10 Miler Training: Weeks 4-6

Week 4: 12/30 - 1/5

I started out the week trying to fully recover from my stomach bug. I was a little scared to go on a run, especially one outside (away from bathrooms), so I did my first run on Thursday Jan 2, inside on a treadmill. I did an easy 4 miles in 40:34, an average pace of 10:09/mile.

On Saturday Jan 4, I got up the nerve to do a real run outside. I had Joey help me plan out a few potential routes, to make it possible to do anywhere between 6 and 8 miles. I figured I would see what I felt capable of. The run went so well, that by the time I got to "decision point," I wanted to do even more. I ended up being gone for so long, that Joey got worried! It was dark out by that point, and really cold, so he had just come back from looking for me, when I came home. Apparently he saw me within his first few minutes of driving around, so he just came back home. Here's what I did:

 

I think the first split (first half mile) got a bit messed up - you can see it when you zoom in on the map. I was going slow, but not that slow!

Week 4:
Thursday: 4 miles (treadmill)
Saturday: 8.32 miles (outside)
Weekly Total: 12.32 miles

Week 5: 1/6 - 1/12
Since I was leaving for vacation on the 9th, I tried to fit as much as I could into the week. Surprisingly, I still managed to get a bunch done on vacation!

On Monday Jan 6, I tried out a new strength/cardio workout that I saw on FitSugar. It was pretty hard!!
http://www.fitsugar.com/Full-Body-Circuit-Workout-From-Equinox-Trainer-23065245
I would definitely recommend giving it a try. A lot of the exercises used the stability ball, which made me happy! Every exercise worked multiple muscle groups.

Tuesday Jan 7th, I did a tempo run on the treadmill. This was my first official training workout, since the first four weeks were to prepare me for the training plan itself! The workout was to do 1 mile warmup, 3 miles at goal pace, and 1 mile cool down. I did mile 1 and 5 at 5.7mph, and averaged 6.1mph for miles 2-4. I ended up doing 5 miles in 50:34, for an average pace of 10:07/mile.

I got home way too late on Wednesday to have time for KBs that night, so I pushed it to Thursday morning, before we left for the airport. I combined the KB workout with running. I started out with 1 mile on the treadmill, did set 1 of KB, then did a second mile on the treadmill, did another set of KBs, and ended with 1/2 mile on the indoor track.

Saturday Jan 11th, we were in California! I ran on the bike path, at the Santa Monica beach. So much nicer than running in the cold! I went nice and slow, and just enjoyed the weather.

I went out with some people Saturday night, and ended up being hungover Sunday morning! I still don't know how I managed, but I went out on a run anyway! I did just 4 miles, and felt okay enough to pick up the pace. The morning was pretty cloudy, which helped on my run. Saturday was really sunny, and I hate to complain, but the sun just wore me out!

Week 5:
Tuesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 2.5 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 4.01 miles
Weekly Total: 18.51 miles


Week 6: 1/13 - 1/19
I was on vacation for all of week 6 of my training. I didn't do as much running this week, but I sure did a lot of hiking!

Monday Jan 13th, we did 3 small hikes in Red Rock Canyon (the one in California). We thought it would be fun to use the watch while hiking. I forgot to turn it on for the first hike (probably around 1-1.5 miles), but we used it for almost every hike after that. I'm including the satellite map so you can appreciate the landscape :)

Hike 2

Hike 3

On Tuesday Jan 14th and Wednesday Jan 15th, we did some major hiking in Death Valley! My absolute favorite was our first hike in Golden Canyon and Gower's Gulch - it was amazing!

