The Week in Review

This week has been amazing weather wise here in Ohio and otherwise too with me.  I have had a great training week, so I'm proud of that.

The two biggest things that happened in regard to training were that I hit a new PR (Personal Record) for speed work on Wed and today Amy and I used a new interval for our long run. I had promised a full recap of the Interval change so I will detail that a  little later.

First up my PR for Wed. This workout is a doozy- Yasso 800s. Which are 800 meters (1/2 mile) at the converted time for your marathon to minutes and seconds, so if you want to run a 5:30 marathon then you would run a half mile in 5 minutes and 30 seconds.  This night we were to do 8 of these.  I had never been able to get the 800 below 5 minutes try as a I might. My best performance before Wed was a 5:25 a couple of times the second summer I did speed work.  On Wed- I hit all 8 at between 5:06 (my slowest) and 4:52 (the fastest). I could not believe it- and I still don't think I can- Amy and Karen were perfect running partners for this endeavor and the other MITers were so encouraging. My Facebook replies to my post about it were so incredibility sweet and kind. I love our running community!!  I felt very sore and tired on Thursday but better on Friday and I was ready to hit my run today.

Today Amy and I had 12 miles on our schedule (since we are loosely following the Earth Day half marathon schedule).  I have been reading the Jeff Galloway book "Marathon You Can do it." and in it he recommends a 2:30/1 run/walk ratio.  I figured since he was the guy who invented the run/walk method there might be something to this! :) So I purchased a Gym Boss to time the new interval since it is so much easier to change than my Garmin.  Today was our first day using that interval for a long run.

We started out a little slower, but quickly picked up the pace.  The 2:30/1 interval felt just right to both of us, and it seemed we could push a little harder on the run and walk a little faster since the run portion was shorter. (We have been doing 4/1).  We ended our 12 miles at an 11:37 average pace, which is quick for us. We usually average out a little closer to 12.  

For my running pals who might be interested in the details, if not you can feel free to skip this part:

Mile 1: 11:40

Mile 2:12:15 

Mile 3: 12:24

Mile 4: 11:29

Mile 5: 11:18

Mile 6:11:34

Mile 7: 11:25

Mile 8: 11:33

Mile 9: 11:10

Mile 10: 11:15

Mile 11: 11:44

Mile 12: 11:36

We need to work on evening out the pace a bit more but overall I was pleased. I felt good pretty much the whole time and the weather was perfect! I think we will continue with the 2:30/1 intervals and see how it goes, but so far so good.  

Then we had a delicious breakfast at Scramblers and now I'm going to watch some March Madness!! Love my College Hoops!!

Run on Friends,

Heather

A wonderful Weekend Recap

This weekend was amazing! From start to finish a truly joy filled magical weekend.

Let's recap shall we.
On Friday night I got to meet the Authors of Running  the Edge, check out the website Run the Edge Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano. Amazing funny and inspiring guys. Together they have over 40 years of running. Adam is an Olympian and also the husband of Kara Goucher, and Tim was a college runner and taught HS and coached.  They gave a very inspiring presentation about making someday today! I got to chat with them a little bit afterwards and they are about the nicest, most down to earth people you could ever meet.

An additional treat of this evening was getting to sit next to my dear friend Sara (seriously go check out her blog- she's an awesome writer), we don't see near enough of each other an I always enjoy her sweet company.

Saturday morning dawned bright and early an it was off to MIT, for a 9 mile run with the gang. Sadly my friend and running partner Amy could not join us as she was fighting a cold. But we had a good run anyway- Kari and I ended up running together for most of the run.  Then I headed on over to the new Fleet Feet Columbus store- oh my goodness beautiful and huge. Adam and Time were on hand to sign their book and take pictures.  What fun! They even said hey we remember you when I stepped up to get my book signed. :) And then it was my very favorite  part of any Saturday morning- breakfast!! Dana, Karen and I enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Scramblers and then I had a shower and a nap.

Sunday was a very happy and joy filled day as I was able to witness my friend Stacy get baptized. I got to sit next to her sister and Amy during service, so that was lovely and a special treat.

And thus ended my joy filled weekend! So thankful for the life I get to live!

Run on Friends,
Heather

Back to Blogging

Holy Cow it's been way too long since I've blogged.

But with my brand new i-mac (love!!) I'm ready to get back into it again. My old computer took forever to upload posts and I'm amazed at how fast the new computer is.

So what's been going on with me?  Well the big event this year was I turned 40 on January 28.  My running family treated me to a wonderful birthday party! I had the time of my life and I'm so excited to be entering in to my 4th decade of life and seeing what is in store for me.

I'm currently training for the Cap City Half Marathon on May 5th and hoping to hit a new Personal Record which would be anything under a 2:41 finish. To that end I have added back in speed work on Wed  nights with MIT.  It's been great to have Amy and Kari join me and to push one another to go faster. We've been doing very well.   I love those girls.

We've also been treated to "not winter" here in Ohio and only once was MIT cancelled due to ice. We've  been so lucky.  I'm enjoying continuing with the run/walk method this season.

Life is good, full, rich and busy- just the way I like it!!

Here's to more posts coming soon!

Run on Friends,
Heather