I never recapped Cherry Blossom, but it was a good race. To have been through the difficult injury I had last fall, running 51:06 at Cherry Blossom was a great step for me. I was secretly hopeful of a breakthrough or a PR, but it just takes time to get back to where I was before(and I was only 10 seconds off my course PR for Cherry Blossom). I was the top runner from any club team in the area(CAR, GRC, MCRRC, etc), and I felt like I got a lot out of the race. I think this year is going to be a higher frequency of racing for me. I feel really good doing what I am doing and most importantly, I am enjoying it. I put down the past 3 months training I have been doing. In all honesty, I have been coaching myself for a good portion of this training which is why I am going solo again. For one thing, it was disrespectful to my (now former) coach and I had to be honest with him that I was doing my own thing most days. I will talk more about my self coaching in my next post, but for now the training I have been doing the last few months has been working really well and I am enjoying my running a lot. I think at the end of 2016 I was not enjoying it and just in "robot" mode, and now I have gotten back to the more organic form of training I did when I trained myself from 2007-2014. I needed to get back to knowing myself again. I really owe it to myself for getting back to where I was this year-I'd be lying if that weren't true. Cherry Blossom was the first race back that I really felt myself again. I climbed out of the injury hole I had fallen into. But I will elaborate more on this in another post-my own theories as a coach(and I also AM a coach!), my personal coaching success and failures, and what I have learned about myself in this process. The past 3 months training are really interesting in terms of my training, and I really feel good about my running and the direction I am going-which is very important. It is great being able to be at the starting line of a U.S. Championship race healthy tomorrow, and I am excited to just get out there and race. So, I am giving myself credit for getting back here. I owe it to myself-I've worked hard to come back.
For tomorrow, I am not really as concerned about time as much as the way I run this race and my goal is to place as high as possible and place as high as I can. Again, I am just happy to be here. To be healthy, and enjoy running, and to be excited about it. It's not always about times-especially in championship races.
Below is my training for the past 3 months. I have been absolutely loving it, to tell the truth.
1/30-2/5:
land running: 82 miles
pool running: 3 hours=18 miles converted
Total: 100 miles running
Key Workouts:
2/05: Long Run: 16 miles progression
2/6-2/12:
land running: 83 miles
pool running: 3 hours 15 min=19.5 miles converted
road cycling: 32 miles(conversion = ?)
Total: 103 miles running + 32 miles road cycling
Key Workouts:
2/08: Track Workout: 5 x 1200m: 3:43, 3:41, 3:42, 3:40, 3:42, average 4:56 pace
2/12: Long Run: 17 miles progression
2/13-2/19:
land running: 87 miles
pool running: 3 hours 30 min=21 miles converted
road cycling: 32 miles(conversion = ?)
Total: 108 miles running + 32 miles road cycling
Key Workouts:
2/15: Workout @ Towpath: 4 x Mile(roughly ~5:00 pace), ~5 min jog recoveries
2/19: Long Run: 16.5 miles progression
2/20-2/26:
land running: 91 miles
pool running: 1 hour 30 min=9 miles converted
Total: 100 miles running
Key Workouts:
2/22: Workout @ Towpath: 6 x Mile(roughly ~5:00 pace), ~3 min jog recoveries
2/25: Hill Repeats
2/26: Long Run: 14.5 miles progression
2/27-3/05:
land running: 71 miles
pool running: 2 hours 50 min=17 miles converted
Total: 88 miles running
Key Workouts/Races:
3/01: Track Workout: 3 x 1600m: (all @ 4:56 pace), 400m jog recoveries(~2 min) between each
3/05: Saint Patty's 10K Race: 31:46, 2nd place
Splits: 5:13, 5:10, 5:03, 5:03, 5:02, 5:00
3/06-3/12:
land running: 91 miles
pool running: 2 hours 50 min=17 miles converted
Total: 108 miles running
Key Workouts:
3/08: Track Workout: 400m(72), 600m(1:47), 800m(2:23), 1000m(3:01), 1200m(3:36), 1600m(4:48)
(all @ 4:48 pace), 400m jog recoveries(~2 min) between each
3/12: Long Run: 16.25 miles progression
3/13-3/19:
land running: 96 miles
pool running: 2 hours 55 min=17.5 miles converted
Total: 114 miles running
Key Workouts:
3/18: Track Workout: 600m, 800m, 1200m, 1600m, 600m
(all @ 4:53 pace), 400m jog recoveries(~2 min) between each
3/19: Long Run: 17.3 miles(hilly) progression down to 5:20 pace
3/20-3/26:
land running: 80 miles
pool running: 2 hours 55 min=17.5 miles converted
road cycling: 40 miles
Total: 98 miles running + 40 miles road cycling
Key Workouts:
3/20: 10 mile progression down to 5:14 pace(58 min total)
3/22: Track Workout: 4 x 400m(70, 70, 70, 70), 2 x 800m(2:20, 2:20), 1600m(4:40)
(all @ 4:40 pace), 400m jog recoveries(~2 min) between each
3/26: Long Run: 14 miles progression down to 5:14 pace
3/27-4/02:
land running: 59 miles
pool running: 2 hours 40 min=16 miles converted
road cycling: 23 miles
Total: 75 miles running + 23 miles road cycling
Key Workouts/Races:
3/29: Track Workout: 5 x 800m: 2:25, 2:21, 2:19, 2:17, 2:15, 400m jog rests between
4/02: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler: 51:06, 25th place, 5:06 pace
4/03-4/09:
land running: 88 miles
pool running: 3 hours=18 miles converted
road cycling: 49 miles
Total: 106 miles running + 49 miles road cycling
Key Workouts:
4/08: 14 mile progression down to 5:06 pace
4/09: Long Run: 16 miles progression down to 5:20 pace
4/10-4/16:
land running: 91 miles
pool running: 2 hours 30 min=15 miles converted
road cycling: 39 miles
Total: 106 miles running + 39 miles road cycling
Key Workouts/Races:
4/12: 5 x Mile fartleks on towpath w/ 3/4 mile average jog between: 4:59, 5:03, 5:04, 5:07, 4:59
4/15: Track Workout: 16 x 400m w/ 100m jog rests between:
75, 71, 69, 70, 68, 67, 70, 68, 69, 69, 68, 71, 70, 70, 69, 68
4/16: Long Run: 3 miles easy, 4 mile MP, 1 mile easy, 3 mile MP, 1 mile easy, 2 mile MP, 1 mile easy, 1 mile MP, 1 mile easy, 17 miles total:
4 mile splits: 5:35, 5:25, 5:25, 5:21
3 mile splits: 5:21, 5:28, 5:23
2 mile splits: 5:20, 5:26
1 mile split: 5:26
4/17-4/23:
land running: 65 miles
pool running: 1 hours 15 min=7 miles converted
road cycling: 54 miles
Total: 72 miles running + 54 miles road cycling
Key Workouts/Races:
4/19: Track Workout:
400m: 72, 600m: 1:49, 800m: 2:27,
400m: 74, 600m: 1:49, 800m: 2:24,
1200m: 3:39, 1600m: 4:52,
all with 200m jog rests between
4/22: 10 mile moderate progression(down to 5:30 pace)
4/23: Long Run: 11 miles
4/24-4/30:
land running: 38 miles(so far)
pool running: 50 min=5 miles converted
Total:
Key Workouts/Races:
4/26: 8 x 100m strides
4/29: USA Half Marathon Championships
