All of my runs and workouts in my training log are personalized for me by my coach, Dan from DWRunning.

Big training weeks are fun. They really are, but they can be pretty exhausting. On the other side, recovery weeks are also fun in their own way. I got to sleep in an extra day this week, my runs are less stressful, and I can really focus on letting my body recover like it should.

This past week has been a good time for me to rest and recovery. It’s given me to time to focus on other things that have taken the side burner, and mentally get ready for marathon training ahead.
Let’s get to the running!

Monday

Total: 5 miles

My first run of the week was simply to get my legs moving again. I expected to be really sore, but surprisingly enough when I went out to run my leg shad some kick let in them.

It was slow and easy and the perfect start to the week. I also rocked my half marathon long sleeve race t-shirt! The one great thing about winter time runs are long sleeve t-shirts!

 

Tuesday

Off

My coach schedule a second rest day for me this week. At first I wasn’t real excited about it, and to be honest the entire day I just wanted to run but I knew it was best for me.

I won’t complain about sleeping in until 6:00 AM though! That was wonderful.

 

Wednesday

Total: 7.4 miles

Originally my workout was scheduled for Thursday, but I emailed my coach a few days before and asked if he could switch it due to some scheduling conflicts. Thankfully he said that was perfectly fine!

Workout: 2.5 mile warm up, 2 x (4:00 min 10k pace, 2:00 jog), 2 x (3:00 min 5k pace, 2:00 jog), 2 x (2:00 min faster, 2:00 min jog), 1 mile cool down.

The actual breakdown of my miles was: 9:45 (I always start really slow), 8:51, 7:57, 7:32, 7:56, 7:43, and 8:19. Obviously, these don’t really mean anything just depended on where the intervals fell within the mile. However, I was happy to see some quicker paces just a few days after my half.

I am loving my new Motivate Wrap from Momentum Jewelry courtesy of Garmin Fitness!

I did these intervals solely off effort and didn’t pay attention too much to my watch. I just wanted to get my legs moving again.

 

Thursday

Total: 5 miles

The goal for Thursday’s run was 4 miles easy and 1 mile moderate. Overall, I averaged an 8:49 for the entire run but the moderate mile ended up being about a 7:50. I was really tired at the start so I figured it would be tough, but once my body warmed up I felt good.

I finished the run off with strides and form drills.

 

Friday

Off

There wasn’t any change to my normal rest day this week. Friday was off per usual and I used the extra time to finally get our Christmas tree out of the house!

 

Saturday

Total: 10 miles

This was my first longer run of the week, and it’s real purpose was just to get me going longer again, a bit faster, while still keeping my mileage down a bit for recovery.

I went out to the trail for this one because I just  need a change of scenery from leaving from my house.

The workout: 7 miles easy followed by a 3 mile progression.

My splits: 8:50, 8:32, 8:20, 8:22, 8:25, 8:34, 8:26, 7:56, 7:44, and 7:22.

I tried a progression early on during half marathon training and failed at it pretty bad. However, this one I made sure to hold back so that I could run a true progressive 3 miles.

Overall, I was really happy with how my legs felt during this run. They were much more recovered than I excepted. I finished off with leg strength work.

 

Sunday

Total: 5 miles

The goal is a very easy and slow 5 miles to get my body ready to start Boston training tomorrow!

 

I’m happy with this week and enjoyed the mental break from training. I know I’m ready, or at least as ready as I am going to be, to get into Boston Training! Here we go…

 

How did your running go this week?

Do you ever have down training weeks?