2013 Review & 2014 Day Dreaming

Twenty-Thirteen.

What to say?

Lots.

In 2013, I went up, I went down, I went up again, I went down again, I held steady for a while, I went up some more, and then I went back down. It was a ride for sure!

January - I was getting fit, but I was hurting. My weekly mileage was in the upper 30's, long runs ranged from 10-13 miles, I was doing hills and tempos, and I was cross training a lot. I also start physical therapy this month for my ankle and quad, which the doctors decided was all soft tissue.

February - I was on my butt. I went with my gut and asked my doctor to put in a referral for a full body bone scan, so it would get my femur and ankle. My foot & ankle doctor and orthopaedic doctor's solution was not working. Bone scan came back positive for a stress reaction/ stress fracture in both my right ankle and left femur. No core, no cross training, minimal walking for the full month.

March - I came out of hiding and found my spot in the gym again (still not on the roads). I stuck to gentle cardio and upper body strength training. The cardio was very gentle and nothing with full weight bearing or high resistance.

April - I stepped it up a little more. This time I added full body strength training, higher resistance cardio, and walking for exercise. I was gaining confidence the healing process, which was my quickest bone recovery yet. It was also the first time I sat on my butt for recovery instead of attempting to cross train, etc.

May - I fell in love with Group X classes at 24 Hour Fitness. Cycle, BodyPump, Spin & Strength, and PiYo kept me in shape. I was still walking for exercise, I attended 1 to 2 Group X classes per day, and I even sprinkled in a couple 1 to 2 mile runs. You should also check out this post from May for a good laugh.

June - Back on the roads!!! I started the most conservative "return to running" plan I've ever done. And it worked! I started the month with only ten miles for the week and finished things out with 20 miles. I never ran more than two days in a row this month, and I certainly didn't have any workouts! Still loving my Group X classes.

July - This was my second month back. I made it up to 24 miles this week (still being very conservative) and I added a couple quality days and strides. This is the last month I did my Group X classes. My final workout for July was a 6M progression run which went from 7:50 down to 7:08.

August - Still just inching my way up. This time my peak weekly mileage was 28. My final workout for the month was another 6M progression run, this time it was 8:21, 7:41, 7:23, 7:09, 6:52, 6:40 (7:20 avg). I started seeing a Chiropractor for ART on my quad since it was still hurting. I also started using some nutritional products that gave me natural energy and reduced my recovery time.

September - I made another tiny jump in mileage, this time working my way up to a 31 mile week. My final week of this month I had a 5k race in some nasty conditions and ended up averaging 6:18 pace. It wasn't the most ideal return to racing, but you can read about it here.

October - Finally getting somewhere! Still only a minor increase in mileage, maxing out at 34 miles per week, but my fitness was improving. Final workout of the month was five mile cut-down where I averaged 6:47 pace! Still getting ART done twice per week!

November - I felt like a runner again! I finally ran six days per week! My peak weekly mileage increased by two more, putting me at 36 miles for one of the weeks. By this point I was doing two workouts each week, in addition to a relaxed "long" run. My last workout of the month was 4 x 1M repeats, for which I averaged 6:17 pace.

December - I had to remember how to listen to myself again. I started having hip problems early in the month. I switched to soft surfaces for all but one of my runs each week, but still had to take a week of rest at the end of the month. Regardless, my fitness was continuing to improve. I jumped all the way up to 50 miles one week, and my final workout was 5 x 1M repeats, for which I averaged 6:15 pace.

There you have it!

In 2014, I want to be a little more ambitious with my training, but I also want to be smart about it. Looking over my training logs from some of my most successful training seasons, I spent A LOT of time on the small things. Cross training for extra cardio, weight lifting to improve bones strength, core work and form drills to keep my stride efficient and healthy, stretching and mobility work to to help with injury prevention, etc. That's what I need to get back to.

Once I get past the healing stage for whatever is ailing my hip right now, I plan on getting back to the basics WHILE I continue following my training plan. These slow and steady increases in weekly mileage and intensity combined with the small things I just mentioned - That's my goal for 2014.

I won't be sharing any mileage goals or race goals because I always have high expectations of myself and you would likely laugh at most of the goals. I will say that it took me 15 weeks to get to my peak fitness in 2011, when I was prepared to run a half marathon in sub 6:10 pace. Seeing as I have 52 weeks ahead of me in 2014, in addition to a great support group and two extra years of experience, I see no reason I can't be back in that shape by the end of this year.

