Mile Markers: Daily Miles

There is a time of year in the Seattle area known as Juneary, during which we experience January-like conditions (or at least what feels like it) in the middle of June. This week was that week – chilly, gray, rainy, and less than ideal, but not enough to keep me inside. 

When I don’t have a race coming up on the schedule and the balance of training stress and recovery is not as high of a priority, I enjoy weeks where I can just run or hike as feels good. Usually, I enjoy a weekly rest day even when not training, but this week I couldn’t pass up some form of daily miles. This week also kicked off Ryan’s first week of half marathon training, so I wanted to run with him on each of his runs. 

Monday: 5 mile run with surges

The surges were as much for me as they were for Ollie. I wanted to add some pickups into the run, both for a bit of variety and to tire Ollie out. He didn’t quite get why we would pick up the pack and slow down, so it took a while to get into a rhythm with him on this run. 

Tuesday: 6 mile run & 35 minutes strength training

This run was cold and rainy: Ryan and I both finished with soaked clothes and Ollie’s coat oiled from the rain. But still, a rainy run is better than no run! 

I did a completely new strength training workout to focus on upper body strength. Chin-up holds are so challenging, it’s actually embarrassing. 

3 x 10 elevated push ups
3 x 15 KB swings
2 x 10 lateral to reverse lunges with kettlebell (per side)
3 x 5 second chin-up hold
3 x 30 foot bear crawl
3 x 12 jump squats
2 x 12 hamstring ball curls
2 x 10 stability ball t-raise
2 x 10 stability ball ab tucks

Wednesday: 4 mile run & 25 minutes Pilates

This run was a minor mess: Charlie had to stop to use the bathroom several times, which meant that between his stops and the light, our 35 minutes of running took over 40 minutes. My legs always feel weird with that many stops. 

I combined two workouts for my Pilates workout to focus on core, hip, and glutes. One of my favorite things about Pilatesology is the wide variety of videos, which makes it so easy to customize a workout. 

Thursday: 5 mile run 

For Ryan’s first speed workout of half marathon training, I had him run one of my favorites: 3 sets of 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy. Our route was uphill on the way out, so the focus was on effort and doing the second half faster. We came across a downed tree blocking the trail and had to dart through parking lots to the sidewalk during some of the intervals, which is less than ideal, but Ryan still crushed his workout. He finished the final 2 minute interval several strides ahead of me and my watch clocked a 6:20/mile average pace for that interval. 

Friday: 4 mile run and strength training

After yesterday’s fartlek run, Ryan and I took the dogs on an easy 4 mile run – fortunately, the dogs behaved better and we had very few stops. 

I scaled back Tuesday’s strength training workout for time, since we ended up strength training after work and I didn’t want to spend too long on a Friday night in the gym. 

2 x 10 kettlebell lateral to reverse lunge
3 x chin up hold
3 x straight arm holds 
2 x 10 elevated push ups
2 x 30 foot bear crawls
2 x 10 jump squats
2 x 60 second planks

Saturday: 9 mile run

We kicked off Ryan’s first week of half marathon training with an easy-paced 9 mile long run! We took the first few miles slow, as they were humid and hilly, but the second half was strong and we finished at an 8:14/mile pace for an average of 9:03/mile. 

Ryan and I saw Wonder Woman for the second time. We always see our favorite movies twice in theaters – such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 most recently – and this one was even better the second time. Plus, there’s something so relaxing about a movie and a beer after the week’s longest run. 

Sunday: 9.5 mile hike

Sunday’s miles weren’t running – but honestly, hiking miles sometimes feel harder than running, probably because of being on my feet for so much longer. There is still snow in some regions, so we choose another flatter, longer hike. We hiked to Monte Cristo Ghost Town, which has some remnants from a mining village nestled in the mountains. The trail followed along a river with under 1000 feet of elevation gain, but the scenery and longer distance made the hike well worth while.

One part of the hike featured a 50-foot water crossing on a felled tree, which was probably the trickest part of the whole hike. I actually had to crawl over part of it! 

Are you flexible on your rest days or do you rest the same day each week?
How was your week in running?