9/21 - 9/24 Monday - Thursday: Off - part rest, part "I'm really behind and need to study like mad for anatomy" (which I passed, and P=MD, so yay!).
9/25 Friday: Easy run, easing back into it because I took a bunch of days off. Also it was early morning which put me in a bit of a time crunch. 3.3 mi, 31:45 total time, 9:38 average pace.
9/26 Saturday: "Tempo" run, by which I really just meant that since I only had time for short workouts, I figured I might as well take them quick(er than I usually do, because even though it felt like I was trying to run fast, I was still pretty slow objectively speaking). (Still studying for anatomy at this point in time, the exam was on Monday 9/28). 5.13 mi, 45:27, 8:51 pace.
9/27 Sunday: Off - studying, football, you know the deal with Sundays.
9/28 Monday: Post anatomy run! First full lap of Forest Park in a while. Took the counterclockwise loop. 7.04 mi, 1:07:16, 9:34 pace.
9/29 Tuesday: Still time strapped, went short, 1 mile easy, 2 fast, 1 easy. Aimed for under 8:30 pace in the middle two, which realistically should have been easy but wasn't (I think I missed it by a little bit on the second fast mile too, which I wasn't too happy about). 4.31 mi, 37:54, 8:48 pace.
9/30 Wednesday: It was an 8:30 am - 5:00 pm then need to go grocery shopping and eat sort of day so I cut myself some slack and just took it off. A couple late nights and budding cough made me feel like it was the right decision.
10/1 Thursday: Today! So the continuation of the late night trend did not end last night, but Henry convinced me it was worthwhile to power through my dread for today (it's a long busy day and it started earlier than I've been starting my days recently - habit is a powerful force) and just get what I needed to do done. So I did it. Took my first treadmill interval run of the year, it was an inevitable development as daylight hours get shorter and I'm really glad I just bit the bullet and did it. Now there's less novelty and I'm not going to dread having to put in treadmill time as much as I had been previously; I've already proven I can handle it. The set was as follows (all at 2% incline):
- WU: 1600 m @ 6.0 mph
- Main Set: interval pyramid
- 400 m @ 7.5, 200 m @ 6.0
- 800 m @ 7.5, 400 m @ 6.0
- 1200 m @ 7.5, 600 m @ 6.0
- 1600 m @ 7.5, 800 m @ 6.0
- 1200 m @ 7.5, 600 m @ 6.0
- 800 m @ 7.5, 400 m @ 6.0
- 400 m @ 7.5, 200 m @ 6.0
- WD: 800 m @ 6.0
- Total: 7.51 mi, 1:07:17
- Total by watch: 6.94 mi, 1:08:46 (forgot to turn this off at the end…), 9:55 pace.
So according to my watch I was going way slower than the treadmill said I was. In reality I'm guessing it's more of a midway between what my watch said and what the treadmill said. I feel like I was working at the right intensity though, the longest repeat hurt and so did every other repeat after that, I was definitely pushing just under threshold and that's where I want to be for now. Not being super aggressive with the speedwork, seeing as I haven't done much of it in the past few months, I don't have the best running base in the world right now, and I haven't seen a treadmill since I was in college. It was a good confidence boost though, just knowing that I can run intervals (which I'm pretty intimidated by still) and can handle myself on a treadmill for over an hour while staying focused and motivated (thank you for all the pep talks Henry) makes me feel like I'm in a better place and am moving in the right direction.
All in all, my plans to do a recovery week followed by two weeks of working hard are not really going that way. I took a "recovery" week but only because I was really busy and I think the ultimate result is that I'm not in a position to be doing really hard work. I'm adjusting appropriately and just focusing on finishing the Rock n Roll half in the best time I can given what I've got right now. So I'm focused on just preparing my body for the pounding and not worrying too much about the speed. I signed up for a December 15k, so I'll probably try to make a more regimented plan to build up to that race because I really do want to work on the speed side of things instead of just the endurance. That'll be a training plan I'll try to stick a little tighter to and will share once I've written.
As for the rest of the week, I'll be doing some morning stretching and dryland work (particularly stability work for my lower back) in the morning and taking a short run outside (3-4 miles, depends on what time and daylight allow) tomorrow, taking a long run on Saturday (probably around 10 miles), and taking a ride (24 mi) with Molly on Sunday. Still trying to figure out what the best plan is for next week, I'll post it up once I have it sorted out. Yay!
Much love,
Jess
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