3.25.2012

What's next

After giving myself a rigidly enforced week off after  the NYC Half, I finally ventured out for a 3 mile run with my completely awesome birthday present (the Soleus GPS 2.0 watch I had been lusting after ever since the 1.0 came out). It was.... less than stellar. But that's ok, because I was kind of a fail in the recovery department this week. But this post isn't about my crappy first run back, it's about what I have planned for the next 11 weeks.

First and foremost, I have 10 weeks (and 6 days) until the NYRR Women's Mini 10k on June 9th. This race will commemorate my 1 year runniversary, and my goal is a sub 1:00 (hour, not minute) 10K. That's 6.2 miles at a 9:40 pace. To make a comparison, on June 11th, 2011, I did 1.75 miles at approximately 1 minute run/1 minute walk and thought I was going to die. Just looking at that on the screen blows my mind a little bit, partly because I've come such a long way, and partly because I can't believe I was so out of shape.

So, because I need to see it in print to keep me accountable, and because I'm a little bit excited to shake things up a bit, here's what I have going on for my first training venture on my own.

I live across the street from a really nice track, which I have no excuse for not utilizing more. My neighborhood also is terribly lacking in interesting running routes, so I think a little change will be good. Here's what I have in mind for the next few weeks:

Workouts:

  • Stadium running once a week
  • 400s/800s once a week
  • 2x30 second plank once a day(maybe work up to a minute each on these? 30 seconds seems kind of wussy, but I can be a little bit of a wuss when it comes to any sort of strength training. I hate it.)
  • tackle the Inwood hill monster once a week (I live on a very hilly street, un-affectionately known as the "hill monster")
  • get in a Saturday long run of min. 6-8 miles each week
  • get in 2 yoga/pilates classes a week (and conquer my fear of yoga, get some sort of balance, and strength my apparently very weak quads)
  • find my handheld weights and figure out something to do regularly with them (this may or may not happen unless I'm doing some sort of track workout holding weights and I'm not sure that's even safe.) 

Eventually I will figure out what tempo/fartlek (hahaha...fart) runs are and do those. But right now, baby steps.

Form:
Now that I know I can run 13.1 miles without suffering a heart attack, it's time to make some improvements on my form. This is where I fell apart on the half last week the most, and it resulted in a fun little injury known as posterior tibial tendonitis.

  • focus on shorter strides & stronger arm swings, especially on hills
  • figure out whether I need different shoes. Right now I'm in a neutral shoe, but my right foot tends to flatten out as I get tired. I'm not sure how much of this is my form falling apart from fatigue and how much of it would be helped with some sort of stability shoe. I'm hoping to make a trip to Jackrabbit sometime in the next couple of weeks and talk to the people there. My gut says I would benefit from a stability shoe, but I've been told by a couple of running shops I'm ok in a neutral shoe. I think I will probably end up doing shorter/track runs in my current shoes (Brooks Defyance) and maybe pick up a pair with reinforced arch support for longer runs. 
  • keep a general focus on my form. I'm pretty good about this now, so no reason to stop.
Races
  • Saturday April 7th - Scotland Run 10k (NYRR)
  • Saturday May 12th - Healthy Kidney 10k (NYRR)
  • Thursday May 31st - Wall Street 3 miler (NYRR)
  • Saturday June 9th - Mini 10k (NYRR)
  • Saturday June 23, Pride 5 mile (NYRR)
This will put me at 7 out of 9 races needed for my 9+1 automatic bid to the 2013 NYC Marathon. I may or may not run on May 12th, because I will be going into my last week of final exams for law school. Additionally, I will be sitting for the NYS bar exam at the end of July, so I'm not planning on doing anything other than workouts for my sanity (and a few weekend fun races) until that's over. But once I finish with the bar, I'm planning on doing at least one fall half-marathon. Right now, I'm debating between:
  • Hamptons half marathon (Sept. 29th on Long Island)
  • Grete's Great Gallop (Sept. 29th in Central Park)
  • Diva Half Marathon (Oct 7th on Long Island)
  • Jersey Shore half marathon (and fist-pumping/name Snooki's baby competition - date TBD, New Jersey)
  • Wineglass half marathon (upstate NY)
  • Woodrow Wilson Half marathon (Oct 7th in DC/MD/VA)
  • Shades of Death Half (Oct. 7th in NJ - I pretty much would do this one and the leaf peeper half just because I love the names)
  • Hartford Half Marathon (Oct. 13th in CT) 
  • Leaf Peeper half (Oct. 21st in Upstate NY)
And a couple more in NY and NJ that would be relatively close. Anyone have any experience or recommendations with any of these races? Any other fall half marathons that I should know about?

