Sizzler Training: Week 7/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Monday rest days have become my friend. Instead of feeling stressed about not working out, I'm learning to love having Monday mornings to sleep-in (until 5am!), get some extra time with my kid (and husband), and use the bonus 30min to set up my systems and such for the week. Solid. 

Also, how do I only have two weeks left in training? That went by FAST. I'm a bit concerned that I'm not "ready" for a race. Training seems like it's going well, but I don't know that I can really run non-stop for over six miles at a sub-8 pace... Not sure if this is a "Jesus, Take the Wheel"/"Trust Your Training" moment, or a "wellllllll, you probably should be pushing harder in training so you feel more prepared" moment.

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

I love this change. It's been working so well for me. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 8mi easy

Did: 8.36mi @ 9:18/mi avg, Big 5
I really like waking up at 4:10am and running 8+ miles before work. Crazy? Yes, but such a relaxing way to start my day. Also, this run felt great in terms of pace. The last two miles were sub-9. Definitely an intentional pace, but not hard by any means. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 5mi easy, 4 strides, 3x circuits

Did: 5.77mi @ 9:33/mi avg (with strides), Big 5

I really appreciated that today was "just an easy five miles". I was able to trick my mind into thinking the strides were no big deal, and that made getting up and out the door for this workout much easier. 

Strides were around a 6:30/mi pace- just fast enough to be worthwhile. 

Really meant to do the circuit workout when I got home, but life kind of took over. Planned on doing it when I got home, but ended up getting super stressed at work and not returning home until 8:30pm, hopping right into bed... and the proceeding to struggle to fall asleep until around 1 in the morning.

Thursday

Scheduled: 15mi WU, 2x200/200, 5x800/2min, 2x200/200, 15min CD

Did: as prescribed; total = 8.01mi @ 8:43/mi avg, Big 5

After not getting to sleep until 1am, my 4:05am alarm came EARLY. I truly considered bailing on this workout, but rationalized that I could either: 

1) suck it up, do the workout today, and sleep in tomorrow

or

2) bail today, get a max 4 hours of sleep, and then do the workout tomorrow, STILL exhausted

I opted for Option #1. 

Coach Nick prescribed the 200s to be "just fast enough to get your legs moving" and then the 800s to begin at 5K pace and get faster. Once I looked up what those 800s would be, I felt like this workout went from "oof" to "super mangeable". Start around a 3:45, and then get faster. Totally do-able. 

I loved doing mental math on the track to distract myself; in-my-head division and multiplication is such a great way to get through workouts. We took off a bit too fast for the first interval, but were able to do the rest as prescribed. :) 

200 #1 0:42
200 #2 0:47
800 #1 3:34
800#2 3:41
800 #3 3:31
800 #4 3:25
800 #5 3:19
200 #3 0:57 (yeah, def slowed that down ;) )
200 #4 0:53

When we finished up, I was shocked to have covered so much distance (8mi total) in what felt like such a minimal effort. Even more surprising was the 8:43/mi average pace for that many miles WITH a bit of walking on my recoveries. Today is the first day I've been remotely confident about a good time at Sizzler. :D

Friday

Scheduled: DIY strength?

Did: 3.1mi with stroller @ 8:45/mi

After a helluva week, I treated myself to some miles with my favorite running buddy... followed by King of Pops. The whole run felt like a struggle, and the fact that my Garmin kept telling me I was running a 10:40/mi didn't make me feel any better. Something was off with my GPS, though, because I was actually running a good bit faster... At least seeing my actual pace made me feel better about the effort. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 8mi easy, 3xcircuits

Did: 8.23mi @ 8:33/mi avg, Big 5, 3xcircuits, 2mi walk

ATC had six miles scheduled for today, so I arrived early to get my bonus two in. I had zero pace plans, especially since my right calf had been a little sore/wonky this week (I've been wearing my calf sleeve most days this week as a mental thing). When I started off, I definitely felt my calf... but it dissipated within a minute. (Phew!)

pretty perfect warm-up

When I finished my warm-up, I was a bit shocked to see am 8:23/mi average pace. That had to be wrong, right? Nope. Turns out, this cooler weather is INCREDIBLE after having trained through the heat/humidity of a southern summer. 

