GHS Swamp Rabbit Half training - Week 8 of 12

Miles run this week: 28.65


Monday - strength & stretch
10k steps before noon
Got into the gym after lunch and started out with a warm-up on the elliptical since I've been cold sitting at my desk in the office all day. Next was some stretching since I could tell my legs were still beat from yesterday's long run. My strength training was a bit random and haphazard due to other people using the equipment, so I just kind of wandered around and did a few sets of lifts here and there for a total of 30 minutes, finishing with some pushups and planks.

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
10k steps before noon - 11:57 when my Fitbit buzzed! ✅
6.24mi @ 8:44/mi
Suuuuper happy with the results of this run! My legs felt heavy and tired when I started out - combination of being on my feet for 4 hours and not getting to bed until after 11pm due to chorus rehearsal last night. It was windy and I decided I wanted to run the hilly route through USC Upstate campus - great idea! /sarcasm
I told myself to just keep it steady, don't push for a certain time or pace, just keep going and the pace will land where it lands. I didn't feel like I was going sub-9, but apparently I was! Huzzah!

Wednesday - XT
bike ride
10k steps before noon
Solo bike ride today, so I decided to tackle the Sherman College loop. It was windy today, but thankfully it was a tail wind on some of the more difficult sections of the ride, which was very lucky! Ended up with a total of 14.4 miles @ 15.3 mph average. Felt great!

Thursday - #speedworkThursday
40-min tempo
10k steps before noon - done!
As I started my warmup today, I realized it was not the ideal day for outdoor speedwork since it was WINDY. Running into the wind was tough, but thankfully my speedwork loop was pretty well sheltered from the stronger breezes, so it was just the warmup that had me struggling. Turns out this was a pretty stellar tempo run!

Dat progression, tho.

Awwww yisssss. Again, in my head this was to be a 9/8:30/8 split with peak at 7:30... and I ended up about :30s faster on every split. Not too shabby, plus a 6:51 for the final push! Heck yes. Really really happy with this run.

Friday - yoga
10k steps  7,500 steps
#yogaFriday #namaste
Nice yoga class, as usual. Good Friday activity.
Saturday - 5m pace
nailed it!
10,000 steps ✅
I had to do this run during lunch break at our all-day chorus rehearsal, so when we were dismissed I hurried to change and get out the door. I was a little hungry, and a little tired, and I knew I'd been struggling to hit my 8:00/mi pace marks in the last few runs I've done, so I had no idea how this run would go. It was also quite windy outside, but nice and chilly & sunny, so mostly really good conditions for running. I set off at what felt like a strong but steady pace and just kept chugging and telling myself to keep it steady, push but not push too hard, and do what I could. I also made sure to not look at my Garmin during the run, other than to check distance markers to know when to turn around (my route was out-and-back). I did happen to glance at my watch at one point when it buzzed for a mile marker, and I saw that I'd clocked a 7:39 pace for that mile. Whoa! So I at least had some hope of meeting my goal paces. Turns out I was a little erratic on my splits (7:30 / 8:00 / 7:52 / 8:14 / 7:44), but the overall result was a 7:55 average pace for the entire run! Really really happy with how this run went.

Sunday - long trail run
13 miles at Pleasant Ridge
30,000+ steps ✅✅✅
This. Was. Hard.
First, I was already tired - between chorus rehearsal all weekend and being out late for my birthday the night before, I knew this run would be challenging. I haven't put in the trail miles that I feel like I should have done for this race (next weekend!) but I do feel like the overall mileage has been decent. This trail run showed me that, yes, I  can do the distance, but it won't be fast and it won't be easy! I ran 3 loops at Pleasant Ridge, doing the shortest possible loop so that I wouldn't go too far beyond my goal of 12-13 miles, which meant taking Sassy's Pass and the paved road instead of the new section of the JFA Trail each time.

