Monday
Scheduled: 3-5mi recovery run
Did: 3.08 @ 9:38/mi
definitely feeling last week's training and looking forward to rest day Wednesday;
did 20min PT before bed
Tuesday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 4x30s hill, 4x45s hill, 10-15min CD, core circuit
Did: as scheduled, 6.25mi @ 9:29/mi avg
My core circuit takes 3 1/2min. I think I'm going to start doing it every day, first thing. I still struggle a LOT with the back plank leg raises (weak R ham is lingering), and have to fight through the scissor legs. I'm down to only taking a single 3s break, though.
This workout felt SO much better than last week's. Ham was still a bit weak, but, oddly enough, felt totally fine on the hills? I'd have expected to feel it more on them. Kept my pace to 40-60% on the first 5-6 repeats, and then let a bit loose on #7 and felt amazing. Switched to a different hill for 8, but started too early, and that one ended up being flatter than expected. Oops.
Had some residual soreness/discomfort sitting for the rest of the day, but knocked out another 20min of PT over lunch, which includes:
3x20 double leg glute bridge
3x10 single leg glute bridge
3x10 standing hamstring "catch", then curl
3x10 isometric contractions with 5-10lb ankle weight
3x10 single leg deadlifts
3x10 lunge with 10lb DB
30x prone position, contract glute and raise leg ~6" off ground, hold, lower, disengage, repeat
Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: yoga and PT
So, my downtown office has free yoga classes every Wednesday. I've been wanting to take advantage of them, but that requires me saying, "Hey, Tall, I know you've got speedwork today, but can you go do your speedwork after a full day's work, then pick the kid up from daycare, make dinner for him and yourself, give him a bath, put him to bed, and then, and only then, shower and recover from your hard run so that I can stay in midtown and relax with outdoor yoga? I'll be home after all the hard work is done." :P
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| got my yoga mat, and my flippy-floppies |
We worked it out, though, and I got the chance to enjoy it yesterday. I LOVED getting to take advantage of the city. Even though my commute is like two hours a day, working down here makes it worthwhile for me. I love being in an urban environment. There's so much culture and awesome stuff that happens down here.
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| view from my office window of the green we yoga-ed on |
I got my spot a little early and had time to run through my hamstring PT on the green before our class began. I can't say that I'd pay money to have that instructor lead me through another class (her style just wasn't what I prefer), but it was an hour well spent.
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| namaste, midtown! |
Thursday
Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 10min tempo/5min rest, 4x200@MP/2min recovery, 4x300@MP/2min recovery, 10-15min CD
Did: as scheduled
These workouts are the hardest part of my week, and I'm so glad I've got my #SpeedworkThursday crew to help me out. Coach Nick had this to say about the workout: "The 200s will feel fairly comfortable, but the 300s will get tough."
Man, did they ever. It's like he's a pro at this and knows what he's talking about.
My tempo was a 7:49/mi. Again, I went by feel on this. I still wonder if I'm going too fast, because I feel like I "couldn't" hold that pace for another 5-10min, but it's slower than my current 5K PR, so that tells me I can (I just don't want to). But that's what tempo is all about, right? Forcing yourself to push when you don't want to... just like a race. FinalSurge's training calculator tells me my "anaerobic threshold" is a 7:33. For now, I'll just keep running by feel, since I think I'm definitely getting something out of it.
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| I'll buy the 5K and 10K, maaaaaybe the half, but the marathon? Hahahahahaha |
After my five minutes of rest, I set out for my 200s. I'd done the math ahead of time and knew I needed to hit 45s for the 200s and 67.5s for the 300s (22.5s per 100m). I thought these times were faster than ever, but then I looked back and Coach Amy had also given me 67s 300m repeats before my goal 5K, so I have done these before (though I did them without clear track marks and am pretty sure I was too slow on all of them).
I used some mental tricks to help me break down the eight repeats, messing around with start/stop lines on the track. I'm also proud to report that I jogged at least 1:20 of all of my recoveries (compared to last week's "walk all of the 2min"). I didn't stop for water or stretching at all, just powered through.
The 300m were harder. First, I had to pass my 200m "finish line" and know that I wasn't even 1/2 way to the end of the interval (because of where I started my 300s). Second, I felt like I wanted to be done with them at the 200m mark. Third, there were four of them. Still, I was able to lock in and hit all of them (I'm calling the 68.9 a 67.5 close enough due to watch stop/start time-- surely it takes at least a second to get my hand across my body to stop the watch, right?). I was definitely tired by the end, and wondering how the heck I was supposed to complete one, much less, FOUR full 400m laps at that pace by goal date. By far, this is the most challenging workout I've ever had... and it's only going to get harder next week!
In other happy news, I felt NOTHING in my hamstring today, so I'm going to say I'm officially in the recovery period on that. Going to keep with my PT (at least 3x week) and stretching, but I think I'm in the clear!
Friday
Scheduled: 3-5mi recovery run
Did: 4.57 @ 9:39/mi avg
Another 4:30am run date with B&B. It's a little hard to get up at 4am for these, but I LOVE being done and showered before my family is even awake. Felt hard to get moving at first, but loosened up and felt good by the end. Also did Big 5 waiting for B to hit her 5 miles.
Saturday
Scheduled:15-20min WU, 15min tempo, 10min CD, strength circuit x2-3
Did: strength circuitx2, 18700 steps for the day, 4.8mi@8:56/mi avg
Had plans to get up and treadmill my workout at 4:30am to be able to get the kiddo to his race, but I had no accountability partner and no interest in pushing through a hard workout before 5am solo in my basement, so I slept in until 5:30, did my strength routine, and accepted the fact that I'd have to get my workout in later... after the sun came up. *gulp*
Took the munchkin down to Atlanta's Finest for his 5th ATC 50m dash. I'm not sure how I did it, but I ended up getting 7500 steps over the course of the morning... and I didn't run at all. It was nice to see some friends and watch my little potato get a new medal from one of Atlanta's Finest (police officers).
