This is my training journal. I'm bad at titles. (Comments welcome!)

[lookingforsunshine]

Just caught up on your journal. Congrats on your marathon. I’ll be thinking of you this holiday season and week <3

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Pure curiosity, what part of Mississippi are you visiting? We live in the tiny town of Decatur.

I'm also sorry for all the stress your feeling with your divorce. It's got to be so tough!

 

[striker1064]

Pure curiosity, what part of Mississippi are you visiting? We live in the tiny town of Decatur.

I'm also sorry for all the stress your feeling with your divorce. It's got to be so tough!

Bay St. Louis, on the coast. I was born in New Orleans and grew up/lived in BSL/Waveland until relocating to DC.

I have never been to Decatur outside of driving through it on the way to Starkville for a football game. Highway 15 is not exactly the best route to take but we did the drive often enough that we'd take an alternate route every so often.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Bay St. Louis, on the coast. I was born in New Orleans and grew up/lived in BSL/Waveland until relocating to DC.

I have never been to Decatur outside of driving through it on the way to Starkville for a football game. Highway 15 is not exactly the best route to take but we did the drive often enough that we'd take an alternate route every so often.

We actually took Hwy 15 for our beach trip this past summer just to see something different.

 

[striker1064]

Woke up this morning to the email that I got in to the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler! Yeah okay, I now have a half marathon, then 2 weeks later the 10-miler. I'm sure it'll be fine!

December 12 - December 18

Total mileage: 21.0mi
Total time: 3h29mi

Monday: 3 Miles EA (10:22) + Stronglifts A
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 Miles EA (10:22)
Thursday: Stronglifts B
Friday: 5 Miles EA (10:22)
Saturday: Stronglifts A
Sunday: 7 Miles EB (9:41) + Strides

Definitely a little more of a down week this week. No run Thursday because the weather was awful - a cold, miserable rain. It was basically as cold as it could be without snowing. Yuck! But at least I kept my gym routine. Plus I have spent most of this week packing up my stuff. I leave tonight to spend Christmas with family, then as soon as I get back I'm moving out of this apartment. Quite a mix of emotions going through all this, but more than anything I'm ready for it all to be over and get into my new space.

So this week I'll hit the gym today, then probably take the week off. But I can at least run as much as I want this week, so I am looking forward to that. It's looking colder in south Mississippi at the end of this week than it's been here in DC! Hard to believe. Spent lots of Christmases as a child in shorts in a t-shirt. It'll be an adjustment to actually be cold!

 

[azrivest]

I don't know how your relationship with your family is, but I hope you get to enjoy your vacation down there as much as you can

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Woke up this morning to the email that I got in to the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler!

Me too! I'm doing the 5K and the 10-miler. Maybe we'll actually manage to find each other this time!

Hope you have a fun and relaxing time in MS!

 

[striker1064]

Merry Christmas, everyone.

December 19 - 25

Total mileage: 25.0mi
Total time: 4h12mi

Monday: 5 Miles EA (10:22) + Stronglifts B
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 Miles EA (10:22)
Thursday: 5 Miles EB (9:41) + Strides + Stronglifts A
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 Miles EA (10:22) + Stronglifts B
Sunday: 4 Miles EB (9:41)

A bit of a weird week this week. I got in a run and lift before I left Monday night, then I checked out the local gym and bought two day passes for $5 each to keep up with my lifting. I'm really glad I did that.

Thursday and Sunday were difficult days. At the halfway point on Thursday, I had to do run-walk breaks. I was able to run the entire last mile and finish strong. On Sunday I felt the fatigue creeping in, so I cut the run short at 4 miles. I suspect a lot of it is due to different climate (although it is weirdly quite cold here much like everywhere else), plus very poor eating that's nowhere near my usual diet. Christmas morning was also very emotional and very difficult, and I hoped a run would clear my head - it did and it didn't, but I'm sure that contributed to the fatigue. Mostly I'm trying to listen to my body and take what it gives me. I can be happy with 25 miles plus 3 lifting days.

Tomorrow morning I head back to DC. It's a long train ride. I'll get back in town Tuesday, then I move on Thursday. Training probably won't be very consistent, but I am looking forward to getting into my new home and new space later in the week. I'll also start training for spring races at that point. Still undecided, but I'm leaning toward simply using the V.O2 app again. It's not free but it's easy and I don't have to think about it, all of which is good for me right now.

I hope everyone's holidays have been happy and bright.

