Tonight I headed back to the track for the Rush Hour Speed Workout. Here are a couple quick tips for running with your local track workout group.
1) Arrive early to warm up. Warming up is essential and everyone needs different amounts of warm up. I prefer around a 1-2 mile warm up but know some who do 2-3 mile warm ups.
2) Follow the flow - watch the flow of your track just like you would when driving your car. At our track, we warm up running in the outside lanes in a clockwise fashion. Workouts are done in the inside lanes running counter clockwise.
3) Pay attention - think of the running track like a street. Just like you need to pay attention to the other cars on the road, you need to be aware of the other runners around you and be courteous. We have people that start the workout early and so you need to watch for them and try to give them the opportunity for an unimpeded workout.
4) Don't overstay your rest break. This is one that I sometimes struggle with but the rest interval is set up to deliver specific benefits for each workout. I wish every workout could have 1:30 - 2:00 min rest between each interval but some days 30 sec is all you get.
5) Know when to shut it down. You will learn your body and learn what signals for you on when to shut down the workout. No one wants to be a quitter but the workout will not benefit you if you aren't able to actually hit the goals. For me, I will cut a workout short if I feel the sign of an injury. Another thing that I pay attention to is my pacing. If I start to struggle and can't hit the paces (and am getting slower) then I might adapt the workout to a shorter interval or drop it to a cool down shuffle.
6) Have fun! Find someone running your pace and form a pace group. Cheer for others running...a good job from a fellow runner can be just the extra something that helps a runner hit their goal pace. It's okay if you want to start an imaginary race with another runner...let that competition fuel you and thank them for helping you!
Tonight our workout was a classic ladder down with each interval getting slightly faster as the distances got shorter.
600m at 10K pace (600m is 1 1/2 laps on a 400m track)
30 sec rest
400m at 5K pace
30 sec rest
300m at faster than 5K pace
30 sec rest
200m at mile pace
1:30 rest
The goal was to do 3 sets of this ladder down. Since I'm building back my mileage and fitness I did a modification of the workout with one ladder down and then ended with a 300m and 2x200m to finish. My warm up was 1.6 miles and my workout was around 1.4 miles of speedwork. During the rest break, I stood still to the side of the track. I did a shuffle jog to cool down. Next week I'll aim for a little more speed workout within the total mileage for the night.
Showing posts with label Rush Hour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rush Hour. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2015
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Whoa...that was tough!
Monday nights are the free Rush Running sponsored Rush Hour track workouts. I have been going to these workouts since they started six years ago. Every week is something different and you just never know what to expect for the workout.
Mike Rush and Drew Conner coach the workouts and they try to limit repeating a workout. Mike has a workbook of all the workouts from the years that he was a competitive athlete and a coach since. Tonight the guys pulled a workout out of the archives for the group. It was a doozy.
Warm up - run opposite direction in outside lanes of the track. I aim for 1 - 1.5 miles of warm up.
Work out - 4 x 400 m at mile pace with 30 sec rest between intervals. Rest 1 min at conclusion of the 4 x 400 m repeats. 1000 m at desired 5K pace. Rest 1 min at conclusion of 1000 m as active rest as you return to the starting line by walking across the infield. Repeat. 4 x 400 m at mile pace with 30 sec rest between intervals. Rest 1 min at conclusion of the 4 x 400 m repeats. 1000 m at desired 5K pace.
Cool down - run opposite direction in outside lanes of the track. I aim for .5 miles of cool down.
Tonight I ended up with 5 1/4 miles of running. This was one of my roughest nights out on the track. I was hungry heading to the track and quickly ate a mini Babybel cheese a few minutes before starting to run. Cue...the pain later on! I did an easy warm up with my friend Janet. I got in 1 1/4 miles of warm up running and then spotted my brother-in-law and niece. They were out on a bike ride and stopped by to say hello.
At 6:10, Mike began the announcements for the night. Then he explained the details of the workout. He divides the group into two groups based on desired 5K pace and then starts the groups into the workout. One of the greatest things about our workouts is that the group is so encouraging of one another. Whether it is the injured runner working their way back by shuffling the opposite direction or the faster runner passing you, everyone makes an effort to say good job or another kind word to you.
Once the workout is started, everyone sticks to their pace and gets it done. You might get a chance to talk to others during the rest periods but you've got Mike yelling at the group reminding everyone of just how short the rest periods are!
After the first 4x 400m I was happy to get to the 1000m because it was at a slower pace. That 5K pace felt so easy but that wouldn't last. Janet joined me again to start the second half of the workout. The second set of 400's felt tougher. I felt like I wasn't hitting the same interval times as I had the first time. As I finished those up, I started to feel either very hungry or my stomach pains could have been from the exertion. I just couldn't tell what exactly was going on but it only made the run tougher. I was so excited to hit that final 1000 m again because 5K pace felt like a breeze. We even picked up the pace over the last 400 of that interval and finished really strong.
As soon as we finished, we walked a 200m half lap in order to get back to the starting line. Then I began my 1/2 mile cool down shuffle. It was slow but I knew that it would help my legs recover so I got it done. I hung around a few minutes drinking a little water and chatting with friends but I didn't last long. After I stopped running, my stomach felt like it was starving. However, once I got home, food just didn't sound good to me at all. I finally ended up making some nachos with multi-grain chips, a little cheddar cheese, and some salsa. The chips were the closest thing I had to crackers to help settle my stomach.
I suspect that my pre-workout snack just 5 minutes prior to the run was a very bad choice. That's all I can think of that would have caused my tummy to have such troubles. Yes, the workout was tough but this was a whole other level of stomach pain. I will not be repeating that choice for sure!
Do you run track workouts? What is your favorite interval distance? Mine is probably the 1000m interval. Anything beyond the 1200m is hard to hold my focus and pace and intervals shorter than the 400m are really tough as the pace is usually much faster!
Mike Rush and Drew Conner coach the workouts and they try to limit repeating a workout. Mike has a workbook of all the workouts from the years that he was a competitive athlete and a coach since. Tonight the guys pulled a workout out of the archives for the group. It was a doozy.
Warm up - run opposite direction in outside lanes of the track. I aim for 1 - 1.5 miles of warm up.
Work out - 4 x 400 m at mile pace with 30 sec rest between intervals. Rest 1 min at conclusion of the 4 x 400 m repeats. 1000 m at desired 5K pace. Rest 1 min at conclusion of 1000 m as active rest as you return to the starting line by walking across the infield. Repeat. 4 x 400 m at mile pace with 30 sec rest between intervals. Rest 1 min at conclusion of the 4 x 400 m repeats. 1000 m at desired 5K pace.
Cool down - run opposite direction in outside lanes of the track. I aim for .5 miles of cool down.
Tonight I ended up with 5 1/4 miles of running. This was one of my roughest nights out on the track. I was hungry heading to the track and quickly ate a mini Babybel cheese a few minutes before starting to run. Cue...the pain later on! I did an easy warm up with my friend Janet. I got in 1 1/4 miles of warm up running and then spotted my brother-in-law and niece. They were out on a bike ride and stopped by to say hello.
At 6:10, Mike began the announcements for the night. Then he explained the details of the workout. He divides the group into two groups based on desired 5K pace and then starts the groups into the workout. One of the greatest things about our workouts is that the group is so encouraging of one another. Whether it is the injured runner working their way back by shuffling the opposite direction or the faster runner passing you, everyone makes an effort to say good job or another kind word to you.
Once the workout is started, everyone sticks to their pace and gets it done. You might get a chance to talk to others during the rest periods but you've got Mike yelling at the group reminding everyone of just how short the rest periods are!
After the first 4x 400m I was happy to get to the 1000m because it was at a slower pace. That 5K pace felt so easy but that wouldn't last. Janet joined me again to start the second half of the workout. The second set of 400's felt tougher. I felt like I wasn't hitting the same interval times as I had the first time. As I finished those up, I started to feel either very hungry or my stomach pains could have been from the exertion. I just couldn't tell what exactly was going on but it only made the run tougher. I was so excited to hit that final 1000 m again because 5K pace felt like a breeze. We even picked up the pace over the last 400 of that interval and finished really strong.
