Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Another record week!

So much for the ten percent rule...I went from a mileage PR of forty miles two weeks ago to forty-seven miles last week!  I think I need to take it a little easier this week so I don't over do it.  But as I take an inventory of how I feel, I think I am recovering pretty well.

Here is a recap of the week:
Monday-  Six miles.  A nice run in the rain.  It was a hilly route and I took it easy.  It was my first inclement weather running in a while.  Since the hard stuff didn't come down until later in the day, it was quite enjoyable.
Tuesday-  Ten miles.  I usually don't get this long of a run in during the week, but I used my free time during preschool to make up for the lack of long runs over the weekend.

Wednesday- Rest.  I normally don't rest on Wednesdays, but I was feeling tired and starting to get a sore throat Tuesday night and didn't want to push it.  I feel like I did the right thing listening to my body.
Thursday- Five miles.
Friday- Rest.
Saturday- A nice run in the rain.  Kelly and I set off to run between ten and twelve miles.  We both had a deadline to be home.  Neither one of us got into a groove right away.  We met up with some of our running buddies and ran with them for a couple of miles before having to head back.  We ended up running ten miles.  I made it back around 8, showered, got the kids dressed and headed out to have breakfast with Santa.
Sunday- My husband had to work all weekend and had to be in very early on Sunday.  There was no way I was getting in a long run.  I asked my brother and sister-in-law if my kids could hang out with their cousin for a few hours.  They were happy to host a playdate for the cousins and I headed off along the Santa Ana River for a fifteen mile run.  It takes a village.

I already had a lot of miles for the week, but I had yet to do a real LONG run during this training cycle.  I wanted to push it past thirteen miles (my threshold between long runs and REALLY long runs).  It wasn't easy, but it was a nice run.   I spent the first hour or so listening to the end of an audiobook.*  After that, I just zoned out to some good music.

I wanted to test my fitness level a bit, so I decided to run a couple of miles at a quicker pace.  I did mile twelve at half-marathon race pace and mile thirteen at marathon race pace.  I miscalculated my route and hit a steep hill at the end of mile twelve.  Where I had hoped to run under 8:30, it ended up being closer to 8:35.  I felt pretty toast at the end of that mile pushing up that hill.  However, the next mile felt pretty easy and it ended up faster than marathon pace at 8:56.  The rest of the mile splits were between 9:30 and 10:00, which is right where I wanted to run.  I felt pretty good that my 44th and 45th miles of the week (and 22nd and 23rd of the weekend) could be pushed like that.

It was a good week.  This week, on the other hand, is starting out pretty slow.   But that's ok.  I know I'll make it up along the way.

Happy Running.

*I listened to Born To Run by Christopher McDougall.  AWESOME book.  I loved every minute of it.  I will probably be buying it in paperback, just to reread down the road.   I highly recommend this book.

9 comments:

Kristin said...

Congratulations on your great week! I LOVED Born to Run (I bought it in hardback :).

Aron said...

you are doing great!!! keep it up :)

Marathonman101108 said...

Hey Lisa! Well, I'm back to commenting on your blog. Somehow I seem to lose track of you at times. Congrats on running 47. You continue to impress. Send some warmer weather my way, OK? It's getting COLD here in CT! Happy Holidays.

Lindsay said...

congrats on the new mileage pr! i'm sure if you hold steady this week you will be fine, just listen to your body! very exciting to be running further each week :)

EmLit said...

Wow, Lisa, congratulations on a great week! It sounds like you had a slew of good runs and your long run over the weekend sounds like it was AWESOME. Keep up the good work!! You're an inspiration :)

Irene said...

Nice HM pace splits! There are just some running weeks that fall into place.

Anonymous said...

I've read Born to Run, but I'm intrigued at the audiobook option... that would be interesting running material. I really like listening to podcasts/books while doing long runs.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your week, that's a big PR!!

Oz Runner said...

nice mileage, and you even had a couple of rest days in there...way to go.

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