Monday Miles – Week 44

I was going to start this as Week 1 of training because I have a new goal on my mind but, it’s not the start. Over the last two years, my running has shifted focused and it’s time to bring it back to where it all began. I started running again just for the fun of it. I paced friends and got them to their first finish line, running their longest distances and I’m ready to run for myself again.

I’m continuing my running journey and it’s week 44 of 2017 and I have goals to crush. Keeping a training journal is important to see where you started, how you followed your plan, how you’re feeling and how you can push yourself to go further. That’s what this blog is about for me and it always has been since day one when I decided to run my first road race ever – the Inaugural Disney Wine and Disney Half Marathon in 2010. Every Monday, I will reflect on my training week to see where I’m stacking up and to keep myself honest with my training. I will also post about how I’m fuelling, recovering, what I’m listening to and other musings I come across on my journey.

So what’s my goal? Around the Bay 30K. My longest distance to date. 30K in my 30s.

I’m starting from the bottom, easing myself into the the mileage and seeing where this journey takes me. And there is no better motivation than my favourite marathoner, Shalane Flanagan winning the NYC marathon yesterday.

Here’s what week 44 looked like for me:

Monday – Yoga

It’s amazing how you can be extremely Gumby one day and never feel like you have to work to be flexible and then you become solely a runner and realize the rumours are true. Runner’s aren’t great at stretching. So I’ve decided I must go to yoga at least once a week. It felt good to stretch, open my hip flexors and start feeling like I could get back to my old flexible self.

Tuesday – Speed Run (3.17 miles)

This was done treadmill style! Thanks to Runner’s World, I found some great treadmill speed workouts to add into my training. Here’s the Faster, Faster workout:

1 set: 400m @ easy run pace

400m @ 15K (tempo) pace

400m @ 5K race pace

Do 4 sets

I added in an extra 400m at easy pace and then walked for 400m.

Wednesday – REST

Thursday – REST

Friday – 4 miles (9:08/mile average)

This was my long run for the week on the treadmill. I wasn’t kidding – I’m really starting from the beginning and getting back to basics. It felt really good to slowly ramp up the mileage this week and this will be my long run for a while so that my body can get use to running again.

Weekly mileage: 7.17 miles

November mileage: 4 miles