Hey guys! I hope your week is off to a good start! We had a wonderful time in Augusta last weekend and Daniel did amazingly well at his first Ironman 70.3! I *think* there may be a recap in the works!
I am in week 4 of the fundamental phase of my training for First Light. I’ve got 5 more weeks of this phase and then we will move on to the marathon specific phase, which will be 10 weeks long. Here is what my last week of workouts looked like …
Monday: 5 miles (8:46 pace)
I ran a loop with the Daniels Monday morning. We are pretty predictable at this point.
Tuesday: 10 miles (2 mile WU, 12 X 600, 2 mile CD)
Track Tuesday is back in my life! Tuesday morning’s session was a bit of a bear though. It was 79 degrees (feels like 85) w/ a dew point of 74 for our 4:45 a.m. start. This was so incredibly miserable. I hate to sound whiny, but there is really no other way to describe it. My goal range for the 600s was 2:09 to 2:12 (5:44 to 5:52 pace). After my 5K last week, my coach mentioned that the dew point lowers your V02 max potential, which definitely makes sense. With that in mind, I figured that I would need to adjust my expectations for this workout as well and focus on completion rather than hitting exact times.
My splits were 2:17, 2:17, 2:18, 2:16, 2:16, 2:18, 2:21, 2:17, 2:21, 2:20, 2:23 and 2:18. Not a single one in the goal range and yet, this workout still felt like a victory. It was miserable and I am just proud of myself for gutting it out and completing all 12 reps.
Wednesday: 8 miles (8:22 pace)
I hit the treadmill Wednesday morning for some easy miles. I listened to Tina Muir’s Running for Real podcast episode with Nancy Clark, RD who was a pioneer of sports nutrition in the running world. I’ve read her book, Food Guide for Marathoners, which I found to be extremely informative, so I was interested to hear this interview. I really enjoyed this episode and the miles flew by.
Thursday AM: 10 miles (8:04 pace)
Thursday morning I had a mini-workout of sorts. My plan called for a 10 mile run with 8 miles easy and 2 miles brisk. I did 5 miles with the Daniels and headed out to do the second 5 miles on my own. I decided to pick the overall pace up during the second 5 miles in general and not just for the last 2 brisk miles. This gave me something to focus on and ended up feeling fairly comfortable. We averaged 8:35 for the first 5 miles and I averaged 7:30 for the second 5, which included my two brisk miles at 6:56 and 6:58.
Thursday PM: 8 miles (9:24 pace)
There is a Thursday evening group run that I try to attend every now and then (it’s been a bit of a rarity here lately). I ran 3 miles with the group and then went back to the park and met Jessica for 5 miles. I only did one double this week, so I figured I might as well make it count.
Friday: 5 miles (8:56 pace)
Young Daniel and I did a loop Friday morning before Daniel and I left for Augusta.
Saturday: 6 miles (8:28 pace)
We found a beautiful place to run in Augusta Saturday morning. As long as we are near the water, I am happy!
Sunday: 6 miles (7:12 average) + 11 miles (spectator pace)
I did a few quick miles before Daniel’s race started. He had to check in around 5:30 a.m. and his wave of the swim start wasn’t until 9 a.m., so we had plenty of time to just hang out before the race started. I decided to go ahead and do a few miles since I wasn’t really sure what the rest of the day would hold. I was able to run 6 miles on the run portion of the triathlon course. The course was closed to traffic and there were plenty of volunteers out getting things set up for the race, so I felt fairly safe. I wouldn’t typically run alone in a city that I am unfamiliar with, but this seemed okay. I didn’t feel completely safe (not that I ever really do if I am running alone), but I had my phone with me and all was well. I ran a little quicker than I normally would do, so we are counting this as a mini workout!
I got back and still had plenty of time to sit with Daniel before his race started, which was perfect!I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but he finished in 5:18 and did SO WELL! I ran all over the dang place cheering for him and seeing him as many places as I possibly could. We were both sufficiently pooped at the end of the day.
That’s all I’ve got for now! I gotta run! Talk to you soon!
Congrats to Daniel on the triathlon and to you on a great week of training. You had some really awesome, strong workouts. Summer has certainly overstayed it’s welcome here too… I don’t know how the temperatures are that early, but it’s been blistering hot from the time I wake up until I go to bed. Even at 8 PM, it is still hot for running here. Hopefully with October things will cool down a bit and workouts and races will be more bearable, and faster!
Yep! Blistering hot from sun up to sun down (and I’m sure all throughout the night as well). I think we *might* have some cooler temperatures coming this week. We’ll see! Happy October anyway 🙂
What an awesome 70.3 debut for Daniel! I am pretty sick of the summer in Boston right about now. I think only us runners look forward to the fall/winter!
Yes! I’m sure it usually cools down much faster up there anyway, so this is extra torture for you guys.
It’s impossible to run well with a dew point in the 70s! This summer I’ve learned that I run 10-15 sec/mile faster in tempos and races with dew points in the 60s vs the 70s.
I love the Bible verses on the right side. 🙂
Thanks girl! I’m so glad to have found your blog and found you on IG now. Big congrats on your half marathon PR! You are amazing!