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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Weekly Goals: A Terrible Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Long Run edition

This weekend involved a lot of rest time and running. Could have been perfect, only Sunday's long run was pretty miserable. My legs felt like lead after Saturday night's speed work and they were still sore from Thursday's double strength workouts.

the weekend also consisted of laughing at Bea pawing at the Chihuahua ornament -- she's not a fan. 
Quick backtrack. I did speed work on Saturday night and it went really well. I was doing 4x400's (400m is basically a quarter mile) starting at 7:03 pace and going down to 6:48 by the last one, with 400m recovery at 10:00 to 9:15 recovery pace. Basically I was going from 8.5 to 8.8 MPH on the treadmill. Then I added an extra mile at 8:30 (or 7 MPH) on to the end before I cooled down. I felt great last night, but I think given that my legs were still sore from Thursday meant that they were not prepared for a long run this morning.

The first mile was actually amazing. I felt fantastic, it hadn't really started raining yet, and I hit a great 8:12 pace. I started feeling my legs protesting in the second mile, but I was still feeling ok, so I wasn't too concerned.

at the "5K mark"
But by mile 3, I honestly just wanted to stop. I felt like I was dragging my legs behind me. Still, the long run had to be done, and my half-marathon on December 31 could very likely be in similar conditions, so I tried my best to crank out 10 miles. But holy shit it was hard. This whole run was about the mental game, forcing myself to just pound the pavement and finish. I would stop for a couple seconds after each mile and try to sweet talk my legs into giving me just a bit more. They didn't really listen to me.

not the best day for a run along the Hudson
It didn't help that halfway through the rain started hitting my face despite my baseball cap because of the wind and I kept accidentally stepping in puddles that soaked my feet in cold New York City street water. The wind got colder and colder and I'm pretty sure the only reason my final miles were faster was because I was so ready to be done!

why is it sunny further up the river and not here?? I actually got bitter about this on the run. 
The hot shower I took as soon as I got back to my apartment was possibly the greatest thing that's ever happened. My fingers finally regained feeling (I hadn't worn gloves because I knew it was going to rain and figured they'd just get soaked) and my feet decided they might survive after all.

Moral of the story: do speed work earlier in the week and no crazy strength workouts until post-half-marathon!

Last week's goals
Here's how I did last week:
• 1 spin session (check!)
• 3 runs -- 1 speed session, 1 medium run, 1 long run (check-ish; should have done more than 4 miles for my medium run!)
• 2 yoga practices (FAIL. Making this a priority next week!)
• 2 strength sessions minimum (check, as my abs, back, and legs could attest!!)


Goals for this week
Focusing on making two yoga practices happen this week. And I need to use up my Refine Method classes before they expire on the 17th!
• 1 spin session
• 3 runs -- 1 speed session, 1 medium run (6 miles or more), 1 long run (11 miles)
• 2 yoga practices
• 2 strength sessions

How were your weekend runs? What are your goals for this week?

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