Week in Review

77 Miles
8 Runs
0 Days off
2 Workouts
1 Long Run w. Tempo
1 Big Decision

This was one of those weeks where I just felt really exhausted on most runs.  I got in all of the workouts, but I really only felt really happy about half of them.  Running is always an escape for me to gather my thoughts, but was particularly so this week.  Garrett got into the Duke Physical Therapy program and we have both been weighing the pros and cons of attending Duke versus East Carolina University. Obviously Duke comes with a much higher price tag, but it was the school that Garrett walked away from feeling like it was the perfect fit for him.  If he goes to Duke, it means that we would move to Durham to start a life there together.  I am very fortunate to have a company like Bank of America that will support me from a remote location.  However, I love spending time with all of my co-workers so I would try to come to Charlotte once a week (perhaps on Monday and Tuesday) and stay with friends before heading into the office.  Also, this would allow me to run with some of my Charlotte friends semi-regularly while maintaining important face time in the office.  The decision will be made early next week and I know that we will be just fine with whatever Garrett chooses.

12 x1 Min On/Off

Goal:
12-15 x 1 Min On / Off with on paces @ goal 5k pace

Actual:
13 miles total with 12 x 1 Min @ 5:30-5:05 pace with 1 min rest

There really isn’t too much to say about this minuters workout.  My legs were tired, so I basically just got it done in the early morning hours with Eric, Phil, Laurie and Derrick.  I definitely didn’t feel spectacular at any point during the workout and viewed it as a low priority compared to the rest of the week.

2 x 3.5M with Laurie & Eric

Goal:
2 x 3.5-4M @ 604-610 pace, 1 mile jog rest, next set at 550-600 pace

Actual:
4 mile warmup
2x3.5M with .8M jog rest
604, 602, 612, 258 (21:18 total)
5:49 jog rest
602, 553, 600, 245 (20:40 total)
2.9 miles cool down for ~15 miles total

Taking advantage of the Bank holiday, Laurie, Eric and I headed over to the Sugar Creek Greenway to knock out a tempo.  I was kind of dreading this workout since it’s the first time I’ve done an extended tempo since December’s marathon, but the company helped tremendously.  We traversed down the Greenway, before heading up to the Booty Loop and some hilly side streets for the second set.

On the first set, the three of us were cruising along, chatting like it was no problem.  This set definitely felt easy and I was enjoying the flat terrain and the conversation.  Then, we headed up the booty loop and we were ready to roll before 1 mile hit, so we started a bit early and ran on a hillier route during the middle miles, but with a downhill last 800m.  Our route was completely unplanned, so we basically created a route on the fly that was absolutely perfect!  Laurie naturally led about one step in front of me for the first mile, but then on the slight uphills, I would break even with her as she had just completed a 23-miler on Saturday.  Laurie, Eric and I are great workout buddies as we each challenge each other in different ways.  After the uphill section, we crossed the street and Eric surged ahead to run alongside Laurie.  My legs felt tired then from the hills, but I knew there was a downhill coming soon, which really helped bring our overall pace down.

Overall, I’m really pleased with this workout! I nailed the times that Terry suggested and didn’t work too hard during the first set.

Week in Review

77 miles
1 Workout
12M MLR
16.5M LR
2 Lift Days
2 Snow Runs

Even though nine inches of snow poured through Charlotte on Wednesday and Thursday, I was able to maintain my target mileage for this week.  I snuck in 14 miles on Tuesday as part of my workout, and then got in about 12 miles with Eric on Wednesday morning before the blizzard started.  While it was exciting to get this much snow and was a treat to run in the pretty snow on Thursday, by Friday I was over it.  I was sick of fretting about how it would impact my training schedule for the rest of week and dreaded the thought of having to do a treadmill long run.  Just as quickly as the snow came, it melted away with temps reaching the mid-40s on Thursday afternoon and the mid-50s on Friday.  The weekend was rather nice, except for the sloppy, dirty streets with gritty snow melting away in the storm drains.  With about 18 other people, I knocked out my long run Saturday on the mostly clear roads of uptown and Dilworth before calling it a day at 16.5 miles.  It actually felt rather effortless knocking out over 75 miles for the first time in months.  Clearly, my body is getting used to the mileage.

On Thursday, during the snowfall.

