I Wanna Be Faster!

I have many speedy friends in the running community. On my best day, I am a middle-of-the-pack runner.  What does that mean? Well, if coyotes attack my running group on the trails (something I am certain will happen some evening), my friends will escape without even breathing heavily; I will be a tasty coyote dinner.  If there is a zombie apocalypse, I will be just fine with my 5K pace of 8:30/mile. If the zombies can hang in there past 3 miles, I am brainfood.

Be careful of zombies--seriously!

  

If you are a slower runner, you might be tempted to compare yourself to your faster friends and decide that it’s no use trying to improve your time.  I disagree. While I don’t compare my running times to those of other people, I do like to set my own time goals and then beat them. There is nothing like the feeling of a PR, especially if you pay yourself five bucks for every PR (See my post about paying yourself for running). So, how can we run faster, even if we don’t run like Meb?  Here are some tips for any runner. Use what you like; there is no one plan for everybody.

 Speedwork 

This is the number one technique (obviously) to getting faster.  If you google the term, you will see lots of different methods. Choose anything you want to try; try everything!  I like to do speedwork twice a week, and here are some of my workouts:

10s20s30s.  This is a great beginner’s method. All you need to do is count or use a watch if you don’t like to count.  After a warmup, I run for 30 breath cycles (more on this in the next tip) at an easy pace, then 20 cycles at a moderate pace, then I sprint for 10 cycles.  If you are using a watch or the clock on a treadmill, you can do 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds. Repeat for 2-4 miles; then, cool down.

Intervals: Warm up for a mile. Run 400 meters (or a quarter mile) at 5k pace. Recover for a minute by walking or slowly jogging.  Repeat up to 12 times. Cool down. When you feel comfortable with this pattern, you can either speed up your pace or lengthen your running to 800 meters (or half a mile) for up to 8 intervals.  Cool down.

Tempo Runs: Warm up for a mile. Run 3-6 miles at half marathon pace. Cool down.  Increase your speed and your middle miles as you get more comfortable.

Breathing

Your ability to bear discomfort has a lot to do with your breathing. As someone who bore two children, one without an effective epidural, I can tell you that breathing is the number one non-drug way of managing pain. Running faster is a matter of working with discomfort and even sometimes pain.  How do you breathe when you run? I read an article (Boy, a better blogger would have that reference for you here, but I can’t find it) that claimed that in-out breathing patterns should be grouped with footstrikes, and they should be in uneven number cycles in order to alternate each side.  This is how I breathe when I run: three breaths in (I chant in my head, “In-In-In) and two breaths out (“Out-Out”). Each breath occurs when my foot strikes the ground. It takes practice, but it really helps me to run faster and endure the discomfort that comes with it. I even have mantras that go with those cycles:  I am Strong (In-breaths), Runner (Out-breaths); I am Fast, Runner; I Got This, Runner.  
Recovery


Here is something I learned when researching speed work. Do you know why we call 400s or 800s Intervals? The interval part isn’t the running, which is what I originally thought.  The interval refers to the recovery. Recovery and rest are super-important for overall health, and you won’t get faster if you don’t respect this. When we work hard, we cause minute tears in our muscles. Protein and rest repair those tears, and the muscles become stronger. If you don’t consume protein, and if you don’t rest, you will continue to strain those muscles, and they will get weaker instead of stronger.  It’s that simple. Take a rest day between difficult workouts. Do yoga. Stretch. You’ll be better and faster for it!

Use your newfound strength to race at the Cleveland Marathon series! If you want 10% off registration for any of the races, use my code RUNCLESTEPHANI10 !

Whether you run speedy or slow, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!

Giveaway Winner!

It has been a fun week, Peeps. I have posted each day to offer you a chance to run any Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon race for free, and you didn't disappoint with your responses!

This is EXACTLY how I look when I offer free race registrations!

To enter, you had to respond in the comments on any of my posts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.  I assigned a number to each comment in the order in which they appeared, and I used a random number generator to choose the winner.  And the winner is. . .

firerunner2379

Congratulations! You get a free entry to any of the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon races! I can't wait to find out what you choose.

Don't fret, Peeps: you can still win an entry. All you need to do is follow the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors on social media, and you can still #runCLE for free! I'll even give you a hint: the next giveaway belongs to Jen Solanics. Find her and respond to her posts this week!

Of course, you can always register now with my code RUNCLESTEPHANI10, which gives you a 10% discount. It's simple--go to the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon page and register today!

However you choose to run, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!

Giveaway Week!

Peeps, you may have heard (in very subtle hints) that I am a Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassador.  This means that I get to give away an entry to the funnest (yes, that is a word) race in Ohio! This week starts my giveaway; I will post each day from Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  Respond to my posts, and I will give you a chance at registration for any race in the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon series!

To kick this off, I thought I would present 13.1 things about me. It should be 26.2, but I am not that interesting.

Shut up.

1. I didn't start running until after I turned 40.  I got a late start, but I'm in it for the longevity.

2. I originally started running so that I could run the 3.1 mile leg on Sand Run Parkway for the Akron Marathon. I tried and tried to run farther than 2 miles, but I would be winded. Finally, I joined a running group, the Towpath Turtles. The day I reached 4 miles, I burst into tears. "I never thought I would be able to run this far," I sobbed gratefully to my coach. "Of course you didn't," she replied, "because you were running like a dumbass before."  Huh.

Me with my first running group, the Towpath Turtles

3. I signed up for that very leg on an Akron Marathon Relay team. When teaching a unit about Carpe Diem (seize the day!) in my literature class, a student challenged me: "Why not run the half marathon? Why run only 3 miles? What are we really doing here?" I realized she was right, and I switched to the half.  There was no looking back.

