As I look at the calendar, I now realize that we are closer to the END of this training program than we are the beginning. *gulp*

I knew that training in high June and July wasn’t going to be fun, but I for some reason naively blocked out all of those awful memories of Indian sprints at high school soccer practice in August, and all the tomato faces and racing hearts that went with them. It’s all coming back to me now.

Unsure if this week hated me, or I hated this week more. It totally owned me.

#SeaKatyWheeze – Week 11 Recap

Day 71 – Sunday 6/18/17

Rest Day

Sunday was spent traveling home from DMB weekend in Saratoga. I got home with a good amount of time to contribute to a productive afternoon… but do you think that’s what I did? NOPE.

I have no idea where Sunday went, all I know is that I looked ahead at the week’s training plan and realized I should rest up as much as possible in advance of all the ouch that awaited me.

Day 72 – Monday 6/19/17

Treadmill Run 7.5mi = Warmup 2 + 6 x (800m + 400m Rest) + Cooldown 1

Run title: Trackmill Zoom Zoom

The goal split times on these 800s were in the 3:40-3:50 range (7:20-7:40/mi). Thanks to math, I got my numbers ready ahead of time and knew the treadmill had to be at minimum going 7.8 mph, all the way up to 8.2 mph. To be honest, not sure I’d ever gone that fast on a treadmill before.

Split #1: 7.8 mph – full duration
Split #2: 7.8 mph for first half, increase to 8.0 for 2nd half
Split #3: 8.0 mph – full duration
Split #4: 8.0 mph for first half, increase to 8.2 for 2nd half
Split #5: 8.2 mph – full duration
Split #6: 8.2 mph – full duration

The most fun I’ve had on a treadmill in a while! First one was the most uncomfortable, because my hips weren’t used to opening up my stride that wide. Once those muscles woke up, I was able to maintain or increase my speed on every subsequent 800.

Not sure if I was supposed to jog all the rest breaks, but I felt good by walking for 200m then ramping it back up for 200m before hitting my next segment.

Newly created tempo playlist worked WONDERS for getting out of my own head and just RUNNING. I am happy right now 🙂

Yeah… shout out to jog.fm and the treadmill’s motor for lending me a HUGE assist on Monday. I felt great for about 12 hours afterward until the soreness kicked in the next day.

Day 73 – Tuesday 6/20/17

CrossFit

Strength
Bench Press (3×70%) – 75lbs
based off of 90% of your 1 Rep Max
Bench Press (3×80%) – 85lbs
Bench Press (3+x90%) – 7 x 95lbs

Metcon (For Time)
25 Box Jumps 24”/20”
50 Push Ups
50 Ab Mat Sit ups
20 Box Jumps 24”/20”
40 Push-ups
40 Ab Mat Sit Ups
15 Box Jumps 24”/20
30 Push-ups
30 Ab Mat Sit ups
10 Box Jumps 24”/20”
20 Push-ups
20 Ab Mat Sit ups
5 Box Jumps 24”/20”
10 Push-ups
10 Ab Mat Sit up

Result: 18:43 – I did pushups on my knees, because I’m a wuss with not much in the ‘upper body strength’ department. After than many reps, ab soreness for the next day or two was inevitable.

Day 74 – Wednesday 6/21/17

Run 7mi = Warmup 2 + Tempo 4 + Cooldown 1

It was 90+ degrees and sunny out with not much breeze. This run’s official title in my training app? “Exhausted Tired Flaming Hot Emoji”. Yes. Immediate post-run comments:

TEMPO SANS TREADMILL IS MY NEMESIS.

To set the scene… it’s 90 degrees out and sunny with humidity and no breeze. Chock full busy night resulted in a 12:30a bedtime, despite having to get to work by 7:00a this morning. (Side note: It was for my forklift recertification! I am trusted with heavy machinery. Muahahaha…) Also, sore legs from Monday’s 800s and sore abs from CrossFit yesterday.

