Cloudland Canyon 50k Training (Week 8 of 14)

Ok... a week with  no travel or weird afternoon commitments. Maybe this one will be successful in hitting my training goals?

Week 8:
- 45 mpw (yeah, that's not gonna happen... probably target 35-40)
- 10+10 long runs... probably going to change this too.

Monday
Planned: 5 mi trail at work
Did: 5.02 mi @ 9:06/mi avg
Late afternoon trail run = it was hot. But I kept telling myself "TODAY'S THE FIRST DAY OF FALL YAYYYY" to make myself feel better that it could ONLY get better from here (I know that's not true but... hey, these are the mind games we play).

Look! Tiny bits of color on the leaves! 

Tuesday
Planned: TrackTuesday
Did: 7.43 mi @ 8:11/mi avg
Met the crew downtown for some early Tuesday track work. It's been a few weeks since I was able to make it, and was nice to be back out there instead of on the treadmill (even though temperature was not exactly comfortable). I did a downward ladder workout today...
2x1200m (5:07, 5:18)
2x800m (3:33, 3:27)
3x400m (1:39, 1:35, 1:32)
Couldn't quite squeak out a sub-6 pace for the 400s but perhaps another day.

Wednesday
Planned: strength
Did: 50 min strength
Wow, I've missed a few weeks of solid lifting... I could definitely tell today! Got in a session in the gym first thing this morning due to an all-day commitment at work, and of course I enjoyed getting it done early.

Thursday
Planned: run
Did: 4.94 mi @ 8:34/mi avg
Almost didn't make this run due to my alarm not going off, but I went from asleep to out of the house in ~11 minutes and made it just in time to meet the group! Was a relatively easy run but nice to get in some early miles around downtown.

Friday
Planned: not sure
Did: yoga
Actually made it to yoga class at lunch for the first time in forEVER and it was exactly what I needed.

Saturday
Planned: long trail run or medium road run
Did: 13.01 mi trail run
Based on how this run started out, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get done what I wanted to do today... I headed to Paris Mountain around 8am, although halfway there realized I'd forgotten my Garmin watch at home... so I turned around, went home to get it, and then went to the park. I started out and had a lot of stiffness/tightness in my left lower calf, and ended up walking up the entire climb up Sulphur Springs. Got to the top and started running again, and ended up feeling pretty good the rest of the run. I walked up a lot of the "steep Kanuga" sections but otherwise it was a good ~3 hours in the woods. I'd wanted 12-15 miles and ended up with 13... not bad.

Leaves starting to show color on the ground

Lake view

Trail with crunchy leaves

Dam waterfall

Sock line made of dirt = a good day on the trail

Sunday
Planned: other from Saturday
Did: 10.03 mi @ 9:39/mi avg
Long stroller run with the little dude this morning - it was already hot by the time we started out from Furman, and I was struggling to maintain a 10 min/mi pace. Just chugged along and got it done, glad to have hit the mileage I wanted but happy to be finished!

Weekly miles: 40.43 - yay, finally hit 40 mpw!
Really happy with how this week went, but realizing my long runs on the trail are going to have to get really long very soon. With just over a month to the 25k and not even being at that distance yet. I'm getting nervous.... o_0

Cloudland Canyon 50k Training (Week 7 of 14)

Another week that will be challenging due to travel. I'm at a conference Wed-Fri, then visiting family in Florida Fri-Sun.

Monday
Planned: rest
Did: rest
No question about this one.

Tuesday
Planned: 8mi
Did: 8.15 mi @ 7:44/mi avg
Well then... I did not expect to hit this mileage today, but when I was over 4 miles by the 30 minute mark, I felt like YES let's do this. Tunes were pushing me along, just felt great. Did all speeds at 6:40/mi with the last couple of 400s at slightly faster (6:15-ish).
1600, 1600, 1200, 1200, 800, 800, 400, 400, 400.
BOOM.

Wednesday
Planned: maybe early run?
Did: 3.09 mi @ 8:57/mi
This was purely a "something is better than nothing" run. I seriously debated just sleeping through this one since I was up later than I'd wanted to be packing for my trip (work conference Wed-Fri, then visiting family in Florida Fri-Sun), but I decided the extra ~30-45 min of sleep wouldn't make any difference in the long run. Only had time for 3 miles around the neighborhood, but I found it very peaceful to run in the dark today.

Thursday
Planned: afternoon run
Did: 4.58 mi @ 8:02/mi avg
Actually got out after the conference ended for a run between pop-up thunderstorms. It was warm, but a nice run. One part was on a boardwalk through the mangroves which was a fun little adventure, but the rest was on a long, flat, straight road with minimal shade - whew! Glad I got this one in, though.

Into the mangroves

Sunny Florida!

