10 Miles...Check!

First, let me apologize for not blogging since the beginning of the year. As luck would have it, my new job is a bit more time intensive than I would prefer, so I have had to juggle a few discretionary activities in order to manage my time. Fortunately, training has hardly been impacted, though I have been running later in the evenings and almost always indoors. With weather inching into the 30s and 40s, the cold snap has finally subsided and outdoor running is again a safe and pleasant reality.

Though I feel like a broken record because I say it every week now..."I am happy to report that I hit another milestone". Last week I ran 8 miles (on a treadmill), which is almost 2 miles further than I have ever run in my life. Though it was a significant increase in distance over the previous weekend's 6 miles, I really did not struggle to finish the run and maintained a solid 13-min mile throughout. Following the run I felt very good and a short 1/2 hour nap helped me recover quite nicely.

Only one week later, I finished a full 10-miler! (I know, I am still in shock!) Unfortunately, this run did not goes as smoothly as the prior week. Though the first 9 miles were strong, I was so tired during the final mile, there were times that I really didn't know what was powering my legs along. I definitely struggled during the last mile and was very glad for it to be over. The aftermath of the 10 miles was not that pretty either. For some reason I had a calf or tendon that decided it should become rock-like and sore. On top of that, I now am the proud owner of a very seriously swollen right ankle. Though ice is helping, I can truly see the value of recovery time!

On a more positive note, given the holidays and recent bad weather, it had been quite a while since I have run with my team, so this weekend, they had the opportunity to assess my progress. The good new is that I believe I received high marks across the board. Wendy, one of the team mentors who had never run with me (and probably only heard some legendary second-hand accounts of my fitness prowess), ran with me for the last 8 miles of the 10-miler. Several times she commented on how well I was doing and taught me a good technique to "kill the hills". In addition, my coach ran with us for about a mile and she also commented on how much improved my breathing pattern sounded. Her observation made me feel particularly proud because she had run with me the entire way on Day 1 of this adventure.

Despite the "training pangs" that now seem to have appeared, overall things are still going really well. During the 10-miler I caught short glimpses of running at an 11:00 minute pace and made more progress on hills than I have seen to date. Next week is a 12-mile run, but unlike this weekend's 10-mile hill adventure, the terrain will be flat. I anticipate that my time will improve for that reason alone.

The upcoming week has a lot in store. I will be attending track training on Tuesday night, Wednesday will be a long 6-miler, and Thursday will be a short 4-mile recovery run. In addition, I am hoping to have the opportunity to attend a few fundraising socials sponsored by my Paris teammates. It is my hope, that I will also find more time to blog as things start to get very interesting over the next few weeks.

Until next time,
Lisa