"Let's Just See What Happens" Week (spoiler alert: bad stuff)

Beginning of the Week Thoughts:
Hrm. Maybe I'll try to hit a 3:00 800m on the track this Thursday. If I can do that, and it feels good, maybe I'll just continue and see what sort of mile I can hit... that might be fun.



Monday
Did: choreographed for chorus
Definitely felt the 15min of weight lifting I did yesterday, and wanted to build on the momentum, but life happened. The only physical activity I did all day was choreographing the chorus' new uptune. 

Tuesday
Did: 4.19mi @ 10:52/mi avg + 0.5mi @ 30:00/mi avg on the treadmill
Planned on only doing the first 10K of Birgit's workout with her, but didn't even make it that far. Around 1.4mi in, I caught my foot on a curb, and, through some sort of miracle leg acrobatics, didn't fall, just took a lot of "weird-looking strides", according to B&B.

I've had this happen before. I feel pain in my arch, but, within a half mile, it works itself out. So I did what I always do: attempted to run it out. That worked for one of my feet, but not the other.

I bargained with the running gods for the next couple miles, though. 

I'll drop to a 10+ pace, behind B&B, and excluded from the conversation, but still get to run. 

I'll stop running and walk, but still get my 10K in.

I'll turn around and go home right now, but finish the 10K on the treadmill so I can go slowly and stop if I need to.

I'll back the treadmill down to 2.0mph and hold half my body weight in the railings, but still get my 10KTues---.... No. No, I won't. 


^this is the power of the hashtag. This is the power of a runner's mental fortitude. "Oh, yeah, it kind of hurts, but not an 'I need to stop' hurt." 

You don't want to "give up" or take the "easy way" out by cutting a workout when you don't really NEED to. As a result, your body just pumps more and more adrenaline and your mind convinces you it's totally OK to keep running. 




By the time I got out of the shower, I couldn't bear weight on my right foot without pain. At first, I was just trying to decide whether I should still take mass transit or drive into work. And then I was deciding to bail on my evening professional engagement. Then to work from home. And then, finally, when I couldn't even stand without pain, I called out from work, knowing I was going to be spending the day trying to get a medical professional to tell me what was wrong. 




Fortunately (?), our two-athlete household has pretty much everything we'd need for injuries. Jerry set me up with crutches, knee pads, and an ice pack before he left. I called my friendly neighborhood sports orthopedist, told them I'd drive to pretty much any of their metro Atlanta offices if someone could see me at any time today, and, after getting passed around to five locations, and having to literally crawl down two flights of stairs, through our garage, to my car to get my wallet (with my insurance card for verification) while on the phone, I finally got a 10:15 with a sports med PA. 

...and then the fun began. I crawled around my house for about 40 minutes getting ready for the appointment (filling water bottle, getting dressed, making and eating food, getting a new ice pack on my foot), and then crutched out to my car and realized that the injured foot was my right foot.... y'know, the one you drive with. 

crutches are no good when you need your hands, like, in the kitchen

so I used kneepads to scoot around

I've haven't been too thrilled with Resurgens the last few times I've been to them. They've been good, but not to the same exceptional standard I'd come to expect after a year of excellent care back in 2014. This visit was a step back in the right direction. The front desk staff was really helpful, not asking me to come back and forth to the desk, or carry anything with me to the exam room. The x-ray tech was pleasant and quick. Best of all, the new PA I saw gave me exactly what I needed (and more) in terms of question/answer talk, lots of explanations, sufficient exam time, and follow-up instructions. Huge fan. 

using my crutch as a prop to keep my foot elevated = engineering degree at work

Here's where the "fun" stops. I was diagnosed with exactly what I thought I had: a partial tear (or possibly just a severe strain) of the plantar fascia at its insertion point. 

