Monday, July 1, 2013

Training Rundown Week 3- Achievement Unlocked!

The illusive perfect per-my-plan training week has been achieved, yay! To be honest, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be and I didn't feel like I was sacrificing my social life at all. Ask me again about that when my weekday runs are 70 minutes and my long run is 22 miles, ha!

Monday: 50 minute run
I hadn't even set my alarm for this run in the morning because I thought my legs would be tired from Sunday's bike ride but then I officially signed up for the marathon and I knew I couldn't skip it. I set out after work and it was a terrible idea, so hot and humid! I got it done, didn't die and didn't have sunburn, I consider it a win. 

Tuesday: 45-60 minute cross-training (60 minute bike ride)
This may be the first time I ever went on a training ride on my own. I've been cycling a lot more as a form of transportation but I've still been doing most of my athletic rides with a partner. It felt good to suit up and keep my own pace. I ended up covering 14 miles in exactly an hour, which is a decent pace for me. My butt was definitely still feeling the 30 miles from the weekend though, haha.

Wednesday: speed-work. 40 minutes, with 4-6 pick ups.
This run SUCKED. It was cold, it was raining, it was 5a and I had a 13 hour work day ahead of me. Nothing about this was enjoyable and I was glad when it was over. I'm looking forward to the shift if speed work next week, I don't like these pick up runs, I'd rather just do tempo runs. 

Thursday: 40-50 minute cross-training (40 minute bike ride)
I was so crunched for time but still wanted to get some distance so I tried to ride hard. I ended up maintaing a 15 mph pace for the whole ride and felt great about that. I'd like to thank the girl I encountered on the trail for getting me through a hard climb, nothing like competing with a stranger ;-)

Friday: 40 minute run
Totally uneventful minus the part where I got lost and ran up and down the same hill three times (don't ask). I watched my pace closely as I was saving my legs for my long run and I knew we had a lot of bike commuting happening later on in the day.

Saturday: long run- 12 miles!
Per my plan this run was supposed to "only" be 11, but with vacation coming up I did a little bit of shuffling to insure that I got this twelver in. I woke up a bit sore and was hesitant. Since my whole Saturday was open I took my time, let my legs loosen up, ate two pieces of toast covered in PB + jelly and hydrated. I got out the door around 1045a but luckily it wasn't too hot of a day. The first few miles weren't great but by mile 5 I felt strong. I was keeping my HR lower in the zone and still maintaining a good-for-me pace. By mile 9 I felt awesome, the runner's high was in full effect and I just kind of floated through the next 2 miles. I had a little hiccup with my Garmin when my sweat started changing the screens. Yup, I was so sweaty that my touch sensitive bezel was going nutso. Must remember to lock that thing on long runs! I finished still feeling good and so accomplished. That half in August is going to feel like an easy weekend run :-)

Sunday: Yoga!
So grateful that free yoga fit into my schedule this week. My legs were dying for a deep stretch. I consider this my rest day because with yoga you make the practice your own- I didn't push it too hard and was just happy to be working on those hamstrings.

Total Mileage:
Running 25
Cycling 24

A nice even split!

Weaknesses: Strength (ha). I dropped Jillian this week because I didn't want my legs to feel too heavy. I should have still added more core work (since yoga barely counts) so that's what I'll be focusing on next week.

Overall I feel great! It's nice to see the mileage coming back up and still have my legs feeling strong. 

Just for fun- June totals! 

Per my Garmin (so just runs + rides)

Workouts: 19
Total Miles: 157.16 (75.15 running, 82.01 riding)
Total Time: 19h28m20s 
Calories burned (per my HRM): 11,117 (mostly replenished by Dairy Queen :-) )

I'm thinking July will be the first month I hit 100 miles running which is a milestone I've been looking forward to!

How did your week go?


4 comments:

  1. Hi Ashley - I came across your blog this morning as I was reading through some others. I'm still very new to the whole blog world, but started reading them regularly and decided to start my own a few weeks ago to document my marathon training. I'm training for the Chicago Marathon this fall, but the Columbus Marathon was my first marathon ever too!! It's such a great course. Good luck to you and now I look forward to reading about your training as well!
    -Colleen

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    1. Thanks! Good luck to you as well- assuming I survive marathon #1 Chicago is definitely a race I'd love to run at some point!

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  2. ah yay!!! 100 mile running months are outstanding. I don't see how some people put in 100 miles in a week. I get very happy with 100 mile months.

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    1. I know, I'd need to start running three times as fast to be able to fit that into a week!

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