Hill Month

So last night's practice officially kicked off "hill month" at Team in Training. I was kind of looking forward to the workout (I guess because I am a masochist?) because even though those workouts kill me I always end up feeling like I actually accomplished something awesome.

Last night was a doozie. We ran up the entrance hill at 72nd street at 85% effort and then DOWN the back of the hill at 85% effort and finished with a recovery along the road to do it again. Effectively we were making a triangle. What kind of sucked is that the recovery was all too short. We did this 12 times. Yuck.

I decided this would not be a good workout to do in the Vibrams, even though my Tuesday night runs are usually "barefoot". I am sure glad because I am super sore today.

I really took those hills hard. And I think the downhill part was just as hard as the uphill...at least I took it that way. I have the sneaky suspicion that the rest of my teammates took it as sort of a recovery. I say this because the same people who would pass me on the uphill were easily passed by me on the downhill.

I also figured out something else about my running form. I seriously think that I was built for distance. My stride is so efficient that it almost looks like I am walking when I run (I used to get so mad at Bill for saying this). But I also say this because I noticed in my hill and speed workouts I end up somewhere in the middle of the advanced group, even though I am one of the slowest runners of the group. People will always pass me on the speed part and I end up passing them on the recovery part. I always thought that this was because I was going too fast on the recovery. But when I check my heartrate, I can almost get it down to my walking heartrate. I'm breathing easily, and I feel fully recovered in time for the next repeat. So then I was like, maybe I'm not pushing myself hard enough on the speed part. But I know this is not true because I am really truly busting my butt (sweat pouring from everywhere, breathless, grunting, tired by the end, etc.) And when I ran this idea by Bill he was like "No, I've seen you do speedwork. That's not it." Anyway, these people who I pass on recovery will usually pass me again on the speed part...the first time or so. After awhile I just get too much of a lead on them and they can't pass me. So I start off the workout at the back (sometimes even the last) and end them in the middle or middle top. This just tells me that I am truly an endurance runner.

I guess this is why half marathons are my favorite event. (Bill also mentioned to me this weekend that since having Liam I have already completed  5 half marathons! That made me feel awesome!)

At any rate, at the end of the workout I was super spent and today I am super sore. But I am happy about that because it means I am building my muscles. Sometimes I think I am crazy.

P.S. Speaking of being built for distance, Bill pointed out this cool article to me about how scientists explain how Usain Bolt is truly built for speed. Kind of cool.

Love Those Lampposts

Last night was my first time running again since last Tuesday and boy, could I tell! I had taken the week off because my knee was in some major pain, which I think has to do with me pushing so hard.

It's crazy how taking a week off can totally throw you off, though.

I was huffing and puffing at the beginning of the workout and it just didn't feel right.

I had decided to run with the Intermediate group last night because I knew that just being in the environment of the Advanced group would make me push too hard and just make me injured again. It sort of drove me crazy mentally to do this, but I know it would have been bad news if I ran with them.

So OUR workout was a pacing workout. We ran from the Indian Statue in the Park all the way up to the Reservoir loop (a little over a mile) going effort level 4 (not a sprint, but darn close) for 6 lampposts and effort level 1 (recovery run pace) for 3 lampposts. Repeat repeat repeat. When we got to the reservoir, we did 2 loops doing the same thing. The posts here were closer together, which meant that your fast part was over so much faster, but then again, so was your recovery.

I tried not to sprint (like I would have in the Advanced group) but keep a good pace and effort. Since the intervals were so short I didn't really time them. Besides, Coach Christine told us not to do this. We were supposed to be going on an equal amount of effort...so our later ones would probably be slower if we were doing the exercise correctly.

I was monitoring my heartrate though. My resting HR is between 64-67 bpm. When I finished an EL4 portion my HR was consistently 174 over and over. During the way short recovery period it went down to 164-166.

I didn't realize how hard this workout was until I got about 3/4 of the way around the first loop. I was dying for my 6th lamppost and when I reached it there was no EL1 running for me. I slowed that baby down to a walk for three lampposts and hoped that the coaches didn't see me.

I did this twice more on the second loop because I just couldn't handle those intervals!

It was funny, though.

When we got back and were stretching as a group, Coach Christine said she saw some of us walking on the recovery. I was like 'Uh oh. Caught!' But she said that was ok, because it meant that we were really pushing ourselves on the other part, which is what we were supposed to do, and we SHOULD be tired.

Good.

I also talked to Ramon about my knee. He prescribed lots of cross-training and strength exercises, which I kind of thought. That's good though. I think the cross-training really IS helping my running. I will learn to love those 90 degree squats, I just know it.

Tempo Run

Yesterday we had our first speedwork practice.

I must say, I was dreading it all day. The advanced group was to do a 5 mile run...1.5 miles of a nice, easy warmup and 3.75 miles of a tempo run. Our tempo was supposed to be our 10k pace, which I didn't really know, because I haven't run a 10k in a long time, plus I am still trying to figure out my pace. Luckily, Coach Steve always talks more about "effort-levels" instead of time goals. He said we were normally supposed to be running our tempo run at 80-85%, which, by "talk-test" meant that you would be able to get out a few words to your running partner, but only between deep gusty breaths. :) That, I can understand.

However, it was really really muggy yesterday. I was already sweating as I was standing there just listening to the coaches explain the workout. (And when I saw people in my group running, there was steam coming off of them....crazy!) So Steve told us that we should stay more on the 80% effort side, and maybe be able to get out a whole sentence.

My friends and I took out a nice, easy 10:30 pace for the first 1.5. When we hit the 72nd Street Transverse I took off into my tempo run. I lost my entire group.

