Week 7 in Review - 35 Days Until MI Half

                                  Much better week..

This week was...normal. The most normal in a few weeks it felt like. Got that mileage back up and did a long run in the double digits. First one since the half and I was pretty nervous. Especially after the shoe debacle of this week. But I plotted out a new route and had a pretty great run.

Monday - Nice easy run to start off the week. 4 easy miles.
4.09 mi; 40:32; 9:54

Tuesday - This is the week that I added a short easy run on Tuesdays...Did it after work since I thought my new shoes might arrive and they did. So I most definitely had to take them on a test run. Thought about turning back after 1 mile or so but kept telling myself the shoes didn't hurt that bad. So I did the full loop but paid for it later. More on that later....
3.18 mi; 32:26; 10:12

Wednesday - Really didn't want to miss the tempo run this week and I was really looking forward to running in comfy shoes again. Pretty good one. Stayed within range for most of it.
5.9 mi; 57:01; 9:40

Thursday - Planned to get in the short 3 miler today but didn't end up doing it. Just wasn't feeling it and my knees were still sore from the bad shoe run.
3 miles
Rest

Friday - Was thinking about trying to get in the missed run from yesterday but it Rained. All.Day.Long.
Rest

Saturday - Long run! Was feeling a little nervous for this one. 10 miles on the plan. Decided I really  needed to do a new route. Kind of sick of doing out and backs on my long runs anyway so I created a new loop...ended up being a little longer than 10 and there were some killer hills and stairs. So was very sore the rest of the day....but it felt good.
10.79 mi; 1:58:29; 10:59

Sunday - Rest. Felt good today too....very little soreness. Ready to tackle next week. Supposed to be a light week keeping it regular since last week ended up being really light.

Week 3 in Review - 63 Days Until MI Half

This week was a little off, to say the least. Since next week was supposed to be a light week and this week turned into a light week--I've decided to swap them instead of beating myself up too much...I could have tried to salvage the weekly mileage by doing the long run today....then I would start this week off a little tired. So switching weeks it is.

Monday -- got in a very slushy and slippery 4.82 miles. Felt good but was sore the next day due to dodging all the slippery spots.
4.82 mi; 54:20; 11:17 pace

Tuesday -- got in another one before the storm hit. Conditions were much better on this one. For both of the last two runs, I broke regular schedule by doing them after work. I much prefer running in the morning on an empty stomach.
4.91 mi; 48:42; 9:57 pace

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday -- Did not run due to snow/ice and super slippery, possibly death inducing conditions. It was a smart move but still makes me feel slightly guilty.

Saturday -- When I left the house, I fully planned to do the full 9 miles I was supposed to. But after getting out there, I discovered that the snow was a lot less melted than I initially thought. And I couldn't breathe through my nose and felt like I was going to throw up the very ill advised doughnut I'd eaten an hour before....So needless to say, I called it a day after a bit.
3.47 mi; 39:24; 11:22 pace

Sunday -- Rest

Ready to get back to normal! Let's do this...Week 4 here we go!

Week 2 in Review-69 Days Until MI Half

Good second week. Long run felt a lot easier, I hurt less the rest of that day and was only minimally sore on Sunday. Feeling good going into week 3!

Monday -- Love my loop in the mornings...I see about a half dozen other runners and it feels pretty safe. For easy runs, it's a real effort to stay above 10 min/miles on the pace. I am supposed to be doing it slower, but if I stay in the 10 range, I feel pretty good. This one was a good easy run-stayed in the groove the whole time.

5.08 mi; 51:46;  10:11 min/mile

Tuesday-- Rested. Again, not ready to start the yoga. Perhaps this week.

Wednesday -- This was supposed to be a speed day. I thought about doing it at Jefferson but it was a little slick and frosty out so decided to stick with the my usual route. Hard to tell from my split stats on the Runkeeper, but I think I did pretty good. Did 2x1600 at 10:00 with an 800 recovery in between.

5.08 mi; 51:21; 10:06 min/mile

Thursday -- Nice and easy 4 miles. Almost stayed over 10 the whole time-first mile was fast and the rest were good.

4.09 mi; 41:33; 10:09 min/mile

Friday -- Rest. Felt good to sleep in. First five day week in three weeks so it was one long one. 

Saturday -- Long run. Felt good. Decided since there was freezing rain and it was windy that I wasn't going to do the bridge. Did my usual out and back and it felt good. Was sore and tired the rest of the day but I felt pretty good the next day.

8.04 mi; 1:21:42; 10:10 min/mile

Sunday -- Rest.Walked about 2 miles in the snow with the girl so actually got a little active recovery in. Felt good! Ready to take on the week and be creative since there will be SNOW!

Week 1 in Review-77 Days Until MI Half

 Overall, this first week of training went well. I got in my first long run of the year, and it wasn't too painful. I mean it was, but I am recovering nicely today. Could barely walk yesterday and took a really good nap after eating a huge breakfast....Today, I will do a little gentle stretching and ice the knees a couple times and I should be good to go tomorrow.

Monday- I did an easy 4.15 miles. I am not really sure why, but my RW Smartcoach has my easy run paces at 12:15. I feel like I am walking when I go that pace. So I definitely am trying to make a focused effort to have my pace be slightly slower than my normal pace, but not too much slower. If I can stay in the 10 min/mile range, I think that is good. My body tries to go at 9 min/miles so I have to make a concentrated effort to go easy. I made up a new rule on yesterdays long run-I need to stay conversational. And since I don't usually run with someone to talk to, I am going to sing what I am listening to. I may look stupid but maybe it will help.
4.15; 40:37; 9:47

Tuesday - Rest Day. Intended to start my cross training with this rest day and do yoga. But I really needed some extra sleep so I didn't get up early to do it. And as per usual, if I wait until the end of the day, it's really hard to make myself do it...So I actually rested. It was much needed.

Wednesday - 5.04 Miles Tempo run. For some reason my legs felt really heavy today. I had to really push hard to stay in the 9 min/mile range and I did it for the entire run until the last mile when I slowed down to 10:10. 
 5.04; 49:22; 9:47

Thursday - 3.99 mile easy run. Felt really tired on this one-again. Knees hurt a bit and just really wasn't feeling it. But I pushed through and finished....and really took is easy like I was supposed to. 10:27 average pace and stayed over 10 the entire time. 
 3.99; 41:40; 10:27

Friday - Rest day. Since I've been feeling so tired the last two runs, I decided I am going to wait another week or two before starting with the cross training. Slept in today and it was really nice.

Saturday - Long Run Day. Was a little psyched out for this since I hadn't run anything over 6 since the half...but it actually felt pretty good. I think my ending average pace was a little low due to some GPS issues when I went through the I-90 Bike tunnel before hitting the bridge. Based on the splits, the pace was probably in the 9 min range, rather than the 8:49 RunKeeper has recorded. But overall, it was a good run. The hills in the last mile really are killer though. 

8.81; 1:17:39; 8:49

Sunday-Rest. Sleeping in, catching up on stuff and tracking the week's training stats. 

Good first week. Ready to jump into Week 2. Happy running this week!