The Training Week That Was... 8/20-26

This week was the second to last of Summer Recess which means that the true challenges of maintaining mileage and motivation will begin in two weeks when I return to the daily grind of working seven to ten hours a day, as well as, taking the time to go to my own children’s athletic events. It is hard to complain about these responsibilities because I realize how fortunate I am to have the summer-time to work on personal development, and I enjoy (some days more than others) my work. Certainly I am looking forward to the kids Cross-Country seasons, too.

This week that was just completed was the second of my fourteen week training plan, and the second of three “cycle down” weeks, prior to a significant increase in mid-week long(er) runs, and long back-to-back weekends. In the recap below those miles was schedule to run appear italicized in parentheses. The total mileage I had been scheduled to run this week was 24 miles… and here’s how things went this went down week:

Legend: R = Running, R(T) = Running on Treadmill, Bicycling (B), w/A (with my wife, Anne). I've also noted increases (+x) or decreases (-x) from the previous week)

Monday: (Recovery Day)
Tuesday: (2) R 5.2 miles (2 runs = 2.7 miles solo + 2.5 miles w/A)
Wednesday: (2) R 3.2 miles
Thursday: (4) R 6.1 miles (2 runs = 4.1 miles solo + 2 miles w/A)
Friday: (Recovery Day) B 16.5 miles
Saturday: (6) R 6.5 miles (2 runs = 4.1 miles race & warm-up + 2.4 miles solo)
Sunday: (10) R 13.1 miles (2 runs = 10.1 miles solo + 3 miles w/A)
TOTALS--R 34.1 (+10.3 miles from the previous week), B 16.5 miles (+ 16.5 miles from the previous week).

Weigh-In*: 179.5 lbs. (-1.5 lb.) [* took place at 5:30 a.m. on 8/27]

This was another productive week during which I exceeded my scheduled mileage primarily through my runs with my wife. I felt proud of my ability thus far to stay on schedule, and comfortable in being flexible with the days on which certain runs were called for. This past week I also ran a “race” for the first time in three weeks, the Greece PAL 5k. Due to challenging weather conditions, I failed to PR, but enjoyed the run anyway.

Next Sunday I will be running in the Oak Tree Half Marathon for the third consecutive year. In each of the previous two years I improved on my time 1:37:05 (2005) and 1:36:35 (2006), so I’m hoping to continue the trend this weekend!

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!