Week 7

This past week I got back on track with my training.  It wasn't 100% where I wanted it to be, but it was better than the week before, and that's what is important.  Plus, I'm starting to feel better about the full marathon in Alaska again.  I was wavering, and wanting to do the half, but I'm thinking the full is going to happen for me. Yay!

I hit 5 out of 7 days for working out.  Here are the highlights:
Monday and Wednesday - I didn't work out either of these days.  Monday I went to dinner with a group of friends and Wednesday my roomie and I went to the Counter, yum.

Tuesday - Treadmill run followed by a spin class.  I did an easy run on the treadmill in my new KSwiss Kona's, loved them. The spin instructor was 10 minutes late for the spin class, I was annoyed at first, but she more than made up for it, it was a crazy hard workout.  Glad I waited for her to show up.  Starting to feel better about my spin capabilities every time I go to a class, and less likely that I'll fall off again.  (In case you didn't know, I fell off a spin bike back in November and got a terrible gash on my shin - I've got the scar to prove it, and I sprained my knee at the same time.  So, I've been a little nervous about getting back into it.)  I'm still super careful about the spin bike, but I'm not nearly as freaked out by it anymore.

Thursday - I went for a run, it was my longest weekday run in ages, and it was really great, I wore my new KSwiss shoes and fell even more in love with them (KSwiss running shoes, who knew?!). I went out with the idea that I'd go out for 15 minutes and then come home.  I got about 15 minutes out and decided to keep going until the rain started, the forecast said there was going to be heavy rain, it seemed like a good turnaround point for me.  Well, I got from my house to Coldwater Canyon and the supposed "heavy rain" was just a light mist.  I decided to turn around at Coldwater, cause I knew I was about three miles from home and I didn't want to push it, since my knee is still having good days and bad days and because I had the long run with the team on Saturday.  I stuck with an interval the whole time, 6:1 (6 run, 1 walk), and I think that helped me get as far as I could.  I got home and I realized I had run just under 6 miles in an hour.  It was a really great run.  I felt happy and strong and good, even at the end.  I was tired, but in the best possible way.  I was so happy to finally have a really good run after so many not so great ones.  Mileage: 5.92 miles, time: 1 hour 5 minutes.

Friday - Yoga and stretching before Saturday's long run.

Saturday - Long run with the team.  I wasn't sure if I was going to stick with the mileage for the 1/2 or the full, even as I set out I really didn't know what I was going to do.  We do a looped 5 mile course, so I had 5 miles to decide.  I stuck with my pace group and the 6:1 interval.  I would like to get rid of the intervals, but for now, while I'm just getting back into the long runs, I don't want to push it too hard and re-injure myself.  My legs felt heavy at the beginning of the run, as seems to be the case a lot these days, I'm hoping this feeling will pass as I add mileage back in.  Part of the park where we run was flooded and one of the streets closed to traffic, so we got to run on the street (as the bike/run path was muddy and nasty).  It was like being in our own little road race.  When we got back around to the 5 mile point I had to decide, I figured I might as well try to do the 10, and if I had to I could walk it.  But, I have my nutrition down for long runs, and I was fine, even my knee didn't hurt.  It was another great run.  Not my best time for 10 miles, but I got it done, and that is far more important to me at this point.  Mileage: 10.24 miles, time: 1 hour 58 minutes.

Sunday - Core/Strength training.

This week I'm aiming for a workout of some kind every day.  We'll see how that pans out.  I'm really happy with how last week went and I'm glad my runs are starting to be enjoyable again.  Throughout my training for Alaska I've been debating between the half and the full marathon.  I'm still not 100% sure which race I'm going to do, but I am leaning more toward the full.  I just need to stick with the training.  After watching my friends at the LA Marathon run through that miserable weather, I must say, I feel like I have no excuse for not working hard.  They inspired me to get out there and try my hardest.  And, I can say this last week, I did just that.  I'm going to do the same this week, try my hardest and give it my all.

Please show me some support and consider making a donation, however large or small to help me give my all in my training:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/anchor11/ewallersco

And, don't forget about my iFitness hydration belt giveaway!!  Less than a week left...
http://runningatthespeedofme.blogspot.com/2011/03/giveaway.html