Another Strong Week And A Big Decision To Make
This week has been pretty strong running-wise. I was able to do all my runs except for 1 mile that I cut short from my speedwork session. So another week at above 50mpw and the body is still feeling good. I also finished Week 3 of Chalene Johnson Extreme and it is still kicking my butt, especially since I increased the weights by 2.5 lbs., and boy what a difference those pounds made. Entering Week 4 tomorrow before heading to the next circuit, the Push Circuit. If the Burn Circuit was this hard, I cannot imagine how the Push Circuit will be any easier.
Runningwise, I decided to do two speedwork sessions this week. I could feel the improvement compared to a month ago when I tried to do speedwork and I sucked at it. Last week the 400s went well and this week the speedwork was hard but I was able to finish it.
Monday: On Monday I did a recovery run. I ran a great 15 miler on Saturday and some miles on Sunday, so the legs were pretty tired but felt good otherwise. As it is Summer and we're in the middle of our rainy season, I had to run on TM at work since it was storming with hail, and tornado watch in my area. Finished a good solid 8 miles in 1:18:45 plus 0.25 cooldown. The workout was followed by the Burn Circuit 1 instead of the other way around.
On Tuesday, I met the running group for a speedwork session. I had 6 X 200 at 0:50 per interval. I did not look at my plan and instead of the 8 X 200 I thought it was 6. I started with a 2.00 mile warmup at easy pace, followed by the 6 X 200 and 2.50 miles to cooldown. Temps were hot and sunny but I did not feel the heat as last year.
On Wednesday, I had the Burn Circuit 2 scheduled prior to my 8 miler. It looked like it wanted to rain but it didn't. Unfortunately, I was consistently attacked by the kamikaze bugs again, ugh. 8 miles in 1:21:05 with 0.25 cooldown.
Thursday was another good day of running. I decided to do 8 with 6 @ MP. I started the workout with the Burn Intervals and when I got to the park, the running group told me the park would close early. That, coupled with the fact that the running group started the run at 6:42pm made me cut one mile of the workout. So, 7 miles with 5 @ MP. Unfortunately, I did not remember GMP and I thought it was 9:22mm. Ended up with 5 miles at around 9:16mm, which is way faster than real GMP of 9:33mm. Oh, well. It was a strong workout. It was also cloudy and, although it was 89F with heat index, it was not that bad. 7 miles in 1:06:57 plus 0.25 miles cooldown.
Friday was a crapshoot. It was super hot and I assumed the run would be tough. I did the Burn Circuit 3 and felt my legs get tired just by looking at the weights and the number of squats I had to do. But I started the run hoping for pace and ended up with a run faster than pace. It was cloudy so the 90F did not feel that bad. Thank god for small favors, eh? 9 miles in 1:27:22 and 0.25 cooldown.
A good solid run...but too fast for my training pace.
Saturday was an SRD. I had planned on doing the Burn It Off and Ab Burner workouts but after spending the afternoon drinking margaritas and taking my friend to lunch on her birthday, I really did not want to exercise. Plus the extra cardio is not necessarily needed, as I'm running enough not to affect me.
Sunday was my LR. I had not done 16 miles in a month or two, so I wanted to go back to that mileage and keep it there until marathon training. So, off I went earlier than usual (6:40am) with a cloudy sky and low 80sF. It was perfect. Of course it was super humid and I ended up with a skirt stuck to my hips and legs but anyway, this was the fastest run I've done even in training, as my HM pace during my last half marathon was at 10mm. I broke that PR by 1 minute, so I'm really looking forward to my next HM in November (one that I will race and not do for fun) to see how much I can shave off from that old PR. 16 miles in 2:37:45 and a 0.27 mile cooldown.
Overall, this was a strong week. I am seeing some results even if they are by seconds! I have not lost any more weight, but I have been getting stronger with this new strength training session. I have been consistent in my training, which cannot be said about the 2010 racing season. Overall, I'm seeing great results compared to last year. And even my husband is noticing!
As to the decision I need to make, is what I want to do with my marathon training. I posted a training program I made up between Pfitz, Higdon, and Smart Coach, and got great constructive advice and recommendations. So I'm back on the drawing board. I know what I want to do and what works for me and I am taking some of the posters's recommendations and adding them to it. But in the end, only I can tell how training will go and what works for me. So, I expect to take 90% of the advice given. But I still do not have a final version of my training program.
