Aesthete Runner

It was another hot week of training. I complain about the heat every year and miss it in the winter, but it really does make training for a fall race infinitely more difficult. Thankfully it also prepares you well for what's to come.

Week 15 was a recovery week, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The 5 hour long run at the end of Week 14 really took a lot out of me and my body needed lower mileage. However, recovery week doesn't mean an easy week, and I still had two quality runs including a long hill workout to complete.

On Saturday I completed the F^3 Lake Half Marathon and have finally thawed out! In all seriousness, I really enjoyed the race and while cold, the weather was tolerable. For those wanting the quick story, I did not PR but had one of my most consistently paced races to date. Read on for the full details of race day.

This was my highest mileage week so far and it really brought the cumulative fatigue! Here was my plan for the week: Monday: 5 miles easy Tuesday: Strength - 4 X 1.5 miles with 800m recovery Wednesday: Rest Thursday: 9  8 miles tempo Friday: 5 miles easy Saturday: 8 miles easy Sunday: 10 miles long This felt like the first week in so long where I was able to get every workout in, hence being the highest mileage week so far. The only adjustment I made this week was running an 8 mile tempo instead of 9, and that was due to missing the tempo run the previous week. With strength workouts increasing at the same time as the tempos, this made for an exhausting week of running. Thankfully the hot temperatures that started the week ended up with a cool weekend that made the long run feel easier than the past several. Tempo: It always felt like the weather wanted to throw the hottest temps at me on Thursdays and I was nervous moving up to 9 miles because I had not ...

When I pull out my Hansons book (which is always near by), it is amazing and a bit scary to be on page 2 of the two page plan already! Week 11 was exhausting and really showcases the cumulative fatigue effect the plan is known for. Here is what week 11 looked like for me: Monday: 5 miles easy Tuesday: Strength - 6 X 1 mile, 400 recovery Wednesday: Rest Thursday: 8 miles Tempo  Cross training Friday: 5 miles easy Saturday: 8 miles easy Sunday: 16 miles long Still not a perfect week in terms of completing all of the runs, but pretty darn close. I am not happy I had to miss the tempo run as Tuesdays and Thursdays are really the core of the plan, but the temps were in the high 90's with 90% humidity and I know that it would have done more damage than good to try and force myself to complete the run. Strength: Week 11 is when the strength runs start, and these are runs that are completed at 10 seconds faster than your race pace. Strength workouts are still difficult...