Training Week 128
Monday | March 26, 2012: 6 m run (easy)
Slow slow slow. I am happy I talked to my coach (Britt) before this run. I was originally going to do speedwork Monday night but she recommended moving it to Tuesday since I biked so far on Sunday. That was a good idea. I felt sick and had a headache during this run, and that would not have been a good last speedwork session before the 5K on Saturday!
Distance: 6.0 | Start Temp: 38° | End Temp: 37° | Time: 1:04:06 | Avg Pace: 10:41
Tuesday | March 27, 2012: 5 m run (4×2 minutes with 1:30 minute recovery)
What an ANNOYING run. When I was not running straight in to the 25-30 mph winds, I was too hot. I felt so angry. The wind has never bothered me as much as during this run. I am not sure what that was about.
Anyway, the goal was 7:35-7:40 pace for the 2:00 minute intervals. I had a hard time regulating my speed, as I turned corners in my neighborhood and ran straight in to the wind and felt like I was coming to a complete stop. I was surprised that my splits were not too crazy: 7:28, 7:38, 7:33, 7:31. But I did not end this run feeling confident.
Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 68° | End Temp: 73° | Time: 49:19 | Avg Pace: 9:52
Wednesday | March 28, 2012: 6 m run (easy) + strength
I hadn’t done a stumble-out-of-bed-and-run run like this in awhile! The run was nice and easy (as all of mine have been lately – have I forgotten how to push myself?). I hadn’t run in the dark in awhile, and I remembered to pay close attention to my surroundings. It seems I always notice some car that is driving loops through the neighborhoods, in out and out the culdesacs. I cannot figure out why anyone would do that, especially in the morning. Isn’t everyone just leaving and finding the nearest exit?
Anyway, I saw some guy sitting in his car with the lights on at the park, then he drove through the part of the neighborhood I was running in for a few loops, then did some other loops then parked in his driveway. Um. Okay. Then I saw another car making loops and thought “WTF?!” but it turned out to be a cop. Ha ha. I don’t mind if they are driving through the ‘hood (but seriously. why so many cops in my neighborhood?).
Distance: 6.0 | Start Temp: 61° | End Temp: 58° | Time: 1:02:25 | Avg Pace: 10:24
I went to strength class in the evening. I hadn’t been since March 7th! Yikes! That is three weeks of no strength class. Brian really pushed up with plate stations (different moves at 8 stations) and boxing/kickboxing in between. I was a sweaty mess when I was done. I kind of tried to take it easy because of my 5K on Saturday. Brian kept telling me to lift heavier though. Ha ha!
Thursday | March 29, 2012: 3 m run (easy)
This was supposed to be 6 miles, but I got out there and felt so cranky, I cut it short. Running just hasn’t been very fulfilling for me lately! Womp womp womp.
Distance: 3.o | Start Temp: 43° | End Temp: 46° | Time: 28:55 | Avg Pace: 9:38
Friday | March 30, 2012: rest
Saturday | March 31, 2012: 1.5 m run (warm-up) + Fools 5K
I ran the Fools 5K in Waterloo, IA. I ran 24:03. I felt really strong during the race, but I still can’t seem to eek out a PR (despite awesome coaching and a deep desire to do so). I’m going to put that on hold for awhile.
Sunday | April 1, 2012: rest
Week Summary: 24.6 miles
I am going to take a month or so off from running and wing the Kenosha half marathon May 5th with my brother-in-law.
April Fools.
Womp womp womp.
This is kind of a downer post but don’t read in to that too much. I think some of my general meh feelings about certain things are seeping in to other areas of my life, and I am working on that!
Themocracy
You are doing great with the running. You get a lot of miles in. I need to get back on the bandwagon.
I think your ife stress is seeping into your running, and I think you are taking the right approach in backing off goals for a while. Maybe if you use running as an outlet with no expectations, it can go back to being more of a “reset button” and less of just one more thing you need to stress about now…
(and is the person driving in and out of cul-de-sacs delivering papers maybe? I used to freak out about the car in my neighborhood ever morning seemingly following me around, untl I realized what it was doing, haha)
Goals just don’t seem to work for me at all. I was thinking about writing about that next week. Because I know a lot of people are really in to goals. The more I have one, the more time I spend imagining what life will be like after the goal and not what it takes to get there.
I thought maybe they were delivering papers but they aren’t. That is usually the first thing I wonder!!!
You look super strong in your pic! Sounds like you may be experiencing the beginning stages of burn out, and time off is the perfect remedy for that. Working so hard for so many weeks chasing down PR’s and maintaining focus can really put a lot of stress onto something that’s supposed to destress you. I find that I have a 18 week cycle max where towards the end I get antsy and annoyed with training and all I want is just some time away. Time to enjoy some unstructured exercise and your life!
I think you are right Britt! I was thinking about how you sort of took that time after the full for intuitive running and no specific goals and I wondered if I should do something like that. I still want to focus on making running easier overall (at a somewhat faster pace) but it seems like making goals right now is not working for me 🙁 Ugh.
Sneaking out of the house to smoke a joint and then driving around for a few minutes before going home? (The guy in the car, not you.)
Maybe it was just an off week. Or like others have said, a sign that you need a little break. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you were cranky so you cut a run short! Just doesn’t sound like you.
Steven thought maybe he was doing something like that before he got back to work, from a late shift! I bet it is something like that. Smoke, the drive around to air out the car?
Ha! I have not ever cut a run short for that reason! I am not a fun gal lately!!! Thanks for being intuitive and knowing me. I am going to take it easy for awhile 🙂
I’m such a bad friend! For some reason I thought your 5K was Sunday morning not yesterday. I’m sorry for not asking you about it!
It sounds like you could use a break where you just do what you want and not stress about how to fit one more thing into your day. I’ve found it to be quite freeing, actually.
That’s okay 🙂 I wasn’t really feeling talking about it. It seems dumb to keep saying I am going to try to PR then not even coming close… 🙂 How was the RTGFL today?
I am going to take a break like that. Run because I want to, stay fit for the Kenosha HM. Probably pick up races here and there if I feel like it. 🙂
Its ok to have a downer week – I think my week was kind of a downer too since I had to work so much and barely got all my runs in…Sorry you didn’t PR in the 5k. Its tough but keep trying because I know you can do it!
Not so great weeks happen – and I find that it’s hard to keep up the harder training when you’ve got a lot going on in life (travel, stress, etc).
Let me know if you want to go to a yoga class sometime!
It sounds like a solid week of training! Nice work!
I think your 5k time was really good! It wasn’t too far off your PR and still quite speedy. I know it wasn’t exactly what you had wanted but it was still a good time!
Probably a good idea to take a break and just run for the enjoyment of it for now. No need to stress yourself out in your running life too!
PS. I brought the Luna bars to work today. I’m planning to eat one with my breakfast!