6 x 400 : Making a case

I have always avoided speed work like the plague. My relationship with speed work has, historically, been a tense one. Having specific fast times to hit...gah! Stresses me right out.

I had hill repeats on my schedule for FOUR weeks in anticipation of speed work, the idea being to get me psyched and physically ready for it. I'm chagrinned to admit that I never completed a whole one of those hill repeat workouts...not a one. And I actually enjoy running hills.

Yes, I did do a timed mile last week. But that was an act of desperation.

On Tuesday I saw "6 x 400" on my calendar for the first time in a long time. I winced. I hid. I had a migraine. But I've run with a migraine before. Tuesday I didn't want to. So I didn't. I need for running to be fun. It can be hard, hard work, but it must be fun. I have never viewed speed work as fun. I've even (frequently) substituted elliptical for running using a heart rate training model to avoid running speed work.

I'm here to tell you something.

Heart rate training works.

So does the Don't Run, Run Faster plan.

Wednesday night after my kids were in bed, I finally sucked it up and ran some intervals.

And they were kind of fun. And, dare I say, kind of easy.

The random training plan I've been using this fall (cannot for the life of me remember which one it is...and I have no real goal race at the end of it...it's all kind of weird and nebulous-sounding, I know) calculated something from somewhere to suggest that I run these 400's in 1:52. I explained to myself that there was no need to be stressed about hitting a 1:52 for a quarter mile given that I was able to run a 6:47 mile. Luckily, I listened to myself, suited up and headed out.

My one mile warm-up was 10 minutes long. I was worried that I was running too fast for my warm-up, but I checked my heart rate monitor a few times and it had me in the high 120's...nice warm-up place to be. Then I began my first interval. Whoa, Nellie! 6:45 lap pace is a bit speedy, girl...rein it in. I had a heck of a time easing up enough; it felt just way too easy when I backed off. Aren't these supposed to leave you almost breathless but ready to go again after a brief rest?

1:49     (7:16 min/mile)
1:48     (7:11)
1:46     (7:05)
1:49     (7:14)
1:44     (6:55)
1:43     (6:52)

The last two I didn't think about hitting a specific time. Instead, I focused on feeling light and relaxed and fluid. They definitely felt the smoothest and easiest most likely because I wasn't playing the speed-up-slow-down game the whole time!

So I think my training methods are working. And I don't hate speed work anymore. And I won't be avoiding it.

Of course, maybe I'm doing it wrong :P

How do you feel about speed work?
– two thumbs up...now :)

If you have kids, what do you usually do after they go to bed?
– I don't always go run...maybe only once or twice a week. Sometimes I go to the gym and cardio or rock climb. Sometimes I sack out on the sofa and watch a movie. Sometimes I stare at the wall.

Darth Vader drives a minivan

This morning I felt infinitely more prepared to battle the winner of the CalTrans Lifetime Achievement Award for Consistently Worst Commute. Coincidentally, the kids were very well behaved on the way into school. Must've been my scary look and heavy breathing that kept them in line.

Darth Vader also wears flip flops cleverly concealed beneath his boot covers.

Just in case he wants to escape to the beach for a little R & R.

Today is the last day of school for the next 12 days...remember, my kids get lots of lengthy breaks...and so the school-wide Halloween Parade and party is happening now. It's always fun to see all the kids in their costumes...and all the adults, too...

A binder full of woman...

several other women (qualified women, of course) did join her in there,

but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

I was only able to get one picture of a child in a costume at the parade...it was one of my children...

Baby X is a vampiress-babe thing...

fortunately not a sleazy one...but skating on the edge :(  

My baby's growing up...

 I was only able to get the one shot because it is very challenging to juggle this (I did have to carry her the whole time)...

Yeah, she's smiling now that we're at Target and got her "Alice shoes"...

but she wasn't so much during the parade. 

Most likely because she was wearing the wrong shoes...the horror.

...a phone/camera and an extra jacket while wearing a Darth Vader helmet/mask that gouges into your face and flip flops that keep getting stuck in your boot covers. Seriously, no wonder Vader was so cranky.

What are you going to be for Halloween?
– The Darth Vader persona is my "only have 30 seconds...better throw something on" costume...it's not what I plan to be for the real Halloween. I'm actually not entirely sure what I will be. I had an idea, but now can't find the right dress in the right size anywhere (meaning at any Target in a 20-mile radius) :(

If you have kids, what are they going to be for Halloween?
– Baby X is pictured above, as is Miss C. The boys are going to be:  Q-Man = Darth Maul and Big G = the King of Hearts...like on the playing card...but not as a playing card.

No Cupcakes...but it was a Classic 5K :)

Run With Jess organized the Cupcake Classic Virtual 5K, a race to be run however it worked best for the individual runner sometime during the time period of October 14th and 21st. You could do it by yourself, with a group, in the dark, on a trail...whatever you felt like doing.

I was so excited about this that I did it THREE times. Yes...1...2...3 times. Please excuse the absence of a race bib...I was so excited to be leaving the house to get away from my kids to go runnnnnninggggg that I forgot it :P

The first time I did it was Thursday...on the elliptical. After a 2.5-mile warm up, I ripped out a 17:19 elliptical 5K (just off my Ellipmic record). I will likely never be as fast on the ground as I am on the elliptical, and that is fine. I love how the elliptical makes me work super hard and doesn't hurt in that bad way. I love the feeling when my body is working at its capacity...LOVE it.

My second Cupcake Classic 5K was this afternoon from 5:00 until 5:31:36. It was beautiful out, and I was on my favorite trail running in these non-trail-running shoes...

I actually prefer these over my Brooks Cascadia 7 official trail-running shoes...

but I'm not doing anything very 'technical' (still not entirely sure what that means)

The temperature was perfect. Everything about the whole experience was perfect. I even randomly bumped into a friend from high school...in the middle of nowhere! I ran the whole loop with a goofy smile plastered on my face...sheer enjoyment. And when I finished, I said to myself Wow. That was so fun. I want to do it again! And so I did.

This final running of the Cupcake Classic 5K was faster than the second but not quite as fast as the first (for obvious reasons :P). You can tell it was smokin' fast by the blurriness of this picture...

Disclosure: that picture was actually taken during a different running of this route. I run this loop all the time and have an extensive archive of photos covering pretty much every section. Is that cheating?

This final 5K in the Cupcake series was completed in 30:02 (average pace 9:40).

I don't eat cupcakes so my post-race indulgence was this...

I'm like the kombucha ad girl...

I should seek an endorsement contract or something.

Maybe I need an agent?

Many thanks to the very organized and enthusiastic Jess for creating the Cupcake Classic 5K! She also does the Jelly Bean Run every spring and is going to help me organize Jingle Bell Hell in December...I am stoked to have her willing to work with me on that!

Any racers this weekend?

Any cupcake eaters or kombucha drinkers this weekend?