Auntie Em Goes Running

A tiny track workout, just to see if my new leg is ready for speedwork.  In between 200m "speed tests", I did lots of drills.  Not yet ready for speed.  At least not the speed I'd like.  Back to slow running and drills I guess.

Workout on the new bike trainer indoors!  The on board computer measures wattage, cadence, speed, heart rate, and a whole bunch of other overwhelming stuff!  Just beginning to experiment here with the new gear.  I guess I've crossed the line and biking is now a training thing.  How did that happen?  Anyway, 50 minute workout, wu, 4X6minute "hard" intervals, cd.  I'll do a max heart rate test on Thursday, and then "hard" will get more specific.

20 minutes running drills. 

35 minutes strength and stretching.

More insanely boring drills and bits of running.  Longish bike ride outdoors.  Hill repeats to make it a workout.

Heart rate max testing session on the bike.  Funny workout.  Warm up, do a few sprints of less than a minute, then go as hard as you can for 20 minutes, spin slow for 3 minutes and go as hard as you can for 20 more minutes.  Measure heart rate for both 20 minute sessions.  There is something about "go as hard as you can" that appeals to me.

More running games at the track.  Tried some 100 and 200m paces.  OK, not perfect but OK.  

Really long strength training session, including hip and core, arms and back.  Plus a lot of flexibility stuff.

Started the morning with an indoor trainer ride, warm up then 5X6 minute hard intervals.  Cool down.  I really have to get some good documentaries for this sort of biking.  Followed with hip and core strength workout, pus flexibility.

Headed up to the mountain, met up with college age son and three of his friends and tackled Church Mountain.  We were just going to hike up to snowline, but I REALLY surprised myself by running up (kick butt up) for 1.5 miles.  No hamstring pain whatsoever.  This is my VO2 Max effort!  We hiked the remainder (about 3 miles) very briskly, hung around up top until we were good and hypothermic, then I ran down!  Again no hamstring pain.  Unfortunately, I had to wait in the parking lot and get hypothermic all over again while the college boys caught up to me.  After that, all I could think about was my bacon burger.  And to make it the perfect day, my husband spent his afternoon collecting wild mushrooms by the river which we had with our bacon burgers.  

Very happy about the running.

Just a little bike ride - outdoors.

Up at 4, drove all the way down to Olympia to drop number one son at college for his 9am class, then back North to Bellingham.  Stopped at Lynnwood for the Olympus Spa, met some friends there, and enjoyed hot soaks, cold plunges, body scrubs and the like, plus lunch.  Back to Bellingham, with a stop at the track on the way home to get the workout in.  Strides went fine; I didn't measure speed, but it felt good with no hammie pain.  Am I back?

No pain on the strides this morning again!  I am so ready to run again.  Early mornings; late nights, thankfully I purchased a Saucony light weight jacket in their new color, ViziPro (really neon orange).  It features reflective tape and a flashing LED light on the sleeve.  When the light wears out, I plug it into my USB port to recharge!  This jacket is the best thing ever!

PM:  Got a bike ride in this evening, albeit it in the basement.  It just gets too dark too early!   Time to move further South, I guess.

First trail run in weeks!  It is gorgeous here today; 37 degrees at 8:30 when I ran, and sunny skies.  It doesn't get more perfect than that!

The new leg did well; it was tired at the end.  I made 100% effort on form, so my brain was tired also!  I stuck to technical trails with a lot of elevation gain and loss to keep my speed slow.  AP was 10:08.

Straight to yoga class, making up for Monday when I was out of town.

4am is too early!  Cold at the track, just 37 degrees when I got there.  I warmed up fast, though, with lots more drills, and a bit of running with strides.

Yoga class was next, with just enough time to drink my protein shake and change clothes.

I am loving this cold clear weather, although a bit of precip would be good so we could have some snow on our mountain.  Watched the Warren Miller ski film the other night, and it got me all excited to ski!

No running today.  I swam for 45 minutes; kickboard and fins.  Focus was on relaxed breathing.  This is in preparation for my intense swimming lesson program next week.  Just wanted to get in the water a few times before it started.

Bike workout was fun today!  Some medium and high intensity intervals, plus one minute intervals of single leg pedaling!  Indoor trainer, obviously.  One hour.

