Time to ask for help?

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No I'm not asking for help because I'm addicted running...

Seriously though, after letting go of the idea of running a 2nd full marathon this year, I've been struggling with what's next for me. I'm working on a race plan for 2014 but it's still 2013, so why not have some goals before the end of the year? Back in April I ran my PR half race Run for Water. I had been working hard but I certainly wasn't expecting a 6 minute personal record, I'm still quite baffled by the whole thing.

So moving forward to today, I've been thinking about the 3 half marathons I have left for the year:

1. Boundary Bay Half Marathon - November 3, 2013

2. Wine & Dine Half Marathon - November 9, 2013

3. Vancouver Historic Half Marathon - November 24, 2013

There's still an opportunity to try for a PR or at least a chance to try to get close to that 2:08 half marathon again. How am I going to go about doing that? I've never done speed work, my goal has always been to just cross that finish line and if I did it faster than last time, so be it.

It was time to ask for help. I didn't have to think long and hard about who I would ask. Solana is a friend of a friend whom I met through running.

Solana and I at the First Half earlier this year.

She's quite possibly the fastest runner I know personally and she's helped many others to reach their speed/distance goals.

Solana kindly obliged and has sent me some great speed workouts that I can do at home on my treadmill. I'm also glad that I will be doing something a little different on the treadmill because sometimes it sure does feel like this:

My best opportunity for a PR will be my last half of the year, the Vancouver Historic Half, so stay tuned and we will see what happens!

Where the Magic Happens...

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So I know it's already Friday however I never really recapped Work it Out Wednesday...

I started off with run club at the running room and we ran roughly 5km with a nice little hill mixed in. I've really been trying to push myself when I go on the group runs, using the people at the front of the pack as motivation and I think I've been doing well but I'm not sure how much more I've got in me.

Following the run, I headed over to Equilibria for my training session. We did a lot of work on the agility ladder, something I've never done before. It was definitely one of those exercises that looks a lot easier than it is. Throughout the session we did several different drills which required my feet to have a lot more coordination than I do at this point. Felipe (the trainer) promises that it will get better with time, I'm not so sure. Between each drill we did some resistance exercises. Throughout the session we talked about what my plan is for getting faster while running -- long story short, I need to get uncomfortable. Basically with all the running I've been doing I think I've found a pace where I can be comfortable for longer periods of time, well as comfortable as you can be running a half marathon. For so long I wasn't sure how far I could push myself, my goal had always been just to reach the finish line still upright. Now, 9 half marathons later, I need something more, I need to be faster. The only way to achieve that goal is to get out of my comfort zone and start pushing myself every time I run to be faster. As Felipe put it - that's where the magic happens... He was referring to this drawing:

The thing is after last Sunday I felt done, I felt like I had given it my all, some days are better than others but I look at people who are running sub 2:00 half times and I really don't know how they do it. I've been researching some speed training techniques but I'll save those for a later post. I finally got a chance to take a picture of my goals up on the wall at Equilibria:

I really love this idea, it's really motivating to see everyone's goals as you walk in the gym. For a wider shot, check out this post from my first visit to Equilibria.

I was pretty wiped after the run and the training session so I headed home to power up with some chocolate milk that I got in my Powered by Chocolate Milk prize package:

 

I think it was a successful day, I'm just starting to feel overwhelmed with everything ahead of me. On a brighter note my sister and I are headed to NYC in less than a month now, that will definitely be the trip and the race of a lifetime! I really can't wait.

I went for a run today in preparation for the Fort Langley Historic Half on Sunday. Now that it's closer I'm starting to get nervous about the hills, the route is basically outside my front door and though I've run those hills many times and whined about them many times more, I'm just not excited about this race. My CWX 3/4 compression tights arrived today and I'm thinking about wearing them to the race, all the online reviews refer to them as magic pants... maybe some of that magic will help me recover from those hills? The weather was great for my 8k run today and I finally got to run during the day when the sun was out!

It also looks nice for Sunday too, hopefully this weather sticks around.