Jen Jones Runs

I made it a little over 80 miles this week, that is a new high for me.  I think this plan peaks just over 90, so I’m not as worried about that as I was a few weeks ago.  The weather was fairly terrible this week, from a runner’s standpoint.  Highs in the low 80’s with crazy sun and humidity.  Next week should be much nicer.  It’s pretty crazy how much my times drop along with a temperature drop…I love running in the “cold”!  Now, I just need it to BE COLD.

Today was a slow 19.5.  Slow, thanks to my on and off again knee thing.  I was pretty warm out and I did run out of water, so I was probably good I didn’t push it too much.  If I wasn’t so darn thirsty, I would have just made it an even 20; but I wasn’t willing to wait a few more minutes without a drink.  Next Sunday is forecast to be nicer, so maybe I can get my 20 in at a better clip.  I don’t want to extend myself too much just for one run a week, I should save that for my tempos and intervals, but I would like to keep it around 8m/m if the weather is nicer.

Okay, I’m already thinking about Tuesday’s tempo run.  I would really love to nail this one.  If I race next Saturday, I’ll have to switch things up a little, so next week might be a tougher week.  Monday-recovery runs x2, Tues.-tempo, Wed&Thur-med longs, Fri.-recovery, Sat.-race, Sun.-20.  That would string 3 harder days together, but I don’t want to run 13 the day before a 5k, I need all the help I can get on those.

Well, after being upset with myself after the 5k, I decided to not blow up on my tempo run this week.  I choose to run on the TM because of the weather outside, it was pretty warm, around 80 and sunny.  I also know, unless I am certain that I’ll go flying off the back of the TM, I won’t slow down the pace at all.  I ran 3 miles as a warm up, then did 4 at 7:20 and 1 around 7:05; a 2 mile cool down followed.  This felt okay.  Now, I know it’s easier doing it on the TM but I need some confidence and this helped for sure.  Next go around on the TM, I think I’ll kick up the speed a little.  I think Daniels has me just around 7 even for a tempo–that will come with time.

Today was a fairly solid 14 in the heat.  It was actually nice when I left and then it heated up to around 79 and sunny for the second half.  I felt okay, though.  I also mixed in the Linton bridge a couple of time, over and back.  I’m still finding “hills” really hard on the way up.  I can’t seem to come even close to stabilizing my HR, I guess that will just take some time and experience over hilly races.  If we ever get moved out to Boulder, that will no longer be a problem.

Tomorrow will be a much deserved recovery day.  My new shoes should be here this evening, so it’ll be nice to start out the new pair with a short run.  I hope this solves my knee problem, I think it will.

21:24, 2nd overall female

I wasn’t too happy with this race for a few reasons.  Mainly, I think I just wimped out on the pace.  I wasn’t expecting to post a PR, but I should have come in under 21 easily.  It was a learning experience, I need to learn keep strong even if the competition isn’t pushing me.  Here is my chart, you can see how my hr took too long to climb to a good zone and I actually let it fall during the 2nd half…bad-bad-bad.  I usually average around 184/5 for a 5k with a peak at 190ish.  Today, I was around 181 with a 185ish peak.  I really failed to push myself.

 I have endurance, now it’s time to really focus on speed more.  A few people (thanks PhillyTom) are giving me some sound advice, now I just need to follow it.  I don’t want to lose my focus for Boston, but I’m going to mix it up a bit.  I hope, once I really add in more tempos and intervals, times will begin to drop in these shorter races.  5k’s hurt no matter what, I’ve decided, so I might as well try to get them done quicker.

Well, I can figure out how to post but nothing else makes sense to me with this blog as far as customization.  Hopefully, I can make this page a bit more exciting in a few days.

The training is going well, with the exception of my left knee bugging me a lot.  I’m not sure what is up with it and it’s beginning to make me a little nervous, hopefully it’ll work itself out soon.  Last time around, about ten different “things” popped up that hurt and they all went away with time.  I guess if I backed off every single time something hurt, I would never get anywhere near the mileage I want.  It’s a chance I’m willing to take.

There is a 5k tomorrow morning, it’s going to hurt.  This year, I really would like to begin to enjoy them more.  It’s nice to be able to race more often and that can only happen with the shorter distances. 

Pfitz’s 18/more than 70 is treating me okay so far.  I was a little nervous about the miles but I think 3 weeks into it, my body has adjusted (thank you, body).  I have come to the conclusion, though, that I need to run towards the middle/end of my training paces ala McMillian.  Daniel’s VDOT paces are too aggressive for me right now.  Maybe that will come with time; but I’m guessing to run faster during my training, I’ll need to bump down the overall mileage.  The tempo didn’t go too well, but I’m going to get those down in the next month.  For whatever reason, the legs only like to go fast during races and that’s okay.  If I get the courage to finally join the running club, I think the group runs will allow me to loosen up and pick up the pace on my long runs.

I got a Garmin 305 this week, so now we have the Garmin 305, Suunto T6 and Polar RS800.  I’m totally in gadget heaven will all the watches.  Now, I have to figure out which one I’ll race with tomorrow…

Okay, here I go.  Thanks to my nephew, Steve, I now have a blog.  I am hoping to use this as a way to keep track of my training and share my impressions of how it’s treating me.

The weather is FINALLY nice here this morning, at least for a few days.  I can actually wait a little while to get in my run instead of having to get outside as soon as possible to beat the heat.  It’s around 46 right now and getting really windy, there is talk to us setting a record “low” for a high temperature.  This is going to be a really nice couple of days!