What this means:

• RICE for the next 2-3 days
• take prescription anti-inflammatory drugs for 10 days 
• use a pneumatic walking boot (which we already own, of course-- hooray for not having to spend $100 on that guy) in conjunction with crutches until I can comfortably bear weight with the boot alone
• begin PT on Monday, with the hope being that three weeks of 1-2 sessions of ultrasound, stretching, etc, will facilitate correct healing with minimal scar tissue
• follow-up with foot/ankle orthopedic specialist in 2-3 weeks

Hello, Old Friend

PA's initial estimate was that I won't be running again for at least a month, since I can't even stand on the injured foot right now. 

Thoughts in my head:

• Bourbon Chase is in 18 days. (this is a lottery-only overnight relay race that I've wanted to run for three years and am captaining)  F.M.L. 
• Guess I'm not doing the 1mi Perk this weekend... but I can at least enjoy the coffee festival. Oh. Wait. How am I going to carry around coffee when my hands are on my crutches.
• At least I'm not racing Saturday. Oh. Wait. It's just my kid that's running. How the heck am I going to push a stroller/wrangle a small child on crutches.
• Well, good thing I don't have any other races this month... except that fundraiser 5K I was going to do in costume with my kid. Guess that's out. At least the money was for a good cause.
• Oh, and the 10 Miler is this month. Guess that's not happening. Let's tally up how much money in un-run races I'll have... No. No, let's not.
• So, there goes the entire month of Runtober.
• How am I going to get to/from work? The idea of MARTAing on crutches is NOT appealing.
• Maybe I'll go treat myself to a coffee and blog from Starbucks today. Oh, wait. I'll never be able to carry my laptop and/or coffee to a chair with crutches. Never mind.

I'm still in denial right now... 

Oh, and there goes my 10KTuesday streak... I was supposed to hit 100 during Thanksgiving week. :'( 

End of the Week Thoughts:
Whelp, my week is over and it's only Tuesday. FML.

Recovery Week

Sunday
Did: 4.01 @ 9:34/mi with stroller
My body definitely didn't feel like I raced hard yesterday. I was able to do a solid pace with the stroller for four miles today. Oh well. 

Got to celebrate 11 months of Sunday meetup with the Running Mamas, though (and our sweet shirts). 

Monday
Did: rest


Tuesday
Did: 6.58mi @ 9:38/mi
One of our 10KTers is marathon training, which means her 10KTuesdays are becoming 10MileTuesdays. To accommodate, we're doing shifts for 10KT so that she always has a partner, but no one has to run more than they want. I took the early shift this week. Whether due to the earlier time or because the mile finally caught up with me, I felt like a total slug today. While the pace didn't reflect that, the fact that I came home, showered, and hopped right back into bed for an hour and a half (before even posting our hashtag on social media! *gasp*) did. 


Wednesday
Did: 2.96mi @ 8:08/mi, plus core workout
I've got another mile race on the calendar for 10/1. It will not be a goal race, for a few reasons: 1) pressure = crash and burn, 2) start time = 9:15am (sooooo late), 3) the race is part of a 5K/1Mi/Coffee Festival thing that all of 10KT is attending. I want to have fun, not stress about my time.

So, the Perk (the name of the race) will either be a: 

• stroller-free mile where I start off comfy, don't aim for a time, and just see what happens

or

• a fun "how fast can you run comfortably with a stroller" race, sure to be a stroller PR

The course looked kiiiinda flat online, but I decided to run it over lunch to see how it felt, and base my decision on that. 

It went really well. Like, I had two miles under 8:00. Back to back. In the sun. In 80-something degrees. In the middle of the day. 

...but then I returned to the locker room to shower, and my locker wouldn't open. 

Can't exactly go back to the office dripping with sweat... 

While waiting for security to come help, I ended up getting through a round of my core circuit and some burpees. Bonus!


Thursday
Did: 3.2mi @ 8:19/mi
I had zero plans for myself, but went over to the track with the girls anyways. Birgit had mile repeats at an 8-flat, which seemed like a great way to stretch my legs without really pushing myself too hard. I'd planned on just doing the last 800 with her, but felt good enough after the first bit to just do the full mile of her subsequent repeats. 