Tuesday Hike #1

Tuesday Hike #2

This was not my favorite - I was exhausted, and it wasn't as exciting as the other hikes

Wednesday Hike: This was a really fun hike through a canyon, with lots of rock scrambles

For the rest of our trip, we were in Salt Lake City, Utah. Joey was skiing with his mom, while I was hanging out in the hotel/ski lodge. I decided to do my "thresholds intervals" treadmill workout. It was freakin' hard! I had a really hard time keeping up the pace for that long, and ended up adding longer breaks, and having less intense intervals.
I did 1 warmup mile at 5.7mph.
Then I did 6x of 1/2 mile at 6.6mph (I lowered the pace in the last couple), with a quarter mile walk in between.
I ended with 1 cool down mile at 5.7mph.
I did a total of 5 miles in 49:31, at an average pace of 9:54/mile.

On Sunday, I did one last treadmill workout before we flew back to Charlottesville. I only had time to do 3 miles, and I think I did it in ~31 minutes.


Week 6:
Thursday: 5 miles
Sunday: 3 miles
Weekly Total: 8 miles

10 Miler Training: Week 3 (and the time I ran almost 8 miles while I had a stomach bug)

Week 3 (12/23-12/29) of training was an interesting week. I was off to a good start, starting off on Monday 12/23. I did 3 miles outside, and then went into the gym to lift some weights. I felt great during the run, and kept up a good pace.

Splits:
0.50 - 4:48 (9:36)
1.00 - 9:33 (9:33, 9:30) last mile in 9:33
1.50 - 14:31 (9:41, 9:56)
2.00 - 19:21 (9:41, 9:40) last mile in 9:48
2.50 - 24:11 (9:40, 9:40)
3.01 - 28:43 (9:32, 8:53) last mile in 9:16

On Thursday 12/24, I tried out my new stability ball! I did a 10-2 ladder with 8 exercises. I lost the sheet of paper where I had them listed...whoops. I foresee using the stability ball a lot in the future, so I'm sure I'll post exercises soon.

On Wednesday 12/25, I did another run with Joey. We did the same thing we did on Thanksgiving, and ran 6 miles together, then he ran 6 miles by himself. It was SO COLD!! Joey was wearing the Garmin, and recorded each set of 6 miles separately, so I could analyze our run together. It was a pretty hilly route, so I'm surprised we did under 10 min pace (just barely).

 

On Thursday 12/26, I did an easy recovery run on the treadmill. I did 3 miles in 30:47, with an average pace of 10:16 min/mile.

On Saturday, I was planning on doing a group run of 8 miles. Those plans went out the window when I got sick Friday night. It was a very strange night. We had plans to get massages - we got vouchers on Living Social for a place here in town. I came home from work early and ate some yogurt+fruit+granola, and then immediately started feeling sick. I somehow held it together during the massage, but then I was sick for hours once I got home. I spent most of Saturday just trying to recover. Sunday, I ate a late breakfast, and then decided I was feeling up to going on a run. My stomach was still feeling a bit iffy, but I thought that was just normal digestive problems. I planned an 8 mile run, and got going around 3:30. I felt good for the first 2 miles. After that, everything went downhill. I started having some pretty severe stomach pains, and to be honest, had a few times where I seriously almost pooped my pants. I don't even know how I made it home. I had to stop the watch a few times, but in the end, my pace wasn't even that slow for being in such discomfort. I didn't manage a full 8 miles, but decided I was close enough! From Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning, my stomach was just in agony. I just tried to relax on the couch/my bed and make myself as comfortable as I could. Tuesday night (New Year's Eve) we stayed in and just watched tv, and then toasted with Martinelli's at midnight.

  

Week 3:
Monday: 3.01 miles (outside)
Wednesday: 6.01 miles (outside)
Thursday: 3 miles (treadmill)
Sunday: 7.64 miles (outside)
Weekly Total: 19.66 miles

Oh and in other news, my little sister got engaged on New Year's Eve!! I knew it was going to happen soon, but didn't even think that it would happen that night! She's only 3 years younger than me, but I've just thought of her as being my baby sister - it's so strange that she's going to be married soon. It's weird enough that she has a real job in Philadelphia and lives in a house, while I'm still in grad school, renting an apartment. Anyway, congratulations Alexandra!!