Cicero enjoyed watching the snow fall

Garrett and Nick used the extra time to do yoga together

5x2K w/ 90s Rest

Goal:
5x2K @ 5:50 with 90s jog rest

Actual:
4 miles warmup
5x2k w/ 90s jog at:
715, 718, 710, 728, 720 (with rest got in 7 miles in 42:40)
3 mile cool down for 14 miles total

Had a huge crew for this one at 5:20AM: Laurie, Eric, Billy, and Phil.  We knew about the snowstorm that was supposed to hit so we got knocked this one out early before the snow started falling. I felt good on the first three and hung with the group, even though the pace was faster than what I wanted to be running. I paid the price for the faster pace on the 4th one and slipped into the 6:00 range instead of 5:50, but somehow was able to pull myself back together on the 5th and final repeat.  Billy and Laurie were way ahead of me on the 4th and 5th, but fortunately, I had Eric in front of me as motivation to catch.  I wasn't entirely pleased with this workout, but I was happy that I didn't give up when that was really the only thing I wanted to do during the 4th one.  I haven't a workout quite yet where I was really thrilled with the outcome, but I know it will come soon.  In the end, I have to be pretty thrilled about running 7 miles total in about 6:05 pace.

Week in Review

70 Miles
2 Workouts
16 mile Long Run
7 Runs
1 lift Day

This was the first time I'd done two workouts plus a long run in a very, very long time.  I'm happy to say that I walked away feeling strong and healthy from this high quality week. It's just my second week back on a regular training schedule, but I can already tell that my fitness is building very quickly.  Looking forward to the next couple of weeks leading up to the Reedy River 10k on March 1.

12x400m at JCSU

Goal:
2x(4-6x400m) @ 80 for 1st set and faster for 2nd set with 200m rest faster than 75s

Actual:
2.5M warmup
6x400m @ 79 (60), 81 (59), 77 (65), 78 (62), 79 (59), 80
600m jog rest b/w sets in 3:27
6x400m @ 78 (61), 79 (65), 79 (70), 78 (66), 77 (66), 76
2.5M+ cool down for ~10 miles total

Not much to report here today.  I ran to JSCU with Phil and Paul and completed a couple ovals on the track.  With Phil's help, I hit all the prescribed times and didn't feel too bad doing it.  In fact, I felt 100 times better than I did on Tuesday for my two mile repeats.  This comes as a surprise because on both Wednesday and Thursday I left work at 4PM because I was so ridiculously tired that I took 90 minute naps both days until 6PM.  Today I didn't have that overwhelming exhaustion when I jumped out of bed and had a fun time running at the blue track.  This was my first time doing two workouts in one week in a very, very long time, so I'm interested in seeing how my body will recover from this next week.

3x2 Miles on DSL

Goal:
3-4x2 Miles @ 550-555 on the first 3 intervals (548s would be acceptable, but no 545s) with 2:00 rest. Assuming you are feeling strong and up for a 4th interval, that one can either remain in same target range or else you can push it more like 10k effort.

Actual:
3.4 mile warmup
3x2 Miles @ 
555, 551 (201)
550, 557 200)
554, 557
2.3 mile cool down for 12 miles total

So this definitely wasn't what I wanted out of this workout, but I'll take it.  I knew getting out of bed at 5:15am that this was going to be a doozy.  My legs felt tired, but I knew the work needed to get done.  I met Phil and Eric at the speed loop and after a couple more laps of warmup, we headed to our start line, ready to attack the Dilworth 2 Mile Speed Loop.  After the first mile, 5:55 pace felt more like 5:35 pace, and I knew it would be a struggle to just get three sets done.  However, I knew I would not walk away without completing at least three.

The funniest part about this workout is that we all felt so bad that the three of us didn't even run in a pack.  Phil was about five meters in front of me and I was about five meters in front of Eric.  I was so tired that I didn't even have the motivation to put in a couple quicker steps to catch up to Phil.  Regardless, once we finished, Eric and I looked at each and both said, "well, that was terrible."  And with that, we cooled down and put the workout behind us.

Week in Review

71 Miles
8x1000m
12M MLR
16M LR with 8M @ 6:21 ave
0 Doubles
2 Lift Days

This week was the first one back with a regular schedule provided by Coach T-Bone. I was really excited (and nervous) to put my fitness through the wringer this week.  Somehow, I came out hitting all the goals, but was surprised about doing so.  On my Saturday long run, I felt fatigued during the easy five mile warmup, but then somehow was able to pick up the pace from 630 all the way down to 603 at the end.  It helped tremendously that Billy, Eric and Laurie were all there to help share some of the workload.

While the past two weeks have been blanketed with the polar vortex' freezing temperatures, Sunday was finally a nice respite from the cold.  A balmy 65 degrees greeted us as we set out for a 10 miler at 10AM.  The morning was topped off with some homemade blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs with my running buddies.  I'm not really into the Super Bowl, so it was a great way to hang out with friends in a way that did not involve sitting around a TV watching football.  Later, the Wilmore clan (including Michelle) biked to buy some snacks and then enjoyed them in an impromptu picnic at Freedom Park.  It made me excited about spring, but I know that it's probably a long way off and that cold and rainy days are ahead.