Sunday, February 26, 2012

Lazy Susan

I recently took a "what kind of runner are you quiz" from Active.com. It was just for fun of course, and I had to laugh when they called me the "Lazy Susan, Casual Runner." One of the reasons my score was low enough to fall in this category was because I indicated that I ran with others and I did most of my runs "in the community" as opposed to trails and mapped out routes. I'm guessing they're picturing a fitness runnergirl who gets together with her other runnergirl friends for a few laps around the neighborhood several times a week. Not the case!

In this context, I will provide a training update!

Running With Others
As I blog about frequently, I run with Capital Area Runners under the guidance Coach George. I run with them once during the week, for either an interval or a tempo run, and then usually on the weekend long runs. When I am not running with CAR, I am running with my husband, and lately he has been joining me on the weekend long runs.

I used to think that running with others wouldn't help me get faster because I'd likely be going too fast or too slow for an optimal workout. But the coach has us work in groups for a reason. We all pull each other through the long runs and on the track workouts, we take turns being the leader. I ran just over 20 miles yesterday with two teammates and my husband during a wind advisory, but being with a group made the time just fly by. It was fun!

I haven't been blogging about my workouts lately, because my head hasn't really been focused on any specific workout, but I'll pull a few examples now of runs with others that have been enjoyable, confidence-boosting, and good race prep.

Feb. 18: 16 miles w/10 at MP
Specifically, 2 warmup up miles, 4 MP, 1 recovery, 3 MP, 1 recovery, 2 MP, 1 recovery, 1 MP, 1 recovery. This was a workout prescribed by my coach and I ran with three teammates plus my husband. This was my second time doing this workout. The first time was two weeks prior, on Feb. 5 with one teammate and my husband. During the Feb. 5 workout, I was focused on going no faster than marathon pace, although the last MP mile was very zippy because I felt good. During the Feb. 18 workout, I was being lead by this speedster, and was worried that I was overdoing it. But one of my other teammates said, toward the end of the workout, "just go with it" in a casual tone of voice and it totally relaxed me. "Just go with it" might be a new mantra of mine. Just as I can't obsess over not running fast enough, I also can't worry about going too fast. I need to stop worrying and just run!

Splits for the MP miles:
4-- 8:03, 8:02, 8:12, 8:00
3-- 8:14, 7:56, 7:58
2-- 7:56, 7:47
1-- 7:39  

Whatever this averages out to, I do not plan on it being my actual marathon pace! But it was a nice workout. Surprisingly, my legs felt great the next day so I guess I wasn't overdoing it as I suspected.

Feb. 21: 6 x 1200m with 500m recovery jogs.
This was a Tuesday morning track workout. The coach lately has been emphasizing not over-doing the speed on the track and trying to get more volume out of the workouts. I had never done six 1200's, so this was a 1200 PR for me. As I mentioned above, we took turns leading. I considered myself to be one of the more conservative members of my group and fully expected that I would go no faster than what the coach recommended, but when it was my turn to lead, I shot out way too fast and then had to dial it back for the second lap. Oops!

The splits were 5:09, 5:12, 5:10, 5:11, 5:10, 5:07.  I was actually running 1200's faster last summer, but that's when the coach cut me off after just four of them, so I'm guessing I was pushing too hard and my form was falling apart.

Running in the Community
There aren't any paved running running trails that I can get to from running out my front door. So if I'm not running with CAR, my husband and I are running around nearby neighborhoods. Thankfully there is a nice path that connects the neighborhoods so we don't have to run on major roads. And once inside the neighborhoods, we run on the street because cars are typically few and far between.

Feb: 11: 20-mile Progression
Two weeks ago, I ran 20 miles on neighborhood roads with my husband. We would have joined CAR, but we had to be somewhere at 11:00am, which meant a 6:30 start time. Actually, the original plan was to go with CAR on Sunday, with a tempo run on Friday, but the forecast for Sunday was a "real feel" of 8 due to the cold temps and wind chill. Therefore, we did the run on Saturday, the day after my 4-mile tempo. 

Splits: 9:43, 9:14, 9:16, 9:14, 9:37, 9:03, 9:05, 8:56, 8:39, 8:34, 8:39, 8:28, 8:52, 8:10, 8:17, 7:56, 7:50, 8:02, 7:49, 7:40.  

It was one of those days where I felt like I could have just kept going and going. I am fairly confident that I could have tacked on an extra 6.2 at a decent pace and had a decent time. But alas, the marathon was not on Feb.11. 

Being the Lazy Susan that I am, I think I'll go have some breakfast and surf the net now.

11 comments:

  1. So jealous of your team and Coach. Certainly would never consider you a lazy anything. Stupid quiz.

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  2. Your long run workouts are impressive.. a 20 mile progression? I can barely tackle a 3 mile progression run! Looks like your training is going well too, for a Lazy Susan :p

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  3. "Just go with it". Love it!!!

    I may need to move to the DC area just so that you can be mu coach.

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  4. Your training is looking great, Elizabeth! It looks like your new approach to running and training is really paying off. :)

    And that quiz is beyond dumb. It named me Lazy Susan, too. Haha, I ran 3000 miles in 2011. LOL.

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  5. For the record, I was not alone in running that pace 2 weeks ago. Jessica needs some credit too!

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  6. I love long progression runs. I'm a sick and twisted girl ;) Your training looks awesome!! You should be so proud of all those runs! What a confidence booster - nice work!

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  7. The lazy Susan mentality may just be the way to optimal running. Don't rag on it.

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  8. lazy might equal laid back and relaxed and for some people that works really well! your training looks like it is going really well!

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  9. "Just go with it" seems like a perfect new mantra for you! Don't worry about the pace, just go with it and continue to kick ass in your runs and races!

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  10. I agree, love the new mantra!! :)

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  11. It sounds like training is going well! Perhaps the "lazy susan" attitude is just what you need. :)

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