End of Spring Update

This year, I have cross trained, cross trained, and cross trained some more. I have done weights, an at home Combat program, yoga, cardio classes, and now a leg/ butt specific program.

Have I ran? A little bit. I still try to get a couple runs in a week. I'm not specifically training for a race, nut I'm training to make my legs stronger. After my knee issues, I wanted to focus on getting stronger so I can run without a brace of some sort again. I want to run faster and better without feeling like an old lady.

Have I seen progress? Yes. On my runs, I often have to hold back because I'm afraid my of reinjury. Most of all, my average pace is 10mm, which used to be my fastest ever. I often see 9:15-9:30 paces on my Polar tracking.

I've even done another 5k recently, mainly on trails. My finish time was the same as my last 5k in 2012.

The best result: awesome looking legs that are stronger than before.

Have you ever focused on strengthening instead of just running? What were your results?

Post No-Race Blues

Yesterday was a major race day, not only here in DFW with the Cowtown, but the Disney Princess Half was yesterday as well as many other races like the New Orleans Rock 'n' Roll. My Facebook newsfeed has been full of expo pics, meet ups, pre-during, and after race pics since Friday, and my heart breaks. I should be racing again. I know the face that I am currently not racing is my decision, but that pang is still there as I see a majority of the people I know racing and loving it.

I haven't talked much about it, but as you can tell from my almost regular weekly posts, I'm only running an average of 10 miles per week. I decided I would use the winter to focus on strengthening in order to run better. My knee is doing better all the time, but I still have the fear of pushing it too far.

I've been using the new Combat program from Beachbody since January 2 to get overall body strength. My arms, back, and core are getting a major difference, but my hips are getting stronger too, which makes a huge difference in my running and the pressure on my knee. I'm glad it's working. The 60 day program ends next week, so we'll see how amping up my runs go in a a couple of weeks.

Have you ever taken some time off running to build strength or specific conditioning? What did you decided to do, and how did you handle the "racer's jealousy"?

The Tempo Run that Clicked

Even as a fairly avid runner, I never got into the whole "tempo" run or speed work or all these different types of runs. Until last night, that is. I have the Running Moms Rock 5K this Saturday, and last night was my last hard run before the race. Some say to keep my training schedule, but I've learned I need very fresh and rested legs before a race. Therefore, I wanted to make this run count, just as I was running the race already. I aimed for an 11:30 pace. It was realistic and doable, yet still shaving a minimum of 1:30 minutes off my regular, recent pace.

As I set out to run, I checked my mp3 player to glance at the time (8:02 p.m.). I also set my stopwatch on my phone and took off. I just ran. Actually I ran my usual 3+ miler course in reverse, and I know I'll be doing it again. But I meander off point. I knew I was running a faster pace, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to run consistently and beat a 45 minute time. Around the first mile marker, I checked my clock...only 11 minutes passed since my first step. Seeing that added wings to my feet. I kept my pace steady, enjoying the weather, even though humid, and the 'new route'. Just chugged away with only one 20-second stop to retie my shoe.

Soon enough, I realized I was approximately half a mile from my house. I ached to look at the clock, but I refused. One step after another, wind at my neck, sweat dripping down my face and back, loud rock music filling my ears, just running. If you ever read about any of my runs before, I end my runs uphill, yes, up an excruciating hill I do not even like to drive up. I looked at my clock (8:32 p.m.) and started to get discouraged. Ugh, almost 40 minutes, I felt faster than that. I decided I could still shoot for a PR. I sprinted up that hill like I was scrambling from zombies and crashed through my front door.

I checked my time. 8:34 p.m. Wait, that's 32:00 minutes. WHAT?!?!?! I swore I was pushing 40 minutes. Apparently, I looked at my clock wrong or can't do basic math functions while running and tried to make the worst better. I ended up making a PR on my 3.02 mile route at my college-age pace of 10:35 per mile. That means it's been 12, nearly 13, years since I've ran under a 11 minute mile. To top it off, I shaved 3:25 minutes off my pace! I'm so excited I'm still jumping out of my skin. I wish I could tell you what I did to improve so much: hydration, eating enough, weather, you name it. I can't. Everything just clicked for that particular run; it all fell in place, one step at a time.