As soon as we finished, we walked a 200m half lap in order to get back to the starting line. Then I began my 1/2 mile cool down shuffle. It was slow but I knew that it would help my legs recover so I got it done. I hung around a few minutes drinking a little water and chatting with friends but I didn't last long. After I stopped running, my stomach felt like it was starving. However, once I got home, food just didn't sound good to me at all. I finally ended up making some nachos with multi-grain chips, a little cheddar cheese, and some salsa. The chips were the closest thing I had to crackers to help settle my stomach.
I suspect that my pre-workout snack just 5 minutes prior to the run was a very bad choice. That's all I can think of that would have caused my tummy to have such troubles. Yes, the workout was tough but this was a whole other level of stomach pain. I will not be repeating that choice for sure!
Do you run track workouts? What is your favorite interval distance? Mine is probably the 1000m interval. Anything beyond the 1200m is hard to hold my focus and pace and intervals shorter than the 400m are really tough as the pace is usually much faster!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Trick or Treat Track Meet
The Rush Running crew meets up every Monday night for a speed workout on the old Bentonville track. Attendance varies each week with our max around 100 people and on cold and dreary days around 20 people. We have celebrated holidays with special workouts since our group started over four years ago. This year was no exception...we introduced the group to the Trick or Treat Track Meet!
This was my brainchild and I couldn't contain my excitement in the weeks leading up to Halloween. The timing was tough since our coach Mike was busy taking a group of runners to the Des Moines Marathon the weekend before. I knew that I had to make the workout and track meet as easy as possible for Mike in order for it to be successful! I lined out the workout plan and got Mike's okay on the events that I was proposing. Since this was supposed to be a fun workout I wanted to make sure and mix up the distances that we were covering. We had the race clock out for people to keep track of their times and we had the stereo blasting for some musical motivation!
Here's a rundown of the events. Some were treats - just simple running and others had a trick to them! It was the Trick or Treat Track Meet so we had to throw in a couple of mischievous tricks!
1) Madame Fortuna's Prediction Run - a timed one mile run. Participants were asked to submit a prediction of their finishing time. GPS watches could not be utilized for pacing. A costume bonus was given of a 10 sec deduction for wearing a costume (however, this deduction could be refused.) Closest actual time versus prediction was the winner. We had several come within 1-2 seconds of their predictions. Very impressive pacing!
2) It's the Great Pushup, Charlie Brown - a 200 meter sprint with one small trick! Participants began on the sound of "Go" by dropping to the ground and completing 10 pushups. Upon completion, each began a 200 meter sprint.
3) Werewolves Run in Packs - a relay event. Participants selected a relay team of four individuals to run a 4 x 400m relay. Each team was provided a light stick baton to use for the relay exchange. The winning team was determined by flair! We have a wide mixture of paces and we did not set up the teams evenly so winning time would have been unfair.
4) Zombies are Bound to Catch You - an 800 meter event with a trick!!! This trick involved a bounding zone on each straight away. The bounding zone was about 25 m in length and when participants entered the zone they had to begin bounding.
Overall, it was a fun night and everyone had a great time. The workout was challenging yet fun and was full of both tricks and treats!
This was my brainchild and I couldn't contain my excitement in the weeks leading up to Halloween. The timing was tough since our coach Mike was busy taking a group of runners to the Des Moines Marathon the weekend before. I knew that I had to make the workout and track meet as easy as possible for Mike in order for it to be successful! I lined out the workout plan and got Mike's okay on the events that I was proposing. Since this was supposed to be a fun workout I wanted to make sure and mix up the distances that we were covering. We had the race clock out for people to keep track of their times and we had the stereo blasting for some musical motivation!
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| Dressed as SuperGirl and unveiling the meet events with Mike Rush! |
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| Going over track etiquette and the waterfall start. Safety first! |
1) Madame Fortuna's Prediction Run - a timed one mile run. Participants were asked to submit a prediction of their finishing time. GPS watches could not be utilized for pacing. A costume bonus was given of a 10 sec deduction for wearing a costume (however, this deduction could be refused.) Closest actual time versus prediction was the winner. We had several come within 1-2 seconds of their predictions. Very impressive pacing!
2) It's the Great Pushup, Charlie Brown - a 200 meter sprint with one small trick! Participants began on the sound of "Go" by dropping to the ground and completing 10 pushups. Upon completion, each began a 200 meter sprint.
Proof that we do listen to Mike Rush! Directions for the Pushup Sprint event!
The Men's heat winner...Jon who was dressed as a crossfit enthusiast! How fitting!!!
3) Werewolves Run in Packs - a relay event. Participants selected a relay team of four individuals to run a 4 x 400m relay. Each team was provided a light stick baton to use for the relay exchange. The winning team was determined by flair! We have a wide mixture of paces and we did not set up the teams evenly so winning time would have been unfair.
One of the eight relay teams!
Mike thought that this team was a little too stacked and offered to help their final leg runner get started or not.
4) Zombies are Bound to Catch You - an 800 meter event with a trick!!! This trick involved a bounding zone on each straight away. The bounding zone was about 25 m in length and when participants entered the zone they had to begin bounding.
The ladies demonstrating how to bound!
Overall, it was a fun night and everyone had a great time. The workout was challenging yet fun and was full of both tricks and treats!
Ready to pass out some medals!
The medals were a big hit!
Monday, September 24, 2012
It's Ladder Monday!
Tonight was a great night for Rush Hour with temps finally lowering to a much more pleasant level than it has been since Spring. I was surprised that there wasn't a huge crowd out at the track tonight but those that were there got in a great workout.
I was running late getting out of work and felt very stressed as I headed out to the track. I stopped off to change into workout clothes and was excited to get to wear a short sleeve shirt instead of a tank. Yes, it was as if a cold front had come in...short sleeves! I got stuck in traffic for soccer practice and that increased my stress. I like to get in a long warm up of 1 1/2 - 2 miles and I knew that I wouldn't have the time for that tonight.
I got started on my warmup and said hi to all the regulars. The mood on the track was light and you could tell that people were enjoying the cooler temps and overcast sky. After a 5 lap warmup, Mike called the group in for the workout description. Anytime the weather turns cooler, he rewards us with a tough workout. Tonight was no exception!
Tonight we got to do a ladder and we went up then down the ladder.
400 m at current 5K race pace
800 m at current 5K race pace
800 m at current 5K race pace
1000 m All Out pace
800 m at current 5K pace
800 m at current 5K pace
400 m at current 5K pace
The rest interval was 60 seconds following all of the intervals except for the rest after the 1000m...we got a whopping 3 minutes rest after that one. And I enjoyed every second of the rest tonight. The interval distances weren't all that tough but the combination of effort added up as the workout progressed. After the 1000 m interval, my times picked up a little bit since my legs knew the faster pace that they had just done on the 1000 m. That final 400 m included some bits with a super quick pace and left me feeling very proud of the workout.
I finished up the night with a couple cool down laps to end at 5 miles for the night. I was super excited to see my average pace for the 5 miles was around 9:36 per mile including my warm up and cool down distances at a slower pace. I'll take the cooler weather any day if it keeps helping my pace like it did tonight. Don't get me wrong, I finished up the workout covered in sweat and worn out from a tough workout.
I guess it was Ladder Monday since my lunch time swim also was a ladder. Today we did a 500 m ladder as part of our main set. This is a fast ladder that is a great workout. It involves the following: 25 fly, 50 back, 75 fly/back/breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 fly/back/breast, 50 back, 25 fly. I make some modifications since I'm still working on building strength and capability to swim strokes. For example today I did: 25 fly, 50 free/back, 75 free/free/breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 free/free/breast, 50 free/back, 25 fly. This lets me do 25 of each stroke before the 100 IM and then get some recovery after the IM. This was just a part of our workout main set. We followed it up with some 100's and I got in 1800 m total for my lunch swim.
Overall, today was a good day for Monday ladders!
