This would be my third season of running. It's been a little over two years since my very first race in April of 2012 at Black Earth. I've actually raced a lot less this year. A year ago, by the beginning of August, I had already ran 12 races. This year, only 3.
It was hard to find local, affordable, yet chipped races in Southern California. But here in Madison, there are an abundance of them. Knowing a couple of regular runners and racers in Madison certainly makes a difference in the number of races I enter. It's the social knowledge of which races are worth entering and which ones are not.
Running of the Swiss 5k
After the LA Marathon in the beginning of March, I've significantly reduced the number of miles. I've kept running, but rather than running hard and pushing for longer and longer distances, I've just gotten on the treadmill with the goal of enjoying my run. I hovered at about 3-6 miles maybe twice a week for a couple of months. When I got back to Madison late May, I had plans to get back into the swing of races, and I thought the Running of the Swiss 5k in New Glarus would be perfect.
I wasn't expecting to set any records, but I wasn't quite expecting how difficult a time I would have with this race. The lush greenness of Wisconsin was not treating my throat and lungs well. About a mile in, those floating particles of pollen had found their way into my throat and into a cough that forced me to stop and walk. About 2 minutes later, I started jogging again, keeping it nice and light so I wouldn't be breathing too hard.
In the end I finished 28:35. I was ecstatic. I was hoping for a 28:35 but I had given up any hope of that once I started walking. I kind of couldn't believe that I managed that even with walking for 2 minutes in the middle there.
Following this race, I signed for a couple of races for the fall. I thought there would be a few more races I'd run, but the next race was the Movin' Shoes 5k that happened last night.
Movin' Shoes Full Moon 5k
I ran this race last year, and it is definitely my favorite 5k despite the hill at the end. It's a chipped finish, small field, gorgeous views of Monona Bay and the Capitol on the course, and friendly, friendly people. There's also a pretty nice prize raffle at the end.
Though my running had still been very spotty throughout June and July (at best 12 miles/week), I started ramping up the miles in the last week or so because of the half marathon next Saturday. I did 10 miles this past Sunday and it felt good. Throughout June and July, I had gone on some bike rides and been doing A LOT of yoga. I knew that the 5k should be under 30 minutes, but nearly all of my running had been on the treadmill and every runner warns about how non-equivalent the two are. Moreover, I'm currently carrying about 5 lbs more than I was last year.
Last night, I set a PR by over a minute with a 25:18. That's an 8:09/mile pace which I'm ecstatic about. I like to measure my running by comparing with what I was capable of doing when I was 15. At 15, I couldn't go sub-8:00 on one mile for the life of me. The first mile of my 5k last night was 7:50, 16:02 at mile 2. So much for trying to not go out too fast.
This leads me to speculate. I've ran less all year than I have last year and I'm 5lbs heavier than I was last year. I shouldn't be setting 5k PRs. The only thing that I can point to that I've really done differently is more biking and A LOT more yoga.
I started a regular yoga practice last summer, and pretty quickly I noticed the benefits. Yoga was keeping me strong even if my mileage wasn't quite up to par. Less miles logged in training, but setting a PR nonetheless at Quad Cities Half Marathon. What took me a bit longer to notice was that yoga got rid of my hip pain. My hips had started bothering me after some long runs, especially if I didn't sleep in the exact right way after. These days, I don't feel it anymore.
It's not yoga specifically that helps with my running, but I believe instead the strength training and the stretching. I may be carrying more weight, but I'd like to think that the extra weight is due to muscle gain.
I'm still expecting a 2:10 half marathon next Saturday. One thing I learned at Quad Cities last year is that while strength training may keep my muscles moving to the end, it doesn't help with the cardiovascular training I need to keep the same pace past mile 10.
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Marathon training and failing (again)
Okay, so I kind of dropped off on blogging about running mostly because after the Haunted Hustle, I stopped running races. I had signed up for the Turkey Trot and had plans to run the Berbee Derby, but I ended up not doing either.
Wisconsin is having a really really cold winter. What has this done for my marathon training? Well, it's pretty terrible. When the days get shorter and the weather colder, finding the motivation to put on running shoes and run outside is pretty impossible. But when the days start to get longer in the spring, training is a thrill. My training has not been off to a very good start, though not necessarily a bad one either.
