Mile Training: Week 5/6

Week-Beginning Thoughts:
I can't believe I'm already in the penultimate week of mile training. This program seemed so much longer last time? 


Monday
Scheduled: 3-6mi recovery
Did: 4.01mi @ 9:24/mi avg, Big 5, 1mi walking carrying 35lb kid
Easy miles in the morning, half with a training partner and half solo. Then a jaunt downtown with the kiddo, involving carrying 35lb in a most awkward fashion for about a mile.


Tuesday
Scheduled: 10min WU, 2x5min tempo/3min rest, 6x30s mile pace, 10-15min CD, core x2
Did: 25min WU @ 10min/mi avg, 4x45s +4x60s hills, 15min CD @ 9:15/mi, Big 5, core x2, 10min yoga
Opted for last week's hill workout instead. Probably could have done these faster, since my CD was a bit on the quick side. Oops. Still struggling to figure out exactly how to pace myself through these sorts of workouts... 

	Lap	Pace
45s	1	7:13
	2	6:56
	3	6:35
	4	6:44
60s	1	6:33
	2	6:31
	3	6:27
	4	6:34

Finally got my two core sessions in, as well as some yoga. 


Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 30min DIY bootcamp, 20min yoga
I need a little workout to jumpstart my day, so I did a quick DIY bootcamp.

Replaced the 2mi run with yoga for focus (and, y'know, to respect "rest day").



Thursday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 10min tempo/5-10min rest, 4x400m/90s, 10-15min CD
Did: as scheduled (see below), 4.67 @ 9:11/mi avg, Big 5
After a teammate calling my attention to the fact that I wasn't really doing workouts at the level I was capable of on Thursday, I decided to remedy that today. I pushed on my tempo, keeping a 2:2 breathing pattern almost right from the start. Garmin told me I'd hit a 6:46/mi pace on that... but I corrected it for the actual distance I covered during the 10min, and found it much closer to a 7:42. Still, not bad. 

I took ALL of the 10min rest I was offered, and then set off on the 400s, with the mantra "it's just one lap" in my head on repeat the whole time. Usually, I try to start off conservative, negative split my repeats, and have a final kick on my last repeat of the day. Today, I wanted to go out hard to remind myself what that felt like. Go hard. Find your limit. Only then can you know where it is.

Lap 1: At the 150m mark, I felt that terrible urge to poop that usually creeps up when I hit these speeds. WTF. Held on, and managed to finish with a super strong time.  And then walked the recovery.

Lap 2: Same GI trouble hit around the 200m mark this time, and I let myself slow up a liiiitle rounding the final corner. Quads were already dead.

Lap 3: Hit a wall around the 150m mark and couldn't propel myself any faster. This was the only one my teammate passed me on. 

Lap 4: Teammate and I pulled each other through this one. 

This workout FELT so much different than the other ones I've done recently. I'm learning how to "make it hurt" again, and that's exciting. It feels good. 



Friday
Scheduled: 5-7mi recovery
Did: 7.17mi @ 9:07/mi avg, Big 5
Slept in, ran at the river with friends, and kept a pretty healthy pace, which felt conscious, but easy. 



Saturday
Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 6x30s hills, 10-15min CD, core
Did: 20min WU @ 9:59/mi avg, 6x30 hills (25' elev gain, 6:58-7:27/mi), 20min CD @ 9:29/mi = 4.67mi @ 9:37/mi avg, Big 5, core
I loved the mental side of this workout. After weeks of 45-60s hill repeats (and eight of them, at that), the prescribed 6x30 felt like nothing at all. Easy warm-up, easy cool-down, and home, showered, and in-bed blogging with some chocolate milk all before 6:30am. I love being a morning runner. 



Sunday
Scheduled: 5-7mi long run
Did: 10.05mi stroller run @ 9:49/mi avg, Big 5, ~18mi bike ride around 11.3mph with trailer
One of the original reasons I started running a decade or so ago was to combat some situational depression. When life is tough, I still find the endorphins help me deal more than anything else. I had a series of three runs (well, it was one long run, just segmented by the company I had for the first 6.5, middle 3, and last 0.5 miles) in the morning to start things off, followed by a great running mamas date at the playground. 

Happy Global Sports Bra Running Day

After a nice 2.5 hour nap, we enjoyed a family bike ride along the greenway, up and back to our favorite local brewery. I had the trailer for most of it and kept the pace easy and effort minimal. When I was trailer-free, though, I let myself go out ahead, zooming along the wooded path, and felt a kind of happy I haven't felt in the past five weeks. It was really nice. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 36.75mi run, ~18mi bike


Week-Ending Thoughts:
I'm grateful for my health. Being able to run and bike with friends and family during one of the roughest periods of my life has been so helpful.