This was a less than stellar week of training. But it’s not
like I sat and did nothing all week. It was AirVenture week here in Oshkosh, so
I spent lots of time out on the EAA grounds and I did LOTS of walking. Granted
that meant by the time I headed home at night, my legs wanted absolutely
nothing to do with anything other than sitting in my recliner. Oops.
So the plan called for:
Monday: 4-5 miles
Tuesday: 6 miles total,
speed work consisting of 1.5 mile warm up, a “magic mile,” 3 easy miles and
finish with 4x200
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 4-5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8-9 miles
Sunday: Rest
Here’s what I actually did:
Monday: I walked. A lot. In
100 degree heat.
Tuesday: Another long day at
AirVenture and another day of a lot of walking. I made myself go to speed work
at track, even though I knew it was going to hurt. I got to the track just as
my group was leaving for the warm up and I probably took my warm up miles too
fast. I finished my 1.5 miles in 15:31. After a bit of a stretching break it
was time for the “magic mile.” The goal? Run a mile on the track as fast as you
possibly could. Hmm. I told myself, it’s just a mile. So I went. The last lap
was hard, but I finished in 9:26. I was hoping to get closer to 9 flat, but
given the state of my legs, I was ok with that. Leaves me room to improve,
right? Finished with a pretty slow 3 miles and then threw in the 4x200 strides
at the end. Tough workout, especially on the trashed legs, but glad I made
myself do it.
Wednesday: Rest day! But
lots of walking at AirVenture.
Thursday: Nope. Legs wanted
nothing to do with running after 5 straight days of tons of walking around
looking at airplanes.
Friday: Rest day! I thought
about sneaking in a few miles, but that thought only lasted a few minutes.
Saturday: 9 miles on the
schedule. It was an out-and-back. The weather was glorious. We’re talking low
60s and no humidity when I started at 7 a.m. I ran the entire first half,
making decent time for a long run. The second half of the run got a little more
tough. My IT band was starting to get a tiny bit cranky, kind of expected given
the amount of walking I did all week on the uneven ground. I took two very
short walk breaks during the second half and then got stopped by a train a mile
from the end. Ended up finishing the 9 miles in 1:42. I’ll take it. I followed
up the run with a trip to my nephew’s baseball game and, oh, more walking at
AirVenture. But this time it was purely for fun.
Sunday: Rest day.
So why all those extra rest days? I spent 5 days walking the AirVenture
grounds for work. I’d guess I walked about 12-15 miles on the uneven grounds
during the week. I’m not surprised though. Every year I struggle with training
during AirVenture week. I just chalk it up and get back on track the next week.
Which is exactly what I’m going to be doing this year.