When I was at the track early yesterday morning, around 4:45-6:00am, it was completely empty of people.  It was a little bit uncomfortable.  Usually, there is at least another person or two running at that time, and that gives me a stupid sense of security.  Plus, the gym at Western Washington University overlooks the track, and I can usually see people in there on the elliptical machines.  Yesterday, nothing.  I finally figured out that Western was on Holiday yesterday for veteran's day.

60 minutes of very challenging trail running!  This is the most I have done on the new leg.  It was perfection.  Lots of steep uphills and muddy slippery downhills and deep dark woods.  LOVELY!  I wore my little Saucony Kinvaras since I love them so much and never want to take them off.  They have no tread, so are slipperier on slippery terrain, but really they were so happy to share this run with me!  They are now muddy and wet little mean green shoes.  They are looking at all the other track shoes with a little smirk on their muddy face, and feeling kind of BAD! (ass).

After the run, I did 15 minutes of energetic drills near the parking area.  My crazy shoes were like "oh, more drills, do we have to?".  But I insisted, knowing that runs like this are only possible if we do the drills.  

Day totally off!  Did a long hip/core/shoulder strengthening session, including some yoga and a nap at the end.  

Here's what else I did on  my day off:  I tried on all the CWX running tights I had ordered.  I wasn't sure of size or style, so I ordered about six pair.  They are very snug fitting and take a while to put on; I have very little patience for clothing that takes much time to put on.  My husband kept teasing me, saying that the tights made me look like a superhero, but I would really need to practice to get the phone booth changes down.  Over the course of the afternoon, I got a lot faster at changing, and managed to select a pair of winter tights!  So the day was not wasted after all.

Another track workout with many many drills, some running, and some strides.  I am only counting the strides as threshold paced mileage, because, even though I am not using Garmin, I don't think I'm running the strides very fast.  Hamstring still hurts when I go too fast.

Went right to yoga after, which was lots of shoulder work again.  Very very nice.

Well, I started out for a hike, but of course it turned into a fabulously muddy trail run. Technical muddy trails are so fun! Light rain, 49 degrees.

Girls on the Run this afternoon!  My girls did speed intervals, and they were so fantastic!  They were supposed to do 10 laps (1/5 of a mile), so they sprinted the first eight, with rest intervals, and I gave them the choice of walking or jogging the last two; most of them chose to go fast on the last two, and really impressed me with their speed and strong finishes.  Whoo hoo!

Saved the indoor bike trainer ride for after dark; honestly the daylight is so short why waste any of it indoors in the basement cranking out bike intervals?  Problem with waiting is that I was kinda tired.  4X5 minute threshold intervals with wu, cd, and sprints.

30 minute strength and stability session.  I tried to do all the stuff that required laying down on the floor - lazy me.

The assignment was to go out and run exactly three miles at a heart rate of 133, then run the remainder of an hour at whatever felt like easy.  It was literally howling wind here all last night and into the morning, so I waited as long as I could to get out there; I don't like the high winds.  Winds are so bad here that all the state ferries are shut down.  Anyway, as soon as the wind let up, I hit the trail.  But, the cold driving rain started as soon as the wind stopped!  I had NO IDEA what 133 Heart Rate is, but it turns out to be about a 12 minute/mile pace!  I was not even breathing hard, let alone moving quickly enough to keep warm in 42 degrees with shorts on!  Never in my life have I run so slowly in such awful conditions.  I run in rain all the time, but I run fast enough to keep warm.  This run was beyond ridiculous, and I think I exceeded my target of 133 by a bit.

I was so grateful to have that part done with!  I ran the next three in 9:33, 8:22, and 8:31.  I have absolutely no idea what this silly test was all about, except maybe either my heart rate monitor or my heart are broken.

  On the positive side, it is wonderful to be able once again to get out and run for an hour, whatever the conditions!

Yoga only, then swim clinic for two hours.

An early run, all easy, with drills before, during and after.  Finished off with a long hill and some great coffee.

Total Immersion Clinic in the evening.

I arrived home last night at around midnight to a snowy Belligham!  This morning was still snowy and 30 degrees, with sunshine.  This is so incredibly rare here; usually we get a sprinkle of snow, then immediate slush as it just doesn't stay cold enough here.  I took advantage of the day and enjoyed a snowy, trail breaking technical trail run.  One hour and forty minutes but only 7.5 miles!  The 2 vo2max miles are the uphill.  Wow, that's a workout.  