Learning from my mistakes. [0M]

Learning from your mistakes is important. It's how humans improve at things over time. We learn what NOT to do so that we know what TO do. Unfortunately, when it comes to my training, I am not very good at learning from mistakes! I have had 7 stress fractures in my running 'career' and almost all of them sidelined me for a good five to seven months. The sad part is, I'm pretty sure that if I had backed off the mileage and spent some time cross training when the pains first appeared, I could have avoided all of that boring time off.

Right now, I hurt to walk from my kitchen table to the sink, from my bed to the closet, from the front door to the mailbox, etc. And no, I don't think anything is bone related (a stress fracture), but there are multiple places that hurt, and they have been hurting for over four weeks now. None of them have improved, and some have gotten gradually worse. I'm no doctor, and I'm no PT, but I'm pretty sure none of that is normal or healthy. It's time to give things a rest for a few days and listen to my body. I may have run through this in the past, just because I CAN physically run on these pains, but that doesn't make it wise to do so. It's time I learn from my mistakes! :)

Sunday, December 29th - Saturday, January 4th
Total rest days. No core, no cross training, no strength, no running, minimal walking.

ART appointment with my Chiro on Monday night.
Bone Scan referral put in by my PCP last week.
Seeing an Orthopaedic MD on Friday morning.
Functional Movement Screening mid-day on Friday.

Down week - Just in time for Christmas! [26M]

Last week was full of ups and downs - Reaching my peak weekly mileage for the 2013 year and having successful workouts and moderate paced runs, and at the same time, getting a big time reality check by bombing my first race in a month or two. I am happy with it, regardless of the race! I have ten weeks until race day fitness and mental toughness need to be ready, and I believe that is plenty of time!

This week is a [well-timed] down week, which is nice considering the combination of my major aches and pains and the typical holiday traveling that we have planned.

Sunday, December 22nd
Rest day!

Monday, December 23rd
3M shakeout. Ran around Memorial Park on our way to Hull. Nothing special about this run. Still had the same hip pain, but I did notice it felt better running faster as opposed to slower, and it also seems to minimize as I get farther into the run, then getting worse after the run or when walking.

Tuesday, December 24th
3M warm up, 5 x 1M @ 6:15 pace w/ 400j recovery. This was one COLD workout! Because of work and family schedules for the day, we had no choice but to do the workout first thing in the morning. I think it was "feels like 25". The warm up felt nice, but as soon as I did the first mile repeat, I knew I was in for a tough day. It was so cold that I tightened up more and more each lap... Running 90, 3:05, 4:40, 6:15 on the nose, but all at practically race effort. Second and third reps were the same, coming in at 6:16. It was during this recovery lap that I noticed I couldn't bend my fingers all the way and I had a major panic attack. When I started the next one I tried relaxing my wrists so that my hands shook with every step, hoping to increase blood flow and warm them up. Bad idea! I had been coming thru 200m in 44 every lap... This time? 48! 95 for the first 400 and it didn't get better! 6:21 for the fourth mile! After that, I went back to normal. Same splits for my last mile as the earlier ones, but the last lap was quicker thanks to some pacing/ cheering from Jake. The last rep was 6:11. Altogether : 6:15, 6:16, 6:15, 6:21, 6:11. I'll take it!
2M shakeout. Quick out and back run in Hull before traveling over to Dayton for Christmas Eve dinner with Jake's family.

Wednesday, December 25th
6M moderate run. Jake and I had the privilege of getting in a Christmas run together after our day full of travel from Dayton to LaRue and from LaRue to Dallas. It was an uncomfortable run to say the least (thanks to a full week of food we probably shouldn't have eaten), but it was nice to enjoy the Christmas lights and company of one another. Right hip/hip flexor still hurts, both calf muscles still knot up on the outside, my left glute and outer knee are both painful as well. I notice the hip and knee hurt worst walking or just starting my run, but everything else is worst during the run.

Thursday, December 26th
4M shakeout + 6 uphill strides. Same pains as I've been having, no need to re-list them. :) Other than that, I felt good today.
2M shakeout + rehab work. Nice comfortable, form-focused shakeout in our neighborhood after work. I followed that with a good ten minutes stretching. Before both of my runs today I spent five to ten minutes rolling all muscle groups on our foam roller and am hoping it does something to help!

