That title is something I have to remember right now. I have a mathematics degree, which means I love analyzing data and trying to find patterns and then draw conclusions from them. Four runs postpartum and I'm already trying to do this!
1st run : 0.10 mile intervals at 8:00-9:00 min pace for 0.60 miles total.
2nd run : 0.10-0.20 mile intervals at 8:00-9:00 min pace for 0.80 miles total.
3rd run : 0.10-0.25 mile intervals at roughly 9:00 min pace for 1.01 miles total.
TODAY'S RUN: 0.10-0.20 mile intervals at 9:00 min pace for 1.12 miles total.
Total run length with walk breaks, warm-up, and cool down was 2.5 miles today (long cool down today).
So far, so good - extending the total time at the desired pace. But I'm also looking at the lengths of walk breaks and my max heart rate during the run segments. I walk until I feel recovered, which also corresponds most times to trying to wait until my heart rate is below 140 before I run again. Between the last run and this run, walk breaks got a little shorter.
Max heart rate in the 1st run: 188. In the 2nd run: 184. In the 3rd run: 180. In today's run: 178.
But again, none of this really means anything! It's four data points. This is no basis for looking for trends. Yes, I'd like to see the walk breaks shortening, and I'd like to see my max heart rate start to drop. But I should give it another couple weeks before I start drawing conclusions. It's the mathematician in me - I know it's not smart, but I really want some data to analyze! Looking forward to seeing the next couple weeks unfold.
Note that my legs felt like lead today. Ugh. Debating rethinking some things and adding in some slow longer runs. But I'm afraid if I let my body know what that 11-13 min per mile pace is, it won't want to go fast again. This is how I got in this mental breakdown before of not being able to get much faster because in some ways I'll now admit that it was just... comfortable. Maybe not the smartest game I'm playing with my body right now, but there's a big mental component I am playing to right now. Hmmm....
Happy Running!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Third Postpartum Run
Today is 6 weeks since Baby Sophie was born, which is also therefore 6 weeks since my C-section and so the date I was allowed to start running again. In my continued effort to reset my running pace to something faster than pre-pregnancy, my third postpartum run was tonight... in 27 degree weather. And boy was it cold. My legs felt like lead, and let me say that I don't run well in the cold anyway - give me a good 60 degree day for a run.
Interval distances and paces:
0.25 mi : 9:04 pace
0.10 mi : 9:13 pace (just couldn't hold onto sub-9!)
0.12 mi : 9:22 pace
0.12 mi : 8:50 pace
0.10 mi : 9:05 pace
0.10 mi : 8:45 pace
0.11 mi : 8:29 pace
0.11 mi : 8:53 pace
That's 1.01 miles total at a few seconds over a 9 minute per mile pace.
So I ran for longer at the desired pace and maintaining the same or slightly shorter walk breaks between intervals. I'm keeping an eye on heart rate on these intervals and look forward in the next couple weeks to hopefully watching max heart rate on these run paces drop over time.
A little panic hit me today about how long this recovery is going to take, but I'm not going to worry about it. I think this reset is more important than hitting a 100-mile month right away, or doing a half marathon 3 weeks from now. I just have to be able to comfortably do 15-20 miles over two days for Texas Independence Relay 7 1/2 weeks from now. That's totally doable.
Happy Running!
- The first run managed 0.10 mile intervals at 8:00-9:00 min pace for 0.60 miles total.
- The second run managed 0.10-0.20 mile intervals at 8:00-9:00 min pace for 0.80 miles total.
- Today's third run managed 0.10-0.25 mile intervals at roughly 9:00 min pace for 1.01 miles total.
Interval distances and paces:
0.25 mi : 9:04 pace
0.10 mi : 9:13 pace (just couldn't hold onto sub-9!)
0.12 mi : 9:22 pace
0.12 mi : 8:50 pace
0.10 mi : 9:05 pace
0.10 mi : 8:45 pace
0.11 mi : 8:29 pace
0.11 mi : 8:53 pace
That's 1.01 miles total at a few seconds over a 9 minute per mile pace.
So I ran for longer at the desired pace and maintaining the same or slightly shorter walk breaks between intervals. I'm keeping an eye on heart rate on these intervals and look forward in the next couple weeks to hopefully watching max heart rate on these run paces drop over time.
