Running Renaissance: One Skip Ahead of my Doom

Oh yep! He uses Daniels R for pacing. And now I understand, I interpreted your previous post as meaning you were building up to a mile in training, but that's your goal. R is indeed the 1-mile pace.
 
Oh yep! He uses Daniels R for pacing. And now I understand, I interpreted your previous post as meaning you were building up to a mile in training, but that's your goal. R is indeed the 1-mile pace.
I feed off the race day adrenaline and crowd and I don’t know if I have the guts to do it in training but there are two time trials so I guess we’ll find out 😬
 
Spring Training Week - Phase 1 - Week 6/13

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Achooo! I was sick most of last week which was a major bummer. I haven’t been sick at all since November so I guess it was just my time. I’m finally feeling better and able to breathe through my nose so at least things are on the upswing.

Monday - Easy 5 - I don’t think the weather was particularly bad but I opted for the treadmill because I was tired of winter. I came back to the Midwest at least one month too early.

Tuesday - R 8x400 - this was a hard one! I had been wishing for longer intervals and I guess I should be careful what I wish for. I had to learn how to breathe and also keep pushing when it was uncomfortable. The goal was 1:42 per rep. I managed 1:49, 1:41, 1:41, 1:42, 1:48, 1:45, 1:45, 1:42. The first interval is a liar and I’m happy that I could nail that last one. Not perfect and room to improve but not too shabby.

I followed the run with a 360 runners workout which was a lot of fun. It featured a lot of pivoting and twisting about and it definitely challenged my balance and stability. I was surprisingly sore the next day so I’d say this is another keeper.

Wednesday-Sunday - Rest - this was not planned but I caught some horrible cold and did not have any energy to spare. I’m ready to move on for the week so that’s all I’ll say about that.

A disappointing 12 miles in 2 hrs on the week 😭

Happy running y’all!
 
Spring Training Week - Phase 1 - Week 7/13
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I’m oh so very tired of winter. Previously, I always preferred winter running over summer but I just don’t think that’s the case anymore. I’ve also been noticing my mood is severely impacted by the winter weather. Spring is officially a week away and I sincerely hope some spring like weather is on the way just as quickly.

Monday - Rest - Officially I had an easy run scheduled but I was still recovering from being sick.

Tuesday - Easy 4 - First run in nearly a week and I could feel it. The muscles were fine but I had to keep it nice and slow to stay in an easy HR zone.

Wednesday - rest - I debated running since I had missed so many days but I was trying to get back on schedule so kept the rest day.

Thursday - Easy 4 - it was snowing and I did this on the treadmill. It was fine. Felt a bit easier than Tuesday.

Friday - Easy 5 - this run felt amazing. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and share it with all of you because that’s how good it was. 🏃‍♀️

Saturday - Easy 6 - Officially back on schedule 😊. I delayed this run to the afternoon because we had a few errands to run, including bathing these fluffs.
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Unfortunately, the inch of forecasted snow turned into 6 inches of snow so I was back on the treadmill. I started watching Tron which was much better than I expected. It’s not some cinematic masterpiece but it was interesting enough to keep me distracted. Anyway, I got the run done.

Sunday - Easy 9.5 3 - I was really hopeful I’d be able to get outside for this but that was just not in the cards. The snow from Saturday had turned all the streets and sidewalks into treacherous icy death traps. I hit up the treadmill again, finished Tron and just could not keep going. Purely a lack of motivation which sucks. I truly enjoy running outdoors but the treadmill is just something that I endure so that I can run outdoors. Blegh. I even tried just walking for a bit but couldn’t get into it.

On the bright side, I completed 22 miles on the week in nearly 4 hours. Pretty far off from the plan but 10 miles more than last week. There was no strength training as I was easing back into it, but I’ll add that back to the mix this week.

And Bucky finally got a haircut 😁. Hattie’s is still a work in progress 🙃

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I share your intense dislike of the treadmill. It's in the same tier as daylight saving time.
I’ve been trying to think what other things are in this same tier and currently the only contender is birds. I’m not looking forward to the geese which will soon start blocking my paths or the red wing blackbirds that will assault me from their lookouts.
 
