Happy birthday

Last week, my hubby gave me an early birthday present....a Bosu ball! I've been learning how to do fun arm & core work, such as push ups and planks on the ball. It's a good kind of ouch ;)

Today, which is my actual birthday, I woke up early to do a base run with 5 hill sprints. I felt strong in Zone 2 and concentrated on my sprinting form during the hill sprints. And, my copy of the Hudson training book arrived in the mail this afternoon! I can't wait to read it to learn more about the importance of hill sprints and the method behind the madness of Fartleks! Apparently, my coach's training philosophy is aligned with Hudson's....

Tonight, I'll be celebrating AND making a running-related wish!!!

Ten miler

For this week's long run, I did a 10 mile progression run. I went back to Alameda since I can do a flat route on a nice (and safe) path/trail without dealing with cars or traffic lights!

I started out really easy and let myself ease into the run. By mile 3, I ready to work a little harder but kept running at a pretty easy pace. For miles 4-7, I ran just under 10 minute pace. At mile 7, I picked it up to Zone 3, so my last 3 miles were the fastest. At one point, my legs wanted to go faster, but my heart rate was already high enough, which cued me to back off a little bit to conserve energy for a good finish. It was getting hot, but I kept telling myself to run strong and finished with some speed :) Once I cooled down, stretched, and drank some water, I really didn't feel like I'd run 10 miles....I suppose that's a sign that I'm getting in shape ;P

Next week will be nutsarella, so I'll be cramming in a few workouts, including hill repeats and fab fartleks!

Champions

First off---congrats to the USA soccer team for a legendary goal this morning. WOW!!

Cookies and red wine is not a dinner of champions....and maybe I learned my lesson about doing a hard workout after a not so ideal dinner! Today's fartlek workout was tough, and I did the four repeats. But after cooling down, my tummy let me know that it wasn't too happy with me :(

This week

I've been following my coach's lower mileage philosophy but ran 32 miles this week. My legs are feeling stronger, and I think my running form is improving, too! It seems like every workout includes some type of 'quality' OR is an easy-paced recovery run.

Today's workout was an 8 mile progression run. I drove out to Walnut Creek for a flat running route---even though the temperature is higher out there. The first few miles were at a really easy pace, but I started working around mile 4 (Zone 2). BTW- I'm learning that the high end of Zone 2 is still fairly easy but requires me to concentrate and not just jog around ;O

Then, for miles 6-8, I maintained a medium-hard pace (Zone 3), which was about 8:30 pace. At the end of the run, I felt like I'd worked hard but wasn't completely wiped out, which is a good thing :)

Love at first step

My new running shoes are.....

Nikes! They just felt oh-so-right at the running store (Transports in Oakland). I've had a few couple great workouts in them and now need to deal with the accumulation of beat up running shoes floating around our place!

Ace of Base

This is my base training period, and I'm enjoying (and acing, if I do say so myself!) my base runs. These workouts are meant to be strong and steady, with my heart rate in zones 1 &2, so not too easy OR too hard :)

Today's just-right run was 6.8 miles at 10:10 pace with a few hills (thanks to Oakland's up and down terrain).