A little panic hit me today about how long this recovery is going to take, but I'm not going to worry about it. I think this reset is more important than hitting a 100-mile month right away, or doing a half marathon 3 weeks from now. I just have to be able to comfortably do 15-20 miles over two days for Texas Independence Relay 7 1/2 weeks from now. That's totally doable.
Happy Running!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
San Francisco Marathon Training Starts January 29th
I hadn't really gotten around to talking about this until now, but now that I'm running again, the following topic's insanely back into my focus.
I was selected late 2010 as one of only about a dozen folks to be an Ambassador for the San Francisco Marathon. Basically, we're folks across the United States who are friendly runners ourselves and are your local resource as you prepare for the San Francisco half or full marathon. Here are the bios of all the ambassadors here... It's a pretty diverse group!
So I'm here as your Dallas-Fort Worth ambassador for the 2011 race on July 31, 2011! I'm very excited to be running this race for the first time. I had heard such great things and was actually already registered for it when they posted about the chance to apply to be an ambassador. I was supposed to run it in 2010 but decided not to with the pregnancy several months along at that point so I deferred my entry to this year!
Now since I'm not just an ambassador but am running it with you all, that means I need to get training too! The SF Marathon is celebrating the start of their training program in San Francisco on January 29, 2011. It's a 26-week training program to prepare people for either half or full marathon distance.
Come Join Me January 29th!
Even though you can't be in San Francisco and take full advantage of the program doesn't mean we can't all kick off training together. So I'm working right now to put together a local DFW training run for the training kickoff Saturday, January 29th! There will be giveaways and a door prize, and we'll have the 26-week training schedule for you to take home and get started! As soon as I have details, I'll post it here, tweet it, and post a link on Facebook. Look for details soon!
Happy Running!
So I'm here as your Dallas-Fort Worth ambassador for the 2011 race on July 31, 2011! I'm very excited to be running this race for the first time. I had heard such great things and was actually already registered for it when they posted about the chance to apply to be an ambassador. I was supposed to run it in 2010 but decided not to with the pregnancy several months along at that point so I deferred my entry to this year!
Now since I'm not just an ambassador but am running it with you all, that means I need to get training too! The SF Marathon is celebrating the start of their training program in San Francisco on January 29, 2011. It's a 26-week training program to prepare people for either half or full marathon distance.
Come Join Me January 29th!
Even though you can't be in San Francisco and take full advantage of the program doesn't mean we can't all kick off training together. So I'm working right now to put together a local DFW training run for the training kickoff Saturday, January 29th! There will be giveaways and a door prize, and we'll have the 26-week training schedule for you to take home and get started! As soon as I have details, I'll post it here, tweet it, and post a link on Facebook. Look for details soon!
Happy Running!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Yes, I Still Fit in My Running Tights
My second run back postpartum. In the first run back, I explained my new method to start with running small distances at a "reset" much faster pace than my pre-pregnancy average running pace. In that run, I did a tenth of a mile at sub-9:00 pace six times over 2.1 miles.
Tonight, I set out in 29 degree weather for my run. With no runs since the end of September, I've had NO even slightly cold weather running acclimation. A little harder on the lungs, but at least I have the experience in my back pocket to know how to dress. Getting dressed took about as long as the run, LOL! Beanie cap + Brooks ear warmer, long-sleeved Heels and Hills hot pink technical shirt + black DRC Cocona technical jacket + red windshirt, running tights + Nike shorts, thick Thorlo socks, Nike Lunarglide shoes. Yes, thankfully, I have lost my pregnancy weight and can fit in my running tights, because otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do. And looking at those tights when it was time to get dressed, I wasn't so sure it was going to work! So at least I was warm enough.
This time, I managed more than a tenth of a mile for several of the splits at sub-9 min/mi pace! I just gotta keep building a little each time and one day I'll find a new 5K PR, then a new 10K PR, and so on.
Splits at sub-9 min/mi pace (walk breaks between were about a tenth a mile to 0.15 miles, whatever it took to get heart rate below 140 and feel ready to go again):
0.20 mi : 8:47 pace
0.20 mi : 8:55 pace
0.15 mi : 8:47 pace
0.15 mi : 9:00 pace (uphill section!)
