Week 10 Wrap-Up and Week 11 Catch-Up

Week 10 ended unfortunately on Saturday with my last post regarding my fartlek 45 minute run.  I did not run the scheduled 7 miles on Sunday.... no excuses.....I just didn't and well...just one of those days.

So Week 11 started of with President's Day - Monday and scheduled to do 3 miles.  I got to gym though and decided to do a boot camp class instead of 3 miles.  In about 2 weeks my Monday 3 mile training runs will change to cross training where you don't run and instead cross train  and do any other activity besides running. I guess I am a little ahead of the game I guess and I craved to do something else and the boot camp class was a great 60min workout which left me pretty sore!

Week 11: Tuesday - 5 miles did not happen as the day completely slipped by me with work and I was just really dragging ...and still sore from boot camp on Monday.

Week 11: Wednesday - 6 miles did happen! Though officially it was a makeup for missing Tuesday's workout! I ended doing 6 miles instead of the scheduled 5 miles as having pretty much 2 rest days in a row, though sore did allow me enough strength to do so.  I did it on the treadmill and it served as  sort of a recovery run to get my legs back into running mode.

   
Week 11: Thursday - 12x200 did happen! This was actually Wednesday's training workout and turned out being 3.17 miles. 3 sets of 200 meters in mile 1 and 4 sets of 200 meters in miles 2 and 3 with last 200 meters in the bit over 3 miles. Was happy to get to push pace to 7:30min/mile on my last 200 meter and was able to sustain well. 


So no rest on Friday as will be doing Thursday's scheduled 3 mile run.....constant battle to consistency :)

In transformation,

Yvonne                     

Week 10: Saturday - 45 Minute Fartlek

So my 45 minute fartlek training run transpired to a 5.43 mile run on the treadmill and a great calorie burn! Feeling strong I decided to toggle between comfortable jog and full blow out speed every 2 minutes with full blow spped lasting 30 seconds.  When your going about 7 min/mile pace; every second feels like a mile yet the 2 minute recovery feels great and I was ready to break out into speed mode well after recovery.
So I went between a 8 and 7 min/mile for my speed part of my run and 10min/mile for recovery.  Felt really good with the speed and happy to accomplish the 45 minutes of running.
In transformation,
Yvonne

Week 10: Friday - 7x400

So 400 meters is .25 on treadmill. I did seven 400 meters within 3.5 miles with recovery ever other 400 meters. Stamina is building up and my body is getting better at going from comfortable run to full blown speed and back to comfortable run. For the last two 400 meter aessions I cranked jp the spped to an 8 min/mile and was able to sustain such seped for the entire time.  Running legs sre comeing back and runn8ng posture is getting better.

This training reminds me a lot about what it takes to run a marathon. You have to be able to dig deep when you don't want to and gear up to make it through whatever obstacle come up during the race. You also have to be patient and know when to push it and when to enjoy the ride.

Training for the marathon is great physcially, yet it also a great mental workout to start devloping strategy that I will use on marathon day!

In transformation,

Yvonne

Week 10: Tuesday - Rest; Wednesday - 4 Miles; Thursday - Snow Day

Tuesday was a whirlwind day it went by so fast that my 4 miles for the day did not manifest and I would be making up this workout unfortunately. So Wednesday I did 4 miles on treadmill a little over 10min/mile. Was comfortable at the higher speed thaan I have done before nd lookinf forward to pushing the pace down some more on next long run.

Today, Thursday I planned on doing the scheduled 7x400(.25 distance on treadmill) yet snow storm put about 8 inches of snow on ground and closed my gym....sooooo will do this training tomorrow during lunch and thinking of running Thursday's 3 miles at gym after work. It been a while since I have done a "2aday" workout where I workout twice in one day yet it makes for a great hard day workout and good shock to system.

5k race in New York in 2 weeks....getting psyched!

In transformation,

Yvonne

Week 10: Monday - 3 Miles

Got on treadmill and felt ready to go! Had to as I had such a great recovery weekend I guess....Anyways, felt really good on the hamster wheel and pushed out 3 miles under 30 minutes again. Afterwards I did bicep curls and bicep extensions as now will incorporate weight training after my short runs!

