Base Training, Week 12

Monday, December 3rd:

5:15 am, 50 degrees, 90%, calm.  Kings Hwy - back.  Brooks Ravenna 3.

7mi easy - (8:16)

Took a little motivation to get out of bed, but once I got moving I felt fairly good.  Definitely got stronger as the run progressed.

Tuesday, December 4th:

7:50 pm, 60 degrees, 80%, 5-15mph.  Chapel-6x CH Blvd/Saratoga Hill-Chape.  Nike Structure Triax 15 Shield.

8mi total - (7:49), with 6 x :50 Saratoga Hill "hard" (6:13-5:45), full recovery

Everything fell into place tonight.  Weather was out of this world.  Got into a great rhythm on the warm up and it just got better from there.  Felt stronger and stronger on each rep, recovering very quickly in between.  Felt like I could run forever tonight.

Wednesday, December 5th:

8:05 pm, 44-40 degrees, 50%, 15-30mph.  Maple Shade Loop (L).  Brooks Ravenna 3.

7mi easy - (7:56)

Had an afternoon work meeting at Nonna's Tuscan Grill and I definitely overate.  Stomach has heavy with cramping at times throughout the run.  The dropping temps and 30 mph wind gusts weren't really helping the situation either.  Still, I kept an almost metronome-like pace and finished semi-decent.  Definitely looking forward to my first day off in 3 weeks tomorrow!

Thursday, December 6th:

Day off.  How convenient that it happened to be on the same day as Frankie's parent/teacher conference, my office holiday party, Janine's Gingerbread house night at Beechwood, and by far the coldest day of the week.  Sometimes timing IS everything.

Friday, December 7th:

2:00 pm, 44 degrees, 75%, 0-10mph.  Kilmer School-Hialeah-3x CHW loop-back.  Brooks Ravenna 3.

9mi total - (7:06): a continuous run with 2mi warmup, 5x (.38mi@6:15/mi, .62mi@6:50/mi), 2mi cooldown.
Actual splits: (2:22/4:12, 2:22/4:12, 2:22/4:11, 2:22/4:10, 2:22/4:10)

Damp, overcast day.  I felt good on the warmup and just carried it into the tempo segment.  As the splits show I found a solid rhythm, carefully negotiating the faster and steadier segments.  I felt a little fatigued at the end of the 4th fast segment but felt really strong the whole 5th mile - it's like a got a second wind.  I am glad I did today's tempo on flat ground, so I could get an easier feel of the paces.  Averaged 6:33/mi overall for the 5 mile segment, so I have a pretty good idea where my real fitness is at now based on how I felt.

Saturday, December 8th:

6:30 am, 45 degrees, 90%, calm.  Moorestown.  Nike Structure Triax 15 Shield.

7mi easy - (7:41), ranging 8:20-7:27

Nice easy run with Rich.  Very foggy, humid morning, but the run zipped by during our conversation.  At one point Rich looked down at his watch and said, "We've run 5.5 miles already!"  It was nice to have that kind of run for once.

Sunday, December 9th:

8:30 am, 46 degrees (RAIN), 80%, 5-10mph.  Moorestown-Cinnaminson.  Brooks Ravenna 3.

12mi easy - Group pace (7:40)

Cold, rainy, miserable conditions.  Luckily I had Rich (for a few miles), Colleen, Ron, Jim, and Ashley to keep me company.  The run did seem longer than usual, but at least it was good conversation.  Last couple miles we were really soaked!

Weekly Total: 50 miles

Happier about this week than last.  The day off was a nice refresher, and the tempo workout was solid.  Aside from the weather conditions this morning, couldn't ask for much more than I got.