I am very behind on my thoughts on the past two weeks, and it’s all been a blur that I don’t remember too much about, so this will be quick.
For week 4, I went back to soccer for my Tuesday workout. So far (knock on wood) my back/hip nerve pain is 100% gone and has been the past couple weeks. I surprisingly felt really good after the first soccer game back after taking a couple weeks off, barely any soreness the next day which is out of the ordinary.
Focusing on the long runs – for week 4 I had a 9 mile run which went fine. It actually felt relatively easy, but on viewing my stats afterward I saw that my heart rate was higher than I’d expect given my perceived effort. It was extremely humid and somewhat warm that morning so that may have contributed.
Week 5 was a 10-miler, which I took on the Oak Leaf Trail. It was nice to largely not have to worry about cars and just focus on running. My wife and son biked the trail as I ran – they passed me on the way out and back and we met back at the car. Fun to make it a family outing. The run itself went well, most of the trail I ran was familiar from past editions of the Brew City Half Marathon. I did run out of steam a bit on the last two miles – I think it was a combination of a slight uphill grade over this stretch and having some headwind. And also it being my longest run in over a year. I will say that the challenge of miles 9 and 10 had me pretty worried about being able to work up to 26. But, trust the process I guess.
| Week 4 | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | Cross | 19 | ||
| Actual | 3.7 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 9 | Cross | 19 |
| Week 5 | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | Cross | 21 | ||
| Actual | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | Cross | 21 |
- Completed all workouts? Yes
- Met target mileage? Yes
Long-ish runs!
For week 6 we have a 3-5-3 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and a step back to 7 miles on the weekend. I’m looking forward to the reduction in weekend miles before things start to get real for the next 2.5 months.