Weekly Wrap-Up: July 3-9

It was a strange week. Most of it was tough, but I got a little bit of a break with my somewhat unexpected Sunday run. A Tuesday long run and not one but two runs while I was on call, and neither got interrupted by work. (One was delayed a little bit, and the other did get interrupted by something else, but more on that later.)

Next week I’ll be running in Portland. And I thought last week was strange.

I did manage to get my June monthly wrap-up posted in a somewhat timely manner, considering I was about 500 miles away from home for the first 2+ days of July.

Weight Check: OK, before I give you the number, I have to add the disclaimer that my last official weigh-in was before my trip to New York. And this morning, I was at 170.0, up 2.5 pounds. Gaining that much is not good, and for me, 170 pounds is definitely not good. However, I was up around 172 in the middle of the week, so I did manage to reduce the damage a little bit. I still drank too much Mountain Dew, but I did an OK job of avoiding junk food for the most part. (After I got home, that is.) Also, for what it’s worth, I weighed myself before I ran today.

I’ll probably make a note of my pre-Portland weight, but I’ll wait until after I get back before I do my next official weigh-in.

This Week’s Runs
Day Scheduled Total Miles
Tuesday 12 mile long run 12.01
Wednesday 3 miles easy 3.11
Friday Fartlek, 20 minute warm up, 10 x 2 minutes at 10K pace with 2 minutes easy in between, 15 minute cool down (until I reach 6 miles) 6.01
Saturday 6 miles easy 6.01
Sunday 3 miles easy 3.11

Total: 30.25 miles

I was really glad to break 30 miles this week. Also, after last week’s screw up where I stopped at 3.01 miles, due to the luck of the training plan I had not just one, but two chances to turn a 3 miler into a 5K, and I took advantage.

So, Tuesday long run. Brutal weather, 74 and humid. I had gained about 3 pounds while I was out of town, and my legs didn’t feel great, so these were not ideal conditions for a run. I took it easy, and my legs somehow got better as I went along. I stopped at a water fountain at some point during every mile except the first and last. I had instructions to pick up my effort on the last two miles if I felt good. I don’t know that I felt good at the end when I sped up, it was more like I just wanted to finish sooner, but my 2nd fastest mile (barely) was mile 11, and my fastest mile (by a lot) was mile 12. I’ll take it.

Wednesday, the humidity was really terrible, probably worse than Tuesday. Luckily I wasn’t out there for very long. My legs were a little tired after my Tuesday long run, which I kind of expected, but I got through it and my pace ended up being decent after the first mile. I kept it at an “easy” effort except for the last quarter mile or so, and like I mentioned earlier, I decided to bump it up to a 5K.

On Friday, I had another fartlek workout. Running 10 intervals is no joke. It’s one of those things where it’s probably going to suck in any weather, so I might as well do it when the weather’s really bad. Still, I kept the pace on the intervals fairly consistent, even if I had to walk a little more on the recovery intervals near the end. I still managed to make my last interval the fastest one, so there’s that. I was a little surprised that I only needed about 0.6 at the end to get to 6 miles, which, even with some walking right after the last interval, still took me way less than 15 minutes.

Saturday, I woke up early due to a work issue. Once that was resolved, I got outside, and after half a mile, I had to come back because nature called. I was so worried about having my run interrupted by work, then something completely different stops me. Go figure. Anyway, I got back out there, and weather-wise, it was still pretty brutal. This was one of those easy runs where I’m supposed to speed up on the last mile, and I did. (I need to ask my coach if I’m the only athlete she’s got that actually likes these “speed up at the end” runs.) I did want to note that if it wasn’t for work, this is when I would have done my long run, and I’d say the Saturday morning conditions and the Tuesday morning conditions were pretty equally crappy.

Sunday’s run was optional, but since my legs felt OK this morning, and I knew my mileage was a little low due to travel, I wanted to do it. It was several degrees cooler, which was nice, although still pretty humid. I had to deal with another work issue before I started, and this one probably delayed me by about half an hour. When I got out there, my legs initially didn’t feel as great as I had hoped, but after the first mile, they got better. It ended up being a pretty good run, and once again, I turned a 3 miler into a 5K.

This week, I have two runs before I leave for Portland, one of which will be my first Lactate Threshold workout. I think it’s another one of those workouts where I’ve probably done something like it before, it just didn’t have a name. It looks kind of scary, though. I hope the break in the humidity lasts until Tuesday morning. If not, I’ll just have to comfort myself with the knowledge that once I get through that run, my next run will be in Portland. I have no idea what kind of mileage I’ll fit in while I’m out there, but I know it’ll be much less humid, and the view of the Willamette River is much nicer than the view of my neighborhood.

I’m flying back from Portland next Monday. On a related note, my next weekly wrap up is going to be late.