0.10 mi : 8:48 pace
In total, I did 1.75 miles. Now I planned to do more, but after that last hard run segment, I thought I saw trash in the street, but when I went by I realized it was one of those kids' electronic game devices! At first, I moved it to the sidewalk where it wouldn't get run over, thinking the owner would retrace their steps. Then, I worried someone less honest than me would find it and just take it. So I picked it up and headed home, thinking I could email the neighborhood's email list and maybe track down the owner. Therefore, my run was cut short. Luckily, the owner's last name was on the back, and I found that name in the neighborhood directory, so hoping I can reunite it with the sad kid who lost it!
It goes to show, there's something memorable about every run - this one definitely fits that description!
Happy Running!
Tonight, I set out in 29 degree weather for my run. With no runs since the end of September, I've had NO even slightly cold weather running acclimation. A little harder on the lungs, but at least I have the experience in my back pocket to know how to dress. Getting dressed took about as long as the run, LOL! Beanie cap + Brooks ear warmer, long-sleeved Heels and Hills hot pink technical shirt + black DRC Cocona technical jacket + red windshirt, running tights + Nike shorts, thick Thorlo socks, Nike Lunarglide shoes. Yes, thankfully, I have lost my pregnancy weight and can fit in my running tights, because otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do. And looking at those tights when it was time to get dressed, I wasn't so sure it was going to work! So at least I was warm enough.
This time, I managed more than a tenth of a mile for several of the splits at sub-9 min/mi pace! I just gotta keep building a little each time and one day I'll find a new 5K PR, then a new 10K PR, and so on.
Splits at sub-9 min/mi pace (walk breaks between were about a tenth a mile to 0.15 miles, whatever it took to get heart rate below 140 and feel ready to go again):
0.20 mi : 8:47 pace
0.20 mi : 8:55 pace
0.15 mi : 8:47 pace
0.15 mi : 9:00 pace (uphill section!)
0.10 mi : 8:48 pace
In total, I did 1.75 miles. Now I planned to do more, but after that last hard run segment, I thought I saw trash in the street, but when I went by I realized it was one of those kids' electronic game devices! At first, I moved it to the sidewalk where it wouldn't get run over, thinking the owner would retrace their steps. Then, I worried someone less honest than me would find it and just take it. So I picked it up and headed home, thinking I could email the neighborhood's email list and maybe track down the owner. Therefore, my run was cut short. Luckily, the owner's last name was on the back, and I found that name in the neighborhood directory, so hoping I can reunite it with the sad kid who lost it!
It goes to show, there's something memorable about every run - this one definitely fits that description!
Happy Running!
Friday, January 7, 2011
First Run Postpartum!
38 days postpartum (just 4 days shy of the 6 weeks, or 42 days, I was supposed to wait to start running after the C-section), and I just NEEDED a run. No going into details here, but mentally and emotionally, I needed to know I could still run and needed to just clear my mind and focus on nothing but the pavement and me for just a little bit of time.
Before the baby was born, while running pregnant, I had spent a lot of time thinking about my 2011 running. Planning, strategizing, dreaming. I decided I wanted to try to reset my pace, that I had a mental block keeping me from getting faster. For paces... My PR 1 mile is 9:04 min/mi, my PR 5K is 10:20 min/mi, my half marathon PR is 11:09 min/mi. Since most of my training runs from right before I got pregnant was 10:00-11:30 min/mi, I was ready to make a radical change.
So on tonight's run, after the first 0.05 mi trial to see how my feet felt running, I set my goal. A tenth of a mile at a time at faster than 9 min/mi pace, with however much walking recovery I wanted inbetween.
I did 2.1 miles, with 0.60 miles of it being sub-9 min mile pace!
The paces for each tenth mile were: 8:22, 8:15, 8:23, 8:02, 8:05, 8:19.
So how do I feel? I feel pretty okay, I tend to evaluate four things in deciding this:
LUNGS: fine during, no gasping for air, but a little hacking once I got into the warm air at home again.
HEART: felt good, never beated out of my chest, wore my heart monitor and nothing looked awry.
LEGS: awkward, need to keep an eye on posture and maintaining midfoot strike and not overly tensing upper body, it will get easier as I get used to it.
BRAIN: felt good, each tenth of a mile felt so fast compared to my usual pace.
Next steps? Rest, stretch, make sure I recover well. Then do it again, and focus on extending that tenth of a mile into 0.15 miles then two-tenths and so on. Let's give this a go and see where it can take me. Wouldn't it be fun if I could come back and bring with it a sub-9 min pace 5K PR in a couple months?!?
