Julie's PR attempt at Fox Cities

Nice job on the 15 and the 10.5 and the repeats. Glad to hear the heat advisory should be over soon, so hopefully it'll be a little more bearable. Great picture!

Speaking of falls, my dad fell tonight on his run and scraped his elbow up. I usually have a good hard fall (from simple tripping, not from ice) about once a year at least. I figure if I haven't fallen by December, I haven't put enough miles in for the year.

Adorable photo! Happy belated birthday to your little girl!
I hope your shoulder is feeling better. I'm assuming it won't get in the way of all your upcoming long runs.

We always need a rest day here and there. Glad you got yours today. Especially since you are about to start putting together some longer distance runs. Hopefully your shoulder will start feeling better. Does it only bother you when you sleep? Good luck with your runs this weekend!!

Penelope wrote:Nice job on the 15 and the 10.5 and the repeats. Glad to hear the heat advisory should be over soon, so hopefully it'll be a little more bearable. Great picture!

Speaking of falls, my dad fell tonight on his run and scraped his elbow up. I usually have a good hard fall (from simple tripping, not from ice) about once a year at least. I figure if I haven't fallen by December, I haven't put enough miles in for the year.

I hope your dad is OK! I am glad I am still relatively young and I've never broken a bone even when I crashed hard on my bike 3 yrs ago and cracked my helmet in half. I am really insistent on the importance of helmets! The humidity has dropped, still warm but definitely less oppressive!

Seth Harrison wrote:Adorable photo! Happy belated birthday to your little girl!
I hope your shoulder is feeling better. I'm assuming it won't get in the way of all your upcoming long runs.

Thanks Seth! My shoulder is sore all the time but not interfering with the running.

Nick Morris wrote:We always need a rest day here and there. Glad you got yours today. Especially since you are about to start putting together some longer distance runs. Hopefully your shoulder will start feeling better. Does it only bother you when you sleep? Good luck with your runs this weekend!!

Not to be funny, but it only wakes me up when I sleep. I have a dull pain all the time and if something clunks into it (like my daughter's head) or when I pick her up, it's pretty sharp pain. Ibuprofen is still my friend.

Today was 8 miles with 8 x 100m strides. I hope I did it correctly. After about 6-6.5 miles I ran pretty hard for about a block, jogged about the same distance to recover, and then did it again x 8. Probably a little faster than 5K pace. I'm still trying to figure out all this speed work stuff.

Tomorrow is a recovery run 5-6 miles before working and then 14 Sunday. I hope you all have good weekends and good long runs if they're in your plans.

Julie wrote:Not to be funny, but it only wakes me up when I sleep. I have a dull pain all the time and if something clunks into it (like my daughter's head) or when I pick her up, it's pretty sharp pain. Ibuprofen is still my friend.

Today was 8 miles with 8 x 100m strides. I hope I did it correctly. After about 6-6.5 miles I ran pretty hard for about a block, jogged about the same distance to recover, and then did it again x 8. Probably a little faster than 5K pace. I'm still trying to figure out all this speed work stuff.

Tomorrow is a recovery run 5-6 miles before working and then 14 Sunday. I hope you all have good weekends and good long runs if they're in your plans.

Sounds like you put in a good quality run in. If you keep putting your miles in, it will pay big dividends. Keep up the good work!

Just like recovery runs, I think that the more you do speedwork the better you get at finding the right pace for the run. Good work on the repeats!!

Thanks Jon and Nick.

Yesterday was an easy 5 in humidity/heat. Pretty miserable again

This morning was 15.5 more heat.humidity but not as bad. Ran with 2 friends they both think a PR is pretty reasonable. My plan was to run 14 but you know how routes end up wiggling a little more than planned. Better a little long than short. 20 miler next Sunday and a couple of speed work days this week.

I'm with you on trying to figure out what speed work will work best for
me, but that sounds like a good sort of fartlek workout to me. Heres to hoping the nasty weather breaks soon for you and good job on getting in your 15.5. I was the opposite of you - I thought when I went out the door this morning that I might go 16-18, but 15 was just fine!!!

Nice job Julie on the intervals and the long run. Speedwork can be fun because it breaks up the regular runs and you can drop the hammer. Just think of the mental toughness you continue to build from running in this weather. Great job and nice picture of your daughter.

Julie - Nice long run - your strides the other day looks good. I usually do 100m strides w/200 recovery jog. If 100 and 100 work for you great I just like to get my HR down to recovery zone as these really are not speed work more like quick leg turnover to shake the dust off imo.

