Tuesday workout: 9 miles with 6 x 1 mile (9:34 with 400m rest)
Hey, we should do another Random Shit Tuesday because it's Tuesday and I want to talk in bullet points so I can jump from random thought to random thought with nary a smooth transition to be found. Okay, let's go!
- Tuesday is my new least favorite day. Actually, it's always been my least favorite day (isn't it everyone's?), but now it's EVEN WORSE. Why? Because today I started the Hansons' "strength" workouts. That means no more speed (wah), and also death. Because these workouts blow. At least, today's did. 6 x 1 mile with 400m rest between each. 9:34 pace for each interval. That isn't a speed workout, that's a tempo disguised as a speed workout, done on the sixth consecutive day of running.
- I'm pretty sure that the more torturous the workout, the more important it is to running a marathon. This seems to be true of these workouts. According to my Hanson guidebook, "When strength workouts are added to the schedule, the goal of training shifts from improving the VO2max (along with anaerobic threshold) to maintaining the VO2max and preparing the body to handle the fatigue associated with marathon running. You'll notice that at the same time the strength segment begins, the tempo runs and the long runs become more substantial." WHY DID THEY HAVE TO TELL ME THAT?
- Getting out of bed in the morning is really exciting these days because I never know how my legs are going to feel. You would think that hard run = difficulty getting out of bed the next day, but there seems to be no correlation between run difficulty and next-day soreness. Some mornings I'm surprised there's no soreness, and others I feel like I've got that horrifying disease where your muscles turn to bone (or something). It's kind of like Russian Roulette! And equally dangerous, obviously.
- It took me three years, but I can no longer tolerate the sight of oatmeal. This is a very sad state of affairs. Oatmeal and I were best friends. The promise of oatmeal was literally my only motivation to go to work when I lived in New York (you think I'm kidding). Now, not so much. Now, I want to gag when I eat it. I was blindsided by this development because I'm the kind of person who can eat the same shit food every single day for the rest of my life and love it (see: pizza and turkey sandwiches from Subway). So what am I supposed to eat for breakfast now? I DON'T KNOW. I love cereal and milk, but an enormous bowl of that good stuff only keeps me going for like an hour. Sometimes I have peanut butter on toast, but it's always followed by oatmeal an hour or two later. What else do people eat for breakfast? Waffles? Should I just make an enormous batch of waffles at the beginning of each week and eat a waffle for breakfast? Help me. This is urgent.
- I'm really starting to miss hiking. The snow's melting and I'm being pelted with amazing hiking opportunities from my weirdo Meetup stranger friends, but I can't go because I have to run. Fortunately, I foresaw this happening, which is why I decided to run Anchorage's earlier marathon in June and not its later marathon in August. Plus, the hiking's going to be pretty soggy for the next couple of months. Come June 29, we should have absolutely perfect hiking conditions. I'll be so ready to get back at it.
I miss you.
- If you have five minutes (obviously you do if you're reading this), use it to check out the reviews of this "BIC Cristal For Her Ball Pen." My favorite: "I can't find a switch to turn it on, and it didn't come with batteries. This is not the 'for her' product I was expecting. At all." There are many, many others (more PG than my favorite because I'm disgusting). It's a gold mine! Also, what a dumb product.
- I added up my monthly mileage the second I finished today's run, and I ended April with 154.5 miles. Last month? 154.75. What are the odds?! I missed five days of running while in Norway so I'm pretty happy with that number.
- Okay, I've put off studying for long enough. It seems I blew my concentration wad (sorry) on my first final and can't bring myself to study for the next. This bodes well for grad school.
- WHAT DO I EAT FOR BREAKFAST? What do other people eat for breakfast besides oatmeal?
- What's your least favorite day of the week?
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I am terrible at giving breakfast advice. I go through different spurts of liking/needing new foods and then getting sick of them. It is not my favorite (though I know it is important) meal of the day. I like snacking on raw salted almonds and raisins (also salted) during the morning if I have cereal so I do not get hungry.
