This was another stressful week work-wise, but on the running front, I stuck to the plan and got all my runs in. It felt great to be finished with my weekly mileage early Saturday morning and I relished a Saturday night out and a relaxed Sunday around the house (except for the lawn mowing - that was a couple weeks overdue). I recalled this week that I used to be quite the handyman before I started running. I used to spend my weekends on woodworking and home improvement projects. Now, I do a long run on Saturday morning and I’m pretty lazy the rest of the weekend. Except for the shoes, it’s saving us money. Anyway, here’s how the week went:
Monday AM: 1200,800 and 400 m intervals for 8 miles
Monday PM: 4 miles with Alice at 9:38 pace
Tuesday AM: 3 miles at 8:21 pace + full body strength training
Tuesday PM: 4 miles with Alice at 11:29 pace
Wednesday AM: 5 mile fartlek run at the beach (supposed to be tempo)
Wednesday PM: 4 miles with Alice at 10:23 pace
Thursday AM: 3.5 miles at 8:24 pace
Thursday PM: 4 miles with Alice at 9:51 pace
Friday AM: 8×400 m in 86 s for 6 miles
Friday PM: 3.5 miles at 8:25 pace
Saturday AM: 15 miles at 9:26 pace
Total: 60 miles
Since Richie is in Mexico and I knew I wouldn’t have to try to keep up with him on the long run Saturday, I put in 3 quality runs this week. It certainly had an effect on Saturday’s long run. The intervals on Friday went quite well. I hit all 8 400’s in 86s and jogged in between. I started Saturday morning off a little stiff for the first half mile, but everything worked itself out and I was in a pretty good groove after that. I was even cruising along at 7:30 pace around mile 10. Somewhere around mile 12, I had some intestinal distress (I guess in Richie’s absence, it hit me instead), and had to make a pit stop at a park just before the 13 mile mark. After that, I was in pretty bad shape. I felt short of breath and finished the last 2 miles in a walk/run. I must have been exhausted because I fell asleep in the ice bath and that’s pretty hard to do.
Still, I finished the 60 miles and it’s the first time I’ve done that since before Christmas. I’m up to 66 miles this week and that’s uncharted territory. Also, summer camp with daddy is over for Alice. She starts cross country practice tomorrow. I can’t wait to hang out at the meets. I kind of enjoy the excitement of the race without the pressure of racing myself.
