do my fartlek workout in some nice sunny skies. It was a difficult one - I felt so sluggish from the first step to the last, but it was done.
This morning I got up and did an easy recovery run in the dark with my knuckle lights. The air was nice and cool but I am not ready to have most of my runs occurring in the dark. The good news is that with school schedule, I HAVE to get my run in in the morning. I have lost a bit of the flexibility I once had. So far, I have been doing great with getting up and heading out the door in the wee hours of the morning. Time will tell!
How was your August mileage?
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Running in the Dark
I have run in the dark twice this week. It is not an optimal situation but necessary if I am going to train for a spring marathon given my schedule.
I have ran laps around my neighborhood and the adjacent neighborhood because:
1) The lighting in my neighborhood is good due to extensive use of exterior lighting by most of our neighbors. The lighting in the adjacent neighborhood isn't as good, but it's doable.
2) The traffic is very minimal.
I wear reflective gear to be seen - armbands, vest and a small blinking light attached to a visor/hat - but I have been contemplating purchasing something that facilitates ME seeing. I have landed on knuckle lights.
Has anyone used these and if so, give me your review in the comments!
I am always happy to hear tips for running in the dark too!
I have ran laps around my neighborhood and the adjacent neighborhood because:
1) The lighting in my neighborhood is good due to extensive use of exterior lighting by most of our neighbors. The lighting in the adjacent neighborhood isn't as good, but it's doable.
2) The traffic is very minimal.
I wear reflective gear to be seen - armbands, vest and a small blinking light attached to a visor/hat - but I have been contemplating purchasing something that facilitates ME seeing. I have landed on knuckle lights.
Has anyone used these and if so, give me your review in the comments!
I am always happy to hear tips for running in the dark too!
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