Workouts this week 8/21-8/27

Monday: Off
I set my alarm to go run before work. I was tired and that didn't happen. I got up and decided I wasn't up to running. My legs were tight and I knew I had a really busy day ahead of me.

My university hosted an eclipse viewing party in the football stadium. I'd say about 30,000 people showed up. There was a lot of walking and it was super hot.

Tuesday: Easy miles

My legs were even tighter Tuesday (I walked around a lot Monday for a work event). I didn't want to do speed workout on tight hamstrings so I did four easy miles. And that seemed to be what my legs needed—something to loosen them up.

The last quarter mile, I took off my shoes and ran barefoot in the grass. It was exactly what I needed. And why don't I do this more often? Seriously, I need a grass striders workout in my routine.

Wednesday: speed work
I did the Tuesday speed work on Wednesday on the indoor track in the air conditioning. The track was really busy at times and I had to do a lot of weaving. I only yelled "track" twice. The worst was for a guy and a girl walking on the outside lane, with no way to pass. I yelled track and she didn't move. Headphones.

Today's workout was 800s. And I made an effort to start slower and build to faster. I was shooting for 3:50, 3:45 and then 3:40s (5k pace)

3:49, 3:42, 3:36, 3:35, 3:34, 3:26

I was feeling like I was back to my speed from two months ago, so I looked at my previous 800s workouts. It was faster than my May 2 workout, my June 13 workout (in 90 degree weather), and my Aug. 1 workout that was so hard. (This workout felt a ton easier than that one.) I was 17 seconds slower than then 5 800s I did June 27. All of those were from 3:27-3:33, but I deliberately did my first two today slower. So I feel like I'm back or almost back to speed.

Thursday: Medium run

I ran 5.5 miles today after work. I waited until 7 p.m. and the temperature was down closer to low 80s. I ran five miles of trails at a super easy pace, 9-10 minute miles, and then did the last half mile running barefoot laps around a grassy field. So I got my miles in. I was in a pretty bad mood before the run and maybe in a slightly better mood afterward?

And I'm never hungry after these hot runs. I had a popsicle. But I had to make myself eat dinner. (Soup and broccoli. I really wanted Indian food.)

Friday: Glow yoga

I went to  glow yoga today. I think I fell out of every pose. Warrior three. Fall. Flipped dog. Fall. Half moon. Fall.

I guess this was my off day. It's OKAY. It happens.

Saturday: Long run

Pretty sure the camera is covered in sweat.
I love that this trail goes UNDER the highway.

Saturdays are for long runs. I headed to Cook's trail. We saw the UGA cross country team when we got there. (I got Matt out of bed, since I don't like to run this trail alone). I run into the team a lot. Bot gardens, Sandy Creek park. I wonder where else they run. Maybe I should ask!

My plan for the run was 8.5 easy miles. Matt said why not run 10? I've never run 10 before. I told him we'd see how I felt. I told Matt to lead (I hate leading), but he said he was farting from eating a burrito bowl so I should go first. (Karma because it was MY burrito bowl) So I ran the trail. 9:32 for the first mile, 8:52 which was a bit fast for the second mile, which must be pretty flat and a lot of boardwalk. 9:15 and then I died on the hilly fourth mile and had to walk some. I got to the halfway point, drank water and headed back. I stopped to put my headphones in one ear, and that took a few too many seconds because my legs were close to locking up. Oops.

I ran back and on  mile 6 I was dead. My legs were heavy. I started tripping on everything. Ugh. I asked Matt to lead and he did. And that was a little better.  (Matt said I was doing fine, but I was in pain mentally and physically). I walked a few steps and carried on. I walked a few more steps in mile 8. When I got back to the trail head, I took a short break and then did the last half mile (and that felt a ton better after a break.) All in all, I did 8.5 miles in 1 hour and 22, which is a pretty long time to keep moving. (Matt finished up at 8 and didn't do the 10.)

We had to be at lunch across town at 11:30, so I didn't have time to stretch. We hurried home. I showered, dried and straighten my hair and was ready with 5 minutes to spare. So I rolled my legs some.

But my legs were super sore for the rest of the day. I was too tired to go to the pool. My legs didn't hurt like that last time. Ugh.

Sunday: short tempo run

Stretching after Sunday's run

I needed to run 1.6 miles to make mileage for the week today. So I decided to do this at 5k pace (since most of my miles have been easy this week). So I think a goal 5k would be about 7:20 pace. So the plan was to do 12 laps on the indoor track in 11 minutes. (7:20 + 3:40).  55 seconds a lap.

