Fun! I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of crowds at Sant Pau. I have not been to the palace of music, but have read great things about it as well. We love the med!! I'm sure there are no wrong decisions about what to see or do.
. My next registered race isn't until January so this is mostly filler until it's time to start HM training, but it's filler with a purpose. 
). To try to find some of that hope, I'll be spending the next 2.5 months focused on strength training with only a side of running. In the past, I've tried to incorporate strength training, and some efforts were more successful than others, but it never really stuck. It was always the first thing to go when my schedule got jammed. 
. I ran 23:01 last year so this isn't that far off, but it still seems ambitious. Especially since I don't even have a real race on the calendar 
. Speaking of my race calendar, hopefully I'll find something local that makes sense for evaluating how this plan went. 
. I started the 5K plan with a benchmark run on my birthday. It was hot & humid but I guess that's summer running. The benchmark includes a 2 min warm up & cool down with 5 minutes of steady running in between. I wish that it told me what steady should feel like, but I just went with what felt right and managed to cover .65 miles for a 7:45 pace. Last time I did a benchmark was 4 years ago. Back then, my pace was 7:56 & .63 miles so at least I'm not getting worse 
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, and managed 2:15 of strength which is also more than my June training time (and more than every month since October). 
41 over here and after 7-9 years off (Been back at it for 1.5ish maybe) I am not far off from my PR's. Dont let the number deter you from your goals!For the last few years, I've been having a lot more niggles. This is likely a side effect of being closer to 40 than 30 but that doesn't mean all hope is lost (I hope
I started speed work again and ugh... Last week was timed durations that garmin suggested and I like the idea so just went with it. This Wednesday is mile repeats and I am starting with 3 of them w/ 1/2 mile recovery between them. Im not looking forward to it at all! It is hot and humid here as well. I cant wait for that first cool front, not even cold, just cool where its maybe 68 at 6:00 AM! I question why I put these crazy workouts together as well lol. I think summer is just about surviving the miles to be ready for the big races in the fall and winter.
I forgot how much the heat has an impact. I live in a cooler part of the country than you but by body is not adapted at all. I was aiming for 5K pace but ended up at 10K pace. Definitely not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but not the goal.
The heat / RH% can make a big difference in our runs. On speedwork I am about 15-30 seconds slower on the same effort as I was during the winter. I know I am making progress once I start hitting the paces again during summer because that should mean come the cooler months m paces will drop. Not sure if that makes sense, but in short a 8 min race pace effort in July should end up being around 7:30-7:45 pace in January. In theory at least lol.I forgot how much the heat has an impact. I live in a cooler part of the country than you but by body is not adapted at all. I was aiming for 5K pace but ended up at 10K pace. Definitely not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but not the goal.
Luckily, I'm just trying to stay active and not gain fitness. I'll save that for fall when it's nice again
Great point. It's something that I know intellectually but often forget... At least once a year
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Thank you!! Me too. It’s been years since I’ve actually made something with my sewing machine. I really don’t even remember the last time before this cruise.Love your costume!
. Anyone have any tips to make strength training fun? I’m wondering if I need to find some sort of group fitness class or something. 
. Based on my goal time, my easy pace is set at 8:49-9:49. This is definitely faster than I usually run my easy days, especially when it’s warm out. However, since I’m only running 4 days a week, I have plenty of recovery time so I have been typically trying to hit those paces. Tuesday just wasn’t one of those days and I finished with an average pace of 10:50 including my warm up & cool down. Oh well, I’m not bothered by it in the least. . 
. I did my second strength training in the afternoon, chest & triceps. It was fine.
I’m not driving 3.5 hours for a 5K but I appreciate the efforthttps://www.tcmevents.org/alleventsandraces/medtronictwincitiesmarathonweekend/tc5k
Just going to leave that here….
I’m not driving 3.5 hours for a 5K but I appreciate the effort
There’s at least 4 within walking distance of my home in the timeframe that I’m eyeing.
Seen this a few days ago…Summer of Strength + 5K
Week 6
We’re halfway through my summer training and despite a few detours, I feel good about how it’s going. I haven’t gained any meaningful running fitness, but I also haven’t lost it, despite only averaging 14 miles per week. Honestly, it’s wild to think I’ve been running so little compared to last year. Of course, last July I ran 180+ miles in the throes of marathon training. I was never going to get close to that this summer. The lower mileage has been a welcome mental and physical reset. It’s been a long time since I dreaded or didn’t want to run. My niggles haven’t gone away but they are much less frequent and bothersome. My strength training is still intermittent, but I do feel stronger than I did 6 months ago, especially in my core but I can also do more than 5 pushups at a time so that’s a win too
I have been thinking about how I evaluate the summer plan once it’s finished, and I’m still very undecided. At this point, I really doubt the Lookout Cay 5K is happening in any sort of official capacity. I looked for some local 5Ks but none of them are really calling my name. The weather is also still a risk in mid September so I might just wait and see how the temperatures are trending. If all else fails, I can run another benchmark run and see how that good. Ultimately, the goal of the summer isn’t to produce big race results (although it would be a pleasant surprise). The goal is to be ready for half marathon training at the end of September.
Okay, enough blabbing. Onto the recap!
On Monday I made a big change in my strength training. I had been following Jillian Michels 90 day shred (I think that’s what it’s called?). As you might recall, I sorta hated it. And her. She has a lot of annoying phrases like “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” and ultimately it just got to be too much. My nutritionist suggested a few apps to me and so I decided to try one of those out.
This new app, caliber, created a 4 day a week plan for me that started with legs. Leg day consisted of things like squats, lunges, and hip thrusts. Nothing too different from what I had been doing but in a very different format. I workout in my basement and I could definitely feel the stairs afterwards
Btw, I have a nutritionist through the nourish app and it’s been amazing. She’s taught me a lot about fueling properly. It’s covered by my health insurance which is a nice bonus.
Anyway, Tuesday was an easy run and my legs were feeling it. They felt like I had run a really tough half marathon + the day prior. The run was fine but it did make me a bit hopeful that this strength training could improve my running which was never really the purpose. I just wanted to fix some muscle imbalances.
Wednesday was hill repeats which went fine. Garmin didn’t provide much (any) guidance on how to pace these. My paces stayed fairly consistent so I guess I did okay. Maybe could have pushed a bit more but my legs were still sore. I also really thought it was 6x45 sec repeats but it turned out to be 8. What a pleasant surprise
Thursday was a rest day from running but I did my third strength training session, shoulders & abs. I surprised myself by holding a plank for 60 seconds before I decided that was enough. I only made it 45 for the second set.
Friday was another easy run and Saturday was my final strength session, back & biceps. I finished the week on Sunday with a 60 min long run. I could feel some twinges in my legs during this but I think it was mostly due to the park road camber.
In total, I covered 16 miles and just over an hour of strength. Certainly nothing groundbreaking, but it all felt achievable and like I could keep building on it.
Happy running y’all!
