My New Run Club!

I was on Twitter one day and noticed that someone I follow (Emily Favret) participated in a run club about 6 blocks from where I work. Since the one I used to go to started too early and this one started at 7, so I read, I asked her via Twitter for more information. 

She said it was at the UWS Lululemon and a normal run was about 3 conversational miles, so I thought why not? 

Well, the first day I attended was hill day! I had never done hill repeats so this was a first for me. I walked in and everyone was so welcoming. I had to read a waiver then sign in. I chatted with all the girls before we set out for cat hill. On our way there I kept pace with a girl I was chatting with but I didn't have my watch so I had no idea how fast we were going.

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We did 4 repeats. Dani, the woman who leads us, explained different techniques to use to get ourselves up the hill as fast as possible. She mentioned to use the balls of our food rather than be flat footed. It actually works!

The next week we did 3.5 miles up the west side. The view was absolutely stunning and I learned that everyone is fast! When I reached the half way point they told us the leaders were doing sub-8 miles. That is NOT my pace! My watch didn't catch the GPS so I'm not sure how fast I was going but I just did my own thing. What I really like about this club is everyone stays together as a group. At the halfway point we waited until everyone got there before we finished. 

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This past week was also my first time doing 200s and 400s. We went to the dirt track on the west side and tried our hands (or feet!) at speed work. I told Dani my goal pace was 9:30 and she said I needed to do my 200s in 1:08 and my 400s in 2:16. Well apparently we all went faster than anticipated! When I do these on my own I want to try and stay on pace. For my 10K, the goal pace is 9:15-9:30 to make sure I snag my PR!

I'm really looking forward to continuing with this run club.

Do you have a run club you attend? Where? Do you love it?

Xo,

Lynette

Summer Running...

...did NOT have me a blast. If you didn't know, I've been training for my second half. I'm doing the Divas Half on Long Island this October. 

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I have to say, training in the summer might not be my favorite. Between the heat, slow pace and feeling dehydrated, I think I prefer winter. Bet you'd never thought I'd say that. Here's an update on my training:

Week 1: I kicked off with a 5K if you remember reading my recap. I also got an SLT class in that kicked my butt!

Week 2: My friend Jaclyn came to visit but I still got in a solid but slow 4 mile. I had intended to do 1 fast 1 slow mile but it was so hot that slow and steady won. I also finished up my SLT package which means I have not been back since. 

[Before a long run]

Week 3: 5 miles done! I went into the village and basically did 2.5 straight up then turned around and did 2.5 down. I've realized that since I already know the route and scenery I didn't enjoy the run as much. I was bored, slow and unmotivated but I did finish. Afterwards I stayed in the city to help my friend and co-worker move into her new apartment!

Week 4: I had a friends wedding in Penn this weekend (which was so fun and amazing). After a fun filled weekend of pizza, wine, beer and wedding food, I got 6 miles in Sunday evening when I came home. My knee was bothering me a bit but I kept going since I was just in my neighborhood.

[Pre-wedding]

Week 5: Wow training is going fast! On Sunday I did 7 miles down in the village and switched up my route. I went in and out of a neighborhood to get some new scenery and additional miles. The day before I did half of the routine from runners boot camp (instead of repeating it for an hour workout I just did everything once). I think it helped my run a lot. I felt really strong and almost had a negative split!!

I'm writing this on Saturday so I didn't get a run in yet but I did half of runners boot camp. It felt tough probably because I did it at 10 and it was already hot out. Tomorrow I'm running my old 8 mile route which ends at Dunkin! 

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Are you training for anything? How's it going?

Xo,
Lynette