Sunday, October 20, 2019

Weekly Sweats: Progress Edition

This week's recap is the story of 29.25 miles and some solid optimism about half marathon #3.  I had a great week and I really feel like I've made progress with my fitness.  I don't want to be all "I got this" for half marathon #3 in two weeks, but...I got this.


I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out.  Special shout out to everyone running the Columbus marathon today!
 
Monday: 3 treadmill miles.  I've been struggling with the treadmill recently and this workout was no exception.

Tuesday: 5 treadmill miles, I took it easy and all of a sudden I got my treadmill mojo back.  Weights at lunch.

Wednesday: 3.25 outside miles!  After getting an outside weekday run last week, I was determined to do it again this week. Normally I workout first thing, finishing up around the time my stepsons leave for school in the morning.  We have a nice family ritual where we all walk to the bus stop down the street.  The stepsons are far past the age where they need to be escorted to their bus, but the adults and stepdog like the outing and the kids don't mind us tagging along.

It was raining.  Stepdog is fairly athletic and loves going outside, and we can only count a handful of times that the weather's been so bad that she's tapped out of a walk.  This morning was one of them.  She made it one house down the street and firmly turned around and let my husband know she was done.  They headed to the house, the steps got on their bus, and I started my run as planned.  I love running in light to moderate rain, but this was a bit much.  It was coming down hard and the wind was biting.  I usually end my runs at the end of our street and walk the block as a cool down, but I knew that once I stopped running it would be cold, so that's why I ended up with the extra quarter mile.  Even with the weather drama I loved this run and I felt pretty tough for going out when stepdog wouldn't.  The late run made for a hectic hustle to get to work, so I can't do the outside weekday runs everyday but I'm going to continue doing them once a week until it gets icy.

Thursday: 5 treadmill miles.  1 mile warm up, then a ladder of 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 minutes fast/2 minutes recover.  This was a good one and flew by in a heartbeat.

Friday: 3 treadmill miles, hill workout.  I can definitely feel progress since last week.  Weights at lunch.

Saturday: outside for 10!  I cannot say enough about how much easier it is to run in cooler weather.  There's no time pressure to get outside before it gets too hot and I have so much more energy to put into the run.  I did 4 miles warm up, 10x 0.1 mi fast/0.1 mi slow, 2 mi easy, and another 10x fast/slow.

Cool down walk with stepdog afterwards and then I spent the rest of the day on the couch.

Sunday: off, apart from an extra walk with stepdog.

In other fitness news, I got my credit card out and registered up for some more races.  On the docket for the rest of the year:
  • Turkey Trot 5k
  • A Christmas themed 10k in early December
  • A 5 miler on Christmas Eve
  • A 5k on New Year's Eve
For the 5k's, the goal is sub 30 - I don't know if I can, but you better believe that I will be trying (my PR is 30:41).  The 10k goal is a PR, which is my one unmet running goal of the year (missed it by 4 seconds earlier this year).

19 comments:

  1. What beautiful fall colors! Runs like your Wednesday run are the ones to look back on for grittiness and mental strength - nice week!

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  2. I think it's fantastic that you are feeling so strong and ready for your half race. That is always the goal!

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    1. Right, these races are really about the journey to get there. I'm light years ahead physically and mentally of my September half. We'll see what happens on race day.

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  3. I'm gonna make a mental note of the ladder workout you did on the mill...I might need that in my arsenal when the streets get icy and icky. You've done a lot of speed training this summer and recently; I bet that PR is in the bag! ;-)

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    1. The ladder workout is a good one! I did it again yesterday, I swear it makes the time pass by in a blur. And BTW...good luck this weekend! If there was ever a race that was in the bag, it's your marathon!

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  4. Love those fall colors!

    Looks like you have a full fall race calendar coming up. Good luck!

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  5. You made me laugh at "I got this" :) Love it! This was the first year my kids wouldn't let us go out to the bus stop anymore. We tried, we really did! I enjoyed the little chit chat on the bus stop walk.

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    1. Oh no, they might cut us off some day! I guess we could walk stepdog in the opposite direction, because she will never give up her morning walk.

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  6. The ladder workout for the treadmill sounds awesome!

    You have some great races scheduled for the rest of the year! I still need to find a Christmas race for December.

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    1. This is my first Christmas race but I'm sure it won't be the last. It's a nice present.

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  7. What gorgeous fall colors
    Your stepdog sounds like a hoot. Nope, mom, don't make me go out in this
    Good luck on the PR chasing.

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  8. Yay, that's great news that you felt really good about your runs last week :) You definitely have this!

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  9. You signed up for some fun races!!! Love the different themes. Good luck on chasing those PRs!

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  10. Good job getting out there in the rain! Neither of my dogs are fond of rain at all. I count it as a good day when they at least go out & do their business in it (which they're usually pretty good about, but Lola, being small & 14, its a bit iffy).

    Sounds like a really solid week. I keep hoping for a 5k PR, but it's eluded me for years -- yet somehow I've managed to PR at almost every 10k I've run over the last couple of years. Weird.

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    1. You're in the same place with the 5k that I am for the 10k. We'll figure out how to break through.

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