This month did not go as I had planned with the crazy hot LA marathon and not going to lie, I was pretty down and depressed over it. After a week, I was able to pick myself up, dust myself off and am moving forward with what is shaping up to be a challenging yet so rewarding race calendar for the year. I am not forgetting the fact that I ran a marathon in 91+ degree weather (believe me, I will never forget that!), I am just learning from mistakes, trying a few new things and hoping to keep improving.
I had a great outing at the Old Agoura 10k as part of the Great Race (full recap is coming once the pictures are posted! free pictures, i gotta wait for those!) and PRed the course by almost 5 minutes over last year. Considering I had a cold and made a few silly mistakes, I am very proud of this result.
This morning I took that confidence and was short on time so decided to do some speed work, I was able to run for 2:10 (2 min and 10 sec) at paces of 9:33, 8:32, 7:59, and after a slow cycle at 11:25, able to pull a 8:47. This was a challenge for me as I usually just do speedwork in bursts of 30 seconds but decided to challenge myself today. I am proud of what I was able to do!
GOALS FOR APRIL
1. set a new PR at the Angels 5k
I am running a 5k this weekend (Santa Anita Derby 5k) and have decided my goal for that is to try and run the whole thing, which I have never done mainly because I am faster when using intervals. I will write a bit more about this race later in the week but I am excited for it. However since training for the Sunset Strip half needs to happen, I need to do 10 miles on Sunday (including some hill work!). However the next week, my goal is to PR the 5k at theAngels Foundation 5k. It is at Angels stadium and will be very flat. My only concern is course crowding but I will do my best! Next week I will write more about my goals for that but a new 5k PR would be great.
2. Rock the Sunset Strip Half
As the final of my 4 weekends in a row racing, I will be running the inaugural Sunset Strip half which is going to be INSANELY hilly. I don't do well on hills so I have been working on them. I don't think I have it in me to PR (since that race was pretty flat) but my goal is to do my best and really get in some solid hill work in a race. I am still thinking about my goalsWith the NYCM on the horizon, I need to get work on hills.
3. Get back into Core work
I will be joining in on the #Rockyourcore Ab challenge as well as doing daily core work. I created a routine that worked well for me in the past but I have fallen off doing it. My goal is to try and do core work at least 6 days a week, every week for the whole month of April. I know it will help with my strength but also should help with the lingering sciatica, hip flexor issues I have been having off and on since October.
How is your training going? Any goals for April?