Month: May 2011

One of the DetermiNation coaches scored our team a FREE 30-minute BodyPump class every Thursday night until a week before the race. It starts next week, so that’s 6 free classes! I’m excited!!

All I know about BodyPump is the little bit I’ve skimmed on The Wikipedia. Anyone tried it? Loved it? Hated it?

No yoga tonight because Aaron’s dad and stepmom are in town from Kennewick. We had dinner with them and Aaron’s stepsisters/their families (big group!). I had a salad and DELICIOUS gnocchi.

One of the sisters is pregnant and will find out the sex of her baby in June. Here’s what Aaron suggested for names:

“If it’s a boy, name it Aaron. If it’s a girl, name it Erin with an E. And if it’s a llama? Jeff.”

I ran my first speed lap (400 m/0.25 mi) at a 7:30 pace tonight. Jigga whaaaat?

It felt AMAZING to run that fast. I was tearin’ up that track! Sadly I couldn’t hit that pace for the other four speed laps.

I did the rest at about 8:30, and the last one at 9:00 or so (with a slow 200 m recovery between each lap), then did seven more laps for total of 4 miles in 38 minutes.

Oh, man. LOVE track nights with the team. Next time I’ll try to do a lap at 7:00. Vomit pace!

Tonight, I:

• did Jillian Michaels’ 40-minute No More Trouble Zones strength DVD — sweating bullets!
• ate a healthy dinner — roasted carrots (so yummy), two eggs, slice of whole-wheat bread w/almond butter
• paid all the bills — I manage this for my two roommates; always makes me feel like a grown-up
• created a Facebook event for the wine-and-dessert potluck I’m gonna host for my birthdayyy!

I’ll be ready to eat, drink and be merry after running my birthday 15K on May 21!

Speedwork at the track with the DetermiNation team tomorrow night. Hope it doesn’t rain!

I’m simultaneously flattered that you think I’m qualified to give this advice and embarrassed to admit that I don’t think I am! If you’re running 8 miles at a 9:00 pace, you’re wayyy faster than me right now… but you asked, so I’ll give it a shot.

I ran my fastest race at an 8:32 pace (to achieve my 5K PR of 26:25 – recap), and I still can’t believe I ran 3.1 miles that fast. I had a tough time getting below a 9-minute mile before that. I got there by following a Hal Higdon 5K training plan that included tempo runs and speed intervals, and I think the speed intervals worked wonders.

I did them on the treadmill so I could easily keep track of my pace. I would do an easy 0.5 mile warmup run, then run “fast” for 0.25 miles, recover at an easy pace for 0.25 miles, and go back and forth for however many intervals the training plan called for. (The distances on a track would be an 800m warmup, then 400m fast/400m easy.)

“Fast” was whatever felt a little uncomfortable to me. I’d go a little faster during each interval and try to do my last one at a speed at which I thought I might throw up (rock ‘n’ roll!). As the weeks went on, I noticed that my “easy warmup” pace had gotten faster, as did my “fast” interval paces. I became fitter and faster without really noticing it. I think I started here:

Easy pace: 10:30
Fast pace: 9:00
Vomit pace: 8:30

And ended up around here:

Easy pace: 10:00
Fast pace: 8:30
Vomit pace: 8:00

(I have no idea where I am right now. I’m doing speedwork at the track tomorrow, so I will dutifully find my vomit pace and report it afterward.)

I also think rest days and easy runs are important. Don’t try to run fast every day or your body will be worn out and only want to go more slowly. I find that I run fastest after taking two complete days off from running. My body gets antsy and just wants to go, go, go after that! But listen to your own body and all that; everyone’s different.

For some great advice from someone who is actually fast, check out this post about improving speed by roadto26pointtwo. She just killed her FIRST MARATHON in 3:44 after losing 80 pounds. So, yeah. You can direct further questions to her : )