John Kilpatrick wrote:I'm with you on trying to figure out what speed work will work best for
me, but that sounds like a good sort of fartlek workout to me. Heres to hoping the nasty weather breaks soon for you and good job on getting in your 15.5. I was the opposite of you - I thought when I went out the door this morning that I might go 16-18, but 15 was just fine!!!

I think you still had a good long run. 15 and 16 aren't all that different. I'm kind of new to all this speed work. My previous speed work was just trying to keep up with faster friends and not ask for walking breaks.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Nice job Julie on the intervals and the long run. Speedwork can be fun because it breaks up the regular runs and you can drop the hammer. Just think of the mental toughness you continue to build from running in this weather. Great job and nice picture of your daughter.

Thanks Alex! Oh I am hoping all this hot weather training pays off and I end up with awesome weather in September. It's just such a variable time of year I'm sure it could be hot or just about perfect.

Kenny B. wrote:Julie - Nice long run - your strides the other day looks good. I usually do 100m strides w/200 recovery jog. If 100 and 100 work for you great I just like to get my HR down to recovery zone as these really are not speed work more like quick leg turnover to shake the dust off imo.

Kenny thanks for the strides advice, good to know as they're on the schedule for tomorrow, too. I do appreciate any training advice, especially when it comes to speed work since it's all new to me.

Today was just 6 mile GA in 97% humidity. Wow it was thick out there! My legs felt a little dead tired from yesterday, too.

I'm looking forward to Wednesday's LT run - supposed to be 12 miles with 7 or 9 (can't remember right now) at 15K-half marathon pace which I figured was around 8:53. So hopefully it's a little cooler and I can do a nice job with it.

97% humidity...Yuck!! I love it when someone asks me how far I am running today and I say "just" 6 miles. They look at me like I am nuts. Good luck with your 12 miler on Wednesday. Hopefully the elements will improve...

Julie wrote:.

Today was just 6 mile GA in 97% humidity. Wow it was thick out there! My legs felt a little dead tired from yesterday, too.

Nothing easy about that run Julie. I did an identical run in high humidity last night. The humidity is just brutal. I'm sure like me, you were soaking wet afterwards.

Wow, that's a heck of a LT run you got planned tomorrow. Have fun with it.

Thanks Nick, Seth and Alex!

I decided to do my LT run this morning instead of tomorrow since my husband took the day off work to celebrate our anniversary (therefore, I wouldn't need to be home in time for him to go to work).

Humid but not as bad as yesterday and about 76 degrees at 4:45 a.m. I tried to check weather.com but we lost our internet this morning briefly. Anyway, it was kind of a mental block the first few miles trying to figure out if my 8:53 pace was even possible in the heat humidity. I almost just scrapped it all when one of my half miles was as slow as 11:00 (seriously? well, it included a walk break and was hilly but that did nothing for my confidence).

Here is what I did

Just over 12 miles, didn't time the first couple but I think around 9:45-9:55 pace then
10:01 (still warming up)
5:53 half mile (what on earth?)
Then decided to start the LT part

1 9:24
2 9:51
3 8:32
4 8:52
5 8:35
6 8:50
7 8:38
8 8:36
9 8:16

then about a half mile or so pretty easy jog back home

I have to thank some man who cut it really close turning left right after I crossed where he was turning (I was just running straight, he was turning and went right across where I just had been). His windows were rolled down and I yelled something about next time try to cut it closer, buddy (yes those were my words) and he yelled back "I saw you!" well it got me kind of scared, I think he wasn't really doing anything wrong, I just yelled because he scared me cutting it that close and it's kind of a self defense thing (not maybe smart but whatever). Anyway I sped up and kept going.

I did stop once for a bathroom break and then stopped for water a little further down. I was going to quit my LT miles earlier but felt like I still had some energy in me and my first miles were slower than I had hoped.

Then just as I was starting my last half mile an older lady turned right just as I turned onto the street and was quite a bit too close for comfort. Sigh. I am thankful I am fine and not hurt but sometimes I am frustrated and scared when drivers don't glance right before turning right. I know better and need to be a defensive runner and I wasn't the best at that this morning.

So there's my run. Not exactly steady pace but I felt like I pushed myself and it was a bit warm and humid for my liking. I decided that I better not use that as an excuse all summer, though since it's just been hot for a month now and I only do outdoor running. This will all pay off in September.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Wow, that's a heck of a LT run you got planned tomorrow. Have fun with it.