 

[HangWithMerida]

I suspect a lot of it is due to different climate (although it is weirdly quite cold here much like everywhere else), plus very poor eating that's nowhere near my usual diet.

The holiday diet change messes with me too. I don‘t even feel like I eat poorly in the grand scheme of things, but it’s just different from my usual meals and I have felt sluggish too. Something I ate over the last couple of days didn’t agree with me and I was queasy all day yesterday and still a touch this morning. I am making my menus this morning and I can’t wait to get back to some “normal” food!

 

[striker1064]

Oh I've definitely eaten poorly. I housed a year's worth of cookies over the weekend. A job well done!

 

[garneska]

Oh I've definitely eaten poorly. I housed a year's worth of cookies over the weekend. A job well done!

Same

 

[striker1064]

Happy New Year everyone!

A crazy week this week. Traveled back home to DC on Monday/Tuesday. I had intended to finish packing on Tuesday after I got home, but the train was hours late, and I was exhausted when I got home. Looking at the flights fiasco - I guess I was probably better off with the late train either way. Wednesday I worked and packed everything, Thursday I moved and completely unpacked my new home.

So, finally, Friday I got to run again. An easy 4, 5, then 4 miles for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to ease my body back into things. It's been over 2 weeks since I've been to the gym, but my new apartment is literally next door to the gym so I'm not too concerned about starting that up again. As an added bonus, the building's front door opens to the Metropolitan Branch Trail, a running trail with which I am very well acquainted. I'm not saying it was a factor in choosing to live here, but... yeah, it totally was.

Tomorrow, I start back up with V.O2 to train for the DC Half in March and the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. V.O2 is easy and requires little brainpower, which all sounds great.

The past 6-8 weeks have been a whirlwind of stress, sadness, emotion, and everything in between. There were several days I just had to go and do, and couldn't even process what was happening. But now, finally, I feel like I can breathe. Good riddance to 2022. Now, I start my new life, and I'm starting it with running, because that's easy and I can do that. One step at a time. It'll be nice to be working on a goal again, too.

Very envious of everyone heading down to WDW for marathon weekend! Well, I don't really want to run another marathon, but I do love runDisney. Already thinking about when I'll do my next! Maybe W&D, but we'll see.

 

[striker1064]

January 2 - 8

This week I started with the V.O2 app for my Rock n Roll HM/Cherry Blossom 10-Miler training. I think I talked in-depth about the app before, but anyway - it's essentially the companion app to The Daniels Running Formula. You could get exactly the same information from the book and put the plan together yourself, but the app makes things easy for you.

I want to be around 35 miles per week to start off. Also, marathon training taught me a 5-day-per-week plan with rest days on Tuesday and Friday, a long run on Sunday, and a quality day on Thursday is sustainable for my schedule and my body - very important! V.O2 allows me to set all of that - days per week training, number of miles, what day to do the long run, how many quality days per week (0, 1, or 2), and what day(s) for the quality day(s).

The cost is $12.99/month or $99.99 per year. I've used it before, so the yearly plan seems like a good option. It comes with a 14-day trial period, so that would take me through the spring season, summer maintenance, whatever I decide to race in the fall, and would even carry me to 2024 marathon weekend if I decide to do that. Not bad!

The other part of this is you can enter your recent race times, and V.O2 will calculate your VDOT on the fly and give you the paces you should be running. My VDOT based on recent races is 38.6 (it appears to be taking my September HM result and ignoring the November marathon). That does make everything very easy!

Also - my strength training has fallen off a cliff, by which I mean I haven't done it at all the past couple weeks. Travel + moving + everything else has wrecked my fitness schedule (and my motivation!), so for now I'm doing what I like to do - running.

Total mileage: 31.8mi
Total time: 5h 18min

Monday: 5.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 41+40 = 81

• Splits: 10:15, 9:57, 10:07, 9:44, 10:11, 9:51

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 6.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 53+51 = 104

• Splits: 10:09, 9:58, 9:44, 9:48, 10:22, 9:48, 9:54

Thursday: Daniels R: 1.5 Mile WU (10:05-11:05) + 12x 200 meter R (7:13) w/ 200 meter RI + 1 Mile CD (10:05-11:05); T+D: 50+44 = 94

• WU 10:13, 10:18; CD 10:28
• 12x 200m R (7:13, or 0:54/rep)
  • Interval 1: 7:15 (0:54)
  • Interval 2: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 3: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 4: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 5: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 6: 6:58 (0:52)
  • Interval 7: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 8: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 9: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 10: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 11: 7:15 (0:54)
  • Interval 12: 7:06 (0:53)

