Sunday, June 5, 2016

Training Log - Week Ending June 5, 2016

Let the heat and humidity acclimation begin!  Hot and humid this week here in the DC area.  I'm still happier than when it was 20 degrees for my morning runs......

This is the first week of "real" training, after a couple "down" weeks after my Goal Spring race a few weeks ago (Loudoun Lyme 10k).

Did some speed work on Wednesday (10k pace stuff), and a 14 mile Long Run on Sunday.

As I mentioned last week, I'm also changing how I "think" about my easy runs.  I've converted my training plan so that easy runs are based on time.  I will only record mileage at the end, as a reference.  I'm trying really hard to "feel" the effort (conversational), and let that guide my speed.  I will still use mileage on harder days, which includes Long Runs.

So far, I've found that my overall pace on easy runs isn't different, but my speed varies more within the run.  Where I live, the roads are not flat, so if I run by effort my pace should vary significantly.  But, if I'm constantly watching my pacing I have a tendency to work too hard on the uphill to be at the pace I think I should be at....then I ease up the effort on the downhill.  Now that I'm working on running by feel only, my pace varies a lot more...which I think it should if I'm staying "conversational" with my effort.

Side note - when I look at my watch now all I see is that I've run 15 minutes, or I have 5 minutes left...and I have no feel about if I'm close enough to my house, the end point of my run, etc.  It is fun to think differently though, if just for the change.

Second, side note - my mileage each day ends being an odd amount (6.3 / 4.5, etc.), and when I wrote the plan for this week I "rounded up" on time to the next 5 minute increment (35 minutes, when 4 miles would usually be around 32 minutes).  As a result, I ended up with my highest mileage week...ever.  So...another good side benefit.

This week I've also stumbled across "FueledbyLOLZ"....I've linked her site to the 'my blogs' section.  I like her site for a couple reasons; she is honest about her training success and failures, she is slightly faster than me, and she's been running for a few more years than I have and provides some insight on running.  Not the kind of insight as an "expert" who writes books - but the kind of feelings every day competitive runners have and how she is working to overcome them.

And....again....she's slightly faster than I am.  So...her workout sessions and race times are the kind I'm "reaching for".  Times I think I can hit next year...for example.  So I find her running inspiring.  And.....she races A LOT, like 4 times a month....yes, per month.  She likes going to races and uses them for her hard workouts.  No taper, just go race, have fun, and see what happens.  I think I could use more of that.  And....easy runs are just a note in her journal, no details, just "ran easy"....I should think about that more.  And...her weekly mileage is higher than mine...another goal I have.

In the spirit of signing up for races to have a good workout and have fun - I've signed up for a half marathon on June 26 and a 5k on July 4. The "half" is on the CandO canal tow path, one of my favorite running paths, and on a section I haven't run before, so that should be a lot of fun.  My first "half" as a race, so I'll have a "benchmark" time to compare to going forward.  I ran a "half" in the Spring by myself as a "tempo" type workout in 1:33, so we'll see if I can beat that.  The 5k is just "because", it's local and I think it will be good to put in a hard / fast effort during this training plan.  It's on the same course as my PR 5k.  Neither is a goal race, I'm treating each as something fun to do, with no pressure and no time goal.  I'm slowly realizing I need to race more often with the goal of having fun to keep me interested in my weekly training and for my long term enjoyment of running.  

Weekly Summary:

  • Total miles:  47.6 (my highest mileage week ever...kinda' by accident)
  • Long Run:  14
  • Weight: 140

Daily Work (Bolded days are the harder workouts)

Monday - 36 minutes easy.  (4.5 mi)  Nice having NO WORK today.  Lazy day to sleep in and take a nice easy run on the country roads around my house.  Little hilly.  Foam rolling, dynamic stretching.

Tuesday - 50 minutes easy (6.3 mi) + 4 strides.  Core work.  Dynamic stretching.

Wednesday - 10 miles with 8 x 2:00 @ 10k.  ITB rehab, upper body work, Single leg squat, single leg dead lift.  Did the running on the treadmill with 1% incline during the 10k intervals.  The first couple intervals at 10k effort (6:15 pace) were a little "shocking" to my legs, first time I run fast since the 10k race over two weeks ago.  But, I felt like it actually got a little easier as the reps went on.  After 8 reps I felt like I could do a few more...and it wasn't "that" hard.  I think that's how it's supposed to feel, so that's good.

Thursday - Left ITB a little "tweaky" after the run yesterday.  Not feeling it much today.  I constantly monitor how my ITB feels, put me out of action last year for a couple months. 

Friday - 70 minutes easy (ended up at 8.6 miles/8:05 pace).  WOD Trail in Herndon.  ITB little "twingie" the first couple of miles, but didn't hurt, then calmed down completely.  Hip mobility and strength / dynamic stretching / foam rolling.  72 degrees and 100% humidity at 6:15 am! 

Saturday - 33 minutes easy (4.2 miles / 7:50 pace).  Core work.  Rolling and stretching.  (Forgot to do strides...damn it).

Sunday - 14 miles on WOD in Leesburg.  Sort of a test run to see where my fitness is.  I ran by feel, going a little bit harder than "easy", but not as hard as HM.  Ended up at 7:14 pace (total time 1:39:40).  This is about my long run pace during my last training cycle, so that feels good.  I'm also happy I was able to come in on this pace by "feel" only - something I've been working on.  ITB rehab / upper body.  Foam rolling and stretching. No complaints from the ITB, so that's reassuring.

Next week - a lot like this week - but I think I'll try a couple miles at the end of the Long Run at HM pace...which I think is about 6:35 - 6:40.

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