Army 10-Miler Training: Week 5
A quick recap of Week 5 of Army 10-Miler Training. One month to go!
Happy Sunday friends! I'm here for a quick recap of my Army 10-Miler Training over the past seven days. This was a pretty intense week for me, both in terms of volume and speed. I ended up running 33 miles, and my tempo and speed work days were pretty darn fast! Not to mention that I did my first double-digit run since April.
Saturday's sunrise 10-miler
Monday
Planned: 3 miles easy
Actual: Quick morning lift, then 5 stroller miles @ 8:25 pace with Casey and Grace
We got back from Chattanooga on Sunday night, and as I looked at my training plan I saw I had an easy 3-miler scheduled for Monday, an easy 5-miler on Friday, and a 10-miler over the weekend. In an effort to spread my mileage a little better, I swapped the 3-miler and the 5-miler. Nothing special on this run, just a good way to spend my Labor Day!
Tuesday
Planned: 6 miles @ tempo pace (7:24) with WU/CD
Actual: 1 mile warm up, 3 miles @ tempo pace (6:58), last 3 miles easy (7 total @ 7:48 pace average)
In the moment, I felt pretty defeated. I ran 6 miles @ 7:05 tempo about two weeks ago and I wanted to beat that, but I started WAY too fast and it just wasn't my day. I gave my best effort the first 3 miles but as my pace plummeted, I decided to ease up and listen to my body.
Wednesday: Rest/ruck march
Thursday
Planned: Track Workout, 1x 3200, 4x 800, 1x 400, 1x 200 with WU/CD; goal for 800's was 3:00-3:05
Actual: Exactly that! Finished with 7 miles @ 7:02 pace
The 2-miler followed by 4x 800's was intended to simulate race day: going out hard, then having to maintain that pace. It was a killer workout and really hit the nail on the head!
Track Thursday was a great workout and I felt great doing it!
This one felt GREAT! I worked with my teammate Jenn throughout the intervals, and we focused on pacing each other to hit our goal splits as accurately as possible. Jenn's a 3:15 marathoner, former collegiate runner, and really knows how to pace properly. After running a 12:36 2-miler, we nailed our paces for the 800's: 3:00, 3:03, 3:04, 3:03. Definitely a workout I was proud of!
Friday
Planned: 5 miles easy
Actual: 4 mile formation run @ 9:00 pace
Secretly, the reason I swapped the 5-miler and the 3-miler was so I could cross-train on the elliptical on Friday. Unfortunately, I had inadvertently scheduled a formation run for my Soldiers on Friday, so cross-training went down the drain. (During the week, I work out with my Soldiers M-W-F and with my 10-Miler teammates T-Th). It was kind of painfully slow for me--my "easy miles" are supposed to be in the 8:18-8:48 range--and my knees didn't love it, but that's Army life!
Saturday
Planned: 10 miles at an easy (8:18-8:48) pace
Actual: 10 miles @ 8:10 pace
I woke up early and got to my favorite trailhead right before sunrise. It was cool (in the 50's) and an overall great morning, weather-wise. I went 100% off how my body felt on this one, and was pleasantly surprised to finish so fast. 8:10 pace is faster than I was supposed to go, but the run FELT easy so I think that's what's important.
The roll up. I love my new Believe Training Journal!
Overall: 33 miles this week!
What I did well: I listened to my body. I pushed hard when I needed to, and held back when I didn't feel great.
What I could have improved: I probably could have pushed through and hit my original goal of 6 miles @ 7:24 pace during Tuesday's tempo run. But really? My sleep. I slept terribly this week! Grace had a fever, so that contributed to it...my mom senses were on high alert and I jumped every time she made a noise. We'll add more sleep to my list of life goals (I think it's been on there for three years now)!
Monday: