This morning I finally came to the conclusion that due to numerous conflicting travel plans, I will be unable to make it to SD for the Deadwood Half. The good news about the Half Marathon training that I was doing is that it prepared me to run a decent time at Azalea Trail 10K.

At first, I was really bummed about not being able to do the Half. I had to force myself to go to the track. Today would have been repeat miles, but since I'm now going to focus on running faster 5Ks, plus the fact that I just didn't want to do anything, I resorted to what I call my beginner 5K speed workout. I also call it introduction to speed.

It consists of a .5-1 mile WU and CD jog (I did a mile WU and a mile CD), with the following as the core of the workout:

4 x 100, 3 x 200, 2 x 300, and 1 x 400 with all at sub 5K pace with equal distance jog recovery. For me that meant the fast portion needed to be about an 8:40 mile pace. I managed to average 8:32 pace. I'm going to continue to do 1 track workout per week, try to find a race every 2 weeks and do a 6-8 mile long run on the weeks that I don't race.

Another good thing about giving up on the half marathon training is that I really do enjoy the shorter speed sessions and I was having a hard time building up to the necessary longer runs. Besides---it's going to be getting much hotter and much more difficult to do the longer training needed to run a half marathon.

See you at Run for the Roses 5K.

Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

Were I able to follow through with my plans to run a half marathon in June, this would have been my 7th week of solid training. I guess I should rephrase that---it is my 7th week of solid training; I'm just had to change my focus to training for shorter distances. We simply cannot fit in a trip to South Dakota in June, so I'll try to continue to improve my speed at the 5K and try to lose these 5 pounds that I've managed to gain in the past year.

My next two 5K races will be on April 12 and April 26. Then, we will take a 2-3 week road trip to TX, NM and AZ during which I hope to continue with my training.

Here what the past week of training looked like:

Sunday - 3 mile easy
Monday - 5 miles at 10:30 pace
Tuesday - 3 miles easy
Wednesday - Track workout---4.5 miles with 1 mile WU and CD The speed portion was 4x100, 3x200, 2x300, 1x400 at 8:32 pace and with equal distance jogg between intervals
Thursday - 3 miles easy
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 7 miles at 10:13 pace

Total for the week was 25.5 miles running, 7.5 miles walking, 27 minutes ET, and 2 weightlifting sessions.

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

As I am increasing the distance of some of my runs, I feel the need to get away from the flatness of the Trace and run places where there is more of a change in elevation which decreases the continued stress on specific muscles. The hill run works a variety of muscles and I think will help decrease injuries and increase overall strength.

In Timberton they are opening a new housing section and this adds a 1.75 section which has rolling hills. I anticipate I will be doing more running in Timberton because I will now be able to come up with a route that will be 6-8 miles in length.

Today, I intended to run in Timberton, but something just pulled me in another direction. I ran up Hiway 11 and turned left at the Shell Station. Then I did the Jervis-Mimms loop. When I got back to the Shell Station I knew that I would need more distance or I would have to run past my house to get the desired 5 miles. So, I ran around the back of the Shell Station , back out on 11 toward I-59, turned around there and headed back down 11 ending at the Timberton entrance for my 5 miles. This was a nice run, except for the traffic on Hiway 11. I coped with that by running mostly on the shoulder.

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

Now that I'm no longer training for a half marathon I can concentrate on improving my 5K time. Today was a speed day and since I'm racing on Saturday I didn't want to do so much that I'd still be recovering on Saturday. Years ago when I was racing 5Ks in the 21-24 range I would nearly always do 200s on Tuesday prior to a race. So, I figured that would work today. I did 4x200 and I was having a hard time making my goal time of 8:30 per mile pace. Strange as it seems, I tend to make the time goals when doing a bit longer intervals. So, I did 4x300 and was well under the goal time.

The recover for each fast interval was equal distance. Counting a mile WU and a half-mile CD, I had a total of 4.5 miles for the workout.

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

I had a good week of training and racing, although I wanted my mileage for the week to be higher. Oh well! I should just be happy that Saturday's 5K race time of 26:53 was my fastest since Jan 2007. I just checked the results and I won the 60 and over AG.

Based on my inability to hold pace in the final portion of the race, I'm thinking that I will do some mile repeats for this week's speed session and I'll do a long run of 7 miles on Saturday. This should give me a higher mileage week.

