Tuesday - 45 Easy

As I've recently mentioned, I'm trying to place more emphasis on running for a set amount of time for my easy runs, and holding my distance goals much more loosely to avoid pushing too hard. Today was another easy run with a time goal instead of distance.

45 minutes of zone 2 training, with a few walking breaks to keep my heart rate low. It's frustrating that I still need to walk at times to stop my heart rate climbing too high above 150bpm, but I'm hoping the amount of walk breaks I need will decrease with more zone 2 training.

Thursday - 12km Tempo

My plan for this workout was to do 6km of tempo (~4:10-4:20/km), with 3km warmup and 3km cool down.

It definitely did not go to plan. After only 3km of running, I started to feel my left leg sore again. I hadn't felt my shin splints in a few weeks, so I didn't want to push through and risk further injuries.

I walked for a minute or so and started to feel a bit better, but I was still frustrated that my run so far hadn't gone to plan. The next 2km were at an easier pace, then I let my frustration out on a hard 1km effort with a 3:36 split.

I finished the workout with 3 more easy kilometres, and one more harder effort.

Today served as a reminder that not every run will go as planned. It would have been so much easier for me to just end the run once my leg got sore. But I couldn't afford to set myself behind even further.

Sunday - 24km Long

Another 3-stage progressive run like last Sunday:

8km W/U (Zone 2),
8km @ 5:00-5:20/km (~4/10 effort),
2km Recovery,
5km @ 4:30-4:50/km (~6/10 effort),
1km C/D.

The first ~17km of this run were quites easy and enjoyable. By that point I had taken my 2 gels as planned, and felt I had eough energy to finish the run strong.

I started to feel the onset of a stomach cramp midway through my final pace segment–-a feeling I was all too familiar with. Usually these cramps get so bad that I need to stop moving completely for a few minutes and if I'm lucky, only then do I get better. I tried to hold my pace as much as I could. Thankfully the pain went away after about 5 minutes.

This run was my longest in duration (2 hours, 11 minutes) and my equal longest in distance (24km). I'm relieved that I don't feel much soreness and I made it through that run pain-free (other than my stomach cramp of course).

24km is still a loooong way away from a marathon though. And my goal marathon pace is much faster than today's average of 5:27/km. But I'll get there. Small steps.

Weekly Summary:

Total Distance: 49km

8 Weeks Out.