It’s nice to know that I am past the halfway mark of this 16 week training cycle. I am starting to feel optimistic that I may survive training through this brutal winter…maybe spring is just around the corner?
Last week was another rough one. It started on Monday morning, when I woke up to just under an inch of snow. While it wasn’t enough to get a delay or day off, it was just enough to be annoying to run in. (I think if it was an inch or more, it would have been better.) I found places to run that weren’t slippery and managed to do 12 miles. This was supposed to be a progression run, but that definitely wasn’t happening. I decided to make it my easy run, and use the next day as the progression run, even though I would be running less miles.
Come Tuesday I started to hear rumors of a snowstorm. It was supposed to come Wednesday night into Thursday. I decided to move my schedule around a bit and make Thursday a rest day- just in case we did get a lot of snow. I got in my progression run on Tuesday, and tempo run on Wednesday, and tacked a little extra mileage on to each to make up for the day I would be missed. None of this was ideal, but I felt better knowing that I would get a day off after 3 harder/longer runs.
It turned out that we did get quite a snow storm Wednesday night, so I did not run on Thursday. I did a strength workout, pilates, and relaxed!
On Friday I got another day off (I don’t think Jury Duty will ever end at this rate!) but the sidewalks in Baltimore were a mess in the morning. I dragged myself to the gym, planning to run 7 easy miles on the treadmill. It was awful. When I walked out of the gym around noon it was sunny, warm, and the snow was melting! I couldn’t resist running outside. So I drove home, had some quick fuel, and headed back out. I did 9 miles to make 16 for the day, and called it my weekly long run. It was much slower than usual because of dodging snow, ice, puddles, and people walking around. I think everyone got the day off and then realized how nice it was out, so went walking around the harbor.
One of the many large puddles that had formed once the snow started melting
On Saturday I did about 7.5 miles or so (I had some Garmin issues) and it was a tough run for me! I think it was a combination of all the mileage throughout the week, and running the day after a long run. I usually do my long run on Saturday and then take Sunday as a rest day.
So here is how the week ended up looking:
Week of 2/9/14-2/15/14
Sunday 2/9: Rest day: 60 minutes reflexion yoga, Runner’s Core Stage 3 Level 1
Monday 2/10: AM- 12.1 miles easy (9:38 pace), core work
Tuesday 2/11:AM- 10.1 mile progression run: Miles 1-8 started at 9:24 pace, progressed down to 8:05. 2 mi cool down (8:51 pace overall), Runner’s Core Stage 3 Level 1
Wednesday 2/12: 11.8 miles with 2 x 3 miles at half marathon pace (8:54 pace overall), core work
Thursday 2/13 Body Pump, Pilates for Runners
Friday 2/14 16.1 miles (7 on treadmill, 9 outside) (not sure about pace- probably 10:00/mile or so), Quick Strength for Runner’s Week 1 (Parts 1 and 2)
Saturday 2/15 7.6 miles easy (9:47 pace), core work
Total: 57.7 miles
It is crazy looking back on this week and seeing all those double digit runs. If you asked me a few months ago if I could do that I probably would have laughed! I think it provesthat the training process really does work. Maybe some of it is also mental. I didn’t go into the week thinking about 10-12 mile runs the first few days…it just kind of happened. I think keeping some of the runs super easy REALLY helps too! And of course rest days are so important.
It was also interesting to me that my 16 miles on Friday didn’t feel like 16 miles. It felt like a 7 mile run and a 9 mile run. When I went to run on Saturday I didn’t feel like I had already done a long run (but then my body reminded me!) It made me think about how much of the “long run” is mental. Sometimes my long run is 7 miles. Lately my weekday runs are 12, so long runs really are relative. But it seems like when we label it as the long run, and stress about getting it done, it feels harder than thinking of it as just another day’s run. Not sure if this makes sense, but my strange running week made me think about all this.
I am hearing that the temperatures are supposed to get into the 50s by the end of the week! But that is after some more snow tonight. Crossing my fingers that spring decides to come a little early!
What are you thoughts about the mental side of the “long run”?
How was your week in running?
I definitely play up the long run in my mind. It is always worse thinking about it the night before. It usually turns out to be a workout, but certainly not impossible!
Great week! Good job planning ahead to still get in your runs! And great distances as well – like you said it is a pain at the time but a good strategy!