Thanksgiving Half: Week 11/11

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Um, well, it's Friday night, and I'm just starting this blog, so, uh.... yeah. 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Tuesday

Scheduled: 3mi + strides

Did: 12mi core circuit, 3.72mi @ 9:19/mi avg, Big 5

It felt weird to cut 10KTuesday short, but I wanted all the taper I could get before Thursday's race. Ended up getting 10,000 steps before 10am and over 6.22mi logged on my watch for the day when steps were tallied up. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 2mi easy

Did: 2.18mi @ 9:19/mi avg

This was a fun run. Instead of running before work, I got into the office early and took a late lunch to run with a teammate who also works downtown. We did an easy ONB two mile route, and then grabbed lunch together. What a nice break from my workday! 

Thursday

Scheduled: 13.1

Did: 13.7mi @ 8:08/mi avg, Big 5, 2mi hilly walk

Race Report: Atlanta Thanksgiving Half

Friday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Chill day with family :)

Saturday

Planned: bootcamp + easy run or bike

Did: yoga
Attempted yoga after my family had gotten up. It wasn't mindful or focused, but I did get a good stretch in. 

this latest for all of a minute, and then he was climbing on top of me... 

Sunday

Scheduled: easy 3-5

Did: 5mi @ 9:14/mi avg, Big 5, ~2mi slooooooooooooooow bike ride
Today's run felt harder than it should have. I'm betting part of that is that I'm still recovering from Thursday, and part of it was due to pushing a stroller whose tires were pretty much flat. Still a great foggy morning out and about. 




...and then we went for a "family bike ride" later in the day. The actual experience was not as enjoyable or relaxing as the photo would lead you to believe. :P

Total Weekly Mileage: 24.74

Week-ending Thoughts:

Thanksgiving Half: Week 10/11

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Well, my calf hasn't given me the slightest hint of problems since noonish on Saturday, so I'm optimistic that whatever happened is in the past. Looking forward to a stroller 5K with my little one on Sunday. 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Huge fan of Monday rest days. Not running in the morning gives me the opportunity to feel less rushed and start my work week focused on my family and my job. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 6ONB

Did: 6.33mi ONB @ 9:04/mi avg, Big 5
Easy out, slightly faster back. Nothing to report other than the fact that my calf felt fine :)

Wednesday

Scheduled: 5mi easy

Did: 5mi @ 9:04/mi avg, 20min bootcamp
Fueled by a bit of stress, this run was faster than planned, but still felt easy. Grateful to have beaten the deluge.

Ate like crap all day (I've been crazy hungry this week thanks to not appropriately planning snacks and meals), and felt peer pressure to workout in the evening after watching my husband quickstepping around the house thanks to his work's "step challenge". He stepped and I did some bootcamp workouts while we watched Jeopardy. This is marriage. :) 

Thursday

Scheduled: 1mi WU, 3mi tempo, 1mi CD

Planned: 5mi easy

Did: 5mi @ 9:38/mi avg, Big 5
I'll run in heat, cold, light storms, high winds, snow, or heavy rain, but even I draw the line on hill repeats in 36 with high winds and heavy rain. It's just not worth the potential to get sick or injured due to muscle coldness. Opted inside to my treadmill again this Thursday, and enjoyed finishing my Netflix movie from the other week (Dangerous Beauty). Got a bit of elevation in with the incline setting, but mostly just enjoyed the miles. Also felt the fact that I hadn't stretched yesterday... Oops. I really think I've only missed like five days this whole year, though. 

Friday

Scheduled: strength + yoga

Did: 10min strength, 10min yoga
Did the last 1/3 of Wednesday's bootcamp, some yoga, and then went to work. TGIF.

Saturday

Scheduled: 6mi easy

Did: 6.02mi @ 8:17/mi avg, Big 5
Today was the last day of our fall In-Training for the Thanksgiving Half program. I've really enjoyed Run Leading again this year and am grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. Beyond getting to share miles with and encourage new participants, I've gotten a lot out of the program for myself and my running, which I hadn't anticipated. RLing for the 8min group has done wonders for my self-confidence and my training. Today was an easy paced, hilly run, and it was near an 8min/mi pace. 

water stop photo :)

RLing for the 8min pace group brought me a TON of confidence. I would never have done these longer mileages at this pace had I not "had to" as a Run Leader, but I've proven to myself that, not only CAN I run these paces for more than a few miles, but it's easy for me to do so. That's been incredible for me. 