I’ve been trying to think what other things are in this same tier and currently the only contender is birds. I’m not looking forward to the geese which will soon start blocking my paths or the red wing blackbirds that will assault me from their lookouts.

Birds are huge jerks! There's a whole subreddit dedicated to this, which I don't think I can link because of the name. There's even a video game devoted solely to how horrible geese are! (I recommend it, it's pretty cathartic.)
 
Spring Training - Phase 1 - Week 8/13

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Wooooo! I completed all of my scheduled training this week for the first time in roughly a month. It was not easy. It’s still winter here and we had arguably the worst weather of the season this week.

Monday - Easy 6 - the trails were still icy death traps so I took advantage of the treadmill.

Tuesday - R 5x600 + 4x200 - the weather was still undesirable but it was forecast to be 50 and sunny on Wednesday. I decided to postpone this one since I needed some sunshine in my life and I'd still have a day to recover before the next R workout.

Wednesday - Rest R 5x600 + 4x200 - Yowza! That's a lot of R! 🏴‍☠️. I checked the training plan no less than 17 times to make sure I didn't make an error. 3800 meters of "mile" pace. Obviously not continuous but I was still scared. The 600s had a goal time of 2:33 and the 200s were 51 seconds. I was within 3 seconds on all the 600s except for one which was straight into a headwind. Surely that counts for a few seconds? The 200s were all shockingly right on pace except for one where I had to slow down for ice🥶. Very proud of this one. It was tough and I was tired afterward but I snuck in a quick core workout anyway.

Thursday - Easy 6 - I had to sneak this in before work and the rain which made daylight savings even more annoying since it was a tight squeeze between the rain and daylight. Did some quick yoga and man did I need it.

Friday - R 2x600 + 2x400 + 3x300 - This run looked easier on paper than Wednesday so I wasn't nearly as worried. However my quads were still sore so I probably could have used the extra day in between. It was also very windy and cold. The wind chill was just barely in the double digits. My sidewalk was an icy death trap because the temperature plummeted so fast the day before. Fortunately the rest on the route was clear.

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I squeezed in a quick plank workouts before going out to watch basketball and celebrate St Patrick's Day. Sadly my hometown Drake bulldogs lost but I did get an extra 2 miles of running in since I ran to and from the festivities to stay warm 🙃

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Saturday - Easy 6 - I postponed this run until the heat of the day... -2 at 1pm 🤣🤣. I 100% would have run this on the treadmill but we had a guest for the weekend and the treadmill is in the guest room. I had managed to overdress the day before so I hoped that if I dressed the same, I'd be fine. I nearly turned around less than a half mile into the run because in addition to the 40 mph winds, it started snowing. But I told myself that I could make it at least 4 miles and then call it if I was still miserable. Shortly after I stumbled onto a race course and saw the very tail end of the marathon runners. The weather never got better, but I knew if they could run a marathon in these conditions, I could manage an easy hour run. ✅

Sunday - Easy 9.5 - it was above freezing today! 🥳🥳 I headed to a nearby lake to run a couple of loops and the run felt very good. Finished off the run with some strength training.

I didn't get dealt a very good hand with the weather this week, but I'm happy that I persevered. Just under 42 miles in 7 hours for the week. The most miles since marathon week in January!

Happy running y'all!
 
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Spring Training - Phase 1 - Week 9.2/13

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Running is such a roller coaster. Flying high, feeling invincible one week and then absolutely slugging along the next. This past week was a tough one. It was likely a combination of things. I started Monday already exhausted because of the busy weekend before and just could never get caught back up. I was also abnormally sore and irritable. Questions of overtraining were frequenting my head but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Monday - Easy 6 - Did the first 12 min with my partner. The rest of the run was a slog and my glutes were noticeably sore. Actually, they’re still sore over a week later 😣

On the bright side, Hattie has been doing this adorable thing where she cuddles up next to Bucky in the same bed. I don’t think Bucky finds it as charming as I do but she willingly puts up with it.

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Tuesday - I 4x1200 - Naturally, I was nervous. It was my first time with I this cycle since I had missed the others due to sickness and recovery. I tried telling myself not to worry since I is slower than R and those workouts have been going fine. Goal for I is 7:14. The first interval was 7:32 but the first interval is a liar so I tried again. 7:23. Closer but still not there. 7:43 😩 7:31 😖. Blegh. Not a good run at all. I was pushing as best I could but just could not get there. I was more excited than usual for my rest day the next day.

