Week 6 Recap- Really?

I know I picked a longer training cycle but how is week 6 over already?      Picking a longer cycle seems to have been a good choice so far with work being crazy, my odd leg issues and other various issues popping up.  The plan is detailed enough to give me guidance but flexible enough I can move things around.  And things moved this week.

Monday- Rest

Ahh, glorious Monday Rest day.  Coincidentally also Monday Pizza night.  😉🍕

Tuesday-  4 miles easy.

Like I mentioned in my last post, this run made me nervous.  While my leg ached it didn’t outright hurt.  I tried to focus on my form and make sure that my left leg was actually coming around and not just shuffling along.    I pulled off a nice negative split for the run but gravity helped that along.   🙂

Wednesday- Rest

I have to start writing these recaps as the week progresses.  I can’t even remember what I did other than work on Wednesday.  I think pizza may have been involved.  Oh, I got my CT results.  Yeah, more on that next post.

Thursday- 7 miles long-ish run

I love half days.  Granted, they mean working on a Saturday but those extra few hours on weekday rock.    I decided to try and get my long run out of the way.    With my leg still being achy, I had already decided that instead of the 10 that had been on the plan I was aiming for 7-8 miles.     I headed to the lake path, while running multiple loops can be boring I would be near my car if my leg started hurting.  IMG_1265It was warm but not too bad.   There was one section of the lake that resembled the surface of the sun and I felt like I slowed in that section every time.   I completed the first 5 miles by taking a .10 mile walk break after each mile to shake out my calf area.    I noticed that walking wasn’t helping so for miles 6 & 7, I tried something different.    I stopped my Garmin and started a new run.  Instead of walking, I took a short 20-30 second pause if I needed to stretch.     My running pace dropped by 20 seconds and overall it only added 2 minutes to my run vs the 5 minutes walking.  Overall, I am not sure if I learned anything but it was an interesting experiment.   😏

Friday- Rest day

I lost the battle with the cookies.

Saturday- Active Rest day

The morning started with a drive out to Saturday work town.   I headed home after work as my mom and I had plans to head to the fair for the afternoon.   The fair comes once a year and runs almost 2 weeks.  The town goes a little insane but it’s fun.   I can usually hear the concerts out my window too, so bonus!  I’m not huge on crowds so I generally only go once.  I have to get my funnel cake and pretzel, it’s a fair tradition.  😄  We enjoyed our yummy fair food and took in all the sights.  I will never ride a fair ride but I love taking pictures of them.

She’s real!!

I always try to go on a night where I wouldn’t mind hearing the concert a little better, too.  This year that was supposed to be Alice Cooper and Motley Crue.    Except they had plane issues so the concert was pushed back.    From what I could hear from home- Alice Cooper started playing after 10 and Motley Crue around midnight.   I wonder how many people stayed.     I wore my Fitbit to the fair and we walked well over 5 miles.   Plus that thing is notoriously short on steps.    I feel zero guilt for that yummy fair food.  Maybe for the purse I bought.

Sunday- 5.5 miles Speed work

Somehow I was up early for me and made it to the track by 10.  I wanted to try to complete the speed work I had skipped by running long on Thursday.  The plan called for a 30 minute warm and 8x 1:00 @10K pace with 1:00 recovery and then a 15 minute cool down for 1:10:00.  As I type this I noticed 2 things- 1) that math does not add up at all and 2) I thought it was 10x repeats so I did 10, ugh.    The 30 minute warm up turned into 35 and I rode the struggle bus the entire way.  I could not get my legs moving and my lungs weren’t much better.   I checked the temp during a water break and noticed the 65% humidity.   Ok, I get the complaining lungs now.   I really wanted to blow off the repeats but I figured I would at least start them and see how it went.    Since I didn’t want to see 500 splits with an odd overall average pace I ended my first run after the warm up and started a new one.   Honestly, I have no idea what my 10K pace should be but according to my PR 16 months ago it was around 9:00.     Didn’t think I had a shot in hell of hitting that.

1.  8:01
2.  8:13
3.  8:02
4.  8:12
5.  8:15
6.  7:55
7.  8:19
8.  8:21
9.  8:23
10. 8:21IMG_1398Well, that was unexpected.   No lie, I walked the recoveries.  I recently read another blog of someone much faster and stronger than me and they said they walked their recoveries.   I swear it was like birds singing when I read that.  😊    That being said, I have no idea how I hit those paces when I was feeling so rough.     I felt like a nasty, sticky mess when done so my cool down only ended up being half a mile.    I was done.    But all in all, it turned out to be a good run.  Plus I love the track.

Over all, not a bad training week.   I think I’ve finally accepted that I have some limitations right now so I am going to do what I can and see what happens.   Going forward I would like to add in cross training and I think the stationary bike is the best option right now, I just need to get my lazy butt to the gym.  Any bets on how long that will take me?

