Week 8- Pig Training Run Down

Today's 20 miler definitely has left me feeling much better about this week than I was yesterday afternoon!

Let's look at the numbers!

Monday- Rest Day (Tapped from Youngstown)
Tuesday- Treadmill 6.5 miles speed
Wednesday- 1800 yard swim, Pilate's-abs, faster in five strength training
Thursday- 75 minutes Yoga
Friday- 6 miles "tempo" run Euclid Creek, 25 minute dynamic warm up at Velocity Sports
Saturday- 20 minute recovery run Easy
Sunday- 20 Miles at 8:12 pace (8:51 pace if you count rest at stop lights, refueling at the top of the hill, changing clothes at 12, which I don't)

Tuesdays run went well. I hit all 12 of my 400s on the treadmill at 6:04 pace.

Fridays run was pretty brutal. I should have known better than to attempt my tempo run at Euclid Creek but it worked out best so that I could shower before heading to my CTC meeting at Velocity sports. The trail at Euclid Creek runs along the creek so basically 2.5 miles up or down hill with the stream. I started going up with a 2 mile warm up then turned around and started into my 3 mile tempo run which should have been at 7:04 pace. 1st mile blew by at 6:40, second 7:10, turned around and headed uphill for the last mile in 7:52. Not exactly what I intended. I headed back an easy mile and was off to the showers. I am not confident the half mile or mile markers there are on but even so my average was lower than I desired. My legs felt like toast even on the warm up so I wasn't too enthused.

Headed over to Velocity Sports and after listening to some club updates, and interesting talk about running methods, and an explanation on what Velocity Sports has to offer, Daisy Duc and I joined in a sample warm up. Basically lunges, sprints, jumping jacks, superman lifts, and some other dynamic stretching type things. Afterwards I toyed around on the funny slide strips where you slide back and forth like you are speed skating, let's just say it was amusing.


Being Goofy Before the Tri Meeting


What I am going to call scissor arms


The dreaded lunge


Not sure what we were doing here.

Headed out for some grub and chat then it was off to the movies to see 300. I wasn't expecting much from the movie but I was pleasantly surprised. It was incredibly well done and the imagery was amazing (if a bit gory at points). Well worth staying up several hours past my bedtime!

I slept in Saturday, then David and I headed to the mall. Our tax refunds came in and I decided to splurge on a pair of jeans that cost more than $20 for once. I had the girl at the Buckle show me pretty much every pair of jeans in the store before finally deciding on a pair of trendy torn pocket jeans that I normally wouldn't wear, but hey I figure I need to get with the times and they were the only pair that fit well and didn't need to be hemmed.

After that we went to a few gaming stores to check out the goods and I started fading fast. I was exhausted and my legs felt juiced. We got home and I laid in bed and finished re-reading the 6th Harry Potter book before I finally dragged myself out for an easy 20 minutes of running. The weather was much too nice to stay inside and spin! My legs felt horrible the whole run and I felt like crap when I got back. I ate some dinner then decided I needed a hot bath. I also poured myself a glass of wine. I decided it couldn't hurt and my body had earned a reward, it was obviously worn out!

Well you would think that the hot bath and wine would not have left me in good shape for today's 20 miler but apparently it was just what I needed!

I got up early this morning and made some breakfast. Had some Earl Greyer tea, read a few blogs, took a shower and headed out. I left early so I could stop and get gas, nutrition, and Gatorade. I planted some Gatorade at the top of the hill and headed to the bagel shop.

It was about 36 when we started and a few runners that had already been out said it felt cold so I opted for my fleece pants over shorts, two thin longs sleeves and a jacket. Way too many clothes! I stripped the jacket before we got 2 miles in. We had a big crowd today and I just felt great. My energy was high and my legs warmed up fast. The first 12 blew by. I even felt good on the hill today. It started to get hot as we closed in on the bagel shop. Both my long sleeves were drenched! We got back to the cars and I stripped the fleece and changed into a dry long sleeve shirt. I felt like I had dropped 10 pounds as we headed out for another 8!

It was windy on the last 8 but we managed to hold pace fine, if anything I think we picked it up a bit. I couldn't believe how good I felt. I can't remember doing a long run at this pace comfortably ever, except on marathon days. This may be my fastest 20 mile training run ever! If it isn't I am sure it is close!

I am feeling really good about the pig now. I am thinking my goals are sounding a bit more achievable after this 20 miler! This week coming up I think I will back off the pace and give my body a break. Hopefully in two weeks I will bounce back even stronger and with even more energy!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Great job DaisyDuc at the Malachi 5 miler and today on our run!