New Training Plan for Hot Chocolate 15k on 10/30/16!
So my days of aimlessly figuring out what to do as I go are over and I'm back to a real plan on real paper. Just the way I like it.
But I guess now it is up to me to actually do the stuff on the paper and so I'll be checking in here frequently to let you all know how I'm progressing.
Overall plan highlights:
The plan was created by
@DopeyBadger with the same kind of philosophy as my 8k plan from this spring but with new paces and a much longer final distance goal.
I had a wide net of race times this year as my focus was a little all over the place. Everything from all out racing as fast as possible to focusing on starting slow and speeding up to races where I was just trying to hold steady at a comfy-ish pace as long as possible. So instead of using my really fast 5k pace from last year (28:34) we are instead using my recent 5k pace from this July at 9:40 as the basis of the plan. Since 15k is uncharted territory this makes a whole lot more sense for me. I had more to give in that 5k but this 15k is a different animal

This is an A race for me so I would very much like to cross the finish line giving my very best effort.
Here's the pace breakdowns for the type of workouts.
WU & CD (warm ups and cool downs) 13:52
EA (Easy A) 13:03
EB (Easy B) 12:13
LR (Long Run) 11:48
T (Tempo) 10:22
S (Speed) 9:40
These are slower than my 8k program and so it will take some getting used to it I am sure. But I have lots of weeks to work with it.
I'm running three days a week. The goal is Tues, Thur and Sundays. But if schedule gets busy I'm going to get all three runs in every week!
Looks like it features an easier day, a speedy day (tempo run...yay), and my weekend long runs.
Billy has built in quite a few "blind run" days where I have to cover my watch and go by feel to see where I am at. Keeps me honest and it's fun being a science experiment
Week ONE! 7/25 week
Mon: Off, watching the bachelor & painting my toes.
Tues:
3 miles @ EA = 39:09 minutes
Wed: Off, but I'd like to go back to doing my little seven minute workout in my basement again. Just helps my core and arms feel better.
Thur:
2 mi WU, 1 mi @ Tempo, 2 mile CD = 55:26 easy & 10:22 hard
Fri: Off
Sat: Off
Sun:
3 mi @ LR = 35:25
So we have a long run that will feel like a short run this week, but that will change as the weeks go by. And with the way the weather has been I will take it. I've got my gym pass and lock and gym stuff out and at the ready for Tue and Thur night. I have a list of podcasts to try on my EA nights. I've got Game of Thrones (yes re-watching it) at the ready for Tempo night. My goal is to watch during the easy bits and then switch to heart-pumping music on spotify for my tempo parts.
Other stuff non-training related:
I went out dancing with hubby to big band music at our local ballroom on Friday night and I had a few observations. In our young days we went out and did this several times a month but it's been over a year for me.
A) my dress was a little too big...been a long time since I could say that.
B) I could keep up! I was still a sweaty mess after the fast songs but hubby and I could do several in a row and not need to take a break. Usually when I come back from long dance hiatus I have to take breathers after only one fast song.
C) I survived without any blisters in my dance heels but hubby got one from his dress shoes...he was happy to report that his 12 mi bike ride and two mile run yesterday did not cause any additional blister damage.
D) My best friend from out of town, who was in town, revealed to me that she's been doing cross-fit and running for about a month, inspired by us and we picked out a turkey trot and a santa run to do together when she's home for the holidays. I'm really excited about that. She's up to 3 miles. She's a college coach so she's got the athletic thing down but was a former-hater-of-running.
I also cooked some mega-evil spaghetti this weekend. This is squid ink pasta with shrimp. I'm saving this recipe for halloween.
It's so nice to have my Blue Apron back and groceries in the house. I feel better when I eat better. Not saying the mcnuggets I recently had weren't revelatory at the time, but I just can't do that all the time.