Tempo with a Long Run

Let's head back to Wednesday.  My workout from the Run Less Run Faster book was to do a tempo with 1 mile warm up 3 miles at tempo(7:32) and 1 mile cool down.  Let me just tell you that this was hard for me.  I found myself out of breath and having to take a quick pit stop every once and a while. I mean really only 3 miles at tempo and I was tired??  I made it through but it was a tough.  I feel out of shape but I know that if I stick with it I will only get better.  As you can see mile 2 was my first tempo mile and it was "slower" than 7:32.  I think I benefit with having more warm up time.

 

Moving on.... Check out this smoothie mix

broccoli

kale

banana

blueberries

a smidgen of maple syrup

ice

almond milk

It may have tasted a little like broccoli but it was still delish in my opinion.  Hint..If you don't like the taste of healthy greens in your smoothies, this is not the drink for you!

Oh and I received a few questions about the kind of blender I have.  I have the Bosch mixer with the attached blender.  It is an intense machine and works wonders!  I seriously think this is the best blender out there but I will say it comes with a hefty price tag.  I was lucky enough to receive it as a gift from my Mother (thx Mom)!

On to Friday night, my husband Scott and I went on a ride over the the West Village to get some video for a project he is working on.  We walked the Highline Park, ran into his brother and wife, took photos in front of the black and white wall and may or may not had a late nite donut at the donut pub :)

After my exhausting workout on Wednesday that night I was woken up by a SEVER muscle cramp in my calf aka the boulder! I mean I have had these in the past but this one was super painful, in fact I believe I was yelling in agony and pain that I woke up Scott.  It somewhat settled and I fell back asleep.  The next 2 days  I was still feeling it.  It was starting to worry me.  I read in my book about Chronic muscle tears.  That was it and I knew it.  It is brought on from doing speed work and I have had this pain before.  It was kinda of a relief that they could pin point it and I knew I hadn't done anything worse.  Stretching is important and it is all coming back to me now.  It is always my right boulder that spazes out on me.  Arrgg!!

So for my "long tempo" run I was supposed to do 7 miles with 10-20 min warm up and the rest at my Long run pace which would have been 8:02.  The first mile Scott ran with me (woot! woot!) so I took it slower than usual and then my 2nd mile was uphill so I always take it slow.  I was super paranoid about my boulder pain setting in so I decided to run a long run pace + 15 secs.  I felt great the entire time!  I was so happy with my run and now I really truly believe in the Run Less method.  I think if I would have ran yesterday I would have not fully recovered and it would have been tough.  Today was so nice. 

I really think a 2 mile warm up works wonders for me.
How long do you take to warm up?

Now I get to enjoy the rest of my long weekend!!  I will be doing a track repeat workout on Monday but I am just excited for the fourth!  It is supposed to be sunny and nice here in NY all weekend.  I can't even remember the last time it didn't rain on this weekend.

I haven't found speed shoes yet but I will keep you posted!

Any plans for this weekend?
Scott and I will be having a fabulous picnic on Monday and just taking it easy!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!!!

XX
Sarah

oh the places you'll go

I always want to see where other people go running, I get excited about the thought of running somewhere new.  I think that is why I like to run marathons in other states.  It gives me a chance to change it up.

This is where I run, I took these pictures last summer when it was so beautiful out.  Right now it is still cold and lifeless.  I was even telling my sister how I dreaded going for my run yesterday morning.  I think of Julia and Julia the movie when Amy is about to cook something she didn't want to and said "Dreading, dreading, dreading"  Yep that was me yesterday.

Back to the point.  This is my run.....depending on length, I don't hit these spots every run.

 

Starting point...my apt.

 

Around the corner heading to the bridge.

 Over the Williamsburg Bridge.

 

This is the path going up.  Crowded!

 

Coming down into the city.

 

Running through the Lower East Side.

 

Up to East Village.

 

Over to the West Village.

 

If you look and see the door between the 2 red awnings,  that was my 1st apt in NYC!

 

By Highline Park and the new Standard Hotel in Meatpacking.

 

My fav...down the West Side highway.

Back through Chinatown.

Now I would have to say that on my long runs I will go all the way up through Central Park, sometimes into Harlem then all the way down into the financial district, back over the Brooklyn Bridge and then home.  Really New York is a small Island and when you have to run 18-22 miles in one jog you can really hit all of NYC.

Where do you run??