It's been amazing sharing the past 11 weeks with this crew. <3 Atlanta Track Club

Sunday

Scheduled: 5mi easy

Planned: 1-2mi WU, 5K stroller race, 1-2mi cooldown

Did: 1.8mi WU @ 9:26/mi, 5K race @ 7:47/mi, 0.68mi CD @ 8:49/mi = 5.6mi @ 8:26/mi with stroller, Big 5
Got to sing the National Anthem with my chorus (Song of Atlanta), and then race with my little on in the stroller. Separate Race Report entry coming soon. What a fantastic morning!

Total Weekly Mileage: 28.71

Week-ending Thoughts:

I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving Half next week. Not gonna lie-- I'm expecting a PR (real talk: it's been years since I actually put a race effort into anything beyond a 10K; my current half PR is actually from a race where I was solo for most of the course, and then stopped for a few minutes a quarter mile from the finish line to hug my baby), but I'm not stressing over it. I'm just excited to get to spend 13.1mi doing what I love through my city, and plan on spending every moment being thankful for what running has brought (and continues to bring) me. 

Mile Training: Week 2/6

Week-Beginning Thoughts:
Uh... idk.


Monday
Scheduled: 3-6mi recovery
Did: 19min WU @ 9:40/mi, 4x30s hills + 4x45s hills (7:04-8:30/mi), 15min CD @ 9:51/mi = 4.84mi @ 9:46/mi avg, Big 5
Wanted an easy conversational run with my 10KT buddies, so I opted to take advantage of the Memorial Day holiday to sleep in and do hill repeats with B at 6am instead of our normal 5am or earlier. 

Hill repeats are HARD. Man, we haven't done these in like 8-9mo, and both of us were feeling it. Oof.

the "Home Depot" hill

Tuesday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 4x30s hills, 4x45s hills, 10-15min CD, core x2
Did: 6.3mi @ 9:37/mi avg, Big 5
Really glad today was a recovery run. Felt slow and heavy to start, but got into the groove by mile 5. Looking forward to not running tomorrow, but feeling strong. I've been consistently running 6 days a week for the past few months, strength training, eating right, and I love being able to draw on these accomplishments for strength when life chucks lemons. 


Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: bootcamp
Kettlebellz FTW. 

 

Thursday
Scheduled: 10-20min WU, 10min tempo/5min rest, 4x200m/2min, 4x300m/2min, 10-15min CD
Did: 11min WU @ 9:46/mi, 10min tempo @ 7:18/mi, 4x200 (44,46,45,46), 4x300 (68,71,69,68),  10min CD @ 10:11/mi, Big 5
Thursdays are the HARDEST on this plan, but I love them so much... when they're done. :P

Tempo felt good, though I did hate remembering 3/4 of the way through that there was more to today's workout than "just the tempo minutes". 

200s felt GOOD. I focused on imagining myself as a strong runner, with kickass form, and found that my stride length got longer (cadence went down a bit), and I felt stronger. I didn't need to stop at the end of any of them. 

300s felt good, but harder. 300m seemed a LOT longer than the 200s. Probably because they're 50% longer. I found myself doing well for the first 100, then suffering from form on the second 100, and gritting through the last 100. That said, I wasn't absolutely dead on any of them and certainly could have forced more speed out of myself if I needed to.

My 200s were in-line with a 6min mile, but my 300s were more like a 6:10. Still, better than any of my mile times to date. It'll be interesting to see how this training cycle shakes out. 

blue = pace, grey - HR

Friday
Scheduled: 3-5min easy
Did: 3.06mi @ 9:18/mi, Big 5
Great stormy, rainy run with my husband. 


Saturday
Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 15min tempo, 10min CD, 2-3s strength
Did: 20min WU @ 9:30ish, 1.12mi with stroller @ 7:30/mi, 10min CD @ 9:30ish, Big 5... forgot strength
Today was the Braves 5K/1Mi race. SInce ATC was allowing strollers in the 1M this year, I opted to do that to show my support/gratitude. It wasn't quite the 15min tempo prescribed, but I ran for around half the duration at somewhere near tempo pace, pushing a stroller, up some sizeable hills.... so I"ll call it a workout, even if it wasn't what I was supposed to do. 

