Peachtree Training: Week 11/13

Monday
Scheduled: 4 easy, 40 XT or off
Did: Mizuno Monday
Rough night of sleep with the munchkin + PR-effort on Saturday = no early run with the fasts. I also considered bailing out on MM itself, but, as usual, peer pressure kept me on track.

This workout was harder than usual. We had 8 minutes at each of three focused circuits as the bulk of our workout. I did great on the first set in each circuit (though I still have to modify push-ups after one or two), but, man, eight minutes is forever! It was really hard to grit it out and maintain the mental stamina to persevere, and I would NOT have kept it up for more than two minutes without my accountability crew: i.e. EVERYONE else in the room. 

Legs: sumo squats, lunges, side squats, and squat jumps
squat jumps lacked gusto after the first time through

Abs: jackknives, toe touches, row-the-boats, and Russian potato twists
ALL of us struggled through this one. I did great on the first circuit, then my body gave up on me. I modified every single exercise here, and took long breaks not just between exercises, but between reps. HAAAAAAARD stuff. 

Arms: push-ups, half-to-full planks, side plank lifts, and tricep bounce things
Oh, man. Going from the ab station to this one was rough. Modified push-ups and planks to be on my knees, but was able to do the other two without mods. 

I'm going to be so glad when this season is over and I get a break from strength workouts... but then I know I'm only cheating myself out of muscle and health and all that jazz by not continuing to do them. Guess I'll have to keep it up through marathon training season too. Oof. 


Tuesday
Scheduled: 8PRO
Did: 8.3 @ 9:24/mi avg
Did an early two with Brandi at 4:30am, then 10KTuesday with the group. I found it hard to stay slow enough during the first few miles, didn't ramp at all for the middle three, and then pushed hard to the end. Perhaps I need to shrink my progression range, treat this as more of a workout than my current "push run", and go back to relying on my watch to help keep me on pace (I tried to go with feel today, but lost focus halfway through).



That said, I'm only three days out from a PR effort, and Mizuno Monday left me with sore legs/abs/back, so starting in the low-10s was NOT a bad plan for my body today.

still looks knid of progression-y

Wednesday
Scheduled: 4 easy, 40 XT or off
Did: off (1.5mi lunch walk)
Emotionally draining day + ridic hot + no fan/sun blanket for H = no stroller run.
Instead, I started a 30 day push-up challenge with some ATC friends, played with my son, and hit up the stretching strap, foam roller, and stick trio for some help in the leg recovery department.



Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi jog, 5x1200/400, 1mi jog
Did: 1mi jog, 5x1200/400, 1mi jog

Goal: 5:30
Splits: 5:30/5:31/5:27/5:28/5:22

Today was yet another workout that I would not have done (at least not completely) without the 10KTuesday Crew. I took a little time before the workout to mentally calculate what my 200/400/800/1000 splits needed to be, and was able to keep myself pretty well on-track. 



Friday
Scheduled: 4 easy, 40 XT or off
Did: 4.15 @ 9:01/mi avg
I tend to slug through non-workout runs. My indicator says I should be able to do a 9:30 easy pace, so today I tried to do a 9:30 easy pace, but I didn't trust myself to look at my watch/pace (even just at mile splits) without letting it affect me, so I just ran "by feel". 

Note to self: you can't trust "running by feel" to get you a specific pace/pace range yet

It was hard and humid and ugh-tastic, but I was still 100% conversational with B, so I figured I could probably go a little faster. How did I run a half marathon at this pace? 

Saturday
Scheduled: 7 easy + 4 hills
Did: 7.22 + 4 hills @ 9:01/mi 
Woo, Peachtree Training! With my MIL and SIL in-town, I was able to join Jerry as a Run Leader this morning. That makes, erm, TWO training Saturdays that I've been able to volunteer at this season. Guess declaring that I was going to "audit only" was a good idea. Haha.

A lot of RLs were out this week, so I was able to be one of three running RLs, and took the middle group, who declared their pace as 9:30-10/mi.  

