I'm a psychic. Literally! Okay, not really but I did predict yesterday's track workout before it happened.
The Gasparilla Distance Classic is huge in Tampa Bay Area and it's this weekend. There is a 5K, 8K, 15K and Half Marathon and thousands (probably 30,000+) come out to run at least one of the events!
Last year, on the Wednesday before Gasparilla, our track workout consistented of 6x800 w/1:30 rest in between.
I remember this workout like it was yesterday. It was cool and rainy and FUN!
Yesterday, our workout was exactly the same except it was hot and very humid!!
There were a few differences, though! Let's flashback, shall we!
2010
3:34 3:25 3:26 3:23 3:28 3:27
2011
3:13 3:13 3:15 3:13 3:15 3:06
Last year, I was supposed to run 3:28 pace. The goal was to keep the workout "easy" since we were all racing. This year, my normal group was supposed to run 3:15 pace, but he told me to run alone and run 3:20 pace since I was actually running the half! Well, I ran alone and ran by feel and 3:20 was just too awkward of a pace.
On average, my times this year were 14.667 seconds faster! This was for the SAME exact workout in worse weather conditions!
I didn't look at what I ran until after the workout. Of course, as soon as I got home and realized it ... I was beyond ecstatic. Woo Hoo. What a difference a year makes!!
Last year, I raced the 15K and ran a 1:13:55 (7:55 avg. pace, I believe)
This year, I'm racing the 1/2 marathon. We shall see what happens! Either way, I'm excited!!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
My Version of the Run for Donna Half Marathon
Happy Valentine's Day!! Confession: I wrote this post on Monday, but am just posting today! So, it was Valentine's Day when I wrote it . . .
This weekend, Penny and I took a little road trip to Jacksonville to see Stephanie and run the "26.2 with Donna Run: The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer". It was a crazy week leading up but I was insanely excited for a little weekend getaway with Penny! We always have so much fun. We had so much fun at Apalachicola (fun times despite the horrible race conditions) and I couldn't wait to see what this weekend had in store!
So, we set off on Saturday morning and drove almost four hours over to JAX. We had a fun car ride - talking about boys, running, hydrating, taking silly pictures and of course singing some Taylor Swift! :)
We did the typical pre-race routine: went to the Expo and bought some insanely expensive sparkly sweaty bands, ate some frozen yogurt, carb loaded, laughed a lot, got everything ready (including a dunkin donuts trip for our AM coffee and Publix trip for more carb loading via chocolate chip cookies) and got into bed pretty early.
We woke up at 4:40AM, got dressed and were on our way to the shuttles by 5:40.
We waited in the freezing cold (38 degrees) for about 20 minutes when we realized that if we stayed in line, we'd not get to the start in time. The line was NOT moving and we were hundreds of people back (at least five or six busses back). So, we decided to take our chances. Stephanie knew the area very well and the closest we could park to the start was about 1.5 miles away. Since Penny was running the FULL and we were running the half, we decided to drop Penny off at the start and then jog to the start. An almost two mile warm up later and Stephanie and I arrived at the start with about fifteen minutes to spare! Whew!
Let's back track a little, though . . . As my coach would say, I've been in half marathon frenzy mode since the end of November (I may or may not have two more scheduled in the next five weeks). He didn't want me to race this since I just ran Clearwater three weeks ago and have Gasparilla in two weeks. So, I never signed up! I couldn't; however, not go! I'd already been planning the trip with Penny. Besides, I'm her #1 fan! :) So, I went. My schedule for the weekend said "8 miles easy, 6 at 7:30 pace)." Yes, in my head I had already done that math . . . very close to the half marathon distance. But, I was pretty adament about squeezing my long run in around being a spectator.
Until Friday when I got the following text message ...
Friday (4:46PM) Stephanie - Do you want a bib? I have a friend not running who isn't using hers.
Me (4:57PM) - Oh! Oh! That may be nice. Is she selling it or just giving it away?
Stephanie (4:58PM) - Just giving it away.
The conversation continued and I found that I could basically run my long run during the half ... My coach just said not to race. He had 14 miles on my schedule. I could always "run" the half and not "race" it, right?
So, I ran it!
And, I loved it!
