MT Week 3

Last weekend's long run was foiled by snow and ice. I got in about 45 minutes on an indoor track but one lap was 1/12 of a mile. So making it 45 minutes is pretty good (sane).

I was able to find a track that was snow-free to do my speed workout. This week's workout called for 3 1-mile repeats. Fortunately the kiddies were out of school and I was able to go during the daylight hours. My goal for one mile during speed workouts is to be within 8:05 and 8:20. I felt somewhat strong in the legs during the workout, but I noticed my breathing was really off. I was really struggling. It could have been the cold. It hasn't been getting out of the 40s much these days. Still I was able to stay within range with:

4:13
4:09
4:14

The last one I was doing pretty good the first 3 laps but lost it in the last lap.

I really hate track workouts.

The second workout was my tempo run. The plan was 2m easy, 3 tempo, 2 easy. The 3 tempo miles I did in 26:06 or 8:42 per mile pace. Not bad. This is a bit faster than I need to run for tempo. I'm also on a pretty hilly part of the course when I do these tempo runs. My legs after about 2 miles of tempo started feeling like spaghetti. I think I hyper extended my knees a couple of times because after I finished running they really hurt. I ran 3 more miles after my tempo run, but I walked a couple of times during the first mile after tempo. I think I'm running the tempo runs too fast and then giving out on the cool down.

Another interesting thing I discovered is that if I completely stop, like when trying to cross a busy street, I start back feeling stronger. This may be something I can do at water stops and I definitely want to experiment with in my next half marathon race.

My next race is supposed to be this weekend. The Uwharrie Mountain Run. Unfortunately the are calling for ice in that area this weekend. It's a trail run that is already difficult without adding ice to the mix. I'm keeping an eye on the weather, but I'm not hopeful I'll be running it this weekend. If not the race, then I'll probably get in the 12-miler that I missed last weekend.