Operation "Run Faster, Make Lungs Stronger" has Begun

...and so far so good!  I made my plan for the week based on pace instead of mileage, and I stuck to it well!  I actually exceeded all my pace goals, but that's perfect because the paces I had set ahead of time were really just minimums.  The goal was to try to stick to them so as not to start too fast and then lose the pace, and they did help me prevent that from happening.

In other news, all my hard work with TRX is paying off and 

I can see muscles in my arms now!

This week : 

M : 6.2 / 7:28 / 25 ft

yoga stretching

plan : 1 mile warm up, 4 miles @7:20 pace,  1 mile cool down

4 mile actual splits (7:02, 7:08, 6:59, 6:48)

T : warm up 1 / 9:00 / 62 ft

track workout 4.2 / 6:00 / 102 ft

cool down 1 / 9:20 / 0 ft

round-robin x 12 ab workout with group

plan : warm up, 3 x 1600 @ 6:25 pace, cool down

actual : 4 x 1600, average from 6:20 - 5:46, 4 minutes rest in between

W : TRX, full body 30 x 45/15

plan : TRX, full body

R : 7 / 7:25 / 276 ft

plan : 1 mile warm up, 6 miles @7:30 pace, 1 mile cool down

actual : 0.5 mile warm up, 6 miles ranging from 7:27 - 7:01, 0.5 mile cool down

F : off

Sa : 8.2 w/Adam / 7:34 / 66 ft

plan : 10 miles @ 8:00 pace

Su : 4 / 7:55 / 118 ft

yoga stretching

plan : jog, yoga

week total miles : 31.8

Consistency on splits didn't really happen this week, but on all runs but the track workout, split inconsistency has to do with placement of up/down hills.  I was trying to be consistent on the track, but the GPS was messing up and marking my splits in the wrong places, and therefore the pace info it was displaying was also not accurate.  I definitely worked to make the last one the fastest though.  

On Thursday, I had to make an unexpected trip up to PA, so I ran first thing in the morning before making the 6.5 hour drive.  I ended up sleeping an extra 40 minutes past my alarm because I decided sleep was slightly more important before a drive than the run, and that is the main reason I cut my warm up and cool down short.  Not that they completely made up for the 40 minutes by any means, but they still saved me a bit of time.  I usually have trouble running faster in the mornings, but I did some warmup yoga before the run, and it was at least after the sun came up, so I managed to stick to (overdo) my planned pace.

On Saturday I was catching up with a friend I haven't seen in years.  He only wanted 8 miles, and I decided it wasn't that important for me to get the planned 10, as long as I was running faster than the planned pace.  We started the run close to an 8 minute pace but gradually picked up speed throughout, making the last mile the hardest effort.

After some cold and gray days in PA, it was nice to arrive home and get out of my car to 75 degrees and sun!  I enjoyed my jog.  It was an easy effort for my legs, but a moderate-hard effort for my lungs, which are struggling a bit from spending 2 nights in a house that has been empty for a few months.  I think that combined with the fact that I wasn't running while in that house, and therefore not using my inhaler, caused me to notice the difference.  Since I wasn't running while there, I didn't even notice that my breathing was getting slightly more difficult until I was on my way out of the house.  Now, after 2 days in a row of running, I'm sure my lungs are just about back to normal.  

Gorgeous and 77 degrees for my run!

It was so nice out, I did my post-run stretching outside too!