8.19.2012

Enjoying the journey! (47M)

Last week went surprisingly smooth. Despite the traveling and 4:40 wake up alarms, I really didn't run into any problems getting my workouts in. Running solo at memorial park was such a blessing. On Monday and Friday I didn't even start my watch! I just set out for my two loops and got completely lost in thought! The rest of my runs went well too. A 12 miler goes by so fast when you're on a three mile loop... you run two laps and you're already halfway done! I got in three solid quality days with the 10k race on Sunday in 6:03 pace, 4 miles of fartlek averaging 6:27 pace, and a 6 mile progression averaging 6:39 pace.

I really want to have strong PR's after this year. I feel like the fitness levels I've reached over the past few seasons are so much better than my PRs... that, and most of them are old. The trick is going to be not getting ahead of myself. I keep catching myself comparing this season's training and races to last falls, but I need to stop. I'm racing later in the season and I don't want to end up over training or peaking too soon. Plus, a full season and race without stopping for injuries is bound to be more successful than dropping out halfway through from a broken foot. ;) At any rate, I'm really just zeroing in on consistency for now. I'll let myself get crazy with hard workouts when I'm down to 6 or 7 weeks before race day!

Sunday, August 19th
7M run at WRL + 11M easy bike with Jake
Weights in the evening
COMMENTS: The first half of the run was very slow (even though it felt pretty labored), but then we dropped the pace pretty significantly. It probably helped that at 3.8 miles I stopped to use the restroom! :) Regardless, it was nice to run in cooler weather and to have conversation the whole time. I really enjoyed running with Tom - He's the perfect pace for me and was full of funny stories this morning! Mile splits were 8:27, 7:53, 7:43, 7:42, 7:16, 6:53, 6:47.

Monday, August 20th
40' run in the Boy Scout Camp + 6 x uphill strides
4M easy bike with Jake in the PM
COMMENTS: Ran with some of Jake's guys, Hanna, Molly, and Tawnee for the first 20 minutes, then switched directions and ran solo for the second half. Very good run though... a much more solid pace than I got in last Monday, I'll say that much! :) Strides were good. Felt hard while I was doing them, but it didn't leave me as out of breath afterwards so I'm not sure if 6 is enough (or maybe my 60" downhill recovery was too much!). Foot pain on top of right foot again.

Tuesday, August 21st
3M warm up + 5M of 2' @ 6:00, 1' @ 7:00 + 1M cool down
COMMENTS: I went into this one knowing it would be hard, so I kept the warm up very easy. The recovery segments felt surprisingly good and comfortable, but I really, really had to fight to hit the hard segment paces. I don't think slower recovery would've helped much since I felt pretty good when each of the 2' parts started. It started raining on me and the wind picked up right as I finished my warm up, but I don't think it affected the run. Overall I averaged 6:18 pace for the 5M and my fartlek paces were 6:00, 7:01, 6:02, 6:49, 6:07 (up the spillway), 6:58, 5:59, 6:36, 5:58, 7:08, 5:59, 7:01, 6:01, 6:58, 6:05, 7:26, 6:00, 7:19, 6:12, 6:43 (15" walking rec before 1' segment), 6:00. If I had known how close I was to 5 miles when I started that walking recovery I wouldn't have done it, haha! Still had foot pain during the warm up and considered not running, but figured since tomorrow is off it would be okay. The encouraging part is that my foot aches the same regardless of what part of my stride I'm in - Which makes me think it's just a lingering pain from the old fracture and not anything to be concerned about. Typically a fracture will hurt to push off of more so than when it's in the air.

Wednesday, August 22nd
Weights in the morning

Thursday, August 23rd
12M in the neighborhood
COMMENTS: I felt absolutely awful from step one today. It took me six miles to break 8 minute pace and even when I did I was having to really work. Hamstrings, quads, calves, everything felt tight and stiff, almost a dehydrated feeling which stinks because it was the perfect weather this morning. I did a harder weights workout yesterday than usual and Tuesday's workout was high effort as well, so I'm sure my body was just ready for a break. Hopefully between today and tomorrow I recoup enough to attack Saturday morning full force! Averaged 7:58 pace this morning for future reference.

Friday, August 24th
40' relaxed run on the grass track & gravel trail at DBU + 6 x strides
COMMENTS: Still very much dragging today, but at least I let myself do it without feeling some pressure to try picking it up. By the time tomorrow rolls around I ought to be feeling like a star after the past few days! Haha! Got in my strides on the grass track after my run and followed them up with some stretches.

Saturday, August 25th
2M w/u + 8M alt pace progression (2M @ 6:30, 2M @ 6:15, 2M @ 6:00 - 7:30 pace in between each)
COMMENTS: Rough workout this morning, but only during the second half. I actually felt very good during the warm up and first three miles... In fact, I was able to slow down the second half of each mile to stay in my pace ranges. The fourth mile (1st 6:15 mile) started right as I turned into the wind and was straight into it the entire time... after that, I pretty much shut down. I fought like crazy to hold pace for the 5th mile, then walked about 20m before starting the recovery mile. I took 800m recovery between my last two miles as well and still didn't quite hit pace. It's not a total failure because I got in 8.5 miles averaging 6:44 pace, but it was definitely not what we wanted. Paces were as follows- 6:30, 6:26, 7:20, 6:15, 6:16, 8:21, 6:05, 800m at 8:18 pace, 6:03. Good hard (very hard) run this morning, but not really a true "alt pace" workout as planned.

Total Weekly Mileage: 48M

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