Mile Training: Week 1/6

Monday
Scheduled: 2mi + 5 strides, strength
Did: strength

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It's taken a couple weeks, but strength training finally feels "routine" again. This morning's workout was a good, hard bodyweight circuit with: v-ups with hip lift, squat jumps side to side, tuck jumps (these were fun!), Hindu pushups, extended planks, prisoner lunges, burpees, and runs. Lots of legs = burning quads, but a good workout. It's still amazing to me how differently this boot camp does the same exercises that the one we didn't like did... Ex: 2x10s of tuck jumps as part of a larger circuit instead of 2min of tuck jumps. :P

Jerry shared a RW article last week about how doing 30 burpees a day could improve running times and has been doing it himself. I made an attempt once, but decided it wasn't something I wanted to commit to. Doing Matthew's workouts twice a week is good enough for me right now.

Also, found out too late (at 10am, once I was at work) that my coach had scheduled a run for me today, so I've already missed a workout on my training calendar. Oops. >_< 

Tuesday
Scheduled: 10KTuesday PRO
Did: 10KTuesday, PRO (10:00/mi down to 7:21/mi)
I was kind of excited to see a progression run on my plan for #10KTuesday this week. It's been awhile since I've had any sort of plan/goal for my longer runs, and the idea of starting slow and getting faster was exciting.

...and then I clicked on the description:

My 5K race pace is a 7:20...  Uggggggggghhhhhh

...and then the forecast looked like this:

Blergh.

...and I've had a tight spot in my lower left calf for the past few days (thanks to stroller running hill repeats last Thursday without a good warm-up). It's not stingy or tender like a strain or tendinitis, so I'm 100% sure it's just a tight muscle. I've been diligent about rolling and heating it, but was still a little concerned.

^and all of that is the typical "mind games" I start playing with myself when I have a hard goal I'm training for. "Oh, what if I can't do it?" "What if it's hard?" "What if I fail?" " I need a reason excuse why I didn't do it." 

...but you won't succeed.

All of that was, of course, moot. I enjoyed a gradual warm-up and increase in pace for the first half of the run, took a short pause at the turnaround to wait for the rest of the crew (not ideal for a workout, but essential for #10KTuesday), and then jumped on it. The first mile back is where it started to get hard. I didn't want to run that fast, but knew I had to just hang on and stick with Blitz and C (~9:00) if I was going to have a shot at a <7:30 last mile.

Once we hit mile 5, I felt more confident (despite having to stop for a traffic light--errrggh). "Get through this mile at a low 8, and then crush the last one". I was well ahead of the rest of the group, and that gave me a little more mental resolve to keep pushing (since I'm usually the last one on 10KT). The last mile was definitely hard, but felt so freeing and soooooo good. I felt my quads engaging; I felt the strength of my legs; I felt the burn of going fast and pushing myself; and I liked it. 

elevation over pace

really proud of this run

Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: rest, massage


Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi WU, 6x800m (3:35 start, increase speed progressively), 2mi CD
Did: 2mi WU, 6x2min/1min fartlek, 1.5mi CD
I've had calf issues since last week's stroller hills, and messaged my coach yesterday about today's workout. She'd wanted me to "see where I was" on speed, which meant I'd be pushing pretty hard. I didn't want to slack off on a workout, but I also didn't want to push and wind up injured. It's so nice to have someone to talk to when these things come up and feel confident trusting her judgement... instead of relying on a combination of Google and chatting with Jerry. 

The workout went well, and I got a pretty graph out of it.

Friday
Scheduled: strength
Did: 3.55 @ 9:32/mi avg
Out of town for chorus regional. I went on the most incredible solo run this morning through downtown Winston-Salem in torrential downpour. There's nothing like running through a total deluge with zero care for getting wet or running through puddles. Pure joy. 


Saturday
Scheduled: 9mi long run
Did: 10min yoga, 20min strength
Quick workout in the hotel gym before a day of competing with Song of Atlanta Show Chorus (and taking home first place) and performing with my quartet, Boss.

Boss.. Quartet

SOA Re-qualifies for International Contest!

Sunday
Scheduled: 3-4mi recovery run with stroller
Did: 9.01 @ 9:19/mi avg with Beth and SuperD
Pretty much every year after contest, my friend Beth and I meet up on Sunday morning for a run. We met singing in the Greenville Sweet Adelines chorus, and she was my biggest inspiration to become a long distance runner. During my first marathon training, she got up early with me after her chorus won the contest to run 18 miles with me. If that's not love, I don't know what is. 

Legs felt fine for the most part, but got a little tight at the end. I think whatever's in my calf is fine to run on, but is going to need a bit more attention to work out completely this week before I can push speed on it. 

running around Salem Lake brought back such great memories
it was our run last year, and the middle part of my 18 miler a few years ago

splits were pretty awesome :)
(and she was pushing an almost-two-year-old in a stroller)

<3 this place