I was running late getting out of work and felt very stressed as I headed out to the track. I stopped off to change into workout clothes and was excited to get to wear a short sleeve shirt instead of a tank. Yes, it was as if a cold front had come in...short sleeves! I got stuck in traffic for soccer practice and that increased my stress. I like to get in a long warm up of 1 1/2 - 2 miles and I knew that I wouldn't have the time for that tonight.
I got started on my warmup and said hi to all the regulars. The mood on the track was light and you could tell that people were enjoying the cooler temps and overcast sky. After a 5 lap warmup, Mike called the group in for the workout description. Anytime the weather turns cooler, he rewards us with a tough workout. Tonight was no exception!
Tonight we got to do a ladder and we went up then down the ladder.
400 m at current 5K race pace
800 m at current 5K race pace
800 m at current 5K race pace
1000 m All Out pace
800 m at current 5K pace
800 m at current 5K pace
400 m at current 5K pace
The rest interval was 60 seconds following all of the intervals except for the rest after the 1000m...we got a whopping 3 minutes rest after that one. And I enjoyed every second of the rest tonight. The interval distances weren't all that tough but the combination of effort added up as the workout progressed. After the 1000 m interval, my times picked up a little bit since my legs knew the faster pace that they had just done on the 1000 m. That final 400 m included some bits with a super quick pace and left me feeling very proud of the workout.
I finished up the night with a couple cool down laps to end at 5 miles for the night. I was super excited to see my average pace for the 5 miles was around 9:36 per mile including my warm up and cool down distances at a slower pace. I'll take the cooler weather any day if it keeps helping my pace like it did tonight. Don't get me wrong, I finished up the workout covered in sweat and worn out from a tough workout.
I guess it was Ladder Monday since my lunch time swim also was a ladder. Today we did a 500 m ladder as part of our main set. This is a fast ladder that is a great workout. It involves the following: 25 fly, 50 back, 75 fly/back/breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 fly/back/breast, 50 back, 25 fly. I make some modifications since I'm still working on building strength and capability to swim strokes. For example today I did: 25 fly, 50 free/back, 75 free/free/breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 free/free/breast, 50 free/back, 25 fly. This lets me do 25 of each stroke before the 100 IM and then get some recovery after the IM. This was just a part of our workout main set. We followed it up with some 100's and I got in 1800 m total for my lunch swim.
Overall, today was a good day for Monday ladders!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Rush Hour Crazies
Tonight's weather...
The workout:
4-6 x 800m at 5K pace with 60 sec rest between.
2 min rest
2 x 200m at mile pace
Yeah, only Rush Runners are this tough and crazy!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Rush Hour - Mile Repeats
Monday's Facebook post from the Rush Running team was quite the anomaly. Normally, Mike Rush and Drew promise pain and torture not free stuff! The Rush team had a few leftovers from the War Eagle trail race series so they gave out tons of PowerBar gels and Gu gels during the workout. Mike is very generous and shares with the community whenever he can.
The workout he prescribed was 3 by 1 mile repeats. The mile repeats were to be done at 5K pace with the 3rd lap of each at a hot pace of nearly 25 sec per mile faster for that 400. I had spent the weekend doing back to back triathlons and so my goal for the night was to just get some mileage in and try what I could handle of the workout.
I got in a slow warmup or around 2 miles before the workout. It was warm and sunny out and I didn't feel very sprightly! My first mile came in okay around a 9:30 pace which isn't where Mike prescribed but quick for how tired I felt. I started on the 2nd mile and just didn't have the heart to withstand the heat and effort. I took a break after a lap and went to stand in the shade for a minute. It helped and I gave it another go to finish out the mile. It was disjointed but felt good to try to persevere. I ended with a cooldown walk and 4.25 miles for the night.
After everyone had finished, Mike offered up a few more giveaway items.
He didn't tell us much about how he would select winners just told us to find a partner. Once everyone was matched up, he got us started in a rousing game of Rock Paper Scissors. Yep, that's how he determined who would win some hydration gear and new sunglasses! We started out with 60 people playing and whittled it down on a one shot game until just four were left. It was a fun way to end the workout.
Bonus, after the workout I stopped by my friend Brent's house to pick up the Walmart International Cycling kit that I had ordered. It turned out great and the sizing is perfect. I can't wait to try it out and will of course have pics to share. The kits were custom ordered from Primal and look so professional.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Everyday I'm Shuffling
The highlight of tonight's track workout was the Shuffle!!! I loved this commercial so I had to include it for this recap however, this song didn't cross my mind until I was headed home after the workout. Random sidenote...The song that did come to mind during the workout was Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation because I was trying to remind myself to find my rhythm for the interval paces and stay in the pace.
Here's a little more background on the workout. The focus for tonight was active recovery and making our 5k pace seem easy. The workout went by quick since there was no standing rest. Instead our recovery break between every interval was a 100m shuffle. A shuffle is not a walk as our coach Mike reminded us while explaining the workout. The correct shuffle is somewhere slower than your easy pace but faster than a walk. He threatened that anyone shuffling too slowly would get rocks thrown at them! Believe me, during a workout like this you come to love the Shuffle and want to eke out every blissful second of it!
The workout was 3 x 600m at mile pace. Then we did a 1000m interval at 5k pace followed by 3 x 600m at mile pace. Normally, we start a workout with our slower pace and work our way faster as we build into the workout. Tonight, was bookended with tough pace work over a shorter distance. The 1000m in the middle was meant to feel like our easy run pace and surprisingly it did feel pretty good. The set of 600's after that were pretty tough, especially the last one.
My running partner missed the track workout tonight so I was on my own during the workout. I was pretty proud of myself for sticking through the whole workout even though I almost had to beg for someone to help pace me on the last 600 since it was getting pretty tough by the point. Something that helped me tonight was a longer warm-up run before we started that I got to do with Jody. She ran a 50k yesterday and I had to ask her to slow down...that girl is tough!
It was a fun workout since there were always people nearby to chase after or use as pace rabbits. The group was really spread out over the track and working hard but everyone cheered each other on or even whispered a "good job" depending on how tough of an interval they were on! One area where our group shines is that the tougher the workout, the more supportive of each other we get. My favorite "good job" tonight came from one of our youngest runners...13 year old John Robert who called out a "good job" to me as he passed me on an interval. He kind of surprised me because I didn't even hear him coming up on me...stealthy and speedy! I'm glad to have another speed workout done because it means I get a week to recover before the next one.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Overheated and Yes, I Know It's Winter
Temps were about 40 degrees tonight as I was getting ready to head to the track for our weekly speed workout. I checked the Weather.com hourly forecast and saw that temps were going to stay about that for the workout time. All afternoon there was some spritzing rain and the precip forecast wasn't really strong either way...rain/no rain.
I decided to go with tights, tank, long sleeve, and a jacket. To top it off I threw on one of my fleece beanie hats. When I stepped outside to get in the car I felt a little too comfortable temperature wise which is a sure sign that I was overdressed. I didn't want to skip the jacket though since the rain potential was still there.
I got to the track and began my warmup jog. We always complete our warmup running in the outside lanes of the track and going the opposite direction. It's important to get time on the track going in both directions to prevent injuries. By the time Mike had gathered everyone around to discuss the workout I had decided that it was just too hot to keep the jacket on.
Tonight's workout was described as a strength workout. That's usually not a good description...it almost always mean short rest times! We did a tough 5K workout that was broken out as 2K at 5K pace, 1K at mile pace, 2K at 5K pace. There was just 30 seconds rest between intervals.
I definitely felt overheated by the time we hit our 1K interval. I didn't want to take off my hat though because I was worried with my sweaty hair I would get super cold. The rain did appear at various times during the workout and I welcomed it for the cooling effect it had!
Runner's World has an article on what to wear for Winter running in your area. Below is their recommendation for the Southeast which is the closest to Arkansas. I think I could have definitely switched to just a headband or earband tonight and probably swapped my tights for capris. I actually contemplated going with the capris to begin with. It's funny to think that you can overheat just as easily in the winter but it's true. I know that the last few laps in the final interval felt tough because my body was getting so warm. I was glad I had worn layers so I was able to remove the jacket before the tough part of the workout.
