3 tips for getting through speed work

First, Brooke wanted to show off her awesome new headband.

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and her Valentines Day week shirt. It is sad how excited I get to get her ready for the day and how much I dread getting ready myself:)

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I was actually excited for speed work this morning? I really have no idea why and I cursed myself for being excited when I was on my 4th mile repeat wanting to roll off the treadmill and never stand up again. I finished alive (somehow?).

My 3 tips for getting through speed work.

1. For me to mentally get through speed work I CANNOT think about the next part of the workout. During my first mile if I were to think, “I have three more of these and two more 800’s” there is NO way that I would have finished. I only think about the interval that I am doing at that time and the second I start thinking about the rest of the workout I have to push those thoughts out and just complete the one I am doing.

2. Focus on your form. Speed work is hard on your body and it is easy (for me) to get injured from speed work. By focusing on my form and running correctly, I am less likely to get injured. I like to focus on running light, efficient and smooth…. I also have to focus on standing tall because when I start getting tired I hunch my back. This is also a great way to distract yourself from focusing on how tired you are.

3. Dig deep. (This one works for any hard run/race, not just speed work) I repeat the same phrase over and over again to remind myself that I can do this! Today’s mantra (inspired by the Kelly Clarkson song that I had on repeat) was ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

Bonus Tip: Remember, speed work is NOT your race. Save your racing legs for your races. Speed work should be difficult but not full out, 100% as fast as you can go running.

My speed work is done on the treadmill since I haven’t quite mastered sprinting with a jogging stroller:)

1 mile warm-up

4 x 1 mile (with .4 SLOW jog recoveries and after a few I even stopped the treadmill to catch my breath)

6:14

6:11

6:09

6:08

2x .5 miles

2:59

2:58

a few miles for a cool-down. Total of 10 miles.

And for the randomness of the day:

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I saw a picture of Bang’s wedding cake last night. I have never wanted to eat a picture more than when I saw the picture of their cake.

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What are some of your tips for getting through speed work?

Where do you do your speed work? Track, treadmill, roads?

Are you a ‘listen to songs on repeat’ kind of a person?

Married people: What kind of wedding cake did you have? Did you smash it in the other person’s face?

-You can see my cake HERE and yes I did smash it.

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80 comments

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I mostly do speedwork on the treadmill but this spring I’m looking forward to trying speedwork on the track!
I can’t imagine doing it with a jogging stroller!!

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I’m a treadmill girl too (as you already know). I’m like you. Just focus on one at a time and it seems more manageable!
Awesome job on the speed workout!! Seriously awesome!
YES! There are times I find a song I love – esp during speed workouts – and have been known to play it for the remainder of the speed workout. HAHA =)

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That’s the kind of cake I’m going to have for my wedding!!

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Nope, never think beyond the one you’re on. I always think I can do two laps (on the track), two is such a small number. And then I can do that one more time, one is such a small number. Etc, etc.

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Thanks for the tips! Love Brooke’s headband and Valentine’s shirt! Noah has been rocking some Valentine’s clothes too (may be a little weird since he’s a boy but oh well haha!) I usually just do speedwork on roads. We had an italian cream cake by the same lady who has been making my cake balls this week! Love her! And yes we smashed it :-) Great job on those mile repeats by the way. T-2 days til someone’s birthday… I know you aren’t counting or anything ;-)

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Random, but are these the Yasso 800s?

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I so needed to read this as I hate running fast and speed work, but of course I want those race PR’s. I know, I know.

I am new to the treadmill and I can see that it’s ideal for speedwork because you can’t drop your pace. Do you set your intervals on the treadmill ahead of time or adjust your speed manually? None of the pre-set intervals on our treadmill really work for me, but I can create my own and I am thinking of trying that.

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brooke is the cutest!!!!!!!

we had hazelnut ganache cake and it was amazing. every single bite of the cake got eaten. :D

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I just followed the link back to your wedding photos. Flipping love them all, you both looked amazing and SO happy!!

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My wedding cake was 3 teired and round – bottom layer was carrot cake, top 2 were chocolate and it all had a buttercream frosting. Ross’ grooms cake was vanilla with a raspberry layer and a butter cream frosting. And I totally smashed it in his face and he smashed it in mine. If we wouldn’t have, I am sure people would have been shocked. There was frosting up my nose though!

Duuuude. Your work out was legit today. I am just sore and tired thinking about it. It is a good idea to focus on each mile. I totally think of all the other repeats I have to do and then get overwhelmed and want to quit. And then suffer through the rest of the workout. And I am a treadmill girl for speedwork all the way. It is much easier for my to SET the pace and the treadmill makes me go that pace.

Seriously though. Way to go!!

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I needed this post! My first speed work is on the schedule for Weds and I have never done it before….and I’m SCARED ;) I will be doing it on the treadmill. We had cake and PIE at our wedding because the hubs doesn’t like cake. He was NOT ALLOWED to smash cherry pie due to the whole white dress thing…lol!

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I actually just did speed work this morning. :) 800s. This is a big deal because I usually avoid speed work…it’s hard ok :(
It was a great workout though. I did it on the track(aka the circle of death) and it worked out well. I think for me what helps is acting like the track workout is occuring on the road and that I am just doing a tempo run….if i start to focus too much on the track I freak out. I just like to pretend im runnning through a meadow :P
I tend to do my speed work on the track or the road. I rarely do it enough though. :/
I almost never use music on my runs. My mantra is always ‘relax.’

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I love your tips. I hate speed work but you are motivating and I think I’m going to try and do this workout tomorrow. Brooke is gorgeous!!

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It’s funny you say the thing about having songs on repeat. I am typically not that person, and yesterday, my husband kept wanting to play this one song over and over and over again in the car! It was driving me nuts! ;)

P.S. Brooke gets more and more gorgeous in every picture!

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I really like speed workout and find it is easier to do on the treadmill. I don’t do it for 10 miles though- you’re dedicated!!!!

Wedding cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting and I had two pieces at my wedding :)

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Dang. Those are some good numbers you have there! I did exactly one week of speed work before winter hit. Now I can’t go fast outside at all because of the ever present ice and snow. I am starting to get concerned about it for my May marathon so I might suck it up and treadmill it to get some speed work in. Or I might wait for better weather. We will see.

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I count up on the number I’ve done until I’ve done more than I have left and then I count down. So say I’m doing 6 repeats, I count up 1…2…3…and then 3 left…2 left…1 left. I do most of my speed work on the roads–my favorites are intervals, fartleks, bursts etc in the middle of a long run. If I’m running something specific like 400s, 800s etc I’ll go to the track. Longer intervals 1200s, miles etc I prefer to have mapped out somewhere–like we have a park that if you make one loop of it, it is a 1200. AND my biggest tip to help avoid injury while doing speed work–do it on a soft surface like grass or gravel. And don’t overstride!

I have never listened to music while running, but there are some songs that I like to listen to on repeat.

We had cupcakes–and we did NOT smash it. I threatened to annul the marriage if my husband smashed it in my face ;)

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Me and speed workouts have a love hate relationship.

I usually have a piece of paper on the treadmill with a pen and while I’m doing my workout I write down what I’ve done. Nobody wants to lose track of how many repeats they’ve done and for how long and do too many :P I’m a checklist kinda gal and this helps me. Plus, once I’ve made it half way I feel a little better ;)

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Is there ever a time when Brooke is not happy and adorable? I think not. :) I also agree that focusing on form during speed work is really helpful. When I feel like I’m struggling I think about my form and my breathing (taking nice, deep breaths). I also prefer to do my speed work on a treadmill; I can lock in the pace I need and it’s super easy to keep track of mileage and time.

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You’re such an inspiration!! I still consider myself a new running, I only started running last year and I fell in love with those long peaceful runs, but I want to improve now and get FASTER… I knowwww that I have to do speed work to get there, but they are such a challenge for me!! I’m going to use some of your tips!!!! I need my own mantra!

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Since I just started speed work again I’ve redeveloped my love for the treadmill! I don’t like it during long runs but I think it’s the best for speed workouts because you can’t slow down when you get tired :) You were a beautiful, beautiful bride!

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Ya’ll literally have the cutest child :) Your workouts are a motivation to me Janae!! Keep up the amazing work!

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I wish I could do 10 miles of speed work.. you are a rockstar girl!

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GREAT tips janae!!
I literally just started playing with this speed work thing a couple of week ago. I definitely found that focusing on your form is INCREDIBLY important..maybe so I don’t fly off that treadmill too, haha!

