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!

what i learned from marathon training

In 3 short weeks, I will be at the starting line of the Chicago Marathon. This past Saturday (prior to enjoying my wonderful pumpkin pie concrete from Doozle's), I ran my final 20 mile training run. Not going to lie... it went AMAZINGLY! I couldn't possibly be happier with how my training has gone the past 15 weeks. After training for + running my first marathon 2.5 years ago, I swore up + down that I would never do another one. My long runs were tortuously long, I trained through the very cold + snowy St. Louis winter season, I overtrained myself by teaching fitness classes in addition to my training runs, and a month prior to the race, I was diagnosed with Morton's neuromas in my feet that really made training even harder.

After that experience, I was determined to make this training better and, if possible, injury free. Here are the things I have done differently/learned from training for the Chicago Marathon:

1. LISTEN to your body! This has always been so hard for me. I am addicted to working out, whether it is running, weight lifting, or yoga. I just love it + it makes me feel good. But, your body NEEDS rest. I dedicated Fridays before long runs "off" days... I only did 20 minutes of yoga in the morning and that was it for the day. It gave my muscles a good stretch and gave my legs a much needed rest leading up to a long run. My body was much appreciative of the needed rest.

2. Yoga. I think I am officially becoming a yogi. I have fallen in love with it! The stretching + strengthening it provides is great for runners, and it just gives me a feeling of peace for the rest of the day. I have only been doing 20 Minute Yoga Sessions on my own, but it is the perfect amount of time and is still challenging.

3. Recovery Runs. Now, this might not be for everyone, but I have found it really works for me. The day after my long run, I would do a very easy long-ish run (5-8 miles). For most of these, I would run 8 minutes and walk 2 minutes for the entire distance. This really helped get the blood flow in my alread sore muscles, and I think it really helped take away some of the added soreness. Weird and counter intuitive, I know, but I really think it helped.

4. Proper Fuel. Not gonna lie, I count calories. I'm not proud of it, but it works for me and keeps me accountable. (Oh yeah, that running addiction might have something to do with the food addiction too.) And it honestly doesn't bother me to do it. I'm pretty relaxed about it and don't get upset if I "go over" my calories, since there are definitely days I don't get enough calories in me. Along these lines, I always try to make sure I have close to the number of calories I need to fuel my runs. Food = fuel. This includes "overeating" the day before a long run in attempt to keep my glycogen stores up. I also have gotten a lot better about fueling during my runs, bringing Gatorade + pitted dates along with me on my long runs. It really worked for me... plus, eating a very healthy, plant-based diet has really improved my running.

5. Speed Work. Confession: I don't like running marathons. Shocking, I know. I am a 5K + 10K runner in reality. I love running fast. I hate being passed + I love to chase people down. Marathons definitely are not something you can do this with. So, I decided to add some 400m + 800m repeats and tempo runs on Wednesdays instead of doing another long-ish, steady-state run. If you follow my training on Daily Mile, you will notice my times have dropped on my long runs, including my 2nd 20 miler. This has totally increased my confidence that I can achieve a Boston qualifying time in Chicago.

I truly believe in my training and I feel completely prepared to tackle Chicago in October. Although I really believe these things worked for me, they might not be for you. But, it never hurts to change things up a bit!

In addition, here are some other running blogs that keep me inspired to reach my goals while maintaining a healthy diet. (Another confession: I am totally addicted to food/running blogs. If you have any interest, check these out!)

The Front Burner - 5 time marathon finisher and vegetarian chef
No Meat Athlete - ultrarunner fueling on vegetarian + vegan food
Healthy Tipping Point - runner + creator of Operation Beautiful
Meals and Miles - runner training for Chicago
Beneath It All - another runner training for Chicago