Friday, December 27th
2M shakeout in the morning. Still ridiculously tight calves, painful right hip and hip flexor, and random aches on the left-hand side. Energy levels are good and the pace felt nice.
Had to skip the 4M tempo planned for my lunch break. Started having stomach cramps around 11:30, but tried to warm up anyways. Half a mile in I could barely stand up straight, so I walked home and decided to push the workout to tomorrow (morning!). Kind of a bummer because it was ideal workout weather.

Saturday, December 28th
Total rest day. I have had a hard time getting around (just walking) for a couple weeks now and I'm getting frustrated with myself for continuing to push forward. We're taking three days of complete rest (no running, no cross training, no core, no nothing), combining that with lots of recovery modes (ice baths, epsom salt balts, gentle foam rolling, gentle stretching, ART)., and hoping that I can pick things back up a little healthier on Tuesday.

Getting close to the 12k of Christmas! [50M]

I'm so thankful to finally have two weeks at 40mpw under my belt! That gives me a lot of confidence, because for a lot of this fall's training, I really didn't feel like I could say I was training. It's pretty embarrassing when you say you're a runner and someone asks how much you run per week, and all you can say is twenty something miles, ha. Another bonus to last week is all of the soft surface mileage I got in. I was only on pavement for ONE run out of the whole week! How awesome is that?! I also got a new pair of shoes on Thursday night, so I'm hoping those help me knock out this shin and hip flexor pain I've been dealing with.

This weekend Jake and I have a fun little race in Houston called the 12k of Christmas. It's a cute idea. The race is 7.45 miles (12k), so it starts at 7:45 AM. I thought that was clever. :) Even thought it's in Houston which is known for high turnouts at races, I'm hoping it's a low-key high turnout. There are no prizes or anything, it's just a good, old-fashioned race. My goal is to break 6:30 pace for the race, which will be a big challenge, but that's what races are for.

Sunday, December 15th

9M averaging 7:45 pace or faster. Jake and I went out to the gravel/ rocky path across our toll bridge for this run. I ended up averaging 7:24 pace for the run. Lots of mud clunked up in the crevices of my new shoes making them very heavy (note to self, don't wear shoes with deep holes in the bottom on muddy trails), but it was still nice to be on a soft surface. I will try to get out there for some of my shakeouts this week. Random ache showed up in my lower back/ upper tailbone on the left side. 

Monday, December 16th

Rest day. Took an epsom salt bath in the morning, relaxed all day (in my jammies while I worked!!), and got some ART done after work. Successful off day! :)

Tuesday, December 17th

2M shakeout. I absolutely LOVE starting my day with these shakeouts! No time pressure, no effort pressure, just simply running for the fun of it! I did my run on the grass track at DBU and then walked through some drills and stretches. Still some pain in my right hip/quad, though not as bad as I feared. My sacrum (?) had a sharp pain on the left side again for the last couple minutes of my run. So weird as that just showed up out of nowhere on Sunday.

9M w/ 8x1000m @ 3:50-3:53, 200j recovery. 3M warm-up around Grand Prairie, then changed shoes, one set of drills, and two quick strides. 1k times were 3:51, 3:52, 3:53, 3:54, 3:50, 3:49, 3:50, 3:47. My pacing was really off on several of them. The first four were supposed to be in 94" pace and I came through my first 400 in 86. I spent the rest of the first four trying to relax enough to get back on pace without relaxing so much that I slowed down too much. The second half was supposed to be more aggressive and those went fairly well. I'm extremely thankful Jake was able to time me to tonight because without him calling out splits, I would have been clueless! I did feel pretty good though muscularly. Right hip/ upper quad (whichever it is) and left sacrum (?) are still very painful. I took an empsom salt bath immediately when I got home.

Wednesday, December 18th
2M shakeout. Same aches and pains, but my stomach with the big yuck-o this morning. I've felt sick to my stomach since we went to bed last night. Regardless, it was still nice to get in the shakeout before starting my day. No weights this morning as planned because of my stomach. 

7M averaging 7:45 pace or faster. Still an unsettled stomach, but I was able to get in the run as scheduled. 7 miles in 7:41 pace on the rocky trail across our toll bridge. I got chased by a dog at one point that scared the poop out of me, but other than that it was a nice pleasant run. The outside of my right hip was the most painful out of everything today.

Thursday, December 19th

4M shakeout, 8x100m uphill.Only got in a 4 mile shakeout today, and it was a shakeout in every sense of the word. A shuffle is actually probably the best description I could give! My right hip and hip flexor were super painful, both shins hurt, my left glute hurt... Just an all around achy, sluggish, weak feeling. Bleh.
2M shakeout.

