This week, I ran 43 miles.

Strength training x 1

Spin Class x 1

Core Routine x 3

5 Runs

1 Rest Day

The goal this week was to be realistic, put in the work, and be patient. (And know that the fitness will come!)

Monday:

6 recovery miles, 8:12 average. + Bodypump class

Planned on working a half-day on the holiday but spent a large portion of the morning at the gym (and it was surprisingly busy!) I ran 6 easy treadmill miles as recovery to get back into the week while watching the Today show. My legs seemed to have more pep today than they usually do on recovery days. Good sign!

And thennnnnn…I went to my first Bodypump class. Let me just say that I’m typically not into this kind of group fitness class. I’m not sure why but I’d rather get the work done on my own. But I’m glad I went! My upper body was in sufficient shock by the end and there were tons of squats and lunges to strengthen these grandma hips (although they’re feeling less and less creaky each week.) I’m thinking about going back to Bodypump through this cycle to work on overall strength.

Tuesday:

[4 mile tempo] 7 miles, 7:34 average.

Today, I decided to dominate the treadmill instead of letting it get the best of me like it did last week. It worked! 2 miles up, 4 mile tempo, and 1 down. Splits: 7:08, 7:03, 7:03, 6:58. I’m still working my way back into fighting shape and tempos are always the hardest part of that, it seems (especially on the treadmill). But for some reason, I was able to find my groove today. And despite some pretty tired post-Bodypump legs, they still had some kick. Happy happy joy joy!

Wednesday:

1 Hour impromptu DJ Spin Class + Core Routine x 2

BEST.SPIN.CLASS.EVER! Not kidding. I went to the gym looking forward to a solo, easy spin just to flush the legs and apparently I read the schedule wrong because I showed up just in time for a live DJ spin class. Yep, spin instructor AND live DJ. I was a bit skeptical at first but I’m definitely going back now. Awesome music and the instructor was the best I’ve had at my gym (and I’ve tried 4-5 by now). So much for an easy spin! Plenty of springs, progressive hills, and jumps. I haven’t sweat that much in one spin class…ever. I had a puddle underneath my bike by the end. 🙂

+ core routine x 2

Thursday:

[5 x 1000m repeats] 8 miles, 7:55 average.

Booyah! This one felt good! For some reason I’ve been able to find my groove on the treadmill lately. I still don’t love it but you gotta do what you gotta do in the winter. I ran 2 mi w/up, 5 x 1k with 400m recovery, and 2 mi c/down. Splits: 3:50, 3:54, 3:54, 3:53, 3:50.

I was really happy with how this went. The goal was just to run smooth and controlled through all 5. Mission accomplished–now I have a baseline for future 1k repeats. Oh! And I received a few weird looks at the gym when I did a shoe switcharoo between warmup-workout-cooldown. Side note: I felt like I was flying in my racing flats. I’m happy to transition back into them for speed workouts after a long hiatus.

And then….I drank beer and cooked dinner with a recipe from the Craft Beer Cookbook. Because, I can drink my beer and cook with it too.

Friday:

Full rest day. Highlights include copious amounts of pizza and beer.

Saturday:

6 recovery miles, 8:15 average + Core Routine x 1

After a big brunch, a mid-afternoon nap sounded blissful but I knew I’d feel good after running easy. I was looking forward to a super early bed time to make up for it but that didn’t happen for some reason.

Sunday:

15.28 miles, 7:35 average pace.

I shifted my long run today to avoid yesterday’s 25-30 mph winds and I’m pretty glad I did. The wind today was strong at times, but not like last week (probably because it from the W). I started around 11 am after a full night’s sleep, some coffee, and a Picky bar–smooth caffeinator ftw! I wore my neck gaiter and sunglasses (which I almost never wear) to block the wind. The first half was a big slushy mess and my legs were pretty fatigued halfway through. I saw Chanthana around mile 4 when she was 9 miles in and was jealous that she’d be inside and warm sooner than I. 🙂 She helped me get out of the house this morning when she told me to put my Boston jacket on and get it done. By mile 8, I just wanted to be done with this one, but once I turned around to run back south, conditions improved. I really need to befriend the dude that drives that little John Deere plow on the lakefront –he made the second half of this one SO much more enjoyable than the second. Kind of shocked at my pace. Still aerobic and didn’t feel like I was running outside of a comfortable zone. Keeping an eye on my right foot, felt a bit sore by the end.

14 degrees, real feel 4 degrees
20 mph wind gusts, 4 mph constant

Total Miles: 43 miles, 5 runs

Thoughts:

Some nice progress this week, I think! The treadmill was nice to me and I was shocked at how smooth and comfortable the 1k repeats went on Thursday. And fighting through the mental battle of tempo-ing on the treadmill on Tuesday makes me think that training is going well. I decided to go to ART every 10 days again, so things started to feel a bit creaky by week’s end, so it will be nice to work some things out in a few days.