I ended up RL-ing for the 8:00-9:00/mi group, something I've never done before. In fact, the last time I was a RL, I remember telling my pace captain (for the 9:00-10:00/mi group) how much I was struggling to stay with the back of the 9s and that I might need to drop back another pace group. It's kind of silly to put so much stock in a pace, but I'm also really proud to have "leveled up" to the next pace group because it means the work I've been putting in the past two years is paying off. I ran very consistently in the mid-8s, and it felt EASY. I'm not just playing at being an 8min RL; I actually belong there. I can talk the entire way through a hilly run at that pace, and feel like I want to go faster. I'm so proud of that. 

Also, after I finished and stretched my group out, I'm pretty proud for finding a quiet spot of parking lot and going through my three rounds of circuits. I knew that if I didn't do them right then and there, I wouldn't do them when I got home. :) 

my run crew :)

Sunday

Scheduled: 15min WU, drills, strides, 3x1600/2min, 15min CD

Did: as scheduled; 6.71mi total @ 8:41/mi avg (with walking), Big 5, 3mi walk

After a late night (late = after 9:30pm in my book), I wasn't particularly excited to give up a sleep-in morning to get up and go to the track for mile repeats. I'm beyond grateful that my training partner volunteered to get up before 5am on her ONLY DAY OFF to drive over to the track just so that I wouldn't be alone. She wasn't even running, y'all. #team

Today's workout was a repeat of one from Week 3 of the training, only with 2min recoveries instead of 3min. Previous times were 7:45, 7:28, and 7:03. I was hoping to be able to maintain those times, or maybe drop 5-10s off each of them.

Mile 1: 7:35
Oh, hello. Thought I was going too slowly on the first lap, but somehow finished a good ten seconds ahead of where I needed to be. This felt SO easy compared to my normal mile spilts/any workout at all. 

Mile 2: 7:11
I played with my head on this one, counting down from 16 as I passed each 100m mark. The mental math on this one was fun, and I've gotten very good at multiplying 100m and 200m splits in my head to determine what pace I'll finish a mile off at. 

Mile 3: 6:55
This one felt a bit harder than the others, but I still finished feeling like I could have kept going. 

pretty HR graph too

I am SO proud of where I am right now. It's been a long road back from last fall's PF tear, but I think pushing through the recovery training (and these past two training plans) have made such an impact on my fitness. I just ran my last mile repeat of a workout at a sub-7 pace... and didn't feel like I was dying. BRING ON THE RACE DAY!!! :D 

Total Weekly Mileage: 40.18mi (run)

Week-ending Thoughts: 

I don't really need to caption this, right? 

But, seriously, I'm in that amazing mental place like I was before Chicago: no matter what happens on race day, I'm just so incredibly proud of what I've accomplished during training. Training has been the true challenge; race day will just be a victory lap. :) 

Sizzler Training: Week 6/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:
After 40mi last week, I'm starting to feel the marathon itch. I like the way I feel when I'm logging a ton of miles... Hahah. 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest
Took the morning off from yoga to have a morning "to myself". Up at 4, shower, dress, and then plan for the week, indulge in some personal emails, and enjoy a hot mug of coffee... all before a great pre-work hour with my family. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 5mi easy
Did: 6.34mi @ 9:20/mi avg, Big 5
I couldn't NOT do a 10K on Tuesday. This run felt good. I feel fresh, strong, and had to hold back the pace a bit, reminding myself I had a track workout tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn't be holding back, though? 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 15min WU, 10x400m/100m (start at 5K pace, increase pace every other), 15min CD

Did: as scheduled for a total of 6.8mi @ 8:43/mi avg, Big 5

This was an intimidating workout for a few reasons:

1) It's been awhile since I've been on the track

2) I can't remember the last time I had more than 8 repeats

3) This wasn't just a repeat workout it was a progression/track hybrid

4) 100m is a REALLY short rest period

Once I got out there, though, the workout actually went pretty well. My first repeat only needed to be around 1:50. Considering I'm usually doing these at 1:40 or faster, that's huge. The first interval felt easy, and incredibly manageable... to the point that I worried I was phoning it in for the workout. 

Nope. I wasn't. That measly 100m rest took its toll quickly, and, by the end, I was grateful to have started "so slowly". 

