That's right folks! We're combining these weeks into one post simply for the fact that it is Friday, February 4th, and I have had such a shit week that I just don't have the strength to do 2 separate posts...and it's Friday of week 8...so like...yeah! It's been a rough week and frankly I am running low on brain power thanks to my 3 year old daughter who has decided that her main goal for this week was to see just how far she could push her boundaries and me until I break. That happened yesterday but I'll get to that in another post I'm sure!
WEEK 7 SUMMARY
TOTAL MILES: 21.8 miles
TOTAL TIME: 5h 24m 28s
Day 1 - 45 minute Cross Training
There are no pictures of this because it wasn't actually cross training per se. I spent the better part of the day clearing out my daughter's closet, separating items into trash bags and donation piles, hauling both down the stairs to the garage and trash, and then organizing her closet. Once the closet was organized I cleaned up her room completely and decided to rearrange her furniture and plug in her new (to her) tv with built-in DVD player. I moved her bed and dresser to the opposite wall, took down her baby monitor camera, moved her book shelf across from her bed and set up her bed to look right at her tv. Figured this way she can watch her favorite movies (I have most on DVD) and then just fall asleep at night (this has worked a few nights, some nights she crawls into our bed in the middle of the night and some nights she just say eff this and goes to sleep in our bed). We are also full blown into potty training but that is all for another post! Back to the training!
Day 2 - 4 mile Tempo Run (w/hill repeats 3x)
Does this picture just scream I AM SO OVER THIS or what? My time for this run is all over the place and for good reason! I forgot to pause my watch when I had to move the treadmill (It's on wood floor and tends to travel backwards as I run but I think I fixed it for the time being) and when I ended my run. I also got 1.06 miles into my run when it started straight up beeping at me telling me I needed to oil the belt. Then I find my bottle of oil only to find that it was knocked over, lid fell off and it had dripped on top of the book shelf it's on (no clue if it did any damage to any of the antique books right under this). I did my best to oil the belt and let it run for about 5 minutes on the lowest speed to disperse. I'm so confused because the book tells me to oil it based on usage but then the machine says to oil it when it beeps at 188 miles. Regardless, while waiting to get back into my run, I bought a new bottle of oil that has a long rubber hose attached to it so it can actually get to the middle of the belt (and reoiled when I got the new bottle) and then got back to my run!
As always I had my treadmill set to 1% incline (also my treadmill only does whole number incline...no half percent's for me!). My warm up and cool down miles, 1 mile each, were done at 4.6 with a water break at 3.0 for 0.1 miles twice. At miles 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 I ran at 6.0 for 45 seconds at 6%, 8%, and 10% incline respective to the miles listed. I walked at 3.5 for 1.5 minutes after each hill. I added an extra 0.2 mile walk at 2.0 at the very end to cool myself down a little more.
Day 3 - 3 mile Recovery Run/Optional Rest Day
Managed to get this one started before 5pm! Yes!!! Nothing fun or anything about this run. It is what I now call my standard treadmill recovery/long run (speeds may vary between recovery and long runs). 1% incline, walk at 3.0 and run at 4.6 and alternate walk/run.
0-0.1 walk
0.1-0.5 run
0.5-0.6 walk
0.6-1 run
Repeat for all 3 miles. Walked at 2.0 with no incline for 0.1 miles to give my legs some extra cool down time!
Day 4 - 4 mile Speed Run (w/hill repeats 2x)/REST DAY
I didn't plan to make this a rest day but it ended up that way. I was actually really looking forward to the run because it was supposed to be 1/4 mile "hill" and then walk 3 minutes after each hill. I just wasn't feeling it and I opted to take an extra day of rest. I'm telling you...these added Thursday runs are hard to get used to! Also I can't wait for it to be lighter longer because that will mean evening runs outside!
Day 5 - Recovery Run/Optional Rest Day
Can we just applaud my timing in getting this picture?! I wasn't watching Jurassic Park Camp Cretaceous during my run (my daughter was). I was watching Alex & Emma on my phone because I love that movie so much! I was not feeling this run though. I started with my standard recovery run layout but when I got into my second and third miles, my motivation just left me. I felt drained so I walked 0.25 miles at 2.5 and ran 0.25 miles at 4.6 until I finished...which also explains why I did exactly 3 miles!
Day 6 - 11 mile Long Run
The plan...that always pivots! Using my recovery standard layout, the plan was to walk at 3.5 and then change up my speed every few miles. 0-3 miles at 4.6, 3-6 miles at 4.7, 6-9 miles at 4.8, 9-10 miles at 4.9, 10-10.5 miles at 5.0 and 10.5-11 miles at 6.5. I slowed my walk at 3, 6 and 9 miles to 3.0 to catch my breath and eat my chews. I got to 5 miles and was feeling good. I got over the half way point and I could feel my energy draining. At 7.4 miles I had to walk. I slowed my walk pace down to 2.5 for the remainder of the run because as my speed got faster, I needed that little extra recovery time. I also walked until 7.6 before I started running again. I started feeling beat up. I wanted to stop. I wanted to give up. I didn't want to do it anymore. I walked more than planned (as I will on race day I'm sure) but I finally finished! I did add in an additional half mile walking after because I knew that if I just stopped that I would get hurt. It never fails, after a long run my right hip flexor always tightens up on me when I sit down and try to stand, even if it is just taking off my shoes. Also I watched all of Hunger Games: Catching Fire and started Mocking Jay Part 1.
Day 7 - Rest Day
And I did just that! I rested!
WEEK 8 SUMMARY TOTAL MILES: 7.8 miles TOTAL TIME: 2h 29m 2s
Day 1 - 3 mile Recovery Run/Optional Rest Day
Opted for the rest day. It was too soon for a treadmill run and the weather was gross and I just couldn't do it. This allowed time for my new running shoes to arrive though! Retired my old shoes at 344 miles! They did me good! They will now be used for every day errands, walks, whatever!
Day 2 - 4 mile Tempo Run
First run breaking in the new shoes so I took it slower. This was a 1 mile warm up and 3 mile tempo run and then stretch and cool down! My warm up alternated between walking at 2.0 and running at 4.3 and I switched it up every 0.2 miles. For my tempo miles I planned to use my standard recovery layout and walk at 3.0 and run at 4.7. That worked the first mile and for the second mile I dropped my walk to 2.5 and almost called it quits at 3 miles but dropped my walk to 2.0 in my final mile. Trying to figure out how to tie my shoes and how tight or loose to tie them is hard at first. You want to have them tight enough to not slip but loose enough to not make your toes go numb. That's why I opted to keep the window lacing (I talked about it here in my first training series) but still need to figure out how to get them a little more secure!
Day 3 - 45 minute Cross Training
I finally managed to get in a hike! I did a 45 minute hike on the Peloton app with Rebecca Kennedy. I love her and her music! This was basically a power walk with inclines. We went up to 8%, down to 5%, up to 10%, down to 5%, up to 12%, down to 5% and up to 15%, down to 5% and then 0. My speeds varied from 2.0 to 4.0 depending on my energy level and the incline. It was fun!
Day 4 - 4 mile Speed Run/Rest Day
I felt defeated. My child has been pushing my buttons all week and it all finally caught up with me. I had several breakdowns, so much crying that I actually got a headache! On Wednesday when I finally got to sit down to read my Bible chapters, I grabbed my Prayers for Your Day and couldn't pick between praying "When They Disobey" and "In Moments of Frustration" so I prayed them both but I couldn't even look at her on Thursday without crying and just wanting to curl up. I swear if I hear one more person tell me that it's because she wants my attention or that she is bored...I will scream! She has her own toys, she wants to watch Finding Nemo and then when I start the movie she screams because that's not what she wants to watch...I just wanted to go to bed at like 3pm but I didn't. I stayed up, I tried to calm myself and just pray that Friday would be better!
Day 5 - 3 mile Recovery Run/Optional Rest Day
Still breaking in my new shoes I decided to slow this down into a walk. I mean, the majority of the reason was to break in the shoes but another part was that I was still completely drained from the week. In total I made it 1.6 miles before I had to stop. The heel on my right shoe was rubbing too much and when I took my sock off I had rubbed the skin raw. I decided to stop. This lead to the decision to take the rest of the weekend off. As much I actually wanted to do my long run to really break in my shoes, I knew that these were my options:
Call this week a wash, skip my long run, rest, and hope that my heel scabs over and is ready to pick back up on Monday; or
Run 10 miles on Satan's Sidewalk (just to get it done), risk ripping open my heel and then take me out of training for at least a week.
I opted for number 1! Why risk it when I'm so close to race day? It wasn't worth it to me. Plus I was thinking back to training for Rushmore this summer and having that pinched nerve that was causing me pain in my lower back and right butt cheek that took me out of my last 2 full weeks of training. I am not looking to repeat that this time around! So...
WHAT'S ON DECK FOR NEXT WEEK:
Monday: 3 mile Recovery Run/Optional Rest Day
Tuesday: 5 mile Benchmark Run
Wednesday: 45 minute Cross Training (maybe another hike?)
Thursday: 6 mile Speed Run
Friday: 3 mile Recovery Run/Optional Rest Day (only if didn't take one Monday)
Saturday: 12 mile Long Run (longest of the long runs)
Sunday: Rest Day
Since I am completing this during Week 9, I already know that things got moved and switched around but I won't get too ahead of myself!
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