Another Good Week At Above 50
This was Week 2 of the Chalene Extreme workouts and they felt much easier. It was also another week of 50+ miles, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.
I've been getting faster, so the runs have been getting easier, as my body gets leaner. I've been noticing that the body has gotten more efficient lately. I even compared a workout last year and there is a huge difference in pace, how I felt then and how I feel now, and how the heat and humidity affected me then and now. It's really nice to see my progress and, even though I'll never be fast, it's nice to see how hard work and determination can make you better.
The following were my workouts this week:
Monday - I did the Burn Circuit 1 and 8.26 miles. They were relatively on pace but slower than the faster runs I did last week. It's good to remember to run on pace; otherwise you risk injury and/or burnout. I have to remind myself of this time and time again. Some good friends in the forums reminded me of that and I appreciate their reminder.
Tuesday - I wanted to do a speedwork session. Last time I did one, it went pretty bad. I was not used to the heat yet and I even had to stop during one interval because I could not hold the pace. However, on Tuesday I did 6 X 400 exactly at the pace I was supposed to do. I felt pretty proud of myself, had no issues with soreness or tiredness, and recovery went very well.
Wednesday - I did the Burn Circuit 2, followed by 8.26 miles. I thought they would be slow and full of soreness but they actually felt OK. I had a little bit of shin splint soreness which continued until today, but otherwise, no issues.
Thursday - Today I did the Burn Circuit 3 before heading to the park. I wanted to practice more miles with the trail shoes to get used some sort of terrain prior to my trail half marathon. So, I did 4 miles at the park with my normal shoes and route, followed by 4 miles at the "trail." The first 4 miles were slightly faster than pace while the 4 trail miles were on pace. Although I was exhausted at the end of the workout, I felt I did much better than the last time I tried to run on the trail.
Friday - As I would be attending the Katy Perry concert on Saturday, I decided to take Friday as a rest day from running so that I can run 15 miles on Saturday morning. I did the Burn Intervals and Ab Burner so I still burned calories.
Saturday - It was HOT on Saturday. Expected temps were 82-87F with 69% humidity. We got 83-91F with 67% humidity. I was pretty happy with the humidity level but ugh at the temps. I was drenched by mile 1 and I had to start dunking water over my head to feel fresh. Hydration went well, except that instead of a gel at mile 12 I went home and ate a banana. Apparently I had not eaten enough prior to the run and I was starving.
Sunday - This was the tough run of the week. I did the Burn It Off workout and headed out for an 8 miler. I quit at Mile 7. As soon as I left the house, I was attacked by kamikaze bugs (mostly because it had been raining since 2pm). It was super humid and I was drenched so the bugs kept sticking to my skin. I stopped twice every mile just to get them off my face, hair, arms, and abs. It was horrible. At Mile 7, after struggling between the humidity of 81% and the bugs, I just quit and went home. I did the Recharge workout after that and felt much.
Overall, this week is promising. I've been improving by hard workout and the new strength routine. I just need to learn not to quit when things get tough, like today. Although the bug thing is really yuck :-)
I've been getting faster, so the runs have been getting easier, as my body gets leaner. I've been noticing that the body has gotten more efficient lately. I even compared a workout last year and there is a huge difference in pace, how I felt then and how I feel now, and how the heat and humidity affected me then and now. It's really nice to see my progress and, even though I'll never be fast, it's nice to see how hard work and determination can make you better.
The following were my workouts this week:
Monday - I did the Burn Circuit 1 and 8.26 miles. They were relatively on pace but slower than the faster runs I did last week. It's good to remember to run on pace; otherwise you risk injury and/or burnout. I have to remind myself of this time and time again. Some good friends in the forums reminded me of that and I appreciate their reminder.
Tuesday - I wanted to do a speedwork session. Last time I did one, it went pretty bad. I was not used to the heat yet and I even had to stop during one interval because I could not hold the pace. However, on Tuesday I did 6 X 400 exactly at the pace I was supposed to do. I felt pretty proud of myself, had no issues with soreness or tiredness, and recovery went very well.
Wednesday - I did the Burn Circuit 2, followed by 8.26 miles. I thought they would be slow and full of soreness but they actually felt OK. I had a little bit of shin splint soreness which continued until today, but otherwise, no issues.
Thursday - Today I did the Burn Circuit 3 before heading to the park. I wanted to practice more miles with the trail shoes to get used some sort of terrain prior to my trail half marathon. So, I did 4 miles at the park with my normal shoes and route, followed by 4 miles at the "trail." The first 4 miles were slightly faster than pace while the 4 trail miles were on pace. Although I was exhausted at the end of the workout, I felt I did much better than the last time I tried to run on the trail.
Friday - As I would be attending the Katy Perry concert on Saturday, I decided to take Friday as a rest day from running so that I can run 15 miles on Saturday morning. I did the Burn Intervals and Ab Burner so I still burned calories.
Saturday - It was HOT on Saturday. Expected temps were 82-87F with 69% humidity. We got 83-91F with 67% humidity. I was pretty happy with the humidity level but ugh at the temps. I was drenched by mile 1 and I had to start dunking water over my head to feel fresh. Hydration went well, except that instead of a gel at mile 12 I went home and ate a banana. Apparently I had not eaten enough prior to the run and I was starving.
Sunday - This was the tough run of the week. I did the Burn It Off workout and headed out for an 8 miler. I quit at Mile 7. As soon as I left the house, I was attacked by kamikaze bugs (mostly because it had been raining since 2pm). It was super humid and I was drenched so the bugs kept sticking to my skin. I stopped twice every mile just to get them off my face, hair, arms, and abs. It was horrible. At Mile 7, after struggling between the humidity of 81% and the bugs, I just quit and went home. I did the Recharge workout after that and felt much.
Overall, this week is promising. I've been improving by hard workout and the new strength routine. I just need to learn not to quit when things get tough, like today. Although the bug thing is really yuck :-)
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