June 27 - July 3, 2022
HM training week 2 | 77 days until DC Half
In which I wither under the sun
- M: rest
- T: 3.09 mi, 33:38, 10:51 per mile, 150 bpm
- W: 5.04 mi, 48:59, 9:42 per mile, 171 bpm
- T: 3.05 mi, 34:13, 11:13 per mile, 158 bpm
- F: strength training, 132 bpm + core, 113 bpm
- S: karate, 138 bpm
- S: 5 mi, 52:11, 10:25 per mile, 162 bpm
Weekly mileage: 16.18 mi
Training time: 4:22:43
Two weeks into official HM training and everything is still pretty much on track. Go me!
On Monday my exercise came from walking to and from the office twice. My watch keeps trying to tell me that walking is exercise and I keep telling it, not the kind of walking I'm doing, but at any rate I closed my exercise ring despite not actually exercising, yippee.
Tuesday's run was fine. My knee was a little cranky at first and I started out kind of slow but everything settled down as I got into my run.
On Wednesday I determined that I am simply not good at new paces. Remember two pages ago when I was having trouble slowing down? Well, now I seem to have the opposite problem. I was all excited for my first pace run because I didn't have to plod and I could run with music. (When I'm doing easy runs I listen to podcasts to avoid speeding up too much. I like podcasts but it's just more fun to run to music.)
The first problem came when I tried to switch from the podcast I was listening to for my warm up to my running playlist. My watch decided that I no longer had a Spotify account and refused to show me any of my music. Eventually I got something to play from the Now Playing app, which I think compiled a playlist of the Broadway soundtracks I bought from iTunes 6+ years ago. Okay, annoying, but sure, I'll take
Hamilton and
Dear Evan Hanson as my playlist.
So with Lin-Manuel Miranda in my ears, I started running fast. The second problem was that I could not, for a million dollars and Potbelly cookies for life, figure out
how fast I was supposed to run. My stretch-goal pace is 8:41. For the three miles of my pace run, I clocked about 8:51, 9:04, and 8:35 ("about" because I got distracted with the music situation and forgot to start a new segment for the hard part of the run). I guess this is why you keep doing pace runs: to get used to the pace so you're not flailing on race day.
The third problem was the weather. More specifically, the very intense late-June sun just high enough above the horizon (read: trees and buildings) to feel like a crushing weight and not high enough to be blocked by the brim of my hat. It turns out the route I picked for this run was not very well shaded for the most part (which is a shame because it's otherwise excellent, since the mile between my house and the trail makes for a good warm up/cool down and then the hard part is on the trail so I don't have to stop for traffic). Anyway, after staring into the sun for half the run, I had a low-grade headache for the rest of the morning / until I gave in and took some ibuprofen.
So Thursday I was a little tired and it showed in my pace. Then this morning I actually ran the same route as Wednesday. It was warm, humid, but most importantly cloudy, so I felt fine. (Yes I ran slower too, but I feel like the lack of sunlight directly in my face made the biggest difference.) I even walked up the second half of the hill on the way back when my heart rate got too high - usually I'm like, "nope, must keep running no matter what" so I consider this a sign of progress.
Anyway. I didn't trip and nothing fell on me out of the sky so we'll still call it a win. On to week three, which has no pace runs so I will probably do just fine.