As for me, I'm hoping to have better luck with my apparel choices next time. It's hard work to get the layers just right for winter running but when you do oh what a difference it makes!
SOUTHEAST
CONDITIONS It gets neither too cold nor snowy, but there are lots of ferocious storms.
1 Brooks Infiniti Headband ($14) When it's not frigid out, all you need is a lightweight, superwicking headband to keep your ears toasty. brooksrunning.com
2 New Balance Emissive Long-Sleeve ($48) This slim-fitting top layers well or can be worn alone. It's made of polyester with silver fibers built in to combat odor from repeated rainy runs. The longer cut ensures that cold stays out and warmth stays in. newbalance.com
3 Sugoi Versa Jacket ($120) Constructed from a water-resistant, stretchwoven fabric, this jacket can handle anything from an ice storm to a light drizzle. On dry days when you need just a vest, you can pull the sleeves off—they're attached via magnets. sugoi.com
4 Zoot Pulse Capris ($65) The below-the-knee cut of these slim-fitting, spandex-and-polyester capris is ideal for 40- to 60-degree weather. zootsports.com
I decided to go with tights, tank, long sleeve, and a jacket. To top it off I threw on one of my fleece beanie hats. When I stepped outside to get in the car I felt a little too comfortable temperature wise which is a sure sign that I was overdressed. I didn't want to skip the jacket though since the rain potential was still there.
I got to the track and began my warmup jog. We always complete our warmup running in the outside lanes of the track and going the opposite direction. It's important to get time on the track going in both directions to prevent injuries. By the time Mike had gathered everyone around to discuss the workout I had decided that it was just too hot to keep the jacket on.
Tonight's workout was described as a strength workout. That's usually not a good description...it almost always mean short rest times! We did a tough 5K workout that was broken out as 2K at 5K pace, 1K at mile pace, 2K at 5K pace. There was just 30 seconds rest between intervals.
I definitely felt overheated by the time we hit our 1K interval. I didn't want to take off my hat though because I was worried with my sweaty hair I would get super cold. The rain did appear at various times during the workout and I welcomed it for the cooling effect it had!
Runner's World has an article on what to wear for Winter running in your area. Below is their recommendation for the Southeast which is the closest to Arkansas. I think I could have definitely switched to just a headband or earband tonight and probably swapped my tights for capris. I actually contemplated going with the capris to begin with. It's funny to think that you can overheat just as easily in the winter but it's true. I know that the last few laps in the final interval felt tough because my body was getting so warm. I was glad I had worn layers so I was able to remove the jacket before the tough part of the workout.
As for me, I'm hoping to have better luck with my apparel choices next time. It's hard work to get the layers just right for winter running but when you do oh what a difference it makes!
SOUTHEAST
CONDITIONS It gets neither too cold nor snowy, but there are lots of ferocious storms.
1 Brooks Infiniti Headband ($14) When it's not frigid out, all you need is a lightweight, superwicking headband to keep your ears toasty. brooksrunning.com
2 New Balance Emissive Long-Sleeve ($48) This slim-fitting top layers well or can be worn alone. It's made of polyester with silver fibers built in to combat odor from repeated rainy runs. The longer cut ensures that cold stays out and warmth stays in. newbalance.com
3 Sugoi Versa Jacket ($120) Constructed from a water-resistant, stretchwoven fabric, this jacket can handle anything from an ice storm to a light drizzle. On dry days when you need just a vest, you can pull the sleeves off—they're attached via magnets. sugoi.com
4 Zoot Pulse Capris ($65) The below-the-knee cut of these slim-fitting, spandex-and-polyester capris is ideal for 40- to 60-degree weather. zootsports.com
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Cold 200's
It was a cold night for Rush Hour at the track last night and the attendance was low...lower than the temps even! I think it was around 30 degrees out with a light wind...yuck! And probably 15-20 people showed up for the track workout.
I converted my normal warm-up jog into a walk in order to talk with my friend and our coach Mike. It was good to catch him up on some of the stuff going on in my life and get his ideas and encouragement. He is an awesome coach and friend but don't tell him I said so! We've got to keep up our banter of me thinking every workout is impossibly hard and worth negotiating.
The workout that he prescribed was meant to be fast with little rest due to the cold. This workout was based on your mile time and you had to keep doing repeats until you hit fatigue. Fatigue in this case is your interval falling outside 4 seconds of the desired pace. The distance was 200m repeats with a 15 second recovery between each repeat. My desired mile pace is 8:00 minutes so my interval was easy to remember 1:00 min. Given Mike's instructions, I should run from 56 seconds to 64 seconds and once I slowed beyond 64 seconds it was time to shut it down.
I felt pretty good doing the repeats. I was generally hitting around 56-58 seconds on each interval but I could tell when I was hitting the end. I started to feel a stitch coming on around the 8th repeat. I did two more and pretty much mentally checked out of the workout. The cold and stresses of life just got in my head and took away my focus. I know I had more 200's in me so hopefully we'll redo this workout in the future.
I started the second portion of the workout (a mile at 5k pace) and oddly running slower felt more labored than running the fast 200's. My head was definitely out of the workout and so I packed it in and headed home. Some days are just more difficult to stay focused on the run. Even though I didn't finish the workout I left feeling really good about my 200's. I would like to get them down lower but before the workout I wouldn't have thought I had the fitness to hit the times that I did.
I converted my normal warm-up jog into a walk in order to talk with my friend and our coach Mike. It was good to catch him up on some of the stuff going on in my life and get his ideas and encouragement. He is an awesome coach and friend but don't tell him I said so! We've got to keep up our banter of me thinking every workout is impossibly hard and worth negotiating.
The workout that he prescribed was meant to be fast with little rest due to the cold. This workout was based on your mile time and you had to keep doing repeats until you hit fatigue. Fatigue in this case is your interval falling outside 4 seconds of the desired pace. The distance was 200m repeats with a 15 second recovery between each repeat. My desired mile pace is 8:00 minutes so my interval was easy to remember 1:00 min. Given Mike's instructions, I should run from 56 seconds to 64 seconds and once I slowed beyond 64 seconds it was time to shut it down.
I felt pretty good doing the repeats. I was generally hitting around 56-58 seconds on each interval but I could tell when I was hitting the end. I started to feel a stitch coming on around the 8th repeat. I did two more and pretty much mentally checked out of the workout. The cold and stresses of life just got in my head and took away my focus. I know I had more 200's in me so hopefully we'll redo this workout in the future.
I started the second portion of the workout (a mile at 5k pace) and oddly running slower felt more labored than running the fast 200's. My head was definitely out of the workout and so I packed it in and headed home. Some days are just more difficult to stay focused on the run. Even though I didn't finish the workout I left feeling really good about my 200's. I would like to get them down lower but before the workout I wouldn't have thought I had the fitness to hit the times that I did.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Salomon Running Touring Truck
The Rush Hour Speedwork group on Monday was treated to a special visit by the Salomon Running Touring Truck. This was the only stop by the Salomon truck in all of Arkansas. We had approx. 100 people attend Rush Hour and I should note that the temps were 100 degrees at the start of the night. Somehow the hottest Monday of the year always brings out the big crowd...plus Mike and team had promoted the Salomon visit and shoe giveaways!
Rush Running carries the Salomon trail shoes and Mike himself highly recommends their shoes. Salomon was on hand to let people try out their trail shoes. Our track is located just 1/2 mile from the local trail system so the runners would actually get to try out the shoes on the trails. Ali Rush led the trail group out and made sure that all knew where they were on the trails. Those that didn't try out the trail shoes spent the night doing a speed workout. The speed workout was tough... a ladder up from 800m with 30 sec rest between ladder rungs. The official ladder went 800m, 1000m, 1200m, 1600m, 1 1/4 mile, 1 1/2 mile, and 2 mile. I don't think many people went above the 1 mile or 1 1/4 mile distance.
Now for a little more info on Salomon. The Salomon XR Crossmax won the Runner's World Best Debut in the Spring 2011 Shoe Review. They also offer some fun, cushy (perfect for post race) flip flops!
