In preparation for Emilie's Run - The Emilie Mondor Memorial 5K Race For Women, which will be run on June 21st in Ottawa from the Aviation Museum, Anne Barrington will be writing a bi-weekly training blog. Anne is a Goodlife member and also a member of the Ottawa Athletic Club Racing Team (OACRacingTeam.com).
This feature is sponsored by Goodlife Fitness, a sponsor of the race. For more on Goodlife visit: GoodLifeFitness.com.
June 29, 2008
June 21 was The Emily Mondor Memorial 5 km run. Despite the weather forecast it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. I had a good few weeks of training leading up to the race and I was feeling prepared on race day to run under 18:00. I felt strong and steady throughout most of the race. The heat started to get to me around 3 km and I did drop a bit in my km splits. I felt like I was on pace to run under 18 minutes and was a bit disappointed when I crossed the line with a time of 18:12. Despite not running my goal time, I was very pleased with my performance and feeling like I am getting back into competitive racing shape. I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this wonderful event to honor the memory of an amazing female athlete. I’m not sure what my next race will be, but I will keep training and just enjoy running for now.
May 12 - June 9, 2008
The last few weeks I have not been feeling as positive about my running as I was at the start of the racing season. I raced the 10Km at National Capital Race weekend on May 24 and it was not as positive as I would have hoped. Leading up to the race I was not feeling 100% and did not get in as much quality runs in the weeks leading up to the race as I had hoped. Despite that I felt that I would still be able to have a good race and my goal was to run under 38:00. I registered as an elite thinking it would help to push me to run a faster time. Unfortunately it didn’t really work out that way. In this 10km race the elite women start out 4 minutes ahead of the rest of the pack. So I ended up running a very fast first 2 km at the start and by 2.5 km I was completely on my own. I tried to stay positive throughout the race, but really started to loose it mentally around 5km when the elite men started to pass me. Wow, it felt like I was standing still when passed. I tried to stay focused for the last 5 km, but the wind on the way back was not making it any easier. I was pretty disappointed with my result at the end as I was over a minute off my goal. Despite not getting the result I was hoping for it did feel good to be back participating in a competitive race again. The atmosphere during the Race Weekend is so amazing and the support of all the people cheering helped me to keep going. Overall I was glad to be a part of it.
Hopefully I can get some quality training in over the next few weeks to gear up for my next race which will be Emily’s Run on June 21.
April 24 - May 11, 2008
The racing season has begun and seems to have started out on the right foot. After a few weeks of some hard training on the loop at Rockcliffe, I decided to enter The Where’s Franktown 5 km race. What a fun event to be a part of. I would highly recommend this race to anyone. It is an event put off by The Calvary Christian Academy in Franktown and is a true community event. They have a 5, 10 and 15km race. The course was pretty flat, with lots of turns. The weather was perfect for running and the food after the race was incredible. It is not a huge field and I did find myself running alone for the most part, but found it was a good test to see where my fitness level was at. I was definitely pleased with my result. My training has been pretty steady over the past few weeks and I am feeling good starting off the season. I am so happy to be back in some competitive racing shape and am really anticipating the upcoming racing season.
April 1 - April 23, 2008
The past few weeks of training have been a bit up and down in terms of how I’ve been feeling and the consistency of my training. I had to take a few days off dew to a minor injury. But once I got feeling healthy again I was able to get some pretty good training in. Now that the snow in Ottawa has finally gone and the weather feels like summer it has been great getting back out on the trails running. We continued to do our speed work at the indoor track as not all the snow has gone yet. We have started to pick up the speed in our workouts to help get ready for the fast approaching racing season. We did some 800 repeats and I was able to maintain a pretty consistent pace throughout the workout and averaged 2:51 for each interval. I am feeling pretty confident with my speed workouts and am looking forward to getting outside to really test my speed on the hills.