Oh yeah I forgot, V.O2 loves R workouts. Well anyway, that's fine. This workout felt hard, and upon reviewing after I was done it's easy to see why - I took these all too fast. It's hard to judge for a sub-1:00 interval, but that also means going even a little too fast can catch up with you. This is a learning experience though.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 6.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 47+24 = 71

• Splits: 10:20, 10:10, 10:18, 10:03, 10:14, 10:09, 10:04

Sunday: 8 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 36+26 = 62

• Splits: 9:56, 9:56, 10:15, 10:00, 10:11, 10:02, 10:10, 10:12

Overall I'm very pleased with my first week back to training. I'd like to get back into strength training, but if it's not happening I won't force it. This running schedule feels doable and sustainable, and that comes first.

Also feeling lots of excitement and happiness for everyone participating in MW this weekend! Y'all are rock starts! Congrats to everyone.

 

[striker1064]

January 9 - 15

Total mileage: 34.0mi
Total time: 5h 33min

Yeah I didn't do any strength training this week either. All running all the time.

Now that I'm finally settled and comfortable in my new home, I allowed myself one stupidly expensive purchase as a way to calm my mind and nerves these first few weeks. It arrived last weekend.



(Banana for scale.)

Monday: 5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 38+32 = 70

• Splits: 10:35, 10:18, 10:17, 10:03, 9:59

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 6 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 33+30 = 63

• Splits: 10:18, 10:11, 10:06, 10:04, 10:04, 9:52

Thursday: Lactate Threshold: 1.5 Mile WU + 7x 800m LT (8:26) w/ 1:00 RI + 1.5 Mile CD; T+D 41+39 = 80

• WU 10:23, 10:22; CD 10:33, 10:22
• 7x 800m T (8:26, or 4:11/rep)
  • Interval 1: 8:17 (4:07)
  • Interval 2: 8:19 (4:08)
  • Interval 3: 8:27 (4:12)
  • Interval 4: 8:15 (4:06)
  • Interval 5: 8:11 (4:04)
  • Interval 6: 8:09 (4:03)
  • Interval 7: 8:05 (4:01)

It's been a little while since I've done an LT workout. 800m doesn't sound so bad, except.. oh geez that's about a half mile! 7 half-mile reps of LT with a minute rest is a pretty big workout so early in the training cycle, so if nothing else this is a good barometer for where I am.

...And it went pretty well! Definitely a tough workout where my HR remained solidly in Z4 almost the entire time (with one brief push into Z5), but 1:00 recovery felt like enough and I was generally able to hold on without too much difficulty.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 36+24 = 60 With snow flurries!

Should have been: 6 Miles Easy

Saturday was scheduled for a 6 mile easy run, but I decided to meet up with a running club that meets every Saturday morning. Their group page mentioned they have several groups that go out, all the way down to a 10:00-11:00 pace group, so I figured I was clear... right. That didn't happen. If there was a 10:00-11:00 pacer I missed it. But all was okay, I ended up running with a very small group going around 9:30. Still an easy pace, but faster than I'd like. I want to keep going to these, so I may have to rethink what I'm doing on Saturdays. The group run was 3 miles, then I jogged back home, so my final 2 miles were more in line with pacing.

• Splits: 9:30, 9:46, 9:39, 10:08, 10:03

Sunday: 2 Mile WU + 9 Miles M Tempo (9:01); T+D: 36+21 = 57

• Pre-run: Water, Gu gel
• In-run: Water, EGel @ 50:00
• WU: 10:27, 10:49
• 9 Miles M Tempo (9:01)
  • Mile 1: 9:12
  • Mile 2: 9:31
  • Mile 3: 9:07
  • Mile 4: 10:54
  • Mile 5: 9:21
  • Mile 6: 9:12
  • Mile 7: 9:36
  • Mile 8: 10:14
  • Mile 9: 9:36

What was that I mentioned about big workouts so early in the training cycle? 9 miles M Tempo? Daniels has no chill. Sheesh. I didn't even do 9 M Tempo miles for my marathon plan (that topped out at 8). I had a sense this was probably going to end up a fair bit slower than 9:01, both because I'm getting back up to fitness (and this is a big workout), and because I was running on new terrain with lots of hills.

At least the weather was good. It was below freezing when I went out, with full Sun. Beautiful running weather!

