Wow, another week has already passed! I can't believe how fast this marathon training cycle is going. Week 7 was a pretty good one, although it was the first one where I haven't hit all of the prescribed mileage. I'll get to that in a second. :)
Monday, as always, was designated for cross training. I biked on a spin bike for a half hour (supposedly 8 miles, but I never know if you can trust that number), and then played racquetball for about 50 minutes. I wore my heart rate monitor, and it was interesting to see heart rate trends both on the bike and while playing racquetball. I was surprised that while cycling, even when I was feeling exhausted, my heart rate wasn't anywhere close to when I'm running. On the other hand, I saw peaks of 173 bpm while playing racquetball, which surprised me quite a bit! Neat to get some extra info. :)
Tuesday was a 4 mile run, which I did around campus. It felt rather hot, but overall I felt consistent and strong. I averaged exactly 10:00 minutes/mile, which I was happy with.
Wednesday is usually a 5 or 6 mile run, but this week it got bumped up to 7 miles. I went in the morning, so it was a little cooler, but very humid.
I was dragging a little bit at the beginning of the run, but I felt better as it progressed. I was able to speed up a little for the last two miles, and finished feeling very strong. I averaged 10:05 minutes/mile over 7.1 miles. Great way to start the day. :)
Thursday was another 4 mile run. It was raining in the morning, so I worked from home for the first half of the day and ran at lunch. It was very hot, especially in the sun, and my legs felt dead. I ended up taking several walking breaks, bleh. Overall I did exactly 4 miles at a 10:37 pace.
Friday is usually a rest day, but over the weekend I was going on a biking/camping trip, so I wanted to get my long run out of the way. Usually the long run follows a pace run, so I figured doing it on tired legs after my mid-week runs wouldn't be a bad idea. This long run was set to be 14 miles--the furthest that I have ever run! It went really great! I stopped a few times for water, and to wait for cross-walk lights, but other than that, I was cruising the entire time. I kept it slow and steady, and around mile 10, I actually had to keep reminding myself to slow down. I finished with a 10:27 pace, and a new Garmin record for longest run recorded. :)
Saturday we met some friends in Chicago to go camping. We had decided to bike to the campground which was about 40 miles away. This worked out well because not everyone wanted to bike, so we were able to load our camping gear into a car and someone drove it to the campsite. :) We ended up biking 45 miles, although it ended up being a rather slow ride (averaged around 11.5 mph, not including stops for water). My legs felt fine, which I was extremely happy about considering I had no idea how a long bike ride the day after a long run would turn out.
On Sunday we intended to ride our bikes back to Chicago, but we decided instead to take the train the majority of the way. We rode to the train stop, took the train almost 30 miles, then hopped off and rode to our friends house to get our stuff. We ended up riding 10 miles total for the day. When we got home, it was starting to get dark, and I had a 7 mile pace run that I didn't complete for the week. I wasn't sure I was even going to attempt to run (I figured all the biking made up for that 7 miles), but I decided to at least run a little bit. I ended up running 4 miles before it was too dark to see, which I was happy with. I had a 9:52 average pace, with splits of 10:04, 10:05, 9:55, and 9:25. I was very happy to still be able to bust out a fast mile after a very active weekend. :)
Overall, I ran 33.2 miles this week (was supposed to be 36, so about 3 short), and biked just under 63. Combined, I had almost 11 hours of activity this week, which is probably a record for me! I am happy with how Week 7 went, and excited to ramp it up even more in Week 8.
If you do extensive cross training, do you cut back on your runs?
What is your favorite form of cross training?
Monday, as always, was designated for cross training. I biked on a spin bike for a half hour (supposedly 8 miles, but I never know if you can trust that number), and then played racquetball for about 50 minutes. I wore my heart rate monitor, and it was interesting to see heart rate trends both on the bike and while playing racquetball. I was surprised that while cycling, even when I was feeling exhausted, my heart rate wasn't anywhere close to when I'm running. On the other hand, I saw peaks of 173 bpm while playing racquetball, which surprised me quite a bit! Neat to get some extra info. :)
 |
| HR graph for my 30 minute cycle, then each of the 3 games of racquetball that I played |
Tuesday was a 4 mile run, which I did around campus. It felt rather hot, but overall I felt consistent and strong. I averaged exactly 10:00 minutes/mile, which I was happy with.
