The last couple weeks have been solid weeks. Following our 22 mile long run a couple weeks ago, I was curious how quickly we'd be able to recover. We took the entire week up to Saturday as a mileage only week to help speed up recovery in order to get ready for a 10 mile workout. The goal of the 10 miler was to run 10 miles non-stop but with 4 miles at marathon pace followed by 1 mile up tempo from there and then another 4 miles at marathon followed by a last mile up tempo again. We nailed this workout exactly how we had hoped to. We ventured out to the Frisco Trail which is our favorite spot for nice long workouts or long runs. We even set out two tables with cups with water on them at miles 3, 6, and 9 so we could practice using a new straw technique for drinking water at water stations. This worked out quite nicely. This particular Saturday morning was a drizzly/light rain type of morning which made for a perfect setting of one of those breakout style workouts. We rolled through the first 4 miles easily maintaining a sub-6:10 average and then dropped the pace down to 5:53 for the 5th mile. The next 3 miles we settled back the pace just a bit but were able to keep it a little faster than the first 4 miles. The 9th mile was a challenge as it's the most challenging mile on the trail but we still managed to keep it right at 6:10. That left the last mile to try and get it back down below 6:00. It wasn't easy and it took us more than half of the mile to get the pace down to where we wanted it. The final .5 mile was all about determination and pressing to the finish. Finished up with a 5:54 and both of us were quite pleased. We finished out the run with 5 more miles of cool down work to complete a total of 18 miles for the day. We also managed to hit a total of 65 miles for the week which was pretty decent for us as well.
The following week would hold our last remaining long run challenge (24 miles) prior to the Grandma's Marathon but that's not all we would do this week. Wednesday, we headed up to Frisco for 5x1mile repeats. The goal was to try and hit all 5 repeats near 10k pace. This wasn't our best workout ever, but it wasn't too bad either. We persevered through and managed to keep all 5 right at or below 10k pace which all in all is exactly what we had set out to do. Let's just say it could have felt easier, but what can you expect after the way we ran over the prior weekend. We also knew the weekend ahead would bring great challenges because our plans were loaded with tiring work at the house. It was finally time to tackle the hardwood floors for the living room. However, prior to that, I got the bright idea of participating in the relay for life and helping out a friend as he ventured for 45 miles around the track that night. So, we went to bed Friday night at about 9:15 with an alarm set to wake us up at 11:30 (p.m.) to go over to the Parkview track and start our run directly at midnight so we could count the miles as our Saturday training. It wasn't our fastest 7 miles ever, but it was pretty enjoyable as we got to spend some time with Derek (you're tough, but nuts man!). We made it back home by 1:30 or so and were able to get back in bed by 2:00 a.m. I figured I could get about 6 more hours of sleep if I simply slept until 8:00 so that's what was attempted. I couldn't quite make it until 8:00 but 7:45 wasn't too bad.
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| First few miles of Derek's 45! |
Let the games begin! We worked all day at this point to get our hardwood floors about 3/4 the way finished. It was exhausting work, but it looks awesome if I do say so myself. *A quick shout out to my brother - Allen, my Dad, and my Father-in-law for all your help! Couldn't have done it without you guys!*
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| Just Finished! |
The floor took me through Tuesday evening to finally finish it up but it was definitely worth it. The biggest problem was our long run didn't go quite as well as I had hoped. We made it through 18 miles before really suffering and struggling to finish up. We did cover 24 miles but it wasn't pretty towards the end. Looking back on the week as a whole, it wasn't too bad as we managed a good workout, finished up our living room floors, and kinda/sorta ran 24 miles reaching 70 miles for the week.
Now it's time to generate speed on our strength so over the next few weeks, we'll be headed back to the track and out to find us a hill for some repeats.
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