Week 12 Training Recap

Week 12 was a great week for running. And since my week 11 long run took place on Sunday (instead of Saturday due to rain) I actually logged over 31 miles running over the course of those seven days. That is the most mileage I’ve logged in a week to date so I am pretty excited, especially because physically I feel so great.

Here is my recap of my training runs not including Sunday’s (9/30) 10.37 mile- even though it falls in this calendar week I consider part of week 11’s training and already wrote about it last week.

Tuesday, October 2nd: Interval B Routine

5 minute warm up, 6X 1.5 min fast/ 2.5 min recovery, 5 minute cool down

I have been focusing on trying to jog during my warm up and cool down as well as for 1.5 minutes of my 2.5 minute recovery. Ultimately I am working towards not needing to walk during my recovery. This also means I need to make my fast intervals a little bit slower but I am ok with that.

I was super happy with this run especially because I ran further that day than I had the previous week on the same routine. The difference is this week I ran it outdoors, not on the treadmill.

Wednesday, October 3rd: 4 mile easy-paced run

Since my normal neighborhood loop is just over 3 miles I decided to run a new route for the 4 miler (and the following day’s 5 miler) and it worked out well. I focused on running slow, keeping my heart rate low, and being very, very comfortable with this run.

It felt great.

Thursday, October 4th: Tempo B (5 mile) run

This was my first five mile tempo run. Previously I had been doing 3 mile tempo runs so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was cruising along during the first half. It was a little rough starting out (always is) since I start off running uphill but at about three quarters of a mile in it switched to downhill and I was flying. It felt great.

Until I had to turn around and come back.

Uphill.

Ugh! Between 2.5 to 3.25 I didn’t think I would make it. My legs were dying as I just tried to keep running uphill. Of course at this point my running was probably a slow walking pace. But I kept pushing. And I am so glad I did. It wasn’t easy so when I was finished I felt like I just achieved something great. It feels good to push yourself and work harder than you think you can.

 Another great run in the books!

Saturday, October 6th: 9 mile long run

On September 1st, I ran my first ever 9 mile run. I did it in 01:57: 32 which is a 13:04 min/mile pace. When it was over my body felt tired, my legs felt worked. I was spent. I went home and took my first ice bath which really helped my recovery.

Fast forward five weeks and I am out for my second 9 mile run. This time around I ran it in 01:44:10 which is an 11:34 min/mile pace. Afterwards I felt great. I still went home and took an ice bath because I believe it really helps my recovery. But overall physical well being- drastically improved between the run on 9/1 and the run on 10/6.  It’s amazing that my pace improved so much over such a short amount of time especially since I was still running at a comfortable, slow pace. On my long runs I never go out there and push myself, I go out there and settle into an easy pace I can maintain for a very long period of time.

But I shouldn’t be surprised though. From everything I’ve read, by running slowly during my long runs, I should expect to see improvement as my training progresses. It seems counter intuitive but it’s true, you have to slow down if you want to get faster. And looking at my numbers is proof enough for me.

Now, as far as my other weekly goals go…well, let’s just say they weren’t as great.

At least 5 homemade dinners and all breakfasts/lunches during the week also homemade/not takeout- 5 homemade dinners, yes. But I ended up eating out twice for lunch this week; once for Paul’s going away luncheon and the other for a work birthday. For the week I would give my eating a B-

Yoga- yes, I was able to get in one hot yoga class but that was it. Wish I could have also squeezed in my yoga for runners DVD but I did not. C

Complete core routine 4 times; straight-arm plank, one minute crunches on balance ball, one minute leg raises, forearm plank, one minute crunches on balance ball, one minute leg raises- Big fat F! I didn’t do this once last week. Not good at all. Need to work on this.

Week 13 Goals

This week is going to be a bit crazy. Thankfully I am in a recovery week for my training so my runs won’t be too demanding. Thursday Paul and I are heading to Austin to see Band of Skulls at La Zona Rosa then spending the night because the next day we are heading to the Austin City Limits Festival. I am beyond excited but I know that being out of town will make it more difficult to prepare homemade meals. So I have to tweak my goals for this week.

-Complete all my training runs; 5K (completed yesterday), Interval A routine, 3-4 mile easy-paced run, Hill A routine, and a nice 4 mile long run on Saturday- yay for recovery weeks!

- Complete core routine 3 times; straight-arm plank, one minute crunches on balance ball, one minute leg raises, forearm plank, one minute crunches on balance ball, one minute leg raises

-Make the best food choices possible. I’ll leave it at that.

Today I’m heading to see Tricia for my Thai Yoga therapy appointment after work and I am so looking forward to this. She basically resets my body so I feel like a new person afterwards and I get to talk about running, food, and all sorts of other fun stuff for the 2 hours I’m there. It’s quite cathartic.

What’s on your agenda this week? Are you training for anything?

“The future depends on what we do in the present.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi