The Week of 04/14/2014: A watched pot never boils.

I got in 44 miles this week, and for the first time in 3 weeks, all of my scheduled miles, though not on the days of in the format that I had scheduled them. It's 9 weeks out from Grandma's; I still have a lot of work to do before then.

Monday 04/14/2014

Scheduled:  6 Mile Recovery Run One thing that I've noticed is that with my recovery runs they seem painfully slow.  So slow that it is actually difficult to maintain the pace without constantly looking at my watch and slowing down or taking a break.  So for today's run just for fun I opted to not look at my watch a single time throughout the run.  I could still feel my lap alert buzz so that I'd know when another mile had passed, but I made no effort at all to monitor my pacing.  I just ran at the speed that I felt like. It was still a recovery run, mind you, so the effort level was very minimal.  Basically I slowed to a walk at the top of every mile to take a pull from the water bottle, and I took a minute or so (Again not looking at my watch) walk break somewhere in the middle of each mile.  The result?  I was within a second of my normal recovery run pace! I guess it's true what they say how a watched pot never boils.

Tuesday 04/15/2014

Scheduled:  10 Miles, 5 Mile Tempo @ GMP 18º, Clear. At the halfway point I started a 3 mile tempo @ marathon pace, the last 2 I kicked up to HMP. I use the term HMP loosely, because while I know for fact that I could hold my half marathon pace over a continuous 13.1 mile run, to start with an easy five miles and then turn up the heat like that made the same pace feel cruel and unusual by the end of the run. It felt good to finish; those are exactly the kind of workouts that non-runners tend to look at only for the physical returns on the investment.   But the value of 'mental toughness' workouts cannot be dismissed.

Wednesday 04/16/2014

Scheduled:  XT (Swimming) The pool is closed on Good Friday, so I moved my XT workout to today and scheduled a recovery run for Friday morning.  It seems my XT laziness follows me to whatever day I schedule it, as I woke up, could have actually made it to the pool today but instead said, "Forget it" and re-set my alarm for a more reasonable wake up time.  In my defense yesterday's workout was pretty hard and I really did need the rest.  It seems pretty obvious by now that I need two rest days per week, not the one that I have scheduled. On other (cold) fronts, it's SNOWING today.    Depending on how much of it comes down as rain and/or melts, we could get 3-5".  I have no idea yet how that is going to affect my scheduled tempo run for tomorrow, will have to keep my fingers crossed.

Thursday 04/17/2014

Scheduled: 8 Miles, 6 Mile Tempo @ HMP We got around 6" of wet, heavy snow yesterday into this morning, forcing me to stay indoors.  Since long treadmill runs drive me nuts I kept it down to 6 miles today with a 5 mile tempo @ HMP.  I definitely take less of a beating on the treadmill and felt surprisingly fresh post-run.  I am seriously considering doing all my speed workouts on the 'mill.

Friday 04/18/2014

Scheduled: 6 Mile Recovery Run The sidewalks outside were still pretty sloppy, and I wasn't too keen on the idea of another day on the treadmill. I'll admit it, I slept in and skipped my run today.

Saturday 04/19/2014

Scheduled: 14 Mile Long Run 44º, partly cloudy.  I actually felt better throughout and at the end of this run than I did for the 12 miler the week before.  I ran the first 8 at recovery pace and then the final 6 as a marathon pace tempo. I stiffened up quite a bit afterward, but the days plans (Easter egg hunts for the kids and what have you) kept me on my feet and moving around for a good portion of the day.  I managed to lay down and rest for an hour or so in the afternoon.  When I got up and after loosening my stiff right plantar fascia, everything was good - I felt "normal." When I trained for Twin Cities in 2012 the long runs would knock me out for the rest of the day, both physically and emotionally.  So it was a pretty cool feeling to bounce back.

Sunday 04/20/2014 - Happy Easter

Scheduled: REST Since I took Friday off I decided to get in an 8 mile recovery run in the evening.  It was 75º and sunny, shorts and T-Shirt weather.  It was just a little too far to run on just one water bottle, yet short enough to seem a little silly to use the camelback.  Between the slight dehydration toward the end and yesterday's soreness re-emerging, I was a little uncomfortable by the end of the run.