How did I do this week?
MyASICS Plan
Monday: 5.5 miles (8:08 – 8:29 pace)
Thursday: 5.5 miles (8:06 – 8:29 pace)
Saturday: 11 miles (8:45 – 9:38)
What I did
Wednesday: 5.5 miles (8:26 pace)
No running was going to happen on Monday after that crazy day. Also the last couple of miles for the Miami Half, the bottom of my right foot hurt (warning signs of plantar fasciitis). Thankfully two days off my foot made the slight pain go way. There wasn’t any place immediate to where I was staying in Little Havana to go running, so I looked online to find something a short metro ride away. I found a beautiful route, Rickenbacker Causeway, a toll bridge that connects the islands to Miami. Although the incline was pretty steep and long, I didn’t mind because there’s a fantastic view of downtown Miami. My legs were tired, but I could move them, unlike on Sunday were they were totally dead. I felt like I was recovering from the cumulative fatigue. It was a beautiful morning and I really enjoyed the tempo run before I flew back home to New York.
Rickenbacker Causeway
Friday: 5.5 pace (7:55 pace)
Back to the cold. Ran on the treadmill. The pace corresponds to 7.6 mph, but I didn’t run at this speed the entire time. I varied it from 7.5 to 8.0 mph depending upon how I felt at that moment. Pretty good run.
Saturday: 8.1 miles (8:32 pace)
MyASICS asked for 11 miles and I only had 8 miles in me. I tried to last 10, but I was tired from the prior day’s run. I try not to run back to back like this, but between work, travel (now thankfully over) and home renovation I have to squeeze in the runs on the days that I can. I ran on the treadmill and it felt a bit harder than it should. My right heel began to hurt a bit during the run. I worry about plantar fasciitis because I get it whenever I run too hard or too much. The heel was tender all day, but it went away the next day.
Total Mileage: 19.1 miles
Thoughts
I’m honestly amazed that I managed to stick to a training plan this long, considering my long history of going off and doing my own thing after a month. I haven’t stuck to it perfectly, but I’ve done most of training run. What helps is that I set up the MyASICS training plan to run 3 days a week. It would be too difficult for me to run 4-5 days a week with my schedule. The hardest part for me is having faith that this will work. After winging my own training for two years, it’s a little scary to give up some control. If I didn’t make my goals, I had no one else to blame but myself because I determined my training. Now I have to trust that MyASICS are determining the correct training runs to get me ready for my spring half marathon. There’s been a number of times where I was tempted to ditch it all and go back to my usual winging training (hey, it’s worked in the past, why fix what’s not broken?), but I really want to see if increased mileage will help me in addressing my racing weakness (fading in the end). So I’m keeping the faith and training on.
A Fast Paced Life 
This is the longest I’ve stuck with a real plan too. So far so good I guess? It sounds like you are doing GREAT with yours! I wish I had been able to run with you in Florida! Great job on that pace run. Mine have been rough lately.
We all have ups and downs in the training process. Besides you’ve been running outdoors in snow and ice. I got lucky with being able to do so much of my winter running in Hawaii and Florida. The last few runs have been on treadmills because I’m too scared to run when there’s ice. I slipped and knocked myself out once, so I don’t run outside much when it’s been snowing.
I think if you can stick to the plan like you did with all that other stuff going on, you’ve got this! Thats decent mileage too.
Thanks! I think it’s important to do what I can to the best of my ability. I don’t stress out about not following the plan strictly to the tee.
Hi! I just found you through The Tiny Terror blog. Congrats on sticking to your training. I hear you on it being difficult to get in enough runs per week amidst life’s craziness. I’ve been good about getting four in on most weeks, but I’d really like to be running five days. It just doesn’t always (i.e, usually never) work with my schedule. Looking forward to following the rest of your training and race!
Thanks so much for commenting! I always wonder where new readers come from, so it’s thanks for letting me know.
I hear you on life’s craziness. I don’t let myself feel bad when I legitimately have a good reason to miss or shorten a session. I just try to do my best. That’s all anyone can ask for.