Garry Bjorklund Half Training – Week 4

I’m getting back on track with my training plan and stuck to the schedule pretty closely this week.

Monday – rest

Tuesday – 3.61 miles (9:40/mile)

Run with Kate and Hyedi. My legs were tired and heavy the whole time. I feel like that happens sometimes after a rest day. It was also been an unusually long day at work which might have contributed.

Wednesday – 4 miles pace (9:33/mile)

My training plan has a pace run every other week. I set out wanting to at least do a 9:40 pace, but really hoping I could do closer to 9:30. I started out fast in mile 1, so I made myself slow down and tried to settle into a pace. I got closer in mile two and then found a good 9:30 pace for miles 3 and 4. My legs were tired by the end, but I felt pretty good on the run.

Thursday – 3.04 miles (9:54/mile)

It was sunny as I left work, so I was excited to get home and run. It started to get cloudy as I went and light rain was falling on me by the end, but it was a nice easy 3 miles.

Friday – 2.44 mile walk

It was Finisher Shirt Friday in MN, so I pulled out my TC Marathon finisher shirt from last fall to wear to work!

#finishershirtfriday

The sun was shining in the afternoon, so I headed out for a 40 minute walk after work. Then I had to pack and get ready for vacation!

Saturday – rest

VACATION! This was a travel and rest day. I got in around lunchtime and my mom and I promptly found a fruity drink.

I spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun.

Sunday – 7.07 miles (9:51/mile)

I got up and headed out for my long run before 8 am. It was low- to mid 60s and sunny with a light wind and 85% humidity. Beautiful morning, but it was still a sweaty run.

Totally worth it considering the rest of my day had this view…

Garry Bjorklund Half Training – Week 3 + Run the Valley 5K Race Recap

Monday – 30 minute elliptical

I was still taking it a little easy after Goldy’s, so I decided to do some cross training.

Tuesday – 3.57 miles (9:34/mile)

Run with friends.

Wednesday – Rest day

I had a happy hour after work and then headed to the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival to see the premiere of a documentary that a friend worked on. It was a great film and really cool to see a couple of short films before it as well.

Thursday – Rest day

I was able to do a short 15 minute walk over my lunch hour, but this was basically another rest day.

In the evening I met up with friends to go to the Science Museum of MN for Social Science. It’s an event they do every couple of months where the museum is open to people 21+. The theme for this one was beer, so of course we were excited. They had some demonstrations and presentations about the science of beer, but the best part was the 13 local breweries that were offering tastings. You got up to 10 tastings with the ticket admission. We tasted some good beer and explored some of the fun exhibits in the museum. (My favorite is always the weather stuff!)

Friday – 3.08 miles (9:46/mile)

It was another pretty day, so I headed out for 3 easy miles since I had taken a couple of days off. I didn’t want to do anything too strenuous since I had a race the next morning.

Saturday – 3.1 miles (9:17/mile) Run the Valley 5K

I had a 5K race on the training plan, which was nice after having Goldy’s 10 mile last weekend. Hyedi and I did the Run the Valley 5K. It was a good course and a well-organized race. We ran the first mile together, but the pace was faster than I normally run, so I told Hyedi to go ahead and that I was going to slow up a little. I finished in 29:20.

Sunday – 60 minute walk

It was a beautiful spring day, so I headed out for a nice long walk as my cross training for the week.

Now that Goldy’s is done and I’ve had a week to recover, my goal is to get into more strictly following my training plan. It’s a mix of the Hal Higdon Novice 2 and Intermediate plans.

Garry Bjorklund Half Training – Week 2

Hey all! Here’s a quick recap of week 2 of Garry Bjorklund Half training.

Monday – 3.07 miles (9:48/mile pace)

An uneventful, but solid run to kick off the week.

Tuesday – 3.05 miles (9:39/mile pace)

I met up with a couple of friends for a group run. We’re all doing the Garry Bjorklund Half, so we get to go through this training cycle together!

Wednesday – Rest

I took a rest day to run some errands after work including picking up my packet for Goldy’s 10 mile. I got to Sports Authority around 5:45 p.m. and stood in line for 45 minutes to get my bib and shirt, so that was fun (*sarcasm*).

Thursday – 3 miles (10:00/mile pace)

I came home from work and hopped on the treadmill for 3 easy miles before getting cleaned up to meet Hyedi for dinner at St. Geneveive. We got to taste some amazing dishes! The carrots (top right), sausage and scallop (middle), Tartine Madame (middle right), rhubarb dessert (bottom middle) were probably my favorites, but everything was absolutely delicious. And I tried foie gras for the first time – I’m expanding my horizons! 🙂

Friday – Rest

Saturday – 10 miles (9:39/mile pace)

Saturday was all about Goldy’s 10 mile. You can check out the race recap for the full story, but the cliff notes version is that I PR’d and totally surprised myself by running faster than I was expecting! I felt great throughout the whole race. Feeling that strong has me thinking about my goals for Garry Bjorklund. I’ve always been planning to go for a PR with a sub 2:10 half (9:55 pace), but I might have to raise the bar a little.

