Group Run with Running Elements

Last night I went on a group run with my LRS.  We did almost the same loop as the last time, but we skipped the terrible hill at Meydenbauer Beach.  My running buddy was Kate from Running Elements.  She gave me some advice on running hills and said to look into run-walking races. 

This is what I learned:
Uphill - lean forward with a straight back and shorten your stride.  The idea behind this is to use less energy while propelling yourself forward. 

Downhill - lengthen my stride a little and expand my chest.  Take full breaths.  Running downhill needs to be the recovery from running uphill...  I know that seems like common sense, but prior to this advice, I had been exhausting myself uphill and downhill.  The goal is consistency!

First Long Run of 2014

Today I completed my first long run of the year!  I live in downtown Bellevue and ran out to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island for a total of 9 miles.  It took me about an hour and 40, but I wasn't looking to make good time today.  Just a relaxing, endurance building run.

In this run, I also got a little preview of what to expect in the Mercer Island half... and that, my friends, is soreness from the many, many hills!!! 

This was also the first long run that I completed with my Saucony Triumph 10s.  My feet feel fine, no numbness, no pain, but I do have some shin splints which I don't usually get.  This could be due to the amount of hills I've been running this week though.  Compared to a treadmill, my times are definitely slower, but I'm glad that I've pushed myself to get outside this time around.  Not only do I feel its effect on my training, but my mood in general has been a lot better...  One thing I do wish though, male bikers and runners on I-90 bridge, try cheering up a little!  I've never seen such a group of bitchy athletes before.

Back in action!

Tonight I made an attempt at a 40 minute tempo run, but it was more like torture.  I suppose I'm still sick, but didn't know how badly until the second mile.  I still completed the 40 minutes, but I felt like each step was a kick in my lungs...  I'm sure more advanced runners would advise against it!

Oh...  And I ran with my new shoes for the first time.  I'll give a better review later.  For now, I'll define them as "grippy."

I've only gone through 2 long training sessions.  The first was when I first started running/racing and the second was for my half marathon.  The truth is, you're gonna have bad runs and it can be discouraging, but don't give up!  See it as a part of your training.  Racing is hard, but maybe it won't be as hard as last night: coming off of a cold, breaking in new shoes, rain and wind in my face, lots of teens smoking on the path, super hungry, can't seem to pick up the pace.  This builds resilience and humbles us.  So, runners, I wish you many great runs, and a few lame ones.

My commute

On Christmas I picked one of my bicycles up from my sister's house so that I can ride it to work.  The ride is only a little more than 4 miles so it's not too hard and it gets rid of the frustrating traffic that I deal with everyday.

Today is supposed to be a rest day, but I biked to work anyway.  Hopefully the ride home won't be too hard.  It's 75% up hill!!!

Buddy run

Today I invited a couple of friends from work to join me in my 3 Mile w/Fartlek.  We ran at Downtown Bellevue Park where I normally run.  A first I was nervous that they would have a miserable time as non-runners typically don't like to run.  However, after the first lap, they were having a good time.  We maintained about a 10:10 pace and sprinkled in speedplay here and there.  This all worked out well as I found my LRS challenge was to run with a buddy!

At about 2.5 miles in, Glenn wanted to time himself around the park.  Downtown Bellevue Park is supposed to be .5 miles around, but my GPS has it closed to about .44.  He did a great job an finished one lap in 3:28.  I'm happy to say that I kept up!

My other friend was having some muscle soreness so he had to take a few breaks.  Better safe than sorry!  He'll be running the full park in no time!

In the end, we did 5K in 32:58.  Not bad for a guy who hasn't run in about 13 years!  I'm hoping they'll join me again soon.

Monday Workout Forecast

Hoping my 5M fast workout beats my 5M race from 2011.

It's Monday again (which means I've been consistently blogging for over a week!  New record!) and it's time to post my weekly workout forecast!  This week I'll be celebrating Christmas so it might be tough to squeeze in some of the runs, but I'm stubborn enough to get it done. 

They've also opened the pool in my building recently.  Assuming it's not too cold, I'll probably through some laps in here and there.

-Mon: 3M run w/Fartlek
-Tue: 7 x 400 sprints
-Wed: Christmas and binge eating!
-Thu: 40 min Tempo
-Fri: Rest, Stretch, and beer
-Sat: 5M fast
-Sun: 75 minute Long Run

Have a great week everyone!

It's snowing!

Yesterday was my first run in the snow... and maybe my last! 

The challenge presented by my LRS was to run 5K.  Easy enough right?  The night before, I packed all my gear and took it with me to work for a change in scenery.  I love the park near my house, but it's only a half mile circle.  On my way to work, it started snowing, and snowing and snowing and snowing.  It stopped before work was over, but was still on the ground.

I wasn't sure what running on the snow would be like.  I assumed it would be cold, slippery, and unstable.  Yes, yes, and yes!  Not only did my pace suffer significantly, but not having solid footing put some serious strain on my hamstrings!  I finished in 27:59 and my socks were soaking wet!

So with that, I'm happy for the experience, but I think I'm going to have to find some dry ground to run on next time!

I also stopped by my store (I work retail) after the run.  You never know how little people actually know you until you show up at work in your athletic gear.