9:30-10/mi... Mmhmm... Riiiiiight....

...but, hey, on the bright side, I was able to stay as a conversational Run Lead the entire time (it was hard, but I'm able to "get over it" and just run when I'm in the RL role). I ran between four participants the bulk of the run, which was really great and rewarding, especially seeing them crush the hill repeats at the end of the course.

Sunday
Scheduled: 4 easy, 40 XT or off
Did: 4.12 with the stroller @ 9:49/mi
Met up with Shelly and her son for a MotherRunner stroller run on the greenway. We started off waaaaay fast, unintentionally, but eventually slowed ourselves down. This was my first "group stroller run", and it went really well since the greenway path is so wide. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I can now keep a sub-10 somewhat easily with the stroller. 

Weekly Totals
Miles: 31
Days Run: 5
Average Pace: 9:13/mi

Chicago Marathon Training: Preview

Marathon training technically began three days ago, and I've done a lot of thinking as far as where I want to go from here. Crushing the sub-25 goal required a lot of hard work and dedication, not just in training, but also on race day. Pushing that hard made my race day experience very different; the race part was really uncomfortable, but the glory thereafter was amazing. I love the time I got, and the experience I had, but I'm not sure how I feel about making that whole "actually racing a race" thing a regular thing. 

Anyways, where this is leading: 
I signed up to run another marathon because I want a time that better reflects my abilities. Also, peer pressure-- all the cool #10KTuesday kids are doing it. ;) 


First Marathon (Flying Pig, 2014):

• running experience: solid two years of 7-20 miles/week
• distance running experience: four months (ATC Fall Half Training Program-- and my first three half marathons)
• motivation: hey, that last half was pretty fun... and everyone else is doing this marathon thing, maybe I can too!
• got injured (grade II calf strain --> two months in a boot) before training started
• 14 week long training plan (from total rest to marathon)- mileage only, no real workouts
• trained solo, basically using the SundayRunday crew to parts of my LSDs and first training partner, Jessie, for any mileage I could get on the other six days
• total mileage: 442
• pace: ~11min/mi (doc told me I could train after strain had healed, but to go SLOW)
• longest run: (1) 21.5mi
• original goal of 4:45 slipped to 5:00 by race day- couldn't stick with the 5:00 group, though, and finished in 5:16:28 (12:05/mi)

I could totally take "ridiculously photogenic guy" down with this shot.
Guess that means I could've been running faster, right?

Flying PIg was everything a first marathon should be, but I know I can do better than a 5:16. There's a LOT that's different about this time around.

Take 2 (Chicago, 2016)

• running experience: five years, with the past three at 1000+ mi/year
• finish out hybrid L2/L3 ATC Peachtree training plan until race day
• after Peachtree, pickup with the ATC training plan (mileage, LSDs, speedwork- similar to what I've been doing)
• run pretty much every training run with a partner (Brandi!!!)
• also get support from ATC training program and the #10KTuesday crew subgroup (J&C are also training for fall marathons, though they're using the Hansons method)
• time goal: ______

Yeah, I know I left that blank. Honestly, I don't know what I want that to be yet.

With a 2:00 half, rules of thumb say I should be able to do a 2:00 x 2 + 0:10 = 4:10.  The ATC indicator chart has me at a 3:48. That seems insane, but a 23:37 5K also sounded insane until about two months ago. I put down 4:30 on my Chicago registration, and I'd be absolutely thrilled with that. 

I wrote these down in December 2015. So far, 2016 has been preeeeeetty amazing.

The idea of running a 9:00 for anything more than a 10K (and, honestly, somedays even a 10K) seems beyond me right now- not physically, but mentally. I don't want to run that fast. It's hard to run that fast. Why would I want to be miserable for four hours when I could be reasonably content for four and a half hours? 

...because maybe I could break 4:00.

...and maybe I could beat Jerry's 3:59:21.

I think know I can. 

I just don't know if I want it badly enough.

