During half training, I started a little training log by recapping my weeks here. I haven’t done that since the race, but I’m going to start again because I want somewhere to keep track of what I’ve been up to. (note: I’ve tried an actual paper running log, and it was not my cup of tea.)
This week’s highlights:
1.) I ran all of my weekday runs in the morning. This is unheard of in Amy land. While I enjoyed getting it done early and in cooler temps, it was tough. I definitely notice a difference in morning and evening in terms of alertness and the amount of time it takes to wake up my brain and get my legs warmed up.
While waiting for my watch, I was fascinated by my shadow.
2.) My marathon goal pace is most likely too fast. But it doesn’t really matter because: a) I’m not signed up for a race, and b) I don’t have any attachment to running that particular pace if I do. I’ll still use this pace for training, unless it becomes overly difficult, but I don’t have any illusions that I’ll magically be able to PR by over 40 minutes. (again, if I end up racing)
3.) My favorite boat has been missing for months and months, but I noticed a snazzy new boat that I like quite a lot.
No one can replace the Amy Elizabeth, but that red one in the middle there is pretty snazzy. I’ll have to get a close up some time.
4.) I need to run slower on easy days. I ended up with almost the same pace in my Tuesday easy run as I did on Monday for my Goal Pace work out, and as a result my legs felt like concrete during Wednesday’s run. I tried harder to be slow on Thursday and it worked out. I’m more proud of my 11+ miles on Thursday than of those 10 min miles on Tuesday.
5.) With temp and humidity swinging wildly from day to day, I have no idea what paces I should be running. I try to run by feel most days, but then when I look at the pace afterwards, it’s really hard for me to tell if that was good or bad.
6.) OMG I did cross training! I started (completed day 1 of) the Kinetic Revolution 30 Day Challenge a few weeks ago. But then I stopped after only 1 day, because I have trouble sticking with things like that. This week I started again..repeating day 1 on Friday morning! I had good intentions of doing day 2 on either Saturday or Sunday, but that didn’t actually happen. I have high hopes for this week, though.
7.) I stuck to my long run pacing plan, really well. I ran very easy for the first 7 miles, I ran medium hard for the next 5 miles, and then I ran the last 2 miles reasonably hard (not all out). As always, I wish my average pace was faster, but effort wise this system felt great.
Errrm….my tan lines are getting pretty bad.
And the numbers:
(probably more interesting to future Amy than to anyone reading this right now):
- Monday: (4x) 1 mile GP, 3:30 jog ::: 5.75 miles ::: 10:03/mile
- Tuesday: 35 minutes easy w/ (6) 20 second strides ::: 3.53 miles ::: 10:05/mile
- Wednesday: 55 minutes – 25 brisk, 5 easy, 25 brisk ::: 6.2 miles ::: 10:16/mile
- Thursday: 40 minutes easy ::: 3.62 miles ::: 11:02/mile
- Friday: Day 1 of Kinetic Revolution Challenge (Basic Mobility Stretches + Balance Drills)
- Saturday: Long Run – 14 miles ::: 11:28/mile
- Sunday: Rest Day
How was your week last week? Anyone else have some awesome tan lines?
Let's Go Running 
AWESOME training week! I’ve actually been able to keep up with my half plan, even if I have to go slower than I want to. I’m just happy to be running at all. Love those tan lines. When I got my runner’s tan last summer it was the first time I ever felt like a real runner haha.
It really was a good week, I hope I can carry the momentum into this week! It’s great news that you’ve been able to keep up with your half training; I really like that your chiro said he could fix you up without surgery, and I hope he does it quickly!
That shadow picture is cool! Awesome job with training this week… I really struggle with being slow enough on easy days, too. My legs always want to sprint (for a short distance!) and I feel ridiculous running super slow, but my race pace is pretty slow so it’s what I’ve got to do! Boo.
This is the first year in a long time that I haven’t had absurd soccer tan lines (where just my knees are tan, pretty much, thanks to shin guards and long socks) so I’ve been enjoying the crazy tan line by my ankles! Not as impressive as yours, though 😉
If you miss your soccer tan, you can always run in compression socks!
I’m particularly bad with the slow/easy runs in the summer, when all of a sudden easy gets slower. I made some good progress with my speed over the fall/winter/spring, and now when I run at an easy effort, the corresponding pace makes me feel like I’m moving backwards, even if my brain knows different.
This sounds like a great week of running! I also have trouble sticking with cross training, so don’t feel bad 🙂 Congrats on 14 miles though, that’s awesome!