Out with the old, in with the new

This week included the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. I completed all runs scheduled by my running coach. And I added a walk on January 1st, which was supposed to be my "rest day". I'm so used to running on 1/1, but honestly, my legs were too sore, so I opted for a walk instead.  All week I was worried about the 8-mile run scheduled for Saturday with prescribed paces and the instructions of NO WALKING.  But but but... I always take a 2-minute walk break every few miles to drink water. I filled a squirt bottle and gave it a try. I surprised myself.

Monday:  Rest Day

Tuesday:  4.5 miles in 54:18 (12:04 average pace).  Interval Day. 1-mile warm up, then 6x3 minutes at 9:40  pace with a 2 minute walking recovery between intervals. Followed by a 1-mile cool down. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Wednesday: Easy 2 miles at a 12:00 pace.

Thursday:  5.5 miles in 1:02:09 (11:18 average pace).  Felt really good about this run! plan was 1 mile warm, 2 miles at 11:30 pace, 2 miles at sub-11:00 pace, 0.5 mile cool down. Actual:  mile 1 = 12:27 (warm-up), mile 2 = 11:33, mile 3 = 11:27, mile 4 = 11:00, mile 5 = 10:05, 0.5 mile cool-down in 5:37, stretch.

Friday:  Today is a scheduled "rest day", but I felt the need to do some activity. I'm used to running on New Year's day. My leg muscles are sore from the hard running that I've done this week, so I took the dogs for a 1.06 mile walk around the block. So glad that I did! During the walk, I finally remembered where I had hid one of Kyra's Christmas presents that I had bought in early November. She was very happy to receive a new Vera Bradley purse and wallet! Merry belated Christmas present!

Saturday:  8 miles in 1:33:27 (11:40 average pace).  Ran as planned, except miles 6-7 a tad faster. I'M TIRED! mile 1 = 12:29 (warm-up), mile 2 = 12:02, mile 3 = 11:56, mile 4 = 11:33, mile 5 = 11:27, mile 6 = 10:57, mile 7 = 10:51, mile 8 = 12:11 (cool down), stretch, shower, eat, lie on couch...

Sunday:  2 easy miles in 24:14 (12:07 average pace). Really wanted to take a nap, but did the planned run instead. mile 1 = 12:09, mile 2 = 12:05.

Summary:
Days run this week:  5
Miles run this week:  22.00
Highlight of the week:  Actually completed all schedule runs!!! My tummy didn't feel great Saturday during run, but pushed through it anyway.
Goal for next week: complete all scheduled runs