Race itself felt easy. Definitely not like tempo miles. To be fair, though, there was a significant downhill at the start of the race, which helped my speed. I didn't feel the hill nearly as much as I had last year, despite having a stroller this time. Finished strong, but not out of breath at all. 

Highlight of the day, though, was watching my little one in the 50m-- actually knew what to do, insisted on running "by self", listened to instructions, and ran the whole time! SO proud.

Finished the afternoon with a stretch session, focusing on glutes and calves, which both really needed the attention. 


Sunday
Scheduled: 7-11mi long run, 2xcore
Did: 13.1mi Peachtree Half Marathon @ 9:09/mi avg, Big 5, 2x strength, 2x core
I'd heard about a Peachtree course run meet-up through some friends and decided to join in. It'd be a nice change of scenery from my regular greenway/riverside runs, and a nice way to get double digit miles by doing an ONB on the one-way course. Definitely felt like an easy run throughout (I didn't even realize we'd climbed Cardiac until well after the summit). Pushed the pace at the very end to get a 2-hr half. 

Came home, recovered for a bit, and then did my 2x strength and 2x core sessions.

Total Weekly Mileage: 37.8

Week-ending Thoughts:

Everything I can control turns out great. I'm an incredibly effective planner and even better executor. Everything I can't control is absolutely sucking right now, and it's pretty rough. Grateful to be able to run through it all. 

Mile Training: Week 1/6

Week Beginning Thoughts: 
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. 

Some Semblance of a Plan

Week-Beginning Thoughts:
How am I going to get any runs in with so many days of thunderstorms? Ughhhhhhhh

Monday
Planned: 2mi + bootcamp
Did: 2mi @ 9:54/mi avg, Big 5, bootcamp
Without having an accountability partner at bootcamp, I would totally have bailed today. I'm finding myself less and less interested in being gone from the house in the mornings, and more inclined to just get up and do my own thing at the house for strength training so that I can eliminate the 30min of driving and be home to wake the kiddo and have breakfast with my family. 

skipped the fence runs since we'd already run 2 before class
loved all the oblique challenges today

skipped the run on this too

I do really love the class, the instructor, and the workouts, but I really do think it's becoming like chorus was for me: one more thing to have to accommodate in my schedule, even though I love it when I'm there.


Tuesday
Planned: 1mi WU, 4mi tempo (8:30-8:50), 1mi+ CD, maybe some track meet stuff
Did: ^yep, 6.38mi @ 9:06/mi avg, Big 5
I want to train, but I hate the pressure of training. lol. I opted for what I dubbed a "half-assed tempo" workout. My actual tempo pace is more like an 8min/mi. I wasn't willing to commit to that, but also wanted more than our usual lazy 10KT pace. Took an easy first mile and then ran: 8:41, 8:37, 8:42, 8:51. 

Sidenote: doing a hard workout on a day where you can't eat from bedtime the day before until 9:30am due to a health screening is a BAD idea. OMG, I was so hangry all morning. But, good news is that all my numbers have improved from last year. Hooray, diet changes. 


Wednesday
Planned: bootcamp
Did: 3.11mi @ 9:22/mi avg on the treadmill
Slept in after a late night at the track meet, but got a 5K in on the 'mill between work and daycare pick-up. Nothing exciting here. 


Thursday
Planned: some sort of speedwork evaluation... indicator?
Did: WU, Indicator (13:38), CD = 4.78mi @ 8:42/mi avg, Big 3 (only did some of the stretches)
I was really excited by the idea of doing an indicator, until I realized that meant I would have to actually do one. I love the idea of being in-training again, but am struggling with the mental side of that. If I'm in-training, that means I actually have to exert effort, to try, etc. I haven't done that with running on any sort of regular basis since last year's failed mile training cycle. It's a weird shift to have to make again. 

The warm-up to the track involves a steeeeeeeep climb. During marathon training, it was no big deal. I even remember doing hill repeats up it at one point. Now, it's a struggle just to get up it, evident by the 10:43/mi pace. 

I chose to do the standard ATC 3K Indicator run to get a good idea of where I'm at fitness-wise for any interval goals. You could argue I don't need a 3K time to tell me that, but I like math, and numbers help me feel better connected to my training. 

