I’m linking up again this week with Amanda from Running with Spoons for “Thursdays are for Thinking Out Loud”!
1. Let me start by letting you all know that today the shift key on my keyboard hasn’t wanted to work since yesterday. I need to push down really hard when I want to type a capital letter. It’s really annoying and I’m not sure what I can do about it. I’m also missing a random key on the keyboard (one I don’t really need anyway.) I am going to try to make sure I capitalize correctly in this post but I can’t make any promises as I am commenting on other blogs today.
2. I’ve been signing up for races like a crazy person lately! Maybe it had to do with National Running Day but this week I have added 3 races to my calendar.
3. One of these races is on this coming Sunday and the next is the following Saturday. This is really throwing off my running schedule. I decided I would take a rest day this Saturday and next Friday (so each the day before the race). I am having a really hard time wrapping my head around not running on a Saturday! What do people do? I have been in my Saturday morning running routine for so long that it’s gonna be really weird to have nothing to do. Hopefully I can be productive and get some of the chores I usually do on Sunday over with early in the weekend!
4. I can’t believe the school year is so close to being over. Even though I work all year, I still measure time in terms of school years. This is my 7th year working in a school and every year goes faster than the last. I still get excited that its almost summer even though I’ll still be working. I can still pretend I’m a kid and have summers off, right?
5. This morning I did some speedwork at the track for the first time in 3 months. I decided to do eight 400s just to get my legs moving quickly before my 6k on Sunday. The first couple were embarrassingly slow but they got better as I kept going. Do you care about my splits? Probably not, but I’m going to include them anyway: 1:53, 1:54, 1:48, 1:49, 1:44, 1:42, 1:43, 1:41 (I ran three easy miles before starting the workout and finished with two miles, making a total of 9 for the day.) I feel like it had been so long since I ran faster than 10k pace that it took some time to get into it again. I felt good when I finished and the plan is to do an easy 3-4 tomorrow and take Saturday off so hopefully my legs will feel ok on Sunday. I am expecting this race to hurt ALOT but guess that’s good because it will only make me stronger.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
Do you include speedwork when you’re not “training”? Is it hard for you to get back into it after taking a break?
I have been kicking myself in the ass because I really do need to start doing more speedwork. I told my daughter next Wednesday we are going to the track FOR SURE.
Good for you! Speedwork hurts while you’re doing it but will pay off in future races!
I’m looking to get some more summer races on my schedule too! Although I hear you on the “disruption” to training…i start trying to get creative with fitting in long runs when a Saturday is spent at a race.
I did official hill repeats this morning and thought of you…they were killer! But after it was all over I loved it 🙂
Getting creative is key! This week I did 10 on Tuesday which was long enough to count as a long run but short enough for a weekday. Great job on the hills!
My long runs are usually Sundays and so are the ones hosted by local running businesses so seeing yours on Saturday (and races on Saturdays) really throws me off! So I know what you mean by it changing your routine. I try to avoid Saturday races (I work Saturdays anyways…) but when I can’t, the next day my brain is tell me to get out for my long run and my legs are playing dead.
I think we all kind of get stuck in our routines/habits! Its important to learn to move things around and make sure to still take a rest day (even when your racing on your usual easy or rest day!)
Ugh! I’ve been having the same problem with my R! It truly is such an annoyance, huh? 🙁
Yes so annoying! Its like you don’t realize how often you use a certain key until it no longer works.
That’s awesome that you signed up for the 10-Miler! I just moved home after graduating from Towson, and I wish I could be there running with my friends next weekend!
The thing I’m most looking forward to is getting back to Baltimore for the Charles St. 12 miler! I also can’t wait to move to New York to start graduate school.
Congrats on all that exciting stuff! I am hoping to do the 12 miler also, should be a great race!
I had to type for about 6 months plus w a laptop where the I button didn’t work so if I ever wanted an “i” I had to cut and paste it. Not so much fun, but pretty entertaining in a ridiculous fashion.
Wow that sounds like a lot of work! But way to get creative and figure out a solution!
Yay for signing up for three more races! I’m completely jealous. I live in south Florida and we simply do not have any races at all during the summer months except for a 5K on the Fourth of July!
I couldn’t imagine racing in Florida in the summer! I was just there in May and it was already ridiculously hot and humid. I guess a 5k early in the morning could be ok. Maybe you could travel to some races where it is a little cooler?
I do speedwork most of the year but it’s very informal if I’m not in training mode, the track intimidates me a bit still and makes the workouts seem harder so a lot of the time I do them on flat stretches of road then only hit the track when I’m in training for a big race. Somehow it helps me mentally but it’s completely ridiculous.
Sometimes I also do speedwork off the track. I have a hard time finding places where there are no lights or cars and it is flat. I actually don’t even use a real track. Its concrete and oval and about .3 miles around, but I use my garmin and make it work!
I care about your splits! (That sounds weird. haha!) I just had my first speed workout after my little break. I was feeling the burn for sure. It was hard to come back, but also felt good at the same time. I am sure you can relate!
Yes I can definitely relate! It hurts in such a good way.