The last two Mondays I have used them as pseudo rest days and run super easy for like 30 or 40 minutes. I am not trying to “run streak” or anything like that but I’ve found this to be working for me right now.

Here’s my log from Week 4:

Week 4 – Jan 27th – Feb 2nd

8 runs
68 Miles
2 Workouts

Monday – 4 miles

Recovery day from the prior weekend. I drove up from Bloomington that morning so I didn’t run until 6:30 or so. Felt really tired because of it. I almost never run at night. 7:45 pace.

Tuesday – 10 Miles – 7:11 pace.

Easy run with a pickup the last two miles. I am enjoying this type of run. I start out nice and easy for a couple of miles and then progress the pace to where I am at AT and faster for the last mile or two. I think it provides a nice little stress without overly taxing your body. It was stupid cold out again, like -40*F wind chill. Went back to Bloomington to get Lindsey and Marshall after staying in Indy Monday night.

Wednesday – 8 Miles – 7:22 pace.

Easy run. Traveling the state continues. I took Lindsey and Marshall to Crown Point today so she could recover and I could work. It would almost be easier if Lindsey worked outside of the house because I could just take Marshall to day care and we could stay in Indy but thankfully all the surgery stuff is essentially behind us. Came back to Indy Wednesday night.

Thursday – 11 Miles
2 Runs.

First run was the workout for the day:

8 Miles.
6:49 pace.
2 Mile warmup.
5 mile tempo run in 30:40 – 6:30, 6:17. 6:07, 6:00,5:46
1 Mile cooldown
Good effort. I really enjoy progressive type runs. Too often people hammer from the gun and then struggle.

Second run

3 miles

Easy run with the dog. 8:15 pace or so. This is the first week that I have added a secondary run into my weekly load. I did it for a couple weeks in the fall. I plan on adding some more secondary runs throughout this cycle until I get to 10-12 runs a week.

Friday – 10 Miles

Easy run 7:27 pace. Got to run outside for this one since the snow had been cleared and it was not stupid cold. See my log from last week for my thoughts on winter running and the treadmill. Basically…get over it!

Saturday – 15 Miles

Back in Crown Point for this one. I came up Friday night after work. CP got a big storm Friday night into Saturday which made running outside not a very good option so I took to my parents treadmill.
Nice long run. 7:10 pace. Spotify and @iRunFar coverage of Rocky Raccoon and Sean O’Brien ultras got me through.

We then celebrated my Dad’s 63rd birthday. The joke was it was like his 7th birthday party of the week…he had at least 3 for real though. If cake is present it is a party in my book.

The original Hein Family plus the new ones. My Dad’s 63rd birthday.

Sunday – 10 Miles

6 @ 7:30 with increasing pace over the last four. Moved from 7:30 to 5:50 over the last four. Pretty standard FF run following a long run for the Mohican cycle. 

We then came back to Indy and went to a Super Bowl party with some friends. What a terrible game…but I’m glad the Seahawks won.

Super Bowl parties look like this now.

In the last week, I have drove from Indy to Bloomington, back to Indy, back to Bloomington, back to Indy, to Crown Point, to Indy, to Crown Point again and finally back to Indy.

Happy to be home this week and that Lindsey is back on the road to recovery and the surgeries are behind us. 

This week will again be around 70 miles with one or two secondary runs…probably two. I’ll hold that for a couple of weeks to make sure I can handle it along with the miles before bumping up again.

The post Week 4 – Mohican 50 Training appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

Another good week of training. The winter has been grinding on in Indy this year. It is one of the coldest and snowiest January’s on record. This has meant a lot of treadmill miles for me lately. It is hard to get in quality runs when it is just really shitty outside. I don’t mind running in the cold but sometimes it is just too cold or too snow covered to get anything of quality out of the run…so I go to the treadmill.

Week 3

7 Runs
62 Miles 
2 workouts

Monday – 6 Miles
7:53 pace. Nice and easy recovery from the weekend.

Tuesday –  9 Miles
7:26 pace. Nice and easy run on the treadmill. Shirtless. In the living room. Big fan.

Wednesday – 7 Miles
7:34 pace. Easy run. Cut the distance a bit from lack of energy dealing with a head cold.