Week 9: Recap of Remainder of Week

Week 9: Wednesday - Rest
So after my 6 mile hike (run) on Tuesday my body was in shutdown mode.  Though I was mentally ready to do 200 meter (.12) sprints on treadmill, I just could not physically take myself there.  Therefore I "shifted" and decided to do them on Thursday and do my "Thursday's 3 miles" on Friday!

Week 9: Thursday - 10x200
So I started I believe at a 8:30 min/mile for up to 6 repeats of 200 meters on the treadmill.  I then I had to stop for a bit and continue up again.  I love repeats and you get better and better as  you go along.  For the last 4 repeats I believe I sprinted at about an 8 min/mile pace and for the last one at a 7:30 min/mile pace. Oh, in between I would go down to about 9:30 min/mile jog in between needing about 400 meters or .25 distance to recover.

Week 9: Friday 3 Miles
I was completely fried when Friday rolled around and I was due to do 3 miles.  I got on treadmill and my vigor that I had for my repeats the day before was just not there.  Though I completed the  3 miles, it was not pretty and managed a 12:30 min/mile average.....

Week 9's weekend called for rest on Saturday and 8K race pace on Sunday - Rest I did do yet Sunday was another rest day as it was just not happening ..... one of those weekends...upside I did spend time with Hubby and baby :) and got in some needed recovery time for a body that is still in transformation :) 

In Transformation,

Yvonne

Week 9: Tuesday - 6 Miles

I completed 6 miles during lunch at an average pace of 10:30 min/mile. With nearly a minute added to my pace from Sunday's long run; the culprit was the course of this run had much more hills. I have run this course before (my work day course) yet only up to mile 5. The 1 mile after was pretty much a steep hill going further into DC and then turning around to bacically climb up a mile long hill.

I started out great and enjoyed the ride going down from about mile 2.25 to 3 knowing that I would have to climb coming back up. I did need to take a couple of walking breaks one I turned to go back but once I got off the hill I was able to regain momentum and finish the run!

In Transformation,

Yvonne

Week 9: Monday - 3 Miles

I completed my 3 miles on the treamill yesterday. I left my phone at work so could not take a snapshot yet I finished in 36 minutes; 12 min/mile. My body was sore form the long run on Sunday yet I needed to complete to flush my muscles out (lactic acid).

Today I feel great and look forward to tackling my 6 miles! Though my body was sluggish yesterday it's worth it as I see the benfits of being consistent taking place - getting faster and reducing my pace yet also getting more comfortable with my stride and breathing patterns.

Each workout piggybacks on the next and I need to realize the importance of staying "in line". I look forward to the benefits of continuing to see my pace decrease and stamina increase for longer mileage runs.

In transformation,

Yvonne

Week 8: Sunday - 8 miles

Usually like to get long runs out of the way early mornings yet with still trying to figure out how to get out in the mornings consistemtly with a new born, the afternoons will have to do.

The schedule called for 8 miles yet to my surprise I ended up doing 9.5 miles. The weaather was gorgeous and maybe that had something to with it. I had a route in mind and told myself I would not look at my mileage until I ran a certain amount of time on my route. After an hour I had ran 6 miles. I was surprised because I felt I was running a bit slower yet I believe I was just really consitent with my pace I(yesterday's tempo run helped). The next time I looked at ipod I had run 9.5 miles!

Running is becoming more and more fluid and I feel confident to push my pace lower and give a little more for Week 9 by shooting for 9:15 to 9:22 min/mile om my 3 mile run and lower that 9:30 min/mile average on my runs this week.

In tranformation,

Yvonne

Week 8: Saturday - 40 Minute Tempo

First, I did catch up my with my 5 miles yesterday (Friday) and ran outdoors.  It was a great sunny brisk day and the 5 miles went by well. I was able to complete the 5 miles  at 9:36 min/mile!.  My pace is improving and I am feeling more confident with mileage between 3 and 5 miles.

Today called for a 40 minute tempo run.  I decided to of course warm up and ran at 9:30min/mile pace.  What was great was that at about 30 minutes into the run, I was able to bring down the pace to 9:22min/mile and complete the 40 minute run.

It was definitely hard to get out this morning to head to gym and run - I realized that consistency starts with the motivation to do! I knew I would completely hate myself if I did not and had to "make up".  Being able to stay on schedule definitely feels a lot better and I am looking forward to continuing.

In Transformation,

Yvonne 

	Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running. Sarah Condor, runner and author

Sarah Condor, runner and author