Running can be whatever you need it to be: an escape, a way of challenging yourself, a chore, a penance, a vacation, etc.
I'm starting mile training again. I don't expect to come anywhere close to the times I was hitting last fall, but this will give me some speed, some endurance, and something to focus on, besides how things aren't going my way in other areas of my life right now.
(last time I did this)
Monday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 2mi walk, stretching
Just stretching my legs over lunch.
Tuesday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 8x30s hills, 10-15min CD, core
Did: core, 25min WU @ 10:02/mi, 8x30s hills (paces from 7:10/mi to 6:52/mi), 25min CD @ 9:56/mi = 6.23mi @ 9:50/mi, Big 5
I was ready to "get it" on this workout... until we started and my legs felt heavy. lol. The hills felt good... until the third one, then they got hard, but manageable-ly hard.
Paces: 7:07, 7:02, 7:21, 7:27, 6:52, 7:10, 7:00, 6:57 (i.e. all over the place)
Who knows how accurate a GPS watch really is over such a short (30s) duration, though. I felt like I got something out of the workout, which is the important part.
Got peer-pressured into an extended cool-down to hit our 10K, and was truly shocked to have taken over an hour to run the distance. Like, I know we jogged the downhills on the repeats, but, really?
Wednesday
Scheduled: 3-6mi easy
Did: 3.77mi @ 9:08/mi avg with stroller, Big 5
I literally couldn't wait to end my work day, pickup my running buddy from daycare, and hit the greenway together. I'd planned on an easy 3, wanted an easy 4, but flooding on the greenway forced an early turnaround. Legs felt tired to start (9:49/mi), but was easily and comfortably clocking 8:34/mi by the end... totally unintentional progression run.
Thursday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 10min tempo/5min rest, 8x200/2min, 10-15min CD
Did: as scheduled, 6.24mi @ 8:39/mi avg, Big 5
I didn't want to do this workout, but I wanted to have done this workout. The tempo felt strange to do on a track, but I just tried as best I could to replicate a race-day 5K effort... and ended up nailing it with a 7:04/mi avg on my watch (which, even with the weird extra distance my watch gives me on the track, is still easily under my 7:30ish race pace). Took a breather, and then began the eight 200m repeats.
I'd thought these would be easy since they're "only" 200s, but there were eight of them, and I'm sorely out of practice. We didn't have track marks this morning, so my distances may have been a little off, but times shook out well:
0:41, 0:44, 0:43, 0:46, 0:43, 0:44, 0:44, 0:42
For comparison, last year's times for this workout were 8:14/mi tempo and ~0:42-0:43 for the 200s. I think I'm in a good place.
Friday
Scheduled: 3-5mi easy
Did: 2.07mi @ 9:12/mi avg, Big 5, bootcamp
A bit faster than usual pace for a "recovery" run, but sometimes you just feel like running faster. Enjoyed bootcamp too.
Saturday
Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 10min tempo, 10-15min CD, strength circuit
Did: 10.26mi @ 9:07/mi avg, Big 5
Swapped Sat and Sun. This was a good, necessary long run with B. Lots of climbs (almost 500' of elevation gain, which is more than we've been doing for sure), and lots of sub-9 miles along the way.
Sunday
Scheduled: 5-8mi long, core circuit
Did: core circuit, 15min WU @ 9:10/mi, 10min tempo @ 8:09/mi, 10min CD @ 10:03/mi, strength circuit
Forgot about my core circuit yesterday, so did that first thing. I liked seeing my workout as a task to complete, an assignment, and did my best to focus on seeing it as an accomplishment after I was done. The warm-up was probably a bit too fast, especially for sunny, humid, and HOT conditions, but sometimes you just feel like running fast, right? Well, it bit me on the tempo. My legs felt heavy and I felt dead. It showed in my pace. I let myself walk up the huge hill at the beginning of my cooldown, and then jogged it home.
Total Weekly Mileage: 32.70
Week-ending Thoughts:
This was a really good week to begin a training program. I'm glad I have something to focus on, accomplish, and take pride in each day.
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