Wednesday is usually a 5 or 6 mile run, but this week it got bumped up to 7 miles. I went in the morning, so it was a little cooler, but very humid.
I was dragging a little bit at the beginning of the run, but I felt better as it progressed. I was able to speed up a little for the last two miles, and finished feeling very strong. I averaged 10:05 minutes/mile over 7.1 miles. Great way to start the day. :)
Thursday was another 4 mile run. It was raining in the morning, so I worked from home for the first half of the day and ran at lunch. It was very hot, especially in the sun, and my legs felt dead. I ended up taking several walking breaks, bleh. Overall I did exactly 4 miles at a 10:37 pace.
Friday is usually a rest day, but over the weekend I was going on a biking/camping trip, so I wanted to get my long run out of the way. Usually the long run follows a pace run, so I figured doing it on tired legs after my mid-week runs wouldn't be a bad idea. This long run was set to be 14 miles--the furthest that I have ever run! It went really great! I stopped a few times for water, and to wait for cross-walk lights, but other than that, I was cruising the entire time. I kept it slow and steady, and around mile 10, I actually had to keep reminding myself to slow down. I finished with a 10:27 pace, and a new Garmin record for longest run recorded. :)
 |
| New "Farthest Run" on Garmin :) |
Saturday we met some friends in Chicago to go camping. We had decided to bike to the campground which was about 40 miles away. This worked out well because not everyone wanted to bike, so we were able to load our camping gear into a car and someone drove it to the campsite. :) We ended up biking 45 miles, although it ended up being a rather slow ride (averaged around 11.5 mph, not including stops for water). My legs felt fine, which I was extremely happy about considering I had no idea how a long bike ride the day after a long run would turn out.
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| The bikers before we started the ride--wish I had an after! |
On Sunday we intended to ride our bikes back to Chicago, but we decided instead to take the train the majority of the way. We rode to the train stop, took the train almost 30 miles, then hopped off and rode to our friends house to get our stuff. We ended up riding 10 miles total for the day. When we got home, it was starting to get dark, and I had a 7 mile pace run that I didn't complete for the week. I wasn't sure I was even going to attempt to run (I figured all the biking made up for that 7 miles), but I decided to at least run a little bit. I ended up running 4 miles before it was too dark to see, which I was happy with. I had a 9:52 average pace, with splits of 10:04, 10:05, 9:55, and 9:25. I was very happy to still be able to bust out a fast mile after a very active weekend. :)
 |
| Happy with our decision to ride the train! |
Overall, I ran 33.2 miles this week (was supposed to be 36, so about 3 short), and biked just under 63. Combined, I had almost 11 hours of activity this week, which is probably a record for me! I am happy with how Week 7 went, and excited to ramp it up even more in Week 8.
If you do extensive cross training, do you cut back on your runs?
What is your favorite form of cross training?
Wow what a great week of varied activities! It doesn't sound like you're too worried about the couple of missed miles and I wouldn't be either. You did all of the important runs for the week, and with all that cross training I'm sure you did MORE than necessary!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite form of cross training is weight lifting... but I also really want to try spin class. I just need to find someone to do it with me because I am too chicken to go alone, haha!
Ah I am too scared to go to a spin class alone too! I cycle somewhat frequently, but spin classes just seem so intense. I definitely would like to go though--maybe I'll convince myself to go once classes start back up again in the fall. :)
DeleteGreat week. I don't do any cross training, I enjoy running so I try to stick to that. Cross training takes away from my trail running time lol
ReplyDeleteha I know several people like you that do not do cross training. I like running, but I don't like it enough for it to be my only activity. Plus, I really like triathlons, and if I want to stay in shape for them, I better keep up with my cross training. :)
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