Weekly recap: 18 weeks to go.

This is officially the first week of an 18 week training cycle, and of course, I did the thing you shouldn't do... compared current running Monica to past training cycles (particularly, both my 2013 marathons). In some ways I am the same, in that the paces I can put in are pretty similar. But mentally, I am far beyond where I was last year. When my coach gives me my workouts, I am excited to take them on. I trust myself, and my ability to do them. I am confident that I will be able to run the workout well, instead of fearing it. And I am consistent. I can dial into a set pace without too much stress. Last fall I had a few tempos (even 2 mi sets) where I would flip out over the pace, stopping every few tenths of a mile to get worked up, almost cry, be frustrated, and my paces reflected this. They were up, down, fast, slow, uneven. Now, I can look at them and think "yes, I am capable of this". But on the flip side, I can also take it with a grain of salt. If the workout doesn't go as planned, or I feel it's a struggle, I can accept that it's what my body had for the day. It's a brick in the foundation. Brick by brick...

This week:

Monday: 6ish easy miles. Felt extra fatigued, and took it really easy. Gold star for listening to my body.

Tuesday: 3 sets of 4x400 at 5k pace. I love 400s! I give myself the allowance to run at a pace faster than 5k, as long as I don't hit the time slide (the splits getting slower). Ran this in pouring rain and a freak hail storm. That was a little rough, but I felt pretty badass by the time I was done. My splits were still where I wanted them for the most part, and given conditions, I was pleased.

Screen capped my own snapchat. It was cold and wet, but those are really earbuds! Soooaked. 

Wednesday: National running day! Also known as my rest day. I went for a 3 mi walk, and maybe jogged a few steps? I do what I want.

Following kidlet on our evening walk/ride

Thursday: Broken tempo. 8 miles with 2x15 min segments at HMGP. I struggled to find the pace at first, and was frustrated with feeling tired (duh, speedwork fatigue in my legs!) and the pace being hard. Stopped watch-gawking and the pace dialed in. Still wasn't the best I've felt, but it was what I wanted to run. I was way dehydrated all night afterward, until about 9, when the 2190 oz of water I'd consumed finally hydrated me and I had to get out of bed every 5 minutes.

Friday: Easy 6 on lunch. It was warm and I made the mistake of wearing compression socks. Too warm! Kept it easy and comfortable.

Saturday: Long run of 14 miles!! I was a little tired for this, but for 2 hours of running, it kind of flew by. I ran out in Coeur d'Alene which was a nice change of scenery for me, and did a double out and back. I tried my first V-fuel gel (cool citrus-delicious actually!) and felt pretty decent until the last couple miles.

Post long run with my coffee and feet up. 

Sunday: 5 easy in the evening. FINALLY a run that I ran easy, but instead of feeling like I needed the easy pace, I felt like I was focusing on holding myself back. It was nice to feel like I had another level instead of just "well, there's no other pace than this easy slog". I wore my HR monitor for the first time in ages, and confirmed to myself that yes, I've got a hummingbird heart and to run in an easy HR zone, I would essentially walk. Not sure I'm on board with that idea yet.

Is there a contest for sweatiest runner? Did I win? Yes, I did. 

Sunday morning was again a morning of spectating! The man friend (I need a better nickname than this, but so far, I'm uncreative, and why would I actually use his real name) was racing a sprint tri. He's doing his first Ironman in 3 weeks! It was so fun watching him and other friends race, and I'm excited to be the ironfan in a few weeks. Unrelated but boy do I have a partially formulated post on what it means to be on the other side of endurance training. It's a beast of a different breed. I had a great time though, and was definitely having tri-envy by the end... uh oh?

Total weekly mileage: 47.5 (highest week this year!)

Do you love running through hideous weather? Or would you rather wait for better conditions? 

What's your favorite coffee drink post run?