Going for two in a row! [25M!]

I hit twenty four miles last week. The highest I've been in over six months! It's amazing what a couple of stress fractures can do to you! ;) Anyways, goal one for this week's mileage is to get in another 20+ mile week, which would make it first time to be over 20 for two weeks straight. The icing on the cake would be to hit 24 again, which is the plan!

The other fun, exciting twist to this week is the slap in the face that I have to look forward to this weekend! Yep - It's time for the first benchmark race. A teeny 5k in a small town called Deleon. Jake is doing their 10k so I'll already be out there... Might as well get in a good hard effort! Before you start panicking that I'm setting myself up for failure, I'm not! I am very realistic going into this and I'm only using it as a chance to see where I'm starting from and get a bit of a reminder (hence the slap in the face reference) of what it feels like to run hard for consecutive miles! :) I'm aiming for around 7:10 pace this week (swallowing the pride!)! :)

Sunday, August 4th
4.25M run on the grass. I have managed lose my running watch between getting ready for dinner with friends last night and going for my run this morning, so I just did five loops at MVCC (4.25M). The first and last loops were fairly mediocre but the other three loops I felt like I was running pretty strong.

Monday, August 5th
60' bodypump. For some reason I'm feeling especially good today. Not sure what it's from, but it's nice!

Tuesday, August 6th
4M run + 4 strides. Back at the track for this one, just like last week. Felt pretty good again today, but my left shin was bothering me and I had trouble breathing in the humidity. Not much new with either of those! Started very comfortable and cut down each mile for 8:57, 8:07, 7:34, 6:49. Strides were better than last week in terms of how I felt - for sure. Much stronger and more composed on these. 17.7, 17.4, 16.7, 16.4 - Weird, I know!

Wednesday, August 7th
6M progression run. Back on the treadmill for this one, just like last week. Jake and I agree that until I am back in good aerobic shape, it's best to keep my one "workout" for the week on a treadmill. It gives me a little more control. :) Baby steps! Anyways, today was MUCH better than last week! Felt great from step one, so I dropped each mile's planned pace by 10". I'm so thankful I tried these Isagenix products - They might make a bigger difference than I expected! 8:06, 7:40, 7:31, 7:19, 7:08, 6:58 - 7:27 AP for all 6... Last week it was 7:41 AP for the six! :) Knees, left quad, and shin were still pains, but as I thought about it on the run, if they didn't hurt, I would gladly have gone longer or faster.
*ART*

Thursday, August 8th
4M run + 4 strides 1 stride. VERY slow four miles around our neighborhood. Heavy legs, choppy stride. Boo. 34:40. Did one stride, started walking back and my shin hurt bad enough that I decided to call it. Getting ART on the shins this afternoon anyways!
*ART and K Tape*

Friday, August 9th
Rest day. No PiYo with the race tomorrow!

Saturday, August 10th
20' warmup, 5K benchmark race, 10' cool down. Saving the race recap for a separate post, but it was a very pleasant surprise. 19:56, which apparently comes out to 6:24 pace. Definitely not what I expected at this point, especially with it being a hilly course and no one running within two minutes of me in either direction!