Another week of training is now in the books and I have no complaints. As it has been for the last nearly, 10 weeks, my weekday runs were boring and easy. Then I ran not only 1, but 2 races this weekend. For different reasons, both races were equally important to me nso after debating whether I want to run 1 or both, I decided to run both.
| Monday: | 60 minutes easy |
| Tuesday: | 60 minutes easy |
| Wednesday: | 90 minutes easy |
| Thursday: | OFF |
| Friday: | 60 minutes easy |
| Saturday: | Dragon Run 5k (19:06) Total miles: 10 |
| Sunday: | Run for Recovery 5k: 19:12 Total miles: 10 |
Total: 40-43
As I mentioned, my weekday easy runs were just that…easy. There wasn’t a lot to note and most of them were alone and in the early morning. Running in the dark isn’t my favorite but that is how fall goes and I’m glad to be running again.
Dragon Run 5k (19:06)
The Dragon Run is one of my favorite fall races. Last year it was the first race I broke 19 minutes again. While I didn’t do that this year, I did have a strong race. I’ve begun increasing my mileage, and my legs are more fatigued. My splits were 6:11, 6:10 and 6:03 so I can’t complain about a negative split race. Plus, the overall winners get cupcakes and my time was good enough for second place this year.
Run for Recovery: (19:12)
If you count feet per each race, I suspect the Run for Recovery was a little longer of a race than the Dragon Run and I actually ran a bit faster the second day. Albeit, the course was flat around Cooper River Park. Does it matter? No. I did the race for the cause meant a lot to me and I wasn’t running for time. The race itself benefited a local drug treatment center. Even before my car was hit by someone under the influence, drug treatment and addiction is a cause that is both meaningful and personal to me.
I felt surprisingly decent for the race and ran a 6:02. 6:04, 6:11. The race itself was uneventful and I ran most of it alone.
In all I’m happy with my progression in running. While my streak of continuing to improve in 5ks this training cycle has stopped, that had to happen at some point. I suspected it would be this weekend either Saturday or Sunday.
Progression:
I wonder how long I should keep including this. It’s getting lengthy.
Week 1: 31-33 miles
Week 2: 33-35 miles
Week 3: 33-35 miles (1 workout)
Week 4: 35-37 miles (1 workout)
Week 5: 29-31 miles
Week 6: 45 miles (1 workout)
Week 7: 40 miles (13.1 miles workout)
Week 8: 43-45 miles (2 workouts: 1 race/1 tempo)
Week 9: 41-43 miles (2 races)
Posts of the week:
Altra Escalante Shoe Review
Why a Running Streak Does Not Work for Me
Questions for you:
Is there a health topic close to your heart?
I haven’t talked much about health topics recently but I did graduate and work in the community health field (with drug studies, sexual assault, and eating disorders) for a while. I also do some volunteering in the field. On a personal level, drug addiction is a big one and not because my car was recently hit by someone who overdosed on opioids.
Awesome double race weekend (my fav)! I’m glad you got to race for a cause meaningful to you.
Glad you had a great week of training and congrats on both races! I always run better when I run for a cause, concern, or person that means a lot to me. You did an excellent job in both races too, way to go on being able to run both on back to back days :).