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