Peachtree Training: Week 10/13

Monday
Scheduled: 40XT or 4 easy
Did:1.36 @ 7:19/mi (!!!) w/Bob, Mizuno Monday
Seriously considered bailing on Mizuno Monday today, but that whole "people will notice if I'm not there" thing got me out of bed. 

Seriously considered bailing on the pre-workout run, but that whole "Bob will notice if I'm not there" thing got me to run.

Seriously considered saying, "I'm not feeling it this morning, I'll just hang back and get an easy 10min/mi" run in. But then it was only Bob and me, and I felt obligated to hang with him.

...it wasn't easy, but that 7:19/mi pace (!!!) definitely didn't feel as hard as I thought it would have. The first of these "early runs" was just under an 8min/mi. Now, I'm rocking LOW-7s without much additional effort. Whenever I feel like Braves might not happen, I just look at my running log, and it tells me otherwise. 

MM workout went well enough. I really struggled today with a lot of the push-up variations and ab stuff. I learned that, while most of my body has recovered from baby, lower abs are still not back. Heels to heavens were impossible for me. 


Tuesday
Scheduled: 8 ONB
Did: 7ONB @ 10:04/mi first half, 9:20/mi second half
Oof. SORE legs today. All of yesterday's lunge walking had me stretching my quads like mad pre-run, and feeling like I had blocks of concrete (NOT cement, people-- cement:flour::concrete:cake) for legs. Still got it (essentially) done. I only did 7 since I didn't want the rest of the crew to wait on me too long (I pushed past our usual turn around to hit 3.5), but figured that was good enough since I had sore quads AND I'd done 1.4mi bonus yesterday. 

Also, #10KTuesday now has its own map since so many of us have traveled for work and had to #10KTuesday out of town. Where do YOU #10KTuesday? 
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=19j-PWFlfB7wCYRbecfFzWj0orF8

Wednesday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 30min stroller walk 1.5mi stroller run, 0.5mi stroller walk
I've gotten to the point where it's harder NOT to run than it is to run. I feel like such a slacker when I don't adhere to my training plan, but I had to remind myself that this plan was crafted with Braves only being a tempo run, not an actual target race. I plan on going all-out on Saturday, so I need to modify this week's plan a bit to make sure I'm in peak condition. 

I tried to just walk with the stroller. I really did. I even left my hair down in hopes that it would be too hot/in my face/bothersome and keep me walking. Nope. The shadedness and flatness of the riverside path along with the fact that I knew people who were down there and felt the need to have them see me running instead of walking meant I got 1.5mi in. Oops.

Improvised sun protection for his legs: the shirt from the race I was supposed to do on the day I had him
He enjoyed looking at the river-- it was his first time EVER seeing a river. Isn't that crazy to think about? 

Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi jog, 6x1000/400, 1mi jog
Did: 1mi jog, 4x1000/400, 1mi jog
The consensus of the #10KTuesday crew was that we should cut this week's workout by 33% since we're all pushing a bit this weekend. With Courtney's half ironman training begun, Birgit tapering for a half on Sunday, and Brandi's work schedule for the week, it was just Jody and me this morning. Man, am I grateful to have had the company. Speedwork is so much more fun when you're with others.

Before the run, I didn't even know what I was supposed to aiming for split-wise. I decided to just push a bit on the 1000s, and keep my watch at or below an 8:00 (goal race pace for Saturday). For the last one, "Coach Courtney" recommended a hard "there's-the-finish-line" push, but not an "OMG-I'm-dying" effort. 

Nailed it.

Secondary goals were also met: make the last split the fastest, have negative splits, and feel good/easy

Interesting observation: all of my recoveries were pretty fast (around a typical LSD pace, instead of my normal 11ish min/mi recovery pace)-- guess that's indicative of how little I actually pushed on the first three repeats. 