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - Easy 6 - mixed up the run a bit to try to find the joy again. Ended up 1/4 mile over and still not loving it.

Friday - R 45x600 - As you can see, and probably would have guessed, this was another tough run. My legs felt like concrete. I was surprised the first two intervals were fairly close. Then I hit my turn around point and realized I had been running with a nice tailwind. The wind was now hitting me straight on and my pace suffered. When my 4th interval was at a 7:31 pace, I knew I was done. Unfortunately, I still had to run home but I did so at an easy pace instead of one more interval.

Saturday - Easy 6 - This was another slog. My pace was over a minute slower than prescribed. This is something that I usually don’t even bother to worry about on easy days but it amplified how slow I was feeling. I seriously started questioning why I decided training for a mile race was a good idea.

Sunday - Easy 9.5 - I’m still feeling guilty about missing this one. I’m not sure 9.5 would have been right, but I could have done something. However, based on the weeks events, I could not get motivated. Looking back, my rHR was 52 😧. It’s usually low 40s when healthy and rested. It will creep up to mid 40s when training ramps up but never above 50. Was my body fighting off something? Was I overdoing it? I’m still not sure but I am taking a conscious step back on my strength training. I had been pushing myself because stronger muscles could make me faster but not when it’s impacting my running performance.

And now for the .2 🙃. We’re already 2 days into this week, my rest day is tomorrow, and my big race is on a Tuesday so my plan is to shift to Tuesday/Wednesday posts for the next 4 weeks

Monday - Easy 6 - I really wasn’t into this run. It took a lot to even get me out of the door. Then when I was on the run I realized how tired my legs felt and debated walking home. I tried to tell them they were strong and we would make it. Step by step we kept moving. It wasn’t pretty but I felt much stronger having finished the run.

Tuesday - Mile Time Trial - With how things had been going, I was very nervous for this. 😬😬😬. Last time I did a time trial in February 2022 my time was 7:26. Slower than my fitness would have indicated at the time, but my best (maybe only?) timed mile. My big scary goal for this training block is to break 7 min at the Grand Blue Mile. I spent most of the warm up telling myself that anything between those two times would be an excellent result. I even told myself that I should not expect to go sub 7 since we’re still weeks away from race day.

I ran to an open floodgate approximately 2 miles from my home to use as a start line. Then I spent a few minutes doing some stretches and trying to get my hr under 100 but when I realized nerves were not going to let that happen, I decided it was time to let it rip.

With all of the R workouts, I have a pretty good idea of what a mile pace should feel like. Regardless, I started at a pace too quick for me to keep and was huffing and puffing. Not wanting to get in my head anymore than I already was, I decided to run this blind so I had no idea how I was doing but knew I still had over half left and had to keep pushing. I focused on my breathing and cadence and kept digging. Getting my breathing under control was difficult but I managed to keep moving forward. I even had a little baby kick at the end (not much, sprinting has never been my strength). Relief swept over me as my watch buzzed at the end of one mile. On the one hand, I couldn’t breathe and thought I might vomit but, on the other, it still felt like I had something left in the tank.

I spent the mile cooldown in pep talk mode. I was determined not to let it negatively impact my mood. My watch has been congratulating me on false mile PRs nearly every run so I was anticipating a congratulations. When it didn’t buzz immediately, my heart sank a bit but then this beauty popped on the screen and I was over the moon.

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6:51!?!?! I didn’t even think that was possible. 🤯 The app officially says 6:56 on the lap. I’m not sure why it’s different but I’m still pleased with that result and having a hard time believing it’s real. On the afternoon dog walk I nearly had myself convinced that I must have misread the numbers and it was actually 7:5x.

So maybe training for a mile wasn’t crazy Maybe I can do this. Right now, I’m just hoping this upswing lasts for a few weeks and I can ride this wave until race day. 🤞🤞




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Happy running y’all!
 
That's awesome, congratulations! I'm racing this weekend but am feeling kind of blah currently as well, so I'm taking hope from your success after a crappy week!
 