1&2 (Goal: 1:50): 1:50, 1:49 
3&4 (Goal: 1:45): 1:40 (forgot to start after only 100m, bolted, and then attempted to slow down-- oops), 1:47
5&6 (Goal: 1:40): 1:40, 1:38
7&8 (Goal: 1:35): 1:37, 1:34
9&10 (Goal: 1:30): 1:34, 1:32

Definitely struggled through the last four repeats, but am proud to have pushed through and made this workout count.

Wee, progression intervals!

Thursday

Scheduled: rest

Did: yep
Only got about 4 hours of sleep last night thanks to a business development thing. I really don't know how I ever did marathon training with a newborn a couple years ago. 

suite life

Friday

Scheduled: 15min WU, 20min tempo, 15min CD, 3xcircuits

Did: as scheduled, total = 5.66mi @ 8:57/mi, Big 5, 3xcircuits

I hate tempo workouts. They embody exactly what I don't like: extended discomfort. I'm great at pushing hard for short bursts on the track; I can always count on that recovery. I'm also great at long easy miles; there's no pressure-- just keep running. Tempo miles are something else. They're the only runs I do where I'm truly experiencing this:

I didn't want to do this workout, but I've been reminded myself that I'm in-training because I want a fast time at a race. If I don't put in the work, I can't expect a good performance. Last week was just about mileage, but now I'm back in workout mode. Every run has a purpose, and it's up to me to "make it count". 

I was fine for the first three minutes of my twenty minute tempo run. Then I started mentally counting down the minutes. 

"Okay, two more minutes, and then you'll be halfway to the turnaround point."

"Halfway there. Turn around, and don't mind that GIANT hill you just flew down and now have to climb back up."

"One more minute, and then you'll only have nine more to go."

"Three more minutes, and then you'll only have five minutes to go."

"Maybe you could slow down, and still push a little, but not as hard as you've been going... that would still kind of count.... and then you'd have to blog about how you could have gone faster but mentally crapped out."

It was a STRUGGLE, and it was a struggle of the worst kind: the ones where there's nothing you're combating but your own mind. There was no physical reason I couldn't run the pace. I just didn't like pushing myself like that. Except I liked pushing myself like that... when I was done. 

I didn't have a pace in mind, but was hoping to be strong enough to end up with an 8-8:05/mi average. 

That's a 7:46/mi average, folks.

I was so proud when I finished up. 7:46/mi was a TON faster than I'd hoped for. I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it. Especially because my current 10K PR pace is around that time. If I want to have a good showing at Sizzler, I'm going to have to run that for over twice the duration. No way that's happening for 6.2mi if I don't do more of that pace for shorter distances over the next few weeks. Each run has a purpose, and it's up to me to execute it. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 5mi easy

Did: 6mi @ 9:33/mi avg, Big 5

Comfortable run with ATC's In-Training crew this morning. Pace, again, varied with participant needs (high-8s to start, and nearing 10s by the end), but was super comfortable. Love being able to be part of this group again. 

water stop selfies <3

Sunday

Scheduled: 12mi easy

Did: 13.19mi @ 9:38/mi avg, Big 5

Today was all about being grateful for the ability to do things that used to seem impossible. I got up and out to start a stroller run in the dark with one of my best friends (and her kid), and then pushed a stroller for over two hours, covering just over a half marathon's worth of distance. 

When I'd mapped out 12 yesterday, I realized I'd either be doing parking lot laps to get me up to 12.0, or wind up with closer to 12.5 and a more reasonable route. If you're doing to do 12.5, you might as well do 13.1, right? 

The run felt good. I'm really proud of the fact that a 9:30 is now a comfortable long-distance pace for me... with a stroller. Back during Chicago training, it was a struggle to keep 10s without one. How far I've come. :) 

such a beautiful sight

The best part of this run was sharing the distance with my friend and our children. After the run, they even high-fived each other and congratulated one another on their half marathon. I don't think this is my first stroller half marathon, but maybe it is? Either way, I'm pretty proud of have been able to run it. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 37.97

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Grateful. That word sums up this week. Pushing myself in all kinds of ways reminds me of how far I've come. 