March 16 - March 31, 2008
I was feeling pretty tired these past few weeks and my mileage really seemed to slip. This never ending winter is making it hard to keep my motivation up. The fact that I couldn’t train with the team in the indoor track also really impacted the quality of my training over the past few weeks. I tried to complete my speed workouts on the road or treadmill. Luckily I did find some bare pavement that was a long enough stretch to complete some of the workouts without having to slow down to much for ice patches. I really have to get refocused on the goal I set for myself in January as the racing season is coming up very quickly. Hopefully the snow will melt soon and getting back to the group workouts will help me get my motivation up again.
March 1 - March 15, 2008
Another 2 weeks of training and a lot more snow!!! I am not sure if this winter is ever going to end. So needless to say a lot of my training over the past few weeks has been indoors.
My workouts on the track continue to be going well. I’ve been able to manage to keep pretty consistent with my repeats and feel that I am able to recover well with the shorter recovery times between intervals. I was doing my 1200’s consistently at 4:24 and feel relaxed and strong throughout the entire workout. I started doing some weights at the gym again last week and am hoping to consistently do some weight training about 2 times per week.
Even though I feel my training is going pretty well I am defiantly ready for spring. Hopefully it will not be too much longer.
February 18 - February 29, 2008
Another 2 weeks of training and a lot more snow!!! I am not sure if this winter is ever going to end. So needless to say a lot of my training over the past few weeks has been indoors.
My workouts on the track continue to be going well. I’ve been able to manage to keep pretty consistent with my repeats and feel that I am able to recover well with the shorter recovery times between intervals. I was doing my 1200’s consistently at 4:24 and feel relaxed and strong throughout the entire workout. I started doing some weights at the gym again last week and am hoping to consistently do some weight training about 2 times per week.
Even though I feel my training is going pretty well I am definitely ready for spring. Hopefully it will not be too much longer.
February 4-17, 2008
Another 2 weeks of training has flown by and continues to be going well. I’ve been feeling great and have been able to complete some really consistent and quality training. We have increased the mileage on the track and I did a much longer run on the weekend then I normally do. It was just so peaceful around the canal that it was one of the days you just felt you could keep running forever. I was worried that the increase in mileage would impact the quality of my workouts, but so far I have been recovering well and feel great.
Training with the team this year is making a huge difference in terms of my motivation and keeping me focused on my goals for the upcoming racing season. The camaraderie of the team and having others to push me during the workouts is amazing. I’ve always been the type of runner that loves the social aspect of running with a team. I am starting to realize that not having that support when I first moved to Ottawa was a major reason I was having a hard time keeping consistent with my training. Since I have joined the OAC racing team I feel motivated again and am rediscovery my passion for running. Even on the days when I’m running on my own, knowing that the other team members are out in the cold training too is just the motivation I need to get me out the door.
January 21-February 3, 2008
The past 2 weeks were great in terms of training. Not too eventful but all in all I’m feeling good. Despite only getting out on the track once each week, I felt I was able to complete some really quality workouts. I think my legs have gotten used to the track and my calves were not feeling as sore or heavy. I was feeling fast and consistent in both workouts on the track. I managed to get in a few steady runs in throughout the weeks. Towards the end of last week we got a lot of snow here in Ottawa, so to insure my runs were quality I did a few on the treadmill to maintain a consistent speed.
January 20, 2008:
My new year’s resolution for 2008 is to get back into racing shape. No excuses this year. I am starting off the year feeling healthy and motivated to get consistent with my training. I know it’s not very realistic for me to expect to run the times I was running before my knee injury since I have not seriously trained for about 4 years. I am hoping to still be able to post some competitive 5 and 10km times.
I started indoor track workouts 2 nights a week. I felt pretty good for the first one of the year. It wasn’t until the 2nd workout that I felt the heaviness in my legs. My calves felt so tight after the Wednesday night workout I had to take Thursday off. After a few recovery runs my legs were feeling pretty good. I am managing to keep consistent times with my intervals on the track and my legs are gradually get use to the increased speed. I really feel like I am still missing the endurance base. I have been managing to get out for some shorter runs in between the track workouts, but need to build up my mileage. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate for the rest of the winter. So far it hasn’t been too bad, but the freezing cold temperatures do make it difficult to get out some days.
