No workout posts until Monday

Hey Girls. I'm going to be out of town back home in Culbertson where the internet barely exists, so I won't be posting until I return Monday night. Sorry for any inconvenience. Have a great long weekend. Have fun and be safe.

Air Quality

So Missoula smells like a campfire. In a bad way. Be REALLY careful about working out this week. In fact it's a good time to take a short break until the air quality gets a little closer to normal. You can go to the County health department website here for more information. Stay healthy.

12 miles, no running

Well, I can't say I was a fast girl this weekend, but I still feel pretty tough. My husband and I went to Glacier National Park and hiked up to Grinnel Glacier on the east side. It was a pretty hard hike, 6 miles up and 6 back, but so worth it when we went over that last ridge to see a huge glacial lake with giant chunks of ice floating in it...in August no less. I couldn't keep my foot in for more than 10 seconds, that's how cold it was. We actually touched a glacier! The descent was pretty painful on the old knees and our feet were extremely sore, but it was too incredible to even complain.

On the way up we saw these three people who must have been in their late 70s hiking down and I thought, man I want to be in that kind of shape when I'm that age. It was extremely motivating to keep exercising.

Workouts for August 25, 26 & 28

Friday

Beginner - Run/Walk one mile

Intermediate - Run two miles

Advanced - Run three miles

Time yourself and write it down.

Saturday

10 minutes of stretching

Run/Walk for 35-40 minutes at just slightly slower than race pace.

5 minute cool down and 5-10 minutes of stretching

Focus on your form. Keep your shoulders away from your ears. Hands are relaxed not clenched. Your arms should move in a fairly straight motion parallel to your body not across. Think about lengthening your stride a little as you go.

Sunday

Easy Run/Walk

5 minutes of stretching

Beginner - 25 minutes

Intermediate - 34 minutes

Advanced - 40 minutes

5 minutes of cool down stretching.

Have a great weekend. Sorry I've been a little distracted. School starts on Monday! The River City Roots Festival is coming up September 16th and right now I think we have for sure 3 Fast Girls running and maybe 2 or 3 more! Good Work. Don't forget if you plan to do this race, you only get a t-shirt if your registration is in BY 5PM SEPTEMBER 8!

hop, skip and a jump

Joan and I actually did the plyometrics last night and all I can say is they're not as easy as it may seem. We were hopping and jumping and skipping (which was my favorite) in the field by the U's soccer field. It was hilarious. And my abs are weirdly kinda sore this morning, but part of that could be from laughing. Anyway, it's a good workout and it definitely reminds you of muscles you didn't know you had.

Workout for August 23, 2006

I want to try these plyometrics again. It's good to work on these balancing and strength exercises and it's really freaking hot so I don't really feel like running for very long. Plus my knee feels off kilter again. Give these a whirl. Have fun.

To warm up for your plyometrics workout, jog for at least five minutes, and follow that with five minutes of light skipping, gentle jumping jacks, and high knee prancing, like a little pony ;-) . It's best to do the jumping drills on grass so you have some cushioning. After the drills, do an easy run 10 - 15 minute run.

Launch into each drill with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Perform two to four sets of each drill.


Balance Drills

The Payoff: Improves balance; strengthens ankle, knee, and hip joints.

1. Jump and Sticks

Jump from and land on the balls of both feet. Jump high, not far. Land with knees bent and hold two to three seconds before jumping again. Alternate jumping 10 yards forward and sideways.

2. Two-Way Hops

Start balanced on your right leg. Hop two to three feet forward onto your left leg. Hold for two seconds to regain balance. Stay facing forward and hop back to the start position onto your right leg. Now hop onto your left again, but move sideways, then back. That's one set. Do three more, then repeat the drill starting on your left leg.


Elasticity Drills

The Payoff: Strengthens all lower-body muscles; improves the spring-like ability of the muscles and tendons around the joints.

3. Skip Ups

This is an exaggerated skipping motion. Drive your leading knee high, until the thigh is parallel to the ground, while popping off the ground, with your toes pointed.