Sizzler Training: Week 5/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Definitely feeling the miles this week... or maybe just work/life balance, lack-there-of? 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: yoga
I'm loving this start to the week, especially after intense-mileage weekends.

Tuesday

Scheduled: 8mi easy + 2 strength circuits

Did: 8.01mi @ 9:37/mi avg, Big 5, 2 strength circuits
Yep. Definitely felt the mileage wearing on me in the back half. Thankfully, I've begun motivating myself with post-run chocolate milk for the past month or so. On Tuesdays, I leave a cooler with a Contigo of half 1% and half lowfat chocolate milk at the starting point of our course, just to remind me that, AS SOON as I finish, I get something delicious. It worked.

Wednesday

Scheduled: 5mi + 4 strides

Did: 5.52mi @ 9:38/mi avg with 5 strides, Big 5
Solid run. Definitely building endurance with all these miles. I'm certainly feeling them.

Best part of today was strides with Blitz. I can't remember the last time I went stride-for-stride with someone else at that pace. It was epic. I totally heard the Chariots of Fire theme in my head while we ran. 

Had a little bit of a tight ball on top of my right quad that showed up around 10am... Not sure what's up with that. Here's to lacrosse balls! 

Thursday

Scheduled: 8mi + 4 strides, 2 circuit

Did: 8.07mi @ 9:28/mi avg, Big 5
This run felt MUCH easier and better than Tuesday's 8 (probably because it was less hilly). I'd never planned on doing the strides (this workout was scheduled for Sat, but I swapped them due to scheduling), but forgot about the circuits. Oops. 

Friday

Scheduled: rest

Did: Mmm, rest. 
Got a sports massage too due to a lot of issues in my quad/hip/glute area. My normal guy wasn't available, but I really liked the new one so much that I might switch. Super productive session. Already feeling better.

Saturday

Scheduled: 6mi easy

Did: 6.4mi @ 9:11/mi avg, Big 5
I'm back Run Leading again, and it is AWESOME. Today's route was only 5, so I arrived early and did my own "Armour loop". It felt so nice to be back there, and even better to start interacting with participants as they arrived for the first day of half marathon training. I love getting to talk to so many people, be a resource, and provide some of the camaraderie and support (that I now take for granted from my teammates) they need to keep on keeping on.

I got really excited laying out my "uniform" the night before
It's been two years since I've gotten to do this :) 

Sunday

Scheduled: 12mi easy

Did: 12.11mi with stroller @ 9:34/mi avg, Big 5
This was a bit of a logistical nightmare with all of the different runner friends coming in/coming out... and having to be a parent at the same time. It worked out beautifully in the end, though. 

Felt REALLY good throughout this entire run. While my pace varied with my companions of the mile I was in, I finished up alone, and happily did an 8:43 with plenty in the tank... after 11 miles of pushing a stroller. This bodes incredibly well. It's been amazing to get back into RL-ing, because it reminds me that there was a time I couldn't do this. There was a time I couldn't even dream of this being possible, much less "normal". How far I've come... Thank you, running.

Total Weekly Mileage: 40.17... and I'm feeling greedy for more :)

Week-ending Thoughts:
Life may not be good, but running sure is. Even if running can't solve all my problems, it certainly makes them better. 

I'm incredibly proud of what I'm accomplishing each week. I'm not breaking barriers with new distances or speeds, but there's a certain satisfaction in consistency, and things that were once "impossible" being the status quo. I'm seeing myself as "so strong". 

Sizzler Training: Week 4/8

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Can't tell if my legs are injured or just sore/tired.... 

Monday

Scheduled: rest/yoga

Did: 1hr yoga

Yes. This was just what I needed this morning. Ran through two Yoga with Adriene videos, plus a Caroline Jordan calf stretch one. Feeling sore, but proud of taking care of myself and listening to my body.

Tuesday

Scheduled: 8mi easy, 2xstrength circuit

Did: 8.25mi @ 9:33/mi, 2xstrength, Big 5
Fit my two strength circuits in pre-run today. I think one of my goals for this training cycle is to actually DO all of the small strength workouts Coach prescribes along with my runs... heheh. 

