Running and Cupcakes

Monday  was a weird day.  I woke up at 4:30am (except since Daylight Savings had just begun, it was really 3:30am Old Time).  I had agreed to play taxi for my husband and his coworkers at 5am, was presented with a glazed donut with sprinkles that I barely remember eating, I got back home before 6am, and went back to bed for a little “nap.”  I had set up the coffee maker for 6:45, positive I’d be up by then.  And planned to go on a long run shortly after. Except I actually woke up at 8.  At least I awoke to the aroma of hazelnut coffee.

I ran 13 miles because I didn’t do a real long run this past weekend.  I didn’t have a pace in mind, but knew that Run Less Run Faster likes you to do most of your long runs at half marathon pace + :20 which for me is around 10:00-10:05.  I should note that while I love RLRF, I sort of mostly abandoned it since moving last month. 

Back to my run.

The first 12 miles were good, I ran them at an average pace of 9:47. Things got a little hairier for the last mile and change uphill.  I started off trying to run uphill for about .3 miles - even if it meant a really slow pace, but after 12 miles it wasn’t happening. I did some short run/walk intervals up the hill then resorted to walking the second half to my house.

I spent much of Monday evening in my Aspaeris Pivot compression shorts, and I even slept in them, hoping they would magically heal me and give me fresh legs for my planned track workout Tuesday night.

Either my legs are getting stronger from the abuse they are taking from the hills here or the shorts worked, but I felt I had a good first track workout.  I’ve done speed work before, but this was my first time on an actual track. Previously, speed work has consisted of programming my watch to beep at me at predetermined intervals while I run through neighborhoods and parks.

The track workout was:

4x[300m, 100m rest] 1:24, 1:24, 1:23, 1:25
4x[600m, 200 rest] (.37-.38 mi) 2:49, 2:59, 2:39, 2:50
4x[200m, 1min rest] (.12-.13 mi) :48, :45, :47, :45

I’d say it was a success as my beloved RLRF tells me I should run 600s in 3:05.

The 600s weren’t too consistent, but the others were pretty close.  I didn’t stare at my watch like I sometimes do for speed work, I just ran and hit the lap button on my watch as I crossed the line on the track.  While I am definitely in the slower half of the group that came to the track tonight, I didn’t feel badly about – I think seeing so many fast people ahead of me motivated me to run faster.

I was proud of my track success and treated myself to a cupcake. 

Actually, I had pre-planned this cupcake, regardless of how the track went.  I’ve been researching cupcake places in my new area, hoping to find something that could rival my most favorite cupcake place in NJ.  I was disappointed to see a lot of mixed reviews for the 5 or so cupcake bakeries on yelp.  Not confidence-inspiring. Maybe individual cupcake preferences vary widely. 

My favorite from Sugar + Sunshine in NJ was the mocha cupcake which was chocolate cake with a coffee buttercream frosting. I could eat that frosting by the spoonful, but luckily they didn’t sell their frosting.

When I learned one of the places here had a Mocha cupcake—but only on Tuesdays—and that it was right near the track, it was a done deal.

I will readily admit that aesthetically it does not even compare. Even before it got knocked around in the bag a bit.

 

But when I opened the bag at home I could smell delicious coffee.  The frosting to cake ratio was good.  The buttercream frosting had the right amount of coffee flavor and was not too sweet; the cake portion was still moist despite me buying it at 8:30pm.

The CA cupcake cost me $3 while my NJ favorite is $2.50.  The NJ one might be a little bigger, too.  But it seems all cupcakes in this area are priced at $3+.  I’ll blame it on the high taxes in this state.

Cupcakes: Yay or Nay?

What’s your favorite sweet/baked good?

Running/Hiking Week in Review

March 5-11

Tuesday: 5.74 miles of running followed by a .62 mile uphill walk "cool down."
I explored new territory and found a route along lots of horse ranches.

When you are loaded, you spend lots of money on a fancy gate for your ranch.

