St. Luke’s Half Marathon Training: Week One

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Hannah McGoldrick

I don’t usually say this, but I felt blessed this week. Blessed to have begun training for my goal of running a sub-1:45 half marathon. Blessed to feel like my foot is finally starting to heel. Blessed to have had some extremely beautiful weather this past weekend after the horrible winter we’ve been having. And most importantly, blessed to have a boyfriend who’s willing to go to yoga class with me (I swear, it was his idea!). Seriously though, week one went better than I could have expected. My foot is heeling up (knock on wood) and I was able to get in at least one of my workouts. This week I hope to run all five running days and be able to finish my workouts without any foot pain.

Monday, February 17 – IronStrength for 40 minutes

– 3×15 jump squats and 3×10 rotary planks (on each arm)
– 3 sets rows from plank (x10), pushups (x10), situps with weights (x10)
– 3 sets plyometric lunges (x10), alternating sides of hamstring reach (x5 front, side, and rear) in between
– 3 sets mountain climbers (x10), legs down (x10)
– 4 sets of deadlift high pulls (x5), biceps curls on single leg (x5), overhead press on other leg (x5)
– planks (60 secs; side, down, side) x2
– Ring of Fire squats/lunges (10, 8, 6, 4, 2)

Tuesday, February 18- 5.2 miles with 3 miles up-tempo

This was my first official run of training for the St. Luke’s Half Marathon in April. I’m trying to break 1:45 so my race pace will be roughly 8:00/mile. Since I’ve been having some foot issues, I decided to (mostly) forgo my first workout of training which was a HMP run. Instead I opted for 5 miles with 3 up-tempo miles, so not race pace, not tempo, just a little quicker than easy. Foot felt pretty good for most of the run.

Plan: 5 miles with 3 miles at half marathon pace (8:00/mile)
Actual: 5 miles with 3 miles up-tempo (8:32/mile)
– 1-mile warmup @ 9:13/mile
– 3 miles @ 8:32/mile
– 1 mile cool down @ 9:13/mile

Conditions: Indoors on the treadmill at the Energy Center; warm
Shoes: Saucony Mirage 3 (second run in them)

Wednesday, February 19- 10-mile easy spin

Today my training plan had me on tap to run 5 miles, easy, but since my foot is still not 100 percent, I figured I’d opt out of the run and do some riding instead. Foot felt great and I got my heart rate up, which is really the point of easy mileage (and recovery!).

Plan: 5 miles, easy
Actual: 10-mile easy spin

Conditions: Indoors at the EC

Thursday, February 20- Yoga, 60 minutes

Went to my first yoga class at my new gym with my boyfriend (it was his first class ever!). The class was really gentle but it felt good to dedicate some time to stretching out.

Friday, February 21- 5 miles with 3 miles at HMP (8:00/mile)

This was my first workout of the half training and it felt pretty good but still hard (which it should). I ran it on the treadmill because I wanted to make sure I maintained the right pace for the HMP miles.

Plan: 5 miles with 3 miles at half marathon pace (8:00/mile)
Actual: 5.08 miles in 43:40 with 3 miles at 8:00/mile
– Warm-up for 1-mile at 9:13/mile
– 3 miles at 8:00/mile
– Cool down at 9:00/mile

Shoes: Saucony Mirage 3
Conditions: indoors, hot

Saturday, February 22- 5 miles, easy

Went on an easy run with the local running store. Foot was feeling a little achy this morning but I was able to get the run done.

Plan: 5 miles, easy
Actual: 5.3 miles (Garmin didn’t acquire in time but was running around 8:30s)

Shoes: Saucony Mirage 3
Conditions: BEAUTIFUL! Sunny, mid-30s but felt even warmer

Sunday, February 23- 8 miles, long slow distance

First long run of this training cycle, and my first long run in a very long time (like a month), went really well! At first I didn’t feel so good and my foot was bothering me a bit but once I got into my groove I felt great.

Plan: 8 miles, easy (9:18/mile)
Actual: 8.01 miles in 1:10:45 (8:52/mile)
Splits: (1) 9:27 (2) 8:59 (3) 8:56 (4) 8:52 (5) 9:00 (6) 8:50 (7) 8:42 (8) 8:22

Shoes: Asics Gel Flux
Conditions: around 35 degrees with some wind

Week one mileage total: 34 miles

See all weekly training recaps here.