Thursday – 7.25 Miles
6:53 Pace

With Lindsey on the mend in Bloomington I took the treadmill during Marshall’s nap. I waited way too long between waking up, eating, and then finally running. I cracked real hard. I try to do most of my training on minimal fuel but I really made a mistake today. Not enough water either for temp in the basement.

Ran on the ProForm Boston Marathon treadmill that Lindsey’s parents have so that is always fun. That course is a grind. It was a good run until I bonked.

This treadmill is legit.

I’ll probably add one or two secondary runs to my load this week… probably one really so that I am at 8 runs. I am working on getting to 12 runs or so a week. Mileage will stay around 65 for the time being…maybe creep toward 70.

Naturally being in Bloomington, we’re required to go to both Soma & Laughing Planet.

The post Week 3 – Mohican 50 appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

I’ve had my fair share of laughs from the hater crossfit articles and was hoping I’d get some good laughs from the runner hater article. Sadly, I did not.

If you’re going to write an article making fun of runners- at least make it good. There are so many more ways you can make fun and this guy doesn’t know enough to actually make it funny. Please note, as a runner, some of these things I do, some I don’t.

• He didn’t even mention the PR talk. Runners LOVE LOVE LOVE to tell people their PR. It’s all about the PR and there’s nothing like seeing someone drop what their PR is, like they are just casual dropping it. It’s not casual, you’re proud of that time. 

• Boston Jackets. The Boston Marathon is the prize that thousands of runners aspire to run and once they do it, they want the jacket. They’ll wear that bad boy to an expo even when it’s 90 degrees out, just to make sure everyone knows they’ve run Boston. And in case you didn’t notice the jacket they let you know they ran it. 

• Expo Trolls. (Got that term from Adam. I like it) Glenn & I worked a marathon expo recently & I swear we saw some people trolling around for HOURS and a handful came for BOTH days. 

• The stickers. We all hate the stickers. My mom and my sister both put 26.2 stickers on their cars after they ran their first marathon. I kindly told them they needed to run at least 2  before claiming they run marathons so loudly on their cars. They both went on to run plenty more, but I still hate the stickers.

• #Runchat – Good Lord look at that. #woof

• DailyMile.

• “Even a bad run is better than no run” – FALSE. Sometimes it sucks way worse. 

• Compression socks. SOOO hot, thank you kara Goucher & Shalane Flanagan. Here’s a secret, while they do serve a purpose, if you wear them while running, they don’t make you run faster. I’m a proud owner, I like how they feel and think they look cute with my shorts. I mostly wear them for the cute factor though, let’s be real. 

• Fuel belts. Just fuel belts in general. 

• When Runner’s say…. All the food. All the beer. Rungry. yadda yadda, you get it.

• FORGET the selflies. If he really wanted to make fun he would have pointed out all the GPS watch & shoe pics. Better show us that proof that you ran what you say you ran. And I’m glad I can see your shoes, had I not seen them, I might have been out for a run in sandals.

Oh man, I could go on, but I’m tired and want to go to bed. 

It’s about time a “hater” post about runners came out- but I just wish it would have actually been funny. Try harder next time you think your post might go viral.

Sincerely,

A sorely disappointed runner who was really hoping to actually get made fun of. Oh, by the way, here’s a really good running selfie.

The post What’s really annoying about Runners: #Runchat appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

I don’t have a full marathon on my schedule for the fall at this point. BUT, apparently that whole training for a half ironman thing was the break I needed to want to run a lot again.

I ran 54 miles last week…. I peaked at 60 miles when training for my spring marathon, so I’m not sure what’s gotten into me. I had planned to run around 45-50 but went over by a little. I like it, for now at least.

Here’s what went down with me and my legs this week: 

Monday- 11 miles, 8 w/ stroller, 3 w/ dog

Tuesday- 5 miles, (treadmill at home) plus 1,000 meter swim at gym. But I mostly just went to the gym to shower and figured I might as well swim some laps while I’m there

Wednesday- 8 miles w/ 6 @ Tempo @ 6:40-6:50 pace, on monon with speed group BIG THANKS to Choy for pushing me on this run! I needed it. The hardest part of a 6 mile tempo are miles 3-4 when the mental games start happening. Was happy to finish strong though.

