Tuesday's Training Update: Can't Complain

Overall, this training week went well, so there should be no moaning and groaning from this runner. Well, maybe a little groaning? Just a tiny bit? Maybe? What's my beef, you ask? Glad you asked...let's see. I don't really know. My tempo run went well. I ran fast (4 miles at 6:47 pace), which is good, but it still felt harder than I feel like it should have (if that even makes sense). Also, it was only 4 miles. I like my tempo runs longer, but I need to warm up and cool down now, how irritating right? I was also trying to be nice to my Achilles by going a little shorter. Yet they showed absolutely no appreciation for my efforts, my Achilles were again really tight for two days after my tempo. No matter, they were behaving by the time my long run came.

Then there was the long run. I knew Sunday was going to be HOT, and I planned accordingly. I was up at 5:30. Side note, Kaylee has recently started sleeping until 6:00 AM (instead of 5:00)! Woo hoo! I had a whole half hour to myself. I ate some breakfast, drank some coffee, and dressed for running. Around 6:45, I was hitting the pavement with a starting temperature of 73 degrees. Not too bad. Because I knew how hot and humid it was going to be, I left the house with 40 ounces of Gatorade. Yeah, that's like 2.5 pounds of fluids, but it was worth it. Every three miles I drank 6-7 ounces of Gatorade. My overall pace wound up being 8:15, which was good. My only disappointment was that my planned route was 20.7 miles, but I started having issues by around 18.5 miles and decided to cut it short and finished with 19.5. I have asthma and the humidity seems to give me trouble. I think I was having some oxygenation issues. My chest was pretty sore. On the bright side, my IT band, knees, and Achilles felt great. I used that KT tape on my heels, and no heel tightness during or after the run. It did give me some blisters on my arches, but it was worth the blisters. Also, no headache or intestinal issues after, leading me to believe my hydration strategy was sound.

Overall, I really can't complain. The training was solid. I hit all the paces I was suppose to, but I just feel blah or something. I don't know. Anyway, next Sunday I'm taking my legs for a test drive by running a 10 mile race. Now this I'm excited about. One of my college teammates will be running too (she ran a 3:21 at Boston this year and sprained her ankle at mile 2). Let's see if I can give her a run for her money. ;)

Last Week's Training Log:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 6.25 mile run at 8:31 pace (82 degrees and really humid)
Wednesday: 1.25 mile warm up at 8:10 pace + 4 mile tempo run at 6:47 pace + 1 mile cool down = 6.25 miles (70 degrees and humid)
Thursday: 60 minutes on the stationary bike
Friday: 60 minutes on the stationary bike
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 19.5 mile run at 8:15 pace (73 degrees at the start, 80 degrees by the finish, and humid)