CSWS: Week 5

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

 

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Such a sweet face to come home to.

 

I'm not so full of words today. I guess I had a pretty good training week. I had to switch things around a bit in order to do my long run on Friday. I introduced Sarah K. to my crazy love for the track, and FINALLY got to enjoy a run with Sarah D and company. A little weather drama led to an unexpected successful 16 miler, and I ended the week with a run at my favorite place in Columbus.

 

• 6/19: 8.12 miles, 8:47/mile. I guess overall average doesn't matter since it was track day. Workout: 2 mile warm up, 12 x 1 minute fartleks with 1 minute recovery, 3 mile cool down. I ran my warm up solo from my house to meet Sarah at the track. I imagine she wanted to kill me for making her meet me so early (we usually meet at 5:30!). Ha! I'm glad she joined me because we killed that workout!! I ran about the same distance as I did 4 weeks ago when I had 1 minute intervals (approx. 250-275 meters) meaning I ran in the high 5s and low 6s for that short distance. I was feeling good for the first five, but started feeling it after that. It was hard and glorious at the same time. After the intervals, Sarah and I ran to her car, and I finished my cool down in my hood. It was nice running on my home track for a change.
  

  

  Love my Asics.

• 6/20: 6 miles, 8:52/mile; Arm workout, 30 minutes. I posted looking for an easy run for today and Sarah D. made it happen for me (along with some other ladies). I don't always have the chance to run with her (which makes me sad, y'all). I woke up expecting to run in the range of 9:30-10. I let Sarah take the lead so I wasn't tempted to go too fast...I wanted my easy day! Umm...this girl, the same one that denies she is fast, ran us to an 8:52 average!! I was impressed, but also fully ready to blame her if my legs didn't feel rested for my steady state run tomorrow. ;)
  

  

  The Tuesday Crew! [Beth, Emily, ME, Jen, Sarah, Elise]

• 6/21: 8 miles, 8:46/mile; Yoga in the Park, 1 hour. Steady State Run (5 miles at 8:22-8:32, 10-20 seconds slower than race pace). A huge group of us met for our respective speed workouts...well, the others were running speedy...Katie and I ran a more moderate pace. I was happy she was willing to stick with me for this one. I had a rough start because sleep has been lacking. I warned everyone that I was in a "mood." Katie refused to let me feel like crap and chatted me up until my attitude turned around. Miles 5-7 felt a little challenging because we were going up a slight incline most of the time. Not gonna lie...I was ready for that cool down mile. Just wasn't my best run. I should've felt better. My steady state splits were 8:27, 8:32, 8:33, 8:17, 8:20. Later that evening, I joined Sarah K. for a free yoga event in Dublin to celebrate International Yoga Day.
• 6/22: Rest...from running anyway. I did a quick 15 minute ab workout after work (along with foam rolling of the butt). After the kids went to bed, I practiced some yoga moves. I was so close to doing my long run tonight. I planned to do it Friday morning so my husband and I could enjoy a night out on Friday (and the opportunity to sleep in on Saturday). The freaking forecast sucked. Ugh. I was so pissed. Looks like I'll be running long on very little sleep and a potential hangover.
• 6/23: 16 miles, 8:51/mile. So...as you read from yesterday, I thought I was stuck running long on Saturday. I randomly woke up at 4:20 a.m. and decided to check my phone for some reason. I had a text from my friend Jessie that the weather was clear and a group was still running 7 miles at 5 a.m. I looked at the weather to see if it would be clear for my entire run...NOTHING! I was slightly annoyed because I had already given up on running long today and had nothing prepped. I'm so glad I got out of bed because I would have regretted missing the opportunity to get this run out of the way. I scrambled to get dressed, get my fluids, nutrition, and gear gathered, and head out the door. I ran my first 7 with Katie, Jessie, and Tamara (9:44, 9:23, 9:08, 9:14, 9:05, 9:08, 9:18).
  

  

  Just missing the life of the party (a.k.a. Katie). [Tamara, Jessie, ME]

  I was solo for the rest of it, but surrounded by a lot of fellow runners on the road. I convinced myself that I couldn't tolerate race pace miles today. I was mentally prepared to fail, but I also didn't care. I just wanted to get the miles. As I was approaching 10 miles, I remembered Tamara telling me that I didn't necessarily have to do 4 race pace miles in a row. She suggested splitting it up with recovery periods. I decided to try mile 11 at race pace to see how I felt. It actually felt awesome so I decided to try another one. Those two miles were 7:57 & 8:06 (goal was 8:12 so a little fast). It was gel time so I decided to just do a recovery mile (8:56). I followed that up with two more faster miles (7:55, 7:53) and a cool down mile (8:43). Phew. DONE. Now I can go party it up with my boo.
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
• 6/24: Rest. Enjoyed some amazing time with my family. Such a great day.
  

  

  Breakfast for two. [South of Lane]

  
  

  

  Muffin making with Baby Boo.

  
  

  

  My sweet lady.

• 6/25: 6.27 miles, 9:51/mile; Hatha Yoga class, 1 hour. Highbanks...my favorite place to run. It's pretty and hilly. What more could a runner ask for?! I got to see some new faces and faces I haven't seen in a while. I got to run with Theresa for the first time in forever and even enjoyed a walking cool down with her so that we could catch up on some things. It was certainly a great start to my day.
  

  

  What a crew we had at Highbanks! [Rachel, Elizabeth, Theresa, Hannah, Meg, Megan, Chris, ME]

  

 

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I have what appears to be a tough week ahead of me. Once again, I have to do my long run on Friday morning so that makes things a little screwy. If I can survive this week, I'll feel like a running queen.