Mon: 7 miles
Tue: 7 miles, including strides and hill sprints
Wed: 10.5 miles, including 15X200
Thu: 6.5 miles
Fri: 0 – Day Off
Sat: 7 miles, including 6X30 sec
Sun: 5 miles
Total: 43 miles
This week wasn’t as bad as it looks, especially considering everything I had to fit my training around. The first three days were pretty standard, but the end of the week got a little crazy based on a work trip I had to take. Overall, I feel like I’m starting to get things headed in the right direction and I’m looking forward to seeing how things go over the next few weeks. I’m already starting to notice some positive differences from the tweaks I’ve made to my training, and I feel like I could really see some results over the next 4-6 weeks.
As for the details, like I said, the first couple days of the week were pretty standard. I’m basically in a pattern right now where I’ll take an easy day on Mon and follow it up with some strength training (including some actual weight work). Tuesday is another easy day, but I’m finishing it with strides and hill sprints then doing some additional ancillary work afterward (drills, plyos, and general strength exercises, including some core work). I’m also trying to do the last mile or so of at least one or two runs each week barefoot to help strengthen my feet and ankles.
Wednesday’s workout this week consisted of sets of 200’s with a goal of starting at 5k pace on the first set and working down from there. The schedule originally called for up to three sets of eight. However, based on several factors, I trimmed it to sets of six, then did just three in the last set to total 15 altogether. Overall I was pleased with the way they went. I finished with a sub-33 final repeat, which is about as fast as I’ve run a 200 in a while, and when I added everything up I did 3000m of fast running in 8:57, which is 4:48 mile pace.
I had to run early on Thursday so I could leave for a work trip, and due to that trip, I didn’t run at all on Friday. I could have, but it would have likely put me in a hole and been more unproductive than anything else. Saturday I did a few 30 sec strides towards the end of the run just to wake my legs up a bit. Those went pretty well. I didn’t feel like I was going all out, yet the final three were all under 5 min pace, including sub-4:40 on the last one. The week concluded with an easy 5 miler ahead of a Memorial Day 5k that I will recap in the near future.
I’m looking forward to having a good week of training this week and setting myself up for a good month of June. We’re almost halfway through 2014, and I have to admit that it hasn’t been at all what I was hoping for from a training and racing standpoint. I’m optimistic, however, that I have a chance to turn things around and have a good second half of the year if I stay focused and work hard. Back to my motto for the year: nothing good comes easy, so do what it takes.
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