Return of the Long Runs

Workouts so far this week:

Monday- 1144 yd swim

Tuesday- 2.88 mile run (run group)- Hills

Wednesday-18 minute strength/weight workout

686 yd swim

Thursday- 3 mile run (run group)- Fartlek Track Workouts

792 yd swim

Friday- Rest Day

Saturday- 1.55 mile run (easy run)

Sunday- 8.52 mile run (Long Run at Brushy Creek)

End of the Week Recap: 

Four Runs, Three Swims and One Core Workout. I'm happy I got all the workouts in this week that I needed to. However, my biggest problems this week were distance and speed in my runs. I'm disappointed by the distance in my week runs, I really wanted to run at least one 4 mile run and it didn't happen. In large part I think that was because Tuesday, the day I was planning to run 4 miles, I just couldn't hang with the hills and had a very bad pace. Also, my tiny runs are just so tiny but honestly, before this training cycle, I never really made it a point to run 4 times a week every week. I feel like I am just making excuses though. Bottom line is a marathon is a very long run and my mileage needs to increase. Typically I would run about 3 times. So I am just trying to get in the habit of introducing an additional run. I really need to increase these runs because I am sure that longer runs during the week would make my long run easier. That being said, I was happy with my Thursday run and my long run today. Also, my total running mileage this week was 15.95 miles- my most in 6 months! 


This long run compared to last long run:

Splits: 8.52 miles- 8/12/2012-
12:20/13:34/13:11/13:27/12:52/12:13/13:26/13:23/.52 miles- 6 min, 51 sec- 13:10 pace

8.02 miles- 7/29/2012-
12:45/14:24/12:43/14:37/15:37/13:23/13:17/12:49/.02 miles- 14 sec

Wayyyyy more consistent this week! 

So, we started this run at about 6.50 in the morning. Probably the earliest we have started a long run in awhile. At the beginning, there wasn't much light and there was actually a short breeze. I forgot I was running in the dog days of August in Central Texas for about 30 minutes. Then a little before my second mile, my back was starting to hurt and I started to get worried. Tuesday my back was hurting me and it made it hard for me to do 2.88 miles. I still had over 6 miles at this point so I was starting to feel down. Then, right after hitting 2 miles, I saw fellow Daily Miler Joe on his run. He looked so strong and was doing such a good job, it was such a nice pickme up.

A little after the hill (which after group workouts in which we RUN up the hill and recover walking down, I walked going up. I know, I know, I should be ashamened. This is why I need run group lol) I saw ANOTHER Daily Miler Middalia. It was really nice again to see someone I recognize. Made me feel proud I was out running the same course as all these other really good runners.
When I was almost at the 4 mile mark, this lady stopped me to ask me questions about the course. She was from out of town and wanted to run 8 miles and wanted to know if this course was long enough, where it stopped, would she get lost, yadda yadda yadda. I was happy to help her but after like 5 minutes of reiterating that the course was almost about 9 miles and she would definitely be able to get her run, I wanted to be like- IM TRYING TO RUN!!! Does that make me me mean?
I felt like I lost my rhythm a little after that and then took it upon myself to go even slower and get some more water.  Right before turning around, I saw a man walking his Scottie. Vince had told me he'd seen him before walking the dog. I love scotties as I have one myself. It's so cool when you run sometimes, you never know what you might see.
Before the 5 mile mark, I used the restroom and wiped some sweat off my face. The sunscreen was getting in my eyes and I was starting to get tired, so I took my gel and got some more water. I couldn't believe how much water I was going through.
When I got to around the 6 mile mark, my RunKeeper shut-off. A quarter of a mile later, it shut-off again. Then I kicked and screamed and threw my phone on the ground. No, I didn't. But I wanted to. Luckily, I had kept track of my run splits on a memo pad just in case this happened. I've noticed that the sweat from my hands and the condensation from the water tends to cause my phone to mess up during long runs.
Miles 6-8 were pretty uneventful. All I wanted was to run past the 8 mile mark, I knew once I did that, I would be fine
Finished my run and felt pretty exhausted the last .10 miles. Walked back and forth for about 5 minutes for a cooldown as I wasn't feeling so hot. Then I sat on the ground and pondered how I would be able to run more then 3x this. Sheesh. How do marathoners' do it? My husband came and told me to get off the ground. I wanted to stay there forever but I thought a shower might be nice as I was beyond hobo smelly and bordering on sewer stinky.

Not too shabby for my first long run in two weeks. Usually coming back from a recovery week is brutal as my body has gotten nice and comfy with short runs. But I did it and next week I have an even LONGER training run with my Sgt. Husband.

I hope everyone had a good week and I really appreciate all the support and advice. Happy Running!

WEEK 5 OF MARATHON TRAINING DONE! 27 WEEKS TILL THE MARATHON!!