Below are some photos of the event. |
| The inside of the touring truck |
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| The touring truck created a shady spot on the hot track. |
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| Salomon staff helped everyone with the right shoe style and size. |
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| They provided chairs for changing into the shoes. |
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| Those trail shoes look fast! |
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| Ali getting the trail group started. |
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| Look at all those shoes! |
Monday, June 13, 2011
Another Round of Rush Hour
If my math is right, it has been about 3 weeks since I have been at a Rush Hour Speed Workout. That is way too long as I discovered tonight!
The temp this evening was warm and windy. Let me clarify that...the temp was very warm. Our track is situated near an elementary school and preschool and the preschool building is at one corner of the track. This provides one small area of shade and when the temps are really high we can often con Mike Rush into starting from that corner of the track. Tonight I had to bribe him with homemade salsa in order to let us start from the shade. It didn't do a ton of good though since he decided to have a workout with very little rest in it.
This workout was designed to help make 5K pace seems easy...especially the finishing kick at the end of a race. We started out with 2x200m with 20 sec rest between them at our desired finishing pace for a 5K. Everyone got to take 60 sec rest after the 200's before starting a reverse ladder. The ladder began at 1600m then went down by 400 m for a ladder of 1600, 1200, 800, 400. Each of these distances was to be done at 5K pace and included a 100m shuffle of active recovery between each rung instead of standing rest. At the end of the 400, everyone got another standing rest of 60 sec and then it was time to repeat the 2x200m with 20 sec rest. The goal was to equal the pace of the first 200's!
So that's what the workout was supposed to be if you followed it exactly as Mike prescribed. Unfortunately the heat got to me and wore me out. During the 1200 I had to stop for a little water break and to wet down a sweat rag to help cool me off. During the 800, I took another quick break to cool off and pull myself together. Each of these instances subtracted about 200m because I cut across the inner field of the track in order to meet back up with my running partner Anne. She is such a trooper and much stronger mentally than me. I think my paces were in the range of where I wanted them to be but I really only paid attention to my 200 splits which were right around an 8 min mile. I would kill to run an 8 min mile in a race!
Another fun workout and Mike has given me until Wednesday to drop off my salsa bribe! Next week, the group is starting speed workouts to prepare for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. Even though the marathon is not my goal, Mike thinks that doing the longer distance workouts will help with my half marathon goals. He is going to offer some breaks so that those focused on shorter distance races have an option to shorten the workout. I'll keep you posted on how the workouts change over the coming weeks.
Have a great week and stay tuned for a giveaway this week.
The temp this evening was warm and windy. Let me clarify that...the temp was very warm. Our track is situated near an elementary school and preschool and the preschool building is at one corner of the track. This provides one small area of shade and when the temps are really high we can often con Mike Rush into starting from that corner of the track. Tonight I had to bribe him with homemade salsa in order to let us start from the shade. It didn't do a ton of good though since he decided to have a workout with very little rest in it.
This workout was designed to help make 5K pace seems easy...especially the finishing kick at the end of a race. We started out with 2x200m with 20 sec rest between them at our desired finishing pace for a 5K. Everyone got to take 60 sec rest after the 200's before starting a reverse ladder. The ladder began at 1600m then went down by 400 m for a ladder of 1600, 1200, 800, 400. Each of these distances was to be done at 5K pace and included a 100m shuffle of active recovery between each rung instead of standing rest. At the end of the 400, everyone got another standing rest of 60 sec and then it was time to repeat the 2x200m with 20 sec rest. The goal was to equal the pace of the first 200's!
So that's what the workout was supposed to be if you followed it exactly as Mike prescribed. Unfortunately the heat got to me and wore me out. During the 1200 I had to stop for a little water break and to wet down a sweat rag to help cool me off. During the 800, I took another quick break to cool off and pull myself together. Each of these instances subtracted about 200m because I cut across the inner field of the track in order to meet back up with my running partner Anne. She is such a trooper and much stronger mentally than me. I think my paces were in the range of where I wanted them to be but I really only paid attention to my 200 splits which were right around an 8 min mile. I would kill to run an 8 min mile in a race!
Another fun workout and Mike has given me until Wednesday to drop off my salsa bribe! Next week, the group is starting speed workouts to prepare for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. Even though the marathon is not my goal, Mike thinks that doing the longer distance workouts will help with my half marathon goals. He is going to offer some breaks so that those focused on shorter distance races have an option to shorten the workout. I'll keep you posted on how the workouts change over the coming weeks.
Have a great week and stay tuned for a giveaway this week.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sometimes You Need a Little Bit of Help
It's Monday which means another fun session of Rush Hour speed work!!! Today our fearless coach Mike was out sick with strep throat so he sent his amazingly talented wife Ali to coach the workout. Ali is a former Razorback runner who qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 10K. She is a speed demon and makes it look effortless.
The workout for tonight was a ladder up with a surprise ending. The prescribed rest interval was 30 seconds after each step of the ladder.
200 at blazing speed
400 at faster than mile
600 at mile
800 at faster than 5k
1000 at 5k
1200 at faster than 10k
800 at fast effort (surprise this is really hard!!!)
I think my longer intervals were maybe a little slower than they should have been but for the most part I was happy with the bulk of the ladder. My running partner is coming back from a week off due to illness so we were only running the first 200m of each ladder rung together. I got to the final fast 800 and knew that I needed some help to get on pace. I started the 800 from the 200m mark of the track and most of the crew was at the starting line. As I ran up the straight away I motioned to Ali to run with me and then proceeded to ask her to help me hit an 8:00 pace for the last 600m of my repeat. It was super hard but I had Ali next to me coaching me along.
There was a woman running just ahead of me and Ali was coaching me to reel her in which we did for 400m and then she finished her workout. We had the final 200m to do with no rabbit ahead to chase but somehow Ali kept me going. I don't normally ask someone to help pace me but sometimes it really can make a huge difference in your workout. I know I wouldn't have hit that pace by myself and it was really rewarding to hit that at the end of the workout. The other thing was that I knew that my fast pace wouldn't be a challenge for Ali since an 8:00 pace is slower than her easy pace. It pays to have friends at a wide range of paces for moments like these when you need a helping hand!
This workout was around a 5K in total...I don't have my exact splits by ladder rung but I think my time was around 28:23 or thereabouts which isn't too far off my 5K PR time. Not bad since I haven't been feeling very confident about my fitness lately. I owe Ali a huge Thank You for helping me finish fast and helping rebuild some of my confidence. I won't lie though...I had to walk a lap after that fast 800m just to get back to normal breathing! Hope you have a great week!
The workout for tonight was a ladder up with a surprise ending. The prescribed rest interval was 30 seconds after each step of the ladder.
200 at blazing speed
400 at faster than mile
600 at mile
800 at faster than 5k
1000 at 5k
1200 at faster than 10k
800 at fast effort (surprise this is really hard!!!)
I think my longer intervals were maybe a little slower than they should have been but for the most part I was happy with the bulk of the ladder. My running partner is coming back from a week off due to illness so we were only running the first 200m of each ladder rung together. I got to the final fast 800 and knew that I needed some help to get on pace. I started the 800 from the 200m mark of the track and most of the crew was at the starting line. As I ran up the straight away I motioned to Ali to run with me and then proceeded to ask her to help me hit an 8:00 pace for the last 600m of my repeat. It was super hard but I had Ali next to me coaching me along.
There was a woman running just ahead of me and Ali was coaching me to reel her in which we did for 400m and then she finished her workout. We had the final 200m to do with no rabbit ahead to chase but somehow Ali kept me going. I don't normally ask someone to help pace me but sometimes it really can make a huge difference in your workout. I know I wouldn't have hit that pace by myself and it was really rewarding to hit that at the end of the workout. The other thing was that I knew that my fast pace wouldn't be a challenge for Ali since an 8:00 pace is slower than her easy pace. It pays to have friends at a wide range of paces for moments like these when you need a helping hand!
