To be honest, I was nervous about this week. The schedule had me increasing mileage more than the recommended 10% and running three times, versus last week's two. My mantra as I pounded out the miles was "Be smart." And I continued to mentally remind myself that if something hurt or felt wrong, I would slow down, stop and/or take a day off. I needed to listen and obey my body.
That being said---Everything went great! I can feel Garland and myself slowly falling into a routine with slightly less grump than last week. It's a little easier to run for an hour now, and I've all but let go of the fear that was holding me back for the last few months. My pace has returned to almost what it was last year during my peak.
Running actually makes me feel good again!
Monday: AM physical therapy + one hour SEAL Team PT workout
Tuesday: One hour run (5.9 miles)
Wednesday: AM Physical therapy + one hour SEAL Team PT workout
Thursday: One hour run (5.2 miles)
Friday: OFF / PT stretches
Saturday: One hour run (7.8 miles)
Sunday: OFF
TOTAL MILEAGE: 18.9 (+ 3-4 miles from SEAL Team PT workouts)
Last Tuesday morning was another early one at Belle Isle. It was part trail, part road---a nice change from last week. Tempo runs were also introduced, which was something I'd dreaded. I'd intentionally not been pushing myself on speed the few last weeks because a piece of me still didn't trust my foot. But I decided to give it a go and surprised myself! Instructions were three 5-minute tempos with a few minutes of recovery in between. My tempos ended up being between 7:50 and 8:20 min mile pace with recovery around 9:00 min mile pace. It feel good! Only a few times did I "feel" my foot but didn't actually feel pain...so I kept pushing forward. Total time: 53:17; average pace: 8:59; fastest mile: 8:07; slowest mile: 9:35.
Thursday run was a similar combination of road and trail starting from the Carillon area. It was a lot slower paced, though, because the trails we were on were so narrow, rocky and tree root-y. It was an out and back run, and I swear the entire way back was one long incline. My muscles BURNED. Oh... and half of it was a tempo. I was totally satisfied with my slightly-lower mileage by the end of it, i.e. I didn't want to run another step. Total time: 55:05; average pace: 10:32; fastest mile: 8:56; slowest mile: 12:26.
Friday was a recovery day that included a short 30 minute walk after work in the rain to turn in rent...and say hi to my favorite neighborhood elephant. I stumbled upon him during a run/walk the first week we moved in and we've been best friends since. Isn't he so random and cute?
Saturday's run was intended to be 7-8 miles, so there was an option to start with the group half an hour early. There was no reason Garland needed an extra half hour when he gets 7 miles (or over!) in an hour and half an hour would've probably put me closer to 9. The meeting point was literally down the road about 3/4 mile, so we opted to run to and from the start to get in our extra mile or two. There were some good inclines again that I fought up in the beginning, but the last 20 or so minutes were thankfully flat. Total time: 1:10:52; average pace: 9:06; fastest mile: 8:40; slowest mile: 9:25.
I was starving at the end of this run; LUCKILY breakfast was already planned out. I had leftover pizza dough from the night before and baked bacon prior to the run, so breakfast pizzas were in the oven no more than 15 minutes after we arrived home. They were devoured in even less time.
For the nutrition side of training, I've reluctantly been adding back more meat to my diet. This is both a result of living with a meat-inhaling man and also to help prevent future stress fractures. After our morning runs, I've been craving eggs and bacon/sausage/cheese more than my easy fallback of smoothies so that's what I have been making! My water intake is always insane, so nothing has changed there. I'd also like to say that I'm being more conscious of my sugar intake...but that sounds like an exaggeration. I'd like to be better, but what's the point of training if there aren't treats involved every run day? I'm focusing on lower-sugar homemade fuel and snack for before runs and during the workday. Good enough for now!
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