5K training for winter

I haven’t talked too much about my training, well, since pretty much the marathon!  Not a lot has happened since the Chicago Marathon, but I am back in training mode again.  But, this time, NOT for a marathon!

I learned a lot from training for + running Chicago.  First of all, and probably most importantly, I fell back in love with the sport of running.  Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from speedwork and monotonous workouts and just run far.  It helped me clear my head and love every second of running long distances again.

But, one big thing [for me at least] that I learned is that I LOVE to run FAST!  Don’t get me wrong, 20 mile runs are great, but I would definitely rather run 3 miles as fast as possible, and come out with a little hardware.  Selfish?  Maybe a little, but I just love the satisfaction I get out of being FAST.

Really, the turn around point was after running the Girls on the Run 5K and telling the Hubs that the overall female winner ran it in 18:06.  [Yes, super duper fast…]  He thought about it a second, then said, “Wouldn’t you want to run that fast?  Wouldn’t you rather run a fast 5K time than a marathon?”

It got me thinking.  Sure, I want to qualify for Boston sometime in my life, but I think I would rather focus on getting faster at shorter distances first.  Currently, my PR is a 19:58 – a PR I am over the moon about!  But, I would love to get down below a 19:30.  [OK, so this will probably keep getting lower if I can break it… just like I keep wanting to drop my marathon time.]  I don’t know… I guess that just makes me feel like a super-athlete, a dream I never thought I’d be able to achieve.  And too bad I figured out I actually had some speed after college, otherwise I’d have run in college!

Anyway, that brings me to my current training.  Luckily for me, there is a great race series during the winter to help motivate me.  The St. Louis Track Club puts on their annual Frostbite series – there are 2 races about every 2 or 3 weeks on Saturday morning, with distances ranging from [I think] 1 mile to a half marathon.  With my current training plan, this will allow me to run at least 2 races, 1 in December + 1 in January, before I start training for the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon.

My plan right now is the run the 3K race on December 11 and the 5K race on January 8, then take a week off completely before half marathon training begins.

Here is the current training plan.  I am already 2 weeks in, but better late than never, right?

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
Week 1	Nov. 15	16	17	18	19	20	21
	3M easy	5x400	3M easy	30 min tempo	rest	60 min easy	4M fast
Week 2	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
	3M easy	8x200	3M easy	30 min tempo	rest	65 min easy	4M fast
Week 3	29	30	Dec. 1	2	3	4	5
	3M easy	6x400	3M easy	35 min tempo	rest	70 min easy	5M fast
Week 4	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	3M easy	9x200	3M easy	35 min tempo	rest	3K race	2M easy
Week 5	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
	3M easy	7x400	3M easy	40 min tempo	rest	75 min easy	5M fast
Week 6	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
	3M easy	10x200	3M easy	40 min tempo	rest	85 min easy	6M fast
Week 7	27	28	29	30	31	Jan. 1	2
	3M easy	8x400	3M easy	45 min tempo	rest	90 min easy	6M fast
Week 8	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	3M easy	6x200	30 min tempo	3M easy	rest	5K race	2M easy

[Adapted from Hal Higdon’s Advanced 5K.  I swear by his training plans – good mileage buildup + keeps me injury-free.  This is what works for me; it may not work for other folks!]

So, there you have it.  How I will be spending my afternoons + early Saturday mornings for the next 8 6 weeks!

Are you training for anything during the winter to keep motivated?  I would love to hear some race recaps if you have them!

fall running + food

Thank goodness for step-back weeks! The training schedule I am following has 2 weeks of progressively longer runs and then a week with a shorter long run called a "step back" week. And this one of those weeks! It's not only a physical break from training but also a mental break from running, since having to think about 17 and 18 mile runs can get pretty tough mentally. This week was only 13 miles... half the distance I will be running in Chicago.

[I am starting to find it sad that 13 miles is now considered "short" to me. But, at least I know I can handle the longer runs now!]

It was an absolutely PERfect day to run! It was 60* when I left this morning with a chill in the air... what I call the best weather for running! Temps where you can still run in shorts and a t-shirt but it takes a little longer to warm up and sweat. And let me tell you, it was so nice not to be drenched in sweat like I have been the past 2 weeks.

I absolutely love fall! It is perfect for running and brings on the best holidays and the best food! I just love getting done with a run and have that cold, almost congested feeling in my lungs. Best. Feeling. Ever.

The run was great! I started out with the Fleet Feet Running Club, but they veered off at the 1 mile. I already had my run mapped out in my head, and I know I would've been checking my watch a lot more since I wouldn't know where they would be turning around to go back. It really helped pace my first mile too. Did my "Fiber to Laurel and back" path and then went back out to get my remaining 5 miles in. I ended up finishing in 1:45! Not my PR, but still faster than my first 2 half marathons. I averaged about an 8:03/mile pace.

Fall weather and fall food can only mean 1 thing for me...

PUMPKIN!

I think pumpkin is probably in my top 10 list of foods. Although I am not a big pumpkin pie fan. But, pumpkin oatmeal... that is another story!

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Base:
1/3 cup rolled oats (not instant or quick)
1/3 cup milk (I use skim)
1/3 cup water
1/2 banana
1/2 tbsp. ground flax seed (omega-3s)

Throw all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. Put in the microwave and cook for 8 minutes on 50% power. (This is key... they will over cook if you cook them on high power. And you don't want gummy oatmeal, yuck.)

Extras:
1/4 cup frozen blueberries (I actually cooked these with the base ingredients since they were frozen, but you can use fresh stir them in after the base is done cooking.)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT canned pumpkin pie)
Dash of cinnamon

Toppings:
1/3 chocolate chip muffie from Panera
1 tbsp. white chocolate peanut butter (OMG, AH-mazing)

Stir in extras and add toppings. Enjoy!

I actually couldn't taste the pumpkin in it all that much... the chocolate from the muffie + PB overpowered it. But, it was still so good and totally warmed up my chilled body! Served along side with some Kaldi's Highlander Grogg, which is the only kind of coffee I really enjoy since it is smooth + sweet.

And all this fall weather can only mean pumpkin beer and pumpkin custard soon! Now, I have a whole week to think about my 20 miler next Saturday!

COMING UP
It's this weekend, so that means custard time! We will hopefully be going out tonight or tomorrow for some frozen custard goodness! This will probably be mostly a weekend feature, at least for the next couple weeks. And many stands will be closing up for the season starting pretty soon. But, we've saved a few to go to once the weather gets too cool to be outside.

CHANGES
Matt has been cooking some seriously amazing meals lately, and I have really been enjoying food photography, along with his delicious recipes. I hope to start sharing some recipes and foods we are eating as I sort of transition this into more of a food + running blog (since custard will only take us so far into fall + winter). Hope you enjoy some of the changes!