ReplyDeleteIt was funny because last night I was reading the Hanson's book (I am slightly obsessed with reading it instead of doing it) and thought the strength work towards the end of marathon training sounded much better than the speedwork. I know 6 is a lot of miles to do repeats, but the speed is slower than sprinting a mile and you get a break in between!
I think you should forgive one of your easy run days and switch it up with a hike. It will make you feel better! Hikes are still very solid exercise. I gave you a shout-out on my blog. I can't wait to go to Eugene next week!
I'd do the raison/almond thing, but knowing me I'd consume 6 trillion calories without even realizing it. I'm not a calorie-counter, but I believe that could do some serious damage very quickly.
DeleteI thought the same thing about strength workouts because they're done a lot slower than speed. But they're actually SO MUCH WORSE. I assume it's a combination of running on really, really tired legs and the intervals lasting so long. 3/4 mile at 8:30 pace lasts about 6:20, as opposed to 9:30 for a slower mile. Also, there were six miles of "hard work" as opposed to three. It made a huge difference.
But if I give up one easy run to go on a hike my entire training cycle's ruined!!! Right? Not really. I will likely consider doing as you suggested at some point but I don't know that I'll have the courage to follow through.
Yep. She'll "consider it". Oh, Jeano. Did Norway teach you nothing?? ;-)
DeleteAnd Amy? I have the same relationship with a book on swim training that I've been reading lately. In fact, the more I read it, the more allergic to my bathing suit I seem to become. Weird.
Tuesdays are the WORST. I could win the lottery every Tuesday, have off of work every Tuesday, there could be a "Law and Order: SVU" marathon on every Tuesday and I'd STILL be like "this day sucks" just because it's Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteAlso, those reviews are hilarioussss.I mean really...pens exclusively for women? I don't even understand the logic! But yes, a gold mine with those reviews!
I think the logic was "we make it pink and throw a lady label on it and we can convince ladies worldwide they need this shit." If it weren't a goddamn pen (come on, now!), I'd call it a pretty common advertising strategy.
DeleteWhat does Subway's pizza and turkey sandwich taste like? [I know, I know. Your English is fine. But this was the first thing I thought when I read that sentence. And I've been giggling to myself ever since. I didn't sleep much last night, so shuuuush.]
ReplyDeleteBreakfast is my specialty. How much time/effort are you willing to put in?
Easier option: Any grain leftover from dinner - cook extra (rice, brown rice, barley, quinoa, whatever - the wholer it is, the fuller you'll feel) + Dairy (milk, chocolate milk, yogurt) + honey (if you want more sweetness) + dried fruit + nuts. Depending on your dairy and sweetening choices, you can keep this not-too-sweet. It takes just a minute or two to make. You can use fresh fruit if you prefer, but I like dried. It's also portable - in grad school, when I'd workout and go to work without going home first, I'd pack a container of grain n+ a container of yogurt, and add the trail mix I kept at work on top.
Slightly more time consuming possibility: Breakfast burritos. Dice a small potato and dump into boiling water. Sautee onion/garlic/peppers (if you're feeling fancy, or none of the above) and scramble 3 eggs. Potatoes should be cooked - so layer on a tortilla (or two): potatoes (just scoop them out with a slotted spoon), eggs/veggies, cheese, salsa/hot sauce. Roll and consume.
Hopefully the whole grains and/or protein in those two options will help you feel full longer.
Smoothies? I've been digging cinnamon raising english muffins with peanut butter and bananas lately. Or some Capt'n Crunch for a solidly nutritious meal to start the day ;).
ReplyDeleteWasn't one of your last intervals mile repeats at the faster pace? The 6 mile repeats at a slightly faster than goal pace should feel easy breezy, no? Ha..I never made it that far, so I can't commiserate with you on this one.
Yay for hiking!!!! I can't wait to see/here/relive all of your adventures!!
It's so cool to read through your training entries to really get an idea of what someone training with the Hansons method goes through. It sounds like the program is working--teaching you to really push through when your legs are tired and you feel like hell, like in the last few miles of a marathon. My breakfast is generally something small before I work out (often a Kind bar these days) and then cereal or some Greek yogurt after I'm done working out.
ReplyDelete