I've been on the receiving end of others' help, support, and pacing on the track so often. It was incredible to be able to be on the providing end for a change. I told B I'd run an 8-flat for her each lap, and she could just go as far ahead or behind as she wanted. Turns out, I'm pretty awesome at pacing on a track. :) 

ignore the paces-- each of the 0.26-0.27mi is actually just a quarter
my watch's GPS sucks on a track, so look at the split instead :)

So much fun! And she crushed the workout, too! Woooo, another marathon mama in the making! 



Friday
Did: 6.6mi @ 9:33/mi avg on the roads, 1.4mi @ 9:13/mi avg on the 'mill
When you want 8mi, but: 
1) You refuse to set your alarm for anything that starts with a 3:XX
2) You have to be home by 5:45 so your spouse can run without leaving a baby home alone
3) You don't run 6min miles

Met B&B for road mileage, and then finished up on the treadmill while Jerry went for his run. Pretty proud of us for making running and parenting work together.  


Saturday
Did: 3.11 @ 8:59/mi
Had planned a 10K with the stroller, but that didn't happen. First, Jerry's injured so he stayed home with the potato, which freed me up. Second, the path at our vacay lodging wasn't the advertised 2 5/8mi long. Instead, it was about 1 5/16mi long. I just couldn't make myself go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and then back to the stairs. Closed out at with a 5K, but still had about 16000 steps for the day thanks to walking around campus. 

Sunday
Did: ~2mi walk, dancing
I considered running, but couldn't stomach the one mile path again. Did a family walk before departing Clemson, and got the rest of my steps for the day with mi amiga, Beth, my singing/mother runner friend who really got me into long distance running. 

together, we ran about 75mi this past week
(most of it was her...)

Race Report; West End Mile

Previous PR: 6:14 
90% Goal: 6:20
50% Goal: 6:10
10% Goal: 6:05
Result: 6:19

Pre-Race
It's strange to do a small race after so many ATC and other large events. B and I arrived at 7am, and there was nothing. We thought were were in the wrong place for a little while, then realized the amount of setup required for a one mile probably didn't necessitate getting there over an hour in advance. 

We did an out and back run of the course for our warm-up so that I could get a feel for the small inclines on the course, as well as know approximately where the quarter splits would be. This definitely helped. I did a few strides on the return bit, took my warm-ups off, and then tried to stay loose and not stress too much while B headed off to the course. She would be waiting on a hill around the 1000m mark, and helping S, another friend who was coming to cheer me on, get set around the 1300m. 


Line
I knew as soon as we lined up that I would not be the overall female winner (something I'd considered possible based on previous years' results). There was one other woman there who looked FIERCE. She would either be going for the same time as me and give me someone to chase, or be exactly the sort of person who could lead me out too fast. I vowed not to pay attention to her, or the other woman who also seemed like she was gunning for it, and get the idea of winning the women's division out of my head. 

0-400m
My number 1 goal for the race was to not start off too fast. Right off the line, I had to keep myself from matching pace with the other runners. They'll either come back to me, or they won't. What matters most is that I'm on pace, not that I'm ahead/behind anyone.
I tried to focus on how I feel when I start a speedwork interval (free and easy), and just channel that, keeping my stride strong and long. The first 400 was down part of the beltline, a 10+ foot wide multi-use path. Though, when I say "down", I really mean "up". 

This was the steepest part of the course, but it was over soon, and then the first lap was behind us... in 1:26. Too fast. 



400-800m
The second "lap" involved the only turn of the course, through a kind of crazy intersection, and then it was downhill.... or maybe it was uphill? I don't remember.

I easily passed the second woman, and a ton of other people who started off too fast, at this point. I just remember thinking, "keep running". Things started to get a little hard here, but I was also struggling with pace- trying to slow down a little after my adrenaline-fueled first 400, but still hit the 3:01 Nick told me to aim for at the halfway point.

3:02. Still alright. Over halfway done. Now you get to pick it up and get it done.


