It's been a little over a week since my half marathon and I am ready for a new challenge. I really want to get faster and while the long races to give me a great sense of accomplishment, they deter me from the speed training I need to do if I want to get faster.
I signed up for the Fleet Feet's Women's 5K which is on July 18th. So I have about a month to train to try and get my speed up. My first and only 5K time was 34:28. I really want to get my 5K time to under 30 minutes. This might be agressive for this timeline, but there will always be another race. A PR would be fantastic!
I also joined a Summer Hockey Mixer, so I will be playing hockey 1-3 times per week for the next couple of months. Hockey is a very sprinty sport and after doing mainly longer runs the past couple of months, I have noticed that I am a bit slower on the ice than ussual. So speed work should help more than just my running. I also want to incorperate a step class here and there because they are so much fun and a great workout.
Knowing I wanted to play hockey and do step, I was worried that I wouldn't have time to run enough to get my speed up. Bobbi at NHerShoes just posted about how she trained for a marathon and got a Boston qualifying time while just 3 running days a week, so I'm going to try to incoperate some of her tips.
This is a rough outline of a schedule. The Hockey nights are pretty set in stone, but the other nights might switch around a little. I'm also going to try to fit some weights in.
Basically in addition to other workouts I am going to try to have 1 sprint workout, 1 tempo run and 1 long run per week. Sprints will be a good warm up and cool down with 1-2 minute followed by 1-3 minutes recovery with probably 4-10 total sprints. Tempo runs will be 3 miles at a fast pace - hopefully they will get faster and faster. Long runs will be 5-6 miles.
Have you increased your speed as a runner? How?
I am so lame about increasing my speed. I naturally run at a 10 minute/mile pace, and it's like pulling teeth to get my body to do anything faster than that...and while I know how good speedwork is for my cardiovascular health, I hate doing it. I just started marathon training, so I doubt I'll be focusing on speed anytime soon...one of these days though, I want to crank out a speedy 5k. Just not anytime soon. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great you want to increase speed. I think we sometimes get in a 'distance' mindset and forget about shorter races! I'll be awhile before running again, but this winter watch out! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know a lot about mulch but I think it would work fine. It needs to be able to let the rain through, so your plants will still get water. I think as long as the mulch is organic material it would be good for your garden next year. Nutrients, etc.
ReplyDeleteI only do this straw thing on the tomatoes/peppers because of the large area, to me, it isn't possible to do for carrots, onions, beets, etc., because they are planted so close. But doing this in all the walkways would be great!
Hope this helps!
I'm inspired that you are already ready for your next run! Very cool. Wish I was as motivated as you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you have found a way to do both things that you want to do! Your schedule looks very challenging and fun!
ReplyDeleteI have actually never really ran to increase my speed. I guess thats because I started loving running after I had knee problems, and when I push myself I tend to strain my knee, BLAH!! It's very annoying, but I do try to push myself on other cardio activities like my new love the elliptical :-)
ReplyDeleteLooks like we're both on the same page! Hope you get faster, too, and achieve your goals.
ReplyDelete