Finally spotted #NicolaTheTrailCat

I got progressively slower with each loop (11:20 / 11:43 / 12:10 paces) but didn't notice any significant deterioration of perceived effort, which seems good. I ran with my new hydration pack for the first time, and after stopping a few times to adjust the various straps and clips, I got it to a comfortable position and I'm excited to run with it next weekend. 

GHS Swamp Rabbit Half training - Week 7 of 12

"Whoaaaaa we're (over) halfway there... " 🎵

Miles run this week: 33.3mi (highest weekly total yet!)


Fitbit's got me working on my daily steps. I've decided my daily Fitbit goals are 2-tiered:
Baseline: 10,000 steps daily
Target: complete steps before noon each day

Monday - MLK Holiday
10,000 steps before noon - done (11:39 a.m.)
5.2 mile run
Today is a holiday at work, but daycare is still open. This rare treat happens only 3 times each year (MLK Day, Good Friday, and Christmas Eve observed), so typically Scott and I will take the opportunity to do something active together, either mountain biking or road biking, and then will do something involving beer - exploring some new breweries or visiting some old favorites. Today, however, I was unfortunately interested in neither because
1) I had a challenging mountain bike ride yesterday with the Upstate SORBA ladies, and
2) Saturday night we had a "date night" at home and I over-indulged in some beverages 🍺🍺🍺
Oops.
I waffled around the house for a while this morning trying to get my butt in gear and motivated to do something... anything. Finally I decided to run the Green Valley out-and-back route, a good 5-miler from the house, some nice hills, and a route I don't get to do when I'm stroller running. I told myself I could walk if I wanted to, pace didn't matter... just get out and do it. So I did, and I didn't walk at all! It wasn't a fast run by any stretch (9:45 avg pace) but I'm glad I did it.

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
10,000 steps before noon missed by 15 minutes! 
#10kTuesday run
This was the run I've been missing! Went out with the "just run whatever" plan and ended up with 8:22/mi average pace for the full run. I felt good and steady throughout but enough like I was pushing myself that I knew my pace was pretty good. I joined up with a friend by chance for mile 4 which was a nice distraction, and ran with him until my turn-around point to come back for the final mile. Great run!

Mile Splits (and 0.2 last split) on point!

Wednesday - XT
bike ride w/ Megan
10,000 steps before noon
I can't get over how gorgeous the weather is today! I rode in just shorts and short sleeves and felt great. Megan and I did the USC Upstate loop (which was busy busy due to riding through right at class change - oops!) and then finished with the hill loop. It was tough to do the hill at the end instead of the beginning like usual. Total 10.5 miles at average 14.3 mph.

Thursday - #speedworkThursday
10,000 steps before noon missed by just a little bit again
8x400 @ 5k pace
Man, this was a tough run. I did not fuel properly and speed was harrrddd. I'd originally planned to just slog these out on the dreadmill so that at least I didn't have to put much thought into it (just "don't fall off") but because it was unfathomably gorgeous outside once again (like yesterday but slightly cooler - perfect!) I couldn't pass up running outside. I had to manually press my lap timer for every segment, which required far more brain power and attention than I was wanting to pay to every 10th of a mile. Still, I hit target pace (I consider anything under 7:20 to be "5k pace") for 6 out of 8 intervals, and the other 2 weren't terribly far off. Not pleased with how difficult this run was, but the results are there so I'll take it. Hoping for good stuff at Saturday's 5k race!

Friday - yoga  rest
10,000 steps  7,000 steps
Little Man woke up with a fever, so I stayed home from work with him, hence no yoga. We took a short walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon but it was a nice quiet day.

Saturday - race day
10,000 steps before noon - check!
Greenville News Run Downtown 5k

Sunday - long run
12mi neighborhood stroller run
10,000 steps before noon - check!
I figured this would be a slow run, but man, I didn't anticipate how tired my legs would be from yesterday's race! Still, I was determined to get the miles done. I headed out with D in the stroller right about 9am. We ran from the house because I didn't feel like packing us up in the car and driving 5 minutes away. Plus the Swamp Rabbit trail sounded boring to me today. So, I traded for the convenience and difficulty of running in the neighborhood - it's hilly! We went up and down side streets and did loops around and around, climbing a total of 1,700ft throughout the 11.75 miles. It was hard and we walked a lot of the uphills, but felt good to get the mileage in. Woohoo!

