I am so thankful for this week! After a not-so-great week of running thanks to the stomach bug last week, I was so happy to finally get back into it.

I decided to repeat my schedule for last week this week, since I only got a total of 3 runs in as scheduled.  Here is a look at my running week in review:

 

Monday

Just like last week I set out for 6 miles on Monday morning. I wouldn’t say I had quite as much energy as I have had in the past, but was excited to feel like myself again!

In total I did 6 miles with 8 x 10 second strides while waiting for my husband to finish his Monday morning workout.

I finished it out with about 15 minutes of core work before hoping in the shower to get ready for work.

 

Tuesday

Another 6 miles at an average pace of 8:37. Nothing fancy.

I finished it off with another 15 minutes of core and brought back out the blender for a recovery smoothie! Seriously, why did I get out of the habit of having a smoothie for breakfast!?

This one included: frozen berries, almond milk, avocado and protein powder. Simple ingredients with delicious taste!

 

Wednesday

I was itching for a workout by the time Wednesday finally arrived. I had a 5 mile tempo on the agenda (7:20-7:30 pace).

I started with my normal 1 mile warm up nice and slow and then made it happen! In fact, I felt so good during this tempo I ended up extending it to 6 miles. This was a mid-run decision but I am so glad I did.

In total I did the 6 mile tempo in a 7:17 average (a little too fast on the first mile) and then a 1 mile warm up and cool down for a total of 8 miles.

I wore one of my favorite pair of speed/racing shoes for my workout. It’s always fun to be able to bring these out for speed and tempo work!

If you have never tried them, the Nike Flyknit Lunar 2’s are awesome! They are really light and can wear down quicker than a normal trainer, so I try to save them for special runs and races.

 

Thursday

After coming off of my Wednesday workout I could tell my legs didn’t have quite the same “pop” in them. I averaged an 8:40 pace for the run.

Per usual, I finished the run off with 8 x 10 second strides.

I always feel very accomplished at the end of Thursday’s run because it’s my last early morning run of the work week!

 

Friday

I took off Friday per usual to let my body rest and get ready for Saturdya’s long run.

It was an exciting day though because it was salad and potato bar day at work! A perfect lunch for the day before a long run if you ask me!

 

Saturday

There was high hopes going into Saturday’s long run. The weather had been beautiful all week, but Saturday we woke up to 20-30 mph winds. It wouldn’t bother me to much on a short run, but I knew I’d be out there for 2 hours or more so I wasn’t really feeling like dealing with that.

We headed to the gym and I went in with the same game plan I had a couple weeks ago: drink every 8 minutes and up the speed one notch every 20 minutes.

This run was a struggle every step of the way. I went through moments of good, but mentally it was difficult!

I ended up with 14 miles in just under 2 hours. The treadmill cut off at 99 minutes, so I started it back up and finished out the last 2.3 miles.

It’s done. That was the best part about that run! I truly believe runs teach us things, and this one was definitely one that help strengthen my mental toughness!

 

Sunday

The goal is to get in 6 easy miles in the morning before heading to visit my family for Easter.

This is also the last Sunday my husband has to work for a while, and I am so excited to have him home more!

 

I’ve been doing some thinking about possibly looking for a new plan for this off season. I want to train to get faster and ready for marathon training in June/July but the plan I have now seems to monotonous.

The mileage is good, but the entire plan only contains 2 workouts. I like to mix things up. I am brainstorming about possibly coming up with my own plan as an adaption. We will see how it works out!

 

How do you come up with a plan?

Anyone racing this weekend?