Week-beginning Thoughts:
Week 4 of 6? Already?
Monday
Scheduled: 3-5mi easy or rest
Did: LIIFT4 Week 7 Chest/Back & Arms, 2.13mi run @ 8:43/mi avg, 2.1mi run @ 9:15/mi avg
Lifted in the morning, and then ran to/from my first COVID-19 vaccine appointment. :)
Tuesday
Scheduled: 10KT, 6x15s striders
Did: 7.29mi @ 9:35/mi avg
Skipped the striders today since I wasn't feeling 100%. I could've done them, but today was a workout that didn't really need to be done. I'd rather save myself for Thursday.
Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: LIIFT4 Week 7 Total Body HIIT
Morning workout, then loooong, tough day at the office.
Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi WU, 2x800/(800-400 recovery), 2x400/(200-400m), 2x200(100-200) (all at MP), 2mi CD
Did: as scheduled = 7.81mi @ 9:15/mi avg, 10min yoga, LIIFT4 legs
Last week, I was wearing a sports bra and shorts at the track. This week, it was 40 with a feels like of 30, thanks to 19mph winds, and I was in long socks, fleece-lined tights, underarmour base layer, jacket, earband, and gloves. Oh, seasonal changes...
This workout has been talked up a bit in our circle and seemed like it was going to be tough. Honestly, though, I didn't find it as hard as I thought it might've been. I took the longer recovery options each time, but the struggle for me was less about hitting the splits, and more about conquering the wind and feeling like I could keep going at MP (mile pace).
Goal times:
800 3:00 (22.5, 45, 1:07.5, 1:30 = 200m splits around the track)
400 1:30
200 0:45
800 #1: Hit the first 100m in 18s and knew I needed to slow it doooooown. No problem, since the wind was heavy between the 100 and 300m marks. Hit the first 400m right on 90s, and then finished the second lap in 1:32 for a total of 3:02. I could've hit 3:00 if I'd been paying a bit more attention to my watch, but let this go and chalked it up to the powerhouse winds that felt like they were literally pushing me backwards. This felt relatively easy, and I knew I had a loooong way to go through the rest of the workout.
800 #2: Opted into the longer recovery (800m instead of 400m) here, and that was the right call. Again, I had a perfect first lap, but slowed a little on the second. 3:02 finish. Still, I'll chalk it up to wind.
400 #1: This lap felt beautifully short, especially after 800m of recovery. I hit splits of 20, 44, and 1:11 (uuugh that back half of hte track was windy), but crossed in 1:29.
400 #2: Similar to the first, I had splits of 20, 44, and 1:11, but crossed in 1:31. Might've been getting a little tired here?
200 #1: These were easy for me. I know I can blast through a 200m kick, and that confidence helped a ton. 21s 100m split, and a 0:43 finish.
200 #2: Same execution here, and it felt good.
I wasn't sure how I felt post-workout about this one. On one hand, I think I executed really well (esp for conditions). I locked into mile pace really well, which was the point of the workout. On the other hand, I don't feel like I could've kept up the pace for too much longer and am pretty worried about the seemingly razor-thin margins of +/- 1s on these laps. That's the stuff that gets you a 6:06 mile instead of a 6:00 mile... Guess we'll see what next week brings!
Friday
Scheduled: rest or 3-5mi easy
Did: Stroller Strides Class
My legs were so sore after all the squat jumps and lunges from yesterday's LIIFT4, but I couldn't miss the chance for a free Stroller Strides class on a day off from work. The class was outside, with lots of space between each participant, so I felt safe enough, though it was definitely uncomfortable at times (because I haven't been around that many people for over a year).
Unfortunately for my legs, an Easter-themed class involved lots of "bunny hops" (i.e. squat jumps). Oooof. Still so much fun to get out and get active, and my little one loved counting my reps for me.
Saturday
Scheduled: 8mi long run
Did: 8.16mi @ 9:12/mi
This run felt so short, but nice. I was surprised by how fast the last few miles were (sub-9). My right hip felt a bit sore after, so it's probably time for some stretching/yoga.
Didn't stretch/yoga. Felt like my throat might be itchy/sick mid-morning and ended up oscillating between feeling like I was tired/sick and just stressed out. Decided it was probably allergies from being outside, which was confirmed later in the evening.
Sunday
Scheduled: 15min WU, 8x 45min @ 5MP/75s recovery, 15min CD
Did: as scheduled = 5.02mi @ 9:29/mi avg, yoga, ~4mi double stroller walk
I was on the fence about how to execute this workout for most of the week. Do it solo before the kids get up and avoid the stroller? Go to the track solo or stay on the roads? If roads, where could I find a good stretch for repeats? Do I try to find a stretch to run the 45s on or just speed up for 45s and do a standard route? Do I use the 45s mark or have my watch use GPS-measured distance for the intervals?
Eventually, I settled on running solo along roads near my house and relying on Garmin to tell me when I'd gone 200m. Considering my GPS isn't the best for short intervals, I knew it wouldn't be accurate ,but thinking about the workout as 8x200m repeats instead of 8x45s was helpful for me, mentally. "The faster you run, the faster you're done", instead of "just push whatever pace you can for 45s".
I hated doing intervals on a road. I hated not having clear distance marks to gauge my progress. I hated having to be aware of sidewalk jogs, sticks, and cars. I hated not having a "controlled environment".
...but I got it done.
weeeee
The first two seemed a bit fast to me when I ran them (though I didn't know how long they took me because of how my watch display works), and I slowed down a LOT for the remainder. It might not have been the best execution of a workout, since my pace wasn't consistent, but I do think it was better than I would have done with a stroller (though worse than I would have done on the track). So... win-ish?
Splits:
43, 41, 45, 48, 48, 46, 49, 47
So, not good execution on consistency or pacing, but good execution on pushing hard?
My right hip was still a bit sore afterwards. Legs felt okay. I'm still in a weird place physically where I think I've got some sort of sickness/allergies going on. Sometimes, I feel 100% fine. Other times, I feel like I've got a puffy head, runny eyes. Blergh, spring in Georgia.
Did some concentrated leg/hip yoga, and a stretch-out walk to the ice cream shop with the family luego.
Also, I'm definitely having allergy-ish symptoms, because I feel a lot worse when I'm outside for awhile. Blergh.
Total Weekly Mileage: 32.5
Week-ending Thoughts:
- Blergh, allergies. Grateful I'm not as affected as many people are, though...
- Trying to keep an appropriate mix of focus and IDC attitude for Thursday's mile trial, knowing what's worked well for me in the past
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