A 3K is 7.5 laps on a standard track. I joked with my training partners that today's workout was 7.5 laps of misery (they had repeats or ladders), but it wasn't all that bad. During the first lap, though, I realized I had NO idea how to run an indicator. I didn't want to go out too fast and die after a mile, but I also didn't want to take it too easy. I half-remembered my old time as being around 14min, so I set a tentative goal to hit that... but didn't want to try to hit splits, because that would artificially alter my time. 

Instead, I just ran by feel, making sure to tap my watch each lap, but intentionally NOT looking at it. Here's how things shook out: 

isn't that just the prettiest little progression run you ever did see? 

solid negative splits- could not have planned that better if I'd planned it

The first 2-3 laps sucked. I hated how out of shape I felt. I wanted to stop. But I also wanted to keep going. A mile in, I congratulated myself on doing a "fast" mile and still feeling like I was fine, like I could have talked to someone if they'd been next to me... which meant I was too slow? I focused on my arms. I focused on my form. I played mind games with myself. And then I had two laps... one lap... a half lap to go. 

It felt good to be done. It felt good to have pushed myself. It felt GOOD to be on the track again. 

... and, hey, this was my fastest indicator to date: 13:38 (though, to be fair, all of the others I've done were during or just after pregnancy).

new goal times

Based on the 5K time, I'm a bit slower than I was a year ago, but not too much. These will be good splits to hit moving forward. 

Friday
Planned: easy 5.6mi to/from work volunteering thing... or 2mi+bootcamp if weather is crummy or maybe just a rest day
Did: 2.08mi @ 9:54/mi avg, Big 5, bootcamp
Slow and steady progression two mile, followed by a bootcamp workout that felt like it was designed just for me-- SO much oblique work! 

Saturday
Planned: 12mi with stroller
Did: 9.02mi @ 9:41/mi avg, immediately followed by 3.01mi on treadmill @ 9:21/mi avg, Big 5
Friday morning, there was 65%+ chance of rain or thunderstorms all evening/Saturday morning until around 3pm. I obviously couldn't run in thunderstorms, but even rain would limit my stroller miles (the max I'd do with rain would probably only be 5-6, and I'd need a guarantee of no t-storms to take my little one out). So, the girls and I opted for an early run (sans stroller) instead, which was forecast to be "only" pouring rain. 

...then we woke up.

No rain. Win.

I'm so grateful for my teammates. They got up at 3:XXam to run with me. We definitely did the whole "workout before you're awake and your body knows what's happening" thing today, though. Not much conversation, just a lot of getting through the miles, sharing random thoughts that popped into our heads. I had to be back at the house by 6am to takeover parenting duties while J when to coach, so I was grateful (again) to have a treadmill available. I literally ran right into the house, down the stairs, and hopped on the treadmill with less than a minute of "downtime" after finishing the outdoor 9. A baby monitor, water bottle, ipad, and fans helped me get through the last three miles of the 12 I'd planned for. 

...and it looks like we didn't even need to change things.
Starting at 7am with the stroller would have worked after all.

Super proud to have make this run happen despite the challenges (weather + parenting). And, hey, bonus: I ran 12 miles and was showered before my little one even woke up. 

Sunday
Planned: easy 4mi with stroller or rest
Did: 4.67mi @ 9:47/mi avg with stroller, Big 5
Had a lot of foot issues the last half of Saturday and some this morning. I've decided that it's certainly a muscle thing and that I shouldn't use a lacrosse ball on my foot, because I always have problems after doing that with this injury. Bleh. 

Did an easy mile solo before the girls arrived, just to have some one-on-one with my little one, and then enjoyed another 3.5ish with the gang.

Total Weekly Mileage: 35.08

Week-Ending Thoughts:
I'm sick of waiting for this phantom project to start and putting everything on hold. It's been a "no go" for the past three months, so I've decided to say "f-- it" and am starting the Miler Method plan again next week. I'll either get a fast mile time in six weeks, or I'll finally be working on said project. Both outcomes are acceptable, and by starting the mile plan I've put myself in a win-win situation instead of being angry/mopey/irritated waiting for the project to start. 

Also, it didn't rain on ANY of my runs this week. WTF, weather people...