Image by Leo Reynolds via FlickrWeek 22 Review:
- Monday: Schedule rest - completed
- Tuesday: 4mi run - completed
- Wednesday: 8mi pace run - completed
- Thursday: 4mi run - completed
- Friday: Scheduled rest - completed
- Saturday: 17mi long run - completed
- Sunday: Cross-training - skipped
Okay, last week was pretty tough. I thought the 8mi pace run was pretty challenging, and the 17mi long run was very challenging.
The 17mi run was a distance PR by 1.5 miles, and time-wise it was my longest run by about half an hour. I wish I could say that I flew through it and felt great. But...
I felt tired right from the start of that run. I think I'm fighting a cold that has had my energy level lower than usual. Also, the weather was low-mid 70's, with humidity around 90%. Not exactly ideal running weather for me. Then about 2mi into my run I tripped over some rebar that was sticking out across the sidewalk and cut my right leg in a couple of places. I guess you could say that the run wasn't going so well early on, and never really got much better.
But here's what I learned during the 3 hours of running that followed: Stubbornness and Optimism are essential sometimes. Be too stubborn to quit, and be optimistic that you can finish.
Good or bad, I stuck it out and finished the run. I was surprised to find out later that my average overall pace was 11:21, which is within my long-run pace window (10:30 to 11:30 minutes/mile). I expected it to be alot slower. If it had been 14 minutes per mile, I wouldn't have been surprised. I'm not kidding.
Now that it's behind me, I'm feeling pretty great about it. I feel like I overcame a huge hurdle on my way to my first marathon. If I can run 17 miles, then I can run 20. And if I can run 20, I can run 26.2. Or at least that's what they say, and I'm choosing to believe them (remember - "optimism").
Oh - also still having some mild pain in my right ankle, but better than last week. Decided to skip the cross-training on Sunday again and give it some extra rest.
Okay, enough about last week.
Week 23
(week 11 of Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program)
This week is the second of the peak 6 weeks of my training. This week I say goodbye to 4mi runs for a while. My Tuesday-Thursday runs get bumped up to 5 miles, the peak of this training program.
This Saturday continues the streak of distance PR's, as I go for 18 miles.
In summary, here's what's on this week's schedule:
- Monday: Schedule rest
- Tuesday: 5mi run
- Wednesday: 8mi run
- Thursday: 5mi run
- Friday: Scheduled rest
- Saturday: 18mi long run
- Sunday: Cross-training
Have a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment