Week 2 of 17 - Chicago Intermediate Plan

I did great this week following the training plan. I didn't do the Monday strength training and I swapped the Saturday/Sunday schedule, but otherwise, I did all that was called for in the plan!

Monday: 5 miles on the treadmill feeling sluggish. Walked a good bit during the last half. Didn't do the strength training session because I had limited time with my daughter and wanted to have quality time with her.

Tuesday: 6 miles on treadmill. Walked during commercials. Started 5x200m pick-ups at 4.75 miles. Tired. Will I ever get used to early morning runs?

Wednesday: Group Power strength training class at the gym. Did the same weights as last week but it felt easier. Wonder why?

Thursday: Ran around the blook with the dogs (1 mile) at 7 a.m. and then dropped them off at home before running 4 more miles. I walked some of the hills. Total = 5.04 miles. Tonight was my daughter's last swim meet of the season. The team has one more meet but she'll be away at camp during that one. Her specialty is the Butterfly. Part of the fun of swim meets is being written on with Sharpies. Parents typically write the child's name on one shoulder so the timer will know the right kid is in their lane. Parents and/or friends write other oddities on their backs. Early in the season I started writing "Fly Girl" on her other shoulder and now that's what all the kids call her. She's earned that nickname! She's ranked 23rd in our county (and we live in a large county) in the butterfly. You go Fly Girl! The second photo in this blog post is of our 11-month old destructive golden retriever puppy. Yes, he's proud that he chewed a hole in the couch and pulled out some of the foam stuffing. And of course, I was ANGRY!!! BAD DOG!!!

Friday: Ran the 3 miles prescribed by the training plan. My shins are sore. Is it because of the shoes, too much concrete, or increasing mileage more than 10% last week? Kept eye on pace to push each mile.

Saturday: Was supposed to run 8 miles this morning but I was totally exhausted! I slept until 11:30 a.m. instead. My shins are still sore and it was HOT when I woke up so decided to do my long run tomorrow and call this my "rest" day.

Sunday: Was supposed to by my rest day, but is now my long run day. Got up early and went to the local high school track. My shins are still a little sore so I thought it would be better to run on the more cushioned track surface rather than pounding the concrete. Honestly thought I'd get totally bored doing 32+ laps around the track, but it wasn't too bad. I listened to a couple of podcasts and took regular hydration breaks (every 1.5-2 miles). It felt great! I concentrated on making my last few miles faster than the earlier ones and I had the energy to accomplish that goal. Started drinking Heed at about the 4-5 mile mark and it made a dramatic difference in my energy levels. Temperature was 74 (start) - 79 (finish). Ran with my heart rate monitor for the first time in months, if not years. Average heart rate was 145, which I think is about where it should be for a long run. But then again, I'm new to this heart rate monitoring bit...

Days run this week: 5
Miles run this week: 27.04
Highlight of the week: Highest weekly mileage this year! Ran all the miles the plan called for and did strength training once!
Goal for next week: follow Week 3 of Intermediate Plan, but may alter it if shins continue to hurt