Pre-Turkey Leg Shake Out/Tempo"ish" Run and Warm-Up Drill Video

It's about time to get cookin'!  At least brine some turkey and prep some veggies for tomorrow.  But first, I'm enjoying the sound of the quiet house, the taste of a good amber beer and the satisfied feeling of getting in 15 miles today. This feeling is especially nice after a hard start to the day.  I just couldn't get myself out that door to run.  I've never been a morning runner...it has always been hard for me and today I was struggling. 


ELMO HOOKED ME UP
Once I got my oldest to school and my son woke up, I knew it was too late to run again until later. But one good thing about my younger daughter being sick is that she slept in way late and my son was begging to watch some Elmo's Potty Time.  Usually I'm pretty reluctant to turn on the t.v.  I like to save it for when I'm really desperate for a break and 9 a.m isn't one of those times.  But today Elmo came to the rescue.  He hooked me up.  Did me a solid Yo!  I really should pay him some daycare fees or something.  That Elmo..he's a swell little monster.  I was able to hop on the treadmill and get 5 morning miles in with mile 4 @ 6:40 and mile 5@7:30 (7:30 felt so slow after a 6:40).  This five mile morning run got me through a crazy day with sick kids and a wild 2 year old boy. 


Thanksgiving shopping with kids the day before Thanksgiving is NUTS! Not Advisable! 
 I don't ever want to do my entire Thanksgiving shopping with kids on the day before Thanksgiving EVER AGAIN.  It really wasn't that bad but I was stressed anyway.  I made the mistake of shopping at a store I don't usually shop at so I couldn't find anything and it was so crowded that the chances of finding anyone to help me were slim to none.  Luckily, my daughter was in charge of crossing things off the list so that kept her busy.  


The day only got crazier with being late picking up my oldest and then taking all three kids to the germy doctor's office to get their ears looked at.  They all looked fine.  That was a waste of time and money!  


Stress Reliever of a Run
Today sure did make me want to get out there and RUN!  Since I was too chicken to do a Thanksgiving 5k right now, I thought I'd do a little pre-Turkey leg shake out.  Thought I'd mix up my run with some broken up tempo action and then see what happens.  Note:  I didn't follow any plan for this workout and it probably didn't really do a whole lot for me besides feel darn good to get my heart rate up and my lungs feeling it.  Gosh, it felt good to do an "Amanda Workout"  the way I felt like doing it and not because a book told me to.  Just what I needed right before starting a marathon plan on Saturday.  Here's how my second run of the day went:


Warm up Mile
Took a minute to do some warm-up drills (see video below)


9 miles:
7:04
7:04
8:00 (trying to break up my tempos more)
6:40 (I know this was too fast for tempo but darn it felt good)
7:19
Next 4 miles ranging in incline from -3% to 4% on treadmill
8:35 Easy
8:35 E
8:35 E
8:35 E
7:09 (last .25 @ 6:31 pace)


Total mileage today:  15 
Total this week so far since Sunday:  36
Goal for the week:  60-65 
Feeling GREAT!  


Warm-up Drills
I've been trying to remember more of the drills, strength training exercises and different things I did when I was running for my college team.  Our warm-up routine was always pretty consistent.  Before a track workout, part of our warm-up involved some wall drills that got our legs moving, helped us get the feel for good leg turnover, and also served as dynamic stretching.  For those of you that asked, the following video is an example of part of the warm-up routine that I've been trying to incorporate into my harder workouts.  After a warm up jog/run, I've been stopping and doing these before I do any faster paced runs.  I've also been incorporating lots more core work. I found a good article/information in Running Times that I'll share soon.  


Lucky you!  You get to see our cluttered garage, and my sweaty no-make up after-glow.  And you might just be able to smell my after run stench through the video.  

A VERY Happy Thanksgiving to you!!  And good luck to all of you who are racing tomorrow! A good week for racing. Excited to read race reports.  I've already heard of one good race report today that made me very happy.  


Thankful for you,
Amanda