This workout was around a 5K in total...I don't have my exact splits by ladder rung but I think my time was around 28:23 or thereabouts which isn't too far off my 5K PR time. Not bad since I haven't been feeling very confident about my fitness lately. I owe Ali a huge Thank You for helping me finish fast and helping rebuild some of my confidence. I won't lie though...I had to walk a lap after that fast 800m just to get back to normal breathing! Hope you have a great week!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
This Week's Speed Work
Monday night was a perfect night for running. Temps were in the low 60's and the weather was gorgeous...except for a little wind! This week's speedwork was focused on improving our 5K performance.
The first step of the workout was to break out into pairs based on pace. The goal was to have a partner with a similar pace to you. Lucky for me Anne and I are perfect for these types of workouts! The workout was then shared with us as follows:
2 x 800 at 5K pace
2 x 1200 at 5K pace
1 min rest
1 x 800 at all out
30 sec rest
1 x 400 at all out
The catch to this workout was that the first two sets were to be done as individuals. So partner 1 would start with their first 800, partner 2 would start immediately as 1 finished. The rest equaled the time that your partner was running for the initials 800's and 1200's. At the end of the 2nd person's 2nd 1200, the pair got 1 minute rest and then completed the rest of the workout together. The 2nd partner had a more challenging workout since they only got 1 minute rest after their last 1200 whereas partner 1 had more rest prior to that. The all out efforts were done together instead of separate like the initial sets.
The all out efforts were really tough to have at the end of the workout. Anne and I managed to get down to a 1:52 for our final 400 and we were working hard for that final sprint. I struggled with maintaining pace during the 1200s but was happy with my times for the workout. I think I kept every 400 below 2:15 or a 9 minute pace so that definitely qualifies as a good workout for me since my 5K PR pace is around a 9-9:15 pace.
The first step of the workout was to break out into pairs based on pace. The goal was to have a partner with a similar pace to you. Lucky for me Anne and I are perfect for these types of workouts! The workout was then shared with us as follows:
2 x 800 at 5K pace
2 x 1200 at 5K pace
1 min rest
1 x 800 at all out
30 sec rest
1 x 400 at all out
The catch to this workout was that the first two sets were to be done as individuals. So partner 1 would start with their first 800, partner 2 would start immediately as 1 finished. The rest equaled the time that your partner was running for the initials 800's and 1200's. At the end of the 2nd person's 2nd 1200, the pair got 1 minute rest and then completed the rest of the workout together. The 2nd partner had a more challenging workout since they only got 1 minute rest after their last 1200 whereas partner 1 had more rest prior to that. The all out efforts were done together instead of separate like the initial sets.
The all out efforts were really tough to have at the end of the workout. Anne and I managed to get down to a 1:52 for our final 400 and we were working hard for that final sprint. I struggled with maintaining pace during the 1200s but was happy with my times for the workout. I think I kept every 400 below 2:15 or a 9 minute pace so that definitely qualifies as a good workout for me since my 5K PR pace is around a 9-9:15 pace.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Half Mary Tune Up
Most of the local running community is gearing up for the Bentonville Half Marathon on Saturday. Mike Rush of Rush Running incorporates local races like this into his training plans for our weekly speed workouts. This week we did a tune up workout that was geared towards making race pace feel easy.
Each week Mike holds the workout top secret until after the group warmup. Tonight though the white board with the workout was out on display as the group was huddling up for announcements. The big news was that Mike has a new speaker system and microphone...let's hope he was just testing this out and won't have the microphone at all of our workouts! He's loud enough without the speaker system but the music playing during the workout was kind of fun.
We should all know by now that Mike's workouts can be deceiving. Tonight the white board displayed the following: 400 at half, 400 at 10k, 400 at 5k, 400 at faster than 5k. No rest between, 1:30 rest after times 2.
He described the workout to us and the entire group was visibly excited for a 2 mile workout. If only! Hang on for the surprise...written on the back of the board was the conclusion to the workout. 800 all out, 30 sec rest, 400 all out, 30 sec rest, 400 all out. Whooooo, killer finish!
The initial two miles were actually kind of fun to do. Mike asked us to hit the line and change gears for each pace change and then hold that pace for the full 400 versus fluctuating pace within each 400. I struggle with that and normally have a much faster 2nd half of any repeat. It was good to think about maintaining a steady pace during each 400. My first two miles came in around 9:18 and 9:24. I didn't take splits on each 400 and totally got called out for not doing so during our all out set.
For our all out set, we descended the pace on the 800 since we were both a little nervous about the pace over that distance. Mike wanted to know what our 800 time was and just laughed at both of us for not knowing. In our defense, we both were wearing our Garmins which aren't the best for stop watch capabilities. I think we hit around a 9:10 pace on the 1st half and 8:50 pace on the 2nd half but don't really know. It felt fast and like we had picked up the pace! Needless to say, we paid attention to our start/finish times on the last 2-400's and got 1:53 for both of those...that's definitely ALL OUT!!! I definitely felt the workout even though it was short.
Only a few more runs this week until the race. I'm planning to take the race easy since my fitness over longer distance isn't quite where I had hoped it would be. I always lose motivation in February and March and this year wasn't any different. I see 5K's coming in the not so distant future so that should keep me motivated. The race calendar just explodes once we get into April so I have no choice but to lose this winter weight and get race ready.
If you are looking for a good workout, give this one a try. It seems deceptively easy but you'll finish it up and have put in a hard effort.
Each week Mike holds the workout top secret until after the group warmup. Tonight though the white board with the workout was out on display as the group was huddling up for announcements. The big news was that Mike has a new speaker system and microphone...let's hope he was just testing this out and won't have the microphone at all of our workouts! He's loud enough without the speaker system but the music playing during the workout was kind of fun.
We should all know by now that Mike's workouts can be deceiving. Tonight the white board displayed the following: 400 at half, 400 at 10k, 400 at 5k, 400 at faster than 5k. No rest between, 1:30 rest after times 2.
He described the workout to us and the entire group was visibly excited for a 2 mile workout. If only! Hang on for the surprise...written on the back of the board was the conclusion to the workout. 800 all out, 30 sec rest, 400 all out, 30 sec rest, 400 all out. Whooooo, killer finish!
The initial two miles were actually kind of fun to do. Mike asked us to hit the line and change gears for each pace change and then hold that pace for the full 400 versus fluctuating pace within each 400. I struggle with that and normally have a much faster 2nd half of any repeat. It was good to think about maintaining a steady pace during each 400. My first two miles came in around 9:18 and 9:24. I didn't take splits on each 400 and totally got called out for not doing so during our all out set.
For our all out set, we descended the pace on the 800 since we were both a little nervous about the pace over that distance. Mike wanted to know what our 800 time was and just laughed at both of us for not knowing. In our defense, we both were wearing our Garmins which aren't the best for stop watch capabilities. I think we hit around a 9:10 pace on the 1st half and 8:50 pace on the 2nd half but don't really know. It felt fast and like we had picked up the pace! Needless to say, we paid attention to our start/finish times on the last 2-400's and got 1:53 for both of those...that's definitely ALL OUT!!! I definitely felt the workout even though it was short.
Only a few more runs this week until the race. I'm planning to take the race easy since my fitness over longer distance isn't quite where I had hoped it would be. I always lose motivation in February and March and this year wasn't any different. I see 5K's coming in the not so distant future so that should keep me motivated. The race calendar just explodes once we get into April so I have no choice but to lose this winter weight and get race ready.
If you are looking for a good workout, give this one a try. It seems deceptively easy but you'll finish it up and have put in a hard effort.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Spring Break = No Rest from the Track
It is Spring Break this week for all of the local schools here. Unfortunately, we don't get a spring break from speed work in Mike Rush's world! Without exception, rain or shine, we are at the track on Monday nights for free speedwork sessions. Our fearless coach was under the weather tonight so he got us started on the workout and then headed home to get well. It was one of the most quiet workouts we have ever had since Mike is normally yelling at us with his special brand of motivation!
Tonight was a tough session. We have a half marathon in two weeks so Mike has been working on getting everyone ready for that race. Tonight the workout was 4.5 miles long and consisted of three sets of 1 mile at 10K pace, 1 min rest, 800 at 5K pace, 2 min rest.
