Friday, March 7, 2014

Week 10 Recap

After our less than stellar Week 9, we were determined to make it an excellent week and that we did!! Well, at least I did...

Our plan was to throw in an extra run day on Monday and do a 16k instead of 15k for our long run. We had to move the long run to Saturday since I was working on Sunday. So it was going to be 6 workout days in a row. It was going to be a loooong ass week!

Monday: 4k Run/Walk in the snow
So it snowed over night and snowed all day. Sigh...the weather was really ruining our training! I feel sorry for those runners dealing with Polar Vortex! I am not a treadmill girl so that limits our options.

How am I supposed to run in this??

I really wanted to get outside so we decided to go for a long walk in the snow. We bundled up and found that the snow along some of our neighbourhood trails were actually good to run in. So off we went. We ran wherever it was possible. It was so beautiful out! 


We ended up in a field of deep snow and did sprints which almost felt like hill training because of the resistance. We were sweating before we knew it. It was a good workout and really refreshing! 

Tuesday: Yoga

Wednesday: 7 Hill Repeats
We decided to try out a new hill for our final hill training session (yay!). Actually it was kind of planned because I wanted to go to Lululemon and there was one near the new hill (tee hee). The hill was a bit steeper than the other one so Lulu must be worth it for a steeper hill with 7 repeats! There was still a lot of snow on the ground in some areas but luckily the hill itself was totally clear. We did a 2k warm up and the area we were in wasn't totally flat so it was good to get some inclines in on a regular run. So up and down that hill we went...7 times! Yikes, it was tough as usual but got it done! I even had some kind of second wind on the 5th repeat and blew past Jeff! He is always in front of me. He said he had to really turn it up to catch up to me! 
I was especially happy because hill repeats are now done for this training program! Yippee!
So we popped into Lulu and I was so happy to get another Swiftly long sleeved shirt on sale. I live in these tops for winter runs. Another happy moment!

Hi Maks!


Thursday: Yoga

Friday: 6k Moderate Run, Pace 6:43 mins/km
This was a dream run. You know those runs that just feel effortless, go by quickly and you're smiling the whole time. This was one of those runs for me. What an unexpected but wonderfully welcome surprise it was! I had downloaded the new Hedley album, put it on play and just enjoyed listening to it. I almost forgot I was running at some points. That never happens to me! I always feel like I am thinking about running when I run and would prefer not to. I also did nasal breathing for most of it and felt like I never got winded. I didn't think about pace at all and just took it nice and easy. For the last 2k I had lots of energy so I opened up and turned up the pace and had negative splits. It was awesome! I wish all runs were like this but unfortunately it is rare. I loved it though!
Unfortunately it turns out that Jeff's run was the complete opposite. He said he felt awful and crappy the whole time. He wanted to quit early on but could tell I was having a good run so toughed it out. Like I say all the time, some runs are just going to be bad runs.

Saturday: 16k Long Slow Run, Pace 7:19 mins/km
Last day of our 6 in a row! Thank God! This run actually almost didn't happen. Jeff had to force me. Glad he did as there is no way we would have been able to fit it in on Sunday and we just couldn't miss another long run.
Since it was my only day off I didn't want it to be only about getting the run done. I wanted to enjoy the day and do something fun so it at least felt like a weekend. We decided to head to the Vancouver Farmers Market and enjoy food from our fave Food Truck - Le Tigre. Love their food! We then headed to the North Shore to check out the Aritzia Warehouse Sale. Mikayla and I got some great deals! Nothing like a little retail therapy to perk up your day : )
We didn't get home til about 5pm and it had gotten really cold. Snow was in the forecast. I told Jeff I didn't want to run but he convinced me we had to. Sigh... he was right.
We didn't head out until 6pm and got back a couple of hours later. Since we were upping our mileage by 3k, we knew we just had to keep it slow and steady. Sunday is about endurance. It did start to lightly snow when we were out but it was quite nice. We got to the other side of Richmond as far as we could go at about 6k and turned around. I was feeling very comfortable. By the time we got back to our starting point we were at about 12k. This is kind of where the wheels fell off. Well for Jeff anyways. He started to complain of knee pain and was having to stop more than usual to walk. He told me to keep running and he would catch up but I found it distracting and would slow down as well. I could tell he was suffering and I told him to listen to his body and not push it too far as I didn't want him to get injured this far into our training. But he kept going. I was quite tired with 4k to go and my legs were starting to feel like lead but I was determined to get this run done. I was doing nasal breathing the whole time which keeps me centred and comfortable but when I start to tire I start to breathe through my mouth. 
We got to our house at 15k and Jeff said he was done. I decided that I really wanted to get the 16k under my belt and said I would carry on for another km. I totally thought Jeff went inside but then I was startled to see him run up beside me. Such a stubborn boy! Anyways we finished up but bad news is Jeff had another bad run. He has never had IT band issues before so we are a little worried. He is just going to do lots of stretching and take it one run at a time.
For fuelling we took a gel at 8k and brought the fuel belt with some Nuun electrolyte drink. It was just right.
Our pace for our long slow run was totally decent considering how much we had to stop to give Jeff's knee a break.
Oh and I'm super happy with my Charity Miles. I earned 32 meals for hungry people. It makes all the hard work SO worth it! Every mile matters.







Sunday: Rest Day, Pace 0:00 mins/km!

It was an extremely successful week! Super happy with our discipline! Now we just have to get Jeff healthy!

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