TWELVE WEEKS TO GO!

-J

This week, I ran 37 miles.

ART x 1.

Hip Strength x 1.

Core x 1.

This week was a cutback recovery week and I took full advantage of it. The past few weeks, I did a considerable amount of cross-training on my running rest days. A little bit of yoga and spin here and there has been making my legs feel fresh when it comes to workouts lately. But this week, the couch and some movies sounded more appealing. 🙂

Monday:

6.85 miles, 7:29 average (Speed ladder 1200m to 400m)

It’s been a long time since I had to write a speed workout on my hand so I wouldn’t forget the target paces. (I sweat it off by halfway through the workout, anyway haha.) Loving these “warm” temps –with the sun out this afternoon, it felt like spring.  The wind made a few of the intervals difficult. The path was still full of ice but I chose a section that was mostly clear and ran all of my repeats on the same section of the lakefront path.

2.38 w/up
Speed ladder with 200m RI (1 min walk, 1 min jog)
1200 – target 4:39/ actual 4:34
1000- target 3:49/ actual 3:44
800- target 3:02/ actual 3:01
600 – target 2:15/ actual 2:12
400- target 1:29/ actual 1:30
1.25 c/down

This was definitely a challenge. Legs had a hard time working through the 800 m interval after pushing hard on the 1200 and 1000. On top of that, I started to feel the affects of acid reflux in the last few repeats. I ate lunch an hour and a half before I started my run, so probably should have waited a bit longer to digest.

Tuesday:

5 recovery miles, 8:12 average. Treadmill.

+ Jillian Michaels 6 Week 6 Pack DVD –> RETURN OF JILLIAN MICHAELS! And yep, this DVD is just as hard as I remember it being last cycle. I actually consider this core and hip strength training because there are plenty of lunges and hip work. It’s amazing how strong you can feel after only 30 minutes of Jillian Michaels yelling at you through a tv screen.

Wednesday:

Complete rest day. I got my nails done and watched silly TV. Because, sometimes you just need a girly day. 🙂

Thursday:

7 miles, 7:34 average. (Progressive tempo-ish run)

+ Hip Strength Routine

Recovery week tempo-ish run. Ran 1 mi up, 5 mi progressive from 7:30-6:48, and 1 mi down. This actually didn’t feel as “easy” as I was expecting it to, probably because it was on the treadmill and the temptation to either slow down or stop is stronger. I haven’t locked into a strong tempo pace yet (still early in the cycle!) but I assumed working my way from 7:30 to 7:00 min/mile pace over 5 miles would feel easier. Really wish I had run this one outside instead of on the treadmill!

Friday:

5 recovery miles, 8:12 average. Treadmill.

10 min rowing + 10 min Stairmaster + ART appointment

Who knew the gym was the place to be at 7 pm on a Friday night?! I couldn’t believe how busy it was–thought it was going to be empty. The true sign of a good recovery run? My legs felt so much better after this than they did beforehand. Went to PT for another ART appointment in the morning. Worked out some left hip soreness and did some Graston on my outer left quad.

For no reason whatsoever, I felt like using the rowing machine and the Stairmaster after my run, neither of which I’ve used in the past 3-4 years? I consider this super light cross-training of the week. Plus, the stairs have to be good for these runnin’ glutes, right?!

Saturday:

13 mile long run, 7:31 average.

Cut back week long run out on the lakefront this morning. Motivated to get out there before the snow hit this afternoon. Some of my long runs this cycle are going to include some faster miles and a few goal marathon paced miles. I’ve never really done that besides some fast finish runs and I’m curious to see how it affects my overall training. I decided to do 1-2 mi w/up, 9-10 mi 7:20-7:35, and 1-2 mi c/down. My legs did a fair job of ‘turning on’, but not until later in the run when my face almost froze off in the wind. I really regret not wearing my neck gaiter to cover my face when I really needed it (last ~4-5 miles). Always a rude awakening when you enjoy running north and forget about the wind running the opposite direction. Solid airplane side-5 with Chanthana (thank goodness we didn’t meet 2 minutes beforehand–she would have caught me mid-snot-rocket!) 🙂 The legs felt pretty tired by the end but I was more frustrated with the cold wind than anything else.

Followed by (you guessed it!) yet another brunch with Chanthana and Corey. We’re like…really really really really really ridiculously good at brunching.

Sunday:

Brunch and total rest!

Thoughts:

I think I put in another solid week of training. I impressed myself with the speed ladder on Monday, and even though the progressive didn’t go well on Thursday, I’m sure it would have been a different outcome on any other day or if I chose to run outside. Tempos are mentally tough no matter what, but the treadmill adds a little bit more of a challenge than I was feeling up to that day. I’m happy with the long run, especially because I seemed to lock into the target pace early on and hold it fairly easily.

Bring on another good week!