Summer of Speed

This sounds crazy, but maternity leave was the perfect time for me to train for Boston. No, I wasn’t getting great sleep, but I wasn’t working so my day consisted of running and spending the rest of the day cuddling with Jane on the couch. When I went back to work I knew there was no way I’d be able to balance marathon training, being the Mama I wanted to be, and being a Principal. I’ve been focusing my attention on something that doesn’t come as naturally to me. Short distances.

Instead of 1K repeats on the track and 8 mile tempo runs I’ve been busting out 200s and 400s, chasing these speedy ladies. It’s really put me out of my comfort zone, but I’m loving the challenge. I do think in the long run this will help my marathoning.

 

My first race post Boston was the Leslie Cohen 5K. The best thing about this race is that I won and got $100. The course was long though, and it would have been a PR at like a 18:10 but I ran more than a 5K. It was a fun morning and the race was in my neighborhood, so it was a nice speed workout. 

In May I raced the Armed Forces 5K in Torrance with Tania and Cambria. I came away with the win again, in 18:05. It made me think sub-18 was possible!

Torrance Local News. I’m a celebrity!

The Brentwood Run in June was going to be my next shot at a PR. I wanted sub-18 but wasn’t feeling great during the warm-up and wasn’t too optimistic. That negative energy caused a positive split. But the beauty of a 5K, just get out there any try again in a few weeks.

We then switched gears and got into 1 mile training. I have CRAZY respect for short distance runners. I was legit nervous for that race. 5+ minutes of PAIN. I wasn’t sure I was tough enough. Those track workouts, though short, were ROUGH. 3×300 sounds easy to a marathoner, but when your training buddies are running them at a 4 minute mile pace it’s humbling. That’s me chilling in the back.

The mile race started at noon, which was different for me. I spent all morning thinking about the race. To be honest, I don’t remember much about it besides about 3/4 of the way in I thought to myself “What if I just stop?” which means I probably pushed myself pretty hard. I ran a 5:21 which was meh. I’d be curious to run a mile on a track rather than on the road with a hairpin turn.

Pre-race candid

What the heck am I doing here?

100 Meters to go

Last weekend a bunch of Janes ran the Pride of the Valley 5K. I was hoping my 1 mile training would help me out and I was FAR more relaxed for this race. The gun went off and I just felt good. I ran a beautiful negative split (which I rarely do in a 5K) and it served me well. 17:58 official time with a 5:47 overall pace. It felt good to break 18!

So what’s training looking like these days? 3-5 mile easy runs, track Tuesday (12 x 200 or 4 x 400 and 4 x 200), maybe some hills or a 20 minute tempo on Thursday, and easy longer (Emphasis on longer. Not long.) runs on the weekend. I feel like I’m getting my running (and competing) fix without taking a bunch of time away from Brent and Jane. It’s less the training and more the marathon maintenance of massages, yoga, stretching, foam rolling, meal prepping for 3000+ calorie days that I’m enjoying taking a break from. Will I run another marathon, absolutely yes. I’m not done with 2:54 😝