This past week I ran 21.5 miles, walked 8.5, did 2 weightlifting sessions and 17 minutes on the EFX. Here are the details:

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:52 pace
Monday - 5 miles @ 10:25 pace
Tuesday - 4.5 miles including 4 x 200 and 4 x 300 @ 8:30 pace
Wednesday - 3 miles easy pace
Thursday - 2 miles easy pace
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 4 miles including 5K @ 8:37 pace

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

I'm into my 9th week of injury/illness-free running. This week was really good. Today I had my best "long" run in I can't even remember. I did 7 miles at a 9:59 pace.

I've gotten into a pattern of alternating hard/easy or long/short. Last week was the 5K race and this week was the long run. Next week will be a race and the following week a long run. I'm keeping the long run at 7 since that seems to be a distance that I can comfortably manage. I am also doing one track workout a week, with the rest of the week's mileage being between 2-5 miles each day and one rest day.

Te other thing that I'm doing is stretching after the hard or longer runs. I'm paying particular attention to the quads, hamstrings, glutes and lower back. I also walk .5 before each run and walk an additional .5-1.5 after the run. I usually manage 2 weightlifting sessions per week.

I'm just going to keep on doing the same thing since in recent years, it has been rare that I have gone this long with the hamstring/piriformis acting up.

Here's the summary for the week:

Sunday - 3.5 miles @ 10:24
Monday - 5 miles @ 10:19
Tuesday- 4 miles including 2 x 1 @ 8:32
Wednesday - 4 miles @ 10:20
Thursday - 5 miles @ 10:40
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 7 miles @ 9:59

Total for the week -28.5 miles

_________________
Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

I'm half way through my 10th week of post-illness/injury training. Last week I bumped the mileage up a bit and this week I'm feeling it. Today I planned to do 4 x 200 and 4 x 300 @8:30 pace with equal distance jog recovery. Two weeks ago I did this workout with those times, but this week I have felt fatigued and a bit unmotivated. So, with the temperature at 86-88 degrees, I had a difficult time. I forced myself to complete it, but the times were at 8:48 pace.

Tomorrow I will run 3 miles and then coach high jump at Robin's track meet. We also have out of town guests coming to visit and on Thursday. I plan to run 2-3 miles in the morning and then play golf in the afternoon. Friday will be canoe or hike day at Little Black Creek. Then, on Saturday I will do the 5K race in Petal and then drive to Houston, TX for the first leg of our birding trip.

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

This was not a good week. I had planned to run about 22 miles and with Hollie's injury and other issues, I was only able to manage 19.25 miles. It's going to take me a few days to figure out how my running will be impacted by the injury. Hollie is able to use a walker to hop short distances in the house. I'm not comfortable leaving him for very long. So, I will probably be running around our neighborhood, carrying a cell phone.

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:30
Monday - 3 miles @ 10:30
Tuesday - 4 miles including 4 x 200 and 4 x 300 @ 8:48 pace
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 4.25 miles including a 5K (27:03) race @ 8:42 pace

Total mileage for the week 19.25

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

For the next several weeks, my training is going to be a bit unfocused. Hollie goes for a Dr appointment tomorrow and I hope we will then have a better idea as to the treatment plan. Right now, I don't feel that I can leave him alone for more than an hour or so. He's on pain medication and using a walker to hop short distances. As soon as the wound heals, I assume that he will then get a hard cast. At that time, I think he will be using crutches, which will be easier than the walker.

In the meantime, I'm staying close to home for my runs and I'm running with the cell phone. Today, I did venture to the track for a bit of speed, but it is hard to be motivated to run when I don't have any goals and I am so emotionally distracted.

I wanted to do speed, but with no motivation, I fell back on one of my favorite beginner speed workouts. I walked .5 and then ran 1.5. Then I did this speed workout: 100-200-300-400-400-300-200-100 @ 8:30 pace with equal distance jog recovery. Then I walked .25, ran 1 and walked .5. The total workout was 5 miles running and 1.25 walking.

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

I've just finished week 11 of my 5K training program. This is the longest that I've actually *trained* in several years. I usually am able to put together 6-8 weeks of training and then I do something stupid and get injured. This time, I've been following a very structured program and I'm pleased with the results. I just wish I could find some races close to home. With Hollie's injury, I cannot travel far and there just aren't any local races. I've been following a plan of racing one week and having less total mileage for the week, and then doing a long run the next week with more total mileage.

Today I did my long run of 7 miles at 9:57 pace. Two weeks ago, the 7 miles was at 9:59 pace. The remainder of the week was good as far as total mileage, but bad in that the pace was slower than I wanted---too many things going on and I'm having trouble getting motivated to run fast.

