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May 29, 2007

New PRs, running in Central Park, and gearing up for a half

My mom must think I keeled over in New York City this weekend since my blog has been quiet for far too long. I really need to commit to writing consistently -especially when my running is exciting and fun again! I have no injuries (knock on wood) to report . . . well, a bum toe and the usual aches and pains, but nothing to warrant to full report.

So where do I begin? The past few weeks have been excellent; I have continued to experience several breakthroughs in terms of my training, and even a few PRs! Instead of recapping each week, I'll dish out the highlights.

My mileage has been around 50-52 the past 3 weeks, which is really good for me. I have been a low mileage runner since my feet first kissed the asphalt. I am working with an amazing, amazing coach right now who has taken me from no running in November to 50 miles/week in May . . . it has been a slow and gradual progression, but I have managed to stay fairly healthy and my legs are certainly churning. Our goal is to have a great half marathon race in a few weeks and then grow the mileage into the 60s and top out around 70.

I have had some noteworthy workouts: my favorite was a 5 x 1 mile workout we recently did. The goal was to run 6:15, 6:10, 6:10, 6:05, 6:00 (90 seconds rest in between each mile). I ran 6:17, 6:06 (oops), 6:10, 6:05, and 5:49. The 5:49 was a PR. The next week we did the following workout: 2 x 1 mile, 800, 400, 400 (60 seconds rest in between intervals). 6 x 200. I ran the following: 5:56, 2:55, 83, 85, 5:48 (new PR), 2:56 (ouch), 82, 83. All of my 200s were between 37-38. Yeah - the running goddesses didn't bestow me with any fast twitch muscle fibers. As coach said, "You're definitely not going to win any 200s." He also said that his definition of "fast" is 5 minutes slower than the person he is talking to . . . that's hysterical.

The best workout, though, took place this weekend in Central Park!! I had never been to NYC so I didn't know what to expect. I quickly found out two things: I want to move to NYC, and I love running loops! My coach has family in NYC and he is very familiar with running in the Park so he warned me about the hills . . . and my legs are still feeling the punishing effects of the rolly pollys today. Until I leave Chicago, I tend to forget how flat it is here.

Anyway, on Saturday I ran 2 loops (6 miles a pop) and the goal was to negative split. I ran the first loop in 39:50 and felt really good. The second loop didn't feel as good, but I managed to finish it around 39:14. I woke up Sunday to screaming quads and another 2 loops . . . I was incredibly miserable as I trudged along, but these are the kinds of runs that are going to make me tough. At least, that's what I tell myself when I feel like walking up hills and tossing in the towel.

I took yesterday off, but I am about to head out in an hour to meet a friend for a nice and easy 9 miler through thecity; it's 87 degrees so we definitely won't be setting any records today.

Aside from running, things have been hopping with my new site, Her Active Life. I literally spend my days managing writers, reading, researching, and writing, writing, writing. I am totally living my dream life . . . and I think my running reflects that as well. It's a dream to go to sleep at night and not have 2 million things weighing me down. I definitely feel the pressure with the new site, but the difference is that I love what I am doing right now. School started to stomp on me after a while . . . I am glad to have closed that chapter of my life (for now). Of course, I am always entertaining the next degree . . .

I am "racing" a 5K on Thursday. My workouts indicate that I should sneak under 19:00, but since I am incapable of racing 5Ks, I am not placing any bets. It would be nice to see an 18:xx in front of my name. Ah, dreams.

I'll update again on Friday ;-)

Posted by bridget at 2:41 PM | Comments (2)

May 6, 2007

Insanity, Insanity, Insanity

You probably guessed it by now, but things have been utterly, breath-takingly INSANE lately! This blog post highlights a serious problem that I have: Procrastination. I have a stack of "To-Do" lists glaring at me from across the room - hanging on the refrigerator - that I am choosing to ignore at the moment. I kicked off my day at 4:30AM yesterday and 4:30AM today and I have barely made a dent in my pile. Somehow, writing this post feels rather therapeutic and relaxing. I am not exactly famous for my zen qualities, but I am feeling - in the midst of this madness - a certain kind of zen. Maybe because things are good and the insanity glaring at me from the refrigerator is the good kind of insane.

