Weekly Recap

Monday: 3.4 miles
Easy run on Painesville bike trail. First twenty minutes were cold, windy, and achy (9:55 average mile) but I felt a little surge on the last mile and comfortably came home in 8:36.

Tuesday: 7 mile progression run in 60:52
Trying to integrate shorter progression runs to prepare for at least one long run that is a progression run (targeting a 16 mile progression run that ends at or is slightly faster than marathon pace). While my time did not significantly improve from last week's 7 mile progression run, I was able to keep the pace every time I transitioned into a faster zone whereas last week, I struggled and had to take the pace down a few times. I started miles 1-2 in 9:00/mile, 3-4 in 8:41/mile, 5-6 in 8:30/mile, and the last mile around 8:15. My heel was tight for much of the run but I think the blister on my pinky toe may have had an effect on the heel as I found myself changing my stride slightly. A foot massage later helped ease the tightness.

Wednesday: Off
Rested my foot and invested in better work shoes with inserts. They feel great! Part of my heel pain was probably due to wearing ballet slipper-style flats to work and being on my feet for most of the day with little support.

Thursday: 6 miles (1.5 warm-up, 3 mile tempo in 24:52, 1.5 cool down)
Heel did not hurt like Tuesday's run so that's a plus. I was going to do another progression run but things took a turn for the worse when my mp3 batteries died. Ha, I only like music when I am on a treadmill so it felt like the end of the world. I'm such a baby sometimes. So I toughed it up and decided to do some tempo work after the 1.5 mile warm up and battery fiasco. I started with a 8:36 mile and eventually worked up to 8:00 for the last mile. It was moderately hard but not all out. It felt harder on the treadmill than on a road but that meant good practice for holding a quicker pace and not allowing my mind to give up. I found that it was only uncomfortable for the first minute or so when changing gears. The last mile was more comfortable than the other two so I am encouraged by that as I have gone out too fast and faded to a slower speed in 5ks.


Friday: 7 miles
Easy run to Sand Run trails. I saw a guy runner approaching me when I turned around so I took the opportunity to push myself for about 2.5 miles, seeing if I could hold "the lead". I felt great and he never did pass. Portage Trail hill at the end of the run did not feel overly difficult, the traffic was more annoying than the actual effort.

Saturday: 5.6 miles
Easy run in the sun. The sun. The sun! Hi, sun! Glad to have you back!

SUNday: 10.5 miles in 88:25
Medium long run outside, Lock 29 to Ira Road loop. The last time I ran this route (about a month and a half ago) I ran it in 101 minutes. I had not planned to hold Boston qualifying pace, I just ran what felt right. I carried 8:25 fairly easily, even accounting for a hill at the end. I finished strong and was very happy with this effort. My foot was achy afterwards and continues to be "iffy". I am going to swim tonight and most likely treat this upcoming week as a lower mileage week before embarking on 16+ mile long runs.

TOTAL: 39.5