Got home, realized all I'd consumed today had been a small bowl of cereal, single bottle of water, and a grande frappacino... but wanted to get out the door ASAP before it got OVER 90 degrees (and to give myself as much time as possible to recover before tomorrow's LSD). Handed the kid off to Jerry, chugged a bottle of water, filled my handheld with G2, and headed out the door around 11:30 for a 15-20min warm-up, 15min tempo, and 10min cooldown. No matter what, I just had to get through 40min, and then I'd be done.
Much to my surprise, the workout actually went well. I ran by feel, as usual for tempo miles, but especially key today when I hadn't prepared well and was running in unfamiliar conditions. I warmed-up on hilly terrain to get to the greenway (shaded and flat) for tempo, continuously checked my watch and counted down the minutes of my 15min tempo segment, and then ran/walked up the hills for my cooldown. Tempo pace: still a sub-8. :D
Warm-up: 1.72 @ 9:16/mi
Tempo: 1.88 @ 7:58/mi
Cool-down: 1.2 @ 10:00/mi
Sunday
Scheduled: 7-11mi long run, core circuit
Did: 9mi @ 9:49/mi avg, core circuit
Thank goodness for training partners. B and I met up and checked off another essential Atlanta running route today: Columns Drive. I was NOT feeling this run, and was grateful for the change of scenery, good conversation, cool temps, and riverfront breeze. Made it through.
Week-end Thoughts: For being 2 weeks into a 6 week program, I feel like I'm already completely inundated in the program. Running six days a week is definitely no joke, though.
The 200s were fine. It's kind of cool that I don't look at my watch anymore. This seems to be my body's "natural" (speedwork) pace, because I literally just go and, without fail, I'm at a 6:00 pace (disregard Garmin pace output- it's giving me more distance credit than I'm due on the track).
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| Lap 1= WU Lap 2 = Tempo Lap 3= rest Laps 4,6,8,10 = 200m |
The 300m were harder. First, I had to pass my 200m "finish line" and know that I wasn't even 1/2 way to the end of the interval (because of where I started my 300s). Second, I felt like I wanted to be done with them at the 200m mark. Third, there were four of them. Still, I was able to lock in and hit all of them (I'm calling the 68.9 a 67.5 close enough due to watch stop/start time-- surely it takes at least a second to get my hand across my body to stop the watch, right?). I was definitely tired by the end, and wondering how the heck I was supposed to complete one, much less, FOUR full 400m laps at that pace by goal date. By far, this is the most challenging workout I've ever had... and it's only going to get harder next week!
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| Laps 12, 14, 16, 18 = 300m Lap 20 = cooldown |
Friday
Scheduled: 3-5mi recovery run
Did: 4.57 @ 9:39/mi avg
Another 4:30am run date with B&B. It's a little hard to get up at 4am for these, but I LOVE being done and showered before my family is even awake. Felt hard to get moving at first, but loosened up and felt good by the end. Also did Big 5 waiting for B to hit her 5 miles.
Saturday
Scheduled:15-20min WU, 15min tempo, 10min CD, strength circuit x2-3
Did: strength circuitx2, 18700 steps for the day, 4.8mi@8:56/mi avg
Had plans to get up and treadmill my workout at 4:30am to be able to get the kiddo to his race, but I had no accountability partner and no interest in pushing through a hard workout before 5am solo in my basement, so I slept in until 5:30, did my strength routine, and accepted the fact that I'd have to get my workout in later... after the sun came up. *gulp*
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| Jerry calls me a "vampire runner" since I hate running in sunlight he's not wrong... |
Took the munchkin down to Atlanta's Finest for his 5th ATC 50m dash. I'm not sure how I did it, but I ended up getting 7500 steps over the course of the morning... and I didn't run at all. It was nice to see some friends and watch my little potato get a new medal from one of Atlanta's Finest (police officers).
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| Atlanta's Finest 2015: Most Valuable Potato 2017: Munchkin with a Medal |
Got home, realized all I'd consumed today had been a small bowl of cereal, single bottle of water, and a grande frappacino... but wanted to get out the door ASAP before it got OVER 90 degrees (and to give myself as much time as possible to recover before tomorrow's LSD). Handed the kid off to Jerry, chugged a bottle of water, filled my handheld with G2, and headed out the door around 11:30 for a 15-20min warm-up, 15min tempo, and 10min cooldown. No matter what, I just had to get through 40min, and then I'd be done.
Much to my surprise, the workout actually went well. I ran by feel, as usual for tempo miles, but especially key today when I hadn't prepared well and was running in unfamiliar conditions. I warmed-up on hilly terrain to get to the greenway (shaded and flat) for tempo, continuously checked my watch and counted down the minutes of my 15min tempo segment, and then ran/walked up the hills for my cooldown. Tempo pace: still a sub-8. :D
Warm-up: 1.72 @ 9:16/mi
Tempo: 1.88 @ 7:58/mi
Cool-down: 1.2 @ 10:00/mi
Sunday
Scheduled: 7-11mi long run, core circuit
Did: 9mi @ 9:49/mi avg, core circuit
Thank goodness for training partners. B and I met up and checked off another essential Atlanta running route today: Columns Drive. I was NOT feeling this run, and was grateful for the change of scenery, good conversation, cool temps, and riverfront breeze. Made it through.
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| That end climb was awful. |
Week-end Thoughts: For being 2 weeks into a 6 week program, I feel like I'm already completely inundated in the program. Running six days a week is definitely no joke, though.
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