Week 7 of Training... Back to Work!

Saturday marked 6 weeks of training, which is precisely how long most sources say it takes for training to take its toll and the body to adjust enough to see some results. I finished out that first segment of my base with a 10k race- which turned out to be more of a hard tempo as I lost motivation during the second half. I am now ready to get back to work and realize just how far I have to go in the next few months. Hoping to adjust to this new mileage and higher intensity well!

Sunday- 8.28.11
Long, easy: 12M

• Surface: Memorial Park for first 2M & last 2M, streets for middle 8M
• Total Time: 1:25:00 (7:08 AP)
• Pace Progression: 7:45, 7:18, 7:22, 6:46, 6:55, 7:02, 7:01, 7:06, 7:16, 6:55, 6:57, 6:38
• Comments: Ran with 2 men and a lady from BCRR this morning... first time running with a group since college! Loved how quickly it made the run go, but found it a little different stopping for a drink every 3-4M and having the pace jump around so much. Definitely a good thing for me to get used to though!! Very thankful!

Monday- 8.29.11
Rest Day.

Tuesday- 8.30.11
Workout: 1M warm-up + 6M progressive (7:00-6:45-6:30) + 1m warm-down

• Surface: Memorial Park loop
• Total Time: w/u & c/d - easy, progression - 40:07 (6:41 AP)
• Pace Progression (2M increments): 6:55, 6:41, 6:27
• Comments: Thankful to have a training partner (Nicole Richardson) for the w/u, c/d, and first 2M of the progression. Definitely a HARD effort today- not at all as simple as it should have been. My arms are strong, but my glutes, hamstrings, and calves are weak. I am really struggling with lung capacity right now as well. My breathing has been very labored.

Supplemental Work: 2 x 45" core (pedestal routine, arm/leg extension, v-sit russian twist, bridge); 3x12 of 4 strength supersets (very challenging strength workout... I will probably be sore tomorrow!)

Wednesday- 8.31.11
Medium long, easy: 10M 80'

• Surface: Memorial Park Loop
• Total Time: 80:00 - Avg Pace/ Mileage guess is 8:00/ 10M (no garmin)
• Pace Progression: N/A
• Comments: VERY relaxed run today which was much needed. I accidentally forget the Garmin at home, but I think it was a blessing in disguise. Just enjoyed a lackadaisical run on the trail.

Thursday- 9.1.11
Easy: 7M
Strides: 6x100m

• Surface: Memorial Park loop
• Total Time: 54:50 (7:50 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:45, 8:14, 7:55, 7:36, 7:35, 7:32, 7:16
• Comments: Starting to wonder if the increased mileage is a bad idea for me? None of my "easy" runs this week have been anywhere close to the paces they used to be. I don't feel sore or beat up, but I just am not running nearly as fast- even with the same effort levels (if not more). Increased the length of my strides today. Rather than .06M, I went .11M - so almost doubling them. Felt good and fast on these.

Supplemental Work: Form Drills + 2 x 45" core (pedestal routine, v-sit russian twist, opposite arm/ opposite leg extensions)

Friday- 9.2.11
Workout: 2M warm-up + 6 x 5' @10k pace, 90" recovery + 2M warm-down (took 3' instead of 90" recovery after 4th surge)

• Surface: Memorial Park side trail - gravel is slightly less loose than the loop
• Total Time: 30:00 hard running (5:55AP) - 5.2M hard running total
• Pace Progression for surges: 5:55, 6:02, 5:52, 5:59, 5:49, 5:54
• Comments: Definitely a good, challenging workout for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the paces though, as I had expected the goal of 6:10 too difficult. Looks like I underestimated the training thus far. I would still like to work on my breathing, though. That seems to be my big struggle right now... managing to keep it controlled and calm.

Supplemental Work: 3x12 of 4 strength supersets

Saturday- 9.3.11
Easy: 7M
Strides: 6x100m

• Surface: Memorial Park loop and some pavement
• Total Time: 56:30 (8:04 AP)
• Pace Progression: N/A - did not have the Garmin set to auto-lap
• Comments: Took things very easy today to get in a good recovery before tomorrow's long run. Scratched the strides to be safe with my foot that has been aching this week.

Week 7 Total Mileage- 54M (1 long, 1 medium long, 2 workouts, 2 easy)
CUMULATIVE SEASON MILEAGE: 276M

Week 6 of Training... Time for a tune-up race!

Sunday- 8.21.11
Easy, Long: 12M

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop and trail
• Total Time: 1:28:40 (7:23 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:41, 8:04, 7:44, 7:38, 7:27, 7:16, 7:09, 7:03, 7:03, 6:58, 6:53, 6:39
• Comments: Enjoyed this run very much. I am finding that even though I run at roughly the same pace on my long runs as I do on daily runs, the long runs pass much more quickly, feel more comfortable and relaxed. Definitely grateful for my health right now. I am also thinking I should start leaving off the 1st mile of all my runs and determining average pace/ mileage based on the remainder of them... I think it would be a better picture of my week's training!