4.  I ran the Akron Marathon when I failed to break the 2:00 barrier for the half marathon (I was 53 seconds short!).  Again, there was no looking back. This year will be my 5th consecutive Akron Marathon. I have run the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon 4 times. Will this year be the 5th?

My first marathon!

5.  I ran my first 50k this year for Forget the PR. It was brutal, but I had a great time.

Wendy and I finish my first 50K!

6. Sometimes I think about a 50 miler. . . and then I remember how miserable I feel in the last 6 miles of a marathon. So far that is a NOPE race.

7.  I am a high school English teacher. I love teaching high schoolers.  Seriously. I use running analogies all the time. My favorite: Education is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to build your endurance. Sometimes your runs are super-fun, and sometimes they suck and you feel like they will never end. They all have purpose, and they all make you a better person.

8. For three years I lived in Paris, France, where I met my husband. We had a neighborhood restaurant called Cafe Le Bouliste. When we retire, we plan to move back to Paris and open a Browns backers club called Le Dawg Pound.

My husband--the Kabyle Chef

9.  Although I am an English teacher, the language I speak at home with my husband is French. Go figure.

10.  I am obsessed with food. I think about it constantly, and I am always hungry. I feel like I ran my 50K only for the trail food and the opportunity to drink a lot of beer after the race. Unfortunately for me, I was wiped out after 2 beers.  Ok, maybe 3. Favorite aid station food? Grilled cheese sandwich triangles with pickles on top.  Runner up? Bacon.

11. Trail running is not my first love. In fact, I hated it for my first two years of running. I didn't even buy my first pair of trail shoes until I was three years in. Today I like to run trails if I am with my friends, but if I am alone, give me roads any day.

Love me some roads!

Love me some trails, too!

12. I struggle with my weight. A lot. When I started training for marathons and ultras, the wheels came off a bit, and I've gained 20 pounds that I am now trying to lose. For me, this means logging every bite I put into my mouth. Somedays I wish I could eat like a "normal" person, but I know where that kind of thinking leads me. . .right into my fat clothes.  I've lost 10 of the 20 pounds, but every day is a battle.

13.  I belong to some super-cool running groups: Trail Sisters, Crooked River Trail Runners, Phillips' Phlyers, Canal Rats, the Lawn Wranglers.  I truly enjoy running with people in these groups. Runners can be the nicest, most welcoming people in the world.

The Trail Sisters

13.1. I want to give YOU a free entry to any Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon race!

For a chance to win, tell me which of the above snippets relates to you. Want more chances? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout! I will post a chance for you to respond each day. At the end of the week (Saturday, February 8), I will draw the winner, and I will announce it on Sunday, February 9.

Don't feel lucky? Use my code, RUNCLESTEPHANI10, for 10% off any race registration.

What are you waiting for? Join me!

However, whenever you run, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!

Running Payday

Here it is, Peeps, my annual Payday Post!

Here is how it works:

I pay myself $.50 for every mile I run, $1.00 for every racing mile, and $5.00 for every PR.  I deduct my race fees from this amount, and I deposit the total in a special savings account for my big ticket racing goal.  Here and here are some previous posts. Go ahead and read them; I'll wait.

Ok, ready?  Step one is to calculate the total miles of 2019. I get this figure from Garmin and Strava, where I log my runs. This year I ran and walked 1,714 miles, which is a surprising decrease from last year, considering I added a 50K to my races. I think this isn't a bad thing, though, for two reasons:

1. I was sick and couldn't run a step for over two weeks during the summer. It was all in my chest. We all know that when it hits your chest, you don't do heavy workouts. That is a loss of approximately 60-some miles.

2. I did a better job of incorporating other activities besides running into my schedule. For example, I like to rotate among cardio and strength training activities like Zumba, Tae Bo, Dancing, Kettlebell, and free weights. I also did more swimming this year.

This is EXACTLY how I THINK I look as swimmer.

This is ACTUALLY how I look as a swimmer.

Step 2 is to add up the racing miles:

April: Forget the PR 50K= 32 (I got lost)

May: Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon = 26.2

May: Medina Half Marathon = 13.1

July: Burning River = 17 

August: One Hot Momma = 16

September: Race with Grace = 3.1

September: Akron Marathon = 26.2

October: Crowell Hilaka = 15.5

November: Home Run for the Homeless = 4

Total Racing Miles = 153.1 = 153

Step 3 is to subtract racing miles from total miles:

1,714 - 153 = 1, 561

Step 4 is to multiply non-racing miles by .50 and then add to racing miles:

1561 x .50 = 780 + 153 = $933

Step 5 is to add in $5.00 for every PR. . .and that would be one (FtPR): 933 + 5 = $938

Woohoo! I'm rich! I'm . . . Oh wait. I still need to add up my racing fees and subtract them from the total:

938-448 = $490

I am so happy with this! What this means is that I will be depositing $490 into my savings account dedicated to running the Paris Marathon. 

As my smart-ass brother has pointed out to me, I am merely paying myself with MY OWN MONEY, which I completely understand. . . HOWEVER. If you are remotely like me, you may want to pay attention to this part. 

I tend to be the person who takes care of everyone else around me: my family, my friends, my colleagues, my students. Running is one of the few ways that I take care of myself, and I have learned that I deserve rewards. Also, knowing that I have an account waiting for me to reach my goal of running the Paris Marathon gives me an incentive on the days that I don't want to get up at 4:30 AM to run or work out. I tend to punish myself pretty harshly when I don't achieve one of my gazillion goals, so I really use this system to remind myself that I am doing a great job.

How can you reward yourself for your goals, Peeps? One way you can reward yourself right away is by using my code, RUNCLESTEPHANI10, for 10% off any race entry for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. We can earn points towards our paydays together!

I'm looking forward to where my running year will take me. Wherever your running year takes you, I hope you run happy, Peeps!