800-1200m
I'm beyond grateful to have had friends on the course, cheering for me. After I passed the 800, I knew B would be on the next little hill. That little hill, though, felt like a mountain. My legs felt... I don't know. "Stuck" is the best way I can describe it. It felt like I was running on an elliptical with the resistance set to "max", or that I had someone pushing against my chest, trying to stop me. It wasn't just my legs. It wasn't my cardio. It was just... stuck. I passed Brandi, who was cheering my name and shouting "only 600 more".

600 more? So far... but only a lap and a half. Lock in, you've got this.

I'm proud of myself for what happened next. I felt the "stuck" feeling, and I wanted to throw in the towel, but I didn't. It's only a lap and a half to go, which means only half a lap until you'll see S. Just get to the underpass she's at, then you can kick. 

I accepted the feeling of "OMG this is so hard" and leaned into it, trying to draw strength from the struggle, but this wasn't the sort of "hurt" I was expecting to feel, or hoping to feel. It was as if I just couldn't move any faster, even though I wanted to. There wasn't anywhere left to dig deep to, but, at the same time, I didn't feel like I'd "bottomed out".  


1200-1600m 
The last part of the course has a slightly curved incline up to an underpass. Once you're there, you can see the slight curve down to the finish. I kept looking for S as I climbed, and seeing her gave me a little new life, just like it did at Little Kings. I still felt stuck, though. I kept waiting to be able to shift into that other gear that I can always find, trusting that I'd be able to, at least, finish strong. 

I could see the clock say 5:33. Push. Kick. There only a handful of traffic cones between you and the line. GO. NOW.

But my body didn't respond. It was like I couldn't go any faster. I didn't feel like I was going all out. I just felt like a block of lead. 

I saw the clock tick 6:09 and I was still so far away. Now. Go. Kick. KICK.

Nothing. I had no kick to give. 

blue/top= pace (see the spikes when I passed my cheerleaders?)
red/bottom= elevation (full axis = 30')

Reactions

IT ISN'T FAIR

I ran a 6:14 with zero training, with almost a month off beforehand for injury, without caring or trying, on a course will a lot of turns and some hills. Today, after six weeks of focused effort, on a flat, straight course, I was a full five seconds slower.

Reflections Ramblings
I don't think enough time has passed for me to have reflections yet, so let's just go with ramblings.

I'm fine. Today wasn't my day. I was proud of myself before the race, and, though my time isn't anywhere close to what I wanted, I'm proud of my effort too. I didn't mentally check out. I don't know what happened. But it wasn't a lack of effort.


I had a weird burning sensation in my chest/throat during the back half of the run. The best way I can describe it is like running in the cold when you're not used it. I've never had that in a race before and have no idea what it was. 


Having B&S there, and having B to "debrief" with during the car ride home was invaluable. I continued the "therapy" in our #10KTuesday team message thread. It helps so much. All of us have had our own struggles through training, but we all believe in each other SO much. 


Our Miler Method FB has been incredible. I had one of the other participants wish me luck today, out of the blue, because they remembered my race was a week later than everyone else's. This same participant also had a really disappointing run last week... and re-did her trial today, crushing it. Seeing her second attempt victory was exactly what I needed. 


Sierra, Coach Nick's wife (who's basically another coach for us all) also had a bad first mile trial experience. She was disappointed with her time and felt like she could have done better. She, too, tried again, and hit her sub-6. These women gives me hope that I, too, will succeed. It just might take my body awhile to recover from training and reap the benefits of those six weeks in a race setting.


I don't know how, but I think at least some of today was mental, just in a different way than I expected. Every single run I had this cycle was great... except for two: today, and the time trial-- the only two I had serious expectations for. Every single one of my PRs has been on a 'oh, I'll just see what I can run" kind of day, with no expectations, no serious training, and no pressure. Maybe that's what I need to succeed. I shared this in the FB group and Nick had just the right thing to say:
"I have had a similar go of things this season too. My first 5 races didn't go as I had hoped, but at 5th Ave last week it finally clicked. And I think you're right, a lot of it was mental. I too put too much pressure on myself."

Hearing that from an Olympic medalist was huge. It's a great reminder that I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to athletics. And, really, I'm still SO new at this. I'm only been running/athletic for about six years, and only really trying my best in the last year. 


