Operation: 10 miler (weeks 4 & 5)

Boy am I glad I have a race planned. Otherwise I would not have gotten in a single run over the past two weeks. Knowing I have to run 10 miles in April really helps me dig down deep to find motivation. Life is busy :)

My training plan builds for a couple weeks - then takes a big step back - builds for a couple weeks - then takes a big step back - etc. Week 4 had two 2 mile runs on the agenda. I skipped both. Life was crazy preparing for our annual Snowshoe trip and I knew missing these runs wouldn't throw my training off. Instead I spent 5 hours snowboarding on Thursday and I'd say my legs got plenty of exercise. I also hit the slopes Friday and Saturday but not for as long. I was shocked at how well my legs held up. Usually after a couple runs down Cupp or Shay's my legs are burning. We did 8 or 9 runs over there in a row and I felt great! I hope I feel this way in Utah next week :)

Last week wasn't much easier on my schedule. I did play indoor Thursday night - which went well until my shoe stuck and I ate it hard with 3 minutes left. My back has been aching ever since and I have sweet bruise on my elbow. I wasn't sure how the runs were going to happen. I squeezed in 4 miles Saturday evening between hosting a baby shower and drinks with the girls. I thought it best not to run my two longest distances back to back so ran the 5 miles Monday night. Technically rolling into the week 6 but I just want to get the miles in.

Both were treadmill runs and felt relatively easy - until the last 15 minutes or so. I have a little interval technique I use that makes the time fly. The first mile I run at a 10 minute pace to get warmed up - then I tackle 5 minutes at a time doing a 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 interval. I can do anything for one or two minutes :) Last night I ran 1 min at 6.1 (9:50), 1 min at 6.2 (9:40), 2 min at 6.4 (9.22), 1 min at 6.0 (10:00) - then repeated 8 times. My time for the final 4 miles was 38:30 - which for a 10 minute miler felt great! I'm even more impressed I was able to drag myself to the gym at 8pm. I look forward to the day when I can get back to watch the sunrise during my morning runs :)

Wow - I'm halfway through training!