My first lap was a few seconds too fast, but I had my pacing dead on. Half a mile was 3:39 and one mile was 7:20 exactly, then I had four more laps left. In the middle of lap 10, my Garmin came to tell me I'd run one mile in 8:40 (WHY can't it track right in an indoor track!?!) and that messed me up royally because the watch reset the time it was showing for the second mile, so it was showing 40 seconds or .05 mile. I scrolled to the right and I couldn't find total time anywhere. And at that point I was so confused about what lap I was on. I think I had two laps left. I got to the end of the lap after the malfunction and just stopped. I paused the watch and it showed me total time 10:09. I had to run the last lap in 51 seconds (and that meant I had one lap left). I busted out the lap and finished in 10:54.7. I think I could do that for a 5k in a few weeks. It felt easy. I wasn't too tired.

I was annoyed at my Garmin. Where is just the straight stop watch function? Should I have hit other? If I was going to do the indoor run I should have hit lap after mile 1, but I truly didn't know it wouldn't show me elapsed time anywhere. Ugh.

I had planned to go swimming today. But I got to the locker room and didn't feel like swimming by myself. So I went home. Another day, I guess.

And I usually do yoga or weights on Sunday. I skipped today and stayed home. I made some gazpacho and super hero muffins.

Workouts this week: 5 runs, 1 yoga
Miles this week: 24.2

Workouts this week: 8/14-8/20

8/14 Morning run
I ran 3.5 miles before work. And I even had time to go home and shower and then go to work. (Though I didn't stretch afterwards, oops).

8/15 Speed work: Not as planned

The plan was to do speed work at the track. The track was supposed to reopen Aug. 1. No construction project is ever complete on time, and the track—while it looks done—wasn't open today.  It was locked.

The coach had a backup plan as 400s on the sidewalk. I did a half mile warmup and my shin started to feel tight. I didn't think I could do 10 400s on concrete (without aggravating an injury I thought was healed), so I headed to do 400s at the IM Fields, where the ground is softer. (The indoor track would be a nightmare. The first week of school it's super busy with people who don't know how to use a track, and you'll run into someone). I marked a .25 mile route (from the tree to a pile of large sticks) and did it 10 times.

It was hot. Too hot. My times were not what they should be. Two of the routes I just gave up on and were slower than 10k pace. I was breathing so hard and sweating buckets.

1:45, 1:44, 1:45, 1:50, 1:44, 1:51, 1:47, 1:58 :(, 1:51 and 🐢 2:00. (I should have done nine too Sally and Matt!)

So I got a few good reps in. Two were junk. The humidity was just awful. It was apparently 90 degrees and 66% humidity. I swear it felt worse than 100% humidity. And near the lake, it was even worse.

Wednesday: Off
I was really tired today. Took it off. Walked the dog and went to bed early.

Thursday: Morning run: 5 miles

I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m., did the pet chores, warmed up and stretched and was out the door at 6 a.m. for a run. I'm trying to avoid the heat, so I decided to run before work. It was REALLY dark.

Running on the road is fine when it's dark, but I was worried about my shins, so I ran around some fields (wearing my water proof shoes) and then I got on trails when there was more light. I think I rolled my ankle three times in the first two miles (once on the road, once in the grass). And I don't think it was uneven surfaces. It was just my ankle? One time was REALLY bad (this was actually on a trail, but a flat part). I saw stars. I kept running on it and it was fine (guess those ligaments are flexible and strong). I was wearing a hat light running. I saw a few other runners—none of them wearing a light (I DID NOT UNDERSTAND THAT) and I saw two teams practicing on the fields in the darkness. They were doing jumping jacks and other exercises.

My alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. I wondered who was calling me at that hour. Then I realized it was my weekday alarm. That's when I normally get up. It took me a few seconds to turn it off (to figure out how. The alarm wasn't even showing on the screen.)

This was a really slow run. I would have liked it a hair faster, but I couldn't. I was tired. It was a recovery run and I wasn't running fast because it was still dark. Though during the 50+ minutes I was running, it went from pitch black, to pre-dawn, to sunrise to light outside.

45 minutes of pilates
There's a free faculty and staff pilates class that's offered at work at noon. I can rarely ever make it, but I did today. (And of course, I had three lunch time errands to run, but I planned to go so I did) and I think I really needed some low impact core work.

Friday: Glow yoga
I went to glow in the dark yoga with my sister. It was fun.

Saturday: Long run 8 miles

Today was the first time I've run eight miles in TWO MONTHS. (I didn't realize it had been that long. I took most of July off and just didn't get long runs in at the end of June.)

We got up early and headed out to Cook's trail. It's four miles from the Nature Center to the water fountain at Sandy Creek Park, and then I turned around and my silly Garmin said it was .15 miles shorter to come back so I had to run some extra length.