This is the first goal I haven't hit in two years. Kind of sucks. But at least it means I'm setting good goals.


Jerry asked me today if I felt like I could have gone any faster today. Without a doubt, no, I couldn't have. Acknowledging that there's a difference between what I'm capable of and what I'm capable of on a given day has helped a lot. I always thought you either gave it your all, or you sandbagged. Hearing from him (a lifelong athlete) and S (who swam competitively in college), and, really, a TON of others, that that isn't the case really helped. 


Oh, and then, without knowing ANY of this, one of my other runner friends shared this on FB, which sent me into emotional tears.

I didn't get what I wanted, but I couldn't have done any better today, and I'm at peace with that. 

Mile Training Wrap-Up

Pre-Race Reflections on the Past Six Weeks of MilerMethod.com training

No matter what happens in tomorrow's race, I think the past six weeks have been my best training ever. I've pushed myself through more workouts (at faster paces) than ever, and feel so much stronger and more confident. Without a doubt, this training is probably the best $72 I've ever spent on running.

Based on results from a short questionnaire, Coaches Nick and Sierra developed a great training program that really fit where I was as a runner. They kept my mileage and days/week relatively consistent, but forced me outside of my comfort zone, introducing workouts 3x week in the form of: hill repeats, tempo + intervals, and pure tempo (which I often did with the potato in the running stroller). They also modified my schedule from the rest of the camp's, delaying the start a week and cutting out a day in order to line up with my goal race-- something I didn't really expect from a bootcamp with set start/end dates, but was really helpful.

Beyond running, the program had three short strength workouts each week (I replaced boot camp with these for the duration). Nick had a great video showing us how to do the exercises, since some of them were new to me. While it seemed silly to spend less than ten minutes on strength, the exercises definitely got my HR up and challenged me each time, strengthening the most critical muscles for my mile. 

Despite being an online-only course, I felt like I had incredible access to all the support I needed. Nick and Sierra didn't just give us a training plan and say "good luck". They  created videos introducing each week's workout, talking about how to prepare for and execute them; I found it incredibly motivating to have that kind of "face time" with my coaches. Any follow-up questions I had about the workout or my performance were quickly addressed whenever I posted anything in our group's FB forum. I still remember the morning after my "failure" of a time trial; before 7am, Nick and I had already had a several-post-long back-and-forth conversation about my performance and how to proceed. So awesome.

Beyond Nick and Sierra, I also got a lot out of the other participants' posts in our FB group. Reading about the other participants' training made me feel like I was part of something bigger than myself. I enjoyed hearing about their successes, but especially their challenges. Most of the group was faster than me, and it was encouraging to be reminded that all of us are human and running your best is hard, no matter your pace. I learned a lot from their posts as well as our coaches' responses to them, and think this was one of the best parts of the program.

So, whatever happens tomorrow, I already have a sense of accomplishment. I already have a sense of peace. In truth, I feel a lot like I did before Chicago. The work's been done; the hard part is over. The race is just the victory lap. 

175 miles, 3 hours 46 minutes of running
3 days of yoga, 2 sports massages
only 1 bad workout
a helluva lot of hills
#CTSO

Mile Training: Week 6/6

It's the final week of milermethod.com training! 

Monday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 30min yoga


Tuesday
Scheduled: 4-6mi easy
Did: 6.23mi @ 9:36/mi avg 
Rough night of sleep through Hurricane Tropical Storm Irma = haaaaaard to get up this morning. Back, hips, and legs all felt wonky from sleeping on them poorly. Got up and got it done with B&B though. 


Wednesday
Scheduled: 10min WU, 5min tempo, 3min rest, 3x30s at mile pace, 10-15mi CD
Did: as sched, with 5min tempo @ 7:44/mi, and 30s around MP (mile pace)
Going to be bed early is the best.... until you wake up at 3:30am because your body is used to only 7 hours of sleep. Grrr.

This workout felt like a "why bother" workout. I wanted to go longer. I wanted to go faster. I wanted to feel the burn and make it hurt.