4. Standing Long Jumps

Swing your arms back, then forward as you leap, and jump as far as possible, landing on both feet.


Power Moves

The Payoff: Improves stride power, or the force of each push-off.

5. Jump and Sprint

Do a standing long jump (see Drill 4), but at the moment you land, sprint for about 10 yards.

6. Triple Jumps

Start with a standing long jump (see Drill 4), but land on your right foot, quickly hop forward onto your left, then hop and land on both feet. Aim for maximal distance the whole way.

Workout for August 22, 2006

It's ladder time.

400 m

800 m

800 m

800 m

400 m

You know the drill. Walk the recovery in between each set. At least 200 m no more than 400 m. Hopefully you've been seeing improvement if you are tracking your times. Really push yourself during these. They WILL make you a faster more efficient runner. If you are on a treadmill or not on a track try this instead...

Run at a race pace for 2-3 minutes

rest for 2 minutes

Race Pace 4 minutes

Rest for 2 minutes

Race Pace 4 minutes

Rest for 2 minutes

Race Pace 4 minutes

Rest for 2 minutes

Race Pace 2-3 minutes

Have A GREAT Day.

River City Roots Festival Registration Open

Go here to register or for more information. It's almost all on the Kim Williams Trail and the t-shirts might be cool. They have a map of the course and I plan to run it before just so I am familiar with it. It would be fun to have a group of us participate.

Saturday, August 19th

10 minutes of warm up stretching

Beginner - Run/Walk - 36 Minutes
Intermediate - Run - 47 Minutes
Advanced - Run - 60 Minutes

1st quarter easy pace
2nd & 3rd quarter 60-75% of your ability
4th quarter easy pace

Walk for at least 5 minutes think of how well you just did.

10 minutes cool down stretches.

Sunday, August 20th

10 minutes of warm up stretching

Beginner - Run/Walk - 30 Minutes
Intermediate - Run - 40 Minutes
Advanced - Run - 45 Minutes

Walk for at least 5 minutes.

10 minutes cool down stretches.

This run should be super relaxed. Remember to breathe and keep your form relaxed. Have a great weekend.

If anyone wants to run on Sunday we'll get together around 8:30 am (we're having breakfast this week to celebrate our 4th Sunday of running). Post in comments and I'll send you the locale.

great run gals

I'm feeling sore, but good. Thanks Joan and Mikel. I would love to tackle hills tomorrow. Any suggestions in Missoula?

A-W-E-S-O-M-E

That was a great run Mikel & Q. Thanks for the camaraderie. I can't imagine doing it without you both. Love you both.

Workout for August 17, 2006

Sorry I'm a bad trainer yesterday and today. I am feeling a little lazy and for that my poor fast girls are suffering.

I'm battling the laziness so here is your workout. Everyone's favorite...Hills.

Beginner - 5 hills Intermediate - 6 hills Advanced - 7 hills

Find a hill that takes approximately 2-3 minutes to run/walk up. If you liked the hill you used last time do it again. Alternatively if you don't like the up down up down. Find a LOOONG hill and run/walk for 3 - 5 minutes and then recover for two. If you are in Missoula, Gharrett along with most of the South hills is great example of this.

The walk is your recovery time. So use it. Don't worry about speed, the point of this is simply to get up the hill multiple times.

___________________________________________________________

If you are on the treadmill try this one it's pretty similar to the outside workout but feel free to walk the recovery if you want to and slow down if the suggested pace is to fast. I personally would try nothing faster than a 10minute mile to start with and possibly slower due to the incline.

• Treadmill at 3% incline
• Run up at approx 10km pace for 3 minutes
• 3 minute jog recovery
• Start with 3 or 4 repetitions and gradually increase over time

Have a great run pretty girls!

Workout August 16

It's another track workout.