Spring Training - Phase 1 - Week 10/13
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It was another up and down week so here’s a little reminder to us all. Just try your best. Not only is it enough, but it’s all you’ve got.

Wednesday - Rest - Earned it!

Thursday - Easy 6 - it was abnormally warm and windy. Spring is officially here and so are the storms 🙄. The run was good.

Friday - T+R - This was a very complicated run that I don’t feel like typing out. Lots of pace changing. There were 30mph sustained winds plus gusts. I could tell the conditions were rough within the first half mile. I debated turning around to run on the treadmill but I knew by the time I did that, I wouldn’t have time to run over lunch and that risked the run being completed altogether. I gave it my best effort and tried to run a route that would be more protected. My first T mile was VERY slow. The second mile was closer but still 30 seconds too slow. Next was R 4x200. I was in a reasonably sheltered area and these were actually right on pace. Next was another T mile but for some reason I thought it was more R and started out waaaay too hot. I had to stop and walk for a bit and then tried to finish but of course was too slow. After a brief rest, it was time for another T mile. For some reason, I just could not do it. I decided to jog the rest of the interval, catch my breath, and really try to nail the very last T mile. Well, by the time that came around, I was back to the very exposed and windy part of the trail and knew I wouldn’t be able to keep pace. 😞 There was no more pace running but I did manage another mile for cool down. To make matters worse, I lost a piece to one of my earbuds. Definitely should have done this one inside.

On the bright side, I saw some excellent chalk art on my way to BBBS.
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I remember drawing those ‘S’ when I was young and I’m very happy it’s still a thing 😎

Saturday - Easy 6 - This was such a good run. Sunny, 50, and winds less than 25mph. There were lots of folks out so I took advantage and switched up my route a bit. Due to the previous days events, I ran without music but didn’t really miss it.

Sunday - Easy 9.5 - It was predicted to be 70 in the afternoon so I successfully convinced myself to run in the morning before it got too warm 🙃. It was cloudy but conditions were otherwise great. I traveled to a new trail and kept it nice and slow.
I didn’t want to spend 100+ minutes with my own thoughts so I ran with just one earbud and that worked fine. I’ve done that in the past but it’s not my favorite so I spent some time in the afternoon researching my options. Ultimately, I decided this was as good of a time as any to try shokz. I usually just buy cheapo wireless ones but it’s very difficult to find any that will stay put. Plus I often take one out or pause my music to hear my surroundings.

Monday - Easy 6 - The run was fine but I’m really tired of the wind. Fortunately, it was an easy run so no pace pressure. My shokz arrived beforehand so I got to try those out. 🤩. These things are pure magic. I could hear runners footsteps coming up behind me and my music. I was a little nervous about the sound quality but I have no complaints. Honestly, they sound better than what I had been using anyway.

Tuesday - R 2x600 + 2x400 + 2x300 - 600m of R is a lot and even though I’ve done it before, it makes me nervous. Oh, and there were 25 mph winds again 😫. On top of all that, I thought last Tuesday may have been a fluke and I was in for a repeat of Friday. Thankfully, things went my way and my pacing was solid. Except I did finish the last 3 reps at 6:30 pace… whoops. At least some of that was wind assisted.

All sorts of doubts were creeping into my head after Friday. How could things go so well on Tuesday and then so sideways a few days later? A few more days removed, and I’m feeling much better now. We all have bad runs. Unfortunately, it’s just part of the process. All we can do is our best. I’m putting a focus on making sure all my easy runs are nice and easy so that I can be as ready as possible for the workouts. I’m good about this on the weekdays, but I had been pushing a bit on Sunday. Still in the easy range, but more effort than I should have been putting in. Lesson learned.

Happy running y’all!
 
I really hate the complicated pace changing runs. It takes away the therapeutic aspect of running.

Also, Shokz are AMAZING!
 
I really hate the complicated pace changing runs. It takes away the therapeutic aspect of running.

Also, Shokz are AMAZING!
I like the paced runs for variety but my favorite are the easy runs. Just zone out and go 🧘‍♀️

I’m still shocked by my shokz! I was startled more than once by a squirrel rustling through the leaves. I never even heard those noises before!
 



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