Good. That's how I'm supposed to feel during my taper week. :)

I botched my watch setup (yet again-- seriously, why is this so hard?), so I don't have actual splits for my strides. I thought I could use the 30s run/60s walk option since I didn't have a workout programmed. While it worked for in-run cues, it didn't record my walk vs run intervals. Grrr.

Spending way too much time to try to analyze things, it appears that I ran strides at:

1) 5:45/mi
2) 6:30/mi
3) 7:00/mi
4) 5:30/mi

So... all the ---- over the place. But the margin of error on those times is about +/-0:30.

I had a hard time stopping, and ended up doing an extra strider set because I felt like my third one was so poorly paced. :/ I wanted to do more, but held myself back. There will be plenty of time to do "more" on Saturday.



Thursday
Scheduled: rest
Did: massage
Had a nice lower body massage this morning to work everything out before race day. No hamstring problems at all this week (finally healthy after six weeks of training... lol). Now it's all about eating right and enjoying the rest of my taper. 


Friday
Scheduled: 1-2mi easy with optional 4x60m strides
Did: 1.91 @ 9:24/mi avg with 5 strides (oops-- I really thought I was supposed to do 5)
I'm feeling the taper. So much rest. So much recovery. So much extra energy. 

That said, my run this morning started off reaaaaaally slow. My right glute (piriformis, probably) still feels a little unhappy/sore, but I can run on it without trouble. I just felt blergh this morning... kind of like I just rolled out of bed at 4am and started running at 4:30am... 'cause I did. 

Strides shook out at: 6:21, 5:51, 5:58, 5:58, and 5:51 per mi. For ~15s each, I think my pace is pretty consistent, and I'm pleased. All of these felt absurdly easy-- just the way they should. 

WTF, in-wrist HR monitor?
Resting pulse = 171? lol

Mile Training: Roll the Tapes

I spent a lot of time this week going over my past mile attempts, trying to focus on "what went wrong".  

"Roll tape."

1/1/15 Resolution Run: 6:33 (PR) https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/888081239
I don't remember how this felt, and my pace graph is all over the place (because I imported a Nike+ run into Garmin after the fact). This was without any speedwork or training at all, though. 

5/24/16 All-Comers: 6:49 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1183104070
After having a baby, I decided to see if I could beat my old mile time one night at the track. Courtney volunteered to stay late (the mile was the last event-- around 10pm) and pace me through it. I remember being terribly unfocused and tired, but wanting to do it anyways because I'd already stayed for it. After a hard relay a few hours earlier, 10KT earlier in the day, and generally being exhausted all the time with an infant in the house, I knew by the first 200m that it was not going to happen.

We were off at the first 400, but C stuck with me through at least half of the race, and then cheered me in. I had already given up at 400m, and told her as much. I don't remember this race hurting, probably because I never really tried.


1/1/17 Resolution Run 6:17 (PR) https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1505469316
Another "no expectations" race. I didn't train much for it, had been out a few weeks in December with some sort of injury (calf? quad? hip? idk), and just remember wanting to run hard. I don't remember it hurting, but my blog entry tells me it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it should have for a 6:14.  "I resigned myself on that hill to push, but didn't go all out."


5/6 Little Kings (6:33) https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1716614825
Injured just before the race, didn't get to train at all... just a looooooooong taper. I remember not even knowing if I'd be running the race the day of it. The weather was blergh, and my attitude was worse. I probably stress-ate about half a bag of tostitos in the hour before the race, too. Race started off strong enough, and on-pace, but I died at the 800m mark, and only kicked at the end because I had a friend cheering for me.


6/9 Braves (7:34. over a mile) https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1788646566
So, this wasn't actually a timed race... but I found out about that when I crossed the finish line. The first half of this race, like others, went well, but, being in the lead, it was really hard to stay motivated/pace myself appropriately. I had a PR 800m (2:50), and then quickly died afterwards, partially because I'd gone out too fast, and partially because there was a monster hill and, without someone to chase/someone chasing me, I lost motivation. Had some left for a kick when I entered the stadium, but considered this a terrible race. 

