Columbus Training: Week 5

     Like most normal marathon trainings I have done, I am finding once you start the training the weeks start to fly by.  I am already in my fifth week of training and I can not believe how quickly this race is approaching.  Last week I ended with 29 miles and the goal for this week was to get somewhere around 33 or so.  Lets see how I did......

MONDAY: I did 5 miles at a 8:30 pace.  It seems like I have adapted Mondays as my day to work on form. I am gaining some time and my times seems to have picked up with less energy being used. However I am still far from perfecting this.  I noticed when I run up hills I revert back to my old form.  Being short for a distant runner I have always struggled with my stride. I have what is known as quick feet.  I take short strides but can go at a much faster speed than most people.  I have said before in a sprint there is very few distant runners that can beat me.  It's a curse, if a race comes down to a sprint I feel I have an advantage. On the other side though, it takes me double the effort to go the distance as a person with a 5 foot stride.  When I start to tire on runs I forget about the form and soon start taking short steps.  I will perfect this over time!!

TUESDAY: I was at work and I debated all day whether or not I should run with the heat and humidity being so high.  I even tweeted "tonight's running forecast calls for sweaty balls and a drenched tank top." After going back and forth I decided to take on the weather and run outside. I even threw caution to the wind and decided on a tempo run. If I was going to push it the limit what a better way. I did 4.5 miles and I was really happy with the results. My first mile was a 8:45. My second and third mile I dropped down to a 7:15 and finished with my last 1.5 miles at a 8:35 pace.  I was actually surprised with how good I felt after the run.  They say fall PR's are done by running through the heat of the summer. I am hoping I can bring some truth to that statement.

WEDNESDAY: I ran 6 miles at a 8:35 pace. One thing I did with this run was I chose a course that was very hilly.  There was very little flat land on this course.  My legs were screaming when I finished, but I really challenged myself with the run and look forward to adding some miles onto the course and making it harder.

THURSDAY:  I used this day as my rest day, I desperately needed this too.  My shins were starting to get sore and I was afraid of the dreaded shin splints.  When I went to bed that evening I put on my Zensah Compression calf socks and when I woke up I felt a lot better. 

FRIDAY: I didn't want to go for a real long this day because I knew I would be running a 5K race on Saturday morning and wanted fresh legs.  I did 4 miles at a 9:00 pace. 

SATURDAY: When I woke up I debated on running the Turtle Trot 5K, but after talking to my friend Anna I decided I would run it.  Since the race was only a mile from my house I decided to jog down to register as a warm up.  It noticed the humidity drastically increased from my jog down to the start of the race. My goal was run somewhere in the 21 or 22 minute mark.  I ended up with 23:32, I was unhappy but I quickly realized the humidity affected a lot of the runners and I still took 2nd in my age group.  One nice thing was the course was all flat with just one small upgrade.  The winning time was 14:34, so you can see just how fast the course was.  I will post a recap of the race on Thursday.  If you live in Pittsburgh and want a fast course I highly recommend you add this to your list next year.  The competition was very good and it is a well organized race.  Instead of running home I decided to just catch a ride with my friend Anna.  The heat beat me down and I was ready to go home and rest.  I still managed to get 4.5 miles in with the jog down and the 5K race.

SUNDAY:  Today I am planning on doing my long run of 12 miles however the weather looks like it may be throwing a monkey wrench in my plans. If I can not get my run in outside I will go to the gym and do a little less and add some strength training in as well.  No matter what I will run at least 6 miles though.

Total Mileage for the week: 24 plus whatever I do today.  Not bad but I am disappointed I didn't get my real long run on the rode.

Next week: goal is to be around 38 miles for the week.  Also the Liberty Avenue Mile is Friday night and I am excited to see some of my twitter friends at the start.  If you are there look out for me, I will be wearing the outfit I have in the picture above.  I am shooting for around a 5:30 mile.

If you are training for a fall race how is your training going?
Does the heat and humidity affect your runs?