Every single step of this run felt laborious. I thought if I was conservative on the first tempo mile or so, that I’d be able to achieve a more consistent result over last week. Mmmmm nope.

MO became putting one leg in front of another without stopping. I think my heart rate reached the 170s while running at an 11:30/mi pace, which felt like I was running AT LEAST a 9:40 until I checked my watch a few times and it informed me otherwise.

Monday felt great! Today felt the complete opposite.

Every time I do a tempo run, my dream of running a sub-2 half in August dies a little bit inside. If I don’t hit it at Seawheeze, you can bet your sneakers that I’ll continue my training and try again in September or October. (My 2:13 PR was set on a nice October morning. Started the race at 48 and ended at 63 degrees outside.)

In the long run, I refuse to let Mother Nature and her evil high temperatures get the best of me. The dip in the middle is because I had to PAUSE FOR A MINUTE IN AN EFFORT TO NOT DIE after the 2nd tempo mile. At least I only stopped once mid-tempo, which is one less stop than last week.

Day 75 – Thursday 6/22/17

CrossFit

Strength
Deadlift (3×70%) – 155lbs
*Based off 90% of your 1 Rep Max
Deadlift (3×80%) – 175lbs
Deadlift (3+x90%) – 5 x 200lbs

Metcon (AMRAP – Reps)
Running Clock for 12 minutes, as many reps as possible in each time frame
1 Minute Double Unders – 94 (Unbroken!)
1 Minute of DB Snatches alternating (35lbs) – 14
2 Minutes of DU – 104
2 Minutes of DB Snatches Alternating – 22
3 Minutes of DU – 153
3 Minutes of DB Snatches Alternating – 35

The good news is, I can tell my cardio is improving because I was able to string 94 dubs in a row. I’ve got timing/technique down pretty well, so if I trip, 9 times out of 10 it’s because I’m winded. So, that was nice. TIRED AND A HALF after that. That was one of those workouts that was got super sweaty, fast.

The problem with how Metcons get synced into my training app is that the Garmin isn’t able to take muscle fatigue into account. If I’m not moving very far on the map, and my HR is in the 140s, it thinks I’m out for a casual speed walk in circles… instead of lifting something heavy. Thus, the numbers in my app that are supposed to indicate how fit/fatigued I am often claim that I’m more rested than I really am.

Day 76 – Friday 6/23/17

Run 4mi HR<145 + Kayaking (45min)

If there were a subtitle for this week’s training, it would be “sandbags for legs”. Took the day off to head up to Cape Cod for the weekend. First order of business? KAYAKING!

As far as getting outside to run, I dragged my feet all day. It wasn’t until 4:30p that I could no longer push it off before I had plans to meet up with my sister and her family for dinner. When it came time to ‘run’, I was dragging my feet then, too.

Had absolutely nothing in the tank. No problem trying to keep my heart rate in check once again, legs weren’t having it. By the end of the day, in addition to the lead legs, I had a touch of sunburn and a sore upper body, because it’s been about a year since I last sat my rear end in a kayak. Ouch!

Day 77 – Saturday 6/24/17

Run 3mi HR<145

Calves are STILL sore from all those double unders on Thursday! Ugh.

Decided to push Saturday’s 10-miler to Sunday. With 95% humidity on the Cape and rain all morning, nothing about the weather was favorable for distance running, and my body was not having it. Sunday should be 10 degrees cooler and only about 60% humidity, so SUNDAY the long run will be.

As for this quick little run, it was nice to get outside in the afternoon. The sun finally came out around 2pm, and this time I let my legs dictate the pace, trying not to pay attention to what the Garmin said. Average HR ended up being 148. Not horrible.

Feeling less pessimistic about Sunday’s 10 miler after that one. Hooray, Vitamin D!

This Week’s Mileage: 21.5 miles // #SeaKatyWheeze Cumulative Total: 177.75 miles