The first week of my fourth year of undergrad is over already. That means only 23 more weeks of classes until graduation – yikes! Despite the massive piles of work and readings and the dread of upcoming projects, papers and presentations, I have been overly excited to get back into the swing of things with my routine.
I had four really really great runs this week, which I am beyond happy about. They weren’t particularly fast and were not at my goal race pace, but I felt strong and happy during all of them, which I think matters more (to me at least) than hitting certain paces. I hit the distances. And that’s what matters to me.
On Tuesday, I started the week with a long run of 13km (about 8 miles). I had no knee/IT pain and felt great the entire time. I stopped for a bit of water halfway at the only water fountain in the town (I’m pretty darn sure about this) because I drank my entire water bottle pretty quickly. No fuel during the run, but I did have a Lara bar about 30 minutes prior to running.
I have changed my training plan (again) to fit my crazy schedule better. On Mondays, I don’t have class until 5pm so I have tons of time for a long run (I did my long run on Tuesday this week because of the long weekend). The result of doing a long run on Monday has a bit of a pyramid effect: long run, medium run, speed workout, easy run. I’m sure there are tons of studies and tons of runners with experience that state that this is not the best way to train. But it works for me. I love starting the week with a long run because I swear the endorphins last the rest of the week.
On Thursday I ran 8km. I attempted this run at goal pace but fell a little short. I had done some weights the day before including bench press which left my chest and arms a little spaghetti-like come time to run on Thursday. I distracted myself the best I could with “Undisclosed” podcast (also deals with Adnan Syed’s trial for all those “Serial” fans). I am still pretty happy with my pace and distance all in all:)
On Friday I tackled 6.5km with my friend, Briar. She had been working in Europe all summer and hadn’t had much time to run, so we took this one pretty slow even though I had a speed workout planned. Running with Briar was much more important to me than speed:) We explored new parts of the town I had never seen and even ran into FOUR FRIENDS along the way! So much fun. I am also loving the cooler temps for running.
I had to run a little extra to get to and from her house:)
Briar and I also bought unlimited yoga passes! We have gone to two yin classes since Friday and it is sooooo nice to get back into yoga after a week without it.
Today (Sunday) I had an easy 5km. This run was solo and just what I needed after a busy weekend with friends. I wore my watch but didn’t look at my pace. I listened to my favourite running playlist and just ran easy based on feel. And the feel was great. It was one for the books.
Tomorrow? Well, it’s Monday so – 14.5km/9 miles!
I hope everyone had a happy, restful weekend!
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Tell me about your weekend!
Do you use a GPS watch? If so, what brand?
Any knowledge/wise words about my pyramid running structure?
When is your next race/what distance?
Diary of a Running Snail 
I remember counting down the weeks when I was in my last term of graduate school! It flew by for me, maybe it will do the same for you! I use the Garmin Forerunner 10- its simple but works well! It is my first GPS watch so I wanted to stick with an easy to use model with not too much to it. I really love it!
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I am half hoping it will fly by but half wanting to stay here forever so I don’t have to enter the “real” world!!;)
I really love Garmin Forerunners, well at least what I’ve seen of them secondhand. I love my TomTom but it can’t do everything a Garmin can. That will be my next big buy…someday:)
Have a great day, Angie!!
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I totally get that. I felt the same way when I was finishing up school but there are great things ahead and you get adjusted to the ‘real world’, running helps big time ;-).
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Grace, it sounds like you had a great week of training, girl! Woo hoo! You have a lot going on, so you should be proud of yourself for sticking with ANY schedule. I have a Garmin Forerunner 220; it’s actually my fourth Garmin watch, because I love them and they are very reliable and easy to use. My next race is this weekend; I’ll be running a 10K in a triathlon relay with two other gals and it should be interesting!! 😉
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Wow, thank you so much!! Your reply made my day and made me smile ear to ear!!
I am dying for a Garmin Forerunner… someday!! I love my TomTom and it does the trick but it just doesn’t quite do everything a Garmin can. So a Garmin is definitely a want not a need (for now!)
Best of luck for your race this weekend! I can’t wait to read all about it!
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Great job this week! I remember training for my first race while I was in grad school and I did my long runs on Wednesdays because that was when I had the most time. But its definitely tough to stick to a training schedule when there are other things going on! I have the Garmin Forerunner 620 and I love it!
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Glad to hear I’m not totally crazy with my long runs then:) thanks so much for the sweet words, Lisa:)
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