What a beautiful day for Speedwork outside!
My Half Marathon Training Plan had this workout on the agenda for today:
Speedwork
Dist: 5 mi, inc.
Warm; 2 X 1600 in 8:10
w/ 800 jogs; Cool
I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do, but I think I did the workout correctly:
Warm up (1 mile)
1600 @ 8:07
800 jog
1600 @ 8:12
800 jog
Cool down (1 mile)
Total: 43:20 (8:40 pace)
I still can’t believe I ran 5 miles in just over 43 minutes. Who am I?!? I love that I am getting faster. I also can’t believe that jogging during the 800′s at an 8:30 pace actually felt sort of easy. Seriously, did I just say that? I guess speedwork really does work!
Snack
Mid-morning, I snacked on two plums. One tasted so delicious, I needed to eat another one.
Lunch
For lunch, I made an arugula salad with goat cheese, flaxseed oil, and balsamic vinegar. I also ate a chocolate chip cookie from yesterday’s Boston Bakes for Breast Cancer event.
Now, I’m munching on crackers and veggie hummus. I hope this snack holds me over until dinner!
Marathon Roadmap Giveaway
Thanks to everyone who entered yesterday’s giveaway to win Marathon Roadmap: The Vegetarian Guide to Conquering Your First 26.2! Here’s the winner:
Sarah
I’d love to win because I’m running my first marathon in October and I know I need to clean up my diet and improve my training!
Congrats, Sarah! Please email me at tina@carrotsncake.com to claim your prize!
If you’d still like to buy Matt’s book, he’s offering 20% off his e-book (and e-book + interviews) until tomorrow night at midnight (EST). Just enter the code cnc20 at checkout to get the deal.
CNC Bake Sale
I’m at it again! On Monday, May 16th, I will host a Blog Bake Sale to benefit Team for Kids! If you’ve never participated in a Blog Bake Sale, check out my previous post about the rules and logistics.
If you’d like to donate a baked good, please send me an email at christina.haupert@gmail.com with your name, the baked good(s) that you would like to donate, a short description of it, a photo and/or link to its deliciousness, and whether you’re willing to ship internationally to the winner by Friday, May 13th. You don’t need to be a blogger to participate. All baked goods are welcomed!
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Wow Tina you are getting FAST! I did speed training for the first time with my last half marathon and it made me SO much faster! I still try to do intervals once a week or so even though I’m not training for anything currently because I want to keep my speed up!
Speedwork really does have an amazing impact on your overall performance — I swear by it. Great run!
I’m excited for plums to come in season!! I’ve been eating dried plums in the meantime (not prunes but similar and more tart).
Tina you are getting super speedy! I’ve got a similar workout planned for tonight, we’ll see if I can even come close to you!
Hi Tina! I’m a longtime reader and I just wanted to say I remember how you thought that you’d never be able to run races again when I first started reading your blog! Do you remember that? It’s so cool to see how far you’ve come since then. You’re a hardcore runner now and it’s inspiring to see.
-Michelle
I’m very jealous of your speed! I’m supposed to do 4 miles at 9 min mile pace today and am a little nervous…I am not a speedy one by nature – 10 min miles feel cozy and safe, and I’m unsure about leaving them behind.
Yay for getting faster! Speedwork realy does work!
hahah that carrot looks giant!
What a great workout! You are definitely getting faster, speedwork really is the key!
I am now craving plums! Must make an unnecessary (yet SO necessary) mid-week grocery store trip to get some
Speedwork DOES work. I love that feeling of getting faster. Nicely done, Tina!
I’m the same way with plums…one is never enough!
Love how speedy you ran today! Isn’t it amazing to see your paces improve all the time. When you try to run at the paces you used to run at.. you feel like your are crawlin!
I haven’t had a plum in foreeveerr! Oh I really want one now.
Great workout! You are totally convincing me that I need to add in some speedwork to my slow lazy runs
I don’t really know when to start working in speed work. I feel like I’m just getting used to the endurance of running at any pace for 40 minutes! But maybe it helps speed up the process?
I need to work on speedwork for my next half marathon! I’m going to begin marathon training next month, so I can kiss my speed goodbye- I want to get it back after the race!
Congrats on getting faster!!! I have been trying to myself and it is not an easy task!
The bake sale is a great idea to raise money!!
I love plums when they are in season!! Just bought your book!! Can’t wait to read it!!
It’s at least nice to hear about someone else training. Being injured is the worst!
Thanks for directing me to the Smart Coach tool! I’m loving the speed work and tempo runs it gives me too. I always feel so strong afterwards. You did awesome!
