Training Update

Hey everybody!  Lots of things are coming down the pike soon, from the SOMA tri for Chris to Ragnar Trail to a visit from my Mom over Thanksgiving, but it’s kind of quiet, event-wise right now.  So, to make sure I still had a blog post this week, I figured a training update was in order.  Fascinating, right?

SHUT UP!

THIS IS AMAZING!

TELL ME MORE!

Well okay, javelina that sounds like Billy Eichner, I shall.  

My big race for the season is the P.F. Chang’s full marathon in January, and I’m shooting for 4:00 or under.  My previous best time is 4:13 and change, which I logged at the Tucson Marathon in December 2013.  I think 4:00 is doable, as the weather is normally nice and the P.F. Chang’s course is pretty flat, but we’ll see for sure in a few months.

Done at Tucson!  Hollah!

As standard when training for a full marathon, I’m also signed up for several shorter races, including another year of the City of Peoria Runner’s Series and the Gilbert Half Marathon in mid-November.  It’s the first year for this event, and it’s always interesting to run an inaugural race; sometimes, things go really well and sometimes, all the volunteers run around like crazy people, the signs get knocked down, and everyone gets lost.*  My current half-marathon PR is just under 2:00 – 1:58 or something like that – so I’ll try to beat that time as well.  Again, we’ll see.  My understanding is there’s now a Lo Lo’s Chicken and Waffles in downtown Gilbert, so regardless of how the race goes, the post-event feast will be delicious.

In my belly!**

Coach currently has me on a training schedule of speed intervals on Mondays (8:10-8:20 per mile pace, depending on the length of the interval), weight training on Tuesdays, tempo runs on Wednesdays (8:40 per mile pace for 6 miles so far), yoga on Thursdays, nothing on Fridays***, a long run on Saturdays (11 miles this week), and either an easy run or bike ride on Sundays (5-6 miles of running/1 hour of biking).  Things are going well so far – I’m generally able to hit my paces during intervals and on my long run, and I’m getting closer to my tempo run pace, bit by bit every week.

As far as gear goes, I’m still using my OSMO sports drink and Huma energy gels, and they’re working really well (the apple cinnamon has emerged as my favorite Huma flavor, for those who are intrigued).  I’m also really liking my Injinji socks - my normal socks have started to wear (finally – it’s taken a few years), and the seaming on the outside of the sock is really starting to rub the outside of my left pinky toe; since the Injinji’s don’t really have seams there, they’re proving to be a good choice for runs instead.

I think that’s all for now – hopefully, something more interesting will come along next week!

Later!

Amy

* Sadly, one of the City of Peoria races we recently ran went in the latter direction.  The exact distance wasn’t clearly communicated, so of the three of us who ran, all three of us ended up with different GPS readings.  Some people ran one lap around this lake, some ran two, some went out and touched the street, some didn’t – it was a giant f’ing mess.  However, the City of Peoria folks are outstanding, and they quickly apologized for the issue, giving us all a discount to the next race.  We’ll be there, and we’ll continue running in their events, as this was just a weird aberration from their normal, excellent race proceedings.

** Is it bad that I saw this picture online and immediately knew what they called it at Lo Lo's?  It's the Tre Tre, in case you're interested.

*** WHAT?  I know, right?  I think he might be going soft in his old age.