Thursday and Friday were Total Immersion Swim Clinic, and that continues Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.  It is difficult for me to swim (or do much of anything, really) between 8-10pm, and the pool feels chilly.  But, I've learned how to not sink, and am learning a lot of swimming drills so I will be able to swim.  She does keep us moving so we can stay somewhat warm, but I need a loooong hot shower afterwards.

Bonnie's comments on my Wednesday post are probably close to the truth.  The super slow heart rate is going to train my heart rate so that I'll be able to go faster at that same low rate.  So, I guess I'll just have to wear more clothes on those super slow days. 

nice and easy miles in the ice.  Yesterday's snow is now hard broken up ice chunks.  Not very comfortable to run on.  For those of you who live in "real" winter climates, just know that we do not plow our roads; it snows, then sits there and turns to either ice or slush, or both in succession.  We don't get snow often enough to invest in plowing equipment.  It stayed 32 degrees all day, so nothing melted, and the roads are ice.  Trails are ice chunks!  Supposed to be even colder tomorrow.

No time to run or bike today!  Yoga class, and a quick pool practice session.  Now I've got to head down to Seattle earlier than planned for tonight's swimming clinic.  Its snowing off and on here, and I believe more in Seattle.  I think I'll plan on living in Seattle for the next two nights, until swimming clinic is done.  

I'm still in Seattle, so my run today consisted of several laps around Greenlake, short runs at various combinations of ez and tempo paces, with breaks for lunges, squats, push ups, step up/downs, and the like.  It was 22 degrees early this morning when I ran; quite a bit warmer than yesterday, I think.  I had only shorts with me, so I wore an extra layer on top, and was quite comfortable.  I actually LOVE this cold, dryer weather we are having, although I know it is temporary, and soon we'll be back to dampness in the extreme.  There were quite a few people out running this morning, and many looked quite shocked by the old lady doing pushups in the ice in her shorts.

Did my Turkey Day shopping after running, since I won't get to do that at home.  Then on to the pool, where I did 3.5 hours in the water, divided up by an hour for food and review of the massive amounts of video taping that she does while we swim.  All in all, I do think that now I'll be able to swim, although I still need a ton of practice.

1 hour, 55 minutes on Galbraith Mountain.  We had six inches of snow that fell yesterday; it was a remarkably beautiful Thanksgiving Day!  A warm and howling wind came up in the night, and melted most of it.  Galbraith Mountain was sheet ice on some parts of trails, slush on others, mud in places, and clear trail a small percentage of the time.  In other words, we did not know from step to step what conditions we were dealing with.  Definitely the most unpredictable conditions I've had up there.  It was a beautiful run, though, great hill workout!  I got really chilled riding my bike home afterwards, though, and had to jump into the bathtub to warm up.

Downhill ski day!  I don't count this as crosstraining, even though we do so much hiking and backcountry, but the hiking is most definitely a workout.  Snow was fab, especially for our warmish climate.  It was what we call powder!  

My son called from the parking lot at Alta, Utah (where he was sleeping!), with two MORE feet of 23 degree powder.  Now THAT is some powder.  I was beyond envious, but not envious to join the college boys on their road trip!

After skiing, I drove my daughter back to Bellingham, hoping to get my roller skate skis out and practice before dark, but I forgot that I need to drill through the metal bit on the brake and install a screw, and couldn't get it done before dark!  I am such a loser girl sometimes with tools and such; I don't like to require assistance with my gear all the time.

Back to Galbraith Mountain, this time to ride the mountain bike.  I really try to get out on my mountain bike a few times each year, and why not today?  It was 39 degrees, so the trails were not so icy as several days ago, and not yet warmed up enough to be full on mud.  Nevertheless, I finished quite mud covered and somewhat bloody.  Had fun, but I really don't think I would want to do it every day.  

Off to the swimming pool to practice!  I have four swims scheduled this week - yikes.  My mileage is going down each week (since I only count running, and biking as crosstraining), but I am doing more stuff than ever.  

A little run and a little bike, all easy.

Track workout, sort of.  Warm up and drills, some running, some faster running, and some 100m strides.  CD, and a dynamic stretching cool down, plus more drills.  

A little more running with Girls on the Run, but I don't think I'll count that as mileage!  Their 5K is in two weeks, and they are so ready!  They ran over two miles today in a bitterly cold rain, with wind, and were very very tough.  Proud of them.  

I've got a little strength and stretching work to do this evening, if I don't fall asleep on the floor while doing it.