I love my running group and running friends, of course! But after running alone for so many years, sometimes I really miss it. And it is hard to figure out where I am race-pace wise when I am always running someone else's pace. Also, running has always been something I do for me and it is really nice to put in headphones and just go! Nothing but the pavement, my thoughts, and the music to keep me company if my thoughts shut up for a minute or two. This week I was feeling burned out on running with people and definitely enjoyed all my solo runs!
This week :
M : TRX @ GVF 45 minutes
horseback ride 35 minutes
hill run 4 / 7:38 / 315 ft
Pub Run 3.1 / 9:09 / 0ft
T : solo track ladder 8.5 / 9:01 / 98 ft
200,400,600,800,1000,1000,800,600,400,200, walk recoveries 200-400
W : 6 / 8:10 / 282 ft
R : 7 / 7:26 / 338 ft
5 miles tempo alternating goal marathon/half marathon paces
F : yoga 20 minutes
Sa : 12.5 / 8:14 / 650 ft
Su: TRX 30 x 45/15
total miles : 41.1
I was still in Lewisburg on Monday, as I used my 2 personal days for the year on Monday and Tuesday and spent a long weekend there. It was nice to do a TRX class at the gym where my friend is an instructor, and then I relaxed for awhile before going to ride horses with her. That evening, I enjoyed running some quick hills before the Pub Run, despite the crazy wind storm that was going on, and then had a nice easy 5k with a friend for the Pub Run.
On Tuesday, the guys backed out of the track workout since they had done their long run on Sunday instead of Saturday, but I was determined to stick to my plan so I went to the track alone. I ran my intervals by feel rather than by the watch, and was happy to be within 3 seconds on each pair of intervals especially since all but 600s were faster the second time.
200s : 40, 38
400s : 1:29, 1:27
600s : 2:15, 2:18
800s : 3:10, 3:07
1000s : 4:01, 4:00
Wednesday is normally a workout or rest day, but it was absolutely gorgeous and warm out, so I couldn't resist going for a nice easy jog. (Especially since there was no usual faculty meeting and so I got home on time)
On Thursday I decided I wanted to run alone instead of with the group, so that I could really focus on my own pace. The idea was to alternate goal marathon/half marathon pace, but I am really bad at running my planned paces... I would like to blame the hills for that, as they make it hard to stick to a pace, but I know it is also due to me not being quite disciplined enough. My goal marathon pace doesn't tend to feel very fast, so it's hard to consider it a "real" workout. Currently, goal marathon pace is 7:30, and goal half marathon pace is 6:40. My marathon pace miles were too fast and my half marathon pace miles were too slow, but the hills were different for every mile, and definitely played a role in the pacing. In the end, I'm just going to say the marathon/half marathon "efforts" were being exerted and call it good enough.
Friday is usually my complete rest day, but I hadn't done yoga all week. I really wasn't in the mood for it on Friday either though, so I did about 10-15 minutes of yoga and then did a bit of stretching, and decided it was all close enough.
My plan for Saturday changed many times, both while planning it and during the actual run. I believe I had originally planned 12, but at some point decided to do 14 instead. I then played with the idea of doing 5-7 tempo miles in the middle of it. However, at some point in the middle of the week I discovered that I was about 5 lbs under my ideal weight. (Apparently all the extra miles + a reduction in the already-small bit of weekly alcohol I was drinking finally took their toll). I did not want to carry water/fuel for a run of 14 miles or less. I started out my run thinking I was going to do 14. But then I got to thinking about how big a difference 5 lbs underweight is for me. And about how I had run 18.5 last weekend and was doing 30 next weekend. And how all those factors meant I should not be overdoing it this weekend. First, I dropped the idea of tempo miles because I didn't think I could do them efficiently while underweight without fuel. Then I dropped the 14 mile idea thinking 12 was plenty in between last weekend's and next weekend's miles. The one goal I stuck to was wanting to keep the average pace between 8 and 8:30. I was doing pretty well for most of the run, but the last 4 miles were really windy. In my face wind. I thought for sure I was going to completely lose the pace, but somehow it appears I did a good job of fighting the wind! And I suspect I am also just stronger than I want to give myself credit for.... I have done so few long runs alone in the last few months, it is hard to know what pace I am really capable of. I was really happy with my average pace for this run. It was less than half of the marathon distance, but I was not trying to race it either. It was a great solo mid-distance training run to see where I am.
It was chilly on Saturday (it felt so weird to wear long sleeves),
but it was gorgeous out!
Upcoming
Next weekend I am doing a very belated 30 miles for 30 years (which might end up being an early 31 for 31... I was not in shape to run 30 miles on my 30th birthday, but had thought I would either bike 30 miles or run 30 minutes. Instead, I started celebrating the end of the school year at noon with my coworkers, and then went straight to my birthday party at 6. Now, I am actually capable of running 30 miles, and I am determined to do it before I turn 31. I had originally planned it for the 20th, but then I decided I should move it up a week to give myself more time to recover before my June 10 marathon.
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