Race Report: Greenville News Run Downtown 5k

I love this race - it's a perfect way to start off the year, always a popular race but not so crowded that it isn't fun. You get lots of enthusiastic people out there who are starting the year off on the right foot with their first 5k, which is always exciting to see. The swag (long sleeved tech shirts) is always high quality and our Corporate Shield team typically has a strong showing. 

Most of the Milliken team, pre-race

It was a cool (mid-50s) and misty/cloudy morning, which is nothing like typical weather for this race. It's usually in the 20s and everyone is freezing! I ran in shorts and a tank top and was comfortable at the end of the race.

I started out with a ~1.5 mile warm-up jog around downtown with a few striders thrown in to warm up the legs. I felt good, but probably warmed up too early (I had 30 mins between when I finished warming up and when the race started).

Ready at the starting line!

This course, overall, is pretty darn flat. The entire thing oscillates within about 100ft of elevation, with a total gain of 148ft from start to finish. Don't let that fool you into thinking it's easy, though! 

Mile 1: 7:13 (the "up" mile) - started off feeling good, but very hard to settle into a pace when you know everyone around you is sprinting out of the gate. The very slow and gradual uphill really takes its toll by the time you reach the top, and I was definitely feeling it! I told myself to keep going though, because some nice downhill was coming.

Mile 2: 7:10 (the "down" mile) - turn the corner off of Pendleton Street and then you're into some nice residential neighborhood roads. It's almost all downhill and a great relief after the first mile. I had to hold back the pace and control my stride during the downhills - easy to try to go too fast and end up pounding your legs too hard if the stride gets sloppy.

Mile 3: 7:23 (up then down) - By the time you get down to Broad Street, you have a tough little kick back up to Main Street. It's a bit of a relief and a bit of a kick in the gut - by that point I was tired and pushing the pace was hard. 

Final 0.1: 0:41 (5:49/mi!) - The sprint to the finish on this race is, thankfully, downhill. However, after pushing it the rest of the course I found I had very little left in the tank to sprint to the finish... or so I thought! I guess I had a little juice left somewhere. 

Results:

Oh, hello 3rd place Age Group finish!! WHAT! I only just found that out when I looked up my results at home. Heck yes, that is exciting!

So yeah, sub-23 was my goal and I'm quite pleased to have nailed it... the AG finish was the icing on the cake. 

GHS Swamp Rabbit Half training - Week 6 of 12

Miles run this week: 21.6
Plus, I actually finally registered for the GHS Swamp Rabbit Half (i.e. my goal race for this training cycle... derp).

Monday - home workout
stroller walk 1.8 mi
P90X Ab Ripper
strength routine
Starting off the week with a challenge: daycare is closed due to icy roads, so I'm at home, working, with a toddler... and I'm supposed to get in a workout? Yep, we make things work.
Took D out in the stroller (bundled up 'cuz it's in the 20s) for a neighborhood walk. He lasted almost 2 miles before he started to fuss - it was his naptime anyway, so we hustled back to the house and got him into the crib. Once he was asleep, I headed to the basement for a little workout routine. First did P90X Ab Ripper DVD for some good core strengthening, then did some bodyweight and light dumbbells exercises (3 sets of everything)
10x curls
10x reverse fly
10x jump squats
-----
10x pushups
20x jumping jacks
10x side arm raise
-----
10x walking lunges
10x chest fly
10x OH lat pull
-----
20x high knees
20x butt-kickers

Not too shabby for just making do at home! Just goes to show... when you want it, you make it work.