Runningwise, I decided to do two speedwork sessions this week. I could feel the improvement compared to a month ago when I tried to do speedwork and I sucked at it. Last week the 400s went well and this week the speedwork was hard but I was able to finish it.
Monday: On Monday I did a recovery run. I ran a great 15 miler on Saturday and some miles on Sunday, so the legs were pretty tired but felt good otherwise. As it is Summer and we're in the middle of our rainy season, I had to run on TM at work since it was storming with hail, and tornado watch in my area. Finished a good solid 8 miles in 1:18:45 plus 0.25 cooldown. The workout was followed by the Burn Circuit 1 instead of the other way around.
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 01:18:45 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 1 | 00:10:02 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 2 | 00:10:00 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 3 | 00:10:04 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 4 | 00:09:53 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 5 | 00:09:47 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 6 | 00:09:50 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 7 | 00:09:40 | 0.00 | --:-- |
| 8 | 00:09:26 | 0.00 | --:-- |
On Tuesday, I met the running group for a speedwork session. I had 6 X 200 at 0:50 per interval. I did not look at my plan and instead of the 8 X 200 I thought it was 6. I started with a 2.00 mile warmup at easy pace, followed by the 6 X 200 and 2.50 miles to cooldown. Temps were hot and sunny but I did not feel the heat as last year.
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 00:12:56 | 1.50 | 08:38 |
| 1 | 00:00:51 | 0.12 | 07:10 |
| 2 | 00:01:18 | 0.13 | 10:03 |
| 3 | 00:00:50 | 0.12 | 07:03 |
| 4 | 00:01:19 | 0.13 | 10:05 |
| 5 | 00:00:50 | 0.12 | 07:02 |
| 6 | 00:01:18 | 0.13 | 10:09 |
| 7 | 00:00:50 | 0.12 | 06:55 |
| 8 | 00:01:21 | 0.13 | 10:13 |
| 9 | 00:00:48 | 0.12 | 06:45 |
| 10 | 00:01:19 | 0.13 | 10:23 |
| 11 | 00:00:50 | 0.12 | 06:51 |
| 12 | 00:01:19 | 0.13 | 10:11 |
On Wednesday, I had the Burn Circuit 2 scheduled prior to my 8 miler. It looked like it wanted to rain but it didn't. Unfortunately, I was consistently attacked by the kamikaze bugs again, ugh. 8 miles in 1:21:05 with 0.25 cooldown.
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 01:21:05 | 8.00 | 10:08 |
| 1 | 00:10:42 | 1.00 | 10:42 |
| 2 | 00:10:17 | 1.00 | 10:17 |
| 3 | 00:10:08 | 1.00 | 10:08 |
| 4 | 00:10:02 | 1.00 | 10:02 |
| 5 | 00:09:59 | 1.00 | 09:59 |
| 6 | 00:09:58 | 1.00 | 09:58 |
| 7 | 00:10:06 | 1.00 | 10:05 |
| 8 | 00:09:50 | 1.00 | 09:51 |
Thursday was another good day of running. I decided to do 8 with 6 @ MP. I started the workout with the Burn Intervals and when I got to the park, the running group told me the park would close early. That, coupled with the fact that the running group started the run at 6:42pm made me cut one mile of the workout. So, 7 miles with 5 @ MP. Unfortunately, I did not remember GMP and I thought it was 9:22mm. Ended up with 5 miles at around 9:16mm, which is way faster than real GMP of 9:33mm. Oh, well. It was a strong workout. It was also cloudy and, although it was 89F with heat index, it was not that bad. 7 miles in 1:06:57 plus 0.25 miles cooldown.
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 01:06:57 | 7.00 | 09:34 |
| 1 | 00:10:30 | 1.00 | 10:30 |
| 2 | 00:09:19 | 1.00 | 09:19 |
| 3 | 00:09:15 | 1.00 | 09:15 |
| 4 | 00:09:12 | 1.00 | 09:12 |
| 5 | 00:09:13 | 1.00 | 09:13 |
| 6 | 00:09:15 | 1.00 | 09:15 |
| 7 | 00:10:10 | 1.00 | 10:12 |
Friday was a crapshoot. It was super hot and I assumed the run would be tough. I did the Burn Circuit 3 and felt my legs get tired just by looking at the weights and the number of squats I had to do. But I started the run hoping for pace and ended up with a run faster than pace. It was cloudy so the 90F did not feel that bad. Thank god for small favors, eh? 9 miles in 1:27:22 and 0.25 cooldown.
