Blog Archives
From Setback to Comeback
Track season is a go! After missing my entire cross country season due to my July surgery, I was adamant that my December surgery would not do the same to my second collegiate track season. One year ago I had a taste of what it felt like to travel to the NCAA Division 1 Conference Championships and I’ve been hungry for more ever since.
Yesterday I traded out my easy run for my first track workout in a very long time.
Can I get a hallelujah?! I missed that sweaty runner’s high :D
So basically, I am six weeks out from surgery. Surgery on the face is tricky….the swelling is unpredictable, and in my case, slooooow to go away. According to my doctors, heavy exercise will delay progress and cause swelling to take longer to subside. But since there is no pain when I run, I’ve decided (with their permission) to just go for it this track season and let the swelling/healing do its thing, delayed or not. I just can’t stand the thought of sitting out another season!
The Workout: Mile Repeats on the track at Tempo Pace: lactate threshold; running at a comfortably hard pace, around 15-30 seconds per mile slower than race pace. In the peak of training, my Tempo Runs would be in the 5:50 minute/mile range but over the last 7 months I have run for 8 weeks cumulatively and need to ease back into it.
My coach gave me the goal pace of 7 minutes. Nothing too serious or stressful, just comfortable. 3 x 1 mile tempo with 90 seconds rest in between.
Workouts begin with a long warm-up. 2 miles jogging, dynamic stretching (stretching with movement), form drills and short strides. My mom always laughs when I call this my “warm up.” She says, “That’s my workout!”
But after our muscles are nice and loose, we change into flats. I hadn’t laced up anything except for trainers in months; it felt official to sport some sleek light kicks again. (and they are PINK!)
Once on the track, I don’t even know what goes through my brain. I can never remember what I think about during workouts or races; but before I knew it, the first mile was done in 6:45 and I felt GREAT. Like I could’ve gone a minute faster. I was excited for two more. Coach said to keep the next one between 6:45 and 7:00 so I hit 6:50. Another conservative effort that left me with plenty of energy for one more. Last one was about 6:40 and I finished knowing that this was going to be a good season. I felt strong, not tired. My breathing was really controlled. I’m excited for some quicker sprints later today, and some 300 meter intervals on Friday.
Back on track!
Sunday Funday Runday
Tomorrow starts the first day of Spring Semester and the first day of track practice! I’m slightly scared…..this morning I awoke to -6 degree weather. Not the most ideal running situation ;)
Since I am coming off of a 5 week break from running & school, it’s hard to get back in the mode of being a student-athlete. Waking up early again, layering up with lots and lots of under armor and heading to 4 hours of classes after practice is a huge change from my vacation mornings that began with coffee and Pinterest. It is officially Indoor Track season though, which I will just be using to tune up for Outdoor Track in a couple of months. And today is:
This week, training will be fairly easy for me. I can’t just jump into full-on speed workouts on the track because my muscles need a little time to wake back up. So to ease into it, I’ll be doing some comfortable morning runs, increasing in mileage as the week goes on. If time permits, I’ll throw in some short afternoon runs in to the schedule as well. Mondays and Wednesdays we have weight training with a strength coach, though I always add in my own core routines after each run before stretching.
When I started training in college, I got used to doing long runs on Sunday and I really like it! (As 0pposed to long runs on Saturdays with a rest day on Sunday.) Get the week off to a good start and set the tone for the next few days’ workouts. I think long runs are my favorite workout of the week, when we tick off 11, 12, 13 miles before a feast brunch :) The longer the run, the happier I am (which means I should be just ecstatic after my first marathon!).
However today won’t begin with a brisk 12-miler for my first long run in over a month. But since I will be kissing “free time” goodbye tomorrow, I’ve got to take advantage of this Sunday with an extra long trip to the gym (iPod is loaded)! On the menu for today:
Get sweaty on Sunday morning & have the rest of the day to relax!
Hardcore Cardio – Intervals!
Up until this point, my workout posts have been pretty mild. But guess what?! I have been cleared by my surgeon, athletic trainers, and the NCAA to return to normal training so get ready for some more intense workouts and fitness variety :D
Any fitness trainer, coach, athlete will tell you that INTERVALS are by far one of the best ways to increase your speed/strength. An hour on the treadmill, steady-state, will no doubt burn calories. BUT if you want to see improvement and work up to faster speeds, you’ve got to add in some intervals one or two times a week.
Intervals combine shorter, faster bursts of energy with a moderate rest period in between. It kind of seems like “cheating” because you get to rest so much, but that’s because the sprints should be faster than comfortable pace! Also, to make sure this workout is effective, try your best to maintain the same pace during the sprints from the first one to the last one. There is no point if you slow down as you get tired, because your body’s break through happens as you push past fatigue!
Here is a moderate interval workout on a track, using the straights and curves as your guides:
I loved this workout in high school. I remember we did this on the first day of junior year, when the temperatures had to have been in the high 90s. I had my pink water bottle on the track with me, and pounded out the laps. Workouts like these will get you in shape quicker than just adding mileage!
Pin in here! :) 