Thursday- REST

Friday- 10 miles, 4 alone, 6 with my sister downtown.

Saturday- 17 miles @ 7:30ish pace w/ 2 mile fast finish, 5 alone, 12 with Ashley

Sunday- 3 miles, w/ the dog.

What do I like about the runs this week?  They were all pretty different, as far as where and what I did, who I ran with and what the purpose was. Changing all that up is important… for me.

I think I’ll run a lot of miles again this week. Really just because I want to. Not because I have to. Not because it’s in my training plan. Because I really want to. That feels good.

The post I ran a lot this week. appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

What: Speed work- let’s get fast people.

When: Wednesday, June 26th, 5:30am (every Wednesday at 5:30am).

Where: Broad Ripple (DUH), on the monon. Meeting in parking lot next to EINSTEIN’S.

Why: To improve running performance while working on speed and stamina.

This weeks workout: 1 mile warm up, 2 X2 mi, 1 mile cool down.

The post Speedwork Week 3 appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

What: Speed work- let’s get fast people

When: Wednesdays at 5:30am

Where: Broad Ripple (DUH), on the monon. Meeting in parking lot next to EINSTEIN’S.

Why: To improve running performance while working on speed and stamina

This weeks workout: 6 Mi Total, 3 at Tempo

The post Speed Sessions Week 2! appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

Swim:

I’ve never done an open water swim. Anyone I’ve ever talked to who isn’t a swimmer by nature has freaked out on their first open water swim. Glenn did it just like all the others. Brian tells me I’ll freak out once I’m 50 meters out. I asked him how to prevent it and he says just calm down.

I plan on starting toward the back. I think there is at timing mat and they kind of just go in short waves and you can get out there where you feel like you fit in, speed wise. I’m thinking I’ll go in once 60-70% of people have gone in. I’ve got the breast stroke in my mind for if I have a freak out. I’m prepared for it and I’m prepared to stay calm.

Right now, I know I need to work on form when I swim- I did a speed workout yesterday and it probably would have made more sense to slow the speed work down and focus on form a little more. The heart rate was sky high!

I talked to a couple of girls last night who were swimmers growing up and they gave me some helpful tips for both the race and when I practice. We’ll see how it goes.

Bike:

10 miles on the bike is no big deal, but I’ve never rode 10 miles all out. I’ve never raced on a bike. I want to work hard, but I’m not super familiar with how to work hard on the bike. I’m thinking that’s how new runners feel. On the swim- I don’t care about pushing hard, I just want to finish feeling strong and not stopping really. On the bike, I know I should be able to hammer it and really test myself. I just have to make it happen.

Run:

It’s a 5K- I’m not sure what kind of goal to give myself, I think I should be able to run 6:55ish miles if it’s not too hilly (or hot!) BUT, I have never after both swimming & biking, so we’ll see.

Transitions:

No clue about transitions, but I’ll have all my stuff set out and will roll with it. I read Michele’s post after she completed her first triathlon last weekend (Congrats Michele!) Her post had lot’s of good stuff in it and didn’t stress me out too much, but made me start thinking about knowing what to have out there more. (and I have thought about the hair thing- gonna wear my haird in long pony tail under swim cap, since that’s how I have to wear it with bike helmet!)

I’m not good when working out gets complicated. Which is probably why I’ve never done a triathlon before. The whole packing up a bike thing or having to put a swim suit on and get wet thing is just more work. That’s why I like being a runner. You just need shoes and clothes and you go run. No body of water, no potential flat tire. Adam, commented on Michele’s post with some really great tips, but had me feeling a little overwhelmed about being prepared. Not that I necessarily need to be crazy prepared for this sprint, but for the half IM, I need to have my shit together.  (side note, I met Adam at the Shamrock marathon, we ran a lot of it together in the same pack- even have a finisher pic with him – it’s the second pic in the sequence) Thanks for the tips though for real. It has helped prepare me

Tomorrow morning at 8am is gun time, the race shouldn’t take too long. I’m not nervous about completing it, I’m mostly nervous about getting the swim done and transitions. I also hope it doesn’t make me all nervous for the half IM… which is a heck of a lot more intense than a sprint right?

