Tag: run coaching

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Spring-y vibes!

Pastels colors are the theme of the day

Had a great morning run today breaking in my new Brooks Ghost 14s. Yes, 14s. I have no problem snagging a great deal on last year‘s model as closeout prices are way more affordable than the new releases! Combining a sale and my rewards points at Dick’s Sporting Goods, I was able to get this pair for $55 delivered to my front door 👏🏼

I’m not usually one for pastels, but if the price is right … and ironically I scored a sweet deal on these Tres Pinas shorts as well. Another clearance find! I realized a mile into this run that not only do my shoes and shorts have a theme but I also match the spring season too 😂

All in all today’s run was just perfect! I’m training myself not to carry water for shorter distances, and I felt just fine. Ended up with 3.12 miles in 31 minutes. Had to reign in the pace since today was prescribed as “easy Z2”, but there were times I wanted to push faster and harder. But one thing I’m learning is that not all runs need to be fast. You really can run slow, to in turn, run fast!

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Understanding yourself

How often do you really stop and take the time to think about yourself, who you are at this moment and where you’d like to go? I know I don’t often do that, but way back in the day when I was an undergrad college student I did. One of our assignments was setting 5 and 10 year professional goals.

I randomly came across those goals I’d listed about 10 years later. Surprisingly I met every single one of the goals I’d laid out for myself! I hadn’t thought about that assignment since I turned it in,done and dusted, all those years ago. But I wonder… did that exercise unknowingly set me up for success??

Fast forward to now, where I think more about athletic and fitness goals. So, when I received a prompt from Honey Stinger to complete a couple goal setting activities at the beginning of this year, I figured I’d give it a go!

‘Understanding yourself’ worksheet

So, let’s see where I end up at the end of 2023. Will I meet and/or exceed these goals? I’d certainly like to think so! And, I’ve been back to running, building that base for a successful season ahead. Week 2 and feeling strong…

Last night’s birthday run
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Buys cute sunglasses, forgets to wear them


Good stuff today, sunnies or not! Forgot about my 2 new pair of Goodr glasses until the sun came up. Oops!

Today’s Track Tuesday workout:
•6x 800s with 2’ easy recovery walk•after glute activation/easy run/dynamic drills•

I was able to hold 800 paces that have been a struggle over the past couple years – 7:45/:52/:47/:48/:50/:35

It felt so much easier today with just some simple tweaks to my pre-run routine. Insert taking a GU gel prior to my workout instead of coffee {although the chocolate one at 6am was hard to manage} and focusing on my running form {specifically elbow drive}.

2 weeks ago I did 5x 800s, but needed 4’ recovery between each effort compared to 2’ today. And the effort felt much easier! I can’t wait to see where these simple changes take me moving forward. I’m always striving for improvement, never settling for less than my best {or what feels like my best each day}.

I do I know about you, but I seemed to sweat more AFTER this run than during 😅 and yeah, my garage is messy 😂
.

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What rhymes with Tuesday?

Chooseday! 😄

Today I choose to:
Get up early {no snooze button}
Do the hard things {speed work}
Focus on the positives {is it a little cooler today?}
Smile {instant mood booster}
Spread light and life to others

The #tracktuesday workout this week: 13’ warm up jog with dynamic drills, 8x 400m + 2x 200m, 9’ cool down.

The splits, that didn’t go as quick as I would’ve liked them to: 7:02/6:57/:55/:47/:54/7:06/7:14/6:56
6:12/:25

But the view at the end … 😍

A quick stretch {and most certainly a shower} + a cup of coffee, and I’m off to a couple work meetings. Centered. Grounded. Ready for what the day delivers.

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Dirt & vert vs. Flat & fast

I spent a few days last week up in the mountains of western North Carolina. Ahhh…so peaceful and scenic. It was hard to come home! But, I am extremely grateful for the time I got to spend up there running and hiking the mountains and trails.

Chasing a little vert at Moses Cone Park
And a little dirt

Now that I’m back home in flat Florida, my typical training resumes. I have a sprint tri in a couple weeks, and several trail races lined up this fall. My “A” race is a north Georgia mountain 50k in early November. And, today is Track Tuesday!

Our cardiorespiratory system, the heart and lungs, can’t tell the difference between speed work and climbing at slower paces. All the heart and lungs know is effort. Now the legs, they know, but that is a different topic for a different day! I do plan to mix in both speed work and hill repeats into this training block, as well as continue at least twice per week lower body strength and conditioning. I just have to work with the terrain I’ve got here in Florida to properly train for the upcoming events.

The flat and fast local track

Todays workout: 5x 800m repeats with 4 min recovery between each interval. Start with a 10-15 min warm up jog with dynamic drills (skipping, leg swings, high knees, butt kicks, carioca, etc.). Finish with another 8-10 min of easy pace running and a minute or 2 of walking.

Yes, you are allowed to walk!!! It really helps bring the heart rate down and prevent blood pooling in the legs after hard effort sessions. And, hiking workouts on the treadmill set to inclines 5% and higher can supplement trail race training too!

My pace is fast to some, slow to others, but it’s all relative. I controlled my paces today to stay sub-8 on each interval. This was not an uncomfortably hard effort, but rather felt like steady work.

The whole workout, start to finish

I could’ve gone faster, but wanted to finish feeling like I could give one more, as I have a bike sesh on tap this evening. I feel grounded and ready for the work day ahead after a workout like this!

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Easy does it!