400 m warm up lap

400 m

200 m recovery

800 m

400 m recovery

400m

200m recovery

800 m

400 m recovery

400 m

200 m recovery

400 m cool off

Run these all at race pace and track your times. Try and stack the three 400m & the two 800m (not the warm up & cool off)

Stretch well before and after. Report back and let us know about your progress. Have a great workout.

Workout August 15, 2006

Good afternoon ladies! We're going to add in a little cross training to mix things up every once in a while so....hop on your bike. Try and ride for 30-45 minutes at a quick pace (elevate your heart rate and try and keep it up). If possible go up at least 1-2 hills, this is what is really going to work to change the shape of your behind. Have a great workout and enjoy the last weeks of summer!

Great Weekend

I had a great run yesterday with Q & Erika, we missed Mikel though. Ran at a pretty good clip for the whole run. I've been adjusting my form and I think I'm finally getting it but boy am I sore today. Good sore though. Q and I both missed the ladders earlier in the week so subbed those in on Saturday and both shaved about 10 seconds off our times from the set before. Pretty excited about that. We also did a suprisingly good job of stacking both our 800's and 400's. It felt really good after the prior evening at the fair.

I've been putting Icy Hot on my knees every night before I go to bed and they feel pretty good at this point although my bedroom smells pretty pepperminty. All in all feeling good both mentally and physically. Hope you ladies are as well. This coming Sunday will be our fourth of running together and so Q, Mikel and I will celebrate with not just coffee after our run but...Breakfast.

Hope everyone is doing well. Q nice job on TWO WEEKS of being a non-smoker! You rock!

a weekend I can feel

The ladders on Saturday after the eat-a-thon Friday night at the Fair proved worthy. We ended up running on the track at Sentinel High School right behind the fairgrounds coincidentally. The pace was comparable on both 400s and 800s. It was tough, but good. Sunday morning run was good too, but my right foot fell asleep so I had to walk a bit to try and restore feeling. I hope the new arch supports I got help. Tonight is soccer and hopefully tomorrow too as we are enter the Parks and Rec tournament. Wish the Chuggers luck!

funnel cakes

a great reason to go for a run today. Yes, last night was an extravaganza of onion rings, chili dogs, pizza, fries, and the dreaded yet delicious funnel cake at the western Montana fair! Oh and in between the eat-a-thon, we saw a rodeo. So yeah, definitely need to run off some of that fried fat goodness. Have great weekends all!

Workout for August 12 & 13

Saturday, August 12th

10 minutes of warm up stretching

Beginner - Run/Walk - 34 Minutes
Intermediate - Run - 45 Minutes
Advanced - Run - 60 Minutes

1st quarter easy pace
2nd & 3rd quarter 60-75% of your ability
4th quarter easy pace

Walk for at least 5 minutes think of how great you feel.

10 minutes cool down stretches.

Sunday, August 13th

10 minutes of warm up stretching

Beginner - Run/Walk - 27 Minutes
Intermediate - Run - 37 Minutes
Advanced - Run - 47 Minutes

Walk for at least 5 minutes.

10 minutes cool down stretches.

This is just like last week and the week before. This run should be super relaxed. Think about your form keep your shoulders down, away from your ears, be conscious of this if they are creeping up your tense and your run isn't going to be very comfortable. Keep your hands relaxed try not to clench your fists instead, pretend your holding sponges in your hands.

If anyone wants to run on Sunday we'll get together around 8:30 am (last week we had coffee after). Post in comments and I'll send you the locale.

Think Positive

Workout for August 11

My knee has been bothering me a little bit the last couple weeks so I figured it wouldn't hurt for us to do a little plyometric work. Have fun & feel strong!

To warm up for your plyometrics workout, jog for at least five minutes, and follow that with five minutes of light skipping, gentle jumping jacks, and high knee prancing, like a little pony ;-) . It's best to do the jumping drills on grass so you have some cushioning. After the drills, do an easy run 10 - 15 minute run.

Launch into each drill with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Perform two to four sets of each drill.


