FredtheDuck
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2017
Monday Training Update (Week 14): Week Ending 4/22
This was the plan for the week:
M - 4.5 @ EA
Tu - 1 @ WU, 4 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU, 1 @ CD
Th - 0.5 @ WU, 4 mile progression (11:47, 10:58, 10:33, 10:03), 0.5 @ CD
F - 5 @ EB + strides
S - 2 @ WU, 6 @ tempo, 2 @ CD
I think this week was technically the hardest in my plan. And the balance of easy/hard was probably tilted more towards hard because I skipped Monday, as I wrote last week.
I did my Tuesday run on the treadmill. I feel like maybe on one of the resting intervals, I slowed a little beyond my WU pace, but overall I think this run went fairly well. The first interval was definitely the hardest physically, the last one was just a mental exercise. It doesn't help that I've been up against the clock a lot in terms of my running finishing times, so the last little bit of a run is a little more challenging because I'm watching the time to see if I can finish the run before I need to get moving for work.
My Thursday run was SUPPOSED to be at the track. It was a nice enough day. But I woke up feeling not so great in the stomach department (a common theme, unfortunately), and felt like it was going to be smarter to stick close to home, so this was on the treadmill, too. Anyways, the notable thing about this run was how big of a hurdle the speed difference between the first and second progression miles is. Wait a minute, I just got in to this pace. Now you want me to speed up by almost a minute??? But then the nice thing was that the difference between 10:58 and 10:33 didn't seem huge, and 10:33 to 10:03 also felt fine (challenging, but doable). Again, I was up against the clock in terms of needing to finish and get ready for work, so it was actually kind of nice to have the run get faster towards the end.
Friday was lovely outside. I did my EB run outdoors and really enjoyed the sunrise. Garmin says my pace was 12:01/mi (my EB is 12:11), so that's getting better, too.
I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about my Saturday run. I was too fast on the WU (12:43 and 12:27 for miles 1 and 2, my WU pace is 13:50). My tempo miles were mostly fine, I just felt like I was grinding. I know you're supposed to, but I'm used to my LRs feeling a little bit more... comfortable. My pacing was OK. My tempo pace is 10:58. I did: 11:05, 10:55, 10:54, 10:45, 10:43, and 10:42. So I got faster as I went, which I know is good. I planned a route so that the nasty uphill I usually have to do was during my cool down miles. I still paced terribly for those. I think I was just ready to be done (and especially to get the big hill done). I did 12:10 and 11:58. I know I pace terribly for WU/CD miles, but that was bad even for me. It did feel nice and easy compared to tempo, but my Garmin blared at me the whole time.
So I guess it was a successful LR. I guess the reason I'm lukewarm about it is because I felt more sore in both my hips and my ankles than I have for most other LRs this cycle. I know the faster pacing is part of it. I also carried a water pack (like a vest) for hydration. I under-hydrated during my last 10 mile LR using just my hip belt, so I said anything over 8 needs the pack. Well, the pack made for some super sore shoulders and a sore upper back. I used a different bladder in it than I normally do, so I'm going to give it another shot during my 11 miler in early May using the "right" bladder to see if the different weight distribution helps. But if not, I'm going to have to think about my hydration strategy during the half in late May, because I'm not going to want to carry something that's going to make me that uncomfortable for those many miles. Maybe I'd just use my hip belt and have both bottles full of tailwind, then grab regular water from the aid stations? I liked the pack during my first HM because it meant I could keep moving and skip aid stations, I had water on demand. I don't know. I'll have to think about it.
So that was my week. I think I'm in the home stretch for this plan. I did get some running in this morning, although I had to cut a mile off. Better than the nothing I've been doing on my EA days. I'll take progress where I can find it.
This was the plan for the week:
M - 4.5 @ EA
Tu - 1 @ WU, 4 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU, 1 @ CD
Th - 0.5 @ WU, 4 mile progression (11:47, 10:58, 10:33, 10:03), 0.5 @ CD
F - 5 @ EB + strides
S - 2 @ WU, 6 @ tempo, 2 @ CD
I think this week was technically the hardest in my plan. And the balance of easy/hard was probably tilted more towards hard because I skipped Monday, as I wrote last week.
I did my Tuesday run on the treadmill. I feel like maybe on one of the resting intervals, I slowed a little beyond my WU pace, but overall I think this run went fairly well. The first interval was definitely the hardest physically, the last one was just a mental exercise. It doesn't help that I've been up against the clock a lot in terms of my running finishing times, so the last little bit of a run is a little more challenging because I'm watching the time to see if I can finish the run before I need to get moving for work.
My Thursday run was SUPPOSED to be at the track. It was a nice enough day. But I woke up feeling not so great in the stomach department (a common theme, unfortunately), and felt like it was going to be smarter to stick close to home, so this was on the treadmill, too. Anyways, the notable thing about this run was how big of a hurdle the speed difference between the first and second progression miles is. Wait a minute, I just got in to this pace. Now you want me to speed up by almost a minute??? But then the nice thing was that the difference between 10:58 and 10:33 didn't seem huge, and 10:33 to 10:03 also felt fine (challenging, but doable). Again, I was up against the clock in terms of needing to finish and get ready for work, so it was actually kind of nice to have the run get faster towards the end.
Friday was lovely outside. I did my EB run outdoors and really enjoyed the sunrise. Garmin says my pace was 12:01/mi (my EB is 12:11), so that's getting better, too.
I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about my Saturday run. I was too fast on the WU (12:43 and 12:27 for miles 1 and 2, my WU pace is 13:50). My tempo miles were mostly fine, I just felt like I was grinding. I know you're supposed to, but I'm used to my LRs feeling a little bit more... comfortable. My pacing was OK. My tempo pace is 10:58. I did: 11:05, 10:55, 10:54, 10:45, 10:43, and 10:42. So I got faster as I went, which I know is good. I planned a route so that the nasty uphill I usually have to do was during my cool down miles. I still paced terribly for those. I think I was just ready to be done (and especially to get the big hill done). I did 12:10 and 11:58. I know I pace terribly for WU/CD miles, but that was bad even for me. It did feel nice and easy compared to tempo, but my Garmin blared at me the whole time.
So I guess it was a successful LR. I guess the reason I'm lukewarm about it is because I felt more sore in both my hips and my ankles than I have for most other LRs this cycle. I know the faster pacing is part of it. I also carried a water pack (like a vest) for hydration. I under-hydrated during my last 10 mile LR using just my hip belt, so I said anything over 8 needs the pack. Well, the pack made for some super sore shoulders and a sore upper back. I used a different bladder in it than I normally do, so I'm going to give it another shot during my 11 miler in early May using the "right" bladder to see if the different weight distribution helps. But if not, I'm going to have to think about my hydration strategy during the half in late May, because I'm not going to want to carry something that's going to make me that uncomfortable for those many miles. Maybe I'd just use my hip belt and have both bottles full of tailwind, then grab regular water from the aid stations? I liked the pack during my first HM because it meant I could keep moving and skip aid stations, I had water on demand. I don't know. I'll have to think about it.
So that was my week. I think I'm in the home stretch for this plan. I did get some running in this morning, although I had to cut a mile off. Better than the nothing I've been doing on my EA days. I'll take progress where I can find it.