I will peak somewhere around 60-65 miles this training cycle. That fact both excites me and makes me nervous. It’s unknown territory for this body of mine. So far, I’m thankful that I feel good and strong, that my legs are fresh and responding to the work I am asking of them. If at any point that changes, well, then I will adapt because the point is not to run as many miles as I can but rather to train smart and show up on race day injury-free, strong and confident – ready to go after it.
Monday I went to the gym for a tempo run. It was the first tempo I have done in a couple of months. I warmed up with two easy paced miles and then did four tempo miles at a 7:30 pace. The first mile at tempo felt really hard, but then I got into a groove and I felt strong and steady and actually increased the pace to closer to a 7:20 for the last two miles of it. I cooled down with two more easy paced miles. The total mileage for that run was 8. After the run I did my strength training circuit and called it a day. It was a great workout. Tempos are HARD for me, but they boost my confidence and I am always so happy when they are done!!
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| happy to have that one done! |
Tuesday morning I woke up early and met my running buddies for another 8 mile run. It was a beautiful morning – I actually find 40 degrees to be comfortably warmish these days! We had a light drizzle that was refreshing and ran a steady pace for all 8 miles, talking and laughing. The time flew by and before I knew it we were done and the sun was just beginning to rise. I am growing very fond of early morning runs with my buddies.
Wednesday was track night and cold winter weather had returned. It was FREEZING, but once I got moving I felt ok and even took my gloves off.
2 mile warm up: 8:21, 8:19 (a little faster than I usually move for a warmup, but I was freezing!)
Then we began the WORK. I did the following intervals with 3:00 rest in between each one:
1×1600 (mile) – 6:37
2×800 (half mile): 3:19, 3:19
4×400 (quarter mile) – 1:38, 1:37, 1:38, 1:33
I ran another easy-paced 2 miles to cool down and logged 7 miles for the night.
I felt really good about this workout. It was tough – but I hit all the paces I was going for and that was key to keeping me strong to finish my last one at my fastest pace. I’ve learned not to run as fast as I can on the track – I used to go out there and burn my candle at both ends until I just couldn’t go anymore. Those days are long gone and guess what – I am actually running (much) faster now and feeling a lot stronger. To figure out my paces, I am using the McMillan Pace Calculator and listening to my body. It takes practice to learn how to run fast, with control. I am working on it!
Thursday is usually my rest day, but this week my running buddies were meeting at 5:30am again and I didn’t want to miss out on the fun. So less than 12 hours after finishing that killer track workout, I found myself running under the moon and the stars again. My legs were feeling the workout, but we took it very easy and ran a beautiful 7 miles before sunrise.
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| seriously awesome running buddies. and they GLOW! |
Today is my rest day and let me tell you, I welcomed it with open arms! I haven’t run since my earlybird run yesterday, so by the time I hit the trail (or treadmill, eeek, depending on the weather tomorrow) I will have had a full 48 hours of rest. This is awesome. Since I ran so early yesterday morning it is giving my body extra time to recover from the tough workouts earlier in the week. I think I like this plan…
I have 20 miles to run tomorrow morning and the forecast is calling for freezing rain and a high of 35 degrees by 9am. The rain is going to continue all day and the high for the day will only reach 41. I am not going to be a dummy tomorrow. The cold and the rain don’t scare me, but the ice certainly does. I don’t want to go out there and slip and fall and hurt myself. So right now it is a toss-up: brave the elements outside or run inside on the treadmill. No matter what, I am getting the 20 miles DONE. It should be interesting!