Wednesday: Arm weights + crunches. Specifics on Daily Mile.
5.21 miles of running followed by a .76 mile uphill walk "cool down."

I attempted speed work in a new park that I thought was flat, based on what I saw from driving past it a few times.  It turns out I was wrong and that speed work is very challenging on an incline.  But I still tried all the intervals I set out to do.
 
Goal was 6x800 in 4:08 with 90 second rest intervals. 4/6 weren't bad.

Friday: 5.7 mile tempo run.  Goal tempo pace was 9:20; my average pace was 9:07.  Flat route for a change.
Pushups+Crunches, more here.


Saturday: 8.15 mile run, Average pace was 9:42. I don't really know what this run was as it wasn't quite an official long run.  Just running.

Total running miles: 26.18

Plus a little hiking:
Sunday: 5.22 mile hike at East Canyon.

Elevation Gain: 1153', all in the first half.

 
I guess while it's maintained by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, it's technically the Santa Susana Mountains.

Snake hanging out in the middle of the path. Luckily it isn't the kind that rattles.

Also came across this crazy little lizard. Bronze body, bright blue tail.

At the top, looking West-ish

At the top, looking East-ish

On our way back down, looking North East

Holy Hills + February Recap

For the last 11 days, my legs have been trying to adapt to these:







I think it’s safe to say that I don’t need to do any dedicated hill training now that this is my terrain for long runs, speed work, and tempo runs.

February Recap
In two words: Kinda lame.

Feb 1-5: 75 minutes of yoga, 6.22 miles of running

Feb 6-12: 9.06 miles of running, approximately 29 hours of sitting in a car.

Feb 13-19: 5.13 miles of running, approximately 22 hours of sitting in a car.

Feb 20-26:  24.51 miles of running + 6 hrs of skiing 

Feb 27-28: 3.8 miles of running (+ a longer run today)

February Totals: 1 yoga class, 48.72 miles of running, 6 hours of downhill skiing.

I did some a couple sets of pushups throughout the month, probably 1x/week, on average.  I hope packing and unpacking counts for something; there was some heavy lifting involved.  I did an occasional plank here and there but no specific core work.

I am aware that going from three weeks of <10 miles of running to a week with 24 miles of running might be stupid, but I needed to move!  I felt fine throughout my running and in fact, the one day of skiing impacted my calves more than the hill running did (Seriously, I took 2 days off from running: I only wore compression socks or calf sleeves, foam roller-ed them, and walked a lot).

I’m saying it now so I will stick to it: My goal for March is to run 25 miles a week, with a day of arm stuff/pushups, and a day of core stuff (crunches/planks).  This weekend I've decided I will join a local running group so I can meet some people in the area and learn some new running routes!

Magical Speed Work

I had been putting off this specific speed workout for over a week.  Mainly because it sounds hard.

spoiler alert: I completed this workout.

Not just the running fast part, but the math involved.  Math isn't generally hard for me (let's not talk about anything past calculus though, please), but it is when you have to do most of your runs outside in the dark, you don't have a track to use, and you can't set up a complex interval run on your watch. 

I think Kristy suggested this idea... I made up a little card to bring with me on my run.

It's coated in packing tape because I initially planned to do this run last week in the rain, but I later decided rain + dark + running fast + trying to stare at Garmin for distances = I'd inevitably trip and fall.  I was able to postpone this workout until today, thanks to MLK, Jr, and I was able to do it in daylight.

If I used this little card system again, I would make a little column that told me WHEN to hit the lap button.  For example: if I planned to do a 1 mile warm up, I'd hit the lap button at 1.75 after finishing the first interval, then 1.87 after the first rest interval, then 2.5 after the second speed interval, 2.62 after the second rest interval, etc. 

Instead, I used my 200m rest intervals to whip out my card and calculate when to hit the lap button next, and to try to remember the time goal for the upcoming interval.