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I want a cake like that. Time to start planning my wedding before I have a groom. Also, I like the first tip about not thinking about what’s coming. It’s much less painful if you don’t think about what’s coming ahead.

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I haven’t tried doing speed work. It kinda sounds scary. Lol. I guess I could give it a try on what would be the safest and easiest.

Some songs I listen on repeat if it gets me in a good groove.

We had chocolate cake as one layer and carrot cake from the Buttery in Santa Cruz as our wedding cake. Was tempted to smash it in his face, but we each behaved. Mostly :)

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Brooker is always smiling and so happy! Love it! I had a simple wedding cake with cascading pink orchids on one side. The fun part was that I surprised my husband with a basketball groom’s cake!

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Such an awesome workout Janae! I am so incredibly proud of you and how smart and committed you are to your training right now.

Cutest baby and sweetest cake ever!

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I think it’s official. I can’t have babies. I’m going to want them to look exactly like Brooke and will be disappointed if they don’t! Rats.

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I’m still in the run-without-dying phase, so speedwork is not part of my routine. But when a run starts getting really awful, I think about how disappointed I will be after if I don’t finish. That feeling is worse than even my most terrible run.

I can’t get over how adorable that headband is. And holy smokes – talk about some crazy long eyelashes!!! :)

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Awesome workout!! I LOVE and look forward to every speed workout and am cursing it by the end and then loving it again when it’s all done:) I love your tips. Something that works for me goes with one of yours – while speed work is not a race, some of the paces are often “race paces”, like my mile repeats are usually 5k pace or a little faster, so it helps for me to picture myself running that race, knowing that I’ve got to make the speed last for that distance – if that makes any sense:)
You have the cutest baby ever, and the happiest baby ever. My first was so serious. My second is a little nut case:)
Have a great night!!

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I like doing speed work with a group at the track. I am part of a big running group so I tend to pick someone who I know is faster than I am (but not TOO much faster!) and I try to keep up with them for each repeat.

During the winter I tend to focus more on tempo runs to get faster than interval work. I find speed a lot harder when there aren’t other people around! But if I have to do it, I tend to try on a heart rate monitor. I want my heart rate to be 90-95% of max otherwise I know I’m not pushing hard enough and I want to make sure each repeat is within a few seconds of each other :)

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Can I have a grown up version of that outfit? So adorable! I think she’d still pull it off better though :)

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I do all of my speed work on the treadmill, and yes, I have to just focus on each individual interval at a time to make it through!
My husband and I agreed before our wedding to not smash the cake, but we still had a good laugh trying to feed it to each other :)

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First off wow that cake is cool looking, second your cake looks exactly like mine did!! I love purple to :) I have just started speed work and always think of whats next and i think your probably right about needing to think about something else. I didn’t even realize that thinking about what i still have to do can make what i am doing so much harder! Thanks for the post!

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“What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” was my go-to song last summer. I was studying for the bar exam and super tired after a long day at the library (to be followed by a long night studying at home) and it was the only song that got me through my much-needed runs!

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I try to remind myself how proud I’ll feel when it’s over! I also remind myself – you know you CAN do it, you just don’t want to. So DO IT!

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I hate mile repeats. I think they’re the worst of all speed workouts. And you did 4x1mile and then 2x800m? That’s crazy. No wonder you’re so fast.

I do most of my speed work on a track. When Brooke gets older you can go to the track and she can play while you run. It’s fun for everyone.

To get myself through speed work I just focus on my breathing and tell myself that as long as I keep breathing I can keep running. That’s worked for me so far, but I really don’t know what I’d do if I stopped breathing…

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What a beautiful cake!!

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Brooke is so happy! I love seeing happy babies… pretty tough to have a bad day with a face like that in front of you :)

Great speed work tips!!! And nice job!

We had the BEST carrot cake for our wedding cake! I haven’t had one as good since and that was 10 years ago. And the bakery that made it is no longer in business :(

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I like speed work on the treadmill, it makes the treadmill more bearable and it’s really easy to get the right speed. I did 8X400s today on the tm.

We had four different kinds of jumbo sized cupcakes at our wedding…300 of them. SO GOOD!

