Happy Monday and New Year’s Eve everyone! To me there’s nothing better than New Year’s because it’s a fresh start and a time to look back on the year you had and what you can do to improve in the upcoming year. I’ll do a resolutions post later on this week when I actually nail them down but I want to hear yours! What promise are you making to yourself in 2013 and how will you stick to it? Whatever your resolution is for 2013, I wish you a strong, happy and transformative new year!
I have a confession to make- I’m too comfortable with running comfortably, especially in a race. I’m trying to change this and in 2013 I will change this. I’m a pretty competitive person but since I only started running a year ago racing is totally new ground for me. However, slowly but surely I’m starting to get faster during my training runs and I’m trying to translate that speed to racing.
My problem is I get kind of lazy. I know, a race is about the last place you want to get lazy but I hold back when I know I have more to push. I make excuses like, “well, I’m not really ‘racing’ this race,” or “well, I don’t want to get hurt so I’ll just stay at this comfortable pace.” I think I make these excuses because I’ve always been more concerned with finishing a distance than the time my Garmin reads.
However, now that my paces during my “easy” runs are consistently sub-9:00/miles I know when it comes time to race, I have the energy and endurance to push that pace even harder. I like to call it, learning how to run uncomfortably and part of that lesson is realizing races are much different than training runs. You’re supposed to pace yourself but push yourself too. You’re not supposed to be able to talk. You’re supposed to hurt a little bit because you’re working you butt off to get a good time.
In an effort to learn how to push myself, I’ve been trying to do at least one speed workout a week, whether it be intervals or a tempo. A few of my speedy coworkers asked me to come to mid-week intervals with them one week. Scared, and extremely nervous, I conceded and thought I’ll just do my own thing and if I can’t finish it so be it. Well when I got there I thought to myself, oh no, if I’m going to do this I’m going to do the whole damn thing just like everyone else- and you know what? I did!
This workout was HARD. I started off with a 2-mile warm up at an easy pace just to get the blood flowing. Then, our coach, Budd Coats, had us do a workout that would break the heart of any slowpoke like myself. We did the following:
200m, 400m, 600m, 200m, 200m, 400m, 600m
What. Yes, that happened.
But you know what? I lived and my pace was a solid 7:24 for the entire thing! So a few weeks after that I decided to push myself and see what I was really made of. I had promised Michele, of NYC Running Mama dot com, I would participate in her virtual Race for Recovery 5-K. What better time to test my new speedy legs than a race where no one’s watching? Well it worked and I busted out a 24:14 3.1 miles! A 5-K PR by almost three whole minutes! I was dead at the end but felt amazing! I finally learned how to really push it even when my lungs, legs and mind were trying to get the best of me.
But, as always, it’s important to remember not to push yourself beyond your limits- because we all have limits. While my fast may not be the same as another runner’s fast, it’s fast for me and for now, I’m just trying to find my limits.
This has been quite the crazy week for me between traveling back to Massachusetts for the holidays to coming back to Pennsylvania for work the day after Christmas, to a snowstorm, to some iffy but successful treadmill runs- I’ve been all over the place! But, lucky for you, I still managed to find some pretty cool running things on the interweb. So, here they are- my Friday Faves!
Run happy this weekend y’all!
Winter running (outdoors) is for the truly dedicated runner. This is the runner who leaves the house wearing shorts, a long-sleeve tech shirt, gloves, ear warmers and compression socks when it’s 32 degrees out. Or, the runner who opts to get in a few miles on Christmas Day before the family stops by. This is not to say runners who opt to head indoors for treadmill runs aren’t dedicated- they’re probably smart. They’re smart because sometimes running outdoors in the winter can be dangerous and if you’re not careful, slipping on ice or falling into a snow bank can lead to a sidelining injury that’ll keep you on the couch for the rest of the season- and nobody wants that!
(via Pinterest)
So, besides wearing the right clothes, bundling up and making sure you have all the right reflective gear, watch wear you step and don’t forget to stretch! Running in the snow can help to strengthen muscles in the legs and feet but can also lead to overuse injuries. Some common winter running injuries include hamstring strains, Achilles pain or Achilles tendonitis, lower back pain, runner’s knee and ITB syndrome. Injuries often occur during the winter because it takes a lot longer for you to warm up during a winter run but it also takes a lot less time to cool down so post-run stretching is vital to avoiding tight muscles and cramping.
One effective way to avoid tight muscles during the winter months is through sports massage. The Áhsi’ Day Spa in upstate New York offers special sports massage sessions for runners but they also suggest you do at-home self-massages before and after your winter runs.
“Massage is essential for runners to prevent injury,” said a representative of the spa. “Whether you engage in self-massage or professional massage, it is essential to use massage for a successful training during the winter months.”
Here are three tips from Áhsi’ Spa for at-home sports massages for runners:
Training went really well this week! I’m feeling really strong (knock on wood) and I keep on surprising myself with how awesome my paces are. I haven’t seen a pace in the upper 9’s or 10’s in weeks and what’s even better is I’m feeling more comfortable at paces in the upper 8’s (which means I can really go even faster!). Here’s a rundown of my runs this week:
Monday– I had to cover a story after work so instead of going to bootcamp I did 35 minutes of Detox Flow Yoga from Lululemon’s YouTube channel. I also did some planks and ab exercises after because I’ve been slacking in that department.
Tuesday– 5.2 miles, 46 minutes, 8:50/mile pace
Wednesday– 5.5 miles, 44 minutes, 8:00/mile pace (I ran with some of my faster co-workers and this was definitely a workout but it was great!)