Last spring, when training for a marathon in May, I had stopped running altogether that winter. I was barely able to do 5 miles when I started up again at the end of January. Two weeks later, I ran a 5k race that was cold and rough. It was one of my slowest 5k. By mid-March, however, I was able to pull out a half marathon PR. But training sucked. I vowed that the next marathon training schedule would go better. Problem is, marathon training is time consuming and such a long process. It's hard to train for a race that's 6 months away! Not to mention, the long runs that take hours and hours.
This time, I didn't stop running this winter. I just stopped running some races butt early in the morning. And though the winter has been really cold in Wisconsin, I've been hitting the gym and logging some speedwork on the treadmill. Couple that with a yoga practice, and I've been feeling like a much stronger runner.
I also escaped the Wisconsin cold and made this move across the country to California for a few months. One might think that the 65 degree temperatures in sunny SoCal would be conducive to my running, but you'd be wrong. Instead, I'm having a hard time finding the time to run. I spend 1.5-2 hours commuting to and from work. What could/should be my running time has become my commuting time. Plus, it's amazing how love a running trail/path could motivate one's training. There's no awesome Arboretum loop here, just local streets lined with houses and unleashed small yappy dogs that chase me. No, I've not been happy with my runs here until this past Wednesday.
This past Wednesday, I sucked it up and decided to lap it around a park. At .7 miles, if I wanted to do 15 miles, it meant nearly 22 laps. I didn't know if I'd have the patience to do it, but I found that counting down the number of laps left was a lot easier than counting up. So I did 15 miles in about 2.5 hours. I felt really very good about that. I didn't struggle as much as I had with 15 miles last spring and most of the run felt easy and comfortable. My legs felt tired and sore the next day, and I'm nowhere near the weekly mileage that I really need to be at, but I'm feeling much more optimistic about this marathon I'm supposed to run in a month. Shit, A MONTH!
Wisconsin is having a really really cold winter. What has this done for my marathon training? Well, it's pretty terrible. When the days get shorter and the weather colder, finding the motivation to put on running shoes and run outside is pretty impossible. But when the days start to get longer in the spring, training is a thrill. My training has not been off to a very good start, though not necessarily a bad one either.
Last spring, when training for a marathon in May, I had stopped running altogether that winter. I was barely able to do 5 miles when I started up again at the end of January. Two weeks later, I ran a 5k race that was cold and rough. It was one of my slowest 5k. By mid-March, however, I was able to pull out a half marathon PR. But training sucked. I vowed that the next marathon training schedule would go better. Problem is, marathon training is time consuming and such a long process. It's hard to train for a race that's 6 months away! Not to mention, the long runs that take hours and hours.
This time, I didn't stop running this winter. I just stopped running some races butt early in the morning. And though the winter has been really cold in Wisconsin, I've been hitting the gym and logging some speedwork on the treadmill. Couple that with a yoga practice, and I've been feeling like a much stronger runner.
I also escaped the Wisconsin cold and made this move across the country to California for a few months. One might think that the 65 degree temperatures in sunny SoCal would be conducive to my running, but you'd be wrong. Instead, I'm having a hard time finding the time to run. I spend 1.5-2 hours commuting to and from work. What could/should be my running time has become my commuting time. Plus, it's amazing how love a running trail/path could motivate one's training. There's no awesome Arboretum loop here, just local streets lined with houses and unleashed small yappy dogs that chase me. No, I've not been happy with my runs here until this past Wednesday.
This past Wednesday, I sucked it up and decided to lap it around a park. At .7 miles, if I wanted to do 15 miles, it meant nearly 22 laps. I didn't know if I'd have the patience to do it, but I found that counting down the number of laps left was a lot easier than counting up. So I did 15 miles in about 2.5 hours. I felt really very good about that. I didn't struggle as much as I had with 15 miles last spring and most of the run felt easy and comfortable. My legs felt tired and sore the next day, and I'm nowhere near the weekly mileage that I really need to be at, but I'm feeling much more optimistic about this marathon I'm supposed to run in a month. Shit, A MONTH!
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