Week 2 of RnR USA Half training wasn’t as great as week 1. I didn’t run as many days as I had planned to, overslept for TWO group runs and I definitely didn’t do enough cross-training. Thank goodness I’m finally finished with finals tomorrow (!) and I’ll have time to get back on track.
Monday, 12/12/11 – Rest
I had plans to go to my second Power Yoga class at the gym, but I woke up with a terrible sore throat and stuffy nose. I probably could’ve pushed through it, but I figured a complete rest day wouldn’t hurt either.
Tuesday, 12/13/11 – 1.79 miles in 21:01 (11:42 avg. pace)
Tuesday morning I woke up planning to hit the gym right after my 2pm final (law school finals are usually 3 hours long) to do 35 minutes on the treadmill followed by an hour long Pilates class. Turns out we only had 1.5 hours to take the exam and I only needed 40 minutes. I was back at home by 3:30 watching the end of Crazy, Stupid, Love in bed. I took advantage of my free time and didn’t get to the gym until a little before 6 leaving me with 20 minutes of run time before my class. The Cardio Cinema was full so I grabbed my iPad and turned on Sex and the City 2 to entertain me. I started at 4.8mph, but pushed it up to 5.0 for the last 10 minutes so I wouldn’t feel so guilty for skipping 15 minutes of my run. p.s. Watching movies on the treadmill is the greatest idea ever and I want to hug whoever thought of it.
Wednesday, 12/14/11 – Track Workout: 6 x 400 at 9:30 avg. pace (2.24 miles total including rest periods)
I skipped last week’s track workout to attend a Con Law final review (which I ultimately skipped too) and the excessive rainfall. I was really nervous about this workout because I’ve never done a structured speed workout before, but it wasn’t bad at all. We were instructed to do 4-6 quarters (1 lap) at 10k pace. I didn’t know what pace to choose so I picked 10:00/mile. It seemed comfortably hard to me and I knew I could sustain it easily for a lap. I started each lap at a 10:00 pace, but couldn’t stop myself from speeding up. At some points I was running as fast as 8:35/mile and each lap ended up between a 9:19 and a 9:45 pace. Oops. Next week, I’ll focus on running much slower than I feel I should at the beginning of the lap and trying not to speed up too much.
Thursday, 12/15/11 – 2.45 miles in 30 minutes (12:15 avg. pace)
An off day. Didn’t want to run at all, but I forced myself into the basement and onto the treadmill. Had really tight calves for the first half of the run, but otherwise my body felt great. I just couldn’t get my mind into it. I started at 4.8 for mile 1 then pushed it up to 5.0 for mile 2 and then accelerated my speed by .1 every minute for the last 5 minutes. I was so frustrated after all that when I looked down and my garmin said I was only at 2.45 miles. I still don’t trust that foot pod. My Nike+ app said I did 2.53, but I always go with whichever one is lower just in case.
Friday, 12/16/11 – Rest
Saturday, 12/17/11- 6.01 miles in 1:12:16 (12:02 avg. pace)
I overslept for my =PR= group run on Saturday. I went to bed Friday night with a terrible toothache (who even gets those anymore?) and woke up 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave feeling like I hadn’t slept at all. I thought about rushing to get there, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to run well, so I decided to put it off until later in the day. It would be a welcome study break.
It was so gloomy and cold outside that I put the run off until 3pm when the sun came out for a split second. I was about 10 seconds from driving to the gym and doing it on the treadmill, but I told myself that my lungs needed the fresh air and my legs needed the extra work on the roads. Miles 1-3 were great. I felt great and my breathing was relaxed. And then I got to the turnaround point. I blame the geese who had pooped all over the sidewalk and made me hop around for the first 2 minutes of mile 4 because after this point, my legs decided to die on me. The sides of my feet started throbbing (does anyone know why this happens?), my ankles started hurting, I felt a little shin splint coming on in one of my legs (can’t even remember which one it was now) and BOTH knees started hurting. I guess I’ve been loving the treadmill a little too much lately. I finished without any walking (besides the pauses at stoplights) and I even sped up to 11:48/mile for the last mile when I was so tired I could barely see straight. I’m happy I finished, but I’m really hoping that next week’s 7-miler is much better. I definitely won’t be missing any more group runs! Lesson learned.
Sunday, 12/18/11 – Unplanned Rest
I stayed up late studying on Saturday and when I finally couldn’t take it anymore, I went to bed. 2 hours later, I was still tossing and turning trying to will myself to sleep. Needless to say, I overslept for run club this morning. I was so mad and thought about going late, but an extra hour of sleep won that battle. It ended up being a Sunday Bumday and I was ok with that.
Totals –
miles this week :: 12.49
miles this month :: 46.74
miles this year :: 315.04
Jerrell::Renee::Runs 