Actual "goal split" per the indicator run: 4:31 for 0.62mi (7:16/mi pace). I feel pretty good about what I did for "not trying". ;)



Friday
Scheduled: 4 easy, 40xt or off
Did: off

Saturday
Scheduled: 2mi warm-up, Braves 5K, 1mi cool-down
Did: CRUSHED IT.
Race Report


Sunday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40 XT
Did: Easy 3.1 @ 8:49/mi
Whoa. That's a recovery run pace?!?! Madness. 

Jer and I planned on spending Sunday morning cheering on friends in the Hotlanta Half Marathon with ATC's Marathon Miles for Kilometer Kids crew, but got in a few miles on our own before things got started. It was really nice to have a run with just the two of us, especially one downtown. I can't believe how fast I went, and how easy it felt. At one point, he looked over and said, "You do realize you've been keeping a conversational 9:30, right?" Last time we ran together, that was too fast for me. 

...and it only felt like a liiiiitle bit of a push at the end. :D

then we spent about three hours cheering on half marathoners under a bridge
https://www.facebook.com/PeachtreeRex/

Weekly Totals
Miles: 25
Days Run: 6
Average Pace: 9:00

Race Report: Braves 5K

Today, I crushed a 5K goal I've had for almost two years. I beat my previous (and pre-baby) PR by over a minute and a half... at six months postpartum. 

My time isn't what matters, though. What makes this so incredible is the work behind it. The amazing thing about running is that, so often, your competition is only yourself. I'm still new at this sport (I've only really been training for speed since January 2015, and that was interrupted by a pregnancy), and I've still go so much further to go before I plateau out and it starts to take a lot more effort for a lot less improvement. The support and camaraderie I've received along this journey is just incredible. I have a training group in my #10KTuesday crew, and, beyond that, I have the Atlanta Track Club community. 

Hitting my goal time today wasn't the highlight of the day; having so many people to share this milestone with was. Thank you, beyond words, to each of you.



Written before the race:

So, it's always kind of cool to repeat a race, because you have memories of the past year's course, run, and experience. Last year, Braves was a GREAT run for me: http://babystasulis.blogspot.com/2015/06/16w-5d-braves-5k.html


Pre-Race Thoughts:

• This is the race where Brandi finally broke our elusive sub-25 goal. How cool will it be for me to do it on the same course a year later?
• I've broken 25 on four different workouts in the past few months. There's no way I can screw this up, right? 
• ...except those workouts ALL included times where I paused my watch to relax between sets with some Gatorade

Goals:
90% Sure I Can: sub-25

I was so close two years ago, and I know I could've done it then, especially if I'd had the right mental preparation. There's next to no way this shouldn't happen with the way I've been running. I keep up with the other sub-25 #10KTuesday girls just fine. 

Then again, there's that voice in the back of my head reminding me that I bonked on my three mile tempo run (couldn't hold the 8:00), but I'd slept like crap the night before AND it was pouring down rain at 5am. 

50% Sure I Can: 24:30
ATC Indicator sheet tells me I should be able to 23:54. I've been hitting all of my speedwork splits (or at least enough of them to qualify in my mind), sticking with my training program, and, generally feeling good. Still, those are all on flat tracks, with friends. Braves is a bit hilly, so we're taking the goal down a few notches.

10% Sure I Can: beat Brandi's PR of 23:45 ;) 
Throughout (and after) my pregnancy, Brandi and I both spent (spend?) a lot of time worrying that the other one will be too much faster when all's said and done. She's absolutely crushed everything this past year, and I've got a LOT of ground to make up on race PRs to keep in step with her.

7:38/mi... Dude, that's fast. Still, I'm holding close to that for a loop of Armour these days before Mizuno Monday. Is it possible for me to keep it on a hillier course for double+ the distance? Maybe. I think I'm physically capable of this pace, but I don't know if I have the mental grit to push through. 





Written after the race:

Ambitious goals are scary. I drove down to the race solo this morning (due to needing to make an early exit for a Boss. fundraiser), and spent the entire drive trying to focus. I'd had a rough past couple of days, and it was really hard to get my head in the game. 

When I arrived at the In-Training tent, I was surprised at how many people knew about my sub-25 goal for the day. Having accountability for ambitious goals makes them scarier. 