No pressure! I just tried to keep my pace relatively "easy" and treat it like a long run! I even took a 1:42 second bathroom break at mile 4.88. Racer Jaime would never do that! :)Miles 6 and 7 were on the beach! It was absolutely breathtaking!! I even teared up a couple of times from all of the signs that were held by survivors!
For all of you analyzers out there, here were the stats to my "long run."
7:52
7:39
7:47
7:56
8:08
7:58
8:19
8:16
8:09
8:21
8:19
8:26
7:32
:41 (.11) - 6:04 pace
So, I was kind of all over the place. But, I kept it "easy." When I wanted to slow down, I let myself. I even let myself slow down during miles 11 and 12. But, when I got to the point where I had 1.1 to go, I just couldn't help myself. I saw all of these people in front of me and I wanted to see how many I could pass before the finish line. Let's just say, it was quite a few ;) I love finishing strong.
Total time per Garmin: 1:45:29 (8:03 average pace)
Unoffical Results (remember I took a bathroom break): 1:47:11
It's a "long run." To compare "apples to apples" in my training log, I have to log it as a 1:45:29 :)
So, that was my weekend . . . How was yours??
PS: I don't usually post twice in one day because I like getting comments on ALL of my posts ... so, don't forget to scroll down and read about my track workout this AM!! :)
More Coffee, Please!
I've written a recap of the weekend and hopefully I'll post it soon! I need to add pictures and I haven't had a spare second to do that. So, hold tight and it'll be up soon! Promise!
Until then, I have to post about this morning. It's Wednesday and I like documenting my track experiences!
I woke up this morning super tired and not excited for track. This is not typical of me. I got up and made myself go, though! I didn't want to have to go tonight.
I warmed up a mile and then allowed myself to look at the workout. Had I known prior to track, I probably wouldn't have gone.
1600 800 400 400 800 1600
It was a backwards pyramid and there was like 1 minute rest in between everything. Not fair!
My expected times: 6:36 3:12 1:33 1:33 3:12 6:36
1600 - Holy Cow! Super hard and my legs were like lead! I couldn't keep up and was behind the entire time. I sprinted a little at the end and came across in 6:38. I was pretty discouraged after this and thought there was no way I could do this workout. My friend, Jen, who was also in my group said some amazing words after this rep. She told me to quit thinking about the entire workout. It was like she was reading my mind. She said to only focus on what we were running then. We had an 800 to run. Don't think about it the rest of it.
800 - Still feeling tired but I was determined. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to die so I should get over myself and just run. 96, 95. I ran a 3:11. Perfect!
400 - 90 seconds. Oops! A little too fast. I love 400's though!
400 - 95 seconds. Oops! A little too slow. We averaged perfectly though! We had tried to slow it down to the right pace but came across a little slower than planned.
800 - We were at 1:41 at the 400 mark. We were supposed to be at 1:36. Oh well. We picked it up and ran a 1:30 for the second lap finishing right at 3:11! Score!
1600 - Holy cow. I was petrified. 99 seconds per lap. That was the goal. I didn't want to start too fast. I knew that would be tough. First lap: 1:40 Second lap: 3:20 (2 seconds off goal) Third lap: 4:56 (NICE) Fourth lap = fastest for a total time of 6:31!
It felt so good to push through when I thought I couldn't. Jen and I ran a cool down mile and I called it a day! :)
I've never regretted a track workout! The key is just getting there. I just have to keep remembering, I am tougher than I think I am!
Until then, I have to post about this morning. It's Wednesday and I like documenting my track experiences!
I woke up this morning super tired and not excited for track. This is not typical of me. I got up and made myself go, though! I didn't want to have to go tonight.
I warmed up a mile and then allowed myself to look at the workout. Had I known prior to track, I probably wouldn't have gone.
1600 800 400 400 800 1600
It was a backwards pyramid and there was like 1 minute rest in between everything. Not fair!
My expected times: 6:36 3:12 1:33 1:33 3:12 6:36
1600 - Holy Cow! Super hard and my legs were like lead! I couldn't keep up and was behind the entire time. I sprinted a little at the end and came across in 6:38. I was pretty discouraged after this and thought there was no way I could do this workout. My friend, Jen, who was also in my group said some amazing words after this rep. She told me to quit thinking about the entire workout. It was like she was reading my mind. She said to only focus on what we were running then. We had an 800 to run. Don't think about it the rest of it.
