[S]he Conquers Who Endures

Half Merrython 2.62 miler (race) + Half Marathon (easy)

Dynamic stretching then 1.59 mile wu with 3x100m strides. This is my first race in the Kinvaras since my stress fracture! Wahoo!! Love them! I set out at a comfortably fast pace. Then noticed after about 0.2 mi my watch said I was running 6:15 pace. I tried to pull back behind a guy to draft (it was kinda windy in Cape Ann...go figure). But he was going to slow so I just passed and stuck behind the first female. She glanced back and saw me, then took off a bit. I decided to maintain and not push it. With about 0.4 mile to go I glanced back and saw no one so figured I'd win 2nd place female!! Then when I turned a corner with 0.2 mi to go a girl flew past me. I had no gas, boo. I finished in 19:03 with a gps distance of 2.77 miles. 

Again?! Really? My Chicago gps watch was off 0.45 miles in the last 10k I ran - turns out we were misdirected by the course marshalls. Today my Boston gps watch was off 0.15 miles. It seems like a lot for such a short race. I'm pretty sure the course was long. The course basically looked stretched from the start, finish, and middle turn around when I compared the course map to what I ran. I compared the top three male finishers times to their recent 5ks too. They were quite a bit slower for all top three guys and one guy had run 4 5ks very consistently between 5:56 to 6:04 min/mi pace (18:29, 18:39, 18:54, 18:36) and today he ran 6:17 min/mi pace. If the course really was 2.77 mi, he ran 5:56 min/mi pace. Another guy ran close to a recent 6 miler (5:58 min/mi pace) by posting 5:59 min/mi. 

I don't know if I really ran a 6:53 min/mi AP (garmin) today or a 7:16 min/mi AP (official). If my gps is correct, this would mark the first mile I ran sub 7 since my stress fracture, but I don't know if it's true!!

1.08 miles between races to keep things warm.

Low and behold the half marathon measured 12.97 mi based on garmin. This was an "easy" pace run for me. Even though the pace felt easy and I kept trying to slow things down, my legs were hurting so bad towards the end from the elevation change. A much needed training run to prepare me for B2B!! 8:47 min/mi AP (garmin) or 8:41 min/mi AP (official). 0.22 mi shake out/cd.

Half marathon elevation gain: 458 ft

45-50 mins easy

Charles River Boston in the icey slush; I decided mid run to switch today's and Wednesday's workout. The roads were not amenable to strides with the ice everywhere and my legs are really weak and sore from yesterday. 5.12 mi in 50:19, 9:50 min/mi AP. Surprisingly I only slipped once on this run but was able to catch myself on a rail!! My glutes feel surprisingly good, my lower legs (below the knees) and feet feel pretty trashed. I'm not sure if that's from the impact of all the hills yesterday?

The pelty rain made me regret mid-run the decision to not wear a hat, that regret was completely abolished once I showered after my run and felt how smooth my face was! My skin is glowing! Haha.

15 min wu, then 8-10x 1min on with 1 min off. on's @ 10k pace, then 10 min cd.

Charles River least icey route; 15 min wu @ 9:35 min/mi AP then 1 min ons @ 7:10 min/mi AP (too fast!) split paces were: 7:17/7:19/7:06/7:49 (ice slushy shuffle)/7:05/7:01/7:17/6:43/7:17/6:53. offs were @ 8:57 min/mi AP. Then 2.18 mi cd @ 8:53 min/mi AP. 6.41 mi in 55:32. I'm blaming my splits being all over the board because of the wind coming off the river in all different directions! My legs still feel pretty sore from Sunday. I was really surprised how good the faster paces felt on tired legs. Fast feels easier than slow??

Strengthening things up at PT after. I think I need to work more on strengthening and stretching my calves and stop over-focusing on my hip that held up nicely on Sunday!!

45-50 mins easy then 4-6x100m strides

Treadmill @ 1% incline because there's black ice everywhere; 5.55 miles in 50:00 @ 9:00 min/mi AP, then 6x100 m strides at 6:00 min/mi pace (fastest the treadmill will go) at 2% incline. 6.53 mi total in 55ish mins.

15 min w.u. 5-6 x 1000@MP with 1 min rest. 15 min c.d.

Charles River loop. 6x1000m paces were pretty consistent: 7:56, 7:55, 7:56, 7:54, 7:54, 7:58 for 7:56 AP. 8.13 miles in 1:10:33. My hamstrings were tight and tired from strength yesterday. :) Finished up with some glute strengthening and corework.

18 miles easy

Niles, IL neighborhoods and parking lot loops in yak trax in the snow; the snow was around 3-5" in deep most of the run. I was really worried about my hip not being able to hold up. I ran with some friends and ran typical long run effort which ended up being 9:38 min/mi AP in the snow. Although this was my slowest long run in over a year, this was a break through run for me. My friends were complaining how hard it was to run in the snow, and quit after about 8 miles. My legs were strong the entire run and I finished with very tired legs, but no burning, searing pain that I used to have! I think last weekend's workout really toughened me up. I am so happy how much strength I've gained in my hip and this is the most proud I've felt after a run in a really, really long time! 18.01 miles in 2:53:24