I’m not lying if I tell you that I never thought today would be my 11th day in a row running. 11 days! Before this the longest I had ever ran without a rest day was 6 days, and that was back in high school. I’m loving the run streak so far, although my IT band is bugging me a bit and yesterday was a sheer struggle to get my butt off my bed and just do it.
Monday (day 5): 1 mile. I went to the gym wanting to do 5, but I knew as soon as I stepped on the treadmill that 5 miles wasn’t going to happen with a tight IT band and calves. I ended up doing some strength work, went home to roll and called it a night.
Tuesday (day 6): 3 miles, 31:00. I’ve love to say this run felt better than the day before, but it didn’t. The gym felt so hot, and with long capris on I overheated real fast. I was really hoping to run outside on this day, but it poured a freezing cold rain all day long.
Wednesday (day 7): 3.5 miles w/ intervals. .5 WU, 6 X 400 (8:40 – 8:20 pace) w/ 400 recovery (10:20 pace). I felt so great during this run, aside from the last interval when my knee/IT Band had had it.
Thursday (day 8): 1 mile easy, 10:45. I was SO HAPPY to get outside, even though it was dark and a bit rainy. It was nice to scope out some Christmas lights in the neighborhood.
Friday (day 9): 4 miles: 2 miles easy (~10:00 pace), then some strides. I did 6 x 30seconds at a 8:10 pace with 1:30 recovery at 10:20 pace, finishing up with a half mile at a 10:00 pace. I loved the short fast strides until the end, where yet again, my IT band felt pretty bad.
Saturday (day 10): 1 mile easy, 11:30ish. I took this super easy on purpose and followed it with a nice, warm epsom salt bath to loosen things up a bit.
Sunday (day 11): plan is 7 miles. I’ll stay in flat areas so keep my IT Band happy (uphills are fine, it’s the going down part that kills). It’s supposed to be beautiful out today, so it’s a perfect time for one last run by the lake.
Total miles: 20.5 <– a 20 mile week?! OH MY!
I’m looking forward to some reasonably warm outdoor afternoon runs this week, followed by a long weekend of running in Florida! I can’t wait to race in Orlando, which will be my 6th state. I’m not working towards any state goals, I just think it’s cool 😉
