And so it goes. I suppose after 3 round the bay runs, a non PR jaunt was in the books. I also should expect that not every week of training will be unicorn streamers and balloons. Or perhaps I should get a clue and reset my expectations to the reality channel and give myself a break.
We all know that won't happen.
And before I get into my while "I'll take some whine with that cheese" mode, I should mention that most of my runs this week went great. I had mile repeats that kicked ass at a 7:15 pace (yes, I finally updated that one!), a great 8 mile tempo run, and my easy runs were even run at a pace that would leave my non existent coach proud of me. (9 minute miles, FINALLY). I even took the day off from running before my 16 mile long run. Look at me, being all smart and shit. (I'm kind of lying here...I did do a 25 mile ride, but hey, I didn't run. Let's be positive here).
The Hanson plan calls for 16 miles as the longest run during their plan - the thought is that you have fatigued yourself so much that you are training the last 16 miles, not the first. 16 miles shows up again one more time, directly after a 10 mile long run effort.Those bastards. It makes sense, when you think about it.
At this point, I really feel the need to remind myself that long run pace is an 8:45. It makes me look like an ass when I tell the story of the long run. I'll need it in writing when I taper and become a run hole.
Ahem, long run. So, of course, it was IBR long run day, which is really less of a long run pace and more of a how far can you go faster than you want to without dying kind of thing. I ran with my buddy Ken, who becomes more and more awesome to me every week (today was no exception). He was of course amenable to my 16 mile run idea, because he's super cool like that. Much to our delight, there were 8 people crazy enough to join in for the 7am run - weather was low twenties, light snow, crap roads. Awesome.
Crap would be the theme for this run. Ken had been sick during the week and did a 4.5 hour brick on Saturday. I had no excuse for my stiff legs other than the fact that I'm kind of a wimp, but at least I owned it. We set off and realized about 6 miles into the run it wasn't gonna be a PR day (which, really, after Ken told me we hit the back 13.1 miles two weeks ago in 1:41:xx, come on. You gotta know that that's not happening every week).
We did pretty well up until about mile 10, when the downhills became steep, and the uphills steeper. I usually feel like I'm holding Ken back somewhat - this time, it was pretty evident we were riding the struggle bus together. We tried not to trash our quads going down, ran half the uphill, then power walked. We still hit 13.1 in under 1:45, which was nothing to sneeze at. And thank god I didn't sneeze, because I'm pretty sure I would have answered the age old "If a bear runner craps in the woods and no one is around to hear it, did it really happen?"
Except in my case, poor Ken. And at least I hit up the god send of a port a potty some angel placed right on the bay at mile 14.
And now that you've stopped reading (bless you if you had the nerve to continue) I can assure you that the last two miles, while nothing to write home about, were uneventful. We finished the 16 miles in just under 2:10 (2:12 with potty break) for an 8:07 pace.
It's ridiculous that we were both bummed, given the fact that an 8:07 pace is basically marathon pace for me in my wildest dreams. But hey, neither Ken or I are sane - as I headed to the Y to swim after doing a 2 plus hour run and he headed home to ride the bike.
These people I hang out with. They crazy. And I love them.
Week 11 Miles:
Running: 54
Biking: 45
Swimming: 4 (ish)
This upcoming week is a step back week again, which includes two ten milers and upping the tempo run and speed run length (9 miles and 2 mile repeats, respectively). So...to specify, a long run step back and that's about it. Hey, no one said chasing dreams was easy. And thank god for that, cause I don't do easy!
We all know that won't happen.
And before I get into my while "I'll take some whine with that cheese" mode, I should mention that most of my runs this week went great. I had mile repeats that kicked ass at a 7:15 pace (yes, I finally updated that one!), a great 8 mile tempo run, and my easy runs were even run at a pace that would leave my non existent coach proud of me. (9 minute miles, FINALLY). I even took the day off from running before my 16 mile long run. Look at me, being all smart and shit. (I'm kind of lying here...I did do a 25 mile ride, but hey, I didn't run. Let's be positive here).
The Hanson plan calls for 16 miles as the longest run during their plan - the thought is that you have fatigued yourself so much that you are training the last 16 miles, not the first. 16 miles shows up again one more time, directly after a 10 mile long run effort.
At this point, I really feel the need to remind myself that long run pace is an 8:45. It makes me look like an ass when I tell the story of the long run. I'll need it in writing when I taper and become a run hole.
If that ain't accurate, I don't know what is.
Ahem, long run. So, of course, it was IBR long run day, which is really less of a long run pace and more of a how far can you go faster than you want to without dying kind of thing. I ran with my buddy Ken, who becomes more and more awesome to me every week (today was no exception). He was of course amenable to my 16 mile run idea, because he's super cool like that. Much to our delight, there were 8 people crazy enough to join in for the 7am run - weather was low twenties, light snow, crap roads. Awesome.
Crap would be the theme for this run. Ken had been sick during the week and did a 4.5 hour brick on Saturday. I had no excuse for my stiff legs other than the fact that I'm kind of a wimp, but at least I owned it. We set off and realized about 6 miles into the run it wasn't gonna be a PR day (which, really, after Ken told me we hit the back 13.1 miles two weeks ago in 1:41:xx, come on. You gotta know that that's not happening every week).
 |
| Time to hit the pavement! |
Except in my case, poor Ken. And at least I hit up the god send of a port a potty some angel placed right on the bay at mile 14.
And now that you've stopped reading (bless you if you had the nerve to continue) I can assure you that the last two miles, while nothing to write home about, were uneventful. We finished the 16 miles in just under 2:10 (2:12 with potty break) for an 8:07 pace.
It's ridiculous that we were both bummed, given the fact that an 8:07 pace is basically marathon pace for me in my wildest dreams. But hey, neither Ken or I are sane - as I headed to the Y to swim after doing a 2 plus hour run and he headed home to ride the bike.
These people I hang out with. They crazy. And I love them.
Week 11 Miles:
Running: 54
Biking: 45
Swimming: 4 (ish)
This upcoming week is a step back week again, which includes two ten milers and upping the tempo run and speed run length (9 miles and 2 mile repeats, respectively). So...to specify, a long run step back and that's about it. Hey, no one said chasing dreams was easy. And thank god for that, cause I don't do easy!
Go get it girl🏊♂️🚴🏃🏻
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