Another week that was disrupted by travel. After running a half marathon in 18 degrees and strong headwinds (and ice underfoot) last weekend, I caught a flight to Tampa. Tuesday morning was perfect running weather - mid-40s - I laughed at the native Tampons (yes, I know they prefer "Tampanians" but it's my blog) as they bundled in puffy parkas and head scarves. I thought they were crazy for their choice of attire, I'm sure they thought the same of me in my light long sleeve t-shirt and shorts.
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| View from my hotel room showing part of the trail I ran on. Not bad. |
By Thursday morning, it was in the mid-60s and humid for my easy run. And I was starting to get acclimated. Just in time to fly back to DC for Friday morning's track workout in (you guessed it) 18 degrees. At least this time there was no wind and no ice.
My workouts this week were surprisingly fast. Friday's track workout felt sluggish and slow, but in comparing it to others this year, it was one of my quickest. And Sunday's 4-3-2-1 workout was shockingly fast. Part of it is because I had a good group to work with; part is because I'm getting fitter, and part is because I ran it too fast - much closer to half marathon pace than full. Mea culpa. (in fairness, I didn't feel like I was straining or struggling during the workout, though I was working hard.)
While I'm a bit annoyed at myself for running the workout too fast, I'm also thrilled with it, simply because I couldn't have run those paces in this workout two weeks ago. It's evidence that my fitness is really on the right track, rather than stalling as it did last fall. And I think a lot of that is the result of keeping my workouts under control (today obviously excluded) and my easy days easy.
Now I just need to continue to keep stuff under control. Which gets hard when you sense things are starting to bloom.
Dailies
Monday: 3.5 miles very easy to yoga (9:12 pace), followed by yoga, another 5 miles easy home (8:35 pace), and then a bit of upper body strengthwork and injury prevention work plus foam rolling, before catching a plane to Tampa.
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| Tampa's version of a hill. The bridge part of the Courtney Campbell Causeway. |
Tuesday: 12.5 miles out and back on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Most of this run was easy, but did open up a bit on the bridge/hill each way to add some quality in. Also did a bit of progression, with the last 2.5 miles back at 6:42 pace. Followed with some drills/strides. In the afternoon, faked some foam rolling using a barbell and a tennis ball in the hotel gym.
Wednesday: 7 miles very easy (9:01), followed by some upperbody strengthwork and injury prevention work.
Thursday: 8.5 miles very easy (9:02), along with some drills/strides. Weather was mid-60s and light rain. Flew back to DC in afternoon and foam rolled at home.
Friday: 10 miles, including a workout of 3200 tempo +1600 hard (~5 minutes jogging rest between each). Splits were 12:54 (6:24/6:30) and 6:13. Followed with injury prevention work and 1000 yards easy swimming. Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 10 miles very easy (8:39), followed by drills and strides, and upper body strengthwork/injury prevention work. Foam rolling at night.
Sunday: 17 miles as a "4-3-2-1" workout - segments of 4, 3, 2, and 1 mile at marathon pace, each separated by one mile easy. Splits were:
4 mile: 27:39 (6:58/6:59/6:58/6:44 - average pace 6:55)
3 mile: 20:32 (6:57/6:48/6:47- average pace 6:51)
2 mile: 13:31 (6:44/6:37 - average pace 6:41)
1 mile: 6:21
Followed with a yoga class and then 1000 yards quick shakeout swimming. Foam rolling at night.
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