Hey friends!
Here is what the ninth week of training looked like!
Monday –
Plan: 7.5 mile run w/ 6 X 30 second strides
Actual: 7.5 mile run (9:00 pace)
This week was a total washout on the weather front. Living on a dirt road during a rainy week is problematic in and of itself, never mind trying to run on the road! I spent some quality time on the treadmill at the beginning of the week. I got my miles and strides in on Monday afternoon during my lunch break while Ward napped. The run itself was a bit of a struggle. While I am so thankful to have the treadmill as an option when the weather is bad, I just really couldn’t get into this run. Running outside is so much more enjoyable. I didn’t specifically track the strides, but they definitely felt much, much harder on the treadmill than they do outside.
Tuesday –
Plan: 8.0 mile run w/ 2 X 1.5 mile tempo
Actual: 7.5 mile run (7:30 pace)
Given Monday’s blah-ish treadmill run, I was really hoping to be able to get outside for Tuesday’s workout. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. The workout was written as a two and a half mile warm up, a mile and a half tempo, a four minute recovery, a mile and a half tempo and a two and a half mile cool down. I had to get myself to a good place mentally to even attempt this one and having a good playlist definitely helped! I kept the same schedule as the day before and headed down to my “she shack” during a break from work while Ward napped.
Thankfully I was able to settle into a good rhythm early on during this run! For the warm up miles, I started at 10:00 pace (6.0 mph) and increased the speed by 0.2 mph every two minutes. This has been my standard treadmill warm up over the years and it really helps to make the time pass by quickly. From there I went straight into the tempo miles without giving it a second thought. I started those miles at 6:40 pace (9.0 mph). I played with the speed a little bit throughout the tempo as well, bumping it up by 0.1 mph every so often. I felt so good that I decided to skip the recovery altogether. I knew this wouldn’t change the intent of the workout and honestly, the thought of stopping and starting back sounded much harder than just running straight through! Ha. I ended up with splits of 6:30, 6:23 and 6:13! I was really surprised and very pleased with how this run went!
Wednesday –
Plan: 7.0 mile run
Actual: 7.25 mile run (9:15 pace)
I paid the price for Tuesday’s hard session on Wednesday evening. I had to go in to the office Wednesday and I definitely didn’t have my ish together enough to get a run in beforehand. Morning schedules are so much trickier with a little one. Goodness gracious! Also, side note: how in the world did I go in to the office every day for over a decade?! I am so spoiled with that WFH life now. I’m sure many people can relate on that front! I was |thisclose| to skipping this run altogether. I was worn out from commuting, having to be “social” for much of the day and on top of that, it was supposed to rain again any minute. I was also pretty crabby and I knew that if I just got out even for a few miles that I would be a much more pleasant wife and mother. My legs were tired and heavy, but overall I am so glad that I sucked it up and ran (of course!). I did get sprinkled on a tiny bit, but that actually felt wonderful! You never regret a run, right?!
Thursday –
Plan: 60 minute elliptical
Actual: 2 X 30 minutes (5.5 miles)
It was back to monsooning on Thursday, but it was an elliptical day for me anyway. Thursday seemed to be one of those days where things just don’t quite go according to plan. I was only able to get 30 minutes in on my home elliptical before a work call, but then I found myself with another small window a couple hours later and I decided that I might as well go ahead and do the other 30 minutes. While perhaps not ideal, sometimes you just take what you can get!
Friday –
Plan: 7.5 mile run w/ 6 X 30 second strides
Actual: 7.5 mile run (8:45 pace)
By Friday the rain was done! Praise the Lord! I got out and got a sailboat loop in before the traffic got too out of hand. I got a few more strides in on Friday as well. There isn’t really much to these, but I think doing them throughout the week is helping my leg turnover on the harder days.
Saturday –
Plan: 11.0 mile run
Actual: 11.4 mile run (8:30 pace)
The weather for Saturday’s run was about as perfect as it possibly could be for the end of May. The dew point was in the fifties, which is unheard of for lower Alabama! I didn’t have any specific pace goals Saturday, so I kept it in my typical easy run range. I am so happy to be able to easily get in some double digit runs again!
Sunday –
Plan: 3.0 mile run
Actual: 4.0 mile run (8:30 pace)
This week was my first week of adding back in a sixth run. Woo! It’s so much fun to reach these little milestones along the way. Sunday’s run was extra special because I got to run with my friend Rebecca! We have run thousands of miles together over the years, but it’s harder to make that happen now that we both have kids. I really enjoyed catching up with her for a few miles.
Totals –
Running: 45.7 miles
Elliptical: 5.5 (60 minutes)
Walking: 8.0 miles
Thanks for following along. Catch you guys next week!