Red= Resolution '17
Black=Little Kings
Blue= Braves

So a few notables:

• I perform best without expectations
• On-course support (spectators/friends and fellow participants) is essential for my motivation
• I usually have a kick. The trick will be balancing the ability to kick with getting everything I can out of myself in the first 1400m.
• I start off TOO fast (interesting, because I take the exact opposite approach to any other distance, and it works for me in those)
• All of those previous times were done without training

This is the first time I've trained for a mile, and probably the hardest training program I've gone through for anything. While marathon and 5K training had their own challenges, I've been doing three workouts a week for this one, all of them pushing me to my limit (hill, tempo, interval). I feel strong, and I think this Miler Method program has been some of the best money I've ever spent on running. 

This past weekend was the goal race for almost all of my training group: the 5th Avenue Mile. It was really inspiring to read about so many fellow trainees' experiences, especially since all but a few of them smashed their goal times (sooo many sub-5s, and one new mama who ran a 5:30 9mo PP). While I was excited to read about the successes, my favorite read were the ones who didn't hit their goal. They, more than the others, talked about the challenges in-run, and Coach Nick spent more time replying to their posts with analysis and recommendations. His feedback about fitness/physical ability versus execution really spoke to me, and I think keeping those things in mind is really going to help me this weekend. 

Goals that Coach helped me develop:
1) negative splits (3:01 800m)
2) mental fortitude- don't let myself give up
3) 6:06-5:59 finish time



Sidenote: super fun getting to watch Coach Nick win the mile on TV! :)

...except a mile race isn't a marathon

Wooo, Coach Nick! 

Mile Training: Week 5/6

week 5 of milermethod.com training 



Monday
Scheduled: 3-6mi easy, 2xcore
Did: 3.00 @ 10:20/mi, 2 core
Tried this "run by heart rate" thing today and kept it super easy through the hills of my parents' neighborhood. Best part: running in 58 degrees :D 

had a few hills that pushed me into anaerobic (zone 4)
still unsure about my in-watch HRM's accuracy

Tuesday
Scheduled: 10min WU, 2x5min tempo/3min recovery, 6x30s MP, 10-15min CD, 1 core
Did: as scheduled (walked extra to get the 10KT), 1 core
This was a different kind of workout. I started with the 10KT crew, but then did my own thing beginning with the first tempo. It was nice to be behind the faster trio at the end of the warm-up; it gave me people to "chase" on the tempo. :)

Both tempos shook out brilliantly: 7:27/mi on each. I pushed hard, but could have kept it without the 3min recovery between.

I started my first strides with the "this is going to be hard"/"I don't want to try 'cause trying means you can fail" attitude, and it showed. The first one was a 6:26/mi pace. I was supposed to hit 6:00 or better.

Immediately, I made excuses. "Oh, it probably isn't accurate because it's taking me a little while to accelerate." I walked a bit of the recovery, and then jogged. 

On the next one, I made a conscious effort to just run. Don't think about pace. Don't think about how much longer you have to go. Don't countdown from 30. Just run. 

This was partially a good idea (I ended up with a 5:46/mi), and partially a bad idea (I'd misprogrammed my watch and it never beeped to tell me to stop... so I ended up running 35s before I realized I had no "end timer"). 

My watch was more jacked than I thought, and I ended up struggling with it for the rest of the workout, but it didn't affect my times (though I did end up doing 7 instead of 6 30s strides). 

Paces:
1= 6:23
2= 5:46
3= 6:03
4= 5:51
5=6:03
6=6:08
7=5"43

When I just "let go", the runs felt so much easier. I need to remember that and channel more of it in everything I do. All of my past PRs have felt that way: hard, but not "OMG, I'm going to die" hard. I'm re-reading a book I read before Chicago (How Bad Do You Want It?), which discusses the idea of "perceived effort" versus "actual effort". It's an interesting concept, and I'm definitely seeing it in action on my runs. The basic idea is "go in with a positive attitude, and you'll perform better". I've been doing that well until my time trial. Just gotta get back on the horse... 

