We were supposed to run a warm up 10 minutes, than increase our speed every 5 minutes until the last 5 minutes were at 5k pace. Instead I went from my car to the start of our speedwork without warming up and ran the first mile at 8:49 (my 5k pace) the second mile at 8:55, and the third mile at 8:49. So I ran fast the whole time and didn't really pick it up that fast in the end. We were supposed to run for 30 minutes and I really kicked it in the last minute to get to 3.29 miles in 30 minutes (8:57 pace). Not bad but not great. I like seeing that 8 though instead of 9 minute pace. I have a few runners that are close to my pace and we seem to really treat each group run like a race which helps me move faster than I would on my own. I keep looking over my shoulder to see if anyone is trying to pass me.
But now my left chin and right knee hurt because I think I did all that with shoes that were just too worn out for me. I'm trying to decide whether or not to run the 5 miles I'm supposed to run tomorrow before my long run on Saturday. Perhaps I could cut that run short too to let my legs recover (or I could cross train at the gym now that I once again have a membership)! They say 50 minutes of hard biking does the same good for maintaining your cardio endurance as does running the same amount of time. I think I'll try to run, and if my legs hurt at all, I'll go bike at the gym. That way I'll still have the legs to do another 7 miles this Saturday and hopefully beat last weeks time of 66:30.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Improvement
"A not-bad rule of thumb is that half as much year-to-year improvement is the best you can expect. So if you improved 9 minutes for 10K in 2009, improving by another 4.5 minutes would be maximal improvement in 2010.
That's the MAX, not the average. If you can get under 27 for 5K, under
56 for 10K, and under 2:05 for half marathon, you'll have had a great year."
My brother-in-law is a great wealth of training information and has helped me set more realistic speed improvement goals for this upcoming year. Right now I'm training for the half-marathon improvement (which sort of feels like working backwards). Should I just start the year trying to get faster in my 5k, then move on to the longer distances afterwords? Oh well, too late now.
I ran 7 miles at 2:04 half marathon pace yesterday. Now if only I could maintain that pace for 13.1 I would meet the half marathon goal no problem.
My back is hurting which is the first time I've had this problem so I think I might have to go see a chiropractor for an adjustment. Perhaps I am pushing myself too hard lifting kids all day long on one hip and then rushing out the door for a run. Today I'll rest and hopefully get an appointment scheduled with the chiropracter for Monday sometime.
That's the MAX, not the average. If you can get under 27 for 5K, under
56 for 10K, and under 2:05 for half marathon, you'll have had a great year."
My brother-in-law is a great wealth of training information and has helped me set more realistic speed improvement goals for this upcoming year. Right now I'm training for the half-marathon improvement (which sort of feels like working backwards). Should I just start the year trying to get faster in my 5k, then move on to the longer distances afterwords? Oh well, too late now.
I ran 7 miles at 2:04 half marathon pace yesterday. Now if only I could maintain that pace for 13.1 I would meet the half marathon goal no problem.
My back is hurting which is the first time I've had this problem so I think I might have to go see a chiropractor for an adjustment. Perhaps I am pushing myself too hard lifting kids all day long on one hip and then rushing out the door for a run. Today I'll rest and hopefully get an appointment scheduled with the chiropracter for Monday sometime.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Running Away from Questions
I know my life is easy.
I know that I'm spoiled getting to worry about losing weight...not gaining it in order to survive.
With the Haiti earthquake, I'm spoiled sitting here in my comfy house with the time, energy, food, comfort, roof over my head, and Internet in order to type this nonsense about my fitness routine. My selfishness sickens me.
Today I'll go running and pray for my friends the Clays and their many street children they loved and cared for who are in Port Au Prince. I pray they will find food, shelter, and safety. Visit to donate.
I will also be running away from my three-year-old sons questions.
"Why do we live on this ball that wiggles and makes houses fall down?"
"Will our house fall down?"
"Where is Jesus when the houses fall down?"
"When you type on the computer will no more houses fall down?"
"Can the orphans come to our house so that they can have food?"
Good questions son. I can't answer them. All I can say is that I love you and we will do all we can to help the children in Haiti together. And I'll go running to just blow off a fraction of my feelings (which are nothing compared to what Haitians are feeling.
I know that I'm spoiled getting to worry about losing weight...not gaining it in order to survive.
With the Haiti earthquake, I'm spoiled sitting here in my comfy house with the time, energy, food, comfort, roof over my head, and Internet in order to type this nonsense about my fitness routine. My selfishness sickens me.
Today I'll go running and pray for my friends the Clays and their many street children they loved and cared for who are in Port Au Prince. I pray they will find food, shelter, and safety. Visit to donate.
I will also be running away from my three-year-old sons questions.
"Why do we live on this ball that wiggles and makes houses fall down?"
"Will our house fall down?"
"Where is Jesus when the houses fall down?"
"When you type on the computer will no more houses fall down?"
"Can the orphans come to our house so that they can have food?"