For the first time ever, I ran out to the National Arboretum and did most of this run on those grounds. I've never lived close enough to be able to make it there and back while still getting a fair bit of mileage in the Arboretum; for this I ended up going 2.5 miles on either end, so I had a pleasant 6 miles in the Arboretum. I mapped everything out on my Garmin, which meant I was hitting some odd, snaking trails with sharp elevation changes, hence the pacing being all over the place.

I don't have a ton to take away from this workout except that it never felt like too much. I was way slower than my target pace, but for the first time back out plus hilly terrain, I'll take it.

Next week is a cutback week, with only 28 weekly miles, a repeat of the R workout on Thursday, and a quality session on Sunday (LT) replacing the long run. The LT workout next Sunday in particular should be interesting, as it's 2 separate LT sessions separated by a 3 mile Easy run. And of course I'll likely check out the running club again (and maybe another one, if I can make it work?).

 

[striker1064]

January 16 - 22

Total mileage: 28.3mi
Total time: 4h 44min

Monday: 4.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 36+16 = 52

• Splits: 10:13, 10:02, 10:00, 10:03, 9:51

Tuesday: 5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 40+32 = 72; drizzle

• Splits: 10:28, 10:02, 10:02, 10:04, 10:05

In the office Wednesday this week so I moved my easy day to Tuesday, and I felt it that day. Probably the drizzle didn't help.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Daniels R: 1.5 Mile WU (10:05-11:05) + 12x 200 meter R (7:13) w/ 200 meter RI + 1 Mile CD (10:05-11:05); T+D: 44+37 = 81; rain

• WU 10:25, 10:26; CD 10:33
• 12x 200m R (7:13, or 0:54/rep)
  • Interval 1: 7:31 (0:56)
  • Interval 2: 6:58 (0:52)
  • Interval 3: 7:23 (0:55)
  • Interval 4: 6:58 (0:52)
  • Interval 5: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 6: 6:58 (0:52)
  • Interval 7: 6:50 (0:51)
  • Interval 8: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 9: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 10: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 11: 6:42 (0:50)
  • Interval 12: 6:42 (0:50)

This was a repeat from 2 weeks ago, so I was looking for improvement. And of course it was raining.

This time was definitely easier. I intentionally went a bit slow on the first rep to try to settle in, and everything felt good. And wow, the last 5 intervals were all exactly the same time length! I'm kind of impressed with myself, honestly. Also a bit fast, but not a huge concern.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 42+28 = 70

• Splits: 10:08, 11:03, 11:37, 11:27, 9:35

Another run with the running club Saturday morning. This time I managed to find a small group running a 10:00-11:00 pace so I hung out with them on the 5k route option. A couple miles were a bit slow for my training but I'm not worried about that. This was more about getting some work in while also meeting new people and enjoying a social run. I jogged back home from miles 3-5 and actually ended up with 5.17 miles. I've enjoyed these social runs a lot and I'll keep doing them!

Sunday: Threshold Workout: 1.5 Mile WU + 6x 400m LT (8:26) w/ 30 sec RI + 3 Mi Easy (1005-11:05) + 2x 800m LT (8:26) w/ 1:00 RI + 1 Mi CD

At first glance this is... quite the workout. 800m LT repeats at the end of a workout - even if it's only 2 - looked to be quite difficult. According to V.O2 the purpose of the 3 mile easy run between the intervals is to "tire the legs before finishing with another set of Threshold." Lovely.

• WU 10:16, 10:18; CD 10:16
• 6x 400m LT (8:26, or 2:06/rep)
  • Interval 1: 8:27 (2:06)
  • Interval 2: 8:15 (2:03)
  • Interval 3: 8:19 (2:04)
  • Interval 4: 8:15 (2:03)
  • Interval 5: 8:23 (2:05)
  • Interval 6: 8:27 (2:06)
• 3 Miles Easy 10:23, 10:25, 10:05
• 2x 800m LT (8:26, or 4:11/rep)
  • Interval 1: 8:21 (4:09)
  • Interval 2: 8:21 (4:09)

I was actually quite surprised at how difficult the 400m LT repeats were for me on this. 400m LT by itself isn't terribly difficult, but I guess the minimal 30 second recovery made things a lot more difficult. Conversely, the 3 miles at easy pace served as another warm-up for my body, and by the time I got to the 800m repeats I felt kind of great. They were really easy, and they both ended up being equal intervals! Sometimes I surprise myself.

This was a unique and fun workout! More like this, V.O2.

Next week I'm back up on mileage, with 35.5 miles planned. There's another social run Monday evening, followed by beer at a local brewery. I don't typically do evening runs and Mondays are particularly tough for me because Tuesday is such an early wake-up for the office, but it does seem fun. I'll decide tomorrow.