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
6.22mi w/ 3mi @ race pace (-ish)
Daycare was open today (yay!) so Scott and I were both at work. I headed outside for 10k Tuesday around 11, was met with bright sunshine and cold air with little to no breeze. Perrrrfect. Planned on 2mi warmup / 3mi race pace / 1.2mi cooldown.

Splits were off... but they got faster as I went, so... win?

Still can't seem to hit my 8-min/mi splits quite right or consistently, but these didn't feel quite as hard as last week's (also too fast). I'll chalk it up to a nice #10kTuesday and leave it at that.

Wednesday - XT
bike ride with Megan, 7.6 miles
Megan and I went out for a road ride through the USC Upstate loop. It was chilly, cloudy, and roads were quite wet, but it was a nice ride! I had to head back in early due to a meeting scheduled immediately after lunch (grrr), so only got a short ride in, but it was a nice 7.6 miles at average 13mph.

Thursday - #speedworkThursday
40 min tempo
An abnormally gorgeous day outside, so headed out on my standard tempo route. Warmed up with 1.5 miles at easy pace, then did 3 segments at gradually increasing paces, peak for a minute or two, then easy for a nice cooldown to round out the 40 minutes.

Appears that I was about :30 off of my target paces (in my head) for my 3 gradual increase segments... I was hoping to do 9/8:30/8 but for some reason I have a really hard time hitting an 8:30 pace. Grr! Still, it was a nice progression and the peak was on the right target pace. More work to do, but overall happy with the workout.

Friday - yoga
#yogaFriday
Did the lunchtime yoga class at work, as usual was a nice relaxing stretch session.

Saturday - long trail run
13 11 miles at Paris Mountain
Had 13 miles on the training plan for this weekend's long run, but since I have done zero long runs on trails, I gave myself a break when I pooped out after 11 miles. I started at the bottom ranger station parking lot at Paris Mountain right around 8:30am. I woke up tired after being stuffed up all night - it's weird, I'll feel fine throughout the day, but at night I get all kinds of stuffed up and end up mouth-breathing all night. It's been happening for like a week now! Ugh. Does not make for restful sleep.

Anyway...

Headed out on the Mountain Creek trail towards the climb up Sulphur Springs. I had to take several walk breaks during the climb but made it and felt ok. Continued up towards Firetower & Kanuga trails, then around the far side of North Lake.

Crossroads

North Lake with Paris Mountain in the background on a misty cool morning

It was about 50-55F with a slight fog/mist in the air. Very quiet and peaceful. I wish I'd felt better physically and more "into" the run, because it was really a beautiful morning. After a quick snack break on the other side of the lake, I continued on Pipsissewa and Brissy Ridge - Pipsissewa is probably the most technically challenging part of this entire run due to the large rocks on the trail. Again, several walk breaks were taken. Finally I started heading back down on Sulphur Springs and by the time my watch buzzed at 10 miles, I knew I was not going to make 13. I finished out the run and got back to the car just as I hit 11 miles and decided to call it good enough. Whew.

A couple little hills. Maybe I don't feel so bad about cutting the run short!

Sunday - Upstate SORBA Ladies' Ride
13.5 miles mountain biking in Pisgah
So, this morning started off rough for multiple reasons and I wasn't sure I was going to make it to this ride that I'd been looking forward to for weeks, but I was determined to make it so I put on my big girl panties and headed up to North Carolina this morning for the ladies' group ride organized by Upstate SORBA. We met at the North Mills River campground and started off with a hell of a climb up gravel roads - about 1000 feet over ~5ish miles of near constant uphill. Yeah, that was the first hour of the day. Woof.

While we were taking a break at one crossroads, there was a group of guys also taking a break and waiting for one of their friends. Look closely at the guy in the bright yellow helmet... that's retired professional cyclist George Hincapie out for a ride on the trails. Celebrity sighting!!

After all of the climbing at the beginning we got to do some fun downhill sections. The first was quite rocky and some slanty ("off-camber") roots which got me a little shaky, but after that section I was fine and was able to enjoy the other two big downhill sections. Overall total of 13.5 miles with 1600ft of elevation gain. Felt pretty good at the end, but definitely tired!