Sunday – 2.14 mile walk

It was a nice, but windy day, so I just headed out for a nice walk in the afternoon. My legs felt surprisingly good given the hard, long, hilly run the day before.

Week 3 will be sort of a step-back week to recover a little from Goldy’s and then I’ll be into half marathon training full force!

Goldy’s 10 Mile Race Recap

I completed my 4th consecutive Goldy’s 10 mile yesterday! I love doing this race every year. It was the first race I did that was longer than a 5K when I started running and I can see the progress I’ve made every time I do it. It also helps that the U of MN is my alma mater, so running around campus is a lot of fun.

I got up at headed to campus early. I always get there with plenty of time because I’ve heard horror stories from a couple people about the parking/traffic situation as it gets a little closer to race time. I sat in my car for a bit to keep warm — the temps were in the 20s. Luckily the sun was out and there was little wind at the start.

I lined up a bit behind the 9:35/mile pacers because I was hoping to do a 9:45-9:50 pace. I don’t know if it’s just where I was standing or if the start corral was more crowded than the past, but we were packed in there. It helped keep me a little warmer, but it meant the first mile involved some dodging and weaving around people.

My watch beeped at mile 1 and I saw 9:54. Not bad, but a little slower than what I was aiming for, so I tried to settle into a slightly faster pace. That wasn’t too hard since there were some decent downhills around mile 2. Things stayed a bit congested through the first few miles, especially just after mile 2 when they had a section of the course where the road was split making our path more narrow. Split sections of the road on an out-and-back section are ok later in a race when the field is less crowded, but I wasn’t psyched about it so early.

Things got better after that, and with each mile I kept seeing some pretty fast times (for me) popping up on my watch. A lot of them were in the 9:30s. I went into the race hoping to PR, but as the race went on I realized I could not only PR, but crush my old time. I kept having a mental battle with myself about whether I should keep going at this faster pace or slow up so that I didn’t crash later in the race. The “go for it” side of me won out.

I kept up my pace in the later miles. Around mile 8 we got back to those hills that we ran down in the beginning, only this time we had to run up. My pace slowed a little with those, but I made up some time on the final stretch towards the stadium.

I crossed the finish line in 1:36:27, a 9:39 pace! (My old PR time was 1:39:23.)

I took a couple of post-run pictures and then headed straight for my car because it was still cold!

I’m really happy with how this race went, and it has me rethinking my goals for the Garry Bjorklund Half. I think the bar has been raised!

Garry Bjorklund Half – Week 1 + Gearing up for Goldy’s

This week was technically the first week of training for the Garry Bjorklund Half, but it also overlaps with my second to last week of training before Goldy’s 10 mile. The overlap of races means I’m not exactly following the half training plan, but the plan I’m following allows for a nice step-back week after Goldy’s so I can transition pretty well.

Here’s how training went this past week. My pace has been really good, but these are also based on my RunKeeper (because that’s what I have in front of me at the moment) and not my Garmin. Garmin and RK haven’t been agreeing lately, so RK has me going a little faster.

Monday – 2.88 mile walk

I took Sunday as a rest day since I was celebrating Easter with my family, so I wanted to get out for a walk after work — and to burn off some Easter candy.

Tuesday – 3.09 mile run (9:54/mile pace)

I met Hyedi for a run on Tuesday evening. The weather was lovely all day, so we got to enjoy some warmer temps. So ready for more warm weather runs!

Wednesday – 5.10 mile run (9:49/mile pace)

I wanted to get in a slightly longer weekday run as I get ready for Goldy’s 10 mile. I’ve also been running my hillier route recently to get my legs ready for the hills on the course.

Thursday – Rest

A work happy hour was the perfect rest-day activity.

Friday – 3.12 mile run (9:43/mile pace)

I got home from work and headed out for a run and fully intended to just take it easy since I was expecting to do my long run the next day, but my legs had other plans. I was feeling really good hanging out at a slightly faster pace, so just ended up rolling with it.

I got cleaned up after my run and headed to see the movie Spotlight with a friend. Really good movie!

Saturday – 9.11 mile run (9:47/mile pace)

I got up and headed to brunch with some friends. It can be hard to get all 4 of us together with crazy lives, but I’m always so glad when we do! I indulged in some biscuits and gravy — my favorite brunch meal.

I got a couple of errands done after brunch and relaxed for a little bit before heading out for my long run in the afternoon.  It was a cool and windy day, but nothing too bad by the time I got out. Even with the run the night before, my legs felt good and warmed up pretty quick. I’m feeling ready for my 4th Goldy’s 10 mile next weekend!

Note the slightly slower pace on the Garmin

I started watching some Final Four basketball in the evening, but the first game was kind of a blowout. I started looking at what else was on and stumbled upon a season 6 marathon of The Walking Dead. Perfect timing since I need to catch up!

Sunday – 3.03 mile walk 

I got up and headed to breakfast with a friend. The frittata was delicious and it was so great to kick off the day by catching up with a friend I’ve known since I was 10 years old!

It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining and it was about 60 degrees. I headed out for a nice long walk to finish the week.

Do your training cycles ever overlap? Anyone else love The Walking Dead?