Scheduled: 4mi + 5 strides at 5K pace, 3K pace, Mile pace, 800m, Faster
Did: 3.09mi @ 9:38/mi avg with 5 strides, Big 5, bootcamp
Strides. Oof. I love to hate these things.
Paces: 7:00 (too fast), 6:28 (too fast), 6:32 (on), 6:10 (on), 5:35 (um, yes)
though, really, how accurate is pace when you're running for 20s-30s in a parking lot and getting distance from a GPS watch with a limited satellite connection
Going to bootcamp after this was a bit hard, but the workout, fortunately, wasn't too leg-intensive. I was surprised to find that the wall balls were much harder than they used to be. Pre-injury, I had graduated to the 20lb ball. Today, I had to back off and only do half of each round with the 20lb and finish off with the 10lb. :( On the bright side, though, I made it the entire time through the ropes!
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| finished off with 25 hand-release push-ups and 25 sit-ups |
Tuesday
Scheduled: 6.26mi recovery
Revised to: 1mi WU, 3x1mi @ 7:30-7:45 PR/400m, 1mi CD
Did: 1.2mi WU, 2xmile/400, 2x800/400, 1.somethingmi CD= 6.62mi @ 8:55/mi avg, Big 5, stretch
A look-ahead at weather showed 28 degrees for Thursday and 53 for today, so we swapped our track day. It's been over four months since I've been at the track. I still love it, but my body definitely has a lot of "coming back" to do. Today's workout sucked. It's the hardest workout I've had in quite awhile, and the only workout to date that I can ever remember bailing out of.
My first mile was manageable, but felt more like my third. I recovered, and then started on my second. Lap 1 felt like Lap 4. Lap 2 felt like it should have at least been Lap 3. Lap 3 felt like "this is definitely the last lap, right?". Lap 4 felt like a terrible slog to salvation.
When I finished, I knew I did NOT have another set of four laps in me, so I opted out and, instead, settled for (2)-800m/400m. Even that was hard. By the time I got to the 100m mark on my first 800, I was thinking "the end is near, right? surely I'm on my second lap?". Nopity nope.
Blitz did the second 800 with me. I could tell he was trying to pull me along to the pace he knew I could do, but I couldn't do it today, and refused to be pulled along. I let him get 100m ahead of me and held to the pace I knew I could keep... until the last 100m, which I let him encourage a kick out of me. And then, thank goodness, I was done.
Mile 1: 7:39 (in-range)
Mile 2: 8:16
800 #1: 3:56
800 #2: 3:56 (recall there was a HUGE kick at the end-- that's how bad the rest of that 800m was)
I'm not upset about this workout at all, though. I had a TON of reasons why this workout sucked:
- 12mph headwinds pretty much the whole way (yeah, at some point it should have been at our backs on a track, but it never felt that way)
- the wind was COLD (despite being 53 degrees, I was cold in shorts, calf sleeves, tank, arm sleeves, long-sleeve shirt, and an earband)
- with the exception of a couple 400s on the treadmill last week, I haven't done ANY speedwork in four months, and I was injured for 3 of those months-- losing some fitness is to be expected
- even if I were in good shape, going from 400s to mile repeats is pretty ambitious
- this new "eating healthy" business has dramatically changed my diet (i.e. I'm not eating any of the typical carbs/breads/crackers I used to), and maybe my body just needs to adjust
- this is also the third day in a row with a speedwork element (Sun=PRO, Mon=strides, Today=repeats), which certainly didn't help
So, I'll chalk today up to a learning experience.
Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: sweet rest day :)
Enjoyed a few short walks for commute/meetings.
Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi WU, 3x1mi @ 5K PR, 2mi CD
Did: 6.28mi @ 9:38/mi avg
10KThursday went well enough. I was just really over it by the 2mi mark, though. Still trying to figure out if this is just me getting back into shape, body adjusting to a new diet, or what. According to my log, I did just hit 32mi for the past seven days, so maybe that has something to do with this funk.
Friday
Scheduled: 4mi easy
Planned: 3mi easy + bootcamp
Did: 1.07mi @ 9:41/mi + bootcamp
Realized that I was about to be close to 40mi for the week last night and made some adjustments to this morning's distance. I still felt like I was in marathon training; everything was just heavy, fatigued, and didn't want to "go".
I LOVED that today ended up being a kettlebell day at bootcamp.
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| 1/3= 18lb 4/5/6/7=27lb 8/10=35lb |
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| oh, goodness, ALL the walking lunges |
Saturday
Scheduled: 9mi easy
Did: 9.05mi @ 9:48/mi avg with hills galore, Big 5, ~3mi walking, and some dance clubbin'
For whatever reason, B and I decided today was a good day for a hilly run. I kind of wanted a challenge, and I also loved the idea of connecting up two of our standard running routes since we finally had enough distance to make that happen.
I was ready to be done at mile 2, but pushed through... to be hit in the face (not literally) with a pretty legit climb halfway through. After cresting that hill, we hit another, bigger one. I had no one to blame but myself; I made the route. :P
There's something amazingly empowering about getting through a route like that. Eventually, we hit the 6mi mark, which happened to be our turnaround for the 10KTuesday route. From there, it was just like any ol' Tuesday, running the home stretch back. It didn't feel like a nine mile day at all, nor did it feel like my longest run since labor Day. :)
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| It's all about the cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimb |
Enjoyed another several miles of walking throughout the day (and several hours sitting in a car) to close out an awesome Saturday.
Sunday
Scheduled: 3mi easy
Did: 6.3mi @ 10:12/mi avg, Big 5, Cyclebar Class
My other mother runner friend, Beth, regularly posts pictures from one of her regular mountain runs; at the top of the hill is this "You Made It!" written on the asphalt. I've wanted a picture with that sign ever since she first posted it on Facebook. I wanted it so much that I pretty much planned a trip to South Carolina around running this route with her to get said picture.
Well, we miiiiiiiiiiight have stayed out celebrating her birthday a little later than expected. We'd planned to be home by 9, and ended up singing karaoke until almost 2am... which made getting up at 8 and over to the mountain by 9 a bit of a struggle. But, like 10KTuesday, this run wasn't optional.
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| Yep. Definitely ran a mountain today. |
I knew this was NOT going to be an easy run, but, man, this hill's difficulty exceeded all expectations. There was literally no reprieve from the incline. The entire way up was either a slight incline, a SERIOUS incline, or way too short a stretch of "flat" to do anything but remind you that running doesn't always suck this much before the next incline began.
I was walking before we hit a mile and a half... and I think I might have been going faster walking than I was running. "I'll just walk for a minute," I said. That turned into three, and then I only started running again because we had a schedule to keep, and had to average a 10min/mi.
Over the course of the 2mi ascent, I took three separate walk breaks, for 3, 5, and 1 minutes. It was brutal. SO. BRUTAL.
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| ...but then there was this |
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...and then I stretched (woo, Big 5), showered, ate some breakfast, and drove 2.5 hours back home for a track club birthday party at an indoor cycling studio.
I totally phoned it in for the entire workout. I wasn't there to workout. I was there to enjoy hanging out with friends I rarely get to see and spin a bit. Mission accomplished.
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| ...and then I ate everything in sight :P |
Actual Total Mileage: 32.4mi (so much for "let's just get back to 25s in January")
Week-end Reflections:
1. Food is going super-well this week. I'm really proud of the changes I've made, and, for the first time since I started this, I actually feel like I can sustain these new habits long-term. Nutrition blog coming later, probably at the end of the month.
2. Training is hard.
3. I am SO out of hill shape.
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