88 Miles, Done!

It was a solid week of training! After a total of 88 miles for the week, I am glad to be done, but surprisingly I don’t feel too worn down.

There were some mornings the roads had ice or a lot of icy patches, which didn’t make training enjoyable. However, I am starting to see the light at the end of this winter tunnel, and I’m hoping spring is on its way and will stay this time!

Here’s a recap on how my runs went this past week.

Monday

AM – 6 miles, easy

PM – 6 miles, easy

Nice and easy runs in both the morning and the afternoon. 8:28 average pace in the AM, 8:08 in the PM. I felt fine on both of these runs.

Tuesday

12 miles, 6 x 1 mile @ 6:20 pace (1 minute recovery)

I did this workout on the treadmill because there were still icy patches on the roads and doing a fast workout like this in the dark is too risky. I was able to hit all of the mile repeats at 6:18 pace, which was the closest pace on the treadmill. The last one was pretty tough but that’s usually how it works.

Wednesday

10 miles, easy

This was a little frustrating because about 50% of the paved path I ran on was icy and 50% was clear. I was constantly having to speed up and slow down depending upon the surface. I felt fine, but I was getting frustrated by the end. 8:04 average pace

Thursday

AM – 9 miles – hilly route + 6 x 20 seconds hard uphill

The hill sprints showed me that I am much stronger and more fit than I was last year. As I powered up each hill, I felt more force coming from each toe push-off, and I could tell I was able to run up the hill faster than I have in the past. (I’ve used this same hill in past workouts.) 7:58 average pace

45 minutes weights

PM – 4 miles, easy

I pushed Cullen in the stroller during this run. It was pretty warm out, but there were so many puddles to jump over (or run through since there was no other way around it) and slush to push the stroller through that it wasn’t a very fun run. But luckily it was only 4 miles.

Friday

9 miles, easy

I actually felt really good during this run. My easy run pace is starting to come down, which makes me very happy. 7:52 average pace

Saturday

20 miles, easy

This was a very early morning run. I had to be done by 8 a.m. in order to attend a meeting, so the alarm was set for 4:30 a.m., and I started just before 5:15. I didn’t mind the darkness and the early morning was tolerable since it isn’t something I do on a daily basis, but the thin layer of ice on all the pavement was not fun. It was a long run, so I was really glad when it was over.

Sunday

AM – 7 miles, easy

Easy run before church. It was nice to run in the daylight, but man the mornings are still chilly. 7:59 average pace

PM – 5 miles, easy

I wasn’t feeling very motivated to go out for this run. I was busy doing things in the house, but I knew I had to get out before it got too late. I made sure to wear my best Easter colored shoes. 7:58 average pace

These are my new Brooks Launch 2 shoes. (The newest version is the Launch 3.) I am excited to try them out, and I’ll do a full review after I put some more miles on them.

In other news. . . .

Whenever Craig watches Cullen on the weekends, he puts Cullen in the backpack when they run errands into stores. The backpack was still in the car, and Cullen insisted on riding in it when he saw it there. He actually did better in it than sitting in the cart. However, I felt a little silly toting a huge backpack around.

Cullen has been obsessed (<–that’s an understatement) about playing outside. Every waking moment he wants to be outside no matter what the weather conditions. He was quite content playing outside in the rain on Friday.

Sunday morning this is what he wanted to wear when he got up in the morning.

I had a few of you ask questions about Generation UCAN. I think it would be helpful if I did a post reviewing the product and how it has helped with my training and racing. So stay tuned for a future post on this topic.