Hey friends!
This week was the first week of a new training cycle, so it seems like a fairly fitting time to ease back in with some weekly training logs. As I mentioned in my previous post, my short-term goal is to continue to focus on the speed stuff (i.e., one mile and 5k). I had a bit of a down week after the final McKirdy Mile race and this week began the process of building things back. We went out of town for the Fourth of July, which worked out well as far as not having any major workouts on the calendar.
When we got back in town last weekend, we discovered that it had rained a good bit while we were gone and that the driveway had gotten very messy (to put it lightly). For some context here, we live at the end of a one mile long, hilly, winding dirt road. If we know it’s going to rain and we’re going to have issues, we typically leave a car in a safe place out in civilization on dryer ground.
Here is what training looked like the week of 07.06.20 – 07.12.20:
Monday – Easy: 4 miles (7:25 pace)
We went out to check the driveway first thing Monday morning and as we suspected, there was no way either of us were going to be able to get our vehicles out. We got stuck (in a 4WD truck no less) and had to be pulled in on our way back home Sunday evening, so I knew that there was a good possibility it would still be a no-go come Monday morning. At that point, my thoughts shifted from am I going to be able to run today to how in the world am I going to get to work today and the latter had to take precedence. Richard ended up taking me out to the “paved road” on the four-wheeler and my boss’ wife came and picked me up (that’s a serious employee perk right there, folks).
I did actually manage to get 4 miles in on the treadmill after work. By that point, I was kinda just over the day, but also kinda just wanted to run off some steam. I ran this easy run much faster than I typically do, but my legs felt good and I just went with it. As a side note, I am planning to use the surveyor’s wheel to measure the accurateness of my treadmill in the not too distant future. I know that it is off, but I don’t know how much. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but somehow it keeps getting overlooked on the priority list.
Tuesday – Easy: 7 miles (7:25 pace)
For years and years, I was almost exclusively a morning runner, but it seems like I am trending a little bit more towards being an evening runner at this point. I’m going to attribute it on the long daylight hours that we get to enjoy this time of year. I find myself up way later than usual and subsequently not wanting to wake up any earlier than necessary the next morning.
Tuesday evening I did another quick for me easy run. For what it is worth, VDOT has my easy range as 7:01 to 7:45, so technically my runs on Monday and Tuesday were within the prescribed limits, but I am usually closer to the 8:30 to 8:45 range on most of my easy runs.
Wednesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:23 pace)
I actually got up and got moving early enough Wednesday to get in a few treadmill miles before work. It was raining and our road was still not drive-able or run-able, so that was pretty much my only option. I am very thankful for the treadmill when I need it. I don’t prefer to run on it, but any run is better than no run. Am I right or am I right?
Thursday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:06 pace) + PM – Easy: 4.5 miles (9:05 pace)
I ran on the treadmill again Thursday morning. We had a really soggy week, which exacerbated the driveway situation. If it had been dry, I think we would’ve been back in business in a day or two, but instead it went on for four. Thank goodness for the four-wheeler!
I did an unplanned double Thursday evening. My coach gives me the flexibility to add a few miles in here and there as I see fit as long as I don’t go overboard with it. I really appreciate having a little bit of wiggle room in a training plan. I’m sure this is some sort of control issue, but I really just like to be able to decide for myself how much to run based on how I feel sometimes. As long as you stay within the general parameters of the plan, I think this works nicely.
My unplanned run was actually a run with a purpose. I ran out and back on the driveway twice. Once to retrieve the four-wheeler that I had left out there that morning and then to retrieve the tractor that Richard had left out there that morning. If you had told me two years ago that I would need to take a tractor or a four-wheeler in any capacity to get to work, I would’ve looked at you like you had five heads. And yet, here we are!
Friday – Quality: 5.5 miles (2 mi. WU, 10 X 30 seconds, 1 mi. CD)
Friday morning was my first tiny quality session of the new training cycle. It was nothing major, but I was super pumped about the idea of snagging some extra endorphins! My workout was a 2 mile warm up, 10 X 30 seconds at threshold pace with 1:15 jogging recoveries and a 1 mile cool down. I was finally able to run outside from home on Friday, which was really nice.
It seems that I have also gotten super lazy about how far I am willing to travel for a workout at this point. Lazy probably isn’t the right word, but it’s also not wrong. I feel like I will probably get back to the super early wake up calls and driving to meet friends to get the workouts in midweek eventually, but for right now, it just feels right to stay close by.
My workout was fine, but ironically was nothing to really write home about. My goal pace for the pickups was 5:22 and I averaged 5:42. I didn’t seek out a super flat route and I ran in my regular trainers, so I honestly wasn’t expecting to run super fast. It felt good to pick the pace up even for just half a minute and I feel like the intent of the workout was definitely accomplished.
Saturday – Easy: 9 miles (8:38 pace)
I got in a bit of a longer run from home Saturday morning. We were under a heat advisory all weekend, so I tried to get out there and knocked out before it got too toasty. I listened to Lindsey’s podcast w/ Mary Cain and it was really good. Her story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s sad that she had to endure such abuse, but it’s also amazing that she has come out on the other side and that she has been able to help so many other athletes in similar circumstances. I’ve listened to her story on several podcasts at this point and she seems genuinely kind and down to earth and always brings a lot of wisdom. I’m a big fan.
Sunday – Easy: 6.3 miles (9:08 pace)
Sunday morning I got in a [socially distanced] run with friends! Our runs together are few and far between at this point, which is sad, but luckily these are the types of friendships where you can just pick back up right where you left off and never miss a beat. Afterwards we sat outside and had some good old-fashioned coffee + conversations, which is also a rarity these days.
As long as nothing drastic changes in the next week (which I feel has to be said at this point because who the heck really knows what sort of changes any given week can bring), we are headed to the beach for a joint “bachelorette party.” And yes, I am already married, but Lizzie isn’t (at least not that we know of :)), so it still works. Plus celebrating the end of tax season in July and having a bachelorette party after your wedding just seems like such a 2020 thing to do. Hashtag that’s so 2020.
Total – 47.3 miles
Have a great week!