I felt good though, and I wanted to keep it up, so I pulled back a smidge. Just as I was hitting the 102nd Street Transverse (about 2 miles into the tempo run), my teammate David caught up to me. He said his goal was to catch me after the Transverse, but he was concentrating on his form and caught me. I was feeling a little tired by this point (understatement) and could hear myself breathing. It was very controlled breathing, but definitely loud.

David would NOT stop talking. And I was DYING.

He was talking about Rent (the musical), he was talking about the Japan Day races and all of the little kids who ran it, he kept reminding me that we were way ahead of the group. He was talking about how close we were even though we hadn't hit Engineer's Gate yet. He kept saying hello to everyone in the park. I wanted to tell him to go ahead because I knew I was holding him back and I was dying. (I would normally welcome this type of thing on a run, but I was pushing too hard and felt like quitting, so I was not happy to have company.)

At the same time, I knew David was keeping me on pace. I was pushing, and I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't there. Part of me was like, "Pull back, Emily. It is humid as hell and you can't handle it." But the other part of me was like "Stick with it. Run it in with David and you will be finished faster."

The thing was, my legs weren't tired...but my lungs were (yay humidity).

We finally hit Cleopatra's Needle, so I knew we were close. David kept reminding me that we were still ahead. I kept reminding him that I took it out too fast and felt awful. I was DRENCHED in sweat. It was so gross.

Maybe I should mention...

David is a Leukemia survivor and one of our honored teammates. So the fact that I was bitching and moaning about this stupid tempo run while he was running it in with me all happy and cheery made me feel like I was a wimp. If he could go through this AND Leukemia I figured I had no right to complain.

So I thanked him at the end. My friends caught up to us about 3-4 minutes later and told me that I was FAST. I told them that there was NO WAY I would have been that fast without David pushing me. He overheard me and said "I didn't run it for you. You did that."

I am not going to complain about my workouts anymore.

Just kidding, I'm sure I will, but having a survivor like that running with you who is SO POSITIVE the entire way kind of makes you want to not complain.

Besides, I always feel like I really accomplished something after those Tuesday night workouts. But pushing so hard during them DOES suck.

I hadn't looked at my watch the whole time because I felt like it would take too much energy. When I got home I hooked up my Garmin and found out that my pace for the tempo run was 8:23. Cool.

Now I'm ready for the next speed workout. :)

Hills AND Speed

It's always bad when your coach's email contains the subject "Tonight's Workout – LUCKY YOU!" I read through it at work and decided that I pretty much didn't want to go to practice. :) It seems everyone else in the advance group felt the same way. Our turnout was slimmer than usual and we didn't have any coaches sign up at our meeting spot for a LONG TIME. One of the girls suggested the 5-minute rule (if no coaches show up in 5 minutes we don't have to practice).

I was glad when they did show up because I was thoroughly confused by the workout description and needed it to be recapped to me. Even the coaches said they had to read through it about three times before they understood it. Here it is:

"You are going to do 2 x 2 mile(aprox) repeats, plus a little warm up.
We are warming up a lower loop with a couple of intervals (about 1/4 mile each) in the middle. From East 72nd street heading west bound and south to East 64th street, once you get there you'll start your first pick up to the Traffic light on 59th street and entrance of 7th ave then Recover to East 64th street then start your next pick up which goes to Eat 68th street. Then recover to East 72nd street.

NOW you'll start your 2 mile repeats.
The two mile consist of a FULL lower loop PLUS Cat Hill !! So, you'll start timing yourself from East 72nd and go around, complete the lower loop and once you get back to East 72nd continue (pushing) north until you get to the traffic light on top of cat hill.
The recovery will be from the top of cathill to Cleopatra's needle and back to East 72nd street. (repeat this a second time)

Goal and description of the workout: This is a TEST. That means you are going to try to run as fast as you can. Of course tomorrow the weather is gonna suck, so, be smart and adjust your effort accordingly, do no expect to get great times. Run by effort, as long as you put the effort you are getting the benefit of the workout.
This should be an decent effort 85%+, but it must be equal effort thru the whole 2 miles.
Time each of the 2 miles. see how well you pace yourself."

You can see why everyone was confused.

It was also very HOT out, so I wasn't really sure how to pace at 85% effort. The first two 1/4 speed intervals SUCKED. I had no idea how I was going to do 2-mile repeats at a good clip afterwards. Especially since they involved Cat Hill at the end. Despite how I FELT though, I was doing pretty good. My times were right on track in keeping a consistent 9-minute mile pace when I was pushing it, which is REALLY good in that weather. Also, the girls I usually run with (Nicole and MaryAnne) dropped behind me pretty early on. Nicole and I usually keep the same pace, but MaryAnne is a bit faster than me, so I figured I was doing okay if I was ahead of her.

Cat Hill absolutely killed me though. I felt like I was running through wet cement. The other thing that sucks is that most of the workout was on the east side of the park. Now, the west side definitely has more rolling hills. But the east side has what the mentor Marissa calls "sneaky hills". And it has a LOT of them. The way I define sneaky hills is this: they are hills that do not look like hills. In fact, it looks like you are running on flat ground unless you look waaaay far ahead....then you see that they are actually uphill climbs. If for some reason you don't notice this by sight, you notice it when your legs feel HEAVY.

So it was a TOUGH workout.

But it was one of those workouts that make you feel like you actually accomplished something when you are finally finished.

Also, I decided to bring a towel with me to that practice for afterwards. How smart! Why didn't I think of that before? :)