Eat Drink Run Woman

While I’ve read a lot of positive comments about Pfitzinger’s training programs (especially if you want to get stronger and faster), most people agreed you will feel rather beat up. This week certainly gave me a taste of what’s to come.

Given I ran the Mercer Island Half on Sunday, once again I tweaked the schedule to allow for some recovery. While I (mostly) got in all my runs, I bagged out on all my gym routines save for Monday. I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed at 5:30 a.m. While I know my body appreciated the break, it meant I didn’t do any stretching or PT exercises (our house is so tiny I’d have to rearrange the furniture to make room for any type of exercise. Therefore I typically just do my stretching at the gym). But I’m heading into the big-time mileage weeks (50 this week, 54 the next) so I know I’ll need to concentrate on keeping my muscles flexible.

Here’s my week:

Sunday: Mercer Island Half

Monday: 45 minute arm/shoulder routine, 5-mile recovery run (9:18 pace)

Tuesday: 9-mile lactate-threshold run w/4 miles @ 15K-half marathon pace. This run was truly a mind-over-matter one. I ran a 2-mile warm-up at roughly a 9:40 pace and contemplated how fast I’d run the 4 miles. My goal is to run at my 15K pace (8:45), but since I was recovering from the half I decided I’d be happy with a 9-minute pace (what I ran during the half). When I hit two miles I picked up the pace; I didn’t look at Garmin, I just wanted to run what felt comfortable. At the end of the mile I glanced down to see I had run it in 8:28! I slowed it down for the next mile, which wasn’t difficult given I was now running into a headwind. I also toyed with taking a break after two miles, easing back into a slow pace, then picking it up again. But as I neared the 2-mile mark I decided to keep a fast pace for four miles nonstop. Miles 2-4 were 8:56, 8:40 and 8:44, which meant I averaged an 8:42 pace. I was pleasantly surprised. I ran my last three miles at a considerably slower pace, but averaged 9:17 for the entire 9-mile run.

Wednesday: Rest day! A group of personal chefs gathered that evening for a wine tasting, so my only form of exercise was bringing a glass of wine to my lips and noshing on yummy food.

Thursday: Since I hadn’t been drinking for a couple of weeks the wine really took its toll. Oy! I planned on hitting the gym, but when I awoke with a bit of a hangover I reset my alarm for another two hours. I pretty much felt crappy all day and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to that afternoon’s 10-mile run, especially since it had been pouring all day. By the time I headed out the door it was well after 5 p.m. I decided not to wear my iPod given the rain, and turns out I’d be sans technology throughout the run. Because the sleeve on my heavier rain jacket forces my Garmin onto my wrist bones, I slipped the sleeve over Garmin (which meant I couldn’t view it during the run). Halfway through the run I decided I’d cut it short, so as I was nearing the end I slipped my sleeve back over to see I had run a total of… 16 yards. D’oh! I somehow had hit the stop button in the very beginning. However, I was able to determine I ran a little over 7 miles using MapMyRun, plus I had my start time. My overall pace was 9:19.

Friday: A new day, a better attitude. I was bummed to see the rain wasn’t letting up, but since I only had a 5-mile recovery run, I didn’t mind. Imagine my delight when I stepped out to see the rain had stopped. Hallelujah! To celebrate (and to make up for cutting yesterday’s run short), I ran six miles (9:15 pace).

Saturday: I was worried when I checked the weather forecast on Wunderground the night before — 80% chance of precipitation. NOT what I wanted to hear given I’d be doing a 17-miler. But fortunately the report was wrong; while I awoke to overcast skies there was nary a drop of rain. I had hoped to get an early start, but realized all my cold weather gear was in the laundry. So by the time I got everything washed and headed out the door, it was a little after 10:15. Because I wanted a relatively flat run, I drove down to Gasworks Park and headed along the Burke-Gilman to the Locks. After crossing the locks I headed south and made my way down to Myrtle Edwards Park. I’ve been hearing a lot about the Phedippidations podcast, so I downloaded several episodes, including his report of the 111th Boston Marathon (I thought it would be good motivation!)

I’ve been concerned that I’m running my long runs too fast, so I really tried to keep my pace for the first few miles in the 10:30-10:50 minute pace (approximately 20% slower than my marathon goal pace). I came close — 10:20 average pace for five miles. I then picked it up, hoping to average a 9:55-10:10 pace (approximately 10% slower). I managed to do that for the next four miles, but was then ready for a walk break as I downed some Clif ShotBlocks. My legs were beginning to tire at this point, so I slowed to a little over a 10-minute pace. However, I managed to pick it up for mile 16 (9:56) and again for mile 17 (9:49). I guess I was really motivated by the chocolate milk I had waiting in my car! My overall pace for the 17.25 mile run was 10:10.