weekly training update #8

For the first time in God knows how long, I did strength TWICE in one week!  This should impress you.  I also downloaded an app to track my strength that I will start using this week, so we'll see if that keeps me motivated/excited.  I'd ideally like to get up to 3x/week strength training, but if I can do 2 consistently for the next few weeks I'll be pleased.

This week was a speedy week for me - my average run paces were 10:19. 9:39, 9:23, and 9:38.  Maybe this is a good sign for a half marathon PR in November?  We shall see.  I've had some random pain in the last week too, which has me slightly worried.  My knee hurts - mostly when I extended my leg or move it funny - but not WHILE I run.  While I run, my calves have felt really tight.  I've tried to stop after a 5-10 minute warm up to stretch, which seems to help somewhat, but I still feel some tightness no matter what.  I've been trying to stretch more and I'm wondering if putting my knee brace back on would be helpful.  Sigh.  Mostly, I just reallllllllllllly do not want to be injured again to the point where I have to stop running for weeks/months.  That would suck.

Given my soreness, I was a little leery to do a super long long run this weekend, although I had 13 miles planned.  So when my friend Allison offered to run outside with me, I decided to switch up my plans.  She was willing to run about 3 miles, so we went to the East Campus track to log two-ish laps.  I haven't run around East in so long - M and I used to run there most every morning but now that I've moved it's not as convenient.  It was fun to run there again and I was pleased to see that the hills no longer felt hard - my new neighborhood is much hillier so I've become acclimated to hills (at least somewhat)!

We finished a 5k in 31:26, or 10:09 pace.  I was trying to keep those 3 miles nice and easy, and so I was pretty happy (although our first mile was speedy!).  After she left, I decided to really push myself and time a 5k on my own - it's been a long time since I timed a 5k and I wanted to see what I had in me. Conditions were not totally ideal (even though the weather was gorgeous!) since I had forgotten water, was thirsty, and had literally just finished a 5k, but I still managed to do ok!  I finished in 27:59 for an average pace of 9:02.  Certainly a 5k PR for me!  (My last "5k test" was in July, and my time was 29:56 - it was probably much hotter too so that's a factor, but 2 minutes off a 5k is still sweet).  I would love to see what ideal conditions and race adrenaline would produce - so I think I might look for a November or December 5k... any suggestions? (Especially a Durham area race!)

Anyway, 6.2 is no 13, but even today I was still feeling some soreness and nagging knee pain, so I think I'll just not stress about the somewhat lower mileage.  I have a pretty crazy weekend coming up, so I will probably do my long run on Friday this week, and aim for somewhere in the 10-13 range (since 10 is on the calendar, but I kinda skipped the 13 miler).

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and here are some stats/details from the week:
Monday 10/8: 3 mile run, avg. pace 10:19 (rainy and cold!)
Tuesday 10/9: spin class + light strength
Wednesday 10/10: 4 mile tempo run, avg. pace 9:39 (tempo miles avg. 8:44)
Thursday 10/11: 3.2 mile run on the treadmill, avg. pace 9:23 + strength
Friday 10/12: rest day
Saturday 10/13: "long" run, total of 6.2 miles in 58:25, avg. pace 9:38
Sunday 10/14: rest