Week 4 Training Recap

I have been training for 4 weeks now, and things are going great.  I am still experiencing some soreness/stiffness after some runs, but I am managing it very well with ice, massages, stretching, and rest when I think I need it.  I think I'm still in the healing process and it will take some time for it to completely go away.  I have changed up my stride and am trying to correct slight overpronation, so I am still adjusting.  The good thing is, I am definitely able to run 4-5 days per week!  It was so bad before, that if I ran I would hurt for 3-4 days and would be limping.  That is definitely gone!  My husband has become the best little calf massager, so it's all good!

I accidentally skipped Week 3 recap, so I will do that first.
7/5:  4.85 mi in 50 min (10:18 min/mi) also my 26th birthday!!
7/6:  off
7/7:  3.8 mi in 40 min (10:31 min/mi)
7/8:  3.62 mi in 40 min (11:04 min/mi)
7/9:  5.0 mi in 50 min (10:00 min/mi)
7/10: off
7/11: 6 mi in 66 min (11:03 min/mi)
total: 23 miles

Week 3 was a really good week for me.  I got some confidence in proving to myself that I could run faster paces.  Last year, I really held myself back training in certain heart rate zones.  Now, I just run based on how I feel, and that has put me at a faster pace.  I got in 5 good days of running and my ankle/achilles didn't bother me too much.

Week 4:
7/12:  cross training - weights/abs
7/13:  5.12 mi in 55 min (10:48)
7/14:  off
7/15:  4.07 mi in 45 min (11:03)
7/16:  4.75 min in 1:02 (13:04)
7/17:  off
7/18:  6.36 mi in 70 min (11:00)
total: 20 miles

This week was a little weird for me.  Week 3, I started running this somewhat hilly route with Becca near her house.  It's a nice quiet run, with enough small hills to transition me into hill training to come.  Plus, it's a good test for my ankle and achilles to see how they are going to react to hills.  I ran this Monday, 7/13, and it was a good run.  7/15 was a bad run.  My legs felt heavy and it was so humid outside I could barely breathe.  Still a decent run, numbers wise.  7/16 was the biggest epic fail of a run.  My mistake for trying to get a run in at 4 in the afternoon in humid/sunny weather.  By the time I realized what a mistake it was, I was more than 2 miles from my house.  I ran/walked 3 miles of it, then walked the rest back.  Saturday, my 5k got rained out, and I ended up not getting my run in at all because I had a jewelry party that lasted all evening.  Today, 7/18, was a turnaround after 2 bad runs and a missed run.  I got up early this morning to beat the sun and heat.  It was a very solid run for me. 

The rest of this week, I have two 60 min runs and two 50 minute runs scheduled.  One of the 50 min runs will be run on a hilly course of some sort.  I would like to start training on the Distance Run hills, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet.  Maybe here in a couple of weeks.  I am also going to finish remodeling my kitchen.  I took vacation from work to go to the beach this week, but we decided to finish our kitchen instead.  We bought cabinets from a warehouse a few months ago, and they have been sitting in our garage ever since.  Time to start destroying the old kitchen!  I really don't want to do it, but I will be very happy when it's done!