August was really my first full month consistently running
and using cycling and my personal training sessions for cross training. It was
a really great month and I am excited to report that I logged over 167 miles,
over 70 of which came from running. I
ended the last week of the month strong and hit my goal of logging 20 running
miles AND I also rode for over 50 miles last week. It was pretty awesome,
especially since most of them were logged out on the Townies with E. We are
really enjoying our new bikes and it is great to have someone to ride with on
the weekends again. To me, cycling is
very social and is something I always preferred to do with others. Running,
well I can go either way. I enjoy company when I can get it but since I have
almost always run alone I am pretty used to it being just me out there.
September 1st marked the first day of my half
marathon training plan so I made sure to wake up early yesterday to log some
miles. I think I have mentioned this before
but this go around I am using a ten week training plan from Runner’s World to
help me train up for a sub 2:30 half marathon.
Most anyone who runs has probably heard the adage that you have to run
slow to get faster and this plan really focuses on that- building a good
aerobic base by running slow and monitoring your heart rate as a measure of the
intensity. Having a strong aerobic base is very important in order to be able
to run more efficiently and also to help your body burn fat for fuel instead of
sugars. It helps keep you feeling strong over a long period of time. This was something
I really tried to focus on my first go around of training but (stupidly) I
ended up more concerned about my pace than my intensity and which ultimately I
believe led to my injury and my struggles to get faster. Seeing that RW focused on the slow run was
really what sold this program for me.
This week and next, and for the most part almost all my runs
not at half marathon pace (11:27 min/mile), are at a very slow, easy pace. And I like that. Last Saturday I did a 7 mile
run and I tried to maintain the recommended pace from the training plan (this
is my week 2 long run) and I am happy to report I maintained a 12:42 pace
(12:47 was the goal) and my average heart rate was 141 bpm, just one over my
goal of 140 bpm.
This week my training plan is as follows:
Monday – 3 miles @ 12:47 min/mile pace (completed at a 12:42
pace with an average heart rate of 116 bpm and a MAX of 140 bpm – BOOM!)
Wednesday – 4 miles @ 12:47 min/mile pace
Thursday – 3 miles @ 12:47 min/mile pace
Saturday – 5 miles @ @ 12:47 min/mile pace
In addition to the running I also have two personal training
sessions (one was yesterday, the other Wednesday), a gym date Tuesday
afternoon, Friday morning spin session and hopefully a bike ride on Sunday as
part of my active recovery.
Next week I am off to Seattle and even though this means
training super early before each day’s conference session I am beyond excited
to run in cold weather. The high’s out there right now are about 10 degrees
cooler than the temps I am used to seeing each morning when I wake up. We have
been in the 90s for weeks with the heat index hitting triple digits most days
so I don’t know how my body will handle a high of 70, and temps in the 50s when
I wake up. Pretty sure I will be in heaven. Yay for no humidity! J
Also, I log everything over on my Garmin Connect so if you
have an account you should add me…I still can’t figure out how to find people
on that site yet. I have only had an account for two years; you think I would
know by now. I switched over to the Vivofit from the fitbit (I love it sooooooo
much better) so you can follow me there, too, if you are also a Vivofit person.
And of course tracking and logging most
days on MFP ~ dacia1978.
Well, folks. It’s that time again. I hope that I can write
about things other than training schedules and of course apologize for the
really intermittent posting lately but it is what it is. One day, I hope to
have something more interesting to talk about. Until then, this is what I got.
Oh, and in case you haven’t seen this E and I made a short
video as a response to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge using our minis. I hope you
find it as goofy and silly as we did. It was so fun to make this- I definitely see
more Lego movies in our future.
Love and hugs,
Dacia
xoxoxoxoxoxox
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