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Today I had the dreaded treadmill workout scheduled.  Due to the travelling this week, I had to swim 3 days in a row.  Today was the 3rd swim and I decided to do it before the run.  I was sooo tired in the pool.  My arms and legs just had that numb feeling you get when the bloodflow is sluggish getting there.  I made it through and hit the times I was supposed to but was obsessing about the run during the whole swim! 

I got out of the pool, decided I was going to finish the workout no matter what and headed up to the treadmills at the Y.  To refresh - the workout is 10 min wu/cd with 5 mins at 7 min pace, 5 mins at 6:45 pace and 10 mins at 6:30 pace then 5 mins ez and repeat.  I ran the 5 mins at 8.6, 5mins at 8.9 and 10 mins at 9.2.  I had 5 mins of ez jogging before repeating.  I felt pretty strong and thought I had a good chance of making it. 

I started the next set and felt really good.  I did the 8.6 then the 8.9 took a deep breath and started the 9.2 (6:31 pace).  The first 5 minutes seemed really tough and I decided to make my goal just making it further than last time (5mins).  Every minute that went by after 5 minutes, I had the same thought - just make it 1 more minute.  I did that all the way to 10 minutes!!!  I have had this awesome feeling of accomplishment all day.  Yeah, it was only a workout but hey, whatever lifts your spirits and makes you feel good about being you...right? 

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Wow - I just realized it's been quite a long time since I have blogged.  So much has been going on that I just have not found the time to sit and write.  Don't worry, I have been fitting in the workouts though!  I finished month 2 (week 8) while I was out visiting some of Scott's family in Seattle. Lots of good food and good wine (but that's a story for another blog :-) ).  

Karen now has me doing a "run block."  Which basically means that I am running more than swimming or biking for the next 3 weeks.  I only had 2 bikes and 3 swims this week but 5 runs.  One of the runs was a "2-a-day" session designed to keep my effort up but stress on the body down.  I ran this with Scott out in Seattle...it was tough!!  We ran the first workout in the morning...60 mins at 6:55 pace. 
 

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I feel bad that I have not blogged much recently.  Life keeps getting in the way of fun.  Plus, Phoebe and I have been obsessed with the Olympics.  All of our free time is spent watching or reading about them!  The Mens Nordic Combined was so exciting!  I have never XC skiied but after seeing that event I am ready to go out and give it a try.  Plus, I read somewhere that Deena Kastor skiis in the off-season and if it is good enough for her, then...

Anyway, back to my workouts.  This past weekend, I had a series of workouts from Karen that were  very challenging but left me feeling stronger and fitter.  I am confident that she is helping me improve!  The girls and I went downstate to visit my parents and Scott met us there.  This meant that I had my training partner for the weekend.  I was psyched!  Saturday, Karen had me scheduled to do some hill repeats.  We found a 400-600 yard hill and after a brief warm up we started climbing.  My heart rate peaked at about 157 and I was concerned that maybe the hill was not steep enough because the workout didn't seem that difficult.  Scott was ready to cool down after what he called a short workout when I told him we still had 3x1mile repeats at 5K pace to do.  Because the blizzard had hit a few days before we were without a track.  So, I went to
www.mapmytri.com and measured out a mile on a stretch of road.  It was tougher, mentally, than on the track but I was pleased with the results.  I hit the miles in 6:13, 6:01 and 6:16.

Sunday we took a ride up to route 293.  This is the road that leads to West Point.  We used to run this road back in HS XC and I think Monroe-Woodbury still uses it today.  It's an out and back, 14 mile, all downhill then all uphill run.  Definitely tough but beautiful.  I definitely recommend this run if you are ever down in Orange County, NY and want a challenge.  Our only goal was to even split the 2 halves.  An all out sprint to the finish got us in right when we hoped - exactly the same as our first half split.  We were wiped out and our legs were shot.  I guess the hills the day before were tough enough!  Afterwards, Scott and I took Phoebe and Maggie out to the Monroe Diner for brunch...nothing like a Belgian waffle after a long run!!

Scott had to return to Virginia Sunday night so I was on my own for Monday's run.  It was supposed to be a day off but the snow in the forecast for Tuesday scared me into going out Monday.  Karen had me scheduled for a hilly 30 minute tempo run at heart rate 154-160.  I did not feel like doing this at all!  The warm up was slow and painful, my legs were still tired from the long run the day before but I put on my gameface and gave it all I had.  A mile into it, I realized I was feeling great!  I ran 4.7mi with my heart rate averaging 159. 