Good questions son. I can't answer them. All I can say is that I love you and we will do all we can to help the children in Haiti together. And I'll go running to just blow off a fraction of my feelings (which are nothing compared to what Haitians are feeling.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Training Team for early Spring Half
So I've joined a training team in order to train for the Shamrockin' Half Marathon here in Sacramento. The trainers are a couple who own the running store in town. At the orientations all the questions that were asked were ones I could have answered. I think it left me going...oh...I know how to train myself. But I really signed up for the comraderie and am now trying to recruit my Mom to join me.
This Saturday our first long run as a training group of around 50 people is a 4-6 mile long run. Our trainers want us all to run slow and easy. I think I will run 6 miles as fast as I can! I won't get injured doing this since that distance isn't that long for me. And if I'm going to really train for this Half Marathon I want to train my long runs at the pace I hope to accomplish, which is under 10 minute miles.
I know right now I can already run 7 miles at a 9:20 pace.
If I could maintain that for 13.1 miles that would be a 2:02 half marathon, or a 122 minute. For now I'll just say around 2:10 (which is less than a 10 minute mile).
Therefore, on Saturday long runs, with my training team I plan to run sub 10 minute miles. At least that is my plan.
someday I'd love to run a sub 2 hour half marathon (which would require a sub 9:10 per mile pace). That will be a long range goal. When left to just enjoy a run I like to run 9:30 pace right now. I only push it faster when I'm running a quick 2 miles. I could probably run 2 miles in around 8:40 pace.
Sorry to ramble numbers. But when I have a goal ahead of me I am much more motivated to run. I also need to decide on my pace ahead of time if I want to be growing.
This Saturday our first long run as a training group of around 50 people is a 4-6 mile long run. Our trainers want us all to run slow and easy. I think I will run 6 miles as fast as I can! I won't get injured doing this since that distance isn't that long for me. And if I'm going to really train for this Half Marathon I want to train my long runs at the pace I hope to accomplish, which is under 10 minute miles.
I know right now I can already run 7 miles at a 9:20 pace.
If I could maintain that for 13.1 miles that would be a 2:02 half marathon, or a 122 minute. For now I'll just say around 2:10 (which is less than a 10 minute mile).
Therefore, on Saturday long runs, with my training team I plan to run sub 10 minute miles. At least that is my plan.
someday I'd love to run a sub 2 hour half marathon (which would require a sub 9:10 per mile pace). That will be a long range goal. When left to just enjoy a run I like to run 9:30 pace right now. I only push it faster when I'm running a quick 2 miles. I could probably run 2 miles in around 8:40 pace.
Sorry to ramble numbers. But when I have a goal ahead of me I am much more motivated to run. I also need to decide on my pace ahead of time if I want to be growing.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Relay Results
Hello “Frutchey Clan” team and friends:
We did great this morning running a family team relay in Sacramento freezing weather (it might snow tonight)!
We had lots of fun developing a unique team strategy for finding each other at the relay exchanges (Eddie invented a bird call). We also had a great time cheering on all those fast marathoners, some who were trying to qualify for Boston by running our local marathon (which has lots of down hill).
Meanwhile, together we ran 26.2 miles in a final chip time of 4:31:50!
Our pace was 10:22 per mile.
“Frutchey Clan” finished 55th out of 90 teams in the Family Team Division (in the top 61%).
177th out of 249 Overall Coed teams (71%).
And out of all teams we were 611th out of 910 (67%)
And we beat ALL TEAMS that didn’t even show up for the race at all!
Our handoffs and approximated individual accomplishments were as follows:
Karen ran the first 6 in 78:12 (12:35 per mile)
Eddie then ran from mile 6 to around 13.5 in 63:18 (8:20 per mile)
Sarah then ran from 13.5 to around 20.5 in 67 (9:22 per mile)
Betsey ran the final 5.7 in 61:50 (10:51 per mile)
Thank you for running with me friends and family. If it wasn’t so cold I’d definitely say lets run this one again next year. For now, let’s just defrost and perhaps keep our eyes peeled for other relay opportunities in our area in the future.
We did great this morning running a family team relay in Sacramento freezing weather (it might snow tonight)!
We had lots of fun developing a unique team strategy for finding each other at the relay exchanges (Eddie invented a bird call). We also had a great time cheering on all those fast marathoners, some who were trying to qualify for Boston by running our local marathon (which has lots of down hill).
Meanwhile, together we ran 26.2 miles in a final chip time of 4:31:50!
Our pace was 10:22 per mile.
“Frutchey Clan” finished 55th out of 90 teams in the Family Team Division (in the top 61%).
177th out of 249 Overall Coed teams (71%).
And out of all teams we were 611th out of 910 (67%)
And we beat ALL TEAMS that didn’t even show up for the race at all!
Our handoffs and approximated individual accomplishments were as follows:
Karen ran the first 6 in 78:12 (12:35 per mile)
Eddie then ran from mile 6 to around 13.5 in 63:18 (8:20 per mile)
Sarah then ran from 13.5 to around 20.5 in 67 (9:22 per mile)
Betsey ran the final 5.7 in 61:50 (10:51 per mile)
Thank you for running with me friends and family. If it wasn’t so cold I’d definitely say lets run this one again next year. For now, let’s just defrost and perhaps keep our eyes peeled for other relay opportunities in our area in the future.
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