Supplemental Work: Strength Session in PM

Monday- 8.22.11

Easy: 6M  50 minutes
Strides: 6x100m

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 50:00 (n/a AP)
• Pace Progression: n/a (forgot my garmin!)
• Comments: Great day to forget my garmin... got in a nice, relaxed daily run and some very solid strides. Looking forward to knocking out a good fartlek tomorrow.

Supplemental Work: Form Drills + 2x45" pedestal routine

Tuesday- 8.23.11
Workout: 2M warm up + 15 x 1' @5k pace, 2' recovery (8M total)

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop (very loose on the gravel in my flats!!)
• Total Time: 2M easy, 44:05 for the 6M (7:22 AP)
• Pace Progression (surges): 5:42, 6:00, 5:43, 5:43, 5:35, 5:42, 5:30, 5:37, 5:44, 5:30, 5:41, 5:33, 5:31, 5:32, 5:32 (5:38 AP for surges)
• Comments: Terribly slow warm up, and clearly a slow start to the workout, but easily could have run several more surges and done the first half much faster. I was scared to push too hard early on, but ended up with way too much left in the tank. 6M in the 45 minutes though, so not a waste of a day at all. DEFINITELY need to figure out what is wrong with my back.. extremely painful still.

Supplemental Work: Strength Session + light core work
Wednesday- 8.24.11
Easy, Medium Long: 9M

• Surface: Memorial Park Dirt Loop
• Total Time: 1:06:30 (7:22)
• Pace Progression: n/a (did not take mile splits today)
• Comments: Enjoyed a very nice run with my husband. Found it almost relaxing and freeing to know I was not recording mile paces. I think I tend to get caught up in the competition of making each lap faster than the previous! On a side not, it looks like 7:22 is my natural "go-to" average pace. Check out the AP for the bulk of my runs this week!! :)

Supplemental Work: 2x45" (pedestal routine, opp arm/opp leg extension, v-sit russian twist)

Thursday- 8.25.11
Rest Day.

Friday- 8.26.11
Easy: 6M
Strides: 4x100m

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt trail
• Total Time: 48:00 (8:00 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:55, 8:10, 7:58, 7:52, 7:46, 7:28
• Comments: Extremely slow run today.... but felt very fast and almost forced. I never got out of breath or weak, etc, but just did not feel like I should be running so hard for such pitiful paces. Strides were a good 30" slower than usual as well (4:45ish as opposed to 4:15ish). Not sure what was happening today.

Supplemental Work: 2x45" (pedestal routine, opp arm/opp leg extension, v-sit russian twist)


Saturday- 8.27.11
2.5M warm up + 10k Race + 1M cool down

• Surface: Straight, paved roads in Kingwood, TX
• Total Time: wu & cd- N/A, 38:21 race (6:08 AP)
• Pace Progression: 6:13, 6:12, 6:07, 6:05, 6:06, 6:10, 5:53
• Comments: Not what I was hoping for as far as total time/ pace, but a good solid effort and chance to compete, nonetheless. I felt great up until about  3.5-4M and then started to fatigue and lose my breath. Definitely did not handle the last half well mentally, so that is something to work on.

Week 6 Total Mileage- 51M (1 RACE, 1 long, 1 medium long, 1 workout, 2 easy)
CUMULATIVE SEASON MILEAGE: 222M

Week 5 of Training... Keeping the ball rolling.

Sunday- 8.14.11
Easy: 7M

• Surface: Dirt path along George Bush Park Trail
• Total Time: 50:57 (7:17 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:41, 7:29, 7:21, 6:59, 6:54, 6:53, 6:41
• Comments: Nice, cool morning on the trail. Welcome company from my husband, Jacob Phillips, made the run pass much more quickly. I'm feeling very strong and healthy still, so looking forward to a good week of training.

Monday- 8.15.11
Easy: 6M
Strides: 6x100m

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 43:22 (7:14 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:11, 7:22, 7:09, 7:04, 6:53, 6:44
• Comments: Felt GREAT physically today, but my back was by far the most painful it has been. I almost stopped the run several times and was very tempted to skip the drills and strides. Not sure how to relieve this tension or these spasms. For now I'll just be consistent with the advil.

Supplemental Work: Form Drills

Tuesday- 8.16.11
Workout: 1/2M warm up +  6M progressive/steady

• Surface: Apt complex treadmill @ 1% incline
• Total Time: 40:45 (6:47 AP)
• Pace Progression: 7:03, 6:53, 6:40 (last 4 miles)
• Comments: Not a bad run physically, but TERRIBLY boring. This run went by slower than any run I can think of in a long time, but I am so thankful to have it in. 5 weeks into the season and still haven't missed a run!

Wednesday- 8.17.11
Easy, MLR: 8M

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 58:55 (7:22 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:33, 7:39, 7:24, 7:17, 7:06, 7:06, 6:59, 6:53
• Comments: Enjoyed Jake's company on the run again. My legs were a tad heavy this morning, but it was not bad at all and aside from the humidity, the run felt very nice. (The humidity still puts a strain on my breathing at times).

