I saw this idea of training log posts over on the Salty Running blog and thought it would be a fun idea to do (especially since I’ve actually been keeping consistent with training this year!). I love following along with people’s training. I can get oddly invested in other people and like seeing if they are able to hit their goal after putting in the hard work or seeing what they are still capable of when things go wrong. I think seeing your training compiled together every few weeks helps to give a better overview of the good and the bad and makes you realize one missed or bad workout can be just that – one workout. After a summer of gross, humid running (and feeling like I was seeing zero progress despite being more consistent than I ever have in my life), my fitness finally decided to make an appearance all at once this month. Like, there was no linear progression here, my heart rate just all of the sudden dropped one day and I noticed my runs felt easier. While we have certainly had some better weather recently, several of my runs have still been in high humidity and pretty warm conditions, so I can’t contribute it just to the weather. Whatever the reason, not feeling like I’m dying by the end of the run? I’ll take it!
Monday, August 31st: Yoga with Adriene – Yoga for Transitions + 30 min of my Back, Bicep, and Core strength set
Tuesday, September 1st: Morning: 45 min run/walk (2:00/1:00), ending with 5 strides. Evening: 1 hour of yoga at my local YMCA. While I know strides are about leg turnover and leg strength more than speed, I’ve been playing a game with myself all summer to see how long it would take for my top speed to tip past 7:xx to 6:xx. For the second time, my top speed was 7:00 on the dot. Ah, to see a 6 as the first number. But I’m close! Distance: 3.7 miles; Average pace: 15:46; Average HR: 136.
Wednesday, September 2nd: 45 min run/walk (2:00/1:00) + 5 strides was on the plan, but my legs were feeling super heavy and I had to constantly hype myself up to keep myself going so I ended up skipping the strides. Plus the humidity was back. Distance: 2.7 miles; Avg pace: 16:38; Avg HR: 131.
Thursday, September 3rd: Rest day. It was supposed to be a strength training day, but it’s the first week of my semester and I’m still transitioning to a new schedule and really didn’t feel like working out. So I didn’t.
Friday, September 4th: One of my goals is to get back to running without the run/walk intervals, so I’ve been playing with extending out my run interval and shortening the walk all summer. This run I ran 3:00/0:40 instead of my normal 2:00/1:00. The run itself felt pretty good, but my legs had no oomph when it came to my strides. Distance: 4 miles; Avg pace: 15:49; Avg HR: 137.
Saturday, September 5th: Long run/walk + 5 strides. I usually run my long runs on Sunday, but this is my weekend to work at the ER and it throws me off my normal sleep schedule enough that I get really tired and tend to skip workouts or have really bad workouts when I try to push through, so I asked my coach to move my long sun to Saturday so I had a hope of actually running it. This weekend it worked in my favor because the temp dropped 10* and the dew point dropped 20* from yesterday, so the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS. I can’t even tell you the last time I was able to stay in Zone 2 HR for the entirety of my long run, so something is obviously starting to click! Plus, I finally saw a 6:xx for my top speed during my strides! At the end of my long run! My morning oatmeal didn’t sit well though and I felt queasy through the first half of the run. Weird. Distance: 6.1 miles; Avg pace: 15:49; Avg HR: 138.
Sunday, September 6th: Rest day, although I took a short walk around lunch time. I needed it. For some reason I’m feeling more wiped out that normal from working.
Week 1: 4 runs for 16.5 miles (4 hours 23 min); 1 strength session (27 min); 2 yoga sessions (1 hour 22 min). Total time: 6 hours 13 min.
Monday, September 7th: 30 min Chest, Shoulder, and Bicep strength set. Still feeling tired so I dropped the weights a bit today – still felt kind of tough.
Tuesday, September 8th: Supposed to be a 45 min easy run/walk with 5 pick-ups thrown in to the middle 15 minutes, but I was feeling so wiped out from working the weekend and holiday that I threw the entire plan away and literally went out with no agenda and just ran until I felt like stopping. I was SHOCKED at how low my HR stayed. Distance: 2.3 miles; Avg pace: 16:05; Avg HR: 127.
Wednesday, September 9th: 40 min Back, Bicep, and Core strength routine.
Thursday, September 10th: Supposed to be a 45 min easy run/walk, but I threw in the pick-ups I skipped on Tuesday. I had school work I really wanted to get done first thing in the morning, so this got pushed to mid-day, which may not have been the smartest because then it was 80* with a 76* dew point. Ick. But the pick-ups felt so much smoother than they did the last time I did pick-ups (which I think was in July?). Progress! Distance: 3.05 miles; Avg pace: 15:49; Avg HR: 142.
Friday, September 11th: 3 miles with increased intervals (3:00/0:30) + 5 strides. I pushed my run to the evening. I actually really like evening runs (so long as I can keep my motivation throughout the day to actually get out). I tend to have a lower HR and everything feels smoother from being warmed up and well fed throughout the day. The dew point also dropped throughout the day, so it was actually better running conditions in the evening. Although when you are used to 1:00 walk intervals, that 0:30 sure does end quickly! However, I almost felt like I didn’t need the intervals. I was also supposed to do a strength workout, but I skipped it (can you tell I don’t really like doing strength work?) Distance: 3.95 miles; Avg pace: 15:49; Avg HR: 141.
Saturday, September 12th: Rest day.
Sunday, September 13th: Supposed to be my normal 5 mile long run/walk + strides, but this did not go well. I once again felt really queasy, so I’m guessing it’s the Picky Bar Performance Oatmeal I ate, since I ate the same flavor last week too (which is weird – I’ve had the apple flavor several times with zero issues, but apparently the trail mix flavor doesn’t sit right with me…but it’s so yummy!). This run felt so much harder than the rest of my week and I had to use every mental trick I know of to get as far as I did. Skipped the strides. Distance: 4.3 miles; Avg pace: 16:05; Avg HR: 139.
Week 2: 4 runs for 13.6 miles (3 hours 37 min); 2 strength sessions (58 min); Total time: 4 hours 35 min.
While there were a couple of bad runs and several skipped strength sessions, I’m happy overall with how these weeks went. My semester started September 1st and the transition to a new schedule usually takes some time and energy until it runs smoothly as I figure out how things work best during the day/week. Working my weekend and Labor Day at the ER threw a wrench in things as I was so wiped out afterwards that not only my workouts, but my school stuff suffered as well. I’m trying really hard this semester to protect my weekends (meaning get schoolwork and assistantship work done during the week so I actually have a weekend off) but I just wasn’t able to do that this week with the holiday cutting my week short. I ended up pushing my asynchronous stats class lectures to the weekend and then had a panic attack/full blown meltdown this past Sunday night when I realized it was going to be way more technical of a class than I anticipated and it felt way over my head. I effectively shut down for the rest of the night after that (hence why it’s taken so long to get this post finished). I need the credits though and don’t have many other options, so after talking with my advisor I’ve walked back off the panic and realized it is going to take a lot more work (and a lot of Googling/YouTubing), it’s definitely outside of my comfort zone, but it is within my capabilities. As I’ve learned with running, “I can do hard things.” I hope.
So what do you think? Do you like following other people’s training logs? I kind of like 2 week stretches, but with nothing I’m actively training for (thanks, 2020) it could get repetitive, so we’ll see how often I post.
Running Like a Rockstar 