Balance Drills

The Payoff: Improves balance; strengthens ankle, knee, and hip joints.

1. Jump and Sticks

Jump from and land on the balls of both feet. Jump high, not far. Land with knees bent and hold two to three seconds before jumping again. Alternate jumping 10 yards forward and sideways.

2. Two-Way Hops

Start balanced on your right leg. Hop two to three feet forward onto your left leg. Hold for two seconds to regain balance. Stay facing forward and hop back to the start position onto your right leg. Now hop onto your left again, but move sideways, then back. That's one set. Do three more, then repeat the drill starting on your left leg.


Elasticity Drills

The Payoff: Strengthens all lower-body muscles; improves the spring-like ability of the muscles and tendons around the joints.

3. Skip Ups

This is an exaggerated skipping motion. Drive your leading knee high, until the thigh is parallel to the ground, while popping off the ground, with your toes pointed.

4. Standing Long Jumps

Swing your arms back, then forward as you leap, and jump as far as possible, landing on both feet.


Power Moves

The Payoff: Improves stride power, or the force of each push-off.

5. Jump and Sprint

Do a standing long jump (see Drill 4), but at the moment you land, sprint for about 10 yards.

6. Triple Jumps

Start with a standing long jump (see Drill 4), but land on your right foot, quickly hop forward onto your left, then hop and land on both feet. Aim for maximal distance the whole way.

Have fun with these. See if they can't make you laugh a little.

Workout for August 10

Now that we've been running for ALMOST two weeks lets have a little timed workout. You're going to want a stop watch for this one.

Beginners - 2 miles

Intermediate - 3 miles

Advanced - 4 miles

Pick a fairly flat course and time yourself.
Save your times we're going to do this every few weeks to see how much we're improving.
Run this at a comfortable speed, slightly slower than race pace but, not much.
If your still walking most or some of your workouts don't worry.
This is not a competition, I just want all of us to see how much we're improving as the weeks go by.
Good Luck, have fun and don't stress out about it.

Double Trouble

Hey ladies...

I didn't get my workout done yesterday due to stormy weather here. I'm golfing tonight and have made tentative plans with q to run afterwards to get our great 8's done from yesterday. I'm contemplating pulling a double workout tomorrow just so I don't feel like a slacker. That 5k is only like 6weeks away so.....might want to push myself a little.

I'll have the workout for tomorrow posted later this afternoon. Hope everyone is well. I'm thinking about all of you while I run...or alternatively lay on the couch trying to convince myself to run.

To whom it may concern...keep up the good work on the no smoking. You know who you are. You rule! Both of you.

Workout for August 9

It's recess!

For today's workout give your mind and body a break.
Hike, bike, or swim (or whatever physical activity you want) for at least thirty minutes

Have fun and relax. Don't push yourself super hard just appreciate that your moving.

I think I'll try and hit lap swim at one of the outdoor pools.

Tell us what your plans are. You might inspire one of your fellow fast girls!

Why we do the Great Eight workout

So I'm guessing some of you are wondering why we run these. There are a few reasons.

1- I think it's a good, hard, fast workout.
2- These allow you to really push yourself to run hard because it's not a long distance, it's just a few minutes.
3- They make us faster. I attached a portion of an article from Runner's World that explains how they work.

Enjoy your workout!

"What's critical speed? It's the pace you need to run to reach your VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen that your body can utilize in a given amount of time). Running at least once a week at that pace teaches the oxygen delivery system in your body to be more effective. Training at critical speed, therefore, stretches your aerobic capacity and boosts running economy, meaning you'll be able to run faster with less effort. In one study, subjects who ran one critical-speed interval session per week for four weeks improved their running economy by six percent and increased their critical speed by three percent. In training, 800-meter repeats are the ideal distance to run at 100 percent critical speed. If you run longer intervals, you likely won't be able to maintain 100 percent critical speed, which means you won't reap optimal aerobic benefits." Ed Eyestone - Runner's World

Workout for August 8th

Hey Ladies sorry I didn't get this up yesterday.

