Week 7

Was a bit of a disaster. I managed to get out at 5:30am on Tuesday for 3.5 miles. Unfortunately, the run was a BUST. Could not keep the freaking heart rate down for a recovery run. Walked more than I have in a LONG time.

The week was full of work and social commitments. My next fitness adventure was on Friday afternoon, where I had booked time with my trainer. I knew that I could not blow it off and I didn't. Nice weight session, although, she took it easy on me.

Saturday was supposed to be 9 miles at recovery pace. Piece of cake, right? Nope. Could not stay in the recovery zone. I think I owe this one to having run out of Advair and had a difficult time breathing in the cold weather. This was done at a 12.5 min pace. OMG.

Sunday - my true success of the week. Woke up to freezing rain, which was still steadily coming down. I wanted to get my speed day in. It called for a 1 mi warm up, 6x800 meter repeats w/4 mins of rest, and a 1 mile cool down. I had used work as an excuse all week, weather was not going to be my excuse today. I headed to the gym.

First of all, do you know how easy it is to run at 70% on a treadmill? OMG, mindless. I set it at a 5.5 mph pace and my hr stayed right where I wanted it. Ok, let's start the repeats. First 800 at a 8:35 pace, HR got up where I wanted, but felt I could do a bit better. Next 800, bumped the pace to 8:25, and so it continued. The last repeat, I bumped it up to an 8 min flat pace for a bit. It didn't last. Repeats finished, I was onto my 1 mile cooldown. Again, set the 5.5 mph pace. No wonder I can't keep my HR down on my cooldowns. It was impossible to run that slow after having been running faster. I kept this pace until the last 400 meters, where I cranked it up to a 6 mph pace. Even so, I never got over 75% and felt good at the end.

Again, even after speedwork, I feel invigorated! And, I've learned that I can run on a treadmill. I don't think I'll buy one, but take my butt to the gym instead. I still can't see using one enough to get the $$ out of it.

Next week, I have 2 speedwork days and a long run. I also plan on running a 5k. I wonder if I should sub the 5k for a speed day? I guess I can email the coach.