Blog Posts From Kat Ran Antarctica Tagged With cross_training

Going Strong

DCtoPgh — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:19:44 GMT

Training's going well and I'm feeling strong:

Saturday

6.1 mile run with a friend from out of town. Didn't push, just kept it comfortable and ran a nice 9:42 pace. My pace runs are supposed to be 9:40ish and I turned an easy run into a pace run without trying. Perfect.

Sunday

12-miles shooting for a 10:30ish pace. I couldn't reign myself in and I finished in 2:01 for an overall pace of 10:05. Two factors that should be mentioned: 1) Overall increase of elevation: 4109 feet (so not a flat course); 2) Last four miles: 9:30, 10:10, 9:44, and 9:05(!). I have never in my life felt so strong on a long run. It was incredible to know that I could have gone further or faster. I did a few things differently, but I think the important factors were getting out early when it was still cool and taking gu every 45 minutes (usually I try to stretch out the length between gu a bit more). I also focused on staying hydrated and eating well the day before. I felt so good I went to Ohio for a birthday party and was up and about all day when usually long runs really take it out of me.

Monday

Feel fantastic and it definitely doesn't feel like I ran 12 miles the day before. Calves are a little tight so I walk a mile to the pool, swim 2000 meters (get kicked in the ribs by a guy I'm sharing a lane with which I am none too happy about, especially since he didn't stop to apologize!), and walk another mile home. Took a nap Monday afternoon and had to work out some knots in my calf, but otherwise feeling great.

Tuesday

Ran the trails I ran about two weeks ago after the Bulgarian squats. Two weeks ago I ran 3.3 miles in 33:28 and today I ran a similar course (but 3.5 miles instead since I got lost) in 34:07 for a 24 second per mile increase in speed! Trails were still hard, but I just love running them and I can't wait to see how I improve on them.

So all in all a good few days for training and I'm happy to see that some combination of better nutrition, more knowledge of exercise physiology, more (and better quality) cross training and an extra mid-distance run are really paying off this season. I'm not sure what the critical factor is, but I want a fast Fall so I'm not going to stop anything to find out! Tomorrow: 5 mile trail run and 1 mile swim.

Comeback kid

DCtoPgh — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:20:10 GMT

Last week was tough after the bulgarian split squats. Wednesday and Thursday both had terrible runs and even though Friday was a rest day, I wasn't sure how the rest of the weekend was going to pan out.

Saturday:

The plan was to run 6 miles at planned marathon pace. Based on my marathon last year and a 10K from June, I think a reasonable goal will be 9:40 pace. Last week my pace run was easy, but I did it on the treadmill because it was storming. I wasn't sure how I'd fare keeping pace in hilly Pittsburgh and to add to that I wanted to tackle the same route from Wednesday's infamous 6-miler. I headed out and immediately knew my biggest problem would be reigning it in or burning out. I had splits at 8:55 and 9:00 and ended up with an overall pace of 9:13. In many ways, this was a good thing. For one, it was nice to have a bit of a confidence boost after such a lousy week. However, after reading Advanced Marathoning, I know that you shouldn't have two hard days in a row. Did I push too hard and sabotage my long run?

Sunday:

I wake up and it looks terribly hot and hazy. I get a very late start and I'm immediately worried about the heat. I'm also worried because I'm not running my usual route since the park is closed off for the Pittsburgh Grand Prix. I've only run my modified course once and it was over a year ago... even with mapping it, there was a moderate chance of getting lost. I try to keep my long runs in the recommended 60-90 seconds slower than planned marathon pace, which would leave my target range between 10:40 and 11:10 pace. My problem is I have a very hard time running that slowly. I tell myself that if I come in under 11 that's fine, but I really want to come in around 10:30. I run my 11 miles without getting lost and even in the heat on unshaded trails, an out-and-back course (which I hate) and a 700 meter increase in elevation at mile 8.75, I finished with exactly 10:30 pace. Awesome. Best part was I felt great yesterday. I remember last year after my long runs being out of commission for the day, but yesterday I could have done anything I would have wanted or needed to do (I opted to read )

Monday:

So I felt good yesterday, but what about today? Monday is my cross training day and swimming is my new favorite thing in the world. I've been swimming for about 45 minutes and I wanted to up it this week. So today I swam 2000 meters in under an hour, including some slow warm up and cool down laps and some technique drills.

I'm so psyched that this weekend I was able to run 17 good miles and feel good enough today to swim 2000 meters. I'm pumped about my fitness and can't wait to continue a good thing. I love making progress and it's so great to see progress in two activities I love.

Swimming

DCtoPgh — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:32:34 GMT

I love the water. I was born in early June and by the end of that month my mom had me in the pool. By the end of that summer I was swimming and when I was 2 1/2 I saved my brother when he fell into our 13 foot diving well when no adults were around. Water is my thing. I've probably spent 23 of 25 summers by the pool- swimming, lifeguarding, coaching. I love the water- have I said that already?

The problem once you grow up and you don't have all day to play in the pool and you can't relax in the sun while your bathing suit dries is that swimming can be a bit of a hassle. As a professional I don't want to schlep my dress clothes, makeup, etc. so I can get ready after swimming. Well today the stars aligned and I had the most wonderful of schedules and I was able to hit one of the pools on campus for a cross-training workout.

It's been about 10 months since I last got in a pool. Today when I opened the door and my feet hit the tiles and I saw the choppy waves, I was giddy. Yesterday I got a workout from swimplan.com, a free web site that spits out swim workouts based on a few variables, and I hopped in the water. My swim was amazing. Outside of the water I am high-strung and clumsy. But once I get my hair wet, I become a different person... calm, efficient, strong, graceful. I swam about 1200 meters, nothing groundbreaking, but it was phenomenal to, well, both literally and figuratively get my feet wet. I knew I wanted to get back to swimming and after today I'm going to make it a part of my weekly training schedule.