800 - Still feeling tired but I was determined. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to die so I should get over myself and just run. 96, 95. I ran a 3:11. Perfect!
400 - 90 seconds. Oops! A little too fast. I love 400's though!
400 - 95 seconds. Oops! A little too slow. We averaged perfectly though! We had tried to slow it down to the right pace but came across a little slower than planned.
800 - We were at 1:41 at the 400 mark. We were supposed to be at 1:36. Oh well. We picked it up and ran a 1:30 for the second lap finishing right at 3:11! Score!
1600 - Holy cow. I was petrified. 99 seconds per lap. That was the goal. I didn't want to start too fast. I knew that would be tough. First lap: 1:40 Second lap: 3:20 (2 seconds off goal) Third lap: 4:56 (NICE) Fourth lap = fastest for a total time of 6:31!
It felt so good to push through when I thought I couldn't. Jen and I ran a cool down mile and I called it a day! :)
I've never regretted a track workout! The key is just getting there. I just have to keep remembering, I am tougher than I think I am!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
PF Changs then Track?
I slept in yesterday morning! I've been pretty tired the past couple of weeks. I was looking forward to morning track on Wednesday, but after a few glasses of wine with a girlfriend on Tuesday night (I've gotta have a life, too:)), I decided to just sleep in and go to night track.
It worked out well, too because David had dinner plans with some people from work! Score! Or so I thought . . .
I've been trying to do lunch with a girlfriend from work for weeks now. We finally agreed on yesterday so I decided to still go and went to PF Changs. I knew I had six hours until track, but figured I'd be okay. We had the lettuce chicken wraps as an appetizer and then I had one of the lunch bowls as my entree: brown rice, grilled salmon and asparagus. It was delicious!
I think I chose all of the right foods - I just ate TOO much! I could have probably laid off of the lettuce wraps, but oh well! By 6:30PM, I was still stuffed!!
Somehow, I still managed to complete the workout:
10x400, 1600
Rest: 1:15 minutes in between
Goal times: 93 seconds for the 400's, 6:52 for the mile
I think the goal was to not push the 400's and for it to make the mile pace to feel slow and easy. 6:52 pace is 1:43 per lap (so we were able to slow down 10 seconds per lap).
My times:
90 91 90 92 91 91 92 91 90 91 6:47
The mile was tough and I seriously felt like a complete failure. I had nothing left and felt like I had given up but still managed a 6:47. I think that was the point. Had I continued my 400 pace, I would have run a 6:00-6:10 mile - which clearly, I did not. My stomach was so full and I had no appetite for about two hours after this workout!!
It worked out well, too because David had dinner plans with some people from work! Score! Or so I thought . . .
I've been trying to do lunch with a girlfriend from work for weeks now. We finally agreed on yesterday so I decided to still go and went to PF Changs. I knew I had six hours until track, but figured I'd be okay. We had the lettuce chicken wraps as an appetizer and then I had one of the lunch bowls as my entree: brown rice, grilled salmon and asparagus. It was delicious!
I think I chose all of the right foods - I just ate TOO much! I could have probably laid off of the lettuce wraps, but oh well! By 6:30PM, I was still stuffed!!
Somehow, I still managed to complete the workout:
10x400, 1600
Rest: 1:15 minutes in between
Goal times: 93 seconds for the 400's, 6:52 for the mile
I think the goal was to not push the 400's and for it to make the mile pace to feel slow and easy. 6:52 pace is 1:43 per lap (so we were able to slow down 10 seconds per lap).
My times:
90 91 90 92 91 91 92 91 90 91 6:47
The mile was tough and I seriously felt like a complete failure. I had nothing left and felt like I had given up but still managed a 6:47. I think that was the point. Had I continued my 400 pace, I would have run a 6:00-6:10 mile - which clearly, I did not. My stomach was so full and I had no appetite for about two hours after this workout!!
Monday, February 7, 2011
The wrong way to run 49 minutes . . .
Holy cow! I had the hardest workout today! It was a HUGE fail, too! Well, kind of!
After driving for almost 9 hours yesterday and then watching the Superbowl, I opted to sleep in this morning and tempo later. I was forced with either a lunch time tempo or an evening tempo and for whatever reason, my friend Nate and I decided upon lunch time.
