Vacation Workouts (Including a GREAT Tempo Run)

I posted about a huge week in the saddle that happened last week (as we were in a rented cabin with family "up north"), and here are more details on that week:

• MON: long run. This was one of the 2 biggest "tests" for my vacation workouts: I had done a hilly run 5 days before that made my always injured calf unhappy, but then it held up 3 days before on a track workout. Things felt fine for this long run! It was on a super flat trail, and my speed was good: I did the middle "faster" 6 miles of this 12 mile run at 6:07.5 pace (as I posted about last weekend). Decent start to vacation workouts!

• TUES: long ride and good upper body. This is the first time this has happened during our "up north" trips, but I got to use the local YMCA up there because we are now members in the Twin Cities. So I actually had good upper body days on Tuesday and Thursday! And I took my son Henry along with my niece and nephew on Tuesday. And I wrote about the 46 mile ride in this post.

(Oh, and note the PURPLE on the screenshot of my week above. I was having a few calf twinges near the end of my ride, so I noted that. It ended up being nothing, but I cut the ride a little shorter than I wanted to just to make sure I didn't hurt something.)

• WED: easy run. I also got in some decent core and some PT leg exercises as well. Not as good as "normal," but NICE for being on vacation!

• THURS: interval ride and good upper body. Again, I posted about my bike workouts in this post. I stretched out a 4x5 mile interval workout to over 40 miles by just biking around town at the end.

• FRIDAY: descending tempo run. I was getting back on the TC 10 Mile training plan from Coach Jen from 2010 to see if I could survive a few more of her workouts. This one called for 4 descending miles (meaning they get faster as I go). I was aware that I did this workout in 2010 in 23:55 because I REALLY focused on the "descend" (6:22, 6:01, 5:54, and 5:38) and was not trained in knowing what sort of split I was running at any given moment. And I did it in 23:39 in 2024 with tighter splits (6:08, 5:59, 5:49, and 5:42). I went out planning to break 24:00, but knowing I couldn't hit 2024's times (I set 3 PRs that spring, and nearly set a PR at the TC 10 Mile that fall... my best running year ever!).

I felt like I was starting off strong, and sure enough, my first half mile was 2:53! I eased up a LITTLE to still try to break 6:00 for the first mile, and I did that with a 3:04. From that point onward, I sort of used my half-mile splits as a way to make sure I was speeding up over each mile - I was NOT trying to speed up each HALF mile. I was hashed at mile 3, but I kept up the perfect descend for all 4 tempo miles! Here were my splits:

Half-mile splits:
2:53, 3:04, 2:57, 2:56, 2:54, 2:57, 2:54, 2:51 = 23:30 (5:52.50 pace)

Mile splits:
5:58.5, 5:53.5, 5:51.3, 5:46.0

I was THRILLED with that! I'm not in better shape than in 2024... it's just that I ran this PERFECTLY and was also running on a super flat trail. Still, it was a boost in my mood!

Tempo from half-mile split #2, out to #6, and then back.


I don't believe that HR chart.

• SAT: moderate ride, and upper body at home. I got up early for a ride before we headed home. That was THREE rides of 40+ miles each for the week!! And then a slightly quicker upper body workout at home in the early evening.

• SUN: rest and core. Happy with a good week.

Steps were a bit lower than average (fewer walks, very few errands, etc.)...


... but intensity minutes were back up again!
(Like the big week of biking 3 weeks ago too!)


Intensity minutes have been all over the place this summer,
but the rides last week got me back on the higher side again.

So just over 21 hours of training while being away from home all week was GREAT!! I was not planning on getting in all that strength time, but it all worked out. (Not to mention how thrilled I was with getting in 130 miles in the saddle!) I had another "Coach Jen" long run the following day, and I'll be back with info on that in a few days. TC 10 Mile training is going as good as it can be right now!!