GHS Swamp Rabbit Half training - Week 5 of 12

Miles Run this week: 31.9mi (first 30+ week!)

Monday - New Year holiday
Run
Got the day off from work today for the New Year holiday, but unfortunately it was pretty rainy most of the day. Didn't have any specific plans for today's run, but knew I needed to get out since I didn't yesterday. Scott took D out in the bike trailer so I could get in a non-stroller run. Would have liked to trail run but with the recent rain everything was pretty muddy. I took the opportunity to run an out-and-back through Green Valley. Felt good to do some hills and took it at an easy pace. Total 5.25 miles.

Tuesday - #10kTuesday

Plan: 2mi warmup, 3mi race pace (8:00/mi), 1.2mi cooldown

Since I didn't get my 3 mile race pace run on Sunday, I figured I could work it into today's 10k Tuesday run. It's coolish (50) and misty rain out, which turned out to be perrrrrrfect running weather. Warmed up with a couple of easy miles, then cranked up the pace for 3 miles with a target pace of 8:00/mi. Finished out the 10k with an easy cooldown.

Woohoo!

Sooooo yeah... pretty pleased with the "race pace" splits there! A little overeager, and no wonder it felt hard to hold that pace.

Wednesday - XT
bike ride
Finally got back on the bike for a lunch time ride! Thanks to Megan for suggesting we start lunch rides again. She and I did the Upstate Loop, 10.5 miles at average 13.8mph. It was windy which made the ride tough but felt great to get out on the road bike.

Thursday - #speedworkThursday
7 x 400 intervals
This run went exactly as planned! Hit the treadmill early to avoid the January gym crowd. Warmed up with a 9:20 mile, then kicked into the intervals. Pretty simple quarter mile speed / quarter mile recovery alternating.
3x intervals at 6:30/mi
2x intervals at 6:45/mi
2x intervals at 7:00/mi
Finished with a nice three-quarter mile cooldown at 9:20. Total of 5 miles covered and feeling good and strong! Mandy Moore helped me through the final bit of the run...

Friday - yoga

Sometimes I don't really feel like going to yoga - I'd rather just power through the rest of my work day and get stuff done before the weekend. But then I finally convince myself to go, and it feels so much better. #namaste  

Now let's see how much snow we actually get this weekend... (and how badly it's going to screw up my training plans).

Saturday - long run
Typically my training plan has long runs on Sundays, but given the weather situation, I figured I'd go ahead and knock out my 12-miler at the first opportunity. I headed out Saturday right after lunch and the sun had just really started shining about 11am. Most of the road snow had melted, but some spots that didn't get any sun were still icy. I ran from home over to the Swamp Rabbit trail, took a loop through Furman's campus, and then headed home.

On the Swamp Rabbit Trail

The Furman belltower with beautiful snow-covered Paris Mountain in the background

As fast as my 11-miler was last weekend, I was surprised how difficult this run was. Maybe it was due to having to pay extra attention to my footsteps in the ice, or maybe it was just running at a different time of day (afternoon instead of morning). Who knows, but by the end, I was pooped!

Sunday - recovery run

Was supposed to be a race pace run, but didn't have it in me to do 8-min miles on icy roads. Instead, I took a short 3-mi trot out in the neighborhood to check on some road conditions for Scott before he headed out on his bicycle. 

Still icy!

Legs were still tired from Saturday's efforts, so I took the opportunity when I got back to do a bit of rolling on the leg muscles (while sitting by the fire - very nice!).

My training buddy helped with the rolling. 

Overall, everything this week went pretty much as planned... trying to not get discouraged that my effort on the 12-miler felt hard and slow. Being my first week above 30 miles, I'm sure it's just a bit of adaptation to the added training volume. Here's to another week to come!