What a cool bake sale idea! Awesome speed! I feel like I eventually want to get into running… it’s just so hard to push myself into running. I’m pretty content in my present gym-rat status.
You did the speed workout correctly!
I know a lot of people are intimidated by speed workouts, but I think they are very exhilarating and there are great benefits for doing them!
I’m so impressed with your speedwork! I feel like I’ve been stuck at the 9:30 – 10:00 minute mile forever. And I can’t lie…I’ll be waiting impatiently for your bake sale.
Getting faster is the best feeling! I remember when that was happening to me while training for my 3rd marathon, when I first started doing tempo runs and speed work. It was SO motivating to see those times go down!
Nice speed work. It was really nice out! The weatherman said it was going to rain! Shows what they know!
Can’t wait for the bake sale. I always love the goodies.
Nice job on the run! I’m noticing that it’s getting easier for me to run at faster speeds too. It feels awesome, doesn’t it?
What a speedy workout indeed!
Beautiful daffodil pic! I need to get into speedwork…I seriously want to improve my speed!
You are speedy! And awesome inspiration!
I downloaded your book on my iPad tonight. LOVE that it was available on iTunes! : )
That speedwork would have confused me too! I’m horrible with that stuff
Bake Sale…can you clarify those dates..
you have written
“On Monday, May 16th…” it starts I am guessing..
And
“and whether you’re willing to ship internationally to the winner by Friday, May 13th…”
It seems the end date is after the start date? Or the ship date?
Only reason I am being so picky is b/c I am traveling and out of the country right around that time, but i DO want to participate so need to know the exact dates so hopefully I can swing it!
You are crazy fast!! Speedwork really does work. I’ve gotten a lot faster lately because of the speedwork I do with my half marathon team.
so glad to see plums coming back….i love stone fruit
I definitely need to work on my speed. Does your Garmin help you track your pace? I would like to bring my speedwork outside, instead of having to rely on a treadmill.
And I would love to participate in the bake sale! I’ll e-mail you once I find a good recipe.
Woo hoo – what a great speedwork run! I agree speedwork is totally effective. I haven’t done much speedwork in a while and am definitely needing to give myself a little kick in the butt
I like your training plan and want to make one. But first I need to find a race!
Great job improving on your running! It’s so nice to see your hard work paying off!!
Speedwork is definitely key to improving, or so I keep telling myself! I have a really hard time doing it outside, though, I need the treadmill to make me go!
It is amazing what speed work can do! I just started my training plan a month ago, and I keep surprising myself on how much I’m actually improving. I didn’t think it was possible.
Whoh girl! You are getting FAST!! You are like a CHEETAH!!
Congrats on getting faster! Your times are becoming quite impressive!
Nice going on the run! Super fast! It’s so satisfying seeing progress! I kept surprising myself this morning because I couldn’t help but increase the speed- rather than ‘pace’ myself as I normally do, I just went with it and felt great!
Oooh, what an elongated carrot! For some reason, it makes me giggle.
Congrats on your speedwork results…getting faster is such a great feeling! Plums are one my favorite Springtime snacks, especially when they’re soft and juicy!
You are getting so fast! It’s such a good feeling to have that kind of a breakthrough in your running! When I move back to the States, I’m definitely going to be participating in blog bake sales like this. They look so fun. Just, I’m thinking the goods would be smelly by the time they actually made it to the States from here!!
Congrats to the winner!
I definitely need to work on my speed. Thanks for the inspiration!
I love speed workouts! They are tough but when you are done it is surprising to see how much ground you’ve covered. Plus, they mix it up a bit and keep running fresh.
Where did you do your speedwork – track, treadmill, road? I’ve never really done speedwork per say, I sometimes do timed intervals but nothing planned out. I always wondered how people make sense of those plans ( “2 X 1600 in 8:10″) and actually accomplish it. I guess you really would have to use a Garmin to be able to do it outside correctly.
Hi Tina! As a huge fan of your blog and also someone who follows the Runner’s World Smart Coach training plan (including my half-marathon I’m running this Saturday!), I just thought I’d give some input. On these speed work runs, the “jog” portion is actually supposed to be about a minute slower than your “speed” pace (for this workout, at about 9:00-9:10). This just gives you a chance to recover so you can bust out the rest of your speedy miles keeping the same pace. Trust me, once you get up to the 4x1600m, you’ll want to take those jogs slower! I’m looking forward to how this training plan works for you! I love its ease, and its specific pace times really keep you on track (Although I admit I never take my “easy” runs as slow as I’m supposed to).
Not trying to step on any toes, but just wanted to give you some input!
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