Monday:
Planned – AM: 35 minutes @143, PM: 45 minutes @153
Actual – good start to the week with just over 5 miles at 6:40/mile pace. Legs initially felt a little jaded after the busy weekend, but soon woke up as we hit goal effort.
The afternoon run was a bit more of a struggle in the early miles – I just couldn’t get my heart rate up into the 150bpm zone. Finally, after a couple of miles of trying, the heart rate locked in and I was able to cruise along for the remainder of the run. Pleased with the average pace (6:24/mile) considering it wasn’t an all-out effort.
Tuesday
Planned – AM: 35 minutes @143, PM: 60 minutes w/ 12 WU, 3 x 12 @160 (2 minute recovery), 6 minutes easy
Actual – cooler than Monday, so the average pace was slightly quicker for this easy morning run.
The afternoon run was probably one of the toughest workouts I’ve attempted in quite some time. The 12 minute warm-up was easy enough, but I struggled to get my heart rate up to 160bpm on each of the hard efforts. Pretty pleased with the outcome though, and I guess that’s another 36 minutes of quality running in the bank. Good baseline for future attempts at this workout too…
Wednesday
Planned – 75 minutes hills to include 4 Criss Cross, 3 Long Hill, 3 Steep Hill and a hard loop around the lake to finish
Actual – nice variety of Mt. Trashmore hills on a warm Wednesday afternoon. I much prefer the “Long Hill” and “Criss Cross” efforts to the “Steep Hills” – these are only short, but crazy challenging to me. I need to stick with the plan though and give them my best effort as long-term I know they’ll make me a stronger and faster runner. The hard effort around the lake to finish off was a tough one, but I managed to close things out with a just-over 6 minute mile. 82? and sunny at the start, but at least it cooled off to 79? by the time I was done.
Thursday
Planned – AM: 45 minutes @153, PM: 45 minutes @143
Actual – silly me mixed up the AM and PM runs, and ran the easier one before the “steady” effort in the afternoon. No harm done though, and mission accomplished on both workouts. Pleased with my 14 miles for the day at an average 6:27/mile pace!
Friday
Planned – rest day
Actual – great to have a [much-needed] rest day.
Saturday
Planned – 10 miles @143
Actual – decided to use the easy 10 miler to try out some new shoes – the Skechers GOrun; a lightweight, responsive shoe with a 4mm heel drop. Initial impressions of the GOrun are very favorable and I’m excited to test them further in future runs. The run itself was fairly uneventful, but I was pleased to average just under 7:00/mile pace for the double digit run.
Sunday
Planned – 18 miles w/ 6 miles @143, 6 miles @153, 6 miles @153
Actual – this was a fairly challenging run to end a tough week of training, but I stuck at it and am sure will be stronger for getting it done. I ran 2 loops of the windy, undulating Osmanthus Trail to complete the first 6 miles, then headed out for the middle portion of the run along the muddy Cape Henry Trail.
Initially I found it difficult to pick up the pace, then a couple of miles further down the trail I felt the first annoyances of a blister starting to form under my right big toe. I’d decided to test out a pair of CEP Compression Socks with my Hoka One One Mafate 2s, but for some reason they didn’t seem to get on and I was forced to alter my foot strike to avoid some serious skin damage. It was a big relief to finish off the middle 6 mile section and head back to the MINI where I could change the offending sock. Ally was already done with her 75 minute run, so I wasted no time in getting back on the trail to finish off the final 6 miles.
I decided to run another couple of loops of Osmanthus to close out the 18. My legs were already fatigued so it was a pretty good challenge to keep plodding along the twisty, turny trail. The miles ticked along fairly slowly, so it was nice to finally get back on the main trail and head back to the car for some much needed fluids and dry change of clothes. The humidity was off the charts for this run, so despite the cooler temperature at the start, it was a bit of a sweatfest to say the least.
Summary
The week went well. Very well, actually. Despite some slightly fatigued legs, I’m really pleased with the 78 miles for the week (3 more than last week) at an average pace of 6:52/mile. Let’s hope I can minimize the aches and pains and keep things ticking along until the 12-HR ATR next month. Happy Miles!