Thursday, April 5, 2012

My Shoe Problem and the Best Tempo Run EVER!

Saucony Kinvara 2

Yes, I bought them. And yes, I have a shoe problem.

I've been wanting a pair of lightweight shoes for my tempo/speed workouts, and I've had my eyes on these babies for awhile. I knew the Kinvara 3 would be coming out soon, so I've just been waiting and waiting for these to go on sale. And on Monday, they FINALLY did.

I found a steal of a deal at DSW.com- they had the Kinvara 2 on sale for $49.99! Plus, if you sign up as a DSW Rewards member, you get free standard shipping. They also have three other colors available. You have to hurry if you want to score this deal, though- sizes are selling out all over the place! If you do miss out though, the Running Warehouse has them on sale for $64.91, and they have free 2 day shipping.

Mine are scheduled to arrive on Monday, but I'm crossing my fingers that they'll get here tomorrow :)

In other news, this morning I had one of the best tempo runs I've had in awhile (quite arguably the best ever... or at least in this training cycle). After my 10K, I was feeling a little discouraged about my ambitious half-marathon goal. Although I ran a PR, I didn't sub-50:00, and I think I would feel a whole lot better about my goal HM in May if I could do that in my next 10K. I considered not taking a cut back week after my race, but ultimately decided it would be best, and I'm glad I did- my body definitely needed the rest. I hadn't been increasing my mileage before my cut back week because I had two races two weekends in a row, so my mileage hovered in the 19/20 mpw range. This is the first week I'm starting to ramp it back up:

Monday: REST
Tuesday: 3 mi. easy
Wednesday: PiYo, 15 min stairmaster, 15 min elliptical
Thursday: 6 mi. tempo
Friday: 3 mi. easy
Saturday: PiYo or yoga?
Sunday: 10 mi.

Is it weird how excited I am to get back into the double digits on Sunday??

Anyways, back to that amazing tempo run I was telling you about.

My hips and butt were more than a little sore from PiYo yesterday, so I wasn't exactly sure how well this run was going to go. But after my warm up mile I was feeling good. I was aiming for 4 miles at an 8:15/mi. pace.

Mile 1 (warm-up): 8:57

Mile 2: 8:06- Hmmm, maybe I started a little too fast. I could barely hold 8:00/miles for the first half of my 10K, how can I expect to hold 8:00/miles for 4 miles during a training run?

Mile 3: 7:56- I ran a sub-8:00 mile during a training run! This never happens!

Mile 4: 7:58- Another sub-8:00? Is my Garmin broken?

Mile 5: 8:08- Ok, now I'm getting a little tired...

Mile 6 (cool down): 9:03

Total time: 50:09
Average pace: 8:22


After I finished, I realized if I would have ran 0.2 more miles, I could have run a 10K PR... during a training run.

Honestly, I think this may have been just the encouragement I needed for my upcoming races! :)


Has your training been encouraging or discouraging lately?

How many pairs of running shoes do you own? Favorite brand?

Any big plans for the weekend?

What's your favorite Easter tradition?

5 comments:

  1. I am rotating through four pairs of shoes and have found that Brooks is my favorite, so I run in these: Ghost, Glycerin (can't wait to wear these out so I don't have to wear them anymore), Launch and Cascadia.

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    1. I love the Ghost! It's my go-to long run shoe. I've heard good things about the Launch, too. Once you find a brand that works for you, you just gotta stick with it!

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  2. Just ran across your blog and I love it! As a fellow runner I also rotate through shoes and usually hoard 5-6 pairs at one time haha. My training has not been going that well lately because of a knee issue but I'm hoping to run a marathon in Toledo, Ohio (close to where I grew up in Michigan) in April.

    Look forward to reading more!!!

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    1. woah, strange! The name of my blog is not how it appears above lol. Its Let's Go On A Living Spree :-)

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    2. Hey Claire- thanks for stopping by! My husband totally does not understand the need for multiple pairs of shoes, but I finally convinced him that I did, in fact, NEED these Kinvaras ;)

      Sorry to hear about your knee issue :( I had some ITBS problems last fall and it was no fun at all. I hope it gets better in time for you to rock your marathon!

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