I kept the run really slow and easy. My heat rate really climbed when running hills so I walked for a few seconds just to get my heart rate down. I also took the monitor off during mile 6. It was driving me crazy. But it still tracked after that—how weird.

Overall, a nice trail run. I'd love to run this trail more (but it can get quite muddy).

We also went to the pool in the afternoon. I swam a few more laps than last time. Matt played on the diving board after he was done.

Sunday: Yoga, making miles
Went to yoga today. I should preface this with—I was in a weird/bad mood this morning.

I show up to yoga, and I just felt really out of place. Like I didn't belong. And in yoga, this rarely happens for me.

The class was OKAY. I REALLY HATE yoga classes with singing Oms. Yuck. And this class begins and ends like this. I DON'T WANT TO SING.

Also the instructor, who is really nice and seems like a fun person, smudged some wood at the end of class. The smoke made my throat really itchy. I have asthma. I didn't have an asthma attack but I didn't like it. I'm thinking this isn't the yoga studio for me. (NO SINGING)

Run
My goal was 22 miles this week. I had run 20.8 so I needed to run 1 and change miles today.

In the afternoon I went to the indoor track. (Also, I saw an almost accident where a car pulled out in front of another car—didn't even look. And then on two separate occasions people walked out in front of my car. I'll stop, but you could wait for a gap in the traffic.)

I did a walking warmup and then ran .25 miles, stretched. My goal was a mile at goal 5k pace. (I haven't run this pace in awhile.) So I think my GOAL 5k pace is 7:20. I ran a 7:15, which was a little fast and don't think I could have done that for 3 (did a long run yesterday). Then i decided to keep at that pace, and ran another half mile (which I hadn't planned on) and ran that at 7:38 pace. I cooled down with .25 miles at 8 minute miles, and that was my short speed workout.

Workouts this week: 5 runs, 2 yoga classes, one pilates class, one swim
Miles this week: 22.8

Workouts this week: Aug. 6-13

Monday: Morning run

I'm making a habit of early Monday runs. Ran 3 before work. Because we past the solstice, the days are now getting shorter. I had about 10 minutes less sun on this run than last week. I used a hat clip light for the first mile or so. It was a little dark and nice to have.

Tuesday: Speedwork
The workout today was 1600,1200,800,400. Down the ladder.

And I felt decent. It was a much better speed workout than last week. I feel like I'm close to back.

My times were:
1600 7:09, 1200: 5:27, 800: 3:34, 400: 1:28 (Also this track is a little long (pacing is 7:09, 7:05 pacing, 7:06 pacing 5:47 pacing)

And I've done this workout a few times now so I wanted to compare to previous efforts

June 20 (inside, in AC—not sure if this is comparable since today was gross. 94% humidity and it felt gross)
6:55, 5:06, 3:22, 1:26. Mile cool down. 3.5 miles

May 30
7:11, 5:18, 3:20, 1:22

It's interesting to see the times. I think I'm almost back to normal. I was really TIRED today from a rough day at work. I was shooting for 7:20 to 7:25 mile time and I ran the first mile too fast and got tired for the 1200 and 800. A solid effort. I'll be back to speedy in no time.

Wednesday: OFF
Took today off and walked the dog and took a nap.

Thursday 5 miles of trails

My legs were REALLY TIGHT so I wanted a slow run to loosen up my legs. I ran 5 miles of trails at recovery pace. Matt tagged along with me. I ran by college marching band practicing. Apparently, they're playing Bieber this year.

My legs were still tight after the run. Oh well.

Friday: swimming 

Did 30 minutes of swimming at the pool. I'm still bad. I still have no endurance. I tried.

Saturday: Long run

7 miles of trails today. I would have loved to run somewhere different but it's been really rainy lately so Cook's Trail and Sandy Creek would both be mud pits. So usual trails it is. I got a running partner for the last mile, which was nice. I thought she was a college student, but she said her name was Isabelle and that she was on the Clarke Central cross country team.

Also black light yoga. Should do a separate post on that one.

Sunday: Run + yoga

My goal was 20 miles this week. I'd run 19 miles so I had ONE mile to run today. I got up and ran at about 7:30 a.m.

This 7:23 was A LOT harder than it should have been. (Also my first road mile in a month. It was fine).

And I went to a bottle rocket yoga class. It was harder than I anticipated. The first 10 minutes were crazy and I was wondering when it was going to be over. Sweaty. Athletic. Learned a transition that I need to work on. Also did my wheel. It's next to the tree room. A giant tree is growing through the floor of this warehouse and miraculously still leafy and green.

