As I said in Saturday’s post, training has been a challenge lately mostly due to the weather. Somehow I am making it happen, but it has been a little stressful.
Week of 1/19/14-1/25/14
Sunday 1/19: Rest day: 30 minutes reflexion yoga
Monday 1/20: AM- 8.25 miles: 5 x 800 at 5k pace (8:29 pace overall), core, PM- Body Pump
Tuesday 1/21: AM- 10 miles with 2 x 2 at half marathon goal pace (8:54 pace overall), core work PM- Runner’s Core stage 3 level 3, 30 min yoga
Wednesday 1/22: 8 miles easy on the treadmill (10:00 pace overall- not really sure of exact pace), core work
Thursday 1/23: 5.2 miles easy on treadmill (9:36 pace), core PM: Runner’s Core stage 3 level 3
Friday 1/24: 4.2 miles easy on the treadmill (9:17 pace), core
Saturday 1/25: 15.5 miles with 8 at goal marathon pace (8:58 pace overall)
Total: 51.15
I had to make quite a few adjustments this week. I was off from work on Monday for MLK day, so I wanted to do a longer workout, but I was also nervous about how my foot would feel. I ended up feeling really good and completed my speed workout of 5 800s.
On Tuesday Baltimore was expecting a snow storm, but the morning was clear and good running weather. I found out that I had the day off from work right before I went out for my run. I was planning to do 6 easy miles, but after 4 miles I realized that it might be my last chance to run outside for awhile. (I was right!). So I turned it into my tempo run, which I had planned to do on Wednesday. I don’t like doing 2 tough workouts back to back, but I was feeling good and I didn’t feel sore or anything from the speed work. (My legs were a little tight from Body Pump, but they had loosened up after the first easy 4 miles). I got through the tempo portion and evened out the run to 10 miles.
Then the snow came.
I got some yoga and extra core work done later in the day since I was home and didn’t have much else to do.
By Wednesday the snowstorm was over, but it had left behind a mess. (Above picture is from 4 days after the storm). The temperature was in the teens, and nothing was melting. Baltimore city sidewalks were a mess and there was really no where to safely run outside. So on Wednesday evening I headed to the gym and ran on the treadmill.
On Thursday and Friday nothing had improved outside, so back to the treadmill I went. I can’t believe I survived 3 days in a row on there but I think I started to get used to it and by Friday it wasn’t so bad.
On Saturday I was determined to do my long run outside. The harbor was not 100% cleared but for the most part I could run on it, but had to slow down/walk when I hit an icy patch or a strip that had not been cleared and was turning to ice. The plan was to run 4 miles easy, 8 at goal marathon pace, and 3 miles easy. When I finished my easy 4, I was still running into the problem on slowing down due to ice patches. The first 2 planned faster miles were not fast at all. It wasn’t until I reached Patterson Park that I could finally pick up my pace. I was able to lap around there for awhile, and then took the most direct route possible to get back home.
As you can see, miles 5 and 6 were not at that 8:46 pace that I was aiming for. Once I got to the park (miles 7-12) I was actually faster than planned. It was kind of hard to pace because the park is really hilly, and the wind was super strong. So sometimes it felt hard to go at a 9:00 pace, and other times I was flying at a 7:45 pace. I ended up running miles 13 and 14 at a harder pace too since I knew I didn’t hit pace for miles 5 and 6.
I was really happy with how this run went, despite the cold/windy/icy conditions.
And because I really like to torture myself, I took an ice bath after I got home. I figured I wanted to ice down some sore spots anyway, so I might as well do it all at once and get it over with.
Yep, it was pretty awful.
How was your week in running?
Do you ever take ice baths after a long run?
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Tough weather for many people lately – and it makes training schedules a real pain to keep up! Good job adapting, and a great long run on Saturday in spite of challenges!
My week was pretty good, in spite of the very cold weather!
As for the bath – I have never taken an ice bath … BRRR! Send more tea!
Haha yes the ice bath was cold but was over pretty quickly!
The weather definitely has been getting in the way! I have never taken an ice bath. Do you think they help a lot? Is it worth it? They seem so scary!
I do think that they help with recovering faster. I think they are equally as good as just using ice, but it can be difficult to ice everything so I just find that it’s easier to do it all at once!
So glad to hear your pain is getting better. You’re a champ for getting in all those miles and for taking an ice bath! I used them for 2 marathon training cycles and think they helped, but I haven’t gotten back into the habit. I use the excuse that that was before I knew about compression, so compression is “taking the place” of ice baths now!
I also used to take ice baths much more than I do now. I also use compression all the time, and I feel like that helps too. Sometimes I just feel like I need to ice everything down after a long run or tough week, and ice baths seem like the most efficient way to do that!