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I do my speed work on the road. I find it too boring on the treadmill and track. Plus it makes me work on speed and hills at the same time

We had a chocolate and peanut butter wedding cake and it was delicious

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We had white cake with raspberry filling & tons of frosting. I was so upset that the catering staff forgot to save the top layer. I would love to eat it again.

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Speedwork is the best!!! I don’t usually have to get myself through it because I love it more than long runs. I love track work but rarely get the chance to do that anymore, so I guess my second choice is the road.

My sister made my wedding cake- red velvet with cream cheese frosting- but we did not smash it! I don’t know why but that tradition has always seemed so weird to me!!!

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That cake looks good. Sadly (and gratefully) we have been married so long that I don’t remember what kind of cake we had. I do remember that we did NOT smash the cake.

Speedwork? What is that? hahaha.

The Kidless Kronicles

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speedwork can be so fun & so freaking tough all at the same time ;)

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I love Brooke’s headband!
I don’t think I have found any good tips that consistently work for me for intervals. I had a bad, bad week last week with intervals, and only my sheer stubbornness got me through it. I always do my intervals on the treadmill, although that might change in the Spring/Summer. Our cake was 3 tiers, one was chocolate, one was vanilla sponge with jam, and the top tier was fruit cake (traditional wedding cake for England). I loved our cake!

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Great tips at getting through speedwork. I think that I do the the same thing when I run. Just focus on getting through one part of it at a time. Of course, I’ve only done 400s. haha. Maybe one day I’ll move on up! PS – It’s very impressive that 6 minute miles are NOT as fast as your race pace. I’ve only done speedwork on the track.

Your wedding pictures are SO beautiful. You are such a beautiful bride and have a gorgeous husband and family (and the cake!).

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All of your tips are spot on, I loved reading them!!!

Um wow! What a beautiful unique cake!

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At our wedding we had 3 different flavored French macarons and a small strawberry/buttercream filled cutting cake. We ate leftover macarons for breakfast the next day on the way to catch our honeymoon plane!

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Aww I love the headband, my goddaughter wears them all the time!

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Stop it. can I just move in with you and eat all of the food that involves Bangs Friend? I seriously have probably gained like 15 pounds just from seeing pictures. That cake is AMAZING!

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I always dreaded speedwork in high school, however, now that I don’t take running for granted and realize I actually have to work for it, I have to say that just take it one at a time! If I think about all that is ahead of me, I freak out and think I can’t do it!

Our cake was made by a good friend as our wedding happened quickly since my husband was in the Marine Corps! Needless to say we tried to save the top to eat on our one year anniversary, but it got lost? Not sure how that happened!

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I always listen to songs on repeat. I especially love it while running. I think the cake tastings are the thing I am most looking forward to with planning this wedding :)

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Yes definitely a TM girl for speedwork!! I go back and forth with music for speedwork…depends on the day!

LOVE wedding cake! Ours was a big cake with alternating layers of traditional pound cake with raspberry filling and chocolate chip cake with chocolate ganache!!! AMAZING!!

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Sometimes I picture my competitors but mostly what keeps me going is having one or two people doing it with me. Once a week my posse of 3 meets at 5am for speed work. We’re not all the same pace, but knowing we’re feeling the same thing keeps me going.

Can NOT do a song on repeat, but totally with you on focusing only on the interval of the moment.

Great job! Can’t wait to see your next race result!

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OMG great splits on those one milers!!!
And thanks for the tips. I seriously can’t get my butt to do any speedwork because it always seems so daunting. Just thinking about from and the interval I’m running (like you said) should help!

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I have a love/hate relationship with speed work- just concentrating on the current interval makes a world of difference mentally for me too!

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My wedding cake was funfetti with the top layer strawberry funfetti! I didn’t smash it in my husband’s face, but I did put a dab of icing on his nose after putting the piece in his mouth :)

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“Speed work should be difficult but not full out, 100% as fast as you can go running.” that’s my favorite tip! I like to do speedwork outside best because that’s my favorite place to run.

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Funny that, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” was your song to get you through a speed workout today. I wasn’t listening to that song, but I just kept saying it in my head as I ran 4 miles today in 25-35 mph winds. It was miserable, but I did it and felt very accomplished, even if they were slower than normal!

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I CANNOT get enough of Brooke!!!!!