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 01:27:22 | 9.00 | 09:42 |
| 1 | 00:10:11 | 1.00 | 10:11 |
| 2 | 00:09:47 | 1.00 | 09:47 |
| 3 | 00:09:43 | 1.00 | 09:43 |
| 4 | 00:09:33 | 1.00 | 09:33 |
| 5 | 00:09:36 | 1.00 | 09:36 |
| 6 | 00:09:40 | 1.00 | 09:40 |
| 7 | 00:09:38 | 1.00 | 09:38 |
| 8 | 00:09:33 | 1.00 | 09:33 |
| 9 | 00:09:36 | 1.00 | 09:37 |
A good solid run...but too fast for my training pace.
Saturday was an SRD. I had planned on doing the Burn It Off and Ab Burner workouts but after spending the afternoon drinking margaritas and taking my friend to lunch on her birthday, I really did not want to exercise. Plus the extra cardio is not necessarily needed, as I'm running enough not to affect me.
Sunday was my LR. I had not done 16 miles in a month or two, so I wanted to go back to that mileage and keep it there until marathon training. So, off I went earlier than usual (6:40am) with a cloudy sky and low 80sF. It was perfect. Of course it was super humid and I ended up with a skirt stuck to my hips and legs but anyway, this was the fastest run I've done even in training, as my HM pace during my last half marathon was at 10mm. I broke that PR by 1 minute, so I'm really looking forward to my next HM in November (one that I will race and not do for fun) to see how much I can shave off from that old PR. 16 miles in 2:37:45 and a 0.27 mile cooldown.
Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 02:37:45 | 16.00 | 09:51 |
| 1 | 00:10:52 | 1.00 | 10:52 |
| 2 | 00:10:09 | 1.00 | 10:08 |
| 3 | 00:09:52 | 1.00 | 09:52 |
| 4 | 00:09:56 | 1.00 | 09:56 |
| 5 | 00:09:55 | 1.00 | 09:55 |
| 6 | 00:09:55 | 1.00 | 09:55 |
| 7 | 00:09:48 | 1.00 | 09:48 |
| 8 | 00:09:47 | 1.00 | 09:47 |
| 9 | 00:09:47 | 1.00 | 09:47 |
| 10 | 00:09:48 | 1.00 | 09:48 |
| 11 | 00:09:48 | 1.00 | 09:48 |
| 12 | 00:09:37 | 1.00 | 09:37 |
| 13 | 00:09:40 | 1.00 | 09:40 |
| 14 | 00:09:38 | 1.00 | 09:38 |
| 15 | 00:09:36 | 1.00 | 09:36 |
| 16 | 00:09:31 | 1.00 | 09:33 |
Overall, this was a strong week. I am seeing some results even if they are by seconds! I have not lost any more weight, but I have been getting stronger with this new strength training session. I have been consistent in my training, which cannot be said about the 2010 racing season. Overall, I'm seeing great results compared to last year. And even my husband is noticing!
As to the decision I need to make, is what I want to do with my marathon training. I posted a training program I made up between Pfitz, Higdon, and Smart Coach, and got great constructive advice and recommendations. So I'm back on the drawing board. I know what I want to do and what works for me and I am taking some of the posters's recommendations and adding them to it. But in the end, only I can tell how training will go and what works for me. So, I expect to take 90% of the advice given. But I still do not have a final version of my training program.
You're amazing D!
ReplyDeleteMy club's main coach sort of freaked at me when I said I was combining plans - he likes to stick with one so it's cohesive. But since mine are basically the same creature...one just gives more mileage and is geared more for time improvement, he calmed down. I see his point, but I like being able to take what works from different plans and put them together.
Good luck!!
@ runningwithmickey - I think that after a while and more experience as a runner, you know what better works out for you. I go by what the body tells me. Sometimes it wants to push it and sometimes it does not. I've learned that by listening, the body basically knows what to do. Although sometimes I think it's crazy, :-)
ReplyDelete