04/27: 5mi - MB Wk14

PLAN: 5mi
RAN: 5.6mi @ 8:23-9:22*-9:24-9:13-8:46-9:00=9:18m/mi
LOC: Greene Valley
EL: 7+

Brrrrr! The temperature plummeted in the evening and I was not ready... then I got lost, but then I decided to kick it's butt. Overall, looking at my pace, I am definitely running much faster than I perceive. Now a snail pace is 9:30, which is great. But the reason I die at the 2nd mile (for the 2nd or 3rd time in a row now) is possibly because of the 8:20 first mile, so I really should take it easier on the warm-ups.

04/22: 5mi - MB Wk13

PLAN: 5mi
RAN: 5mi @ 9.5-9-9-9-9.4
LOC: LTF after work
EL: 6+

This week has been tough mileage-wise, and I've been feeling sore and weak on the runs. So I decided to take it semi-easy - a constant but my ultimate target pace of 9m/mi to build up some muscle memory.
It got a little tough at the very end and I went down to 6.4 on the last mile, but overall felt really good.

Also I've found the ONE Coconut water at Jewel and decided to try it out today - the stuff tastes SO gross... I was afraid it was going to make me gag at the end of the run and stopped drinking it. But I think it kept me hydrated VERY well.

Finished up with some VE climbing - my legs didn't kill me nearly as much today as the last time I tried this combination!

04/20: 5mi - MB Wk13

PLAN: 5mi
RAN: 5mi @ 8:30-8:50-9:40-9:00-8:30=9m/mi
LOC: Greene Valley
EL: 6-7+

Did something new today - Greene Valley was great! I am kind of proud of my creativity in mapping this "Figure-Eight" course to make the most (5mi) out of the forest preserve loops. This trail is interesting as the sections are shorter, twistier, and much hillier than Herrick.

Seemed like there were lots of uphills in the beginning and either because of that, or just unprovoked muscle cramping, I took the third mile REALLY easy (9:40) - BUT - it's still 9:40! That's a damn good pace for an "easy" mile! The end seemed all downhill, or maybe it was unprovoked muscle de-cramping, but the running got really good - 8:30. I am so happy!

04/07: 5mi - MB Wk11

PLAN: 6mi
RAN: 5mi @ 9.5-9.5-10-9.5 m/mi
LOC: LTF @ lunch
EL: 5+

Despite it being on a treadmill it was a GREAT run! I chose to do only 5 miles because...

1. Due to running 4 miles on Mon my week total would be 28mi which is a 12% increase from last week, which I didn't even complete. I simply did not want to overwork my body.
2. Yesterday's run was bad, I didn't want this week to get worse.
3. I took a 2-hour lunch as is..

Even at my 'faster' pace my breathing was amazing the whole way; no cramps and nothing hurt; but I really started pushing it the last mile - it's the whole body fatigue that gets me most of the time, and that's resolved only by mental and physical training.

Schedule Modification
Wk11 is supposed to be recovery week (4-6-4-4-4=22); Wk10 was (4-5-4-4-8=25) while I only ran 13. Following the guidelines the best way to resolve this is to flip: assume Wk10 as recovery week; do Wk10 mileage during Wk11; and continuing on to Wk12 as normal. Which is exactly what I've done so far: 4-5... the only difference is the 8-miler which I should be ready for by the end of this week. Wk12 will be great as another break week with another 8-miler. Will modify on my Google Schedule.

03/24: 5mi - MB Wk9

PLAN: 5mi
RAN: 4mi run @ 11m/mi; 1mi walk
LOC: Hidden Lake

surprisingly painful
I really had to convince myself not to do all 5, but it didn't work