This week wraps up the final week of the Sage Running Free Aerobic Base Building Plan for me. The weekly mileage was supposed to be 35-40 so I made sure to push for the 40 for a total of 40.5 miles for the week! This is the most I’ve ever run in a single week - which has been true for almost each progressive week throughout this plan. Also bumped up the long run to 10 miles making it my new PR for distance in one run.
I also got my Garmin Forerunner 235 and my hydration belt in from Prime Day this week! I picked up the Fitbit previously as I wanted something in the interim in hopes of a Google Pixel watch this fall. However, with all the running I’ve been doing, I wanted to get something a bit more appropriate for planning workouts and tracking progress as well as something easier to tell me my pace on the run. I’m really loving the Garmin and wish I had just picked it up to begin with but at least I got a good deal on it for Prime Day.
Next week I am taking a recovery week to relax up a bit and get a few rest days in before starting the next plan. I have a base plan from Luke Humphrey Running that averages 40 miles a week but I tweaked it a bit to make the longs runs longer in order to hit 13 miles before the eight weeks is over. Also planning a 10k race to see where I am on a longer than 5k race.
After the eight weeks of the Luke Humphrey Running base plan I think I am going to transition into week nine of the Beginner-Intermediate Marathon Training Plan from Sage Running. Then in November I may run a half marathon to get a better idea of where I am in my training.
Tuesday
Tuesday was a nice easy six but I was quite a bit faster than usual. I ended up in the 9:15 range for each of my mile splits. Felt pretty good after my Monday rest day and took advantage of it!
Wednesday
Wednesday was a fartlek workout with one and a half mile warm up, five rounds of three minutes fast -> two minutes slow, and one mile cooldown. This was also my first run with my Garmin so I programmed in the workout and it made everything so simple! Gone was the feeling of watching the stopwatch for the three minute and two minute marks!
My three minute fast splits were all between 7:30 and 7:55 pace. My goal here was to push for my 5k race pace numbers and get my heart rate over 170bpm. My heart rate was in the 160s for all the iterations except the last one where I hit the 170s.
Thursday
Thursday was an easy six. I was still feeling pretty tired from Wednesday’s workout and I was feeling pretty sluggish. My average pace was 9:37 but I had two splits in the 9:50s and my heart rate was in the 160s the last two miles.
Friday
Friday was also an easy six and some strides before the big 10 on Saturday. I didn’t feel great going out as my left ankle/foot has been hurting but I got in the groove and loosened up. I ended with a 9:18ish split just to speed up and get the run done. Overall it was quite a bit easier than Thursday’s run following the fartlek workout.
Saturday
Saturday’s long run was my first 10 miler ever! It was also really, really tough. The headwind was wicked for about three total miles of the course and it was a bit hotter than it has been. Some of my splits ended up being in the 10:00 mark but I tried not to let it get to me. I kept my heart rate under 160bpm for 95% of the run with it hitting 160s in the last mile or so.
This was one of the toughest runs I’ve had to date. Not only did I increase my total mileage this week to 40 but also increased the long run to 10. By comparison, I would say Saturday’s 10 was harder than last weeks nine with last four at tempo. The wind was a significant factor here as on mile eight it drained me a bit but I didn’t anticipate struggling as hard as I did.
Sunday
I actually felt surprisingly good going out on Sunday’s run. Ran six and a half so I could hit 40 miles for the week! Also kept everything really steady with my splits in the 9:22 - 9:29 range each mile. It was a little warm but pretty much no wind so it kept it much easier. My average heart rate was 150bpm with my max hitting 158bpm. This was one of my better six mile easy runs.