Last Week in Running: December 15, 2019. Ten Days to Christmas Edition

Monday: 7 miles. It was rainy and for whatever reason, I wasn’t very fast. The weekend wasn’t particularly strenuous – I did go to Kings Island’s Winterfest and walked around with the family, and I finished the sanding and primed the basement bathroom. 7.08 miles in 1:04:13 (9:04 min/mile).

Tuesday: 4 x 0.5 mile intervals. The temperature when I woke up was 40, but Google claimed it would drop to 32 within the next 15 minutes. It may have been wrong on the timing, but not on the drop. It was also very gusty. I “fixed” the interval paces in Garmin Connect based on the McMillan Running Calculator for a goal marathon of 3:22. This told me training paces of 6:32 – 6:53 min/mile (splits of 3:15 – 3:25). My paces were 7:02, 7:06, 7:04, and 7:18. Overall, 5.5 miles in 46:48 (8:31 min/mile).

I got a RunChatHunt Entry while I was out, though.

Wednesday: 4 miles recovery. It was COLD. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I stayed in my neighborhood, which was partly because I could do my post-race stretches in the garage (warmer), and partly to get two more RunChatHunt entries. 4 miles in 35:45 (8:56 min/mile).

Thursday: 5 miles + 6 strides. Another very cold morning. Started this off with form drills, and then ran 5 miles in the park and the neighborhood next to it and got into the park just before the watch signaled me to do strides. Rounded off the run to 6 (ish) miles and did some stretches, squats, single-leg deadlifts, and pull-ups after as my car warmed up. 6.24 miles in 55:02 (8:49 min/mile).

Friday: 11 miles. I went to East Fork for this, and my pace shows. I haven’t figured out why this is always slower, except that it is very hilly. Ran out to Williamsburg and back, making two laps in the Williamsburg Community Park before returning back to East Fork. I did get a few more RunChatHunt entries, too. 11.04 in 1:44:35 (9:28 min/mile).

That’s it for the week. Just under 34 miles. Just over 5 hours spent running. 🍻