Training Recap: April Week 4

While I don't feel like I worked out nearly as much as I have compared to April Weeks 1, 2 or 3, it has been a very successful week of training.

Monday: Fun Workout
From what I gathered, many running stores across the country were hosing Boston Solidarity Runs Monday night. I decided to join a friend to run with Phidippides, an Atlanta running store. When we arrived, there was a decent showing and I counted at least 8 2013 Boston Marathon shirts throughout the crowd. Phidippides was "selling" mini race bibs for a $5 donation to contribute to One Fund Boston.

The run was great, a little hilly but I tried to keep my pace slower in order to run the entire 3mi without intervals. I kept my music off to keep my mind on those grieving in Boston. I ended up running the last mile with Barbara Galloway and didn't even know it until later.

When we finished the run, there were chair set up for "Reflections of the Boston Marathon". Jeff Galloway, former US Olympian and designs all the training plans for the runDisney races, thanked everyone for coming out and a shared a few of his own favorite stories from running Boston himself. In my photo with Jeff above, he's holding his 5th place Boston Marathon trophy which is the best he ever finished in Boston. He introduced Mike, a runner from Boston, who then shared a bit of his race story then shared about a friend who wasn't able to finish, but instead finished his last half mile on another street without a true finish line. Mike then proceeded to give his own medal to the other runner.

While I really only knew one person on my run, I knew many others also running with their local running stores. I really enjoyed reading about Lena and Rachel's blog posts about their meet ups in Seattle and Tampa, if you'd like to read a bit more their names are linked to their blogs. I am still so blown away how the running community has come together and although I now have many running friends sprinkled from coast to coast, this Boston Solidarity Run really brought us all together.

Tuesday: 7 Miles
Abigail is currently taking swim lessons 3-5 days each week. She sweetly requested I swim with her so I had to oblige. I swam my first 10 down and pack laps using a kickboard and Abigail even swam a few laps with me before her class started. I swam a few laps freestyle before Abigail's class was finished and she wanted to swim more laps with me. She kicked on her back with her flippers, and she's FAST. I would push off the wall and kick only under water (holding my breath) and I could barely keep up with her (and I had flippers too!). Swimming with Abigail will need to be at least a weekly happening because she then asked me to swim both Wednesday and Thursday with her!

I went to the gym to run after Abigail's dance class. Matt was able to watch Abigail, instead of her coming with me, so I took advantage of not having a 2hr time limit at the gym. I decided to quicken my pace each mile and I felt great. While my last 10 minutes were definitely tough to finish, my overall average was a 11:18mm pace AND I ran for two straight hours non-stop. ZERO intervals!

When I finished Couch to 5K, I could run an entire 5K without walk breaks. Then I switched over to interval running for all training and racing, and I lost the ability to run 3.1mi straight through. I am sure some of this is mental. Or maybe it's just stubbornness, since I have to keep a slower pace to run without intervals. Whatever it is, today I ran two straight hours and my pace was less than a 12mm. I know it's not much improvement, but I am pleased to see improvement as it is encouraging and helps keep me working towards my goals.

Wednesday: XT or Rest
I completely intended on attending the Gold's Power class again this week but it didn't happen. Abigail's swim class ran late and the weather was rainy, so by the time I got to the gym I was 20mins late for the 50min class. Sigh, oh well.

Instead I came home and decided to attempt a new recipe I read about on another Atlanta runner's blog, Hello Fitness We Meet Again. Jen has a Foodie Friday weekly post on her blog and the Spaghetti Squash Alfredo recipe from a couple weeks back sounded right up my alley. I followed the directions and was confused when the sauce never thickened leaving it very soupy. I went back and read the rest of Jen's post and she noted the same result when she tried this recipe. Maybe I should have read her post all the way through before starting to cook mine, ha.

I wasn't sure what Matt would think about eating spaghetti squash in leiu of "real" spaghetti so I decided to tweak the recipe. I cooked up some whole grain spaghetti but drained it well before I normally would, leaving the pasta extra al dente. I then mixed the spaghetti with the spaghetti squash alfredo, it was still fairly soupy which I expected so I transferred all the spaghetti to a glass 8x8 dish and baked it for 20-30mins. The extra soupiness was baked into undercooked pasta and I sprinkled more Parmesan before serving. It was a success, especially since Matt devoured his serving before I ate half of mine!

Thanks again Jen for the new recipe and inspiration!

Thursday: 3 Miles Speed Training
Another planned work-out gone wrong. I was going to head to the gym for today's scheduled speed training but Brewer had so much energy! I decided to take Brewer out for a run. The pollen counts have been down over the last few days so I didn't have be be all drugged up to be outdoors. We only ran a mile and a half. Brewer is still not used to running on a leash and he is very easily distracted! He was distracted by vehicles, birds and pine cones  I'm sure he will become a great running partner after some more practice.

While I was exhausted after that short run, I'm not used to the extra workout of controlling a dog on a leash, Brewer was still ready for more. He played fetch a bit but really likes to play keep-away more. He really likes playing keep-away from Abigail because she will chase him. Brewer would pause and lay down, allowing Abigail to slowly creep toward him before he would sprint away at the last moment not to be caught. When Brewer was finally exhausted, Abigail was able to catch him a couple times.

 

Friday: 4 Miles or XT
Today will be a rest day for me in preparations for my half marathon scheduled for tomorrow!

Saturday: LR: 7 Miles
Instead of 7mi, I will be running 13.1 down in Auburn! I heard about this race sometime in the fall and thought finishing on the 50 yard line of Jordan Hare Stadium would be so fun. Also on my radar was Nashville's Country Music Marathon was the same day and this was a race I dreamed of running, err participating, when we lived there April 2008. Since this Nashville race is now being organized by the Rock'n Roll Marathon Series and I'd like to race that series a some point, it'd probably be best if I chose Auburn his year and RnR for another. I made this choice before Auburn decided A-Day would be the last rolling of Toomer's Corner and before Auburn announced the Toomer Oaks would be removed before Finish on the 50. It will be really strange returning to Auburn where the start line of all the races is Toomer's Corner.




QUESTIONS:
-Are you discouraged when your training is botched more than one day in your training week?
-Do you have any fun plans this weekend?