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That cake looks amazing!!!! Ugh, I want a piece now!

I’m totally a repeater girl when it comes to songs. Lately it has been Thrift Shop by Mackelmore. So ridiculous and so good.

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I’m quite partial to treadmill speed work, but I sometimes do random sprints on the roads. It’s just much more random…

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Perhaps I’m a little slow, but can you explain how you did your speed work? I got a little confused with how it added up to 10 miles. Like, the first mile was warmup and then one mile at 6:14 min/mi pace with a 0.4 mi recovery? Maybe a spreadsheet or table would work for me. I speak Excel fluently. (Read: I’m a big nerd.)

Thanks :)

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That is a great idea!!! My actual speed length was five miles total and between the warmup, recovery and cool down I did another five miles!

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So, for someone who’s not as speedy as you, it would look like this, right?

http://goo.gl/Umwrj

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It is insane how cute Brooke. Those pictures are killer. I can seriously listen to a song on repeat for hours. And I’ve been listening to the same 3 songs on repeat during all my runs lately.

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Speed work on the roads. Focus on keeping it quick and light. Same song on repeat. I have 3 or 4 I like to use for speed work and shorter races. My MIL made our cakes. There were 5 arranged in a stair-stepping pattern – 5 different kinds of cake. It was perfect. There was NO smashing in faces.

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I like track workouts. It really gets me in the right speed mindset just to be there, plus it’s kind of fun to go back to my high school track! I don’t do GPS or anything, so it’s also nice to be able to have my distances already marked up.

I’m going for 200 miles in February, so I’ve had to get a bit creative with getting extra miles in that I usually don’t do. I’ve been hopping on the treadmill before group runs to knock out a few on my own; I usually don’t like the treadmill and would rather be outside, but it’s been helpful, and I’ll play around with speed, like going all out for .25 mile then slowing down for an incline walk for .10 mile to catch my breath! I never thought of the treadmill as good for speed work until I read your post the other day about different treadmill workouts.

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Speed work Tip: “Just get through this interval.”

No repeats, unless I’m trying to learn the words. :)

No actual cake…neither of us much care for real CAKE *ducks*. But we had a mini brownie/mini apple pie/ice cream plate for each guest. DELICIOUS. No cutting, no smushing. :)

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Congrats on the speed work! It is always an awesome feeling when you finish a good speed session. My most motivating way to do speed work is with a partner – then they can time you and encourage you at the same time. It makes it so much more fun.

I had a maple walnut cake with cream cheese frosting. It was so delicious! I was very disappointed because after the wedding I realized that they never gave us the left overs – so I couldn’t eat the extra pieces or freeze the top for our first anniversary. Boo. Here is a link to a picture (the cake topper was actually my favorite thing about the entire cake): http://mapleandmud.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-of-my-wedding-cake-topper.html.

And I am a repeat kinda girl. If I find a song I love, I listen to it on repeat until I’m tired of it. It drives my husband crazy (although he does the same thing, just with different songs).

Have a great day!

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My mantra is and has always been “I can do it!” I’m like you and just focus on each interval. I can’t think ahead to the 3rd/5th/7th/etc speed interval for a second or else I’ll be like, I have so much left to do!! But if I do, that’s where the “I can do it!” comes into play ;). I’ve got speed work lined up for either Thursday or Friday, I did a nice easy, work into the week run last night, and today and tomorrow are my weight days, mainly because school gets in the way, PLUS I have a midterm on Thursday!!

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that cake looks amazing!! love that it’s a traditional wedding cake shape, but also modern and unique!

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I could have used this advice yesterday *before* I did my speedwork – haha! Speedwork is brutal, but it really does help. It also helps if you can do speedwork with someone that way you can keep each other accountable!

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I do not do speedwork *shame* but have to start to smash my 1/2 marathon PR this year!

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GREAT job on that speed workout!! u’re getting speedy and improving quickly each week…brooke’s gotta be proud of her mamma. :) i’ve used the same tips during hard workouts, and try to stay relaxed those last few minutes….and avoid getting spurt off the back of the tread. ;)

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Janae your tip about not thinking about how much more of the workout i had during each brutal speed interval seriously got me through today!! thanks for the tip!!

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I am so glad!!!! Way to go!!!

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can she be any cuter? :)

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