Weekly Workouts: Just Keep Building

Last week, I logged my highest mileage and longest run since September 2018, with 38 miles total. I am playing a long game with trying to build as big of a base as possible. Whether my first post-baby marathon happens this fall or in 2021, I want to be ready to race it. Plus, I wanted for years to get my base mileage up into the 40s, but never achieved so because of the cycle of races and recovery. Now is the time to just keep building! 

Beyond running, this was an active week. Ryan and I built a planter box, filled it with soil, brought in fresh soil to our garden patches, planted, and transformed part of our basement into a work area. Next week, we plan on putting down a new floor in our home gym. Ryan has a couple of weeks at home before he starts his new job, so we are taking advantage of the free time. 

Monday: Rest day

Tuesday: 8 mile easy run

It surprises me how fast my easy runs are without the stroller. My legs felt fresh after last week’s cutback. I comfortably cruised along at an 8:36/mile average pace. This run felt so good! Lately, I feel better the longer I run. 

Wednesday: 6 mile surges run & strength training

I ran the first four miles with Ryan and Isla in the stroller. During the two solo miles, I ran 10 x 30 second pick-up. These are feeling smoother with each week. 

After the run, I quickly fed Isla and then moved into my strength training workout. I completed a modification of the performance prep workout from Running Rewired. The exercises included band walks (lateral and monster), band pull-aparts, bear crawls, kettlebell goblet squats, kettlebell swings, pushups, suitcase carries, single-leg deadlifts, deadbugs, and warrior twists. 

Thursday: 4 mile easy run

Once I heard a clap of thunder, I opted for the treadmill. I maintained a light, easy pace of 9:20/mile, with a very slow start. The combination of strength training and garden work on Wednesday made my legs tired! 

Friday: 45 min stroller run

After a night of heavy thunderstorms, the humidity was high! I took Isla out for a stroller run and focused on controlling my effort. Even at an easy pace (we ran 4.9 miles), I finished covered in sweat. 

Saturday: 11 mile long run

I had originally signed up for a Social Distance 5K. It was a local time-trial style “race,” with individual start times over the course of four hours and strict social distancing rules (ie running too close to anyone would result in disqualification). However, I lacked the motivation to wrap it into my long run, and miles were more of a priority to me. So, I skipped it in favor of my longest run since September 2018.

Long runs feel good right now. I’m often surprised at how they are usually my best run of the week. It was warmer than recent long runs, so I was diligent about my hydration. I kept my effort comfortable and steady and averaged an 8:35/mile. I do not often monitor my pace on these runs, but I did try to deliberately slow down whenever I saw the pace creep into the 8:00-8:15 zone in the final couple miles.

After the run, I spent a few hours preparing the garden. We transferred soil into planter box and garden patches and sowed various vegetables. This was practically a strength training workout, especially all the twisting, lifting, carrying, and squatting. 

Sunday: 35 minute recovery run + strides

Ollie was my running buddy on this rainy run – and later on Ryan’s run. Even though we have a rain cover for the stroller, it was a bit too windy for my comfort level, so we completed our runs separately. I kept a very light pace (averaging around 9:50/mile). My legs felt as heavy as those wheelbarrows full of soil I pushed around the day before. I completed six strides after dropping Ollie off at home. 

Linking up with Weekly Rundown! 

How was your week of running?