recap and plan!

Happy Monday and Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day!  If you're lucky enough to have the day off you're probably not reading this and still sleeping - which is what I would like to still be doing.... Its a whopping
-8 degrees outside and I would rather be curled up at home with Stella.


but if i were home i would  force her to wear her sweater and she would just end up hating me..



So instead I'll try to be a productive member of society and talk to you fine people!  Let recap some of last week's workout highlights/lowlights and get on with this weeks plan!

Wednesday (low light) - hard workout

1.5 mile WU & CD

sets of (2 min. hard, 1 min. easy, 1 min. hard, 30 sec. easy, 30 sec. easy)

This workout kicked my butt.  Nichole mentioned earlier that day that she needed to finish her workout and so I got her a pass to my gym so we would get it done together.  We found a couple T-mills and got a nice easy warm up done.  Then it was time to get to work.  I tried to keep my "hard' sections around 7:30-7:20 pace, but it was a struggle.  I had to stop at mile 4ish to use the bathroom.  My legs felt heavy, I was breathing way to hard and my stomach was being a jerk.  My last hard sections I think I was only able to muster up a 8 min. pace.  Not good since they are supposed to be fast!  It was nice having Nichole next to me, because I'm pretty sure if I was alone I would have stopped a lot more.  I just wish I could have done better.  My biggest issue is using the gym and the tmill as a safety net.  I need to get out of my comfort zone and get my speed/hard days done outside.  I always run faster and easier outside then on the tmill.  Anyone else like that??  Anyway, after our run, we got some strength work done.  We ended up being at the Y for 3 hours!  Pretty sure Jake thought I died. 

Saturday (highlight) - 9 miles easy, last 2 at MP (8:35)

                                   avg. overall pace 8:39, last 2 miles 8:01 & 7:41

I don't know if it was the rest day on Thursday or what, but all my runs after were pretty darn good.  Saturday was the best I think.  I started off with J for the first 4 miles and we took it pretty slow.  My legs felt a little sluggish, but my breathing was good.  Once we split (he ended up doing 16 miles that day!  crazy!), I put on my head phones and continued on.  My legs started to feel better, with the exception of my calves being a little tight still.  I felt like I was moving at a pretty effortless pace though.  I kept expecting to look down at my watch and see a 9+ pace, but I never did.  My last three miles were under MP and the last 2 were even better.  I never felt like I had to push to get to those paces, I just naturally sped up and it felt good.  Its been a while since I've gone 9 miles so my legs were a little tired the rest of the day, but all in all it was a good run :)

Here's what's on the menu for this week

Monday - 8 miles total.

                 1.5 mi. WU & CD

                 5x1 mi. at T (tempo pace = 8:00), 1:30 rest (45 sec. catch breath)

Tuesday - 4 miles easy (9 min. pace)

Wednesday - 8 miles total

                     10x400m at R pace (1:50) with 400m recovery.  4 striders before start.

Thursday - REST DAY

Friday - 7 miles total

             8x60 sec. hills inside 7 mile run

Saturday - 10 miles easy

Sunday (Happy Birthday to meeee!) - 6.5 miles easy

I'm excited going into this week.  Wednesday I'll be up at the track again, so I'm looking forward to that.  I also haven't done a hill workout since last summer, so Friday will be interesting.

Oh, also, another highlight of the weekend was on Saturday J and I had a Living Social deal to use up, and so did my mom and Paul.  So we all took a trip to Luna Rossa in Stillwater for dinner.  It was really good food and the service was great.  It was just a bonus that we had a deal, but I would definitely go back.  In the summer they have outdoor seating so it would be nice to go back then.  I had the Italian Chop Salad and Jake had the Mia Maniera pizza.  I didn't take a picture of the meal, but here is what it was.  SO tasty!

The only thing was that they were a little heavy handed with the dressing.  I always forget to ask for it on the side.  It was still good, but now I know for next time.  So if your ever in that area of MN I highly recommend it :)

Alright folks, lets get this week started.  Hope everyone has a good one!  I'll be back to check in later this week.  Oh!  I almost forgot, this is my shameless plug that ITS MY BIRTHDAY ON SUNDAY!  My golden birthday to be exact.  I will accept things that are gold or things that come in 27's (ex. 27 bags of Swedish Fish, 27 thousand dollars, etc...)  Email me for my mailing address so you know where to ship it :)

hopefully my birthday wont be this lame... lofty goals