Thursday– 2.94 miles, 24:58 minutes, 8:27/mile pace
Friday– Rest day and travel back to Massachusetts for Christmas!
Saturday– 4.5 miles, 40 minutes, 8:50/mile pace
Sunday– 10 miles! 1 hour 33 minutes, 9:18/mile pace
My long run this week (10 miles) was my longest run since my half-marathon in September and I felt extremely good! It was a really cold and very windy run but I still had a pretty good pace with the entire 10. I didn’t stop to walk at all and ran up the hills without any problems. I’m feeling good about the half coming up in January! Happy running!
This week in Friday Faves:
I wrote a story this week for Runner’s World about Doug Masiuk, a type 1 diabetic who is about to complete the ultimate running trek- across the United States. Doug is running to raise awareness of the rise of type 2 diabetes in the U.S. and to inspire type 1 diabetics. Check out the story here: Type 1 Diabetic Running Across the Country via Runner’s World.
I feel like I’ve been training since the day I started running, which was not too long ago. I took my first running steps last February when I decided to start a Couch-to-5K program. Now, I’m getting ready to run my second half-marathon, less than a year later.
I say I feel like I’ve been training since I started running because I really have. I began the Couch-to-5K program with the intention of training for my first 5-K. Before I even toed the starting line of my goal race, I was registered for a four miler on the Fourth of July. Then, about a week after finishing that race I registered for my first half-marathon in September.
It wasn’t until after my half, when I decided I needed to cool off a bit, that I felt lost. I did some 5-Ks but I craved the longer distances. In November, as winter started to set in, I decided I’d come up with a new goal of training for a sub-50 minute 10-K. Up until that point, all of my running goals had been based on distance so I figured, in an effort to get faster and bring purpose back to my runs, I’d set a new goal.
My sub-50 10-K training was going really well and before I knew it my average paces were dropping from the familiar and comfortable 9:50/10:00 per mile to 8-minute miles. I was getting faster and I liked it but then I was presented with the opportunity to run the Disney Half-Marathon.
It didn’t take much coaxing from my co-workers to get me to register with the Runner’s World Challenge but I was still a little hesitant because I would only have six weeks to train and my longest run since my half-marathon in September barely broke 7 miles.
But I registered anyways and started to increase my long run mileage on the weekends and my midweek mileage runs went from 3 miles to 5 miles. Last weekend, I did a 9-mile long run and surprised myself with paces around 8:40/8:50 per mile! I couldn’t believe it because when I was training for my first half-marathon all of my times were in the 10-minute mile range.
I’m not trying to say I’m some gifted runner, because I’m not, I’m a very average runner and I still have a lot to learn. But it’s amazing what a new goal, in my case the sub-50 10-K, can do to you. I’m so looking forward to the Disney Half-Marathon and can’t wait to meet the rest of the Challengers to hear their stories!
(via Pinterest)
I have been really slacking on writing my weekly running round-ups lately. There are a few reasons for this: 1. I’m extremely busy with work; 2. This is a really busy time of the year in general; and, 3. I’m not sure how helpful they are to you guys, my readers.
The reason I started my blog was to document my experience with a Couch-to-5-K program last February/March. I wanted to use my blog mostly as a training log. As I finished the program and came up with new running goals I thought I’d continue doing round-ups of my training runs throughout the week. It also helps me to stay consistent with my writing but when I’m super busy with work, I kind of forget to do them.
But, after asking some fellow blogger friends, many of them said, write what you want to write, your blog is for you, and if it’s helpful to you then do it! So I’m going to continue doing it but I’m going to go about it a little differently. Instead of breaking down my workouts and runs each day I’m just going to do bullet points with distance, time and pace. If you’d like a more comprehensive description of follow me on Daily Mile where I usually go a little more in-depth with my run breakdowns.
Phew, glad I got that out of the way. And now, here are last week’s workouts:
Monday- 45 minutes of Men’s Health Delta Fit bootcamp at the Rodale gym. Involved lifting, squats and plyometrics.
Tuesday- Easy mileage day, 5 miles, 47:50, average pace of 9:33
Wednesday- Intervals with coach, 5 miles total, 37:00, average pace 7:24 (woah!)
– 2 mile warm-up
– 200m, 400m, 600m, 200m, 200m, 400m, 600m
– ½ mile cool down
Thursday- 3 miles (semi-faster), 25:58, average pace of 8:39
Friday- REST!
Saturday- Long run, 9 miles, 1:24, average pace of 9:20
Sunday- was supposed to do a shakeout and it didn’t happen, oh well
Overall it was a really solid week of training. I hope everyone else had a great week!
I spend a lot of time on the Internet during the week- hence, being a multimedia editor – and I tend to come across some pretty cool, weird and awesome things, especially related to running (because I work at the running mecca). I’ve decided I’m going to share these things with y’all every Friday with my Friday Faves. This is by no means an original idea, tons of bloggers do it, but now you can add mine to the list. But, mine will be a little different in that it’s not going to be just about running, but rather things that made me laugh, things I found interesting or just things that I find random and awesome and want you to know about. So, to kick off my inaugural Friday Faves, here ya go!
Happy Friday y’all! I hope you run strong on your long runs and have a great rest of your weekend!
If you have some extra time don’t forget to connect with me on social media!
Facebook: facebook.com/FitGirlHappyGirl
Twitter: @FitHappyGirl
Instagram: hannahmcgold
Pinterest: pinterest.com/hannahmcgold
Fit Girl. Happy Girl. 