14 comments:

  1. After my first half - I am hoping to do the mini 10K in a similar time as you. Yikes!

    With your training you can certainly do it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Yoga and it will help with core strength, flexibility, and soreness.

    I find sitting in a suana or steam room for 10 minutes before hand really helps out the sore muscles and loosens you up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can totally do it! Once you finish dominating the Brooklyn half, we should meet up for some workouts to get ready for the mini! I'm excited to try yoga but nervous that I'm going to look ridiculous and fall over. Unfortunately, the yoga place by me doesn't have a steam room or sauna - it's in a church =)

      Delete
  2. Go you for finishing the half! I am so jealous - I have a serious love obsession with New York City. Those races sound awesome - I wish we lived closer so we could be running BFFs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow that's a lot of information. And also fartlek. Ha! I will never do it because I can't say it without at least smiling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, you have a lot planned and you have a lot on your plate! I'm sure you will do great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not nearly as bad as it looks! A lot of them are things I do anyway, I just needed to say it/write it to keep myself accountable. And I'm planning on doing one or two of the fall half marathons - DEFINITELY not all of them!!! Right now I'm hoping to do the Diva and/or Hartford half, but I'm leaving the options open for myself.

      Delete
  5. Yay, so exciting! Looks like a really busy year. I'm so motivated by your schedule. Take care of that injury ;) And Yoga rocks! It has complete changed my body shape and self image. (when I say stuff like that it reminds me of this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rVkJRIosTQ )

    It's fun to make fun of ourselves :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's a great schedule!! I am doing a couple of the same ones (Scotland Half, the Mini etc). I haven't planned far enough ahead for fall races but the list you wrote sounds exciting!!

    What is stadium running? Like stairs?

    Fartlek is fun- you can run as fast or as slow as you like :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love looking back at where you were a year ago to see progress! Makes it so much more apparent, sometimes day to day it can seem like nothing is happening. You should totally do the Hartford half, since I'm doing the full. Also I heard the Wineglass race is amazing and I'm dying to do it one day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, I can't believe you've been running for only a year and you are so fast. Go you!

    Grete's Great Gallop is a fun race...but it's two laps around Central Park so it can get kind of boring. But it has great energy and there is a festival afterwards. I've done the Staten Island Half in the fall (usually in Sept), and it's a nice flat course but not much to see, and it's an out and back. I guess picking which race all depends on your goals - do you want to have fun or PR? Also, I guess money and travelling matters too. It's fun to travel but sometimes, that can cost a lot and make it more stressful. Either way, good luck on the 9+1.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, I can't believe you've only been running for a year. You seem like an old pro. I've done the mini 10K for a few years and loved it. I'm sitting out this year.

    On fall halfs - I've done Staten Island, and it's flat but a boring course and an out-and-back. Grete's is two laps around the hilly park (in reverse) but there is a lot of energy. That race was my +1. Good luck on 9+1! I'm doing the Wall Street Run too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!! I tend to kind of geek out when I get involved in a sport, and running seems to be no exception =) Good luck on the Wall Street run!

      Delete
  10. Just ran the NYC Half myself and the Scotland Run on saturday! See you there :)

    PS. I also developed an injury following the NYC Half.. once I started running again I developed IT Band syndrome. Not sure if I started back too soon or too strong but it sucks big time! Maybe I should look more at my running form too.

    ReplyDelete