Miler Method #4: Week 2/6

 Week-beginning Thoughts:

Um ,well, it's Thursday, so.... ? 

Monday

Scheduled: 10-15min WU, 3x3x30s hills (E, M, H), 10-15min CD

Did: as scheduled, 4.36mi @ 9:43/mi avg

Oh, what a morning. Up at 2am with the baby, and just kind of stayed up... Ooof. 

It was my first time varying the intensity of hill repeats, and I appreciated having something to make nine of them in a row more interesting. I did an easy jog up to one of the larger hills on a typical route, and was happy to find it long enough to do even 30s of hard effort up (in past training cycles, I've struggled to find hills long enough for my time period). 

Paces:

7:33

8:02

7:19

8:07

7:37

6:54

8:17

7:09

6:45

...and now it's off to work!

4:20am vs 6:20am 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 5-7mi easy, Core x2

Did: 10KTuesday @ 10:15/mi avg, Core x 1

Today was a struggle of a run, and I was grateful to not have a workout on the schedule-- just a nice, easy 10KTuesday. 

Finished up with one round of core in my driveway... I really need to make better plans for executing these core/strength circuits. :P

Wednesday

Scheduled: rest

Did: 6.0mi easy @ 9:16/mi avg

With 65 degree weather this morning and a hurricane forecast for tomorrow, I couldn't pass up the chance to get out for some recovery miles this morning. I'll be honest and say I was really disappointed throughout most of the run to see how slow my pace was. I kind of thought that, since all my friends are running a ton faster "with no extra effort" thanks to the cooler weather, that the same would be true for me. Instead, I kept seeing 9:45/mi on my watch when I thought "surely, I'm going fast NOW". My last mile ended up being the only one in the 8s, and that was because I needed to get done and get to work. :P 

found a new pond to run around

Thursday

Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 10min tempo, 5min rest, 3x600 (@5K pace)/200 (@800m pace)/3min jog, 10-15min CD, Circuits x2

Did: 30min yoga/stretching

Hello, Hurricane Sally. Training partner and I opted to push track work to tomorrow and stay indoors with the 15mph winds and and torrential downpour happening at 4am...

Got in some yoga and stretching instead. Man, my hamstrings are not flexible....

Friday

Scheduled: 4-6mi optional

Did: yesterday's track workout

My legs and body were tired this morning, and I really wanted to stay in bed. Thank goodness for training partners! 

Warm-up was sloooooow (10:31/mi avg), but probably warranted. 

Tempo: 1.44mi by Garmin (always overestimates my track distance, but I'm trying to at least record consistently if not accurately) 

Based on my splits, I think I was going around a 7:00 mile, which felt really felt good this morning. It was another day of cool weather, which always helps. Finally, we're getting the sort of fall temps that I was hoping to capitalize on for a fast mile this camp!

So, yet again, I failed to properly prepare for this workout: I didn't know what my splits should be before I set foot on the track. In fact, I didn't even have an IDEA. I knew the 600s should be "at 5K pace" and the 200s were "at 800m pace". I attempted to figure this out on the tempo part of the run, which went something like this:

What's my 5K pace these days? Um... I PRed in February with 22-something, right? OK, so 7:30ish maybe? A 7:30/mi 800 is 3:30+ 1/2(30) = 3:45, so a 7:30/mi 400 would be half that.... 1:30 + 22.5 = 1:52.5 + 1/2 of that same time = 1:52.5 + 1/2 (60+52) = 1:52.5 + 1/2 (112) = 1:52 + 56 = 2:00 + 48 = 2:48. OK, 2:48 for my 600. 

How about the 200? Um, I don't know what my 800m should be, but let's say a little faster than a 6min pace. A 6min pace 200 is ~45s (I know these by heart after training for a 6min mile SO many times), sooo maybe I try for 40s?. 

Set 1

600: 2:19.3

Oh, s--t. That's way too fast. I could kind of tell when the first 200m of this guy felt hard that I might have been running fast... but my mind didn't really process what the goal of this workout was. Out of habit, I thought, "track = fast". This workout was different, though, and it was about building stamina on the 600s, but exhausting myself just a bit before digging down for the 200s... which needed to be faster than MP (mile pace). 

200: 0:45.5

Well, this isn't going well... but what did I expect after blowing it on the first 600?

Set 2

600: 2:35

This felt SO slow. I struggled a lot with keeping my pace "easy", and it was still faster than prescribed. 

200: 0:42.6

Well, nailed this one. OK, so this is what this workout is supposed to feel like.

Set 3

600: 2:39

I'm starting to get the hang of this now...

200: 0:47.6

...but then didn't shift my mindset for the 200s and realized I was NOT pushing at all on the last 100m and probably needed to, 'cause, y'know, this was the LAST push of the workout. 

I liked this workout a lot. I always struggle with mental stamina on long runs, so the 600s were a good challenge. It was something I've never done before (tempo + moderate interval/hard interval) and feels like something I need more of in my life. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 9-11mi easy

Did:10mi @ 9:28/mi avg, 2x Core

SO MUCH LIFE STRESS, OMG. I've only gotten like six hours of sleep most nights this week and just been emotionally exhausted. Of course, that meant there was nothing I needed more than a good long run with my training partner. I'm normally in charge of our courses, but met her this morning to tagalong on her typical route due to scheduling. It was so nice to just run, talk, and not even pay attention to when/where we were turning. Such a perfect start to a weekend. 

Got in a mile walk with the family, and some core work during the Clemson game, too, but felt kind of "blergh" in the evening and went to bed at 7:30. 

Sunday

Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 15min tempo, 10min CD

Did: 15min WU, 15min tempo, 28min CD = 6.46mi @9:02/mi avg

I woke up after almost twelve hours of sleep feeling better, but not quite 100%. I wasn't really sure if I should do tempo this morning, but figured I'd get out and just see how it went. I didn't have a pace goal in mind, and if I ended up doing a 9:00 during my "push" phase, so be it. 

It was 55 degrees this morning- our first morning in the 50s this season, which was nice.. but also made me second-guess my wardrobe. I ended up in shorts, calf sleeves, a singlet, earband, and a long-sleeve boatneck on top (that I planned on shedding into the stroller, which my husband was pushing). In hindsight, I shouldn't've bothered with the extra shirt and just used my arm sleeves. 

The warm-up felt nice: 15:00 at a little under a 10:00/mi pace. Then tempo began. I always have a loose idea in my head that  "good" 15min tempo for me will cover 2mi of distance (7:30/mi). Today, though, I didn't bothered looking at pace during the tempo, just ran "by feel". About five minutes in, I passed another runner who called out, "Great pace!", which was so encouraging. Thanks, random stranger! 

I ended up covering 2.02mi (7:37, 7:12 splits) and felt really good with that. 

Might go out later and get some extra miles of a walk/jog in while my kiddo bikes, but also wanted to get this entry up and posted and off my "to-do list". 

Total Weekly Mileage: 39.9 

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Nutrition has sucked this week. I've been SO carb heavy due to period-related hormones and emotional stress. Sigh. 
• It's a good week when you can run 40mi and not even feel like it was that much.
• Pretty sure I missed a few strength/core workouts this week. Obviously those aren't a priority for me... Might revisit that next week, but I think it's more important for me to get my nutrition back on track since that affects how I feel throughout the day more. 
• Running continues to be such a great coping mechanism for so much in life. I'm always grateful for the ability to keep doing what I love.