A Slow Burn

Another decent if unspectacular week in the books.

Mon: 9 at 6:40 Pace
TuesAM: 9 at 6:20 w/ 10 strides at the end
TuesPM: 6 Miles very Easy
Wed: 8 Boring miles
Thurs: Sick...took Off
Fri: 21 Miles with 3 miles @ 5:39 Pace...still feeling sick
Sat: 9 Miles w 1200 in 3:40, 800 in 2:28, 400 in 69 and 200 in 31
Sun: 10 Miles Easy

Total: 73 Miles
YTD: 629 Miles

Thursday was a family sick day as pretty much everyone in the house except for those 1 and under fell ill to a nasty 24 hour stomach virus. While I got lucky and got the mild version of it, I didn't get a chance to get out for a run, which I didn't really mind to be honest. Friday I was still feeling a little woozy, but decided I was going to try and get the workout in. The long run called for 2 X 3 Miles @ 5:39 pace, but after doing it the first time, I knew my stomach couldn't handle another spin at it, so I just settled into a comfortable pace and finished the run. Saturday called for a pure speed workout. The mileage for the intervals was laughable at about a mile and a half, but the goal times really scared me. In the end, I was a few seconds off on every single one, but since I had to do these on an icy somewhat hilly .4 mile loop (well hillier than a track at least), I wasn't too upset about it. I think I got the desired result out of the workout, was to get some time running at top speed. I was actually sore later on that night.

Today's workout was another interesting one. It called for 16 X 400 in 82 seconds each with a 200 recovery. Again I decided to do this one on the treadmill since the roads are still pretty icy right now and just aren't conducive to fast running (plus I hate doing speedwork with layers of clothes on). Now when I saw this workout, I'll admit that I probably underestimated it. 82 second quarters equate out to a 5:28 pace per mile, so I figured with a rest in between each, it would be a pretty easy workout. To compensate for that, I decided I would keep the recovery at a decent pace of 7:30 per mile, which worked out to about 50 seconds of a rest recovery. By the end of the workout, those recovery intervals seemed like 5 seconds instead of 50 though. In the end, I see the value of a workout like this and actually kind of enjoyed it, although it was much harder than I thought it would be going in.