One of the things I'm starting to realize as I get deeper into my training plan is that I can't handle six days of running per week with only one day of rest. When I was sticking to that formula, my legs were constantly heavy and fatigued. I struggled to hit my speeds on quality workouts and my easy runs never felt easy, no matter how slow I was going. So I've been experimenting with adding in an extra day of rest and I definitely think my legs are responding well to the change.

Training So Far:
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six

Week Seven:

Monday: 3x1600

This was my first time ever running mile repeats and I have to say, I wasn't a huge fan. I like shorter intervals where I feel like I can push it harder since my recovery time comes more quickly. But I know longer intervals are more important when you're training for longer races.

Tuesday: 3 miles easy

Wednesday: Rest Day

This was my experimental rest day this week, mainly because I had a ton of work to get done before I could get ready for my big work gala.

Thursday: Rest Day

Sheer exhaustion after being up late at the gala. I bumped this run to Friday instead.

Friday: 3 miles tempo

This was a hard workout and by the time I was finished I was sucking wind. As per my usual with tempo runs, I started out way, way too fast and burnt out well before the finish. I still think tempo runs suck. Give me intervals any day of the week over a tempo run.

Saturday: 1:45 long run

Maryland had an away game this week, which left my Saturday wide open to fit in my long run. It was a gorgeous day outside and my legs felt pretty good for the majority of this run. Unfortunately I bonked a little bit toward the end because I only had one Gu left in my house and I probably didn't eat enough before I started. I still managed to finish 11.16 miles in 1:45 flat, which was faster than last week's 11 miles in 1:46, so I'm not really complaining.


Sunday: Football Doubleheader

I actually think my football doubleheader might have been the toughest workout I did this week. We had just enough girls to field a team, so there were no subs. In our league, a game is two 25 minute halves with a five minute half time. Two of those back to back with no real rest was brutal. By the time I finished my entire body hurt. Hamstrings, butt, back...everything. And the muscle soreness persisted all day yesterday too. I was getting in and out of my office chair like an old lady.


Total Mileage: 22.16

I can't believe the race is only a few weeks away now. I only have one more really long run left!