Friday
Planned: rest
Did: that.
End of conference > Driving 2+ hours in a car > visiting family = broke my 10k Steps streak. We finally got to the hotel around 9pm, and my Fitbit was 100% dead... so I would have had to charge it then go walk on the hotel treadmill to get another ~4000 steps and it just wasn't happening. Oh well, now the obsession can end for now!

Saturday
Planned: run a.m.
Did: 10.08 mi @ 8:33/mi avg
This run 1) was longer than I'd planned and 2) was faster than I'd planned. I ran from our hotel to Scott's cousin's house, then from there he and I ran over to the A1A for some more miles. I went a couple farther than he did there, too, then we all headed to the beach. It was hot and VERY windy, but overall felt good to get in some distance.

Sunday
Planned: probably nothing
Did: yep
Return travel all day

Cloudland Canyon 50k Training (Week 6 of 14)

Ok, back to normal...

Week 6 goals:
- 40 mpw (wait what?? umm...)
- 10 + 6 long run split

This will be interesting. I need to re-read my marathon training blog to figure out how the heck I fit in 40+ mpw. Yeesh!

Monday
Planned: strength
Did: strength, 40 mins
Cut it a little short today due to sore legs & back/shoulders from yesterday's long run, but glad to get back to strength training. I neeeeeeeed to maintain this for at least some PT and core strength to be able to support myself while running. I can tell a difference after missing a few weeks.

Tuesday
Planned: 10kTuesday + extra (target 8 mi total)
Did: 7.49 mi @ 8:41/mi avg
Got downtown early and ran a couple of miles by myself before meeting up with the early run group. My track buddies were a no-go for today so I stuck with a "regular run". Wanted to get 8 total but our group run ended up being a little shorter than I thought it would be. Still pretty happy with 7.5 miles before sunrise!

Wednesday
Planned: run 5-6 mi speedwork
Did: 6.7 mi @ 7:54 avg treadmill ladder
Did this workout first thing when I got to work - wasn't feeling it at the start but pushed through everything and felt great by the end. All intervals @ 6:35/mi pace for the ladder: 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800

Thursday
Planned: run trail 3-4 mi + stretch/strength
Did: rest
Realized if I ran today it would make 5 straight days of running so... yeah, need a rest day. My lower achilles are bugging me too (not too bad, just enough to notice) so it's time for a day off.

Friday
Planned: yoga + Moonshiner Night 5K
Did: nothing
Well... the lightning and rain cancelled the race at the last minute, which was understandable but still disappointing. I then danced around the house all evening to get my 10k steps for the day.

Saturday
Planned: 10 mi trail or 6 mi run
Did: 10.11 mi stroller run @ 9:19/mi avg
First stroller run in a long time - was nice to get out with D and enjoy the Swamp Rabbit trail. It was a hard run and rained (sprinkled) part of the time, but otherwise we had a good time.

Saw this critter off the side of the trail - just munching leaves, ignoring us completely!

Sunday
Planned: whichever I didn't do Saturday
Did: 10.06 mi trail run + 6.77 mi mountain biking
Ahh, Sundays at DuPont. Trail run was good - tough after yesterday's 10-miler, but was nice to be in the woods by myself. Followed with a short ride with some friends. A good Sunday, indeed.

Early morning fog at Guion Farms

Sunlight through the trees at the top of Hickory Mtn Loop

Rocky Ridge > Ridgeline. There, I said it.

Cloudland Canyon 50k Training (Week 5 of 14)

Ok so basically no goals this week - on vacation in Ireland with my family so only planning to do 10kTuesday, then a long run when I'm back home on Sunday. Other than that, looooots of walking! Usually 20,000+ steps each day.

Tuesday
Did: 6.24 mi @ 9:21/mi
Did my run through castle ruins at Castle Dargan in Sligo, Ireland. This was super cool! The photos really don't do it justice and it was much more impressive than I had anticipated based on other photos. I expected nothing more than a wall and a pile of rocks, but the two remaining corners of the castle were pretty neat.
 
 
 

That same day, we also went on a 24-mile bike ride around Lough (Lake) Gill, which was beautiful! As usual, photos just don't do it justice.

Sunday
Did: 12.01 mi trail run 
Got back into town Saturday night and, still being somewhat on European time, woke easily before 7am and headed out to Pleasant Ridge for a long trail run. Did two loops (clockwise) starting from the "top" parking lot, and included the shorter new loop trail on the second time around to get distance just up to 12 miles which was my goal. I was faster than I thought I'd be, and climbed a little over 1000 ft which seemed good to me. I guess that says something for being well-rested! 

Ah, my good friend, Nicola the Trail Cat
(who always startles me every time I come around the corner).

Looking forward to getting back to a routine this week ahead...