{week 6} Recovery happens

Senior prom...hmm, yeah.

I'm on my final week of the first mesocycle (endurance) of my fall 18-week training cycle. This week is also marked as a recovery week which means less miles. And the timing could not be more perfect because my high school reunion is Saturday and my scheduled weekend long run is only 12 miles. Um, there might be there will be some other type of recovery going on that weekend. Especially since I purposely booked our hotel room within walking distance of swirls. 

Senior prom

Since starting this plan, I've come to appreciate recovery and truly understand its importance in building speed, power and strength. I've discovered that recovery runs (when run at the proper pace/intensity) are helpful to shake legs out from previous workouts and to get ready for the next day's workout. Now, running at the proper recovery pace/intensity is a bit tricky {for me}. I have to set an alarm on my Garmin to make sure my heart rate stays below 143 bpm. It is very tempting to run faster and I've pushed myself with hills or speed too many times. 

Celebrating my 15th birthday with a weekend in Santa Cruz

Last week, I ran a proper recovery run with an avg pace of 10:15/mile (goal pace range = 9:50 to 10:36/mile) Right pace; right heart rate. That night I felt great. Legs refreshed and I felt ready to tackle the next day's run, which was a 10 mile general aerobic run. 

My goal pace range for this type of run is 8:45 to 9:43/mile. I set a goal to run my 10 miles with an avg pace of less than 9:00/mile and with refreshed legs I was able to run it at an 8:50/mile average with no problem. Of course, later in the week for my second scheduled recovery run on Saturday, Paul and I hit the trails with the soccer boys for hill sprints (him) and 5 miles (me and Nani). It's tough impossible keeping my heart rate down on trails, so my goal was to go as slow as needed and to not push myself. The next day I had my 16-miler with last 10 at goal marathon pace (~8:35/mile) and I was able to run those 10 miles at an average 8:31/mile. I did alright. 

Week 6 (12 weeks to CIM)

Goal Mileage: 37 miles

Monday: Rest or cross-training (TRX class)
Tuesday: 8 miles with 10 x 100m strides
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery run
Thursday: 8 miles general aerobic run
Friday: 4 miles recovery run (travel to San Jose)
Saturday: 12 miles medium-long run (Night=reunion)
Sunday: Rest or cross-training (travel home)