Braves Training: Week 3/3

Monday
Scheduled: couple easy miles or XT
Did: bootcamp
Was weird going without my training partner and going through the circuit solo. In some ways, it inspired me to work harder. In others, I was tempted to slack off. Got it done, and enjoyed it the whole time, though. Finished with two fence runs. 

Tuesday
Scheduled: 8x200hard/200easy, then 2x200 as fast as you can/200walk, plus remainder for 10KTuesday
Did: 6.83mi @ 9:12/mi avg, 400m relay leg in 1:17, 20min yoga, 2xBig 5 stretches
Wanted to actually do this workout instead of trying to half--- it as part of 10KTuesday, so I met up with A & C at their local HS. Both of these women are faster than me, so I was a little nervous about how much of a warm-up the 2mi jog to the track was actually going to be, but it worked out just fine, if a little hilly for my tastes.

There was another group (or like a dozen or so people) that regularly meets up at the track, which was different for me. I've never trained on a track that was also being used by people I didn't know. I was a little nervous about how to interact with them (from a track etiquette standpoint) since it looked like their paces varied a lot, and I was going to be doing a lot of start/stop every half lap of the track, which meant I'd probably be passing them at points and being in their way at others. 

I don't think I've ever done 200m repeats, so that was new. I didn't look at my watch at all during the workout, and, proudly, also never stopped for water. I did it the whole way through, fatigue and all, which is definitely different than previous workouts. 

Thoughts during the workout:

• I can't believe I forgot to eat breakfast
• This is hard
• Am I going fast enough? (by lap 4, I was feeling it)
• Maybe I'll stop for water between the "hard"s and the "as fast as you can"s
• Nah, only two more laps, just go for it and get it done
• Thank goodness my recovery on these is WALKING
• On the last lap: If this is "making it hurt", do I really want to do this for a whole MILE? Oof

Really proud of these. Quads, again, were sore/wobbly after the workout-- might need to strengthen those a bit moving forward on this speed stuff. I looked up my only other 200m time ever (from the 2016 ATC Track Meet); it was 35s, but that was also a "one and done". Getting excited and scared for Saturday's mile. 

thought this juxtaposition of cadence and pace was particularly cool

I've also had a LOT more leg and foot soreness/tightness (to be expected with all the additional speedwork), and some knee aches, which I attribute to the tight leg muscles. I spent 5min stretching post-run, and 20 additional minutes stretching during the day, but am definitely looking forward to tomorrow's massage.  

Also did an All-Comers meet


Wednesday
Scheduled: 3-5 easy
Did: 3.12 @ 9:44/mi avg, Big 5, sports massage
Slept terribly. Been waking up about every 30-60min during the night for no reason the past few days. Legs were sore, tight, and tired, but I got up and did a good recovery run with B&B before they were on to strength training.  

Knees were archy (might be relapse of the "runner's knee" stuff I had back in 2013, since I haven't been doing enough stretching/prehab), IT band felt tight, and it was a good day for a sports massage.


Thursday
Scheduled: off or easy or XT
Did: Big 5, 20min yoga
Didn't sleep well at all. Got some good stretching and yoga in to start the day, though. Knees ached a bit during the day, and I had tight quads and IT bands. Foam rolled and stretched a good bit before bed, and slept in knee brace overnight. 



Friday
Scheduled: 2-3mi plus 4-6 strides
Did: 2.57mi @ 9:23/mi avg with 5 strides
Slept poorly again (sick husband = baby duty for me). Got up and over to run with B before bootcamp, but opted out of the actual strength workout since I was worried about not having fresh, rested legs for tomorrow's hard mile.

Saturday
Scheduled: Easy warm-up, 1mi goal race, cooldown
Did: 2.71mi total @ 7:32/mi avg
Race Report


Sunday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 5.05mi with the stroller @ 9:18/mi avg
Had planned on being sore and broken from a hard mile on Saturday, but that was not the case. I felt totally fine. No soreness. No knee trouble. No tightness. Nada.

Jerry was part of a push-assist team for the Hotlanta Half, so the Running Mamas headed downtown to get our run done on the beltline and cheer on the ATC athletes doing the race. 

hopefully, a new entry will be posted shortly on his blog:
gazelleintraining.blogspot.com

I hadn't planning on running that far, but kind of needed some "redemption miles" after yesterday's disappointment. It felt good to casually beat a 9:00/mi pace with the stroller for my first two miles (solo), and then join up with a friend afterwards for more. 

#MotherRunners

...and cheering for runners is always fun, too. :)