Training Summary: 6/9 - 6/15

Mon: 7 miles
Tue: AM – 3.5 miles; PM – 7.5 miles, including turnover work
Wed: 10.5 miles
Thu: 7 miles
Fri: 10 miles, including 3X5 min aerobic intervals
Sat: 7 miles
Sun: 13.5 miles
Total: 66 miles

While it certainly wasn’t anything to write home about, this was a good, positive week and a step in the right direction. It was the most mileage I’ve run in the last six weeks and I got in a couple of light workouts as well, so I’ll definitely take it. I’ve continued what I started last week in terms of running my normal, everyday runs at a much slower pace, and so far the results have been positive. I’m feeling a little better on a daily basis and not dreading my runs quite so much. I also saw some encouraging results with the workouts I did, which is an added bonus for sure.

After having not run anything under 6:30-something pace since the 5k on Memorial Day, Tuesday I did a little turnover work consisting of 6X200 followed by 2X100. I wanted to keep the efforts very much under control and accordingly went 37, 38, 36, 37, 36, and 34 for the 200’s. I ran the 100’s at more of a sprinting effort and went under 16 sec for both of those, the latter of which being the fastest 100 I’ve run so far this year. I finished the day pleasantly surprised that I was able to do what I did based on my lack of recent training as well as the heat and humidity.

Wednesday was medium long run day, and towards the end of that run I could definitely tell it was my first run over 7.5 miles in the last ten days. After an easy day on Thursday, I threw in 3X5 min with 3 min recovery on Friday’s run. Again I wanted to keep the efforts under control, especially with the heat/humidity, so I played it conservative most of the way. However, I still managed to run paces of 5:55, 5:46, and 5:39 for the three intervals, which I was pleased with all things considered. It was nice to get progressively faster as the workout went on and to feel like I had something left in the tank. I concluded the week with an easy day on Saturday and a long run on Sunday.

I feel like I’m starting to dig out of the hole I was in and get back to a point where I’m ready to train again. I just have to be careful not to overdo it and wind up right back where I was at the beginning of May. I’ve got some ideas on how I can do that while still getting the training I need to achieve my goals, and I’ll try to get a post up on that in the next day or two. Here’s to a good week this coming week. Looks like ECAT (East Coast Altitude Training) will be in full effect, so be sure to hydrate!