I can't fill in a goal time for 200m because RLRF does not provide one (however there is a new revised edition coming out in April that maybe does?).  So I just tried to run the 200 faster than the 400.

Here's how it went:

I was shocked that I consistently ran all of my intervals faster than goal pace.  I didn't feel like dying on the mile cool-down after I finished this.  However, I did walk for the rest intervals.  Because of the weird decreasing-distance-intervals, each successive interval felt easier despite generally upping the pace.

Speed work is magical:
1. It changes your mood! You might be grumpy about having to do it, but after finishing it you will be happy and feel accomplished!
2. It plays mind games with you! At the beginning, it feels like it's going to take forever, and like the paces will feel too hard, but in the final intervals, I sometimes think to myself, "That wasn't so bad, where did the time go? I could probably do one more if I had to."
3. It makes you faster! I think weekly speed work deserves a fair amount of credit for improving my pace this last year.

Do you regularly do speed work?  
At the track, on the treadmill, or on your own?

Weekend Miles

Thanks for the shoe feedback in my last post.

Saturday, Dan and I rode our bikes 15 miles, got lunch, then rode 15 miles home.

there

back

We ate at a place with outdoor seating.  The weather was perfect for being outside - mid 70s and sunny.  We got sandwiches then split a piece of pumpkin cheesecake.  As good as a cold beer sounded, we stuck with water.  One of the last times we did this, we got beer at lunch and I think we/our legs got tired on the way home as a result.

Check out how low the water in the canal is, I don't get it.

Half of the distance was on hilly roads; half was along a towpath.  The hilly part is probably laughable for those of you reading that live in more mountainous areas.

Proof that I was there too.

Part of our adventure included navigating past this sign/fence, about 3 miles from our destination.  They are still rebuilding parts of the towpath and the spillways after the flooding from over a month ago.
 

Another guy on a bike came along a couple minutes later while we were contemplating our course of action and he said that last week the path was fine past this sign.  That was good enough for us.  We squeezed ourselves and our bikes between the fence and the trees/scratchy bushes and kept on going.  We only had one beeping bulldozer to pedal past (surprised they were actively working on a Saturday). 

 Only got a little muddy going through the work zone on the way home.  Molly made sure we were ok.

We got home RIGHT before sunset...good timing.  Total bike ride was ~30.4 miles.  Some Victory Festbier was enjoyed upon returning home.

Sunday

I went for a 10 mile run.  This was my longest run since the trail half marathon.  And aside from races, this was my longest run since September 4th.  Less than half of my miles were on a trail through a park, the rest was roads.

I ran 10 miles in 1 hour 46 minutes (10:33 pace).  Looking at my current plan, that's about Half Marathon Pace + 30 seconds.  My plan has HMP + 20 for that run...but considering it was 85 degrees out (yikes!) and I biked 30 miles the day before, I think I did ok. 

It was warm enough that I went through my entire 20 oz handheld water bottle and I refilled it from a park drinking fountain about 2/3 of the way through my run.  I snacked on some Peach Tea Gu chomps that I picked up at the expo last month.  I really like that flavor!

Monday

Thanks to Mr. Columbus, it might have been a long weekend for some, but not for me.  I worked today then went to boot camp at night. 

Over the course of an hour we did lots of: planks, crunches, Russian twists, pushups, weights for triceps & chest, lunges, squats, some laps around the indoor track, bosu ball lunges and squats.

Once again, I'm sure I'll be sore in the morning.  Hopefully not as bad as last week. Tomorrow will be a rest day though!

What's your favorite class at the gym?

What's the best thing you did this past weekend?

My Whirlwind West Coast Weekend

Thanks for your feedback on my last long run in my last post.

I stuck with the 8 miles (instead of 10) for my last long run, which I was able to squeeze in Monday night...after a long day.  My Monday involved sleeping on a 5ish hour flight from San Francisco, landing in Philadelphia at 7am, freshening up in the airport bathroom, then driving straight to work.  After work we picked up our pup from our friends' house, had a snack, unpacked, then headed out on my run.

