Week 5 - Training

Previous Summaries

The Smart Coach plan has me doing 3 mi, 5 mi (tempo), 2 mi, and 10 mi

Hal Higdon's have me doing 4 mi, 4 mi (400 repeats), 3 mi, 3 mi, and 8 mi (plus lifting)
The other Hal Higdon one has me doing 4 mi, 2 mi, 4 mi, 40 min cross, and 6 mi

This week I have done 3 mi, 3 mi, and 7 miles.   See details below.

Monday: I went out to run in the evening.  I was debating not running because I felt I should be doing something else. Then I thought more about it and realized runs are short.  I was going to run 2 miles since that was a minimum suggestion for the week.  Then I thought that why should I start with the least. Every time I run, I should run as far as I can that day (within reason/training plan) so that I don't end up with too many longer runs pushed together at the end of the week.    It was starting to get dark and the last mile or so was past my comfort zone but I stayed in the well lit park.

I ended up finishing near my door at 3.03 and when I run 3.03 I might as well make it a 5k. I did that but then realized I still can't get in the door near me so I started the timer back up and ran to the other door.   The first 2 splits were my worst but I still thought I made my 9 minute pace but my 2:18 was really 2:18.7 and other splits were on the high end so when I guessed that each split was .5 higher I was still wrong. I was close though.   I set out to run a 9 minute pace and hit 8:50. I set out to run 2 miles and ran 3.15.  I could tell the 3rd mile was harder but I was also going faster.   I am so glad I still have my old Garmin to use while my new one is being shipped back.

Tuesday: Rest (Well Dave and I went to the trail to take pictures so I got a touch of running in.)

Wednesday:  Since I didn't run in the morning because I was waiting at home for our grill to be delivered, I ran in the evening.  Since it was late and I didn't have time for the full speed workout, I thought I'd do the other easy day. I set out to run 2 miles but maybe 3.  I was going to do it slower to rest up my legs for a run Thursday morning.  

I planned 9:30 pace. After the first 2 splits, I was not doing well.  I got a 2:25 and 2:26 (really 2:25.8 and 2:26.8 so even worse than I thought) and my goal was 2:21. Starting out a run with penalty seconds is never good for me but then I made it all up in the follow 2:11 split.  The weather was cool that even for the first 2 miles I was chilly.  I almost went back at 2 miles but figured what's an extra mile and I need to get these extra miles in when I can.

This is my second run in a row that I got better with each mile.  I got lucky both times crossing the main street because people were already waiting at the cross walk and they already hit the button.

All these fast times recently have me curious what I should make my tempo run pace.

Thursday: Rest


Friday:  I moved my long run to Friday since I had been missing them in the past. The bad news is I still need to get in my speedwork for the week. 

I set out to do 9:30 pace and then switching to 9:40 pace  even though Smart Coach says to do 10:35 pace.  I changed to 9:40 before even looking at my watch.   I started out at a 9:51 pace. I thought that was bad but then my next split had me at a 10:46 pace.  It was just all around bad.  I tried to speed up and only managed a 10:20 pace for the 3rd split. 

My legs felt like lead.  I wanted to quit but I didn't. Before leaving the house I wanted to do 7 miles or 7.1 miles. (The .1 is because I ran/walked with Dave right before and we did 1.4 miles so technically I would get 8.5 miles on my legs.)  

I  would have done the distance perfectly but instead of standing waiting for the walk sign I just kept doubling back on the sidewalk.  I always hate to turn around because all the distance doesn't get accounted for so the Garmin says your speed is slower than it really is but I figured I could get an extra little bit and that'd help my overall mileage.

When I ran/walked with Dave, I wore a long sleeve shirt. It felt cold. When I was standing outside waiting to acquire satellites, I still had on my long sleeve shirt and I was still chilly. I thought that was a good sign that the run would be cool. Man was I wrong.

Saturday:  Rest

Sunday: Rest (I was going to do my speed workout but I woke up and my calves were killing me. I decided it was better to rest them now than to make them get worse.)

Total Miles: 13.73 (Not happy with this.  An extra .25 is there to guess what I ran the day Dave took pictures of me running.  I did wear my Garmin but I paused it to change lenses and I forgot to unpause a few times. Also I walked with Dave to next photo spot and had it running)
Total everything else: just a few walks plus a run/walk with Dave.
Total suggested by training plans: 20, 21, or 16.

Final Thoughts:
I started off another week well and then fall apart on the weekend. I missed my speedwork this week but didn't miss my long run.  Sigh. I should miss an easy run.  I'll try that if my calves start to feel better.