Fire in the sky, fog on the ground

This morning I was back at it, chasing that sunrise, but with a nice easy pace! It’s officially time to ramp up my mileage for this fall’s big race, the Sky to Summit 50k. Even though I just covered a tough 30k less than 72 hours ago, this is no time to kick back and relax too much!

Basically I just went out and logged some easy miles to get time and distance on my feet. I’m working on building my weekly mileage to the 25-30 mile per week range from 20-25.

In order to prevent injury, one must ramp up gradually and add easy miles on the schedule. Tuesdays or Wednesday will be speed workouts with tempo runs on Thursdays or Fridays. It all just depends on weekend activities, how much recovery my body is asking for, and what races are thrown in the mix.

Another component of my training will be hill work, as the big event of my season will be in the Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia. I plan to incorporate the hill training either on one of my speed or tempo days, or as part of my weekend long run. My goal this season is to get stronger but yet avoid injury like the plague!

All in all, I feel like this morning‘s run was a perfect start to the training block that lies ahead. I am learning with each season that pace does not matter. What matters is how well you are preparing yourself for your “A” race while most importantly staying healthy and happy in the process!

Here’s to kicking off that 50K training!

Today’s workout: 5 easy miles ✔️

Post run, when the fog lifted
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Warning signs

Does anyone actually pay attention to warning signs? 🚧

I’m definitely trying! Tonight I had 4 easy zone 2 miles on tap. It was truly hard to get out the door! Motivation was lacking and fatigue from the long week was starting to set in. But I told myself just do 10 minutes, that’s all. After that if you want to call it, then go ahead. If you’re feeling good, then finish the run!

The first half of the run I was taking it nice and easy on stiff joints & sore glute muscles. Yesterday was a short, but intense, leg day followed by a tough interval spin on the bike trainer. In spite of all my recovery methods (foam rolling, stretching, protein, fluids, turmeric, tart cherry), I’m feeling ALL the feels today! Hoping for better sleep tonight so I can really hone in on better recovery.

Moral of the story: Easy runs on paper are not always easy in real life. Don’t compare yourself to others. Give yourself some grace in times like these and listen to your body! It will thank you!

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Track Tuesday, so good to see you!

“The unprepared mind cannot see the outstretched hand of opportunity.” – Sir Alexander Fleming

In other words – get your mind right, and good things (words, actions, changes) will follow. I set my mind on #tracktuesday yesterday and made it happen this morning!

The workout called for some glute activation moves, a 10 minute warm up jog + dynamic stretching, then 4x 400m with 1 min recovery. I was able to just let loose and hit paces of 7:47/:39/:28/:28. Now these aren’t fast by many standards, but I’ll take it. It’s faster than I’ve been able to go as of late, and with 2 years of endurance training under my belt I have a need for speed!

Look at that ball of fire in the sky!

The cool down jog at the end brought more of that glorious sunrise into view. What an amazing way to start the day! Winter has been pretty gloomy and my body has been craving the sun and serotonin for weeks now. Plus, it feels really nice to have a little comfortable pep in my step again. So thankful for this opportunity!

The post workout endorphins were flowing!
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Holy hills!

Today I raced the Howey-in-the-Hills half marathon in central Florida. Wow, the elevation gain was unreal! 556 feet of climbing over some serious rollers. This was not your typical ‘flat Florida’ style event!

There’s actually a road down in front of the lake
A little glimpse of the rollers

I put up a good fight and shaved off 1 min 48 sec compared to the very flat half I ran last month! Still not a PR, but getting closer to my goal race pace. Today was focused on a good pre-race routine, warm up drills, and form, form, form! I’d say it all paid off.

Last year I attempted a half marathon a month – but only successfully completed the distance about 6-8 times over the 12 months. Granted there were fewer races, however I fell off the wagon due to my own laziness and cannot blame anyone or anything else. The goal is simple – run 13.1 or more miles within 24 hours, meaning you can either race or just go for a run, or 2, as long as you get the total mileage in a 24 hour period of time. So far I’m 2/2 in 2022, so I’m planning to keep the streak alive and see where this training, and racing, takes me!

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Purple Pride 5k. The ‘un-coachable’ making progress!

This morning was the 7th annual Purple Pride 5k to kick off the Orlando City Soccer season. I must say, I am proud of the girl who showed up today!

This opportunity made me feel closer to where I used to be and helped me see that my goals are coming into focus. I need to stay patient, give it some time, and keep putting in the work.

On December 29th, I clocked a disappointing 30:33 5k, when doing an unofficial time trial assessment. With a 5k PR of 25:06, never have I ever run that slow 😞 After a full year of 70.3 triathlon training, I knew something had to give, and I was beyond ready for a change.

I crave speedy sessions and the feeling of leaving it all on the pavement! That kind of training does not go hand-in-hand with 50+ mile bike rides and hour-plus long swims. So, I decided it was time to focus on developing that quick turnover again with a 5k training block to kick off 2022. A running coach wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

For some reason I seem to be ‘uncoachable’. In my attempts to reach out to local triathlon coaches, I have either been dismissed, ignored, or put in the beginner level groups. After 7 years of racing triathlon and 30 years of running, that’s just not what I’m looking for. While a bit frustrating, I channeled that energy into getting my own run coaching certification.

It’s been about 6 weeks of dedicated 5k training and 3 weeks of coaching myself. The gains are starting to appear! I shaved about 3 minutes off my time, but still need to work on not going out too fast in the first mile. I did execute a proper pre-race warm up today, went to bed on time last night, and hydrated well ahead of this event. I have a few more races lined up over the coming weeks and plan to keep making, and sharing, forward progress! 💜

5k finish inside Exploria Stadium