Days 13 and 14 - Fartlek and Long Run:7 miles!

So don't kill me but I still owe you 3 speeds hills.....whathadhappenwas....well the weather was frightful on Saturday and I just could not make out before the wet snow hit the ground.  Hill training on wet ground was just not happening.  So what I have decided is to do 7 hills on Wednesday instead of the scheduled 4 to make up for my missed 3 hills this week.  I love/hate hills yet really need to get them under my belt.

Fartlek training is basically a speed workout where on a run you decided to break out and run full speed from one point to another and then return back to your normal pace!  Another training run where mileage is not focused on yet your pace. This can be done on the treadmill and I did it for 30 minuted under the option of "speed interval".  On the treadmill under this option you pick your jog speed and your "full blown" speed.  I chose 5.2 as jog which is about 11:30 min/mile and 6.2 as my "full blown speed" which is about a 9:40 min/mile and ran for 30 minutes.  I felt really comfortable at both speeds and felt around 15 minutes within the run that I could go faster on my "full blown" pace and by the end of the run put the pace up from 6.2 to about 7.0 at a 8:30 min/mile.

Today - Sunday - was my long run of 7 miles. I spend the morning however watching at 14 videos that Beyonce put out....for motivation to run of course!  Love Queen Bey and she looked absolutely amazing in her videos.  Her body is to die for so after watching that I was pumped to getting out there and getting by body into shape!

The plan today was to go out 3.5 miles and come back in 3.5 miles totaling 7 miles.  There is a great park about a mile and a half away from my house - Matthew Henson Park - which worked out perfect for my run.  I started out comfortable and planned on picking up the pace gradually through the run.  One great thing about running outside during the winter is that you have run a good pace because if you do slow down, you will get cold. What I have learned on long urns is that downhills our breaks so I regroup on downhills.  Also if I have to walk, I wait for an uphill and speed walk so my heart rate does not go down to much and I stay warm.

So ofcourse my ipod died at mile 4! Time for a new one :) yet I did complete all 7 miles and felt really good and sore.  With a little half of my run done in silence, it made me focus on breathing and cadence of my steps to my breath.  Though I would not chose to run without my music, when it does happen, it allows me to focus harder on my run. 

In tranformation,

Yvonne