Wednesday
Scheduled: rest day
Did: yoga
So excited to meet up with my sister for yoga tonight... after PSLs, of course. Happy Fall! 

Bonus: our instructor had the perfect "intention" for tonight's class. We talked about action and effort turning into grace and balance through focus. I'm not usually one for the spiritual part of yoga, but this really spoke to me since that's exactly what I'm trying to do with the mile. 

Thursday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 10min tempo, 5-10min rest, 4x400 @ 89-90s with 90s recovery, 10-15min CD, plus 2xstrength circuit
Did: run as scheduled, skipped strength
It was so chilly this morning that I brought a long sleeve shirt to wear during my warm-up and tempo miles. I miiiiight have thought of it on my own, but Coach mentioned it in his video about this week's workout, so the idea was fresh in my mind. So glad I did!

Hello, Fall!

I've been better about not stressing freaking out over this workout than I was for the time trial. I started reminding myself earlier this week that this was "just a 400m workout". I had goals for my splits, but nothing I hadn't hit easily before. (Granted, I'd never done multiple repeats that fast before, but no time like the present, eh?) 

That mental approach helped a TON. I went through the tempo really consistently, had a calm rest (unlike my anxiety-ridden one during the time trial workout), and then coolly stripped my extra layer and made my way to the start for a fun speed interval. 

Every time I started off the line, I felt strong. My legs moved the way I wanted them to. I had a solid push, but not hard effort. 

I was soooooooo happy to see that, when I did occasionally look down for a pace check at the 200m mark, I was DEAD ON for all of them... except the first, where I was 3s fast and had to slow myself. 

This was the run I needed to bring back my confidence.

Though, side note: whatever I ate yesterday was NOT the correct thing. I felt like I had to use the bathroom around the 300m mark of EVERY SINGLE REPEAT (but recovered enough during the recovery to restart the next interval just fine). :P 

BOOM. 

Had planned on doing strength at home later in the day, but came down with a dry throat/mouth and felt really fatigued so I bailed on it. 


Friday
Scheduled: 5-7mi easy
Did: 6 @ 9:33/mi
Up and out suuuuper early this morning with B. We did 6 miles of rolling hills, and then I came back, showered, realized I still didn't feel much better, and took a nap until it was time for work. Pretty sure I'm a little sick, but at least we've got a kid-free weekend to sleep/recover before next week's race. 


Saturday
Scheduled: 5-7mi easy
Did: 7.09 @ 9:36/mi
Wasn't sure I would get up for this run, but I felt good enough after 10+ hours of sleep and decided to start off easy and bail if I started feeling bad. It went fine, though. B and I enjoyed a new route with a pretty highway crossing over a recently constructed bridge. Still haven't done the strength workout from Thursday. Oh well. 

Slept a lot today and feel like I'm over whatever it was that took me out yesterday, though. 

pretty progression, though
totally unintentional 

Sunday
Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 6x30s hills, 10-15min CD, core
Did: 16min @ 9:33/mi WU, hills @ 7:36/mi-6:31/mi, 11min @ 9:46/mi CD, core, strength
Finally did Thursday's strength routine (plus today's core) to get going this morning. It's always hard to motivate myself to run solo after a week with friends, but I got up and got it done. I challenged myself to "the Home Depot hill", which I did last Monday with B, with the goal of "make it hurt, and don't let up".  

Splits: 
6:32/mi
6:31/mi
7:36/mi (not sure what happened here at all- had a lower cadence for this section too, but don't remember feeling a different)
6:50/mi
7:07/mi
6:27/mi

I'll take it. :) My legs didn't feel as free as they have in other runs. It was like I was exerting a lot of effort, but in a super high gear/high resistance. Guess that's to be expected on a hill, though? I pushed through, but it wasn't the type of push I was expecting/hoping to force myself through. I don't think that makes sense, but maybe I'll read this entry later on and remember what the feeling, even if it's poorly described.

Looking forward to a taperful week and a solid performance on Saturday! Wooo, West End Mile, here I come!