Speeeeedy!

Well guess what!  Yesterday I had my longest run post pregnancy. I ran just over 5 miles and today I had my fastest run post pregnancy. I ran a 9:48 pace! That's actually faster than before I got pregnant. yay!

When I went out for my run yesterday this is what my boys where doing....

Sleepy boys

Now that I've ran several half marathons and one marathon I am often asked how I got into running. Most of the time people ask this question because they themselves want to start lacing up their shoes. I am always happy to give advice on this topic and offer suggestions but in reality I really don't like that question. What works for one person doesn't work for another. Many people do the couch to 5K. That would have bored me to death.  I biked like crazy then one day I thought, I'm going to try running. Once I realized I could run I decided to train for a 5K. Then I just ran. I kept running until I could run a 5K. The rest is history. One thing I always make sure to mention though is that when I first started running... I hated it. I think if you talk to most runners they will agree. It sucks and its really hard at first.

Before I got pregnant and was running 35 miles a week I'd always say I wanted to be a faster runner. I was most definitely capable of running faster, but I never wanted to put in the effort to get faster. Your typical speed work seemed boring to me and way to easy for me to give up. Most of the time it's suggested to run really fast for a .25 miles then go to a more comfortable pace for .75 miles then repeat.... or maybe you recover for less mileage. I never quite understood what was meant by 4 x 400 and i've never been able to find out the answer on google or on Runner's World website or magazine.  As a runner I feel stupid not knowing what it really meant by that.... but whatever. I think it means run 4 miles with 400m (quarter of a mile) being at a fast pace then for the remaining mile you recover... you go at a slower pace. You do this for each mile. I could be wrong though. Oh well...  But... I know myself. As soon as I slow down or walk its much harder for me to run fast again. Especially if I am tired and still have 3 miles to go. But... in order to run faster you have to train yourself to run faster. So I decided I was going to run 2 miles and I was going to try to run it as fast as I could. I was never much for running short distances like that. It seems like such a waste of workout clothing. But as you know... time is limited when you have a baby to take care of. At this point if I am getting any kind of exercise in I'm happy. 

The run today was great. The temperature was perfect and as soon as I started going it started to rain... very lightly. I used to be afraid of running in the rain. But when I trained for my marathon I had to run a majority of my 18 miler in the pouring rain. That day I learned I loved running in the rain. On my run today, there were times I wanted to stop but I didn't. I kept telling myself that I was only running 2 miles and that I could keep my pace up even though it was hard. And well... it worked. I ran faster. Maybe this is how I should approach my speed work for now.  I guess doing speed work is similar to getting into running. You need to find what works for you. 

How do you work on your speed? 

Any runners that are smarter than me know what 4 X 400 is?