11 Days of Workouts (or lack thereof)

Sun, 10/4: TC 10 Mile. Last big “A race” for the year.

Mon, 10/5: Rest.

Tues, 10/6: Lift weights and core work. Long session. Nice.

Wed, 10/7: Rest.

Thurs, 10/8: 6 mile tempo run and some weights and core. First run after the TC 10 Mile. I wore the Sugoi compression tights for the first time. They worked well! 6.0 miles in 36:59 (6:10 pace). Heel and legs felt rested after the 10 Mile.

Fri, 10/9: Rest.

Sat, 10/10: Ran trails with Pharmie and then mountain biked. (See tons of photos of Pharmie’s butt from 3 posts ago.) Fun, athletic date with the Mrs!

Sun, 10/11: 800s with lifting and core work. Headed to the track for 6x800 meters with 90 seconds rest. Didn’t feel very “even” during the run, but I was SUPER consistent: 2:40, 2:39, 2:39, 2:39, 2:39, and 2:39. That’s an average of 2:39.2 / 800. Not my fastest ever, but a good workout.

Mon, 10/12: Rest.

Tues, 10/13: 25 minutes of core. Nothing but core. Nice workout!

Wed, 10/14: 11 mile run and lifting. This was my first long run since the 10 mile. I wore the compression tights again. I don’t know if it was the cool weather, the tights, the route I ran, or the extra rest (or a combination of all), but my run was GREAT!! I ran this run AT THE SAME PACE as the TC 10 mile! I did 11 miles in 1:08:54, which is 6:16 / mile. It had a great 2:00 negative split too: 35:27 / 33:27.

(For the record, 1:08:54 was my “running time.” If you add in times I was stopped at stoplights, my total start-to-finish time was really more like 1:13.)

I ran a route that brought me NEARLY home at mile 8, but then I turned a different direction and tacked on 3 more miles. Because of that, I was (mentally) able to push myself harder at miles 6-7; it felt like I was running SO CLOSE to home, and I felt like I should be upping the pace (even though once I got close to home, I had to turn the other way for a few more miles). That helped me run the later part of this run as hard as I wanted to.

So I was hitting some “overtraining” issues leading into the TC 10 Mile, and I don’t think it was due to actually overtraining. I think my muscles were just always beat-up because I was wrapping up our porch remodel, and I was spending a lot of time awkwardly bending over or sitting strangely on my legs (as I was putting the finishing touches on the wainscoting and trim - I’ll FINALLY post “before and after” photos of the porch this weekend). So after some rest leading up to the 10 Mile and some rest after the race (as seen in this post), I think I’m running strong again. I signed up for the Monster Dash 10 Mile on Halloween to see if I can get my 10 mile time a little lower!