The nice thing is, no matter what time I run, it WILL BE a PR. I won’t lie, I want to do well, but it’s not near as stressful as trying to beat a hard earned PR. This is why I wanted to do some triathlons this summer. I was getting burnt out after training for Shamrock. I put in a lot of big and hard miles for that PR and I didn’t want to think about trying to beat it again soon. Not sure when I’ll go again on racing my next marathon, but I will definitely be after 3:10 for my primary goal and 3:05 for a big goal. Glenn and I like laying the numbers out there- holds you accountable. If I don’t speak it, how will I believe it?

Happy Friday! Race recap to follow!

The post First Triathlon TOMORROW! appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

Usually when I tell someone I’m training for a half Ironman, they tell me they are terrible at swimming and they’d do one if it weren’t for the swim. Well, I’m terrible at swimming too.

ME TOO, ME TOO People. (not to get all worried and stuff, I’m doing a sprint & olympic in the next month before the half)

This is a work in progress. When Glenn started training for his half Ironman in 2011, I jumped in the pool with him a couple of times. The swimming consisted of 1-2 laps, stop, 1-2 laps, stop again. Kick board a couple of laps… you get it. And it only happened 3-4 times.

It brought me back to when I was 8 or something like that and my sister and I joined the Bloomington Swim Club. I don’t know how long I was on the team, but I know I was always in the slow lane and was in awe of the kids who could actually swim and swim fast. They had meets and not once did I participate because I didn’t think I could even do a full lap without stopping. See? Swimming is not my thing. In middle school I wanted to be on the swim team, because I wanted to be on every team for every sport I possibly could, because that’s what kids do in middle school. So I joined the diving team instead. I was still pretty terrible, but much better at diving than swimming.

As soon as I decided to train for this race, I started swimming. I started swimming slow and not very far. Distances I could grasp. 500 yards, that’s 10 laps in the pool at my gym. (lap being down and back- at least that’s what I call a lap) I literally had to take a short break every 3 laps. The first time I swam 5 laps without stopping was a huge accomplishment. Last week, I swam 2,000 yards (40 laps) without stopping. That was huge for me. I didn’t do a workout in the swim, I just swam. It was slow, but I did it.

This week, I swam the farthest distance I’ve ever swam- 2200 yards. I also did a “speed” workout in that swim. 3 X 500 yards. It was really hard. I had to break up the last 500 into two sets of 250 because I felt like my arms were going to fall off and now that I look back, maybe I was being a baby. I could have hammered out the last 250 without a break, but I thought it would be a sorry effort.  I was only scheduled for 2,000 yards that day but cooled down an extra 200. Never thought I’d be the point where I actually wanted to do an extra 4 laps of cool down.

I imagine these big moments and accomplishments in my swimming are similar to how a new runner feels. To a someone who is a “swimmer” the 500 yards that I started with is their warm up. I’m not sure I want to venture much further than 2500 yards or so in the whole swimming thing, but what is that compared to? Capping out at a half marathon in running? 50 miles on the bike? Anyone know?

When I get in the pool and know that 40 laps await me, it seems long. Although I know I’ll be done in less than an hour, the end of the workout seems really far away. But I get there, I just start and I keep going. And, much like running, warming up is VERY important. I always feel rusty those first 5 laps, but it gets better. And I kind of like it. It’s kind of refreshing, the whole no impact thing. I like that I’m using my arms- although I don’t feel like they’ve toned up much, I had a really good dream last night where I had amazing arms from all the swimming. That’s something. (I should probably actually do some weights if I really want that)

I still can’t even fathom the 2.4 miles in a full Ironman. I think back to Glenn’s Ironman, (seriously click that link if you haven’t read his race report yet. It’s a good one. Dude knows how to put work in to get it done.) when all those people just plowed in the water. (IM, WI does a mass start) We ended up watching most of the swim from way up high. It was freaking nutty. So many people. Such a far distance. The swimmers all spread out and we had no idea idea where he was in the sea of people.

This is about 2 minutes after the start of Glenn’s IM in September

The post Learning to be a swimmer. Or maybe a runner who can swim. appeared first on Lindsey Hein.