Here's what I did this week:

Sunday - 4 miles @ 10:49
Monday - 5 @ 10:43
Tuesday - Speed with 5 miles total, including 100-200-300-400-400-300-200-100 @ 8:30 pace
Wednesday - 3.5 miles @ 10:13, .25, .25
Thursday - 4 miles @ 10:45
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 7 miles @ 9:57

Total miles run 28.5
Total miles walked 9.5

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

This is the 12th week of my 5K training plan. On Tuesdays I do some sort of speed. This week I did 2 x 1 mile at 8:23 and 8:17. These are the fastest times that I've had for mile repeats since beginning my plan. I felt stronger than in recent weeks. Including warmup and cooldown, I walked 1.75 and ran 4.75.

I would like to do a 5K race this weekend, but our daughter, from Atlanta, will be visiting from Thursday to Sunday and I'll have to see how this all works out. She's coming over to give me a bit of relief from my caring for Hollie and his broken ankle, so I think she will be OK with me doing the race.

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

It's hard to believe that I have actually made it through 12 weeks of training without getting an injury. Overall, I'm very pleased with my progress, although I really would have preferred racing a 5K today instead of the 7 miler that I did.

I had a difficult time with today's 7 mile run. It was much slower that what I did last week. I had been dreading the run because I am very tired, due to lack of sleep while helping Hollie. His sleep pattern in all messed up, with him sleeping about 4 hours at night and then taking a couple of naps during the day. I may have to start taking naps so that I can get enough sleep. Even when Hollie is uninjured, he needs about 2 hours less than me. I'm going to have to figure out how to make some adjustments or I will be the one who is sick and he will the the one who is injured.

Here's my training for the past week:

Sunday - 4 miles @ 10:33 pace
Monday - 5 miles @ 10:24 pace
Tuesday - 4.75 miles including 2 x 1 @ 8:20 pace
Wednesday - 3 miles @ 10:50 pace
Thursday - 4 miles @ 10:28 pace
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 7 miles @ 10:18 pace

Total miles running -27.75
Total miles walking - 9.75
Weight lifting - 1 session

_________________
Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

I've been doing speedwork for the past three months and have noticed something which I think is unusual. I have been doing a variety of workouts, ranging from 100 meters to 1600 meters. I have noticed that for intervals of 400 meters or less, I can't seem to attain the times that I get when doing intervals over 400 meters. The example being that last week I did 2 x 1 mile @ 8:20 pace and this week I did 6 x 400 @ 8:24 pace.

It makes sense that I should be able to do the same pace at distances below 1 mile that I can do at that distance. I think my inability to do that is based on two things. One---when I'm doing the longer distance, I seem to get in a groove or attain a degree of comfort. Two---when I'm doing the shorter distances, I have a fear of going too fast and injuring myself.

How crazy is this?

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

This morning I ran the "5K" in Ellisville. Actually, it was 2.94 miles (according to Frank B and my Garmins). I calculated that I would have been able to hold my 8:33 pace for the remaining .16 which would equate to 26:31 for the 3.1 mile distance. This was my fastest 5K since Dec 2006. Needless to say, I am pleased with the time and with the fact that I've been able to train a whole 13 weeks without injury.

Here's what I did this past week:

Sunday - 3 miles @ 10:49
Monday - 5 miles @ 10:31
Tuesday - 4.5 including 6 x400 @ 8:24 pace
Wednesday - 4.25 miles on treadmill
Thursday - 2.5 miles on treadmill
Friday - Rest Rest
Saturday - 4.5 miles including 5K @ 8:33 pace

Total miles run - 23.75
Total miles walked - 5.75
Weightlifting sessions - 1

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Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS

Week 14 was not so good. I did manage to run 26.75 miles, but it was by no means quality mileage. It will be almost a month before I have another race, so I'll probably continue to have motivational problems. Oh yes---there's also that huge problem with heat and humidity that will only get worse.

Here's what I did this week:

Sunday - 3 miles @10:23
Monday - 5 miles @ 9:57
Tuesday - 3.25 miles (1@8:2
Wednesday - 4.5 miles @ 10:40
Thursday - 5 miles running and lots of walking
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 6 miles with 5.5 @ 10:29

Total miles running - 26.75
Total miles walked - 8
Weightlifting sessions - 1
Eliptical trainer - 20 minutes

_________________
Becky Ryder
hryder29@comcast.net
Hattiesburg, MS