Buffalo Creek Training Week 6

Welcome to my week 6 training recap for the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon. If you read my post from earlier in the week you will see that I decided to change up my training a bit. After talking to a few people I made the decision to lay out a new plan that will not only help me with road races but will get me in better shape for obstacle races. I got a lot of mixed reviews on switching up my plan, some people thought I was being hard on myself for my progress, while others totally understood what I was trying to do. The easiest way for my to say this is, I am a competitor and love being able to compete with the best in races. I know what I am capable of and I know that I am not where I want to be, changing up the routine is going to get me a lot closer to hitting my goals.
One thing I really started to reflect on this week is how much heart a person can have. When I was watching Ryan Atkins, the winner of the Battle Frog and every Battle Frog event this season I kept thinking this guy has so much heart. He never quits, he always finds a way to conquer the obstacle that is in front of him. I started to think about running and that point where your body tells you to shut it down, the people who fight through that are the ones that usually win or run their best race. My goal for this week besides doing the new plan was to make sure that I keep telling myself "run with your heart". Here is how this week played out.

MONDAY: Recovery run- I did 4 miles at a nice and easy 9 minute pace. I ran around my neighborhood which tends to be a bit on the hilly side, but it made for a great run.

TUESDAY: Speed day- I headed to the track and did a mile warm up, followed by 8x200's with a 200 meter rest in between each set. I finished with a mile cool down. Normally I would do a longer distance but I was reading an article that said doing the shorter speed workouts can actually be a big benefit to distance runners. I am on the fence so far about how it will work, but I am open to trying. I was almost sprinting and I really never got out of breathe, I did however feel my legs turning over a lot faster as the workout went on.

WEDNESDAY: Gym and Strength- I did 4 miles on the treadmill in 33:13. I felt really good and what was once a nightmare to be on the treadmill has actually became one of my favorite workouts. I get to just zone out to my music and I just run. Wednesday's also call for strength training so I did a hour long leg workout. 

THURSDAY: Trail day- I headed to Frick Park to hit the trails and ended up running 4.5 miles. I actually ran most of the course that I will be running this week during a race. I will be honest the trail running did not come easy to me. I first realized I need to actually invest in a good pair of trail shoes if I want to get the most out of the trail. Second I realized that I need to actually get a map of the trails, I found it extremely difficult to know what the elevation would be for the up and coming part of the trail. If I know what to expect then I will be able to adjust my speed and how hard I push, but the pro of the unknown is just what I could expect in an obstacle race.

 

FRIDAY: Rest Day- Normally I would of made this my strength day and make Saturday my rest day, but as I was checking my fellow bloggers post I came across something very interesting. Jennifer  has been using the Hanson's method for her training and has been posting some really good weekly training tips for the method. This week she posted about the long run and how you shouldn't rest the day before a long run. Crazy idea is the first thing I thought when I read that but then it hit me, if you can do a long run with tired legs then you will be able to mimic what its like on race day when you get fatigued. Sounds pretty damn smart to me.

SATURDAY: Gym day- Saturdays will be my cross training and lifting day. Wednesday will be on legs at the gym and Saturday will be used for a total body workout. I did some circuit training and then hit the synergy machine and did some workouts designed to help with grip strength.

SUNDAY: Long Run- Today I am heading out for an 11 mile run. My whole body is sore from yesterday so this should be a challenge. I will have to run with my heart and it will be hard, but I am up for the challenge.

Overall I feel like this was a great week and I am really happy with the adjustments I made in the plan. Onward and upward is the only place to go.

How was your week?
Are you planning on running the Run Around the Square on Saturday?