Week 9

On Monday I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike because it was just too cold to ride outside. I'm saving the new bike for the warmer weather.

On Tuesday I did a 2.5 mile easy run. (See blog post from 4/3/07.)

On Wednesday I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike again, focusing on keeping my HR between 134-146 BPM, which is my "easy" range. It was actually hard to get it that high and keep it there without having it feel like I was doing more than an "easy" workout! My average HR for both rides this week was 126 BPM.

My Thursday run was a 4 mile tempo run plus a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down. It was friggin' cold outside - only about 34, but with the wind it felt like 24. I wasn't happy about it at all as I'm a big puss when it comes to cold weather, but I refuse to run on the treadmill anymore. I lived, but my left knee was killing me after about 2.5 miles. I learned something, though - if I pick up the pace and lean forward a bit it's less painful. I actually ran the 5th mile at an 8:00 pace, which is very fast for me, especially this late in a difficult run. Of course, I had a 20 mph wind at my back and I was going downhill, but considering the pain I was in the mile before that I was very pleased.

I skipped my Friday bike ride and rested for two days. Today I had a 7 mile long run scheduled at a 10:55 pace. I decided to try something different, and I planned to run the first 3/4 of each mile at a 9:53 pace and then walk the last 1/4 of each mile at a 15:00 pace for an average of 10:55/mile. It actually worked quite well, and I went 7.4 miles in 1:19:37, which is an average pace of 10:47.

My knee hurt pretty bad starting at about 4.25 miles, and like Thursday my right foot started going numb again. I stretched out after 4.75 miles and continued my run. I decided to try picking up the pace, still maintaining my cadence, and somehow miles 6 and 7 were my fastest miles of the day (10:34 and 10:22). The feeling came back in my right foot after stretching, and the left knee still hurt, but it was more of a nagging pain than the usual sharp pain I get when it first comes on.

So, this week was a success as I ran my longest training run ever (7.4 miles), and ran a weekly high 16 miles. Next week I have 18 miles scheduled, so there's no time to rest.