GHS Swamp Rabbit Half Marathon Training - Week 4 of 12

Miles run this week: 26.1

Training Plan vs. Actual

Monday - Xmas Holiday
10mi bike ride + 1mi run 
#RWRunStreak day 33/39 
Scott and I biked with D in the trailer down to the Upstate Craft Beer Co. First Anniversary celebration. My parents drove our car down so we didn't have to ride back as there was rain in the forecast. Just 10 miles on the Swamp Rabbit Trail at a casual pace.
 
Tuesday – #10kTuesday
#RWRunStreak Day 34/39 
Outside today in the oddly warm (~60F) weather. It was cloudy with a slight breeze which made it nice to run in just shorts and a t-shirt. Weird though. I also wore my new Fitbit Flex 2 for the first time and hit 10k steps right around mile 6, which was exciting. I've missed step tracking, even though it drives Scott batty. ;) Didn't have a goal pace for today, ended up with 8:45/mi average moving pace. Pretty pleased with that, especially since I was feeling crappy (feverish, sore throat) yesterday afternoon and evening. I tried to force myself to take it slow on the first mile (9:38) and then let myself run free the rest of the time (8:40, 8:36, 8:29, 8:53, 8:27) - shockingly consistent.

Wednesday – Vacation Day 
Mountain Bike at Dupont + trail run 
#RWRunStreak day 35/39 
Scott and I took our last vacation day of 2016 and went mountain biking at DuPont State Forest. We rode a lovely 18 mile loop with almost 2,000 ft of elevation gain. After we finished that portion of the ride, Scott split off to do some more miles while I did a couple miles running on the trails to maintain my #RWRunStreak. Legs were definitely tired by that point!

Thursday – #speedworkThursday
35 minute Tempo 
#RWRunStreak day 36/39 
I'd planned to run on the treadmill today due to forecast of rain and cold, but turned out to be warm and sunny, so I took the tempo run outside. My plan was to do ~1mi warmup, tempo progression at 9:00/8:30/8:00 pace, peak with a couple minutes at 7:30, then cooldown.
Actual breakdown of splits:

Looks like I was trying a bit too hard to hold back on the first couple of splits so I missed the mark there, but still happy that I ended up with a nice progression of pace. My peak split was almost right on! I'm hoping I can keep honing my personal pace perception.

Friday - strength
2mi easy treadmill run for #RWRunStreak day 37/39
Strength training
Hopped on the treadmill for a warm-up and did 2 miles at an easy 9/mi pace. Followed up with strength training, mostly bodyweight exercises (core, pushups, pullups) plus some kettlebell swings.

Saturday - Group Run 
Plan: 11 miles - check!
#RWRunStreak day 38/39
Met up with Tom & Debby at Tandem Creperie for an 11-mile out-and-back on the Swamp Rabbit before joining up with others for brunch. We had a ~9ish pace in mind but just ran what was comfortable. Turns out our "comfortable" was a good bit quicker than 9! All but one split was sub-9, and even the one that wasn't was a 9:02. Overall average moving pace was 8:38. Super way to end the year of 2016 running!

Happy group for brunch!

Sunday - trail run rest
#RWRunStreak day 39/39 - crap!
Plan for a nice trail run at Bent Creek was foiled by a pukey baby. We were about 10 minutes out from the house when D started throwing up allllll of his breakfast in the backseat. So we U-turned and high-tailed it home to hose down the carseat and give poor guy a bath. He seemed completely fine once we got him cleaned up, but our window between rain showers looked like it had passed so we had to forego the stop at Bent Creek on our way to spend the afternoon in Western NC. I'd forgotten that the #RWRunStreak included New Year's Day, so it looks like I missed the streak by one (the FINAL) day. Womp womp. The rest day was good, though, given the effort of the faster-than-planned long run the day before.

Introduction

I'm a runner, a cyclist, a triathlete, as well as a mom, a wife, and a full-time professional. This blog serves as a chronicle of my training and various athletic pursuits. I used to post here but have transitioned over to this blog. Enjoy!