Run felt fine enough. I've had what I'm dubbing "at-risk calves" for a little while-- basically that slightly tender sensation I've gotten before calf strains in the past. They're fine to run on, but I'm paying enough attention to my body to know I need to treat them gingerly. I ran with calf sleeves today (as protection? as a safeguard? as a placebo? who knows...) and was no worse for wear at the end of it. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 20min WU, 8x60s hill jogs, 20min CD

Did: 5.49mi @ 9:37/mi avg, Big 5
I really like having a Wednesday workout. I think making Mondays a "rest" (yoga) day, as scheduled, is going to work well for me in the future. I met some teammates early for the warm-up and, even though I did the workout by myself, it still helped to know they were/had been out there too. 

too bad Garmin doesn't understand appropriate y-axis scaling for elevation charts...

Thursday

Scheduled: 20min WU, 30min fartlek, 20min CD, 2x strength circuit

Did: 7.58mi @ 9:14/mi avg, 2xstrength, Big 5
Another day I'm grateful for my teammates. I woke up really hoping that it would be thunderstorming so I could bail on this workout and cuddle up in bed a little longer. Nope. Not even rain. 

We opted against the track today and decided to do a road run, which meant I'd be randomly speeding up and slowing down while the others ran straight. To help me not have to think, I programmed a "random" series of time-based intervals into my watch. Every few minutes, it would beep at me to let me know to change paces. Before it beeped, I would make a decision on whether my next "interval" would be recovery, moderate, or fast. I think it worked out well.

Got back to the house, absolutely drenched (it didn't rain, but we did have 100% humidity-- barf), stretched and finished up with my strength circuits.

Friday

Scheduled: 30min strength

Did: 30min weights, 1mi @ 9:30ish on treadmill, 2.5mi walk
Got some good lifting in this morning while traveling. Also did a mile on the treadmill because I wanted a little more of a HR boost before sitting around in meetings all day. Finished the day off with a nice walk home from the team dinner. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 5mi easy

Did: 5.03mi @ 9:03/mi avg, Big 5
So, maybe running solo through a college campus where there were panther sightings (11 years ago, when I was in school there) the morning after discussing a colleague's experience with a mountain lion during a hike through Yosemite was NOT the brightest idea. I spent the first two miles thinking about how running solo in the dark was a stupid, stupid idea, and second-guessing every single sound in the woods. Then I made it to campus, and the sun started coming up, and it was awesome. That said, I literally only saw two other people (including cars with occupants) during my entire run, and both of them were other runners when I finally made it to the dike around 6:15am. 



Run was faster than planned, but felt good. Calves are feeling much better, though I'm still rocking the sleeves because they make me feel better. 

Sunday

Scheduled: 11mi easy

Did: 11.01mi @ 9:43/mi avg with the stroller, Big 5
Woke up with suuuuuuper sore shins? NO idea where that came from, but my best guess is due to booking it down the hills yesterday at Clemson. I was grateful to have had a plan and a couple accountability partners to keep me on track.

I had one of my running mamas start before dawn with me (and her kiddo). We used the opportunity to teach our munchkins about the importance of safety gear.

The run felt more or less good. I had a small bit of right hamstring soreness around mile 5, and a couple miles of struggling when we were running on a heavy cross-slope on the main road. It was nice to split the run up into two parts. After the first six, we took about a 5min break to drop lights at the cars and meet another mother runner (and her little one) for another outing. I finished off feeling like I could have done another three... even if my kiddo was definitely ready to be done. 

besties

Total Weekly Mileage: 38.4mi run, 1 strength session (in addition to the little 10min or less circuits Coach has me doing), ~4mi walking

Week-ending Thoughts:
Whelp, we're halfway through training, and I don't know that I'm really any stronger or faster? Like, I'm sure this training is doing something. Maybe I should give the fact that I just had an almost-40-mile-week (and traveled) and feel like it was an "easy mileage" week some credit? Certainly that says something about my training. :P

Next week, I'll be starting back as a Run Leader for the Atlanta Track Club's In-Training for the Thanksgiving Half program. I'm excited to be involved with that again (the last time I was a RL was Fall 2016), but it will require a bit of adjustment for my Saturday schedule. I'll probably end up doing my long runs Sunday and letting Saturdays be "easy mileage", depending on the training plan... which I hope to get today.