Week 2

I can already tell that one of my biggest challenges will be getting enough sleep. Work starts at 6AM and we live in Texas. If I run before work, I need to wake up early. No problem. But to get enough sleep, I also need to get in bed early. This is not always possible. If I wait until after work, it cuts into family time and often ends up being usurped by other responsibilities. Plus, the summer afternoons get really hot. It’s a challenge either way. Regardless, here goes another week!

Day 1

Oh man. Sunday was more draining than usual and I’m paying for it this morning. Is it seriously time to wake up already? Can’t I just go back to sleep for a couple of hours? Well, nobody said this would be easy. So let’s get moving before I talk myself out of it.

Same workout as last Monday. 50 minutes of easy running. The temperature is 13 degrees warmer than last Monday at 72. I’m really trying not to look at my watch, but rather to pay more attention to effort and adjust my pace accordingly. The temperature may slow me down, but that’s alright.

It turns out that my perception of effort was pretty good. I ran about 27 seconds per mile slower than last Monday, but my average heart rate (139) was exactly the same. By the time I finished running, my eyes were burning from all the sweat and I had completely emptied my water bottle. Note to self: Bring more water next time. This could be really interesting when summer arrives and it gets really hot.

Day 2

Last night, I managed to get in bed around 9. So it should be easier to get up this morning. But I’m still dragging. Thunderstorms are in the forecast, so let’s get to work before they hit!

Roughly 30 minutes of running today, plus warmup. Only this time, the intervals are slightly different. 3 miles at marathon pace, with easy recovery between each mile. It’s 78 degrees this morning, which is my warmest running day of 2019. But don’t worry. This record shouldn’t stand for long.

Things went much better this time. My pacing was a lot closer than last week. The marathon pace miles were run at 8:27, 8:37, and 8:36. For reference, it should be somewhere in the 8:33-8:45 range. This time, I didn’t pay much attention to the pace on my watch. Instead, I paid closer attention to effort and would occasionally check my heart rate to make sure I wasn’t pushing too hard. At least for today, this made for a more reliable pacing strategy. However, I could stand to hold back just a little on the first mile.

About halfway through the last mile, it got really windy and started pouring down rain. This was all in the forecast, but it hit earlier than expected. I went ahead and finished out the mile and did my best to stay focused. Survived day 2 and feeling great!

Day 3

Cross training. I did a short yoga routine for runners, then went for a walk around the neighborhood, with a few easy jogging intervals. This has become one of my favorite ways of working out soreness from the day before. I’m not planning on any more physical activities for today.

Day 4

Change of venue for this morning. One of my daughters asked if she could run a mile with me before getting ready for school. So I decided to run this one in the neighborhood, which is more hilly than the trail where I ran last Thursday. Normally, whatever speed you lose on the uphill portions of a hilly route, you gain back when running downhill. Not the case here. The downhill portion was fairly short and steep. The uphill, on the other hand, was much longer and more gradual.

I started the workout with a 1 mile warmup and a few strides. As I was finishing this, my daughter met up with me. We ran the first mile together, and then she headed back to the house. I matched her running pace, which was just a little faster than my usual easy pace. Something like 9:30 per mile. But it was still easy. When it came time for the marathon pace miles, I ran by effort and ended up going a little slower than I had planned. This was probably a combination of the hills, the humidity, and the two miles I ran before this. Had I been running an actual marathon in these conditions, it’s possible that this would have been my race pace.

It was a really nice day, so I used my lunch break to take a walk on the Trinity River Trails. This was only supposed to be a walk. However, my legs were feeling great, so I threw in a few jog intervals and ended up covering of 3 1/2 miles. Now I’m officially done with day 4.

Day 5

Rest day. Two mile easy walk and then a 6 hour drive to Amarillo for my nephew’s high school graduation. Being a goal driven person, it’s so easy to be consumed by the end goal that I fail to embrace the journey. Can any of you relate? With my schedule, I can also be regimented to a fault. Discipline is great, don’t get me wrong. But I can easily push it too far and become very rigid and uptight when my schedule is thrown off. I figured this might be the case this weekend, so I’ve really tried to maintain a better perspective and just enjoy every moment. I ended up eating 2 burritos from a fast food restaurant after 10pm and getting to bed after midnight. Not my usual routine and this probably won’t happen again for a while, so I think we’ll be OK.

Day 6

Not as tired as I expected this morning. This was a good chance to try out a new route. I chose Medical Center Park. This is a nice scenic area with a trail that loops around a pond. It was great day for running. 65 degrees, which would make for a target pace of 11:03/mile (8:33+2:00+:30).

The workout was a warmup plus 7 easy miles. Other than trying to keep my heart rate in zone 1 during the first mile, I didn’t look much at my watch. Instead, I tried to keep the effort easy, and adjusted the pace whenever needed. What really surprised me was how evenly paced the last 6 miles turned out to be. 10:48, 10:48, 10:44, 10:47, 10:48, and 10:46. The average pace, including the first mile, was 10:54. A little faster than my target, but it remained really easy the whole time. I figured the 3,000 ft elevation increase would make a difference. Other than feeling a little more winded during the warmup, I didn’t notice anything else.

I was very happy with this one. Several months ago, I had a bad habit of pushing too hard on all of my easy runs. Now, I feel much more confident about my perception of effort. I just need to further refine this so that I can do the same with my marathon pace.

Day 7

Just a walk around the neighborhood with a few easy jog intervals. Legs were feeling a little sore this morning, but they feel great now.

Final Thoughts

Great second week. I would call this one better than last week. Not pushing the marathon pace miles too hard really made a difference. My legs felt better and recovered more quickly. I’m also feeling better about my ability to pace by effort. The next challenge is to refine this with my marathon pace. Obviously, it’s still early, but I feel very encouraged by how things are going so far. Two weeks down and only 24 to go!