- The Buffalo Creek Half Marathon is just four weeks away! The upcoming weeks will be the hardest yet, with more weekly miles and speedwork than I've ever done. But I also need to ramp up positive mental training. When I realized the race is just four weeks away, I started to get pretty anxious. Like I said in my last post, I really need to work on feeling more relaxed going into race day.
- I need running buddies! The longer the long runs get, they lonelier they get. I planned to run with the Steel City Road Runners Club Saturday but didn't do it. I wasn't feeling confident in my paces enough to run with others. My next opportunity will be in two Saturdays, and I am committing to running with them then!
- I joined Daily Mile, but I'm just learning it. I have no friends yet and only posted twice. I'm not sure I get it (it's just posting your runs?), but I'll give it a try. It seems I have time for only one social media outlet, and blogging is it. If you're on Daily Mile, please be my friend! :-)
- It's now too dark in the morning to take pictures of my running outfits, even when I wait to take them after I walk the dog. And since I didn't do that, I didn't take pictures of other workout outfits. I am not sure I'll resume when the time changes and it's light in the morning again. I'm pretty sure no one cares what I wear when I'm working out except me!
- My runs are starting to get too long to do before work. I leave my house at 5:15 to go running, and I really don't want to start getting up earlier. Now that it's not super hot, I'm considering doing my long weekday runs after work. I'll have to see.
- Mileage for the week was 26.11.
On to the recap.
Monday
Morning: 35 minutes Iron Strength
Evening: 50 minutes Yin Yoga, spine series
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| Trying to do yoga with cats is hard! Athleta Black Extra-Long Chi Tank & Grey Shiva Top Lululemon Bruised Berry Wunder Under Crops |
Tuesday
Morning: 4.5 miles, 50:52, 11:17 pace
This was my medium pace run, with a target range of 11:15-11:30 pace. I wasn't consistent in my pace (miles 1 and 3 were faster than that range, and miles 2 and 4were slower), and still had trouble getting into my breathing pattern grove. Plus, I was sore from the previous day's strength training workout, which I didn't do at all the week before when I was on vacation. It was 55 degrees though, which was nice.
Evening: Essential Yoga video from Runner's World
Wednesday
Morning: 3.61 miles, 40:03
My tempo run should have been 10:15-10:00-10:15, but I was nowhere near that. Instead, I did 10:17-10:20-11:15. Ugh. It was 52 degrees, and I was the only runner out in a skirt and short-sleeve top (everyone else had long-sleeve tops and tights), but I knew I'd heat up quickly.
Thursday
Morning: 3 miles, 35:15, 11:45 pace
Okay, this was a three-mile recovery run...and it was tough! Why??? It was 54 degrees.
Evening: 35 minutes Iron Strength
Friday
Rest day! I took a true rest day and didn't even do yoga. I really felt I needed it.
Saturday
5 miles, 54:43, 10:57 pace
This was my pace run, where I should target the 10:50-11:10 range. I've always looked forward to pace run days and have had no problems hitting the 11:00 pace, even when I was in Denver. If anything I felt that 11:00 was a bit slow and have had problems slowing down. Well. This run was tough. Halfway through it, my breathing became very labored, and I could see my heart rate was sky high--about as high as it gets on my speed days. WTF?! I've never had problems with this pace before. I miscalculated my turn-around point and got back to where I'd leave the trail at 4.5 miles and decided to give up. I was frustrated that it was so tough, and I was pretty much done with the run. So I stopped my watch and started walking, then told myself, "You're better than this." So after a quick walk break, I started running again and finished the 5 miles. I was pretty upset that it was so tough, but I don't want to assume this means I won't be able to run the race at this pace. It could have just been a bad run. I have a few more weeks of pace runs, and I'm not giving up on this pace yet. My splits were: 1: 10:48, 2: 10:59, 3: 10:46, 4: 11:06, 5: 11:05
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| Oiselle Burgen Vertical Drop Tank Lululemon Pretty Purple All Sport Bra & Grey Mesh Bangbuster Athleta Asphalt Relay Skort |
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| September 20, 2002 |
Sunday
2:00, 10 miles, 12:02 pace
Though I approached this run with trepidation given how the week went, this was the best run of the week. I gave myself permission to go as slow as I needed to. I didn't have any problems, aside from a little boredom from running two hours by myself. I like to use my long run time to get into a meditative state, focus on my breathing, and be mindful and present...but two hours of that is a pretty long time. Who wants to start running with me? :-) It was 70 degrees but cloudy, breezy, and a little rainy, so it felt good. I ran my last mile about 45 seconds faster than previous miles, so I finished strong and felt good.
After the run I did some foam rolling and the Recovery Yoga video from Runner's World.
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| Complete soaked with sweat Lululemon Zing Pink Light Energy Bra Oiselle White Hail Mary Mesh Tank Athleta Raspberry Relay Skort |
Happy running and working out this week!