I'm fairly sure this is going to be the best Half Marathon ever. Or at least I will have enjoyed the training more than any other Half Marathon training I have ever done. Don't get me wrong, I have trained in several different clinics with some of the finest folks you'll ever meet, but I have to say that this Running Moms group is just awesome.
Our long runs are getting longer. July 17th's run was 16.3 km and we completed it in exactly one hour and forty-five minutes in spectacular running weather. Although this hasn't been the hottest summer here on the coast, the weather has been especially conducive to long runs! This week was a recovery week, so our workout was less intense and our long run on July 24th was one hour. It was just Cristal and I (and our girls), so we ran the TC 10K course in just under the sixty minutes. Basically, we rock.
Cristal, Christy, Brenda and I also had a lovely run Friday, July 22nd. We meandered into James Bay and back and it was especially great to have Christy's daughter Elise along. We haven't seen her in so long and she's just as cute as ever.
Now that the recovery week is over, we start full-tilt into another three-week building phase. This week's workout is going to be fairly intense, incorporating several rounds of timed sprints and Sunday's long run is back up to one hour and forty-five minutes. I will also be adding pick-ups (tempo portions) to all of our long runs from here on out. This Sunday will be two ten-minute pick-ups with a five-minute jog between sets. Yes, this is the point in the clinic when you look back to the first week and think, "Wow, I can't believe how far we've come!"
Just wait, it gets better. :)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Catch up.
I bet you've wondered where I've been these last couple of weeks... I believe the proper term is slacking off, but only when it comes to writing the blog; I've been a pretty busy Running Mom!
We have run some tough workouts and some great long runs in the last two weeks and I must say, I've been so impressed with the hard work and enthusiasm from the great Moms in this group. It bodes so well for the rest of this Half Marathon clinic and I'm really excited for the coming weeks.
I had grand plans for our long run on July 3rd, but the wind had its own ideas. We modified the route to avoid the windiest parts of Dallas road and did a bit of meandering, but it turned out to be a very nice route and a great run. As happens when kids are involved, Cristal's daughters weren't keen on being in the stroller that day, so she ended up turning back early. All would have been fine if only Laura and I, running without our kids that day, had remembered that we had left some things stowed in Cristal's Chariot. I felt terrible when we returned to the store to find that Cristal had waited around for us to get back so she could give us our stuff, but in true Cristal fashion, she was amazing and assured us not to worry about it. Not only is she a strong and inspired runner, she is a true friend.
Our long run on July 10th was just awesome. Great weather, nice route and our longest ever run together at just a hair over one hour and thirty minutes. I so enjoy when the runs get longer and you feel like you are entering uncharted territory. I've run the half marathon distance many, many times in races and in training, but when you are with a group this tight, every long run feels like it's own little victory. It's unlike any training I've ever done with any other group and I'm just loving every minute.
Our mid-week workouts have been tough but fun (in the strange, masochistic way that workouts are fun). Six times twenty seconds hard uphill with a minute-and-a-half rest in between. One minute hard up each of the Seven Sisters. Neither is an easy workout and it's just so much tougher pushing a stroller, but the gain in strength is worth every moment of agony. ...at least that is what I chant in my head when my legs and lungs are screaming at me to stop. :)
Our drop-in runs have been a lot of fun, mostly because they are easy going and short. Just a great opportunity to work some kinks out of the legs and have a nice chat. No pressure, no expectations.
Summertime, good friends, great runs, tonnes of fun. Yay!
We have run some tough workouts and some great long runs in the last two weeks and I must say, I've been so impressed with the hard work and enthusiasm from the great Moms in this group. It bodes so well for the rest of this Half Marathon clinic and I'm really excited for the coming weeks.
Our long run on July 10th was just awesome. Great weather, nice route and our longest ever run together at just a hair over one hour and thirty minutes. I so enjoy when the runs get longer and you feel like you are entering uncharted territory. I've run the half marathon distance many, many times in races and in training, but when you are with a group this tight, every long run feels like it's own little victory. It's unlike any training I've ever done with any other group and I'm just loving every minute.
Our mid-week workouts have been tough but fun (in the strange, masochistic way that workouts are fun). Six times twenty seconds hard uphill with a minute-and-a-half rest in between. One minute hard up each of the Seven Sisters. Neither is an easy workout and it's just so much tougher pushing a stroller, but the gain in strength is worth every moment of agony. ...at least that is what I chant in my head when my legs and lungs are screaming at me to stop. :)
Our drop-in runs have been a lot of fun, mostly because they are easy going and short. Just a great opportunity to work some kinks out of the legs and have a nice chat. No pressure, no expectations.
Summertime, good friends, great runs, tonnes of fun. Yay!
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