Anne and I got to the track early and got 2 miles in for our warmup. I wasn't feeling much spunk after the workout and only walked a very short cooldown. The walk to the car totally counts! The workout was a good mix of speeds and was challenging since I wasn't feeling 100% during the workout. My total for the night was 6.6 miles and I was around 9:50 per mile for my 10K pace and 9:15 per mile for 5K. I have plenty of room to start dialing the speed down and set some new goals for the upcoming summer.
Hope you have a great Spring Break!
Tonight was a tough session. We have a half marathon in two weeks so Mike has been working on getting everyone ready for that race. Tonight the workout was 4.5 miles long and consisted of three sets of 1 mile at 10K pace, 1 min rest, 800 at 5K pace, 2 min rest.
Anne and I got to the track early and got 2 miles in for our warmup. I wasn't feeling much spunk after the workout and only walked a very short cooldown. The walk to the car totally counts! The workout was a good mix of speeds and was challenging since I wasn't feeling 100% during the workout. My total for the night was 6.6 miles and I was around 9:50 per mile for my 10K pace and 9:15 per mile for 5K. I have plenty of room to start dialing the speed down and set some new goals for the upcoming summer.
Hope you have a great Spring Break!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Is it really a win if the other competitors don't know they are racing?
Tonight was another fun night of speed work at the track. The workout was a fairly laid back workout...a let's all get back in the groove type of workout. The weather was actually warmish in the mid-40's with a light rain that started about half way through the workout. My running partner and I got in a good warmup before the start. I packed an old pair of shoes because I just hate getting my shoes all wet in the rain. Unfortunately, these shoes did not agree with my legs during the warmup. I was not feeling it and was actually worried I wouldn't last through the workout. I took some time to stretch and that seemed to help.
We got started with the workout as a full group. Normally, those of us that are a little slower get a one lap head start! The workout was a triple ladder: 800, 600, 400, then 400, 600, 800, then 800, 600, 400. The 800's were at half marathon pace, 600's at 10K pace, and the 400's at 5K pace. We got 30 seconds rest between intervals and 1 min 30 sec rest between each set.
It was really hard to keep to the half marathon pace. As people would pass us, we caught ourselves speeding up a couple times. We readjusted each time and kept ourselves settled until the last set. We had a good pace for our 600's and 400's even though they felt painful. Our final 400 we went for it and didn't leave anything on the track. The two fastest runners of the group were our unofficial timers. When we finished our last 600m they were 100m away doing their cooldown jog. As they reached us, our rest time was over and we started our final 400m. It was completely unspoken between the two of us but we both were going for it and trying to beat them.
We finished up about 35m before them so we won the unofficial race. I had no shame in telling them that they were in our race and pushed us to a fast finish. We didn't have a time on our split but the other two runners estimated that they were running a 7:45 pace so that is a pretty rocking finish for us. We normally aim for 2:00 min splits on our fastest 400m repeats when we are in peak conditioning. It's awesome when your fitness jumps out and surprises you! The workout turned out so much better than I expected from how I felt during the warmup. What a great start to the week!
We got started with the workout as a full group. Normally, those of us that are a little slower get a one lap head start! The workout was a triple ladder: 800, 600, 400, then 400, 600, 800, then 800, 600, 400. The 800's were at half marathon pace, 600's at 10K pace, and the 400's at 5K pace. We got 30 seconds rest between intervals and 1 min 30 sec rest between each set.
It was really hard to keep to the half marathon pace. As people would pass us, we caught ourselves speeding up a couple times. We readjusted each time and kept ourselves settled until the last set. We had a good pace for our 600's and 400's even though they felt painful. Our final 400 we went for it and didn't leave anything on the track. The two fastest runners of the group were our unofficial timers. When we finished our last 600m they were 100m away doing their cooldown jog. As they reached us, our rest time was over and we started our final 400m. It was completely unspoken between the two of us but we both were going for it and trying to beat them.
We finished up about 35m before them so we won the unofficial race. I had no shame in telling them that they were in our race and pushed us to a fast finish. We didn't have a time on our split but the other two runners estimated that they were running a 7:45 pace so that is a pretty rocking finish for us. We normally aim for 2:00 min splits on our fastest 400m repeats when we are in peak conditioning. It's awesome when your fitness jumps out and surprises you! The workout turned out so much better than I expected from how I felt during the warmup. What a great start to the week!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Plyo-technic Workout
Do you keep up your speed workouts in the cold of winter? For those of us in the Rush Running crew, speed workouts go on year round. We have only had a 1-2 workouts cancelled per year...I think Mike Rush is more reliable than the US Postal Service. Nothing stops him, rain = perfect weather, sleet = quick feet, snow = perfect time trial weather!
I'm exaggerating, of course! Mike is very conscious of the weather conditions and works hard to provide us with challenging, weather appropriate workouts each week. Mike was out this week recovering from knee surgery so his wife Ali filled in as our coach for the night. The weather was low 30's and very chilly so we got a little different workout...it was plyo-technic! The main set of the workout was 6 x 800m repeats at 5K pace. Instead of getting standing rest time between each 800, we did different plyometric type workouts as our active rest. The plyos were 25 pushups, 50 situps, 25 burpees, 25 air squats, 50 mountain climbers.
The workout was 3 miles of speed work plus warm-up and cool down. I decided to add 3 x 400m repeats after I was done with the 800's in order to get in a little extra speed time. I did the 400m in descending pace and got beneath my mile pace for the final one. I had some help on my last 400 from a friend who paced me and reminded me to breathe easy and push myself. My split was 1:54 for that last 400m repeat and it was a pretty awesome finish to a cold workout. I did extra pushups and situps between my 400m repeats to really go for the overachiever status for the night.
I ended up with 6 miles and hopped on my bike trainer when I got home for another 30 minutes. Not bad for a Monday!
I'm exaggerating, of course! Mike is very conscious of the weather conditions and works hard to provide us with challenging, weather appropriate workouts each week. Mike was out this week recovering from knee surgery so his wife Ali filled in as our coach for the night. The weather was low 30's and very chilly so we got a little different workout...it was plyo-technic! The main set of the workout was 6 x 800m repeats at 5K pace. Instead of getting standing rest time between each 800, we did different plyometric type workouts as our active rest. The plyos were 25 pushups, 50 situps, 25 burpees, 25 air squats, 50 mountain climbers.
The workout was 3 miles of speed work plus warm-up and cool down. I decided to add 3 x 400m repeats after I was done with the 800's in order to get in a little extra speed time. I did the 400m in descending pace and got beneath my mile pace for the final one. I had some help on my last 400 from a friend who paced me and reminded me to breathe easy and push myself. My split was 1:54 for that last 400m repeat and it was a pretty awesome finish to a cold workout. I did extra pushups and situps between my 400m repeats to really go for the overachiever status for the night.
I ended up with 6 miles and hopped on my bike trainer when I got home for another 30 minutes. Not bad for a Monday!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Not Your Average Adventure Virtual Race
Pahla over at Adventures of an Average Athlete is hosting a virtual race in honor of her upcoming birthday. Pahla is known in the bloggy world as P so I decided to host a Race to P as in a Race to Pee!!! Every week, without fail, I have to make a visit to the porta-potty at our local track before our speedwork session begins. Tonight I went ahead and made it into a race!
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| The starting line was my car! |
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| Made it to the finish, but the porta potty was already occupied! |
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| Race results! |
Happy Birthday Pahla! I hope you have a great day and thanks for sharing your journey with us!!!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Whoa, I'm Scared!
This weekend is the big Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. It is a 10K cross country style race that plays host to races for all ages from junior high to collegiate athletes and an open race for the rest of us! Let's just say I'm more than a little scared for the race.
My past history for the race is as follows:
2006 - 1 hr 5 min 50 sec
2007 - 1 hr 4 min 54 sec
2009 - 1 hr 2 min 37 sec (setting a 2 sec PR!)
Following the 2009 race, I ran in the Route 66 1/2 Marathon a month later and had an awesome 10K split which was definitely under the one hour mark. The Route 66 course is notorious for the hilly start so this was a challenging 10K equivalent. Chile Pepper is equally challenging given that it is a cross country course that takes you on a couple loops of the race course which means you hit a couple hills more than once!
