Training Rundown

Last week was a pretty solid training week for me. Let's take a look back!

Sunday: 8 mile run, aerobic zone ~1hr 30min

Overall this run felt good. It was still really slow for me but the miles felt easy and if I hadn't been on a serious time crunch I probably would have pushed it a bit farther.

Monday: Rest. Lots of stretching.

Tuesday: more stretching + strength training (NMTZ). 

I made it through NMTZ but I definitely wasn't feeling it. Not my best performance but I was glad it was done.

Wednesday: Speed work. 60 minute run with six 1 minute pick ups. Covered ~ 6mi.

My training plan had instructions for this and I created a workout on my Garmin. I would do 9 minutes in the aerobic zone and then 60 seconds in my interval zone. I was very proud of my heart rate spikes and how it came back down relatively quickly. My only real complaint about this run was that I waited until a bit too late in the afternoon to do it and it.was.HOT. And humid!  I felt like I was chewing air. 

Thursday: Cross training.

I spent some time on my bike, but it was more for enjoyment than exercise if I'm being honest. We had a storm on Wednesday night and I hadn't slept well at all so I just didn't have the energy for a "real" workout.

Friday: Easy 3 miles, recovery to aerobic zone. 20 miles on the bike throughout the day.

This was the first one where I started to really see improvement in my speed while staying in the correct zone. My pace was creeping close to where it used to be and more often than not when I looked at my watch my HR was in the lower portion of where I wanted it to be. I felt really encouraged by this measly 3 miles.

Saturday: Long run- 10 miles! Aerobic zone.

What a fantastic run, I felt so good and strong the entire time. I bumped the 10 miler up a week because K. and I have plans for a long bike ride next Saturday (and I was kind of itching for double digits). I noticed a drastic improvement in my time- my average pace was almost an entire minute faster than it had been for Sunday's 8 miler and my average HR was exactly the same! It's amazing to see my new approach to training pay off so quickly. It's also great to think that I've hit double digits and my half is still nearly 8 weeks away, I'm already better off this training cycle than I have been during the past two.

The rest of Saturday was crazy active as well- I hit up the local Farmer's Market, rode the bike a bit too much and played a game of tennis! My legs were spent by the end of the night.

Total Running Miles: 27 I think that's my most ever!

How I feel: Really great. My feet were a bit sore yesterday but I think that's just because Saturday involved so much. I've still been icing my old injuries just in case though. I've also been adding in some recovery drinks and making sure to refuel properly, I think that makes all the difference.

Goals for this week: More consistent cross training. I want to get at least one hard ride in and as I said we have plans for a long (35-50 miles) ride on Saturday, so I'll have plenty of time on the bike. I need to start sneaking more strength in, I have my one dedicated Jillian day per week but I either want to up that to two or squeeze in 8 minute abs or something post-runs. I'd love to make it to yoga on Sunday if my work schedule allows it, so fingers crossed.

And just because a pictureless post is boring, here is the lone image I have found of me from the duathlon: