All not according to plan, Part 1

I started this week by shifting some runs around early on, but really, the whole week was one big mish-mash, which is kind of disappointing, since we had a not so great finish to last week’s plan.

J really wanted to do a track workout on Tuesday, with some of the people we had met the previous weekend when we were volunteering. I had wanted to add in some speedwork this week anyway, so I acquiesced. This meant, however, that we would be running 3 days in a row (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) which would be our first time ever doing that. I was a little nervous about how my legs would handle 3 days in a row (the first day being a “long run” and the third being a track workout), but they performed beautifully.

Monday:
3 miles (10:07 avg pace)

Tuesday: (Track Workout)
This was planned as a 5 mile run, with some speedwork added into the mix. We decided to join a group at the track. This was our workout:

11x600’s with 20-25 sec rest at T pace

Here’s where it gets really good. J had checked out the sheet that was supposed to list our T pace for 600’s, based upon our 5k PR. It is clear that we are faster than our current 5k PR at this point, so we had used McMillan’s calculator to convert our 10k PR into a more “accurate” 5k time (27:01). J saw that we were supposed to finish each 600 in 2:56. Now, I am a Garmin newbie. I could not figure out at the right time, which buttons were supposed to be pushed when. Luckily, J had our “back-up” watch, and was keeping track of our splits, with which we were dead on. (I always held a very consistent pace when I was swimming; I think it’s rolling over into running, too!) The one time I think I had the Garmin doing what I wanted it to, it told me we were running at 8:00 avg pace.

Hmm… “J [heavy breathing] I think we’re going too fast… [heavy breathing]… aren’t we supposed to be holding 9’s…?” “No, we’re doing great!” Well, we later found out that the chart must have had a wee bit of a typo in it… Like, it told us to do each 600 in 2:56, when what it probably actually meant was 3:56. OOPS! So, that means were were holding 7:49 avg pace, which is probably why I kept telling J how much I hated him during each rest break… Truth be told, I didn’t know I could run that fast, so that’s exciting! And I was able to hold the same pace the whole way through; 4.1 miles! Looks like I’m going to have to push a bit harder in these 5k/10k races!

Summary:
1.71 mile warm-up
4.1 mile tempo @ 7:49
0.25 cool down (I’m thinking this should be more, next time)
Total: 6.06 miles (That’s longer than last week’s “Long Run”! :)

Wednesday:
Rest Day

Thursday:
GOTR 5k (Oh boy…)

So, it’s not that I didn’t have fun, but it’s not exactly what I had hoped for. I showed up on time and met my girl with plenty of time to spare. She was very hyper and energetic as we were waiting for the 5k to start. She was a bit clingy, which was a little weird, but J has 6 nieces and nephews, so it’s not my first time around the block. Soon enough, we all headed over to the “starting line”. My girl wanted to line up at the front, which I am always hesitant about, because I never start up there, and she didn’t seem to be in the best of shape… Well, I couldn’t deny her, since the leaders were telling everyone to move in. Before you knew it, we’d started. We started running, hand-in-hand. I was surprised; she was holding a decent pace, not sprinting with all her life (like some of the other girls). I heard my name called from behind me, just after the start, and it was Alisa. I wish we could have chatted, but my girl was still charging ahead, so I waved instead. Soon, we were at the hill, and that was when the running stopped…

My girl had a side cramp. I told her my tried and true solution for this (smell the roses, blow out the candles), and soon her cramp was gone. We were walking at a nice relaxed pace, made it up the hill; “water!” Our first water stop of the day, 1/2-way through the first of 8 3/4 laps. We continued walking and finally finished the first full loop. “How many more do we have to go?” “Only 7 and a little bit.” “7!!!!!?????????? We can’t do that!” [Insert super bubbly and motivational Marya] During the second lap, she had a calf cramp, but she was able to walk it off. The next few laps go by without much of a difference. More walking; slow walking. During the 5th lap (and the remaining laps) we have to take a standing rest break on the hill. Since we were at least 45 minutes into this thing, my motivational pep talks were needing their own motivational pep talks, and we were only halfway through!

Eventually, other volunteers jumped in (Hallelujah!) and tried to inspire her. We got nothing. She continually told us that she wanted to quit, but I kept telling her, “No way! We can do this! We’re gonna keep going until we’re finished!) Well, as we were nearing the finish line along the loop, and had but 1 lap to go, one of her coaches ran up and said “This is it! You’re almost done!!” I slyly replied, “We still have another lap to go.” You could see the defeat in the coaches eyes. “Well the van is leaving, so this has to be it.” So we finished our less-than-5k. Yes, we were the last to finish, but J says we were probably only 1 lap behind the next to last finisher.

Well, chances are I won’t have to worry about being physically drained the week before our Half. Emotionally? I hope we can finish the Starlight Run 5k! I was sad that my girl’s family wasn’t there, like some of the other girls’ families, but from what she told me about them, I’m not surprised. I would be surprised if they showed up at the Starlight Run… I guess that’s why she’s in this program!

It was a good experience, and I’m sure I’ll try to do it again next year. We’ll see what the Starlight brings!

Summary:
3-ish miles of walking (I’m counting it! I was definitely on my feet, emotionally drained, and I certainly wasn’t going to run after that!)

Friday:
Happy Hour :)

I’ll recap the weekend in a separate post, since this one is already so long (and the weekend is not yet over!)