I ran 8 miles at a 10:43 average pace.  It felt comfortable and my heart rate was insanely low for that pace.  I attribute it to temps in the 70s and running in the dark.

Back to my weekend.
It was awesome! We spent Friday morning through Sunday night in Oregon for a friend's wedding.

Aside from some delayed flight drama getting off the East Coast Thursday night, it was great.  We found out Thursday afternoon that our flight that evening was delayed... due to severe thunderstorms and flooding that morning?  Kinda B.S. if you ask me.  Despite our flight being delayed by 3 hours, we still needed to arrive at the airport 2 hours before our original flight time.  Yep, that's 5 hours of airport fun.

The highlight there was watching some pilots take photos of themselves playing in the Aviation Play Station.

Anyway.  After an unnecessarily long and painful phone call with the airline that afternoon we were able to reschedule that night's connecting flight that we were now going to miss because of the delay.  We got one for the crack of dawn the next morning, still getting us to Oregon by 8am.  This also meant calling the hotel to change our reservation from 3 nights to 2.  I had the pleasure of having my first nap/sleep in an airport!

Spending 1am - 6am in the San Francisco airport was thrilling.  I did appreciate my early morning coffee and chocolate croissant from Boudin.

After an uneventful 6:30am flight and arriving to the hotel, we found our friends who saved us mini boxes of cereal from breakfast.  One of our friends was about to go for a run, so Dan and I dropped our stuff in our room, changed, and found the running path.

We ran 5.6 miles along the Willamette River.  The hotel was conveniently located right on the river near tons of running/biking paths, including the Alton Baker park which is home to Pre's Trail.

Next we grabbed lunch then prepared for an all-afternoon float down the McKenzie River.  It was unseasonably warm in Oregon...highs in the 90s.  So it was perfect for a float.  The water was quite cold though!  It was an ordeal blowing up all the tubes...there were 28 of us.  Other important preparations included divvying up the cases of quality beer including Keystone Light, PBR, and Coors Light into a dozen or so mesh bags to be tied to several of the tubes.

I wish we bought a waterproof disposable camera because it was so beautiful!  I will have to settle for finding some pictures online:

[source]
I like mountains.

We used floats that look exactly like these (and this might even be the place we got in the water):

[source]

Our float took about 4 hours including a long pit stop at Shotgun Island.

Saturday night the bride and groom hosted a cocktail/ hors d'oeuvres party.  Unfortunately we were pooped since we had been up all day so we didn't stay that long, then we walked 2.5 miles back to our hotel.

Saturday we went to an Oregon Ducks game!  Those are some serious football fans.  It was fun being a football game with such a big fan base especially since my college had no big sports.

We only stayed for the first half, at which point the score was 34 Oregon - 0 Nevada, before we walked about 2.5 miles back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

This is like a huge fenced in bike parking lot.  This picture is only a small fraction of the bikes people rode to the game.  I was impressed with how many people rode their bikes and by how bike-friendly Eugene is.

Eugene has bike lanes!  REAL bike lanes, not a shoulder on the side of the road.

The bike lane is not just used by tight-shorts-wearing cyclists, people with big ol' baskets on the front of their bike and swoopy handles use the lane too.

The wedding and reception were outside and the grounds were beautiful!  And they had cupcakes for their wedding cake.

cinnamon cupcake.

Sunday morning I squeezed in a 3 mile run before breakfast.  I enjoyed running along the river and the path has frequent mile markers and signs pointing you to other nearby attractions.

 I like mountains

After breakfast we walked around Eugene for a while before we had to go to the airport.

 Can you find a doughnut on the menu with a dirty name?

 I made a friend at the doughnut shop.

At the airport. Did I mention that I like mountains.?

The End.

PS: After my 10+ day absence from blogging, I may wow you with a second post within the next 24 hours.