Next week's quality sessions are 7x 800m LT repeats (ugh) on Thursday, and another very interesting workout Sunday - 1 mile easy, 3 miles M Tempo, 1 mile (whole mile!) LT, 4 miles M Tempo, 1 mile easy. I'll try not to be too negative on that but it looks kind of brutal? But at least it's new and interesting.

 

[striker1064]

January 23 - 29

Total mileage: 35.5mi
Total time: 5h 42min

Monday: 5.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 47+30 = 77

• Splits: 9:54, 9:58, 10:07, 10:02, 9:56, 10:00

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 6.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 39+29 = 68

• Splits: 10:52, 10:09, 10:26, 10:02, 10:28, 9:56, 9:54

Thursday: Threshold Workout: 1.5 Mi WU + 7x 800m LT (8:26) w/ 1:00 RI + 1.5 Mi CD; T+D: 41+32 = 73

• WU 10:15, 10:16; CD 10:11, 10:16
• 7x 800m LT (8:26, or 4:11/rep)
  • Interval 1: 8:11 (4:04)
  • Interval 2: 8:09 (4:03)
  • Interval 3: 8:29 (4:13)
  • Interval 4: 8:07 (4:02)
  • Interval 5: 8:13 (4:05)
  • Interval 6: 8:11 (4:04)
  • Interval 7: 8:13 (4:05)

I really do not remember much about this run, which is weird because I was definitely kinda dreading it. 7 half-mile LT repeats is tough! Maybe I should take notes right after I finish these workouts. Anyway, I'm noticing I ran faster than my pace on every interval except for one. I do not know how I keep doing that! I even consciously go out and try to run slow. Maybe I should set my pace alerts for 10 seconds slower than target.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 6.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 40+34 = 74

• Splits: 9:59, 9:34, 11:01, 10:38, 9:27, 9:56, 9:54

Another group run Saturday morning. I've settled in with a group of runners that pace around my easy pace (everyone else is running way fast). It was a 3-mile run and I definitely remember they slowed way down at the end, which is totally fine and I jogged with them. It's nice to have people to run with! And this continues to get better as a few of us have run together more than 1 week in a row so we're getting to know each other.

Sunday: M/LT Tempo: 1 Mi Easy (10:05) + 3 Mi M Tempo (9:01) + 1 Mi LT (8:26) + 4 Mi M Tempo (9:01) + 1 Mi Easy (10:05); T+D: 46+32 = 78

This did not look fun at first glace. Spoiler: it was not fun. I also think it's interesting V.O2 specifically called the first and last miles "Easy" instead of Warm Up and Cool Down. Typically, Jack Daniels does not differentiate between Easy and WU/CD - they're the same pace to him - so this is kind of weird.

• Pre-run: Gu gel
• In-run: Maurten Gel @ 5 miles
• 1 Mile Easy (10:05)
  • Mile 1: 10:19
• 3 Miles M Tempo (9:01)
  • Mile 2: 8:59
  • Mile 3: 9:07
  • Mile 4: 8:58
• 1 Mile Lactate Threshold (8:26)
  • Mile 5: 8:22
• 4 Miles M Tempo (9:01)
  • Mile 6: 9:00
  • Mile 7: 8:57
  • Mile 8: 8:50
  • Mile 9: 8:58
• 1 Mile Easy (10:05)
  • Mile 10: 9:57

Well, last week I wanted more unique and interesting workouts, and I certainly can't say I'm not getting them now. This was a tough run. Generally, things were okay for the first few miles, but jumping from M Tempo to LT felt huge (despite only being about 30 seconds faster). The upside is the next 4 M Tempo miles felt relatively easy.

It is weird to me Jack Daniels is overly-reliant on M Tempo pacing for long runs. They feel like big, hard workouts. They aren't affecting my ability to run again Monday so I guess I'm doing it right, but it is strange. I'm ingrained in this plan now though and I'm not going to switch, so we'll see how this turns out when the races come up.

Next week is a shift to a new phase of the plan, as the Thursday quality session features R repeats, and Sunday is another quality session using the Interval pace (ugh!).

In other news, I have officially been living in my new place for a month, and I'm amazed at how clear my head has become. I didn't think it would happen quite that fast, but I guess it turns out some quality therapy sessions, my own space, plus good quality running does a body good. Who knew?