Supplemental Work: Light strength session

Thursday- 8.18.11
Easy: 6M
Strides: 6x100m

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 47:10 (7:52 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:43, 8:02, 7:53, 7:42, 7:29, 7:24
• Comments: I wanted to make this run as relaxed and easy as possible, so I was not planning to wear the Garmin. I ended up deciding to wear it so I would get an idea of what pace a TRUE recovery run is for me right now. I definitely felt much more refreshed after the run. Tomorrow is a workout and I am already at my highest weekly mileage! Gotta stay healthy!

Supplemental Work: Form Drills

Friday- 8.19.11
Workout: 2M warm up + 4M tempo

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 25:12 (6:18 AP)
• Pace Progression: 6:24, 6:19, 6:16, 6:14
• Comments: Very difficult run aerobically. I expected the loose gravel to be my biggest struggle transitioning from treadmill tempos to outdoor/ natural tempos, but the humidity and lack of a forced pace was my greatest challenge. Not a bad run, but definitely not a confidence boosting run. I'm a little anxious going into next week's 10k race knowing how hard tempo pace feels for 4 miles right now.

Supplemental Work: 3x12 upper body strength, 2x12 lower body strength

Saturday- 8.20.11
Rest day.

Week 5 Total Mileage- 40M (2 workouts, 1 MLR, 3 easy)

CUMULATIVE MILEAGE FOR SEASON: 171

Week 4 of Training... Focusing on Consistency

I'm coming off of week 3 a little discouraged by the toll the humidity has taken on my training. My daily runs have become slower, despite my increased efforts (my attempts to get the runs back to normal paces). I've even felt drained doing to light work on my easy days in the evenings.
In light of that, I'm going to focus my attention on consistency this week... trusting that if I am consistent in getting the miles, strength, and intensity we have scheduled, it will pay off in the end. Nothing I do will go to waste, so even if I don't feel like it's as good as it should be, it will still improve my fitness.

Sunday- 8.7.11
Workout: 2M warm up + 4M tempo

• Surface: Apt complex treadmill
• Total Time: easy 2M for warm up, 25:00 (6:15 AP) tempo
• Pace Progression: 6:32, 6:17, 6:09, 6:02
• Comments: Much better feeling run than I've had lately... possibly due to a morning off and possibly due to running indoors? Regardless, I'm happy with today's run. Feeling strong muscularly and aerobically, but still need to work on maintaining solid form when I get tired.

Monday- 8.8.11
Rest day.

Tuesday- 8.9.11
Easy: 6M

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 45:04 (7:31 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:19, 7:49, 7:29, 7:17, 7:18, 6:53
• Comments: TERRIBLE pain still in my back, but went ahead and did the entire run, drills, and strides regardless. Aside from my back I feel great. Muscularly and aerobically I feel as though I am progressing properly. I will say that my runs have been starting slower lately though... it's taking me much longer to get warmed up and loose.

Strides: 6x100m
Supplemental Work: Form Drills, Myrtyl Routine + simple core work (trying to get past this back injury from Saturday)
Double: 30' stationary bike

Wednesday- 8.10.11
Workout: 3M easy + 8x 2' fast, 1' easy

• Surface: Memorial Park- Dirt loop for the warm up, timing track for the fartlek
• Total Time: NA
• Pace Progression: w/u and recovery segments were easy, surges were 5:41, 5:34, 5:25, 5:26, 5:30, 5:18, 5:30, 5:21
• Comments: Not a good day as far as feeling fresh or fast. I was weak from the first few steps of the run, but got it in nonetheless. Had to add an extra 2' recovery halfway through the workout... which you couldn't tell by looking at the pace of my 5th surge! :) Another day is in the books now, though, so I really can't complain. Looking forward to better days! :)

Thursday- 8.11.11
Easy: 6M

• Surface: Primarily grass and dirt, with some concrete at Terry Hershey Park; rolling hills
• Total Time: 49:09 (8:11 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:56, 8:29, 8:17, 8:08, 7:43, 7:35
• Comments: Terrible, terrible run. Went straight to CVS, made very good use of their restroom, bought some pepto bismol and sprite, and am still miserable as of 10:45 this morning. Need to figure out what I ate that was so bad. Legs were heavy as well, which also contributed, I'm sure, to the slow pace.

Supplemental Work: 3x12 strength session

Friday- 8.12.11
Easy: 6M
Strides: 6x100m
10M long run

• Surface: Memorial Park dirt loop
• Total Time: 1:16:00 (7:36 AP)
• Pace Progression: 8:36, 8:01, 7:44, 7:42, 7:36, 7:27, 7:27, 7:29, 7:13, 6:47
• Comments: Had terrible chest pain starting 6M in, probably due to the loss of bodily fluids or me drinking water to rehydrate (still sick to my stomach... meaning several emergency pit stops during the run!). Other than that... it was a GREAT run. Muscularly I felt very strong and the run went by extremely fast! LOVE long runs!!

Saturday- 8.13.11
Long: 8M
Moving day... switching yesterday's run to tomorrow!

Week 4 Total Mileage- 35M (1 long, 2 workouts, 2 easy)