How was your week?  Do you like the track?

Ever been to a concert that started that late?  Would you have stayed?

What’s your fair food indulgence?

34 thoughts on “Week 6 Recap- Really?”

  2. Great week! I love going to the track every once in a while just to mix it up and let my legs run as fast as they want. I was always a sprinter in high school so my legs just crave speed every once in a while!

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  3. Dude your intervals ROCKED!!! So excited for you! My former coach told me lots of things that I didn’t agree with, but I did agree with his take on walking recoveries when you are doing intervals. The purpose of the workout is to nail the intervals, not the recoveries and you did that! AMAZING job!!!! I was laughing at your Wednesday post because I had to start writing my posts as the week goes on! I forget and even if mine get wordy, I want to journal about them so I can go back and see what I did after the marathon is over!

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    1. Thank you! Speed work is hard with my stomach sometimes and trying to keep a good pace in the recoveries was kicking my butt. I was becoming really discouraged with speed work. Hopefully walking the recoveries helps in future runs, I can’t get faster without actually trying! Haha, I got to Wednesday and totally blanked. I had to write Thursday first because I didn’t remember. 🙂 This is the first time I’ve done a weekly recap like this. I like that it helps keep me on track and like you said, it will be easier to look back afterwards and see what worked or didn’t work!

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      1. That was my issue when I did speed work – I could ALMOST hit the paces but not so much. And then I would worry about what the pace was for the overall run – I don’t care about that anymore and I have an easier time nailing the workouts! I like the weekly, detailed recaps. Even in week 5, I’ve already gone back to reference certain workouts!!!

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  4. Nice job on the intervals!! A lot of people do walk recoveries, I even know some people who just stop and rest for their recoveries. Different things work for different people and it really just depends on what you want to get out of the workout. I like to jog my recoveries to keep my legs turning over and help simulate having to run fast on tired legs, but that’s just my personal preference. I actually love track work, it’s a nice mental break from the monotony of easy miles. 8 miles in track intervals definitely goes by faster than 8 miles at the same pace, IMO.

    I really love that photo of the big fair ride! So beautiful!

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    1. Thanks! I’ve read that some people stop and rest in between but I would prefer to keep my legs moving. Walking at least does that. Hopefully one day I can get back to jogging in between intervals but right now I accept that I need to walk. Yes, intervals definitely make the time and miles move faster, especially when compared to my easy pace right now. 🙂

      I love watching that ride as it spins but you’ll never see me on it!

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  7. I like to avoid the track as much as possible. Haha. You absolutely rocked those intervals girl! And kudos to you for active recovery… I really need to start trying to walk more on rest days just to keep my legs moving, but it’s so easy for me to just become one with my couch 🙂

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    1. The track used to be my favorite place to run but it is so hard to get there now. Long runs usually win over track time on the weekends. I knew I was indulging in fair food s I figured why not walk there and back. 🙂 I love my comfy chair on rest days, well any day actually. 🙂

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  8. Way to kick butt on that speed work! I’m really looking forward to my Thursday night track workout with run club. I really want to get faster!

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  10. High five for the intervals! I love the track too. I also love “I lost the battle with the cookies.” Ohh been there. The only late concert I can remember is one that a friend’s band was playing in, and it started at 8 or something but there were several bands playing and my friend didn’t go on until close to midnight. I sat on an amp at the back of the room and fell asleep! I’m way too old for those sorts of shenanigans.

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    1. Dang that French bakery! Falling asleep on an amp is totally something I would do! I am supposed to go to a concert next week and I am already tired. 😦 Listening from my window is much more my style!

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    1. Thanks! This one isn’t exactly open but it’s not locked either. 🙂 But it is always full of people from the school except on Sundays. So I have to decide between long runs or speed work. Most of my speed work is done at the lake path. The fair can be fun just so crowded!

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  13. I keep telling myself I lost the battle with cookies but I’ll win the war and then I realize I don’t want to win the war.

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  14. I will never ride fair rides either! I don’t think I have since I was a young kid. I was insistent on going through a haunted house “ride” (it was the size of a caboose, so not big) so my parents let me go, and then had to rescue me when I just stood screaming and crying in the middle of the caboose. No rides since then. Plus, I get really bad motion sickness so can’t handle spinning.
    Great training week!!! I’m losing the battle with ice cream right now. I just can’t quit it!

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    1. I just don’t trust them. They put them up so quickly, I always wonder what if they miss something? Plus that all that spinning is just too much. 🙂
      Oh, ice cream is so good. Luckily or unluckily, I have can’t tolerate dairy otherwise I am sure I would eat too much!

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  15. That’s a solid week and that speed work is awesome. Omg fair food is amazing, I love the Indian fry bread 🙂

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  16. Really loved your post and how you documented your days! I think a lot of people can identify with the losing battle with the cookies… I definitely can!

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