Tuesday, February 7, 2012

"Easy" Runs and My New Training Partner

Yesterday was strength day, and I had an awesome leg work out. It included:

Leg curls
Leg extensions
Leg press
Calf raises
Squats
Lunges
Pilates moves for hips and butt

Needless to say, my legs were toast this morning. But I went for an easy 3 mile treadmill run anyway.

Honestly, I don't think I know what my "easy pace" is. I recently downloaded a half-marathon training plan from SmartCoach on runnersworld.com. It's a great tool- you should check it out! It takes one of your past race times and calculates what pace you should be training at for easy runs, long runs, etc. My plan includes song tempo runs and speedwork, and will hopefully get me a sub-1:51 finish come May. One thing that surprised me is that it says all of my easy runs and long runs should be run at a pace 10:10, which is kind of slow for me (I ran the majority of my long runs at about a 9:15 pace last year). So I'm not sure if this means that I'm faster than I think I am, or that I need to slow down some of my runs before I get injured. In the past I've never done much speedwork- I would always just try to run my normal routes faster than I had the week before. This is brand new territory for me!

Remember how I said I would buy my GPS watch after I met either my 10K or HM goal? Well, this little steal of a deal may have changed that:

Garmin Forerunner 405

If you want to score one too, Walmart has them on sale for $139 right now! I paid the extra $6 for expedited shipping so that I'll have it in time for our trip to California :)

I think this watch will be a helpful tool for reaching my race goals. I can't wait to try it out!


Do you try to incorporate some form of strength into your training?

Are you following a training plan right now?

Do you own a GPS watch?

5 comments:

  1. Congrats on the GPS purchase! I use the Nike+ Sportwatch GPS. I've got a Garmin 305 also but I wasn't happy with it.

    As my mileage has increased my strength training has decreased primarily due to time. On days that I double up I will do about 20 minutes of strength training (twice a week usually) and I work out my core 3-4 days a week too.

    Last year I trained for ran 3 half marathons following no plan, but I do work with a running group out here. I followed a plan loosely for the Portland Marathon and I just wrote one out for my goal half marathon on April 1st. For the first time ever I'm following one to the T and I'm seeing a lot of benefit!

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    Replies
    1. I love that you always comment on my blogs Mike! :)

      I tried out a friend's Nike+ watch, and although I liked it, it came down to the price. I can be such a cheapo sometimes (which sounds incredibly ironic when I'm talking about buying a GPS watch). As long as this watch can give me a somewhat accurate time, pace, and distance, I'll be happy!

      I've found it hard to fit strength training into my schedule with all the running I've been doing lately. If only I was super fast, then I could quit my job and run for a living.

      I've loosely followed plans before, but I always ended up slacking off due to other life events (finals, graduation, new job, wedding). This time is different though- I know how hard I'll have to work to PR by almost 7 minutes!

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    2. It's been really fun checking this every couple days to read your new posts!

      I totally get you on the price point of the GPS watches. The reason I picked up the Garmin in the first place was because it was such a great price!

      It takes a lot of work to follow a plan, it's crazy. The PR's will come for sure! Keep on keepin' on!

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  2. so... you should really think about getting paid for endorsing these products that you buy. look into it. you can get paid by putting links of the site of the product and what not if people click on your link to the store and buy something. look on blogspot FAQ's. :) either way, good job on your really good deals!

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