{Monday Motivation} Terrifying and Amazing

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Hannah McGoldrick

Last week my foot was finally feeling good enough to do my first workout of training for the St. Luke’s Half Marathon in April. My plan called for 5 miles with 3 miles at half marathon pace (8:00/mile). While the workout felt hard, I found myself thinking, if all goes to according to plan, in 10 weeks, I will be able to run this fast-for-me pace for 13.1 miles. That’s terrifying and absolutely amazing at the same time. Setting a big goal for yourself, whatever it may be, should be a little mix of terrifying and amazing. If it’s not, dream a little bigger! Happy running this week!

(Source: Pinterest)

{Monday Motivation} I Need to Run

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Hannah McGoldrick

This was totally me this weekend. After the snow caused me to miss my yoga class and I was on self-inflicted rest from running, I couldn’t stand being away from cardio for much longer and I signed up for a gym. I took an entire week off from running last week (I don’t know if I’ve ever done that) and ran my first run (after the week off) on Friday on the treadmill. Running on the reliably flat surface helped with my foot and I actually felt pretty good. My plan was to run Friday, yoga Saturday, and run again on Sunday. But best laid plans have a habit of being ruined this winter and that’s what happened this weekend. So, I caved and registered for a gym. I know I’m not the only runner to be relinquishing themselves to the treadmill this winter but I’d much rather run inside than risk further injury. From here on out until the first flowers bloom this spring, you can find me at the St. Luke’s Human Performance Center (a pretty sweet gym made even sweeter by the discount I got on registration thanks to my boyfriend!).

(Source: Pinterest)

On Being a Stubborn Runner

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Hannah McGoldrick

Today I was editing one of my columnists for Runner’s World and she was writing about a recent flair up of plantar that she noticed last week. She hasn’t run since Wednesday and “instead of pining over lost miles, I turned my attention towards yoga this week.”

I’ve been dealing with a mystery-foot-pain since a run two Saturday’s ago. Since the pain occurred I’ve taken it easy, but I’ve only swapped one of my running days for spin, and maintained my 30-ish mile weeks. Stupid.

I was contemplating going to spin today instead of going for an easy lunch run. Spin would give me the cardio-pumping heartbeat I was craving, but was much less impact than running on icy roads outside. But when the lunch run email went out this morning, I figured, “Why not? I mean, I ran 5 miles last night and felt fine, I should be good to go today too.”

I was wrong. A mile into our run I felt the pain flaring up again on the bottom outside of my left foot. It was clearly compensating my stride so, at the encouragement of my lunch run mates, I turned back.

As I ran (very, very slowly) back to the office, I kept hearing Krsitin’s words in my head. Why didn’t I listen to my gut and opt for spin instead? Why didn’t I give myself a rest day when I woke up this morning and felt the pain again? Why haven’t I seen a doctor in the two weeks since the pain first presented itself?

Answer: I’m stubborn.

I’m stubborn because I hate putting up zeros in my training log. I hate looking back at my log from last year and seeing higher mileage than I’ve been logging lately. I get small panic attacks when I think about how training starts in a little over a week for my big goal race. I worry that days off from running will come at the cost of my fitness. A small part of me worries that not running will cause me to gain weight. An even smaller part of me worries that time off from running will make me forget why I love running.

I know all of this is stupid but sometimes it just feels better to write it down and own up to it. When I read articles (on the website and in the pages of the magazine at which I am employed) and writers ask seasoned elites- what’s one thing you wish you knew about running when you started?- they almost ALWAYS say they wish they took proper recovery time. Or, they wish they recognized the benefit of taking easy days, easy. Or, that putting up a zero for one day might mean being able to put down a PR down the road.

I’ve read all of this. It’s engrained in my memory. But why is it so hard for me to follow? It’s time for me to cut the BS, stop being stupid, and start being smart.

(End rant.)

{Monday Motivation} Don’t Be Afraid

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Hannah McGoldrick

Last week I dealt with my first running injury in a long time- plantar fasciitis. It’s still nagging me but I’m taking good care of it and was able to run with it over the weekend. I still have my sights set on running a sub-1:45 half marathon this spring, I just might have to nurse my foot a little more than expected. Happy running this week!