Hey y’all!
This week was fairly uneventful (read: I took zero pictures on my phone). No pictures = uneventful week. It seems like it takes me a little bit of time to adjust back to reality after a weekend away. I am definitely not complaining. We had a great trip and I am thankful that we can get away for a weekend here and there.
I had a few good workouts this week, so that’s what we’ll talk about today. I’m pleased with the quality runs that I got in this week. Quality over quantity is my new thing and I’m enjoying it. I love pushing myself and getting a good workout in before work. I definitely have more endorphins on workout days!
Monday: 5 easy
Tuesday: 3 mi. WU, 4 mi. LT wave tempo, 1.6 mi. CD
The wave tempo is a continuous run of ~ 30 minutes alternating intensities every 2-5 minutes. The purpose of the workout is to improve lactate threshold (LT) and efficiency at dissipating lactate and to improve your ability to run a quick pace for extended periods of time.
I was only supposed to do a two mile warm up, but the route we were running had us running up a pretty big hill on mile 3, so I extended the warm up to avoid starting my workout up a hill. I think I just lost at least 2 hard-core points.
The workout called for a 4 mile tempo, alternating the pace every half mile between 6:35-6:40 and 6:05-6:10. My actual paces for each half mile segment were: 6:55, 6:28, 6:37, 6:16, 6:33, 6:16, 6:36, 6:17, so the mile splits were 6:40, 6:25, 6:24, 6:26. I wasn’t quite as quick as I was supposed to be on the faster parts. It can be difficult to hit specific paces while doing a workout in the dark. I checked my pace a few times throughout the workout, but otherwise I was just trying to run by feel.
Wednesday: 5 easy
Thursday: 2 mi. WU, 8 X 800 w/ 400 rec, 2 mi. CD
I typically like to have more than one day in between stress workouts and actually, I was supposed to do the workouts Monday and Thursday instead of Tuesday and Thursday. However, due to the above-referenced reality adjustment that hit me Monday morning, I knew the better option for me this week was going to be Tuesday and Thursday.
Turns out that the 8 X 800 workout was an even bigger reality check than work Monday morning! My goal pace range was 2:52-2:56 (spoiler alert: I didn’t hit that). It has been a hot minute since I last did 800s (just checked … it was all the way back in May). I knew going in that it was going to be a tough workout, but I also knew that all I could do was give it a shot.
I hit 3:02, 2:56, 2:57, 2:58, 3:00, 3:00, 3:04 and 3:12. Not really happy with those last two, but otherwise I’ll take it. I just kind of felt like I ran out of steam. Also, my workout buddy did 6 X 800 and I was trying to encourage her throughout the workout (saying, “you’re over half way there” and “only two to go,” etc.) and I totally psyched myself out. By the time she I was done I was SO READY to be done too. Haha. My mind felt betrayed by my legs when I still tried to do those last two repeats, but I think my mind got the last say.
Friday: 5 easy
Saturday: 14 miles @ 7:26 pace
I don’t know exactly what happened for the long run this week, but I felt SO GOOD! Most of my long runs are supposed to be done at “moderate pace” right now (7:20-7:40). I was a little bit nervous going into it (mainly because I only had one day to recover from the 800 workout) and I even debated skipping the LR altogether and/or running it at an easy pace.
Daniel encouraged me to come run with him and to at least try the moderate pace. We got to the group run about 20 minutes early (Daniel is one of “those” on time is late people). I don’t really like sitting around waiting for the run to start (Hi my name is Sam and I need to be busy … like always). Thankfully Jim got there 20 minutes early (to run two miles before the group started) and so I decided to go ahead and get two of my miles knocked out too.
Apparently we were both ready to G-O, because we averaged 7:20 for those first two miles. At that point I figured I might as well try to hold that pace and see if I could keep the entire run somewhere in the goal pace range. We met back with the group for the 6 am start. Most of the guys were doing 18 to 20, so I ran 8 more miles with them and then I did my own thing for the last 4 miles.
Daniel ended up with 18 miles at a 7:21 average, so that was a really solid run for him too. He’s still planning to run the marathon in December.
Sunday: 7 easy
That’s it for the week. I’ve got a mile repeat workout next week and a 5K next weekend. The temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-60s! Fingers crossed.
I missed what the Monday reality adjustment was? Maybe heat and humidity? But it looks like you had a solid week of workouts and a great long run in there. My week was pretty uneventful with a tempo and a 5K race in it but no speedy workouts really (unless you count the race, not that it was really fast). Hope it cools down for your 5K!
It was just adjusting back after being out of town for the weekend. It’s hard when you get in late Sunday and everything gets thrown off (laundry, groceries, etc). I like to count 5ks as workouts! I can’t think of a much better way to get some speed in. I really hope that the forecasted cooler temps actually become a reality! Mid 60s would be a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler than anything we’ve had thus far this “fall.” I hope you have a great week!
Totally hard adjusting after being out of town! I was going to run the day we got home from Seattle since it was only 5 PM when we got in, but was so sick from flying… plus laundry and unpacking. Running just wasn’t happening that day. Also it’s hard to run if you’ve been driving or riding in a car for a long period that same day, at least for me it is (talking multiple hour car ride).
This “Fall” has been terrible so far. Humidity’s still 94%! We are supposed to see some relief later this week and I hope you guys do too.
I missed what the Monday reality adjustment was? Maybe heat and humidity? But it looks like you had a solid week of workouts and a great long run in there. My week was pretty uneventful with a tempo and a 5K race in it but no speedy workouts really (unless you count the race, not that it was really fast). Hope it cools down for your 5K!
It was just adjusting back after being out of town for the weekend. It’s hard when you get in late Sunday and everything gets thrown off (laundry, groceries, etc). I like to count 5ks as workouts! I can’t think of a much better way to get some speed in. I really hope that the forecasted cooler temps actually become a reality! Mid 60s would be a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler than anything we’ve had thus far this “fall.” I hope you have a great week!
Totally hard adjusting after being out of town! I was going to run the day we got home from Seattle since it was only 5 PM when we got in, but was so sick from flying… plus laundry and unpacking. Running just wasn’t happening that day. Also it’s hard to run if you’ve been driving or riding in a car for a long period that same day, at least for me it is (talking multiple hour car ride).
This “Fall” has been terrible so far. Humidity’s still 94%! We are supposed to see some relief later this week and I hope you guys do too.
This cracked me up because I totally did the same exact this last Tuesday with my warm-up so I don’t think you lost any hard-core points. 😉 sounds like a solid week of training. And those 800s were pretty close… I think it takes a few good speed sessions to nail certain paces. It’s something I struggle with during my tempo runs. I REALLY struggle. But, I suppose if you run your tempos on a hilly route the pace will naturally fluctuate. Still frustrating for me.
This cracked me up because I totally did the same exact this last Tuesday with my warm-up so I don’t think you lost any hard-core points. 😉 sounds like a solid week of training. And those 800s were pretty close… I think it takes a few good speed sessions to nail certain paces. It’s something I struggle with during my tempo runs. I REALLY struggle. But, I suppose if you run your tempos on a hilly route the pace will naturally fluctuate. Still frustrating for me.
Wow, great running week! I should definitely start looking into adding those tempo runs and other ways to improve my speed.
Wow, great running week! I should definitely start looking into adding those tempo runs and other ways to improve my speed.