I was so encouraged by how well I ran all 3 days and am really looking forward to testing my foot speed at the National Half Marathon in DC in March.  Maybe I can close the gap between Scott and me!

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I just wanted to let you know what races I have planned for the first part of 2010.  Due to my work schedule (I work every other weekend so lots of races end up being off limits to me), I am not planning my first race until March.
March 20th CareFirst National Half Marathon, Washington DC
April 11th Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon, Ithaca, NY
April 25th Du The Lakes Duathlon, Fayetteville, NY
June 6th Keuka Lake Olympic Triathlon
June 27th Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 Ironman, Lubbock, TX

As more races get added to my schedule, I will update my blog.  Hope to see you at some of these!

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Today I cringed when I looked at the workout that was assigned...it was the same treadmill workout that I could not complete 2 weeks ago.  To refresh your memory it was a 10 min warm-up (treadmill on elevation 1 as always) then 5 minutes at 7 min pace, 5 min at 6:45 and 10 minutes at 6:30 pace...then repeat.  Thankfully, this time she gave me a 5 minute easy jog before I started the second set.  

I decided to skip the cycling and do that another day...wanted my legs to be fresh for this challenge.  I felt OK during the warm-up. Definitely not my strongest, but decent.  I made it through the first set with my heartbeat at 163 - 10 beats lower than last time.  I jogged very easily (at 6.6 mph) and then started the second set.  The 7 minute and 6:45 intervals went fine, but my
heartrate was averaging higher than the first go round.  When I hit the 6:30 pace, I knew I was in trouble.  I made it through 5 minutes, but just barely - my heartrate was registering 173 and that is close to my upper limit, I believe.  I knew I wasn't going to make 10 minutes so I backed down for another 5 minute jog and then headed back up for 5 more minutes at 6:30.  This time it was actually
easier and my heartrate stayed down at 167. 

Afterwards, I spoke with Karen and told her I couldn't complete it again.  She reassured me that it was OK and that if I was doing it easily she would have to make it harder.  She also said that in a month or two I WILL be telling her it is too easy.  We'll see.  For now, maybe third time's a charm :-) 

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When Kevin (Lucas) and I discussed my blogging for USATF, he was a little uncertain as to whether my focus on triathlon this year would interest any of USATF's readers.  I told him that at heart I would always consider myself a runner and that triathlon taught me a lot that benefitted my running.  After that conversation with Kevin, I decided that one of my first few blogs for USATF should be about what I learned through triathlon.

Being a die-hard runner for over 20 years, I was unsure how triathlon training would affect my running.  When Karen, my coach, talked with me about my plan for the year last January, I almost fainted when she said I would be running 3 days a week...maybe 4. And that 1-2 of those runs would be around 30-45 minutes.  Up until that point, I had been running 6-7 days a week, 60-70 miles per week.  I was sure my running would not only not improve, but get slower by the end of the year. 

You see, I have always been a runner.  I would scoff at those people running in the pool or biking or swimming.  I felt that the best way to get running was running.  The only time I ever entertained the thought of cross training was when I was injured.  And I gritted my teeth and hated every minute of it!

But, being that Karen was the expert, I closed my eyes and jumped head first into her training and hoped I would succeed.  Surprisingly, I did!  I swam 3-4 days a week, biked 3-4 days a week and ran 3-4 days a week.  She also had me lifting twice a week until the competitive season began.  Now, obviously for a runner, that much cross training may not be necessary but replacing a run once or twice a week with a bike ride or a swim may actually help.  Giving your muscles a rest from the pounding of running while strengthening less used muscles can improve your overall fitness which will convert to faster run times.  My marathon time went from a 2:57 before Karen started coaching me to a 2:53 at Philly last year (a 4 minute improvement in 1 year)...2 short months after completing an ironman distance triathlon (yes...that's the big one!). 

Another crazy notion (or so I thought) that Karen had was to go 3 weeks of hard training and then take a recovery week.  I always looked at less working out as less getting better.  Boy was I wrong again!  The rest week allowed all of those minor aches and pains to heal, the muscles to rest and left me hungry for the next set of challenges.

So my challenge to you is this...take a day off, go for a swim in the pool, take an easy week.  Then see how you feel the next time that track workout rolls around!