The majority of this month I have been trying to rehab my hamstring strain. Which made most of the month one big rest "day", with one of the lowest mileage months since I started running. I I really spent a lot of time reflecting on my past running and thought about why I am always getting injured. I have concluded it's because all I ever do is run. I don't lift weights or cross train. I honestly barely even walk, thanks to my sit down job (I did just get a stand-up desk, yay!).  I took a big step in correcting what I believe to be my achilles heel when it comes to running and I am giving personal coaching a try. I received a personal and customized training plan from Jason at Strength Running. With this new training plan, Jason has me incorporating running specific strength workouts into my training. A lot of the strength workouts include strengthening my hips, glutes and abs. I am about 3 weeks into including the strength workouts, but I have been unable to actually start the running part of the plan because of my injury (it is slowly getting better).  They say it takes about 6 weeks to see the effect of strength training, so I hope to be come a stronger, less injury prone runner in the near future. 

Total Miles: 58.2

Peak weekly mileage: 2/29-3/6 (26.2mi)
Longest Run: 8.0mi
Average Pace: 10:30min/mi
Races: 1
Leprechaun Race 5k 3/13/16 (25:43)

Lesson(s) learned:

• If all you ever do is run and absolutely nothing else, you're bound to get injured.

Plans for April:

My main goal is to continue rehabbing my hamstring and to remain injury free in other areas. I want to be able to start the customized training plan that I got. The training plan is for my goal race this year, The San Francisco Marathon. I will be running the half marathon, more specifically the "2nd half marathon". I will be volunteering for the first time a race and I'm kind of looking forward to giving back.

Upcoming April Races: 0

How did your training go in March?

What are your plans for April?

On Sunday I ran Kaleo’s 5k in Carmichael, CA. I was really excited for this race because the peak elevation was 50ft. I have been wondering if elevation really does affect performance. Here in Reno, I train and usually race at 5000ft. Max and I made a weekend trip to Sacramento for the race. It was a short, but fun trip. We ate at this awesome restaurant that is unique to the Sacramento area called Brookfield’s. They had the most amazing garlic fries I have ever tasted. I was expecting fries covered in garlic salt, but this were covered with olive oil and actual garlic. Needless to say, I was definitely in need of some Orbit Gum (for that nice clean feeling, no matter what). After dinner we saw Guardians of the Galaxy. AMAZING MOVIE!!! It was funny, action packed, and super cheesy. I loved every second of it.

 

On the day of the race, I woke up and went down to the free breakfast the hotel offered. I was a little bummed because my race morning breakfasts are usually incredibly plain. I opted for a piece of toast and some apple juice. I was bummed because this was one of the awesome hotel free breakfasts with waffles and pancakes, etc. I showed up to the race about 45 mins early in order to get my bib and warm up. I was a good runner and actually warmed up for a full 20mins prior (usually my warm-up consists of about 5 mins of slow running…the end), and I included dynamic stretches and even 4 100m strides. I have a bad habit of judging my competition and while warming up I saw 2 other runners stretching dynamically and running pickups as well. One was a man and the other a woman and they were both super fit looking.

 

At the start line, those 2 runners were lined up right at the front. When the gun went off, I kept repeating to myself, don’t go out too fast. I settled into a comfortable pace for the first maybe .25mi until I glanced at my watch and saw that comfortable pace was 8:47 min/mi. Since I was hoping to PR in the low elevation, I knew that pace wouldn’t cut it. I picked up the pace a little and fell in perfect stride with a man right in front of me. I looked down at my watch again and saw 7:38 min/mi and I thought, what the heck, let’s see how long I could stay with him. I ran the first to miles directly behind him. Right after mile 3 started I noticed he was starting to slow, I was still feeling pretty good, so I passed him and tried to work on catching a man in a bright yellow shirt who was a ways ahead of me. This last mile was tough. I had to do a lot of self-talk to keep myself going at the same pace. With about a quarter mile left, I started closing in on the guy in the yellow shirt, I knew I had less than 2 minutes left of running and thought, I can do anything for 2 minutes. I stepped on the gas and passed him. I kept that final pace all the way to the finish line.

 

I have to say, I was very proud of myself for this race. I really wanted to slow down for most of the race, but I was able to keep going. I do believe if that man that I paced for most of the race wasn’t there, I would have slowed, but I was determined to keep with him. The result? A brand new shiny PR! I dropped exactly one minute off of my last PR. I came in at 23:46 which is 7:39min/mi. I was hoping to come up with an age group award with that time, but there were some pretty fast people in this race. Including the 2 runners I saw warming up earlier. I think they got 1^st and 2^nd overall. The women placed 2^nd overall with a time of 17:XX. Crazy!

 

Official Stats:

Time: 23:46

26/171 overall

10/114 female

7/23 in AG

 

 

As far as my training went for the month of July, not so good, I fell short of my weekly mileage goals every week. It has been very rainy here this month so I had to do a lot of treadmill running, and unfortunately, I can only run on a treadmill for so long before I want to shoot myself. Also, with having class on Saturdays, I am unable to go as far for my long runs as I planned on. Also the class interferes with my Tuesday and Thursday runs. I just haven’t worked out a plan to get all my runs in. I am a little worried about the upcoming 10miler in 2 weeks. I am definitely not as prepared as I should be. I did get a new PR for the mile, 6:37! I never thought I’d see a 6min pace for me in anything. So that’s pretty awesome.

 

Total Miles: 90.8mi

Peak weekly mileage: 7/14/2014-7/20/2014 (28.8mi)

Longest Run: 11.3mi

Average Pace: 10:11 min/mi

Races: 1

Truckee Firecracker Mile – 6:37 - PR

 

Lesson(s) learned

• Sometimes you have to sacrifice in order to stay on schedule
• Juggling work, school, personal life, and running is a lot harder than I thought it’d be

 

Plans for August:

Arrive at the 10 miler injury free and enjoy the race. Don’t stress too much about time. I have no other races I am signed up for, so I would like to return to building a stronger aerobic base for running.

