Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Shoes and Books

Yesterday was Tempo at the Track Tuesday

2 mile warm up
1.5 mile @ easy
3x 5 minutes at Tempo with 2 mins recovery jog
2 mile cool down

The goal tempo pace was 7:15 min/mile but I exceeded that and averaged a 7 min/mile pace. The second set was my fastest where I almost made it three laps around the track in 5 minutes. The final set was the toughest where my legs felt dead but I didn't drop off the pace too much which was a first. Every time I would pass the coach on my recovery jog, he would pull me aside and talk to me about something - form, training, XC running. I am not sure how I feel about XC running - I swore I would never do it again after completing a XC race called Tour de Pain in the summer of 2005!


Second pair of new shoes bought and this time they actually made it out of the box and onto my feet. The guy at the running store suggested Saucony shoes for both Brian and I. He said that they have a wider toe box and more heel support. Brian ran in his during the race last weekend and loved them.


I did a quick 2 miles this morning with the new shoes (ProGrid Triumph 7) and felt intense IT band pain. Of course this could have been caused because I was running just 10 short hours after completing the track workout. Or it could be the shoes. I plan to test them out again Friday and see what happens.


I finally broke down and paid the 50 cents my library required to place a hold on a book in order to request Run Faster by Brad Hudson. This book has a ton of good stuff in it! It is like a mini running gold mine! The one thing I found the most important out of everything was the concept of hill sprints.


"...These brief, maximal-intensity efforts against gravity offer two key benefits. First, they strengthen all of the running muscles, making you much less injury-prone. They also increase the power and efficiency of your stride, enabling you to cover more ground with each stride with less energy in races..." (Full article from RunningTimes HERE thanks to the Running Laminator)

The key is to do start small, doing 1-2 hill sprints (on a hill of 6-8% grade) of 8-10 seconds after a regularly scheduled easy run. Seems pretty simple - might be worth giving it a try and I know I have plenty of hills around me so that shouldn't be a problem!


I also checked out American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield which is supposed to be a fictionalized account of the life of Former First Lady Laura Bush. The whole time I was reading the book, I just couldn't relate the main character of Alice to Laura. For a great book review, click HERE. I really enjoyed reading this book, even though it was 558 pages long!


Happy reading and running!!

22 comments:

Jocelyn said...

Awesome track work girl! :) Also seeing your new shoes makes me realize I really need new running shoes!

Maureen Lisa said...

I've have the Triumph as just a kick around shoe and enjoyed it! I'd say that it may be because of the track stuff.

We have it listed as a Maximum cushioning neutral shoes.
http://www.runningcompanyshoes.com/SauconyTriumph.html
We just got in another order and they are the green/silver ones. I think they're really cute!

Lisa said...

Great job with your workout yesterday. "Run Faster" definitely sounds like a book I need to put on my reading list!

Marlene said...

Awesome job at the track!

I hope those new shoes turn out to be okay. Good luck on Friday!

No Longer Using said...

these team workouts are so terrific. i am seriously so happy for you each time i read them. and you KNOW i'm not faster than you ! we run almost the exact same pace :) and we both have our good + "not awesome" days :) i wish i could run a team track workout, and have a coach. do you get along well with the other girls?

that running book sounds really good! thanks for pulling out your highlight. that makes my job easier :) and i'm intrigued about american wife!!

Kristin said...

When I read American Wife, I couldn't NOT relate the main character to Laura Bush! (Even though it was fiction.) I enjoyed it a lot too!

Kim said...

I bought Run Faster for my husband last year and neither of us have read it yet. Oops.

Anonymous said...

yay new shoes! and awesome workout! i think that it's the kind of workout i should probably start doing soon. thanks for the kick in the butt :)

Molly said...

I totally got a different image of the main character of American Wife too.

I'm going to have to check out that running book. I incorporate many hills into my runs, and this is the second time recently that I heard sprinting on hills is great speedwork.

Molly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jamie said...

I had no problem envisioning Laura as Alice. Loved the book!

Great job at the track! Hope the new shoes work out for you okay!

Anonymous said...

I bought Run Faster and started it. So far so good. Lots of good info in there! Happy reading!

Unknown said...

Great tempo work :-) That Run Faster book sounds good, I'm currently using the Run Less Run Faster book for my training plans but it's always good to find new ideas!

Nicole said...

i love running and reading! my two fave RR's!!! :) great job on the TT workout!

Jeri said...

oooh I read that book too! (the running one). I can't believe your library charged you though....our holds are free, and so are the interlibrary loans. Lame-o.

I don't really remember how I got the stats to show up on my blog. :/ I do know I have a new "dashboard" set up, and I think that did the trick. I would google how to "blogger in draft" as your default, and then it should be there!! :) Hope that helps.

Ms. V. said...

I love the cover of that last book!! PRETTY!

Lisa's Yarns said...

I might need to check out that runner faster book. maybe after the marathon....

Anonymous said...

Great info- thanks for sharing! I hope the ITB pain clears up! I've been wanting to check out American Wife. I'm currently reading The Help and I'm loving it@

Felice Devine said...

I really liked Run Faster -- one of my faves.

Jaime said...

Adding Run Faster to my list of books to read this Winter! :)

Badgergirl said...

Wait a minute. Your library makes you pay a fee to place a hold? I'd go broke if my library did that! I put holds on all the stuff I want to check out at the library - call me lazy, but I like the convenience of them getting it off the shelf (or from another library) and putting it on the hold shelf with my name on it.

Great job on the run!

Fruit Fly said...

Thanks for the tip on the book. Let us know how you like it!