My first group run

Tonight's LRS (Running Elements) Christmas challenge was to join this evening's running group and to jump rope for 6 minutes.

I showed up at the shop at 6PM and me Glen.  Glen is a running coach who travels all around to run marathons.  However, I was the only one there so it started to look like the run was going to get canceled!

A few minutes later, we had another person join us, and then one more as we were heading out the door.  It's definitely a cold evening!!!  One of the runners said that she was comfortable with a 10:00/mile pace.  Sounds good to me!

Glen had us run to areas of Bellevue that I had not seen before.  I've heard of Clyde Hill as that's where a buddy of mine lives at, but he never told me that you'd get a great view of Seattle and downtown Bellevue on the same loop!  I'm definitely going to run this area again. 

After that, we got into an area that wasn't as scenic.  It was also a slow climb for about 5 minutes...  I was definitely warm by then!

I took advantage of running with a coach.  He gave me some pointers about my training, upcoming races, and other training sessions in the area.  He said that a group of runners train on a track in Kirkland on Wednesdays.  I think I'll check it out!

Our run was about 4.6 miles in a little less than an hour.  It was a great run and nice change to my solo runs.  I'll be joining them again soon!

When I got home, I tore up my apartment looking for my jump rope as the one in the gym was missing.  Who would steal a jump rope?  Saboteurs...  that's who!  Anyway, the pic above was what I used to enter in today's contest. 

3 Miles and the Challenge

Does this watch make my ears look fat?

On the ninth day of Christmas my local running shop gave to me:  speed work!  The assignment was "Run your track loops in sets of three. Your first lap should be easy pace. Walking is okay. Your second lap is run at medium pace, and your third lap is as fast as you can go. Run this set three times through until you finish at 9 laps."

So with my Garmin Forerunner 405, I set out to do laps of 1/3 mile: 

1. Easy lap - felt just fine, but ran too fast.
2. Medium lap - pace was only 2 second/mile faster
3. Fast lap - Couldn't maintain speed throughout, but ran part of it at 6 min/mile pace
4. Easy lap 2 -  Walked... felt great!
5. Medium lap 2 - OK!  Now we're getting it!  "Medium" pace.. about 10:00/mile
6. Fast lap 2 - Go go go!  7:15/mile
7. Easy lap 3 - Walked...  can't breathe...
8. Medium lap 3 - about 10:00/mile again
9. Fast lap 3 - Grrrrrr!  7:30/mile.  Too many ducks on the path...  old guy with his dog on a leash extended across the whole path...  "I'M GOING TO USE YOU AS AN EXCUSE FOR MY SLOWER PACE!"

...And that's 3 miles.  I walked another to catch my breath and went home.

Monday Workout Forecast

My park is Pac-Man

This is my Monday Workout Forecast! I'll be listing what my workouts will look like for the week.  I allow myself some flexibility in case life happens :) Also, my local running shop doesn't post their daily challenges until later in the day.

-Mon: 3M run
-Tue: 9 x 200 sprints
-Wed: Crosstrain + weights
-Thu: 35 min Tempo
-Fri: Easy run
-Sat: Rest and beer
-Sun: 5K test

10th day of Christmas Challenge

On the 10th day of Christmas my local running shop gave to me:  A challenge to run 10K (that's 6.2 miles for anyone new to running) today!  Since today's my long run day anyway, it worked out perfectly.  I ran 70 minutes for a total of 6.86 miles.

A nice surprise I found from today's run was that my 10K training time is now only 1 minute slower than my first 10K race time!

Since the temperature is a little chilly, I've been wearing a compression shirt made by Target's C9 brand.  C9 has worked out wonderfully for me throughout my training for a few great reasons:

1.  Price:  Being that it's a Target brand item, it's cheaper than you'll find in a pro shop.  There are always coupons for C9 gear and when using a Target REDcard, you'll save an extra 5%.  I've picked up quite a few pairs of running shorts for less than $10...  Since I first started at XXL pants and now wear an M, going cheaper made the most sense.

2.  Style and variety:  It's Target, so you'll have tons to choose from.  I believe that if you feel like you look great, you'll perform much better than you would if you were worried about how you looked. 

 3.  Quality:  I do own a few products from higher end brands, but across all brands: my results are the same, they're all in good shape, they get stinky just the same, they all look good! 

Anyway, that's a lot of talk about store brand products.  I'm looking forward to what tomorrow's challenge is! 

Training and the challenge

Currently, I'm training to have my best running year yet!  I'm registered for my first marathon (Seattle Rock & Roll), my first 15K (Hot Chocolate), my second 13.1 (Mercer Island Half), and some 5Ks sprinkled in between!

On top of all that fun, a local running shop (Running Elements) is hosting the 12 Days of Christmas fitness challenge.  I believe the prize is a free pair of shoes, but I'm just enjoying it anyway!

The first day, we had to add 12 30 second sprints to our run.  Yesterday, we did circuits with burpees, push-ups, lunges, and squats for 11 minutes.  I finished that off with a quick 1.5 mile run and upper body weight training.

I'm not sure what's in store for today's challenge, but I have scheduled a 70-minute long run.  Looking forward to it!