So here's what's shakin': My MA thesis is due tomorrow by midnight (semi arbitrary deadline, but I'll go with it) and I have another 10-15 pages to write. YIKES. (hear the nervous laughter?). I'll blog about that after I hand it in. I managed to write it on female runners . . . even though I am supposedly getting a degree in English Studies (good to know that English Studies has broadened out so much that one mention of Ernest Hemingway absolves me of not having enough Literature in my project).

I accepted a position as Editor-in-Chief of Her Active Life, a site devoted to women's health and fitness. It is part of The Final Sprint network. I don't even know where to begin, but I am ecstatic about this challenging opportunity! I have always been passionate about women's health and fitness, so it is awesome to finally have a space where I can reach hundreds of women and fuel them with positive information.

Another highlight of the week: I taught my final class of the semester on Friday!! It was a little strange to see three students cry at the end . . . I tend to get close to my students, and these particular students were sad that the semester was drawing to a close. I taught a writing class of 30 college freshman, and I do not have to dock one student's grade for absences. That's odd in college, but I think my students actually enjoyed our class! I know I am going to miss them.

On to running!!

I updated through Tuesday last week. Here is the run-down for the rest of the week:

Wednesday: SPEED. Met up with a fun group. We did the following: 2 mile warm-up, 1 mile hard (6:10), 2 x 800 (2:52, 2:51), 4 x 400 (87, 82, 85, 81 . . . guess which ones were straight into the wind!), 8 x 200 (38-40). 2 mile cool down. I desperately need to work on everything less than 800. I have no speed in these gams.

Thursday: 6 easy. No soreness

Friday: 4.25 easy.

Saturday: 10 miles of hills at sub 7:00 pace on the trails, including 6 hill repeats at the end. NOT FUN.

Sunday: 15.5 at a good pace. I ran most of the second half at 7:00 pace and then finished it up with a 6:40 mile. I felt strong the entire ride.

Week: 52 miles
Smiles and Miles!

Posted by bridget at 2:33 PM | Comments (3)

May 1, 2007

Happy May!

It is absolutely gorgeous in Chicago today. A slight breeze is crawling across Lake Michigan, the flowers are starting to wake up, and everywhere you go, people are smiling! I am cheezy like that: I prefer a world with "shiny, happy people."

My running continues to go extremely well (knock on wood!). I have a tendonitis and ITB flare up on my left leg that concerns me, but I am religiously - for once - icing and nursing it like I should. The odd thing is that I never feel pain while running; I only feel some tweakiness and achiness when I am going up or down stairs or first thing in the morning. I wouldn't call it an injury - just an inconvenience. Of course, I am hyper paranoid when it comes to pain - my mom (who is my most faithful reader) can attest to my injury history. I tend to overcompensate with rest when I am feeling something coming on.

Speaking of my mom, she told me on Sunday that she checks my blog everyday - even when I went months without posting. Hearing that is enough of an incentive to keep the blog posts rolling. She is the foundation of my running life - she watched me run my first marathon - it was really funny because neither one of us knew what the heck we were doing. I was home for the summer before my senior year in college and I decided to run the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend, Indiana. My mom went with me and my twin sister surprised me by driving through hours of traffic just to get there! I told my mom that she could expect to see me at Notre Dame's stadium around 3:40 - the time I needed to qualify for Boston. When I came through in 3:13 she was jumping up and down and telling me to stop so that she could get a picture of me (she didn't have the camera ready)!! It was hilarious :)

Anyway, I won't be stopping in my next attempt . . .

Last week went well: I climbed my mileage to 46.5, and experienced 5 solid days of running. A quick recap:
M: off
T: 6 miles
W: 8 miles - speed workout. 4 x 3/4 mile @ 6:15 pace, 6:11, 6:07, 6:02, and 3x400 (too slow to report!).
TH: off
F: 7.5 miles
S: 10 miles with 6 miles rotating 6:15 and 7:15 pace and then 1 mile of 1 min. hard/ 1 min. easy. I ran my hard miles in 6:12, 6:08, 6:03; the final 1 min. h/e mile was 6:09
Sun: 15 miles

So far this week:
M: off
Today: 7.4 easy (but easy turned out to be 6:54 pace - I think it was a combination of the weather, my rest, and my happiness . . . it freaked me out a little to realize how easy those 6:54s are starting to feel).

As indigo said, it's time to "release the beast."

Smiles and Miles to everyone :-)

Posted by bridget at 12:36 PM | Comments (3)