 

Upcoming August Races: 1

Reno 10 Miler – 8/17/2014

Just when I thought I was improving on this blog thing, I mess it up and wait over a month for a new post. Oops! Last month was all about me joining the EFAST run team, which to date I am no longer a part of L. When I first started running with them I thought I was taking a step backwards in my running. Running because more difficult than it was when I first started. My legs were always heavy and tired. My race times were declining, and then suddenly, just like that, everything stopped hurting, my legs felt light as light as air, and I became faster. I am not able to continue with the team because I just started a medical assisting class that is tailored for working professionals. This basically means, the time I used to go running after work, is now the time I spend in class. So, it didn’t make any sense to keep paying for something I wouldn’t be able to do.

My mileage in June was very low. With all of the stiff leg muscles I had going on, I found it hard to complete scheduled runs, and I took more days off than I normally would. This was probably my worst running month in terms of how I felt and mileage in a long time.

 I ran 2 races in June; I plan on doing race recaps for both of them, because in my mind, they both taught me great lessons that would be too long for just one post. In short, the 5k I did on the 29^th, I ended up running a 2^nd loop when we were only supposed to run it once and I dropped out of the 10k I had planned for the 14^th and switched to the 5k.

 

Total Miles: 70.1mi

Peak weekly mileage: 6/16/14-6/22/14 (28.4mi)

Longest Run: 8.3mi

Average Pace: 9:57min/mi

Races: 2

Walk, Jog, Run for Prevention – 6/14 – 26:43

Reno 5000 Race #2 6/29: 31:50 (accidently ran more of the course than I should have, total distance was 3.67mi)

Lesson(s) learned

• Sometimes you have to break your body down completely, and get yourself out of a rut to see true improvement.
• Trust your instincts and pre-course running when it comes to following a race course.
• My body is capable of more than I think it is.

 

Plans for July:

I am running the Reno 10miler in August (the race I DNF last year) and that is my main focus. I just want to be strong and ready for that race. It is going to be very hard juggling full time work, school and running but as long as I prioritize, I know I can do it.

 

Upcoming July Races: 1

Firecracker Mile 7/4 – 6:37 PR!

 

This month I joined a running team (EnduranceFAST) that includes 2 runs per week (I opted for the 1x per week option) and a personalized training plan. It has been a tough month for me in terms of training. My running intensity has gone up since joining the team. We have a speed workout every Monday, and I have progression runs and hill intervals sprinkled in on the other days. This has made for very tired legs for almost every run. They also have me running a lot by time rather than distance. This method is supposed to promote quality over quantity. I have to admit, I am losing a little confidence in my running ability. I used to be able to run at a very easy pace at 10min/mi, but sometimes this month I was struggling to keep my pace under 11min/mi. I spoke with my coach about it, and he has adjusted my schedule to include a base mileage day rather than more intervals. I also don't believe I was recovering correctly. I noticed on the days where I ate immediately after (usually some sort of protien), my legs felt a lot better the next day. I am excited to see if this intesnsity increase will show on race day.

 

Total Miles: 91.0

Peak weekly mileage: 4/28-5/4 (30.9mi)
Longest Run: 10.5mi
Average Pace: 9:44min/mi
Races: 2
Mom’s on the Run 10k 5/11/2014 (53:48) PR!
Biggest Little 5k 5/17/2014 (25:48)

Lesson(s) learned:

• I’m not the “speedster” (McMillian term) that I thought I was. As it turns out, its takes me a while to recover from a speed workout.
• I need to recover correctly after a hard workout to have a better quality workout the next day.

Plans for June:

My main goal is just to stay healthy. I originally said in May that I wanted to increase my weekly mileage, but because I increased my intensity drastically, I don’t want to risk increasing mileage and getting hurt. I have to remember my run teams mantra “quality over quantity”.

Upcoming June Races: 2

Walk, Jog, Run for Prevention 10k - 6/14

Reno 5000 Series Race #2 5k – 6/29

How did your training go in May?

What are your plans for June?

 

I thought it would be a good idea to start a monthly training post where I can reflect on what I’ve done, lessons I can apply to future training, and what I hope to accomplish for the coming month. April was a low month for me as far as mileage goes. I ran my first half marathon and with the taper week, race week and the recovery week, I lost a lot of running time.

I have been trying to focus on running my easy runs easy lately, and I did well at that this month. I just started adding speed work back into my training after an almost year hiatus. Unlike most runners I have met, I am a speed junkie! I love running fast, so I am looking forward to the speed sessions coming up.

Total Miles: 83.6

Peak weekly mileage: 4/21-4/27 (27.4mi)

Longest Run: 13.1mi

Average Pace: 9:43/mi (including races, without races my guess would be about 10:05/mi)

Races: 2

Downtown River Run Half Marathon 4/13/2014 (1:59:48) Automatic PR!

Race to End Domestic Violence 4/19/2014 (26:16)

Lessons learned:

• Racing less than a week after my first half marathon was probably not the best idea. Legs felt great and recovered all week…until I started running.
• For next half marathon, I can run the first half a little less conservatively.
• Hydration really does affect performance.

Plans for May:

This month I just hope to keep increasing my weekly mileage. I am following a new training plan to help me increase safely. I also hope to run more hills this month. I am used to running on flat roads, but I have a hilly race in June that I need to be prepared for. I have one race that I am signed up for in May, the Mom’s on the Run 10k. I have previously only ran one 10k, and I would like to see if I have improved, but I am not putting too much pressure on this race.

How did your training go in April?