I met up with Brandi, and we found our way to the front of the warm-up pack with the ITFP crew. It was really nice to have a pre-race group run like that, especially one that felt cozy, with Brandi, Jerry, and two of our wicked fast coaches/ATC staff members alongside me. It felt really good to be able to run a 9:30 warm-up so comfortably, especially since I remember that being an "OMG, PUSH!" race pace not too long ago. 

ITFP 2016

Brandi and I hit up the ATC group pic, and then headed out for a second mile of warm-up, which put us at the corrals ten minutes before race time-- perfect. We hopped into Corral B, got a pic with some friends, and then were told B was 8:30-9:30/mi, not the 7:30-8:30 I'd thought. Pretty sure that was wrong information, but Brandi and moved ourselves up to the back of A wave anyways.

It felt really weird to be in A wave. All of the fast people are in A wave. I consider myself fast amongst our training group runners, but not fast enough to be in the front corral of a track club race. Still, with the number of people who purposely mis-seed themselves, I didn't think I'd be too out-of-place starting in the back of A wave. I got to see Jerry for a bit, who pointed out my dad and little sis (who were doing the one mile later) on the sidewalk. Getting to say hi to them for a moment before we headed out was really nice, especially since my dad's never gotten to see me run. 

Before we took off, Brad asked me what I wanted as far as a pacing strategy. I told him I wanted the first mile to feel like our loops around Armour, and to just keep me below an 8:00. He joked back that he might have to slow me down if we were hitting 7:15s, which I replied would NOT be a problem today.

here we go...

Here's how the race went:

Mile 1: "Good. I can do this. This feels good."
I told myself to keep it easy. Stay relaxed, and just pretend this is another pre-Mizuno Monday run with Brad. Only Roger, Brandi, and a few thousand other people are tagging along. Oh, and there are hills.. and sun.

Things that made this mile awesome:

• A little ways in, a woman cut in front of me awkwardly. Roger made some comment about no one cutting in front of "his runners", and told me he'd be my official secret service for the day. I let him know I appreciated it, but that I wouldn't be talking much this race. 
• I could still see Courtney, Shelly, Jody and some of the other "fasts" ahead of me. How were they still in my sights?!? 
• The first time I looked at my watch, we were already 3/4mi in. That felt awesome. If the first 0.75 went by that quickly, we'd be done in no time. 

...except this is what it felt like later in the race

First split: 7:37. Brad called out a 7:40/mi off the clock, just a little ahead of Brandi and me, and I felt good.


Mile 2: "Only one more mile... after this one."
Mile 2 is just something you have to get through. For me, it's always the worst, because you're starting to get tired, but you still have over a mile to go. 

The weather started getting me here, a little before the halfway point. Sun. Heat. Sun. Why is it so freaking hot? 

I wasn't sure about running with my handheld before the race, but I was really grateful that I'd decided to run with it around 1.5 so I could get a few swigs of Gatorade without slowing down for an on-course stop. 

There was a tough hill on this part of the course, but it was over just in time.

Second split: 15:22. I realized here that I could do just a bit better than a 10:00 for the rest of the race and still hit my goal. 


Mile 3: "Make it hurt."
This is it. This is the last mile. You've been waiting for it, now push. 

Nope. Can't push. Too hilly. The bulk of the third mile was a long, sunny incline. 

I hated this hill. I wanted to slow down. I did slow down. Brandi kept looking at her watch, and I knew she saw us approaching the 8:00 "danger zone" pace, if we weren't already there. Part of me didn't care. I could see Brad ahead of me, giving us something to chase, just out of reach, but all I wanted to do was stop and walk.

It's too hot. Maybe I'll just slow down a little, then I'll pick it back up. Gosh, this hill just doesn't end, does it?!?! The sun doesn't end. Please, pacers, talk to me. Say anything. Just keep telling me I'm doing great and that I can do this. 

Distance: 2.58. 

"It's just like speedwork," Brandi encouraged, "This is your last 800. PUSH."

