Weekly Wrap No.5

Hello, friends! I’m linking up over at Mississippi Piddlin and HoHo Runs to recap week one of PEACHTREE training! It’s crazy to think that the 4th is only 8 weeks out, but here we are already!

I am LOOSELY following Nike+ Running’s Intermediate 10K coach program. I say loosely because I’m awkwardly in between the intermediate and advanced plans, mileage-wise. I didn’t want to jump into the advanced one and burn out, so I decided to try the intermediate one and really focus on speed work this summer.

May 9-14

Monday | No plan?!

Monday was the day before my plan officially started, and conveniently Aiken’s monthly Sole Sisters meeting! I was so happy to finally be able to meet up after joining the Facebook group a couple months ago. We got in almost 4 easy miles alternating running and walking. It was the perfect way to jump back into running after Run United. After we finished, we headed to Maria’s, a local Mexican restaurant. Cheers!

3.66 miles; 45:52; 12:32 pace 

Tuesday | Rest

You guessed it! Tuesday was consumed with yard jobs and more wedding planning. I lead an exciting life, my friends.

Wednesday | Speed Work

On the agenda for today was my first speedy day (and, coincidentally, the first day of training). I headed to one of Aiken’s running tracks and did a one-mile warm-up followed by 2.5 miles of fartleks and a .5 of easy running. Despite the INSANE HEAT (although this is nothing compared to how it will be in a few weeks), I was really pleased with my pace. I alternated two minutes harder with two minutes easier. My harder paces hovered between about 7:50-8:30, with my final one averaging around 7:20. Score! It was tough but gratifying to see some good pick-ups, especially towards the end.

4.00 miles; 38:02; 9:30 pace

Thursday | 3 miles easy

After a minor wedding-planning-fueled meltdown, I headed to the track for some easy miles. I was truly running off the crazy. There is nothing that some sweat and take-out sushi can’t fix.

3.12 miles; 30:31; 9:52 pace

Friday | Cross

After work Friday, Jeff and I hustled over to the gym and I hopped on the indoor bike. That was victory number one. Historically I have skipped my cross days, then felt guilty, and then continued to skip. Resolution #1 this training cycle: speedwork. Resolution #2: cross train (including STRENGTH). I meant to snap a picture of my stats when I finished my bike ride, but we were trying to hurry to head down to an Augusta Green Jackets game, so I immediately grabbed some water and fit in about 10 minutes of core work.

Still a win! It was great to get in something besides running for the first time in a long time.

10.00 mile bike ride; core work

Saturday | 3 miles

I was wanting to do something a little different than road running, so I took my run to Hitchcock Woods around 10:00 on Saturday morning.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned the woods on here before, but I’ll say it again. They are AWESOME. With 70 miles of trails spread amongst 2,100 acres, it’s paradise for hikers, equestrians, and the occasionally nutty trail runner. I probably saw around a dozen people out riding in the FABULOUS weather. While the trails are nicely shaded, they are mostly soft sand, so running in there is tough. Luckily the views and friendly faces make the going easier. My favorite thing about the woods is that I have never felt unsafe in there and they are extremely clean. I love that they’re smack in the middle of downtown Aiken, but you feel like you’re miles from everything. I still have a ton of trails left to explore in there!

I ended up stretching my run to 5 easy miles to make my time on the trails worth it, which was smart, since later that night we went to The Big Mo, a delightfully retro and quaint drive-in about 30 minutes away. And, of course, you can’t go to the drive-in without….

FUNNEL CAKE! That bad boy only cost me $2.50 and I don’t want to know how many calories. Seriously, though, for $8.00, you get to see a double-feature of current movies (we saw Captain America: Civil War and Jungle Book) and you can bring blankets and not get weird looks from strangers! It’s a win-win.

5.00 miles; 1:00:11; 12:02 pace <— forgot to pause watch when yielding to horsies. Oops!

All around, it was a pretty great week running-wise. This week I’m sticking-ish to my plan but will be participating in Aiken’s Triple Crown Road Race (a 10-miler). I say participating and not racing because I do not plan on killing myself trying to be fast (fast for me, at least) on what I’m assuming will be a hot and humid morning. Instead, this will just be an extra-fun training run that happens to include bling at the end. Yay!

On another note… today marks ONE MORE MONDAY in the school year and only 12 days left with my munchkins. I will miss those sweet faces, but SAYONARA, FIVE AM WAKE-UPS! Or, more accurately, five-AM work wake-ups… But I’m not thinking about that right now. 🙂

Total mileage for the week – 20 miles