 

[lookingforsunshine]

so glad you’re feeling well <3

 

[striker1064]

January 30 - February 5

Total mileage: 33.2mi
Total time: 5h 23min

Monday: 7 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 50+41 = 91

• Splits: 10:04, 9:29, 10:24, 10:10, 10:14, 11:22, 9:43

Decided to join the run club Monday evening. This was supposed to be a 6.5 mile easy run, but jogging to the group start + 4.5 mile run + jogging home netted me an extra half mile. This was a much larger group than Saturday, but also people were flying. I found a couple people to run with at the back end of the group and that worked well, but then I didn't sleep well since I don't normally run in the evenings. A real roller coaster! I'll probably do it again.

And a T+D of over 90! In January! It was, dare I say it, downright warm.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 7.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 34+21 = 55

• Splits: 10:16, 10:04, 10:08, 10:00, 10:11, 9:48, 9:51, 9:48

Lots of easy miles, and a total change from Monday - there was snow on the ground! A beautiful cold winter morning.

Thursday: R Workout: 1.5 Mi WU + 6x 400m R (7:21) w/ 400m RI + 1 Mi CD; T+D: 34+16 = 50

• WU 10:17, 10:10; CD 10:29
• 6x 400m R (7:21, or 1:50/rep)
  • Interval 1: 7:02 (1:45)
  • Interval 2: 7:19 (1:49)
  • Interval 3: 7:15 (1:48)
  • Interval 4: 7:02 (1:45)
  • Interval 5: 6:58 (1:44)
  • Interval 6: 7:15 (1:48)

I thought this run might not be too bad since 200m R repeats are pretty easy, and this was double the distance but only 6 repeats. I was quite wrong - this workout was tough. I managed to hit the pace each time, but my first few reps were rough and I took a while to get going here.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 7.5 Miles Easy (10:05-11:05); T+D: 18+-1 = 17 brrr

• 10:28, 10:21, 9:49, 9:01, 8:34, 8:24, 8:38, 8:13

This ended up much faster than a typical easy run. A couple friends wanted to run the local Parkrun 5k. Getting there from home was almost dead-on 4.5 miles, so this was perfect. I had a pleasant 4.5 mile warm up in the negative dew point weather, then ran. Discovery alert: a 4.5 mile run is not an appropriate warm-up for a 5k!

I planned to run the 5k easy and not race it. I succeeded at one of those things. Definitely ran faster than easy, although I am a little surprised at how much faster than easy I ran and it still didn't feel that hard. My official result came in at 26:16, and my body/fatigue felt no worse for the wear.

Sunday: Interval Workout: 1.5 Mi WU + 4x 1km I (7:45) w/ 4:00 RI + 1 Mi CD; T+D: 35+18 = 56

• WU 10:12, 10:04; CD 10:20
• 4x 1km I (7:45, or 4:49/rep)
  • Interval 1: 7:32 (4:41)
  • Interval 2: 7:45 (4:49)
  • Interval 3: 7:47 (4:50)
  • Interval 4: 7:32 (4:41)

I pace... the bane of my Daniels running existence.

But I've also found that Daniels I pace is the stone that best sharpens the sword. Just sucks to do it.

From June 2022. My mantra during this run. This sucked.

That first rep was absolutely brutal. I felt like I was either going too fast and hitting R paces, or slowing down too much and ending up at LT. The second rep was a little more consistent but still brutal. After the second rep, I walked a bit before getting back up to a jog during the RI. Thank goodness that was 4 minutes.

Reps 3 and 4 felt much better.

Lucky for me (?), I get to do yet another I workout on Thursday, another set of 4x 1km repeats. Lovely.Then it's back to an M Tempo long run on Sunday. At least the weather will be a tad warmer!

 

[striker1064]

Just a short update this week - did my runs as planned Monday - Saturday (including a return to the running club Saturday, which I'm really enjoying!), but I've been dealing with some progressively worse pain in my right ankle. I unfortunately have had my fair share of injuries in the past so I know what it isn't, so thanks to process of elimination and a little Google-fu I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with tendonitis on the inside of my ankle, based on where the pain is originating.

It's very annoying. Considering everything else going on, inability to run is one thing I would really prefer not to deal with right now. But, thankfully, a full rest day did make it feel a lot better, and I only stopped my run this morning because it felt worse than when I ran yesterday and I don't want it to get worse. I'm hoping a bit of rest, ice, and targeted stretching this week will have me feeling better and running again by Saturday. Fingers crossed. If not, I guess I'm calling my ortho. Again.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Ouch. Hope it goes away quickly on its own!