I went back and forth a few times on whether or not to publish my weekly training recaps this time around. I haven’t been posting much pace/split information on Dailymile because I want this cycle to be more ‘internal’. That said, I’m going to jot down a few details each week to keep training in perspective leading up to Boston 2014.

Boston is 15 weeks away! WUT.

This was the first “real” week of Boston training as it was the first week I put in some solid speed work and a short tempo run. I put in some solid base training, with 167 miles in December. I’m pretty psyched that everything seems to be coming together and each week I’ve felt more and more like myself.

So, this is how Week 1 went down:

I ran 39.5 miles.

90 minutes yoga

ART x 1

Massage x 1

Core x 1

Hip Strength x 1

Monday:

Easy 5 recovery miles, 8:12 average. treadmill miles 

+ ART at physical therapy and 1 hour massage in PM

Tuesday:

Easy 5.5 miles, 8:05 average.

So, today was supposed to be mile repeats. Buuuut they didn’t happen. I was lazy this morning (taking advantage of time off work to get some good sleep) and then I had to run errands. The gym closed early and I knew the snow was going to start around 3 pm but I really wanted to get the final run of 2013 in. I ran the 2 miles to the lakefront and on my way, I teamed up with this dude riding his bike to catch a stray dog that was running through traffic. I followed her without getting too close until she turned around when we tried to ‘corral’ her but she was too quick. The cyclist seemed to be having better luck so I wished him luck and ran on to the lakefront. Conditions weren’t terrible because the snow was somewhat ‘crunchy’ but mile repeats would have been awkward and likely painful with bad footing, so I’ll shift this week’s workouts. When I finished up the easy 5 and left the lakefront trail, I ran into the cyclist and guess what?! He was able to get close enough to the dog after she went down into a snow bank by the river!!! She had a tag on so hopefully the owners are happy to have their dog back this evening. I gave him a high five and told him HAPPPPPY NEWWWW YEARRRR! 😉

Wednesday:

REST/ Cross-training –> 90 minutes of New Year’s Yoga. My definition of a lovely NYE is a yummy dinner and being in bed by 12:15 AM, both of which I accomplished. I impressed myself by making it to a 10 AM class on the first day of the year. I was happy with lots of hip openers and pigeon in class!

Thursday:

7 miles, ~8  min average. Mile repeats: 6:27 pace on the treadmill  + CORE

2 mi up, 3 x 1 mi repeat at 6:27 with 400 m RI, 1.25 down. First repeat was stupid hard, I had to pee in the middle of the second (heh), and I finished strong on the third. I was happy to get it done without feeling like my legs were falling off. We’ll see where these mile repeats are at in weeks ahead!

Friday:

7 miles, ~8 min average. Short tempo! 2 x 1 mi tempo pace + HIP STRENGTH ROUTINE

Ran easy 7 miles with 2 x 1 mi at 6:58 with 2 min RI. I’m slowly easing back into the cycle with this workout. I’ve had some really great steady state runs and easy runs that have been at a quicker pace than I thought they would be in the past few weeks. Everything seems to feel more difficult on the treadmill and, after Thursday’s mile repeats, I was very happy with the tempo pace.

Saturday:

REST

I skipped out on the ‘balmy’ 20-something temperatures this morning to give my legs a rest. I knew I’d take a chance on the weather but I was still hoping I’d be able to run long on the lakefront on Sunday. I was mistaken.

Sunday:

15 miles, treadmill insanity. 8 min/mi average.

Soooooo I went to the gym to run long on the treadmill today. I’m glad I came prepared with a movie on my iPad because I may not have finished all 15 mi without it. I took a water and stretch break at an hour and again at 90 minutes. Shifted the pace between 8:06-7:47 throughout along with the incline to change it up. Ya know, now that it’s over I’m kind of surprised how easy that was. The Way Way Back entertained me for all of 1 hr 40 minutes before I turned the music on. The last 20 minutes was easily the most difficult, probably because I can’t avoid thinking about the time remaining on the treadmill.

I’m happy I was able to put in some good work this week despite some crazy weather. I took a risk running mile repeats and the tempo back-to-back but the legs seemed to respond well after the rest day on Saturday. I’ve been using the Roll Recovery R8 practically everyday along with using the foam roller to release my glutes. I haven’t really been sore because of it. Need to keep up this routine!

So, off to a good start! 15 weeks to go…

-J