Training Weeks 4 & 5

Broncos Win Super Bowl 50! 

That little smile :)

Week 4:

Saturday (1/23):  9 Mile run (outside...in shorts!) 8:55 pace

Sunday (1/24):5 miles easy outside 8:24 pace 

Monday (1/25)  Rest day 

Tuesday (1/26)  Mile Repeats - treadmill
                          1.5 mile warmup (9:00 pace) 
                          3 x 1 miles fast (6:58 average) 
                          with 2 min walk in between each 
                          .5 cool down (total-5 miles) 

Wednesday (1/27) 3 miles easy (9:00 pace) 

Thursday (1/28) 6 mile stroller run (outside, followed by playing at the park!) it was 60 degrees this day! Amazing for February.  

Friday (1/29)  Barre class (no running) 

Total Mileage:  28 Miles 

Side note:  I am definitely wanting to the in the 30's consistently and I am getting there. ( I was at 30 consistently for about 8 weeks this fall), but the one thing I was not great about this fall was speed workouts, which make a huge difference in form, aerobic capacity and overall fitness. I am trying to incorporate 1 per week. I also notice on days when I do a strength type of workout, it is hard to also run, so I guess it is just balancing it all.  When I am able to do stroller runs for my easy/recovery runs, my mileage is naturally a little higher as well.  Stroller runs are few and far between in winter though.  I am hitting the treadmill for an hour after school a lot of days.  

Week 5:

Saturday (1/30) 8 miles outside again! 8:30 pace 

Sunday (1/31)  Rest day. Felt sore, needed it. 

Monday (2/1) Unintentional rest day (we started to get a lot of snow and I wanted to get home!) 

Tuesday (2/2) SNOW DAY! But I was able to hop on the treadmill (an older one in our garage) when Alex was napping in the mid day. 

4.3 miles total (3 miles easy at 8:45 pace, then:  6 x 200's hard and 2 x 400's hard) 


Wednesday (2/3) 4.1 mile easy treadmill run (8:45 pace) 

Thursday (2/4) AWESOME SPEED WORKOUT! I was at a teaching conference and had some extra time to go to the rec center this day. 
8 miles total:  

• 2 Mile warmup (8:30 average) 
• 4 x 1.5 at half marathon goal pace with 2 min walk in between each.  
• Average pace for the 1.5 was 7:23. 

Friday (2/5) Easy 3.1 on the treadmill (8:40 pace), Pure Barre class. 

Total mileage:  28 

GO BRONCOS! & Training Week # 3

First of all, the Broncos are going to the SUPERBOWL! Yay!  

& It's normal to feed a doggy a baby bottle.

Week # 3 of Half Marathon Training went like this:  

Saturday (1/17):  

• 5 Miles easy on the treadmill 8:45 pace(this was supposed to be my long run, but felt dizzy after a few miles) 

Sunday (1/18)  

• 4 Miles Easy (outside) 8:45 pace 

Monday (1/19) 

• Tempo Run on the treadmill
• 1 mile warmup 
• 2 miles at 1% incline 14:34 (7:17 pace) 
• .5 cooldown 
• Barre class (was able to go since I had a day off work for MLK day!) 

Tuesday (1/20) 

• 3 Easy stroller miles outside (9 something pace) 

Wednesday (1/21) 

• 3 Mile progression run (treadmill) started in the 9's- ended in the 7's (8:20 pace) - short on time this day! 

Thursday (1/22) 

• 4 miles easy- 8:30 pace (treadmill) 

Friday (1/23) 

• 3 miles easy stroller (9 something pace) 
• Barre class

Total Mileage= 25.5 

Strength Workouts=2 Barre Classes 

No days off, but lots of short and easy runs. 

Just a little cookie selfie for your enjoyment :) 

Half Marathon Training Week 2

Preface:  I'm doing a horrible job of following Hanson's so far. I am no where near the mileage but I'm working on it! One week I will completely follow the plan, this was not that week.  I have some legitimate excuses (sick baby and flu shot for me) but I know every week will probably have some obstacles.  My goal for this next week is to get to 30 miles.  Winter is harder with shorter days and most of the time I don't have the ability to use the jogging stroller now like I did in the fall. Nonetheless, this is how training is going to look for a spring half marathon, so I must adjust!

Saturday- 4.25 miles with pickups (8:14 pace) on the treadmill at the rec center. 

Sunday- Barre class. 

Monday- Easy 5.25 miles treadmill with hills thrown in (8:22 pace) 

Tuesday- Speed workout: 1 mile warmup 

                                          8 x 400's (on Hanson's plan, it just was supposed to be 12!) 1:40 average 

                                          1 min active walk/jog in between intervals 

                                          . 5 cooldown 

                                          4. 5 miles total 

Wednesday- 4 miles easy, Barre class 

Thursday- off day (flu shot on Wed) 

Friday- off day (flu shot on Wed) - Side note: I never get flu shots and this is why, it made me exhausted and "off" for 3 whole days. 

Total Mileage:  18 

 

Back to blogging- Half Marathon Training Week 1

After a lengthy break from updating this blog, I am back at it!  My goal for the new year is to update this once a week (with my running training from each week) and then any other fun life happenings.  I realized that it is a lot harder to make time to sit down and update this as often as I would like. I virtually cannot do it during the time Alex is awake because she is very demanding of my time, as she should be! Plus from approximately 3 PM or whatever time I am home from work is time I play with Alex and when Brandon, Alex and I hang out, eat dinner etc. So basically, I have to work on these after she goes to bed!

I am training for the Platte River 1/2 marathon, in Littleton on April 10th.  I ran 2 half marathons this past fall, one in October, in Colorado Springs and one trail half in November in Highlands Ranch. I did feel like I was close to achieving a PR in this distance (which would be sub 1:42) but the conditions of both of the races made this really difficult to achieve (hello 3000 feet of elevation gain!).  So, I made sure I chose a nice flat race for spring!  I am loosely following Hanson's method for 1/2 marathon (the beginner plan).  The difference between this and what I normally do is that I will try and incorporate their designated speed workouts every week, complete their tempo runs and run 6 days a week!  This is a daunting task! Realistically, I know I won't be able to get this done every week and some weeks I will only run 5 days, but I would rather set my goal higher and reach for it most weeks.  I did no tempo run's this past fall (or ever) and their speed workouts are more intense than I have completed since my high school track and xc days so I'm hoping they really improve my fitness.  Other goals are to do barre/strength workouts 1-3 times a week (depending on the week)

Last week, I already did not meet the mileage (was supposed to be 30 and I switched the speed workout with the one I was supposed to do the next week), but it was a decent first week of training. Also, I am starting my weeks on Saturdays.

Weekly Mileage:  24 Miles

Saturday- 6 miles outside- 8:42 pace(long run, lol)
 I am building my long runs slowly, since I have 15 weeks to get to 13.1!

Sunday- 5 Miles outside- 8:49 pace (easy run)

Monday- 3 Miles outside- 9:05 pace (easy run)

Tuesday- 3 Miles outside, pushing stroller - 9:36 pace (easy run)

Wednesday- 4.2 miles, speed workout on treadmill
1 Mile warmup
5x 800's with 1 min. walking in between each. Average 3:20 pace (anywhere from 3:15-3:30) also I should start the interval when I reach the speed I want instead of at the beginning and I think they would be faster and I wouldn't be running .5 at a slower speed (cheating myself)
2 x 200's all out (38?)
.5 cooldown.

Thursday:
1 Mile warmup
2 Miles Tempo at 7:30 pace
(Should have been a 3 mile tempo run)

Friday:
off day.

No strength workouts this week. :(