Friday, December 20th

3M 5M shakeout. Got lost on the Rice loop in Houston and accidentally ran some extra mileage. It's probably a good thing since I lost two miles yesterday. Since I got lost and wasn't sure how far out I was, the second half of this run was at a very solid effort. Still the same big time pain in my right hip and left sacrum, just like I've been having, but thankfully not as stiff and sluggish elsewhere today compared to yesterday.

Saturday, December 21st

12M w/ 12k race (goal 6:2x pace). Definitely a failed race today. I felt okay on the warmup and was honestly anticipating a surprise-yourself race. I have had all successful workouts since Jake's schedule picked up, so there was plenty of confidence boosting material in my mind. Unfortunately, I was not smart with race tactics and blew myself up too early. 5:56 pace thru 800m, 6:09 thru the mile. Then first crash, falling to 6:32 pace in the second - at this point I still felt very good. Next, a further crash, falling back to 6:45 pace, starting to hurt. By the time I got to the four mile mark, I had a stabbing pain in my right chest, so I stopped my watch, bent over and pressed as hard as I could for around a minute, just until it passed. Watched several groups of guys go by and made it my goal to catch as many as possible when I started back. The first group was about 100m ahead. When I got to them, I was averaging 7:15 pace for the mile and blew past them... That's a sign of how long I stopped for! I went from running 6:46 pace to blowing by a 7:15 pace group! The last half of the run was touch and go. Middle miles were the slowest, then I gradually picked it up a little. In summary, mile paces were 6:09, 6:32, 6:45, 7:03, 6:58, 7:03, 6:44, ?. The last 1/2 mile was faster than the 6:44 mile, but I don't know the actual pace - I forgot to stop my Garmin at the finish!! :( Sacrum was not a problem until my cool down, right hip was not an issue until the last three miles of the race, then it got worse. All in all, it was a big time bummer of a race. Lots of mental and physical improvements to work on!

Post Ice-Pocalypse Training Week! [40M]

Well, last week threw a bit of a curve ball at us. Around Tuesday we started seeing more and more news reports cautioning us that weather might get bad beginning on Thursday. I heeded their advice to an extent by getting up extra early to do my run before anything blew in on Thursday, but I definitely did not expect anything that happened after that. Thursday afternoon, Jake and his team set off for Kansas in a charter bus for their first indoor track meet. Around 6:30, I got a call from him saying they had to turn back; they couldn't get through Oklahoma. I started paying more attention to the news, and sure enough, overpasses were already being closed all over the DFW metroplex due to ice. He made it home and we called it a day.

I woke up on Friday, anxious to see what it looked like outside, as I knew I'd heard freezing rain hit the windows all night long. Yep - Ice everywhere. At least 2" inches thick. And no, not snow, not mushy, fun, let's go play in the white stuff... Just pure layers of ice. Throughout the day we took a few breaks to slide down the driveway and the front yard on cardboard boxes, but there was no way we would be able to run. It was just too dangerous. Saturday rolled around and the temps ranged from 18 to 25. We woke up at sunrise, bundled up, and began our trek to the gym 1 mile away. The only negative to living in our neighborhood is that we are on top of a very high hill, and the only way to enter or exit is to use a very steep hill. We brought our cardboard boxes on our walk and slid down the hill, which worked great. The walk back was a little more challenging! The trip to and from the gym was our only time out of the house on Saturday. On Sunday, we bundled up, planning to make the 1 mile trek to our gym again (took us about 45 minutes the first day), but we only made it a block and half in over 20 minutes. The roads were super slick as the ice was covered in a thin layer of liquid. Lots of slipping and sliding. We carefully made our way back and waited until the afternoon to make the trek again. At 3:00 we set back out, this time with success getting there and returning home! Temps will drop below freezing again tonight so the roads will re-freeze, but I am hoping to be able to drive to the grocery store tomorrow afternoon. What a wild weekend!! If there is one thing we learned - We need to stock up on non-perishables and purchase a treadmill, haha!

Here are a few pictures and videos from our weekend!

Jake attempting to make a path in our driveway on Friday afternoon.

Cars stuck on the hill entering our neighborhood... Four days after the ice storm.

This is what we woke up to the first morning. It looks fun, but it's all ice!

Here's a clip of us sliding down the steep hill.

Here's a clip of us as we started our trek on Saturday.