The entire hill, Brandi tried to get me to kick back into gear, but I just couldn't, or wouldn't, on the hill. I'll do it when it's over. 

I tried to get another drink from my handheld going up the hill. I pulled the cap out in my mouth and cried out in frustration. I wanted an excuse to stop so badly. Oh, my water bottle cap came off- I have to stop. Oh, I think I stumbled and need to stop. Oh, I--- Nope. No excuses. Just do it. Don't let this be the run that got away because you gave up. After my sip, I made some sort of "mergh" noise and handed it to Roger, who carried it the rest of the duration. 

As we finally crested that hill and turned, I heard someone call out my name. It was my sister, standing on the corner with my dad and cheering for me as I ran by with my little pace posse, finally finding ourselves in some sweet, merciful shade.

Clock: 22:something
OMG, can I actually beat that 23:45?


The .1
This was the longest freaking .1 of my life. Courtney was waiting for us at the 3mi mark, and joined in as we entered the ballpark, screaming for me. We all knew I had the sub-25 in the bag, it was just a matter of what the final number on the clock was going to be. Brad led the way with Courtney, shouting encouragement. Brandi hung right with me, telling me to push, and, somehow, I finally found the strength to kick.

There's that kick.

Make it hurt. 
You'll hate it if you missed the next goal by one second and you had one second left in you. 
Don't give up on yourself. 
It's gonna hurt, but it's gonna be worth it. 

Chip time: 23:37.
video of last minute

There are no words to adequately describe this moment.

OMG. WE BOTH PRed, AND SHE WAS PACING ME.

I left it all out there today. The sheer relief I felt when I was finally able to sit down in the shade afterwards left no doubt in my mind about that. This was the first race where I really went for it, and I'm so proud of what not only my body, but also my mind was able to accomplish today. 

...and, just for funsies, looks like those impossibly fast race projections from the ATC Indicator run might not be so impossibly fast after all: 

Peachtree Training: Week 9/13

Monday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 7.04 @ 9:08/mi PLUS one mile stroller walk to preview the hills for tomorrow's 10KTuesday course

I only had four on my schedule, but I couldn't pass up a chance to run long on a holiday morning, with two of my best runner friends, in pretty awesome weather. Oops.

Happy Memorial Day!

I was a liiiittle nervous about running with both Shelly and Brandi, since they're normally 9flat milers, but figured I could hold them to 9:30s. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Halfway through, we realized we were going prettttty fast, and decided to make it a "back and out" run, with the first half being faster than the second. That didn't last long. Soon enough, we'd picked the pace right back up. I think we all noticed, but never actually felt like we were going too fast. I think I even joked at one point that, "well, so much for that second-half-slower bit, but, really, we're not going to get a sub-9 mile here". See Exhibit Lap 7, above. 

Oh, and I also sprinted the last bit to avoid racing the hill tomorrow. 

Feeling really strong today, and excited for marathon season. :) 

Tuesday
Scheduled: 7PRO
Did: #10KTuesday, hilly version-- 6.25 @ 9:46/mi
Eek. I've deviated from my training plan for the second day in a row... You can't very well to a progression run when you have hills like this:

well, you CAN, but I didn't want to

Despite the elevation madness, I actually really enjoyed this run. We modified our normal 10KTuesday route to include hills on the backside of my neighborhood (outbound and inbound, which meant we had an excruciating hill in the last quarter mile--- see that really, really steep last peek? YEAH. THAT.) as well as the Hills of Haynes Bridge (#itsathing). 

As much as I hate the reasons some of my 10KTuesday comrades weren't 100% and were slower than usual or opted out of the last ~mile of hills, being one of two people to run the whole course as designed was pretty motivating for me. I felt a need to perform better, and knowing I wasn't "last" really helped with that. 

lots of little breaks to wait for friends/traffic lights, but, with the exception of the super fast first downhill and awful "I have to go back up THAT?!?" ending hill, this was a decently progressive run

without the hills, I think this would have been a progression run for sure-- last mile under 9?!?! I was definitely drafting off of #BradStrong 

Even if my pace didn't, my effort certainly progressed throughout the run, so I'll call this a "kind of followed my training plan" kind of day. 