Today we're going to do another track workout.

400 m warm up lap

400 m

200 m recovery

800 m

400 m recovery

800 m

400 m recovery

400 m

200 m recovery

400 m cool off

Run these all at race pace and track your times. Try and stack the two 400m (not the warm up & cool off). Work on your form. Long strides Ladies. Remember to keep your arms moving in a back and forth motion not across your body. This will help lengthen your stride and make it easier to breathe.

Hope you are doing well. Keep up the good work.

Workout for August 5th and 6th

Saturday, August 5th

10 minutes of warm up stretching

Beginner - Run/Walk - 32 Minutes
Intermediate - Run - 47 Minutes
Advanced - Run - 62 Minutes

1st quarter easy pace
2nd & 3rd quarter 60-75% of your ability
4th quarter easy pace

Walk for at least 5 minutes think of how great you feel.

10 minutes cool down stretches.

Sunday, August 6th

10 minutes of warm up stretching

Beginner - Run/Walk - 25 Minutes
Intermediate - Run - 35 Minutes
Advanced - Run - 45 Minutes

Walk for at least 5 minutes.

10 minutes cool down stretches.

This is just like last week. This run should be really relaxed. Think about your form while you are running...try and pay attention to your body and and any areas that are sore or stressed, try and spend time streching this area when you finish your run.

If anyone wants to run on Sunday we'll get together around 8:30 am. Post in comments and I'll send you the locale.

Be well.

Workout for August 4th

Run an easy 10 minute warm up then...run your ladders

100

100

200

200

400

200

200

100

100

These should be done as fast as you can.

Walk or jog the same distance to recover before doing the next rung.

Run/Walk an easy 10 minute cool down.

How’s everybody doing? This weekend the blog will have been up for a week! I’m sore but feeling pretty good. My mood has improved for the most part since we started and I’m definitely feeling like I have a responsibility to workout. Let’s hear an update.

not my best performance

So I went for my 30 minute run last night right after work and I don't know what my deal was. My quads were killing and my calves felt like they were going to spasm into charlie horses at any moment. I have to admit that I walked at least half of the half hour. I think as someone who is just getting back into running that I need to take a day of rest between every three days of activity...at least for a little while. We have family coming in tomorrow so hills may have to wait til Saturday. Good luck everyone else though. Any good hill recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

Workout for August 3rd

Head for the hills Ladies!

Beginner - 5 hills
Intermediate - 6 hills
Advanced - 7 hills

Find a hill that takes approximately 2-3 minutes to run/walk up. It should be a medium incline. Not so steep that you can't run up it but it should be noticeable.

Run Up. Walk Down.

The walk is your recovery time. So use it. Don't worry about speed, the point of this is simply to get up the hill multiple times.

If you are running these on a treadmill set it for an incline at a decent speed and then significantly slower on the decline. Try 3 minutes up 2 minutes down for 20-25 minutes depending on your pace.

This is another tough short workout. Hills help us build our muscle strength as well as our aerobic output without increasing distance. Hills also focus on muscles that we don't use as much in flat running.

Eights are great!

I had a good time running the eights with Mikel and Joan last night, even hiking up over the dirt piles. We ran on the track at the dead end by the river on 3rd. That was a great workout. My goal was to get up early and do my run for today before work, but alas I still love to sleep in. At least the weather has been cooler here the past couple of days so after work running doesn't seem so terrible. I'm going to explore my own neighborhood this evening. Hope all is well with your Wednesdays.

Workout for August 2nd

Run/Walk for at least 30 minutes.

This should be a really gentle run.

Don't try and wear yourself out.

This is similar to our Sunday run. We're just trying to keep our muscles loose and active.

If you've been doing most of your miles on pavement or a track, think about giving your joints a break and try trail running.

If you are trying to figure out a new route today's the day to explore.

As always make sure your stretch before and after your run and walk for a few minutes before you stop to let your body cool down.