Anyways, we're now starting a new week. Tomorrow is my rest day, and then it will be time to get after it again! 40 miles on tap, which should be easier in six days as opposed to five. :)

Sunday, December 8th
7M with 3M tempo. I had to do my tempo from last week today due to the ice storm. It actually worked out well because I still got in my long run (yesterday) and my full mileage last week. Four mile warm up was in 8:07 pace with 30" surges in the last mile. Three mile tempo was 6:31, 6:27, 6:19. It felt surprisingly very good and I was so thankful! I have a lot of aches and pains right now that a bit unsettling to me, but I am thankful for how my fitness levels have been progressing. My workouts have all gone well and my mileage is slowly but surely increasing.

Monday, December 9th
Rest day

Tuesday, December 10th
8M with 4x1M @ 6:20 pace, 400m jog recovery. I waited until 5 to run because that was going to be the warmest and least windy out of my options of 6am, noon, and 5pm. It ended up being low 30's, but thankfully low wind. Regardless, I now know I have some serious winter gear shopping to do. This time I actually "prepared" and wore tights + sweatpants and 4 long sleeve tops to warm up, then stripped to two long sleeve tops and tights to workout in. Even with all the layers I still FROZE! My fingers, legs, and arms were not happy with me at all. Anyways, first mile was 95's every lap for 6:20 even. On each 400 recovery, I slipped on my zip up jacket and ran a bit quicker than last time just to minimize my chances of getting cold. Next three miles were 6:17, 6:15, 6:10 (?) for a 6:15 average. I'm really guessing on the fourth mile. The first lap was 90" and felt so easy that I decided not to look again until I finished. I actually "kicked" the last 200 of it and was pumped to see my time, but the watch had gotten messed up. By the time I figured it out and got it fixed and back to the timer screen, it was already up to 6:20. I would be shocked if this was slower than 6:10 though, so that's where I'm pegging it. Another sub-par winter workout though, in my opinion. This week and last week both. I hit my goal times both weeks, but felt so miserable from the cold that I don't feel like I ran to my fitness level in either one.*Side note for the day is feet pain.Bottom outer portion of left foot, and top of right foot, similar to where the 2011 stress fractures were.

Wednesday, December 11th
7M easy. I'm not exactly sure that I got in the full seven miles today, but I do know that it was very close and my HR averaged 163. I'm calling it a mission accomplished. Super bad pain in my shins (particularly one spot on the left leg), so hoping it was just a weather and unstable surface thing. Wasn't beat up or fatigued before or during the run at all, but this afternoon and evening I've felt rather run down.

Thursday, December 12th
7M, 6 strides. I ran the same loop as yesterday and the mud has gotten worse (probably due to people like me running on it). I had to step onto the banked grass along the path at several points, which got old after the first few loops, haha. This run seemed to go by much quicker than yesterdays. I also allowed myself to let my HR go a little higher as well. I still tried to keep it very under control, but I let it sneak into the lower 170's. My left shin and the outside of the foot weren't as bad on the trail today, though they were a bit more noticeable when doing strides on the pavement. I've also got to roll and take care of my right hip. For some reason it got really tight on this run. The strides were nice though.. I felt very strong and quick on them. 

Friday, December 13th
7M with 5 alt miles (6:30-6:45/ 7:00-7:15). Youch! So many pains this week! :( I've got pains in both feet (different places in each), my shins, and my right hip/hip flexor. What a mess! Aside from that, however, this was a picture-perfect workout. First mile was 6:31 and felt great. Followed it with a 6:56 mile just cruising. Next up, dropped it back to 6:28 - This was my best mile of the whole run... completely even paced, start to finish. Followed that with 6:53, still feeling good. Lastly, brought it in with a 6:21 mile. Averaged 6:38 pace for the five miles and felt great doing it. I really liked having the moderate miles in between the tempo miles. Kept the run nice and easy mentally.

Saturday, December 14th
4M, 6 strides. Nothing exciting to report. Trotted through my four mile shakeout on the grass/turf inside the SMU track. Went through a (very) short set of drills and then knocked out my six strides with the wind at my back. I felt very uncoordinated, choppy, and out of balance on the strides. I'm wondering if maybe I'm out of alignment and that is contributing to the strong hip/hip flexor pain on my right side.

