[S]he Conquers Who Endures

15 mile hybrid run. 8 miles outside in the snow. I decided to end the run indoors because the footing was really, really bad. It was a great workout for stability muscles and working the glutes! Total elevation gain outdoors: 282 feet @ 9:48 min/mi pace. Yea, I have no shame admitting that. I normally run my long runs closer to 8:15 min/mi what of it?! :)

7 miles indoors on treadmill set to 2% incline starting at 8:25 min/mi pace, which actually felt so easy after running outdoors. I actually kept running into the handle bars! Haha. My training schedule said to hit 3-4 miles at MP. Kept the 2% incline and did 3 MP: 8:12, 8:05, 8:00. In the last mile I really needed to take the pressure off my hamstrings so went down to 1% incline for 9:00. Total elevation gain indoors: 680 feet.

Finishing up I immediately felt like I pushed too hard on this run. I'm really hoping I recovery quickly so I can have a quality week. I'll stretched really, really well and iced so hopefully that will help. I've been feeling antsy lately and my hamstrings are taking a beating so I think I will add bike/elliptical this week.

I am happy about this run. Once I hit the treadmill I actually felt strong. I haven't felt that since the marathon so I'm glad it's coming back!!! 

Total elevation gain:  962 feet!

PM: 30 min bike to relieve some tension in my hamstrings. 5.3 miles 

5 miles recovery on treadmill at 1%, 9:33 min/mi ap. Holy cow!! I thought about taking a rest day because my hammies and glutes are so tight! I'm glad I didn't, the slow recovery run and extra stretching helped me to be able to walk without pain. :) I think I aggravated piriformis syndrome in my right glute. Time to book a trigger point massage!!! 

PM: 3 mile walk to Boston for a little Lulu shopping with a friend. Probably not the best idea to wear heavy snow boots for a longish walk in the snow/ice the night before a threshold run!!

9 miles: 2 mile wu @ 2% incline, 6x5:00 @ 2% incline and 7:24 min/mi pace with 2:00 recovery, then cd @1% and 9:13 min/mi.

Oh...my...goodness!!! This was tough. I can't figure out this incline and pace relationship. I think I went way too hard. This run was supposed to be 15k effort, but by the end I nearly almost passed out. I wanted to be done by the 3rd interval, and thought about how I'm training to run Big Sur "for fun". Then I asked myself, "am I having fun right now?" The correct answer for any sane person would be "no". Well, it was "no" at first so I guess I am somewhat sane, but then I remembered all the PRs I earned last year (10 total from 5k to marathon) and decided "yes, this is a great time (or will be after my next PR)!!" 

Finished up with major stretching. My piriformis is so tight, my sciatica ain't happy!! Then some weights and core. I'm very proud of myself for sticking to this run, now it's time to supercompensate, muscles!!!

An evolved run. Ideally I would have run 8 miles outdoors up Common Wealth Ave in Boston at 8:20ish pace through the hills. However, there was a lot of black ice and my right piriformis is really flared up from this weekend's long run in the snow and yesterday's tempo. I decided to give my piriformis and the hills a break and try an easy progression pyramid run on the tm to be safe. 

I started with a 9:40 min/mi pace!!! My piriformis is soooo tight. I did extra dynamic stretching but that didn't seem to help. 0.1 mile in I thought seriously about bailing, I was having pain on the level of 9 out of 10 and it was altering my gait. I stuck with it though and it started to ease up. I decided to drop my pace every 0.5 mile 0.1 MPH, then by mile 4 slow 0.1 MPH until I hit 8 miles.

Well, by mile 4 I started feeling soooo much better so I decided not to slow my pace. Instead, stuck to a full progression and ended with 7:47 min/mi pace for my last half mile.

Lessons learned:

- The faster I ran, the more my pain subsided probably because I was stretching my legs at faster paces.

- My hill work is making me stronger than I realize, I felt stronger than I ever have post-marathon (and I kept running into the handle bar throughout the run even at sub 8 pace, haha). 

This was a easy to moderate workout. I think it was just what I needed all things considered. I should recover nicely for my speed work tomorrow, I came away with much of the pain from my piriformis choking my sciatica gone. Time to pigeon like there's no tomorrow! :)

Track workout. My legs are coming back! The workout was: 3-4x(800-600-400). My first 800, I trailed the group, just like how I ended last week's track workout...crap, I hope my legs are shot and I hope I don't have to take a break. Ok, 600 m, just keep up with the group, it's only 3 laps. Kept up with them for the first 600, then 400. Okay, round 2. Wow, my legs are feeling a lot looser! I started feeling stronger and kept up with the group no problem. I actually felt like I was braking a lot. Okay 3rd round, wow, gotta slip in front of some of these people. 3rd 600, yes, got in front of them now its time to try to keep up with the faster girl! Kept a narrow gap!

Had to finish the workout after the 4th 800 m, the MIT Lacrosse barbarians overtook the track. 

My splits were (800-600-400):

1: 3:15.4, 2:21.7, 1:27.9 (6:32, 6:20, 5:54 - pretty sure I must have hit my lap function early/late)

2: 3:13.3, 2:24.2, 1:34.4 (6:28, 6:26, 6:18 min/mi pace)

3: 3:16.7, 2:25.4, 1:35.8 (6:36, 6:28, 6:26 min/mi pace)

4: 3:14.8 (6:32 min/mi pace)

Finished up with some light core work. 

5 slow recovery miles along the St. Charles River. My legs were super tight at the start. Felt nice and springy at the finish. I'm excited for the long run tomorrow with the group, but also kinda scared. I will be running miles 24 to 15.5 out and back of the Boston Marathon course. I hope I can keep up! :)

This girl is on FIYA!! In more ways than one! I was not expecting to crush this run, but I couldn't be happier with this run! My legs took a couple miles to warmup, but then I just got into a groove pacing with the girls in my group. It was a lot of fun running the Boston Marathon course. I ended up running miles 24 to 14 then back to 21, finishing just past Heartbreak Hill! That's my first time running up the hill! I hit 8:29 at the end of my run - up HH let me remind you. I thought I was running at least 9s for sure if not 10s!! Holla! AP: 8:21 min/mi. I'm pretty sure my legs are bouncing back! This is close to the pace I was hitting before the marathon on flat courses, plus there was a bit of snow and ice on the path!!! I'm very proud of myself for how well I ran, I am even more proud of myself for resisting the temptation to take a hot bath at the end. I'm really trying to break that bad habit. :)

Total elevation gain: 777 ft - kinda scary I will be running 700 ft gain in 2 miles of Big Sur! Ha! Time for serious hill work on the tready!