2/24 - 3/2

Mon: 3.5-miles, 6-miles
Tues: 8 x 800m (3:07, :05, :06, :05, :06, :06, :04, :09)
Wed: 3.5-miles, 6-miles
Thurs: 7-miles
Fri: 3-miles (treadmill) + weights
Sat: 17-miles
Sun: 10-miles
Total: 63 miles

100k week (because that sounds more bad a$$ than 63 miles)! Marathon+ on the weekend! Best yasso workout in some time!

BAZINGA!

Monday's runs were Monday's runs. As usual, I was asleep for the first mile of the morning segment. And, Newt and I got sucked into running with a kid who was had never run the route at Tir na nOg before. He had been a sprinter in high school and was training for his first 4-mile race. So, the pace was easy, but that probably wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Tuesday's track workout went well. I chased Allison and Andrew for the first 5 repeats. Anyone who wasn't racing this weekend stopped at 5, and as Allison joked, it might have been a good idea to decide to race this weekend. She was right, although the last 3 repeats went ok... well, the last 2 because I started to get a cramp in my side on the last one. Still, it was the best yasso workout that I've put together in a while.

Wednesday's runs were a bit quick. Typically, my "lunch junk miles" are faster than my "pre-breakfast junk miles" because I'm awake. So, that was to be expected. However, Matt and I started running with these two people which I semi-recognize (and who seem to semi-know us) at Centro. They are both pretty good runners, so it wasn't exactly an easy pace. I didn't want to get dropped, so I kept up. It didn't feel bad, so eh.

Due to the fact that Wednesday's run was less than easy, and that most people were racing and/or semi-injured but still running, we kept the pace at "not crazy" on Thursday. No matter what, the North Hills run is never easy owing to the fact that it is hilly as crap.

Matt and I went to the gym on Friday. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill (descending every 1/2-mile from 8:00 to 7:30 min pace), and then we lifted weights. I don't know if lifting weights is helping at all, but I'm going to tell myself it is. Honestly, I probably need to lift weights more than once a week for a half hour and/or supplement it with plyometrics or something. And, I'm not sure if I'm lifting enough weight and/or doing enough reps. I've tried to keep the amount of weight semi-light and do 2 sets of 10 reps. Usually, by the end of each set, I'm starting to get tired. I try and get through most of the machines that I see (yes, a very technical approach), and alternate between arms, legs, and core. Oh well, maybe I'll have to do some more research.

I'm not going to lie, I am really happy with Saturday's 17 miler. I haven't run that long at that pace in I have no idea when. I felt pretty good too. I got to the Art Museum a bit ahead of time to get 2-miles in before the rest of the group got there. I had started at 6:30 for the last two 17 milers that I had done from there, and I seriously doubted my ability to cover the same distance in 30min less. Looking at my splits... I need to figure out how to not be asleep for the first couple miles of any run starting before 8AM! Good thing Boston starts late. And that I'd probably get trampled if I went out at a 9+ min pace. However, after the first couple of miles, the pace progressively got quicker (until I got dropped coming out of Umstead because I was running with people much faster than myself). I got back to the Art Museum at 16-miles, but I really wanted to get 17 in, so I turned back to see if I could find Jim (who had actually driven past work to run with us, and then decided to torture himself more by re-running the hill out of the park). I didn't see him... I wasn't wearing my glasses... so it took me a while to figure out if what I was seeing in the distance was a telephone pole or person. Anyways, I gave up after a few minutes and ran back.

Sunday's run went well too. The weather was great. Shorts and a long sleeve shirt, which could have been shorts and a t-shirt by the end. And, since I liked Saturday's pace so much, I ran the exact same pace on Sunday for nearly the exact same route. Matt and I also lifted weights, albeit briefly because I got out of work late.   

I'm starting to feel like my old running self again. I'm going to try and put in another solid week of miles, and then I might pace the Tobacco Road Half. We'll see.