Our weekly speed workouts have been gearing us up for this race and working on dialing in our pace. I have had awesome workouts the last two weeks. All of this is adding up to me being freaked out and super scared for the race!
Last week the workout was a non-stop four mile speed effort. It was based on the Prefontaine 30/40 workout. Essentially you do 200m at half marathon pace followed by 200m at just slower than mile pace. For me, my goal splits were 1:15/1:05 or 2:20 per quarter. (PRE did his 200 splits in 30 sec and 40 sec respectively which is how the workout got its name.) The speedwork plus my warmup and cooldown added up to over 6.2 miles and I noted that I hit the 6.2 mile mark at 1 hr 1 min. It would have been a race PR (I had my watch paused between the warmup and the start of the workout.) I kept to my paces and actually picked up the pace over the last two miles of the speed portion. It was a great confidence builder for me.
This week the workout was a little bit more challenging. We did 4x400m repeats and did 4 sets of the repeats. The first repeat started at 5K pace and then each 400 got a few seconds faster. We got 50 seconds rest between the 400m in the set and 90 seconds rest between sets. Each set returned to 5K pace and descended back down. I started around a 2:15 per 400 and worked down to 2:00 per 400 for the 4th in each set. I had one goof up at the start of my 3rd set where my time was 2:30 which was necessary since I had to work out a side stitch. My warmup, workout, and cooldown totalled exactly 6.2miles and again it would have been a race PR with my total workout time at 58 min 01 sec. YIKES!!! I don't like this pressure that is building up for Saturday.
Needless to say, I'll be working on positive thoughts over the week. I need to develop a race plan that I can be confident with and then I need to EXECUTE the Plan. I should build in a little time change because of the cross country and hills on the course compared to what my recent track splits have been. Again, YIKES! I think the soundtrack for my week will be a little David Bowie "Under Pressure."
 |
| 2009 Chile Pepper Race |
2006 - 1 hr 5 min 50 sec
2007 - 1 hr 4 min 54 sec
2009 - 1 hr 2 min 37 sec (setting a 2 sec PR!)
Following the 2009 race, I ran in the Route 66 1/2 Marathon a month later and had an awesome 10K split which was definitely under the one hour mark. The Route 66 course is notorious for the hilly start so this was a challenging 10K equivalent. Chile Pepper is equally challenging given that it is a cross country course that takes you on a couple loops of the race course which means you hit a couple hills more than once!
Our weekly speed workouts have been gearing us up for this race and working on dialing in our pace. I have had awesome workouts the last two weeks. All of this is adding up to me being freaked out and super scared for the race!
Last week the workout was a non-stop four mile speed effort. It was based on the Prefontaine 30/40 workout. Essentially you do 200m at half marathon pace followed by 200m at just slower than mile pace. For me, my goal splits were 1:15/1:05 or 2:20 per quarter. (PRE did his 200 splits in 30 sec and 40 sec respectively which is how the workout got its name.) The speedwork plus my warmup and cooldown added up to over 6.2 miles and I noted that I hit the 6.2 mile mark at 1 hr 1 min. It would have been a race PR (I had my watch paused between the warmup and the start of the workout.) I kept to my paces and actually picked up the pace over the last two miles of the speed portion. It was a great confidence builder for me.
This week the workout was a little bit more challenging. We did 4x400m repeats and did 4 sets of the repeats. The first repeat started at 5K pace and then each 400 got a few seconds faster. We got 50 seconds rest between the 400m in the set and 90 seconds rest between sets. Each set returned to 5K pace and descended back down. I started around a 2:15 per 400 and worked down to 2:00 per 400 for the 4th in each set. I had one goof up at the start of my 3rd set where my time was 2:30 which was necessary since I had to work out a side stitch. My warmup, workout, and cooldown totalled exactly 6.2miles and again it would have been a race PR with my total workout time at 58 min 01 sec. YIKES!!! I don't like this pressure that is building up for Saturday.
Needless to say, I'll be working on positive thoughts over the week. I need to develop a race plan that I can be confident with and then I need to EXECUTE the Plan. I should build in a little time change because of the cross country and hills on the course compared to what my recent track splits have been. Again, YIKES! I think the soundtrack for my week will be a little David Bowie "Under Pressure."
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Lessons Learned
Monday is the Rush Hour Speed Workout hosted by Mike Rush of Rush Running. I try not to skip out on the weekly speed workout because I'm not likely to get in a speed workout on my own. There is something about suffering together that makes it so much easier!
I've been suffering from allergies lately and Monday was a little rough. I was tired and had a horrible headache and just didn't think I could handle the workout. I got to the track and my running partner Anne told me she was tired from her 22 mile training run on Sunday. We both knew that we would need each other to make it through the workout and we weren't likely to hit the goal paces but we would try.
Here's the workout:
1st set: 1000m at 10K, 1 min rest, 1000m at faster than 10K, 1 min rest, 1000m at 10K
1 1/2 min rest
2nd set: 800m at 5K, 30 sec rest, 800m at faster than 5K
1 min rest
3rd set: 400 m at mile, 30 sec rest, 400m at mile, 30 sec rest, 400m at mile
Anne and I covered the entire workout distance but made a couple of modifications. We ran our 1000's at a little slower than 10K pace. We chose to go straight through for 1600m then took a quick water break and then returned to finish up the remaining 1400m to hit the 3000m. We did 1200 at just off 10K pace, then a faster 400m, took a water break, then did 800 at 10K, faster 400m, and a shuffle 200m. We followed the rest of the workout pretty much as listed except we didn't go after mile pace on the first 400m. We went for a fast 400m on the 2nd repeat and actually hit mile pace which we weren't expecting. Our last 400m we decided to take the first 200 easy and then build over the last 200. Somehow we managed a 1:57 which was crazy considering we were taking it easy for half the repeat!
My headache was worse when I was resting than it was while running. I was glad to have a great final repeat but there was no way I could have matched that effort for the whole workout. We got plenty of good pacing work during the workout and really stayed near 10K-5K pace throughout the entire workout.
My lesson learned is that it helps to have a running partner who will support you and push you...especially on days when you are second guessing your abilities. We take turns on the inside lap setting the pace and Anne has a killer kick that gets me nearly every time.
I've been suffering from allergies lately and Monday was a little rough. I was tired and had a horrible headache and just didn't think I could handle the workout. I got to the track and my running partner Anne told me she was tired from her 22 mile training run on Sunday. We both knew that we would need each other to make it through the workout and we weren't likely to hit the goal paces but we would try.
Here's the workout:
1st set: 1000m at 10K, 1 min rest, 1000m at faster than 10K, 1 min rest, 1000m at 10K
1 1/2 min rest
2nd set: 800m at 5K, 30 sec rest, 800m at faster than 5K
1 min rest
3rd set: 400 m at mile, 30 sec rest, 400m at mile, 30 sec rest, 400m at mile
Anne and I covered the entire workout distance but made a couple of modifications. We ran our 1000's at a little slower than 10K pace. We chose to go straight through for 1600m then took a quick water break and then returned to finish up the remaining 1400m to hit the 3000m. We did 1200 at just off 10K pace, then a faster 400m, took a water break, then did 800 at 10K, faster 400m, and a shuffle 200m. We followed the rest of the workout pretty much as listed except we didn't go after mile pace on the first 400m. We went for a fast 400m on the 2nd repeat and actually hit mile pace which we weren't expecting. Our last 400m we decided to take the first 200 easy and then build over the last 200. Somehow we managed a 1:57 which was crazy considering we were taking it easy for half the repeat!
My headache was worse when I was resting than it was while running. I was glad to have a great final repeat but there was no way I could have matched that effort for the whole workout. We got plenty of good pacing work during the workout and really stayed near 10K-5K pace throughout the entire workout.
My lesson learned is that it helps to have a running partner who will support you and push you...especially on days when you are second guessing your abilities. We take turns on the inside lap setting the pace and Anne has a killer kick that gets me nearly every time.
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