Hey friends! Happy Monday!
Here is what my training looked like the week of 02.05.18 – 02.11.18:
Monday – Easy: 8 miles (8:48 pace)
Daniel and I ran Monday evening after work. We ran up to meet a couple of friends, ran a loop with them and ran back home.
Tuesday – Quality (Intervals): 8.25 miles (7:34 pace) + Easy: 4.75 miles (9:07 pace)
Tuesday’s workout was a 2 mile warm up, 5 X 1K w/ 400 recovery and a 2 mile cool down. I finally felt like my legs had some pep in them and I was able (for the most part) to hit the prescribed paces for this workout. Thank goodness! I’ve always heard that a general rule of thumb is that it can take your legs the same amount of days as miles that you race to truly recover. My last race was 26.2 miles and this workout was 24 days later, so perhaps there is some truth to that general rule.
My goal time for the thousands was 3:41, so just under 5:50 pace. Splits (w/ paces) are listed below.
3:42 (5:50)
3:40 (5:47)
3:42 (5:50)
3:45 (5:55)
3:49 (6:01)
The first three went really well! I basically just chased the Daniels around the track. I faded a little on four and five, but I also had to make an emergency pit stop in between three and four (it happens). The stop meant that I was no longer running with the Daniels and instead, I was left to pace my own intervals. That wasn’t quite as easy, but the times were still respectable, so I’m happy with it.
Wednesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:09 pace)
I ran on the treadmill Wednesday morning.
Thursday – Quality (Threshold): 11 miles (7:21 pace)
Thursday’s workout was a 2 mile warm up, 3 miles @ threshold pace, 3 minutes easy, 2 miles @ threshold pace, 2 minutes easy, 1 mile @ threshold pace and a 2 mile cool down. I am really loving these threshold workouts … this one especially! Once you do the first 3 mile set, the last 2 mile and 1 mile sets feel like nothing (or at least that’s how it went down for me).
My goal pace for the threshold miles was 6:26. I ran this one on the treadmill at home (yet again). We had SO MUCH rain last week. It was unreal. Splits are below.
6:39, 6:21, 6:19
6:23, 6:20
6:14
My next experiment is going to be to attempt some threshold work both outside and on a third-party treadmill (likely at the YMCA) and try to get a feel for if the effort level is consistent across all three. I don’t think that the calibration on my treadmill at home is totally accurate, which is why I wear the foot pod and use the indoor run setting on my watch.
Friday – Easy: 10 miles (8:43 pace)
I got to run with Rebecca and Jessica Friday morning! The 3:30 a.m. alarm was totally worth it for 10 miles of quality friend time.
Saturday – Easy: 7 miles (8:40 pace)
It rained all. day. long. Saturday. We had a small window around 4 p.m. where the radar was clear and so Jessica and I met and took advantage of the window.
Sunday – Quality (5K): 11 miles (7:51 pace)
Sunday morning I was planning to run the Joe Cain Classic 5K in Mobile. It was pouring rain (yet again) Sunday morning and because it had rained a good bit throughout the week as well, a majority of the course was flooded. It take too much rain to flood that course and we had a good bit of rain, so it was very flooded. Ultimately, they changed the course and made the race 2.5 miles. Several of us drove over, but decided to pass on paying money to run a short course in the rain. We decided to go to breakfast instead!
We still wanted to get in a quality run for the day, so while we were at breakfast, we concocted a plan to run a 5K later that afternoon. On Sunday, our small window of dryness was around 1 p.m. We met at the track, did a 3 mile warm up, ran a 5K time trial and did a 5 mile cool down. It was 75 degrees and insanely humid, which made for some tough conditions at the track. It was also harder to push yourself, seeing as how it wasn’t a true race and it was just a workout.
I wanted to start out around 6:10 pace and try to either hold it there or drop it slightly. That would’ve put me close to right at or just under 19:00. That was my tentative plan for the race, so I figured I’d just try to do the same thing on the track. A 5K on the track is 12.5 laps. We started at the 200 on our first lap and then finished at the “finish line” on our last lap. My splits were 6:04, 6:14 and 6:29. Definitely respectable (especially given the conditions), but not where I wanted to be. The good thing about a time trial is that now I have a good idea of where I am and what I need to work on!
Total – 68.0 miles
Have a wonderful week!