13 weeks to get fit and fast! [40M]

I officially have 13 weeks until my goal race! Although I'm still embarrassed by my current fitness level, I am excited to be "starting" a 13 week build up where I'm at. 13-15 weeks is a pretty standard training season for me, so usually I would be starting from scratch at this point. Instead, I've got several weeks of 30+ miles and at least three 9 mile long runs under my belt. Last week's daily runs were a bit of downer since I was running properly per my HR, but the pace was so much slower than I expected; however, the mile repeats on Friday really boosted my confidence and gave me a renewed sense of hope! :)

Sunday, December 1st 
9M long run by HR. I averaged 165 for my heart rate today which is EXACTLY what my goal was!! Very proud that I didn't panic and push my HR up after seeing each miles' splits! The pace is still way slower than I would like. :( I feel like my easy run days should be closer to sub 8:00 pace, but I guess that I'll have to let time, consistency, and patience work their magic. 8:28 pace for the average today. My left quad was extremely painful from the start and I almost stopped at 4 miles because it was so strong, but over the last half of the run it actually eased up a tad bit. Hoping ART helps it a little tomorrow! I have a long ways to go!! But I will say that running by HR has made my runs much more enjoyable! It's nice to go out and not be real winded or worn out when I finish my runs!

Monday, December 2nd
Rest day

Tuesday, December 3rd
7M w/ 6 x 1000m @ 3:56, 200j recovery. This was a rough one. I highly underestimated the weather and ended up with frozen legs, a reynauds flare-up, a tight throat and chest full of mucus, and way too little clothing, hahah. In hindsight, I should have started earlier to allow more time for warming up and drills, and I also should have dressed more appropriately. Note to self - 40* is cold when the sun is not out. Anyways, my coldness got the best of my in the first half of the workout and then I had to fight through mentally on the last half when my hands started burning and stuff. Just an all-around struggle. 3:49, 3:51, 3:50, 3:53, 3:53, 3:53 - Averages to 6:12 pace. Obviously I nailed the times, but I just was so cold that I had a bad attitude and struggled through it. My left quad is still really aching, as well. Definitely need an epsom soak today and the ART tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 4th
7M easy. My garmin says I ran 7 miles averaging 8:17 pace today, but I am well beyond positive that I ran farther than 7 miles and it was faster than 8:17 pace, hahah! It's so weird. My garmin makes the miles shorter on the track (beeping about 100m before the 1600m mark) and longer in the trails (turning a 5.2M loop into 4.7M). At any rate, today was a pretty good run despite my hip flexors. I'm glad I pushed it off and didn't run early this morning because they were much more painful then. I lucked out and ran into Katie, one of Jake's athletes, when I got to the trails at DBU. When I was entering the campus gate my HR was only at 137 so I made a big pace jump to bring it up. Since I was already moving well, that's the pace Katie latched onto so for my first 3.5 miles or so we were really moving (though the garmin would tell you we only ran 7:50 pace!). I'm glad I was able to get all 7 miles in today though. Big relief. Average HR today was 166, so still in my 70-80% range.

Thursday, December 5th
7M easy + 6 x 100m strides. Nasty weather is coming from up north so we went out super early to get our runs in on the Katy Trail. The temps started dropping during our run and by the last mile I was pretty chilled! Probably didn't help that I sweated in all my layers on the way out and then ran into the cold wind on my way back! I thought this was going to be a GREAT run at first. I was struggling to keep my HR up high enough (not that I was having to run hard, just that I kept looking down and it was too low) which was crazy because I was running way faster than I have been on these HR runs. Unfortunately when I turned around things nose-dived. I dropped the keys once in the first mile and once in the last mile and those spills took a tiny hit on the pace, but nothing as big as the pace changes the Garmin recorded! Crazy what that wind will do to your HR!! Ended up averaging 8:29 pace with an average HR of 163. Mile splits were 8:41, 8:09, 8:09, 8:20, 8:39, 8:49, 8:42. Finished things off with 6 very nice strides.

Friday, December 6th
7M w/ 3M tempo @ 6:25-6:30 pace. Iced in and can't get anywhere. No run at all today...

Saturday, December 7th
3M easy + 6 x 100m strides. 10M easy on the treadmill + 2M walking on ice. :) I included the walk to and from the gym because I'm more than confident that I'll be very sore from it tomorrow, haha! I wanted to get in my 40 mile week as planned, but Jake did not want me to do my long run tomorrow if I went long today. So, quick change of plans and I did tomorrow's long run today to get in the 40 miles, and tomorrow I'll do yesterday's tempo run workout. Perfect! Nice and easy run on the treadmill. I did not run as slow as I have been when going by HR, but I did try to stay conscious of what I would be running with the HR monitor and not get much faster than that. Ended up at exactly 8:00 pace for the run. SUPER tight left calf that almost stopped me multiple times during the run. Got to nurse that back today!