Another solid week of training in the books! Overall, I felt pretty good this week. The mystery calf/achilles pain I had been having subsided by Thursday and I haven’t had it since (knock on wood!). Also, I ran some really fast 800m repeats which is always a good confidence booster!

Monday, March 31 – 40:00 of IronStrength

3×15 plyometric squats with 3×10 plank twists
3×10 weighted rows from plank, Russian twists with kettlebells, and pushups
3×10 plyometric lunges with 5x front, side, back hamstring reach
3×10 mountain climbers and 3×10 legs down
3×5 high pulls, bicep curls, and overhead press
3x 0:45 planks- front, both sides
Ring of Fire squats/lunges (10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1)

Tuesday, April 1 – 5 miles, easy

It was absolutely gorgeous out today on my lunch run! It was also a really great run with some awesome coworkers. We kept it at what felt like an easy pace but I think we were all just so happy it was nice out that we picked it up a bit.

Plan: 5 miles, easy
Actual: 5.25 miles in 45(ish) minutes (no watch!)

Shoes: Saucony Mirage 3
Conditions: 57 degrees (real feel of 70!) and sunny

Wednesday, April 2 – 6 mile recovery ride

It felt good out there today- a little bit colder than yesterday and drizzly. I had a minor mishap about 2.8 miles in when my calf cramped up on a hill. I stopped and stretched it out and it felt a little better then. I also didn’t really time this run with GPS but made note of how long I was out there.

Plan: 6 miles, easy

Actual: 6.02 miles in 52:00 (8:32/mile)

Shoes: Asics Gel Flux
Conditions: 44 degrees, overcast, light rain

Thursday, April 3 – 8 miles with 6x800m repeats

Another surprising workout happened today. I ran 6x800m repeats and felt really good. They were all between 3:30-3:40 which is what I was aiming for. I find it’s better to give yourself a range to hit instead of a very specific time.

Run 1: 6.25 miles (Ran 5 miles in 39 minutes!)
1-mile warmup (8:50/mile)
3 miles of 6×800 (with 400m recovery jog in between)- 7:25, 7:12, 7:10
1-mile cool down (8:40/mile)

Run 2: 1.75 miles (to round out the 8 miles for the day)

Shoes: Fastwitch

Friday, April 4 – Yoga

Saturday, April 5 – 5 miles, easy

I really, really didn’t want to go on this run. The windy was super gusty and strong and my couch was so much more comfortable but I’m so glad I did. I was supposed to run 5 miles easy but I actually felt pretty good and it turned into a progression run.

Plan: 5 miles, easy (9:12/mile)
Actual: 5 miles at 8:26/mile avg
Splits: 8:56, 8:33, 8:32, 8:23, 7:49

Shoes: Asics Gel Flux
Conditions: 50 degrees with sun and wind

Sunday, April 6 – 13 miles, LSD

My run went pretty well today. It was warmer than I expected but the warmth felt amazing. I decided to run on one of the rail trails we have since it’s been covered all winter and it felt really good to run on some flat, soft ground. There were also TONS of people out walking, running, and biking. I got pretty dehydrated though in the final miles of the run and had very little energy left at the end.

Plan: 13 miles, easy
Actual: 13 miles in 1:58:00 at 9:04/mile

Shoes: Asics Gel Flux
Conditions: 60 degrees and sunny

Weekly Mileage Total: 38 miles

See all training recaps here.