Wednesday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 2mi on the treadmill, a few hours apart @ 9:46 and 9:29/mi, respectively
Strikes Against:
1) Rough day at the office... and I wasn't even IN the office
2) Slept poorly night before: home from chorus at 11pm, in bed by midnight, up at 3 with H, even though J was taking care of him, I woke up, then up with H at 5:30, and right into the day
3) Started with one deadline at COB, and, by 11am, had THREE deadlines by COB

I knew by 10am that I wasn't going to get to do my stroller run with H after work, so I "got dressed" in running clothes and decided to give myself a few ten minute breaks on the 'mill. No pace goal- just a much-needed refocusing time during a stressful day.

Treadmill, you've earned your keep yet again.

Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi jog, 8x800/200, 1mi jog
Did: 1mi jog, 8x800/200, 1mi jog
You know what really motivates me? The idea that something's "hard". I think I enjoy running so much because it sets me apart from the non-runners in my life because they think it's crazy to get up at 4:30am to go run seven miles before work. 

Yesterday, while doing his own speedwork on the 'mill, Jerry commented that anyone who could do the workout as prescribed (8x800 at target pace) would be amazing. All of my running crew has been talking about this workout all week- the madness of EIGHT 800m repeats instead of the usual six, and the fact that we only get 1/4 of the hard distance to recover; none of us has ever done anything with only a 200m recovery beyond the 400m. 

When even C opted for 6x800/400, I wondered if I shouldn't do the same thing. Jerry's comment kept me on the original path, though; I figured I could always increase the recovery or bail out early if I wasn't able to hit my times.

Oh, but I did.

I felt like such a badass on this workout. Part of it was knowing I was challenging myself. Part of it was the fact that I was OWNING it. I usually walked about half the recovery and slow-jogged the rest, but I did it. I hit all but one of my splits, and I killed the rest of them by so much that I don't care I was 2s slow on ONE interval, especially since I wasn't in Lane 1 the entire time, which means I'm sure I have 2s in those two laps somewhere. 

TOTAL BOSS. 

When we finished our cool-down, the #10KTuesday crew had a good talk about pushing ourselves, inspired by the fact that I got TWO new distance PRs during today's workout.

5K: 23:33  (race PR: 25:10)
10K: 51:52 (race PR: 54:09)

We talked a lot about how we're all capable of more than we believe we are, and that a race effort should hurt. This doesn't mean you should push yourself to pain or injury, but that, in the moment, you should feel your lungs burn a bit, your legs ache, and let that surge of adrenaline take over. Train in the discomfort zone. 

I love that I'm still new to this sport. Being new means I still have so much untapped potential that I haven't trained up to. It means I haven't hit my natural ability plateau. When I got pregnant last year, I'd just started training, truly training, with speedwork and tempo runs, where every workout had a purpose. It was working (I mean, I won a race, right?). Then I had to take about a year off from progress to grow a potato. ;) 

Now I'm back, and I'm stronger, and it's so much fun to be able to put in this work and reap these rewards. One more week until Braves. One more month until Peachtree. One more season until Chicago. Let's go crush some PRs. 


Friday
Scheduled: off
Did: survived, also walked about a mile for car repair stuff :P
On my way out of town for a professional organization thing, I ran my car off the road and blew out some tires. Bright side: the deer that jumped out in front of me is totally fine.


Saturday
Scheduled: 7 easy + 4 hills
Did: 7 easy WITH THE STROLLER @ 9:54/mi, one hill repeat @ 6:45/mi, two bonus miles at 9:37/mi with a Level 3 trainee 
Awww, yeah. Today turned out to be so much better than I'd thought it would!

7 on the Greenway
I've never run more than five miles with the stroller, and that was a bear of a task, so seven was really daunting. I parked at the greenway entrance close to the Peachtree Training site so I could swing by afterwards, and purposely planned a route that took me out and back for three miles one way, passed the car, and then out and back for another four. I knew I wouldn't stop after just three, and that, mentally, it would help me to break the run up like that.

such a beautiful sight

This was baby boy's first run in the stroller without the infant carseat. While I appreciated the lighter load, I really missed getting to see him during the run. When I took him for runs with the carseat, he faced me, and I always felt really connected to him. Today, I had a little mom guilt, feeling like I was just strapping him in and making him come along for the ride because I wanted to run. He was totally fine- looked around for a bit, fell asleep, and then looked around some more, but I still don't like running with him facing outward very much.

I swear, he looked like this the whole run.
so. bored. 

The run itself went pretty well. As with any "long" distance, I had times where I felt great, and times where I felt awful. I considered stopping after 5mi, but remembered I'd told a friend (Shelly) I was planning on 7 this morning-- a friend I was going to see at training afterwards, who was surely going to ask how my run went. I wanted to be able to tell her that I, too, had done seven this morning, as scheduled, so I continued. 

I think stroller running messes with my form a bit. I felt my calves tighten up A LOT in-run, and wished I had some compression gear to put on afterwards. I took a few breaks to check in on the potato, including one to refill my water bottle (so glad the greenway has pitstop locations every ~2mi), and realized about halfway through my run that I hadn't had breakfast. Smart. >_< I downed my bag of honey stingers, but found myself absolutely starving after the run. Fortunately, I was heading to training and could grab a granola bar there. 

ITFP Training
When we got to training, I checked in at home base, then headed out with a blanket and some food, planning on having a "picnic" at the top of the hill repeats near the end of the course. I arrived just as the first groups of runners were coming through, and got asked by Shelly (who's also a participant) to run her last hill repeat with her. That felt awesome. Someone wanted ME to help THEM! Especially awesome is that this is the runner who paced me through my current 10K PR about a month ago. Now, I got a chance to pay a little of that back. :D :D :D

We jogged down to the base of the hill, chatting about our kids and such, and then turned around and headed up the hill. To my surprise, it felt easy to me. After seven miles with the stroller, less than 1000ft without it was a breeze. I was able to encourage her the whole time, and help her hit her fastest hill repeat of the day by 20s. If you would have asked me what pace we were running, I would have guessed high-7. Nope. Try 6:45/mi. BOOM.

After that, I figured I'd be parked on the hill with the potato, cheering for the rest of the runners. Nope. One of the Level 3 (longer distance) participants was looking for someone to run his bonus two with him. Neither of the other Run Leads there was particularly excited about it, so I swapped places with Jerry and let him watch the baby while I led the L3 participant up and back for two miles. Fortunately, he was "only" looking for about a 10min/mi. I could keep that, and it felt great to be able to be a run leader again. I've missed it a lot! 

...and that's how I hit my longest mileage day in... um... a really long time. :)

if only H had been looking up, this picture would have been adorable

Sunday
Scheduled: 4 easy or 40XT
Did: 4 easy @ 9:11/mi (!?!?!)
I slept in this morning instead of heading down to the river for SundayRunday... and regretted it when I realized I'd have to interrupt the rest of my day to make time for a run. With thunderstorms in the forecast (that NEVER came), Jer and I opted not to take H out and instead played relay with our runs, with one of us staying home while the other did our traditional 4mi route. 

When I finally got out, it was after 11. Oof. I'm not a fan of mid-day runs, even if it's overcast, drizzly, and not too warm. I told myself to take it easy, and even changed my watch display to HR only, so I couldn't see how fast I was going or how far I'd run. I kept myself under 170 the whole time, and was really excited that, when I finally checked my pace at the end of the run, it was low-9. So cool! :D

Weekly Totals
Miles: 35.63 (first time over 30 since before baby-- starting to look more like I'm in-training for a marathon!!!)
Days Run: 6
Cross-training: none (did 2x last week)
Days Off: 1