I even met him at Bayshore to set myself up for success. My schedule said 7:15-7:45-7:15-7:45-7:15-7:45 I was actually secretly excited about this run because I thought I could nail it. I've been doing my tempos around the 7:20 pace, but have only been running around 3 miles at a time at that pace. This stretches it to six miles - even though 3 are slower! Not to mention, this workout is supposed to make the 7:45 mile feel slow. Who doesn't want "easy" to be 7:45? Anyway, I thought this would be a great workout mentally for me, especially if I nailed it.
It's 75 degrees, sunny and pretty humid! The wind was blowing, but I didn't realize how much until we began.
After half a mile warm up, we restarted our Garmins and took off. I was surprised. .25 in and we were running at a 6:19 pace. Weird! I knew that 6 miles was a long way though, so we tried to slow it down.
It was SOOOO hot for the first three miles. I seriously haven't been that hot in at least 4 months! Occasionally, we could feel the wind behind us. Well, it was always behind us but at some points it was pushing us forward. In retrospect, I should have ran faster but I didn't want to exceed the times too much in fear of not finishing.
After a speedy start, we finished the first mile in 7:01. Mile two was slower - as planned - but still ahead of pace: 7:33 Mile three was dead on: 7:14. 3 miles in 21:49!! Not a bad way to begin a tempo . . .
Until we turned around. It was windy. Like you cannot move any faster and easy=hard kind of windy! Really, really windy! I made up my mind that I couldn't finish the workout but that I would run at a little faster than "easy" pace. Okay, so my next mile: 9:32. I'm not even kidding, not even a little. I felt like I was running up hill and into wind. Most the way back, my eyes were shut, too. There was dirt and leaves flying everywhere. The good? It wasn't so hot, the wind was keeping me cool. But, seriously, it would have been hard to even walk in this!
I didn't stop for water. I told myself I didn't deserve it. Afterall, Nate decided to finish the workout, no matter what the effort was. I decided to give effort and not worry about the pace. Hmmmm. Mile 5: 9:07 and Mile 6: 9:06.
Those were three of the hardest miles I've ever run. It took everything out of me to not walk, not stop for a mental break and not get water. I forced myself to keep going telling myself I didn't deserve water! I guess that was the positive.
I'd say that those last three miles were equivalent to an 8:15-8:20 pace effort. No joke.
Nate finished and hit the times. We decided that he really ran 6:20-6:30 pace to hit the times.
So, after a 3 mile start in 21:50ish, I finished 6 miles in 49:32. Crazy! When I got back to my car, I checked the weather. 75 degrees with 24 mph winds - and we were running on the Bay, so they were probably even worse than that!
Jaime = 0
Wind = 1
Let's just hope we don't face this kind of wind during my next half that is on that course!!
After driving for almost 9 hours yesterday and then watching the Superbowl, I opted to sleep in this morning and tempo later. I was forced with either a lunch time tempo or an evening tempo and for whatever reason, my friend Nate and I decided upon lunch time.
I even met him at Bayshore to set myself up for success. My schedule said 7:15-7:45-7:15-7:45-7:15-7:45 I was actually secretly excited about this run because I thought I could nail it. I've been doing my tempos around the 7:20 pace, but have only been running around 3 miles at a time at that pace. This stretches it to six miles - even though 3 are slower! Not to mention, this workout is supposed to make the 7:45 mile feel slow. Who doesn't want "easy" to be 7:45? Anyway, I thought this would be a great workout mentally for me, especially if I nailed it.
It's 75 degrees, sunny and pretty humid! The wind was blowing, but I didn't realize how much until we began.
After half a mile warm up, we restarted our Garmins and took off. I was surprised. .25 in and we were running at a 6:19 pace. Weird! I knew that 6 miles was a long way though, so we tried to slow it down.
It was SOOOO hot for the first three miles. I seriously haven't been that hot in at least 4 months! Occasionally, we could feel the wind behind us. Well, it was always behind us but at some points it was pushing us forward. In retrospect, I should have ran faster but I didn't want to exceed the times too much in fear of not finishing.
After a speedy start, we finished the first mile in 7:01. Mile two was slower - as planned - but still ahead of pace: 7:33 Mile three was dead on: 7:14. 3 miles in 21:49!! Not a bad way to begin a tempo . . .
