Just lace up the shoes...
Well here goes nothing! Even though my main goal here is to chronicle a form of training that’s new to me, I feel like I need to give a little back story.
I started running almost 10 years ago. I wasn’t an athlete in middle school or high school. I had just started seeing a guy unlike anyone else I’d ever dated. This one had potential. Something about him made me want to be a better version of myself. And with that, I decided to take up running. It started with the goal of running a 5K. Eventually, it led to signing up for a half-marathon. You know how this goes, right? I know y’all drank the Kool-Aid, too!
So what’s happened in the last 10 years? Well, I’ve run more 5Ks than I can count. There’s a box in the basement filled with medals no one ever sees. I’ve run 5 half-marathons. I’ve also had 3 kids in the last 4 years. When I started running again after the birth of my third daughter (May 2017), something felt different. I felt stronger and more determined than ever before. I felt a desire to challenge myself and reach new heights. When I signed up to run the Cap City 1/2, I set a goal time of 2 hours. This is right around where I’ve finished in the past, so if I could do that again after 3 babies, I’d be happy. But I trained really hard this winter. I didn’t deviate from my plan, and I really invested in speed work. I ended up moving corrals with a new goal time of 1:50. On race day, I fell short of my goal with a finishing time of 1:51:52. This was still a big PR for me, and I was ready for the next challenge. Currently, I’m training to run the Columbus Marathon in October 2018. I stay connected with Moms Run This Town (MRTT) so that I can rack up some miles with local moms. I also signed up for Marathoners in Training to help me conquer the 26.2.
Anyhow, back in April, following the crazy weather at the Boston Marathon, I saw this image posted. It was taken from a Runner’s World article. (https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a20853168/6-training-habits-that-lead-to-boston-qualifying-times-according-to-strava/)
I started to realize that I was running MOST of my runs at race pace or faster. I was only slowing down for long runs and not by much. But how do you get faster by running slower?
Enter LACTATE THRESHOLD TESTING. I used a company out of Grandview called Summit Multisport Racing. I was just tested two days ago, so this is really fresh info! For anyone interested, here’s how the process went:
Blood is drawn just like it would be if you were a diabetic. It’s a tiny little pinch on your finger. She started by measuring my resting values. Then I hopped on the treadmill and started jogging at an easy pace. The pace was determined in advance based on info I had given them about my runs. Every 2.5 minutes I would report my heart rate (from my Garmin watch). At the 5 minute mark, I would straddle the rails of the treadmill while my blood was collected to measure the oxygen levels. Then I would hop back on and increase the speed. We did this over and over until I maxed out. I started running 10 minute miles and called it quits after 2 minutes of running a 6:30. Now I’ll take the data, apply it to my training plan, and retest in about 8 weeks. Depending on the results at that time, I may need to adjust my training for the last 8 weeks or so leading up to the marathon.
I mistakenly thought that lactate threshold testing was for elite athletes. Listen up! It’s for anyone who is serious about getting better, whatever that means for you! Most posts won’t be this long. I’m just excited to share the results of the test and keep track of my training in such a way as to highlight what I would have been doing had I NOT been tested, how I’ve made adjustments, and what kind of progress I’m seeing. Next post will showcase the results I received from the test. Stay tuned!