Workouts this week: 5 runs, 1 swimming, two yoga classes
Days run: 5
Miles this week: 20
Miles this year: 600

Workouts this week: July 31-Aug. 6

Monday: Morning run
I ran 3.27 miles before work. I got up at 5:30 and after chores I started running at the trails at 6:36 a.m. It was 63 degrees! (That's why I got up early to run) It was an easy-ish run. 8:50 pace.

I felt great (unlike Saturday's disaster of a run.)

I ran at the trails and then showered at the gym across the street. On my way from the parking deck to the gym, I saw a tiny bird stuck in the parking deck. A guy stopped to help me get the bird out of the deck and back into nature. Poor bird.

Tuesday, Aug. 1 Speed work at the track
This was my first speed workout in almost a month. I didn't go last week because I was still achy. I wasn't 100%, but I decided to go to at least TRY to see if I could run today. A bad run is better than NO RUN some times.

My plan was to walk a mile as my warmup. We didn't get there in time. I walked three laps and ran one lap. And stretched for about three minutes. (I should have stretched more.) The workout was 800 repeats. Five with an optional sixth. In 84 degree heat. But at least the humidity was tolerable.

Splits: (The track is a little long)
3:38 (7:04 pace)
3:42 (7:18 pace)
3:41 (7:14 pace)
3:49 (7:23 pace)

And after that fourth one I was done. It wasn't my legs (though my leg did get TIGHT on the last 800). It was my fitness. It was breathing and fatigue. This run was SO HARD. It was hard because I haven't run fast in a while, because I was tired. I needed rest. I felt like I was going to barf. My stomach was in knots.

I walked a lap while the others ran the fifth rep. And then I did a 400 instead of an 800 for my last one. (1:38)

And maybe I pushed myself too hard, because I was DONE after that run. I went home and had nothing left.

The workout went better than I thought. I thought it was going to be 8 minute mile pace. I was faster. (It felt awful though.) About the same as I ran at the beginning of May/ a little faster than a June workout in 90 degree heat.)  I'm glad I have some speed left. I think I'll get my fitness back in a few weeks. So, all in all, a good workout. I wasn't too achey after it. (But why do I do this to myself?)

I did work a little on my running form. I run too vertical. It's not efficient. I need to pick my feet up less. I kick my leg up to about 90 when I run. My Garmin's noticed it and the coach commented on it today. I tried to run more efficient. I didn't lose any in my cadence. I forgot when I was tired.

Aug. 2 Off
Took today as an off day. I walked the dog. Not sure where all of my time went. I spent about 30 minutes trying to loosen up my tight shin with heat, electronic massage, rolling and self massage.

Aug. 3 run
Ran 5 miles of trails today. I almost tripped over a log. I tripped and thought I was going to fall on my face, but by some miracle (my abs?) I saved it and stayed upright.

Aug. 4: Swim
I tried swimming today! Going to do a separate blog post on that. It was more fun than I thought and I was quickly out of breath.

Aug. 5 longish run
Trying to get back to 8-9 mile long runs. I ran 6.6 miles today and it felt easy and so much better than last week.

Also, a group for the ropes course blocked in my car. So I had to wait 20 minutes while they drank their coffee. I was sweaty and gross in my sports bra. I used the time to stretch. And then wait, and wait. Oh well.

Aug. 6: Yoga
Sunday I went to yoga at the running store. The class was the most full I've ever seen it. Maybe 12 people? It was crowded. And I always forget the class is 90 minutes. I wish it were 60, but think it's 75, and then it takes an hour and a half. (Sundays are my busy days.)

It was good to see some of my running friends though.

Workouts this week: 4 runs, 1 swim, 1 yoga
Miles this week: 17.5

What my Garmin says

My Garmin has some fancy features on it. Sometimes I use them.

I don't really wear my heart rate monitor very much. 

I wore it on Saturday's run. 

It said I was reaching too hard and not to do this kind of run too often. (It's a long run. Isn't that the point?) 

Today I concentrated on running efficiently. I tend to pick my feet up too much. Garmin says I have WAY too much vertical oscillation and my vertical ratio is crap. I did manage to get my ratio to 10.9% (from 12.2%) and my oscillation from 11.4 down to 11.1 centimeters. I used my hips more in running like this.

I think that goal is 7.5-8.6% for vertical ratio and 8.2-9.7 for oscillation. 

Also, at some point this week, Garmin updated my pace predictor. What!? I would LOVE to run those times. I hope Garmin is right, but I'm having trouble finding THE RACE (right temperature, day, not too hilly etc.) I found a relatively flat race, but it's too soon. Won't be ready for it. :(