Happy Running to All!
BRAIN:
Before the baby was born, while running pregnant, I had spent a lot of time thinking about my 2011 running. Planning, strategizing, dreaming. I decided I wanted to try to reset my pace, that I had a mental block keeping me from getting faster. For paces... My PR 1 mile is 9:04 min/mi, my PR 5K is 10:20 min/mi, my half marathon PR is 11:09 min/mi. Since most of my training runs from right before I got pregnant was 10:00-11:30 min/mi, I was ready to make a radical change.
So on tonight's run, after the first 0.05 mi trial to see how my feet felt running, I set my goal. A tenth of a mile at a time at faster than 9 min/mi pace, with however much walking recovery I wanted inbetween.
I did 2.1 miles, with 0.60 miles of it being sub-9 min mile pace!
The paces for each tenth mile were: 8:22, 8:15, 8:23, 8:02, 8:05, 8:19.
So how do I feel? I feel pretty okay, I tend to evaluate four things in deciding this:
LUNGS: fine during, no gasping for air, but a little hacking once I got into the warm air at home again.
HEART: felt good, never beated out of my chest, wore my heart monitor and nothing looked awry.
LEGS: awkward, need to keep an eye on posture and maintaining midfoot strike and not overly tensing upper body, it will get easier as I get used to it.
BRAIN: felt good, each tenth of a mile felt so fast compared to my usual pace.
Next steps? Rest, stretch, make sure I recover well. Then do it again, and focus on extending that tenth of a mile into 0.15 miles then two-tenths and so on. Let's give this a go and see where it can take me. Wouldn't it be fun if I could come back and bring with it a sub-9 min pace 5K PR in a couple months?!?
Happy Running to All!
BRAIN:
Thursday, January 6, 2011
At the Bottom of the Pyramid
The New Year's Day Half Marathon went really well, and I think a lot of people enjoyed kicking off the new year doing it as much as I enjoyed kicking off the new year producing it. But making that race happen was a lot of work and once it was over, I felt reduced down to trying to just "get by". I realized I was pretty crazy/stupid to produce a new race with a 4 week old - there's a reason many moms don't go back to work for at least 6-8 weeks. It took a lot physically out of me, my 3 year old was feeling the effects of several days of missing her mommy, laundry was piling up, etc. I couldn't shake this feeling that I was pushed back to the bottom level of a pyramid of needs I remembered learning about in some required class in high school or college. This isn't helped my the fact that my husband had most of December off of work, we had the holidays, Marissa had a two week winter break from school, and I produced an inaugural half marathon - no chance to establish a real daily routine.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs was the pyramid I was remembering. My family's at the bottom right now, where we're focused on basics like food, water, sleep, and excretion (baby's make a lot of dirty diapers). Sophie's still been trying to get back to her birth weight, and I'm having to constantly be on this 3 hour cycle of eat and drink in order to then turn around and pump, so that we're not completely feeding her formula and trying to give Sophie some immune system boost while I've struggled to produce enough milk.
So while all this is going on, those higher pyramid levels of love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization remain unattainable. My friend Michelle had the perfect comment to sum up the diagram above:
Happy Running!
Maslow's hierarchy of needs was the pyramid I was remembering. My family's at the bottom right now, where we're focused on basics like food, water, sleep, and excretion (baby's make a lot of dirty diapers). Sophie's still been trying to get back to her birth weight, and I'm having to constantly be on this 3 hour cycle of eat and drink in order to then turn around and pump, so that we're not completely feeding her formula and trying to give Sophie some immune system boost while I've struggled to produce enough milk.
So while all this is going on, those higher pyramid levels of love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization remain unattainable. My friend Michelle had the perfect comment to sum up the diagram above:
My college wind ensemble director used to reference it when we weren't playing well--as in "how can I expect these college kids to care about producing beautiful music--at the top of the pyramid--when they are worried about eating ramen noodles for dinner."So I want to start putting in some miles (because I can start walking miles now but can't start running again until mid-January) and want to start making running and race plans for the year, but can't as long as I'm at the bottom of the pyramid. I look forward to it, but need to just hunker down and "get by" until I get used to the routines needed to manage two children and still maintain my sanity. Hopefully, the next blog post will be about my return to starting to accumulate some miles again!
Happy Running!
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