I was looking at that twice.

LT probably should not go past 7-9 IMO as it usually is run around 10m-HM pace so running 12 is like running a HM race might as well enter a race otherwise you are going to hard IMO for a training run.

Maybe she meant 12 with 5-7 @ LT. or something like that.

Well You just posted as I posted.

Julie - remember LT is 15k to HM pace try your best to keep splits close to that if possible and to venture past 7 or so might be red lining it IMO and if you can go way past 7 you might be doggin' it.

Kenny B. wrote:

Alex Kubacki wrote:Wow, that's a heck of a LT run you got planned tomorrow. Have fun with it.

I was looking at that twice.

LT probably should not go past 7-9 IMO as it usually is run around 10m-HM pace so running 12 is like running a HM race might as well enter a race otherwise you are going to hard IMO for a training run.

Maybe she meant 12 with 5-7 @ LT. or something like that.

yeah 12 miles total with 7 at LT. Sorry I probably worded it wrong.

Great job Julie. Recover well from that.

Good run Julie!! I am glad that you didn't get hurt. I have become a very defensive runner ever since my close call...

Kenny B. wrote:

Alex Kubacki wrote:Wow, that's a heck of a LT run you got planned tomorrow. Have fun with it.

I was looking at that twice.

LT probably should not go past 7-9 IMO as it usually is run around 10m-HM pace so running 12 is like running a HM race might as well enter a race otherwise you are going to hard IMO for a training run.

Maybe she meant 12 with 5-7 @ LT. or something like that.

Well You just posted as I posted.

Julie - remember LT is 15k to HM pace try your best to keep splits close to that if possible and to venture past 7 or so might be red lining it IMO and if you can go way past 7 you might be doggin' it.

Yeah I really was trying to judge my speed and keep it as close to 8:53 as possible. I didn't do the best with that. I wonder if I should have just done 7 miles just a little faster than that. It didn't feel like it was that fast, though. It was faster than a GA run, for sure, but really didn't feel that bad even with the humidity and heat. When I hit my split for that last mile at 8:16 I was surprised but there was also a down hill the last few blocks and there were plenty of hills in most of the miles I ran. I'm still having a hard time judging my speed for these runs and honestly the last few miles were easier than my first few. Maybe the humidity dropped or I just was warmed up but it does seem like I should have been much more tired at the end. Does that mean I just set my goal too low?

Nick Morris wrote:Good run Julie!! I am glad that you didn't get hurt. I have become a very defensive runner ever since my close call...

Yeah people aren't always looking but I do need to be more careful. I usually am pretty good about watching out for them, too.

Thanks Alex, I hope you have a great marathon/training run on Saturday!

Julie, that was a great run and should definitely give you confidence. I think LT should be 30-35 seconds slower than MP so if you are planning 9:22, you were right on target overall with the average pace. Keep those runs up, I think they are the #1 help to a strong marathon (#2 of course if the FF long runs ). Really nice job running it, it is not easy to maintain even pace unless I'm running at a track.

It's funny - this morning, I felt my Garmin was off. I ran a route I know is two miles and it registered as 1.90 so of course I ran the extra tenth. But it made the pace slower because the Garmin was tracking it as 1.9 rather 2.0.

Thanks John, did you mean LT is 30-35 sec faster than MP? I just plugged in times from the McMillin calculator using 9:22 as my goal marathon pace. I am getting nervous about the marathon even though it's 7 weeks away. Just about maintaining my pace for that long but really it's just a few minutes faster than I ran in May and I have been putting the training in.

This morning was 7 miles GA with 6 x 100 strides with 150-200m recovery between. Not bad. I got up earlier than I needed to and then waited around 30 minutes for the t-storms to clear out. Just a nice run with a couple of friends.

Tracking everything I eat, goal is 2000 calories, and trying to follow Nancy Clark's advice and not go much lower than that. I can go lower for a few days and then I get really hungry and eat more anyway and I can't keep up with my running eating too little anyway. I think I just get impatient and want a quick fix and to lose wt fast but I know that's not really a long term smart solution.

Julie, sometimes I wonder how am I going to be able to maintain the pace over the distance, but remember when you do the race you'll have tapered. Right now you're on tired legs in the middle of training.



Be careful of eating too little. Give the body what it needs for the training.

It's normal to get nervous about a marathon goal time. I find that helps motivate me with training and is part of the excitement I feel before the race starts. It is all looking good, Julie.