Until we turned around. It was windy. Like you cannot move any faster and easy=hard kind of windy! Really, really windy! I made up my mind that I couldn't finish the workout but that I would run at a little faster than "easy" pace. Okay, so my next mile: 9:32. I'm not even kidding, not even a little. I felt like I was running up hill and into wind. Most the way back, my eyes were shut, too. There was dirt and leaves flying everywhere. The good? It wasn't so hot, the wind was keeping me cool. But, seriously, it would have been hard to even walk in this!
I didn't stop for water. I told myself I didn't deserve it. Afterall, Nate decided to finish the workout, no matter what the effort was. I decided to give effort and not worry about the pace. Hmmmm. Mile 5: 9:07 and Mile 6: 9:06.
Those were three of the hardest miles I've ever run. It took everything out of me to not walk, not stop for a mental break and not get water. I forced myself to keep going telling myself I didn't deserve water! I guess that was the positive.
I'd say that those last three miles were equivalent to an 8:15-8:20 pace effort. No joke.
Nate finished and hit the times. We decided that he really ran 6:20-6:30 pace to hit the times.
So, after a 3 mile start in 21:50ish, I finished 6 miles in 49:32. Crazy! When I got back to my car, I checked the weather. 75 degrees with 24 mph winds - and we were running on the Bay, so they were probably even worse than that!
Jaime = 0
Wind = 1
Let's just hope we don't face this kind of wind during my next half that is on that course!!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Mountains - Okay, maybe just Hills!
I didn't run my long run this weekend. I was on a semi vacation and decided to just run hard for an hour instead. It felt good! An hour of fast running is probably just as good for me as 10-13 miles of easy running, right? It was a beautiful day - 45 degrees and sunny! Perfect running weather.
I was in southern Indiana and it wasn't quite the sea level flat running that I'm used to. I was surprised that I didn't climb more than it says ... oh well, the numbers don't lie.
1) 8:18
2) 8:24
3) 8:00
4) 7:45
5) 7:40
6) 7:49
7) 7:31
8) 4:31 (7:41 pace) for .59 miles
7.59 miles in 1:00:00
Total Elevation Gain was 255 feet (Total loss was 255 feet, too). I guess that is what happens when you start and end at the same place! Ha!
This was a great run though. It started off being an easy 4 miler that turned into a 5 miler and then into a 6 miler and then into a 7 miler ... finally finishing at a "I think I'll just run for an hour." Ha!
I was in southern Indiana and it wasn't quite the sea level flat running that I'm used to. I was surprised that I didn't climb more than it says ... oh well, the numbers don't lie.
1) 8:18
2) 8:24
3) 8:00
4) 7:45
5) 7:40
6) 7:49
7) 7:31
8) 4:31 (7:41 pace) for .59 miles
7.59 miles in 1:00:00
Total Elevation Gain was 255 feet (Total loss was 255 feet, too). I guess that is what happens when you start and end at the same place! Ha!
This was a great run though. It started off being an easy 4 miler that turned into a 5 miler and then into a 6 miler and then into a 7 miler ... finally finishing at a "I think I'll just run for an hour." Ha!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Post Half Marathon Track
Gotta make this quick ...
Track workout yesterday:
800 1600 1600 800
I hate when we have 1600's in the workout. I don't know why! I'm getting better about mentally preparing for them, but I just don't like them.
Goal times: 3:18 and 6:44
We rested 1:30 after the 800 and 3 minutes after the mile.
My times: 3:09, 6:34, 6:30, 3:12
I actually felt pretty good!! My legs are a little tight from Sunday - but, why wouldn't they be? Those were killer HILLS!!!
Work is crazy and super busy!! Wedding planning is finally in FULL force! I'm starting to narrow down some things, so that's good! We're even getting pretty close to nailing down a date - at least we've got it down to a two week span in June! :)
Track workout yesterday:
800 1600 1600 800
I hate when we have 1600's in the workout. I don't know why! I'm getting better about mentally preparing for them, but I just don't like them.
Goal times: 3:18 and 6:44
We rested 1:30 after the 800 and 3 minutes after the mile.
My times: 3:09, 6:34, 6:30, 3:12
I actually felt pretty good!! My legs are a little tight from Sunday - but, why wouldn't they be? Those were killer HILLS!!!
Work is crazy and super busy!! Wedding planning is finally in FULL force! I'm starting to narrow down some things, so that's good! We're even getting pretty close to nailing down a date - at least we've got it down to a two week span in June! :)
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