Training recap week #34

I find I'm still trying to get back into the groove of a regular routine. I skipped my cross-training session of Monday. My calves were sore from my weekend run, but I am sort of kicking myself for my lack of commitment to the cross-training because I really feel good afterward. I am pretty consistent sticking to my running regimen, though...

Tuesday was my Q2 training. Yet again, the prescribed training was much longer than my available time so I had to split it. I haven't yet found the impact of this in Jack Daniel's book but I will get around to it. I started with a 2-mile warmup and then proceeded to do 1-mile repeats at T-pace with 1 minute breaks in between. I managed 2 at my prescibed T-pace and then did two half mile repeats at that pace. I then did a mile at race pace followed by a cool down for a total of 7 miles.

I skipped my cross-training again on Wednesday because I worked through lunch so I could get home early to tidy up the house - we had painters repaint our living room today and I think we finally have the right colour (but that is the subject of a completely other type of blog, I suppose). I intended to train with Maya tonight but just didn't get around to it.

Thursday was day two of my Q2 training. I did a 2-mile wamup and then 1 mile at T-pace (only I set it at 8.8 mph instead of 9). After a one-minutes break, I did 2 half-mile repeats at T-Pace and a third at race pace. I then did a cooldown for a total of 5 miles. I found the difference from 8.8 to 9 considerable but it might also be attributed to the fact that it was my second interval training so I was already running on tired legs.

Friday I did my cross-training and felt great. After a 2-mile easy warmup I did my exercise sets and finished off with 1 mile easy running. Boy wee my legs tired! but a good tired nonetheless.

Saturday morning was my Q1 training. 2 miles Easy followed by 10 miles at race pace. Then 2 miles easy. I could not reach or maintain my race pace. I must have averaged 8:30 per mile instead. During my run I was working hard (my hard rate was high) but I couldn't figure out why I wasn't going fast....then it dawned on me, most of the route I was running was up hill! Then, as I was hitting the downhills, I didn't find my pace that fast either. Later , I mapped my route and realized I covered 15 miles, not 14 as my Polar had indicated. This means my average pace was 8 min per mile, and if I did 4 of the 14 miles at an easy pace, then the 10 (or more) miles were actually faster than that - closer to my target 7:26 race pace. I will check if this miscalibration could be due to weak batteries or maybe the fact I changed my running form...Something else to check, but at least I am not as discouraged about my run today.

Even though I was concentrating on maintaining my pace, I did think about an article I read in the local paper on Friday. It seems we have been having problems in our little town with vandals as of late. Some vandals have been damaging properties and starting fires. On three separate occasions, they have trashed stuff at one of the local golf courses and have taken the golf carts for joy rides and playing smash up derby with them on the greens. They even made bonfires by burning everything they could find. Last week, the police announced they were onto who was behind this particular rash of destruction and a few days later we found out it was a bunch of minor aged kids - it seems one of them was so drunk, he couldn't even find his scooter, so he left it on the scene...It wasn't long before the teens confessed to what they had done. So now the question is what to do with these kids? What is the most appropriate punishment? Some say make them pay for the damages, others say make sure they have a record, others say there must be a way to help these kids mend their ways...From what I understand, their parents are trying to settle out of court with the golf club - is this in the best interests of these kids? What message are we sending them? That it's ok to trash other peoples' property, mom and dad will take care of it? No, I think they should be held accountable for what they have done. Make them fix the damages and work off their debt. Now since they are students, I am assuming they will be going back to school in a couple of weeks, and also the golf course only has a few months of golfing left so there is no way these kids have enough time to work off their debt before the winter. Looks to me like they just landed themselves a job for next summer...maybe seeing the hard work that is required to make the wages to pay for what they have done is just the medecine they need....I know I'm standing on a soapbox here, but what can I say, I had plenty of time to put my thoughts around this during my run, and speaking of running, last year I had a really hard time finding volunteers for the Hudson Harrier Race. There was this one kid who was voluntold he would help out. It seems he was required to repay through community service for some wrongdoing. I must say that this kid did not seem like a trouble maker at all and I think he enjoyed helping out on race day. I certainly hope he got something out of his penance - I know it certainly helped me out to have him there. So I guess my message here is let's not shelter and isolate our kids from the consequences of their actions but rather, let's teach them the values of community and the importance of respect by making sure the punishment fits the crime. Financial settlement, out of court, may be what the "victims" need to make things right but it is not doing any favors to the kids who are misguided...

Keep on running :0-)

Total weekly mileage : 48 km