Weekly Workout Recap: Surf City Half - Week 4

This week was a bit off because I started Monday with an evening workout. That meant I got home and ate around 9 PM, making a morning workout a lot tougher. So I ended up doing mainly evening workouts on the weekdays (translation: treadmill runs).

I actually think consistent use of a treadmill can be helpful in that it teaches you to run at a consistent pace, and it forces you to focus on the mental game more. But, I'm really looking forward to getting outside more next week.


Training Log: Surf City Half - Week 4

Monday: Strength workout.

As a result of higher mileage, I've become reacquainted with runger. So basically, I'm acting like my cats in this picture.

• 1/2 mile warm-up on treadmill
• Dynamic stretching routine
• Three sets of 15 reps of walking lunges, chest presses, hamstring curls, low rows
• 3 minutes of incline fast walking in between sets
• 3 minutes of incline running in between sets
• Two sets of 15 reps of core work
• Cool down stretching and foam rolling

Tuesday: Rest day.

Wednesday: 7 miles (5x1600m) on the treadmill.

Goal was 5 mile repeats at a pace that's being brought down from a pace that started at my previous half marathon pace. Last time I did this workout, it was at a 9:00-9:15 pace. This time, the goal was 8:45-9:00.

• 1 mile warm-up
• (1) 8:57, (2) 8:57, (3) 8:49, (4) 8:49, (5) 8:42
• 1 mile cool-down

Thursday: 3 miles easy on the treadmill.

It rained Sunday to Wednesday, so the beautiful sunset on Thursday was extremely welcome. Again, had done a Wednesday night workout at the gym, so Thursday was another easy treadmill run.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: (1) 8.5 tempo run on the treadmill and (2) strength training with Melanie (Equinox trainer).

Legs felt great during the tempo, but breathing felt labored, probably in part because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Watched two episodes of Arrow while I ran. 

• 1 mile warm-up
• Dynamic stretching routine
• Tempo run: (1) 8:34, (2) 8:34, (3) 8:27, (4) 8:27, (5) 8:19, (6) 8:19, (.5) 8:13
• 1 mile cool-down

Melanie wanted to focus on lower body exercises since I'd just tired out my legs. As I've written, Melanie was a pro runner, and she said she always lifted after running  -- you get more bang for your buck with strength training when it's on tired muscles. 

• Warm-up exercises (skips, high knees, etc.) to loosen up
• Two sets of 14 reps of superset exercises (two focused on quads, two focused on hamstrings, two focused on glutes, core work)
• Cool down stretching

Sunday: 8 mile long run.

I headed out to Huntington Beach so I could run along the beachside path. My legs were fatigued after Saturday, which was the point, and mentally I just wanted to sit on the couch. So it wasn't a great run. I didn't think it would be, so I broke it down more and did two out-and-backs -- two miles one direction and back then two miles in another and back. For the middle miles (3-6) I was running into the wind, but that made the last two miles feel fantastic in comparison. 

Splits: (1) 10:00, (2) 9:29, (3) 9:45, (4) 9:59, (5) 9:59 -- gotta love a consistent pace, (6) 10:02, (7) 9:27, (8) 8:38 -- continuing the two week trend of "oh my God I just want this shit to end."

Total Mileage: 26.5 miles

Going forward, I'll likely be dropping strength workouts down to two workouts a week instead of three. Melanie wants to up the intensity of the run workouts so she wants to be sure I can get adequate rest. Therefore, more intensity on workout days and more frequent rest days.