Well, we are skipping week 6 for the blog, but we surely didn’t skip the runs! I didn’t log my thoughts as quickly as I usually do at the end of the week, so I really couldn’t recall the reality of each run. This past week has been pretty busy with work, but all in all a great week!
Let’s get into the good stuff-
Monday- rest day- used this as an active rest day again and got out in nature with Ryder to explore the park. A bath came into play to round of the evening. I’ve been sprinkling magnesium flakes into the water in place of epsom salts, but haven’t quite noticed much a difference.
Tuesday- 4 miles easy- I goofed. And turned an easy run hard. I was off from work today, so I decided to sleep in a bit and decided not to start the day with my run. Something about Tuesdays seems to have thrown me off for this entire training cycle so far. With rain on the radar, I got out around noon with hopes that I’d finish off the miles with nature’s shower, but boy was I wrong. Sun- 2, Kristin- 0 (I really should be negative points after this run).
Wednesday- 5.5 miles tempo- other than an easy warmup and cooldown, the goal of today’s run was to run at threshold pace. I tried to utilize online calculations to help guide me towards what that pace should be based on other runs I’ve done, and boy, this was probably the most challenged I’ve felt with my training so far, both physically and mentally. I’m sure I was pretty pooped from Tuesday’s run, but it felt like a constant struggle.
Thursday- rest day- didn’t have much going on today, and was thankful to give my body time to properly recover.
Friday- 4.5 miles easy- you ever have one of those runs where no matter how far into it you get, things just feel wonky? Usually after my first mile I can get into the rhythm of things and turn autopilot on, but I felt like I was too aware of my feelings this run. A woman ran past me at one point and yelled “great job!”, and this was just what I needed to keep pushing!
Saturday- aerobic cross training- still didn’t use my advice from two weeks ago to try to get back into cycling. Next week is a new week.
Sunday- 7 mile easy run with progressive splits- practiced fueling this morning and messed around with a new gel/flavor. Think I’m still a big fan of one specific brand, but doesn’t hurt to see what else is out there. I also got out while it was still dark out- there were quite a few other runners out with the same idea to beat the heat, and despite having to emerge from a nice slumber, I felt so much better at the end of this run not having to regulate the higher temps.
Do you enjoy getting out to run while it’s still dark out?