5.29.2011

Travel to Brazil.

The next 12 days or so will be shaky in terms of training. Although, as I mentioned at the end of last week's log, I really don't feel like I'm training right now. I feel more like I'm just trying to live a decently healthy/ active lifestyle off of these 20'-30' easy runs. It's been frustrating. I want to be fit and fast when we get to NY for the National Championships in July. It's all in God's hands...

Sunday, May 29th
wu drills + 30' natural on the grass fields at the soccer complex. It was a very windy morning but other than that, not a bad run. Just wish it were longer. Much longer. Or at least had some surges in it.
30' natural run on at the complex again. Two pretty good runs today. A couple weeks of this and maybe I'll be fully healthy and back into normal training.

Monday, May 30th
50' natural on the grass at Norbuck Park in Dallas. Felt pretty tired today, which meant "natural" was a bit more like a shuffle for the first half of the run.  Definitely thankful to get in the extra minutes before this trip though.

Tuesday, May 31st
off... full night/ day of travel.

Wednesday, June 1st
40' bike + core + strength

Thursday, June 2nd
60' bike + core

Friday, June 3rd
Off... Jake was sick and I couldn't get to the fitness facilities alone.

Saturday, June 4th
20' bike + core + strength.
30' easy run on treadmill PM.

5.22.2011

Last week of training before Brazil.

I'm not sure if I've explained this yet or not, but Jake and I will be on a mission trip in Brazil for 10 days starting next Monday. The chance of us being able to run is slim to none... and there definitely will not be an opportunity for true workouts. With that knowledge, we decided to make these last 2 weeks in the states a sort of mini-racing block and just have fun with it. When we get back, we'll ease back into the mileage and workouts, and hopefully be back up to par by the USATF Club National Championships in early July.
Another note on my training right now is that we are unsure of some aches I've had in my right foot where my old stress fracture was. As a precautionary measure, we're keeping as many runs as possible on grass and cutting each run down to 20-30 minutes max.

Sunday, May 22nd
21' medium on the golf course with Jake. Not really a medium-paced run, but it felt medium because we started a bit faster than I should have. Calling it 3M. LOVED the golf course though. No muscular pains from the race (I feel like I didn't race at all), but still nursing a sore left hamstring from Austin.
20 x Around the World Core.
20' natural double with Jake on the grass inside the track. Probably just under 3M again, but this time it felt much better because we built into it. I really focused on running on my toes, picking up my knees, and bringing my heels closer to my butt. I figure if I'm going to be limited to shorter runs, I should be able to make some improvements in form without hurting myself.
2x20m neuromuscular drills + 3 build-ups.


Monday, May 23rd
30' natural with Jake on the golf course. Jake slowed it down a bit for me today, so it was a more comfortable run; although I was still pretty beat from the past few days! Calling it about 3.75M? Not sure though... may have been closer to 4, but I doubt it.
myrtyl routine + 2x40" pedestal routine.
20' easy run on grass fields at the sports complex.

Tuesday, May 24th
20' easy + 4x100m strides on grass fields at the sports complex. My muscles are still very tight and worn down, but by the end of the run I was feeling a bit more loose. I put in some extra time on dynamic stretches, leg swings, and some static stretching this morning so hopefully it helps.
***Tonight's race got cancelled due to weather, so I'm making today my rest day and I'll pick back up tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 25th
12' wu + drills + 3 x strides + 2 x 2k (600-1200-200), 3:30 recovery + 15' cd. The goal was to go 5k pace (86"... 2:09 for the full 600), tempo pace (93"... 4:39 for the 1200), kick (whatever I could do). Splits came out to 2:04, 4:30, 38, 2:09, 4:34, 38. The 200s were by far the most challenging physically, the 1200s felt long mentally but were fine physically, the 600s were nothing but it was difficult to judge pace.
25' natural double on a new paved path in Mansfield. Good find for future runs!!

Thursday, May 26th
30' natural run on the grass fields at the sports complex. I'm not sure what the deal is, but even with such reduced mileage and easy runs, I'm still feeling pretty beat and worn down?
20' natural run on the grass at the sports complex again. Felt better than this morning, but still not quite up to par.
20 x Around the World Core.


Friday, May 27th
30' natural around the apartment complex... My foot was a bit more painful today, but I imagine it was because I was on the concrete. Not terribly worried.
2x20m neuromuscular drills + 2x100m strides + foam rolling. I got a brutal massage yesterday and was told I need to start living off of epsom salt baths and baseball massages.
24' natural with Jake on the Linear Creak trail in Mansfield.

Saturday, May 28th
20' natural warm up + light core work. No race for me today. My foot and knee both feel sub-par and risking health for the USATF National Championships is not worth a small 5k road race. Definitely not a fun choice, but I'm trying to be smart!
40"xH-core Routine + 3 x 40" running arms, calf raises + 25' bike. Just enough to sweat a little. Nothing that will make me any faster... :/ That's the problem with my "training" right now...

Total Mileage: 35M + 25' x-training.

5.15.2011

First full week back in training!

Sunday, May 15th
w/u drills + 60' natural run on Town Lake. Calling it about 8.5M. Felt much better towards the end... I'm finally not sore at all from last week's speed work, but I am still pretty tired.
leg circuit + 40" pedestal routine + myrtyl routine.


Monday, May 16th
w/u drills + 6M medium on Fish Creek Trail with Jake. I'm calling it medium because effort-wise that's what it was. Pace-wise it was more of a natural run day as we averaged just under 7:20 pace. I was just very tired, stiff, and heavy this morning. Hopefully it's from all the travel and this afternoon's shakeout will help?!
20' shakeout + 6 x 8" uphill strides + 40" pedestal routine + myrtyl routine.


Tuesday, May 17th
w/u drills + 20' shakeout + leg swings. I still feel pretty awful... This was much more of a 20' shuffle than a 20' shakeout!
Might be catching some sort of sinus thing from Jake? Two doses of sinus medicine, some allergy medicine, and 2 doses of Advil... hope they work!
25' natural + neuromuscular drills + 7x100 strides + 1M race + 10' c/d. The race went better than I expected on the starting line (I was feeling terrible), but still nothing like what I'd like for it to be. 5:23 is terribly embarrassing. Splits were 79, 82, 82, 80 with the last  lap being the long one.
10' w/up (shuffle) + 3x100 strides + 800m race + 2:30 c/d. 2:35 with 400m split of 76. I was so beat and tight while warming up I was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish. Once the gun went off I felt better, but my 2:35 wouldn't give you that impression. Again... embarrassing. Cut the cool down short and omitted the strength work scheduled for today.

Wednesday, May 18th
Now I definitely think I'm getting sick. Can't stop sneezing, etc and achy/feverish. Ridiculous!
20' shakeout in the morning.
Definitely sick. Not running. Hopefully this passes quickly.

Thursday, May 19th
Feeling a little better... at least not nauseous or shaky/jittery anymore.
16' easy + neuromuscular drills + 2x100 strides + 10' natural. Felt better on the strides and the last 10' than I did at the start. Definitely getting more healthy physically, but we're calling the training to a standstill until we leave for Brazil. My old stress fracture is flaring up and we'd rather be safe than sorry.

Friday, May 20th
10' natural + w/u drills + neuromuscular drills + 10' natural. All of this was done with Jake on grass... short and rushed due to a bad storm coming in. Better than nothing, nonetheless...

Saturday, May 21st
10' easy + drills + 10' easy + strides + 5k road race + 16' cd (SMG Fun Run). Finished first for the ladies with an 18:01... SO CLOSE... and yet so far! Hahah. Still waiting for my time to break 18! The course was nice but it was very hilly and a very humid morning. I led from the start and was solo for the entire race except for about 50m that a HS boy surged with me, ha. Good experience though.

Mileage: 44.

5.11.2011

First week of post-collegiate training!

Sunday- Tuesday: TOTAL rest! No core, no running, no cross training, no nothing!

Wednesday, May 11th
warm up drills
55' natural run on the sidewalks in Mansfield
2 x 12 strength + 2 x 30" pedestal routine + v-sit russian twists
*Some thoughts on this new start up in training: I trust my coach entirely with my training in terms of all of the running, so I am not putting any thoughts into that. What I do have thoughts on are strength/ core work, flexibility, and form. I want to get consistent with a legit strength and core program. I want to dedicate significant time each week to stretching properly. I want to improve my form with consistent form drills and hurdle drills. Time to do some research!

Thursday, May 12th
w/u drills, 25' natural run, neuromuscular drills, 4x100m strides.
3x300/300 (54,53,53), 3x200/200 (34,33,32), 3x150/250 (23,24,23). The 300's felt the easiest for as far as hitting pace, but it was a good workout all in all. Good chance to practice getting on my toes, etc.
20' natural run, 1xleg circuit, 40" pedestal routine, myrtyl routine.
15' shakeout on the streets in Austin, Tx.


Friday, May 13th
w/u drills, 50' medium effort run with Jake on Town Lake.
2x20" pedestal routine, myrtyl routine.
4M natural on Town Lake with Jake in the early evening. Averaged 7:22 pace according to the Nike GPS watch... definitely a nice watch.


Saturday, May 14th
w/u drills + 30' recovery with Jake on Town Lake.
6x100m strides in my Saucony A4's.


Weekly Mileage: 28.

5.01.2011

This is it!!! Christian Nationals are here!!

Sunday, May 1st
Rest day!

Monday, May 2nd
15' shakeout on the treadmill... Icky weather!!
6M run on the treadmill in 41:35, working down the pace throughout the run.
3x6 general strength + 25xAround the World core.


Tuesday, May 3rd
15' shakeout in the morning... definitely have sore muscles today?!
15' wu + 3x(800/300) + 10' cd. I've felt sick all day... earache/headache/fever sick. The workout wasn't bad, but for it to have been as short as it was I'm not sure I should be so tired right now? Times were 2:48, 57, 2:42, 56, 2:32, 52.

Wednesday, May 4th
2 x shakeout loop for a total of about 30' easy. I imagine I looked (or at least I felt) somewhat similar to a shuffling zombie...

Thursday, May 5th
15' shakeout before a long day of travel.
10' shakeout after arriving at the hotel (cut short from the planned 25' run due to bad storms).

Friday, May 6th
12' shakeout in the morning.
20' wu + 10k race at NCCAA's + 10' cd. 31:3X I think, but I am not positive. After about the halfway point I fell off pace and stopped fretting over it. Anytime Jake told my that my lead had narrowed by a second, I knew throw in a surge, but other than that I didn't run a PR effort race. Thankful for the health and opportunity to win such a meaningful race.

Saturday, May 7th
12' shakeout in the morning. Getting sick with a cold of some sort? Aka, feverish, green snot, and all the stuff that we look forward to in the WINTER... not May!!!
20' wu + 5k race. I have absolutely no clue what my time was. I felt terrible on the warm up, decided to just start and drop out after 800m, came through the 800 and realized I could score points for the team, decided to finish it out, and ended up placing 4th. Not a time or place to be proud of, but I'm glad I decided to finish. Now 3 full days of rest to complete my collegiate career.

Weekly Mileage: 39.