Tag Archives: 80-mile week

80 Mile Week

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Woo hoo!! I made it. . . .my first 80 mile week is in the books.

Here’s how my week went down:

Monday

AM – 8 miles (track workout: 4 x 1600 meters)

PM – 4 mile run

Tuesday

10 mile run (+ 45 minutes weight lifting—arms and legs)

Wednesday

AM – 11 miles (8 miles at marathon pace)

PM – 4 miles

Thursday

9 miles (+ 45 minutes weight lifting—arms and legs)

Friday

7 miles

Saturday

20 miles (which included a 10K race)

Sunday

7 miles

Total: 80 miles

(These are the shirts from the Alaska 10K Classic yesterday.)

I felt good throughout the week, but racing a 10K on Saturday and then completing a long run until I got to 20 miles did me in yesterday. I took this morning’s 7-miler nice and easy, so hopefully I will be able to recovery and get back at it tomorrow.

I’m kind of an over-achiever, so as much as I’m excited about reaching 80 miles this week, now I have make a new goal for myself—running 90 miles! And since 80 miles went well this past week, I figure why not shoot for 90 this week. Wish me luck! I’ll be checking in periodically to let you know how it’s going. :)

Be good to me legs. . . . .

On My Way to 80 Miles

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I’m over half-way through my 80-mile week and things are going very well!

46 miles done. . . . .34 more to go!

An update on my training. . . . .

Wednesday AM

Distance: 11 miles

Time 1:26

Average pace: 7:49 minutes/mile

Workout: 8 miles at marathon pace

Splits: 7:42, 7:41, 7:50, 7:42, 7:23, 7:33, 7:37, 7:37

I felt really good throughout this entire workout. I was surprised at how “easy” (relatively speaking) the pace was to maintain. Next time I’m going to push myself and try to stay closer to 7:30 consistently—and hopefully under.

Wednesday PM

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 31:50

Average pace: 7:57 minutes/mile

All afternoon I was looking forward to this run but when it came time to actually change into my running clothes, the wind started to pick up (which often happens in the late afternoon/early evening), and it was cloudy and stormy-looking outside. Plus I was warm and it looked cold outside, so I had no desire to go, but I told myself I’d be warm after a few minutes. And within 3 minutes of running, I was on ‘cloud nine’ and feeling fine. (Sorry, the rhyme just kind of came out.)

Thursday

Distance: 9 miles

Time: 1:16

Average pace: 8:32 minutes/mile

Wow, was this a slow run for me. I guess my legs were a little tired from yesterday. But all was good. I just took it easy and enjoyed the more relaxed pace.

Running in the rain is getting kind of old. It was raining on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. . . . .but it is still better than snow!!

Dew on my legs after my run.

And tangled hair at the end of my run.

I’m running a 10K on Saturday, so I’m going to taper tomorrow and only run 7 miles. Ha! I’m really hoping to PR on Saturday. Right now my 10K PR is 45:03, which is a 7:15 pace. But I was able to run my last half-marathon with an average pace of 7:00, so I think I should be able to do that for 6.2 miles!

Spinach Banana Muffins

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My goal is to run 80 miles this week.  So far things have been off to a good start. :)

Monday AM

Distance: 8 miles

Workout: 4 x 1600 meters (1.5 mile warm-up, 0.5 mile dynamic stretches/plyos, 4 x 1600 meters, 2 mile cool-down)

I did the first 3 repeats on the track but had to do the last one on the road because I had a creeper stalking me. When I first started my workout, I could see someone on a bike off in the distance, along the tree line—probably 200 feet away. This guy was just sitting there watching me. I was trying to figure out an escape route in case he made his way closer, but thankfully he left after about 10 minutes. But then during my third repeat, I look over and there he was sitting on his bike at the entrance to the track—now just a few feet away. Now I started to get paranoid because no one else was around, and the track is pretty secluded behind the school. I didn’t risk trying to finish my fourth repeat on the track, so I ran it on the road. It was definitely harder to push myself out on the road. I think in my head: track = speed which means I need to focus on the task at hand; there’s no time for daydreaming.

Monday PM

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 32:40

Just an easy 4 mile run. It is crazy how short it felt! Things on my mind: job hunting and homemade pizza for dinner.

Tuesday AM

Distance: 10 miles

Time: 1:20

Average pace: 8 minutes/mile

Today’s run was a decent one. I felt pretty good, but my legs felt a little off. It was weird because my legs felt okay but they had a hard time moving fast. I don’t know what was up. Overall, my pace was fine but the first 0.5 – 0.75 mile was between 9:00 – 10:00 minutes! That’s pretty slow for me. But I’m not worried, only one run today. I’ve got to rest up before another two-a-day tomorrow.

~~~~~~~

Time for a new recipe . . . . .

Spinach Banana Muffins

Recipe based off this one.

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
2 teaspoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 bananas, mashed
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/3 cup egg whites (about two eggs)

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients together: oats, brown sugar, PB2, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a food processor, combine spinach and almond milk. Pulsate until smooth

3. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, vanilla, egg, egg whites, and spinach mixture. Mix well.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

5. Prepare muffin tin with paper liners or non-stick spray. Spoon muffin mixture into prepared muffin tins.

6. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.

Thoughts/comments:

- I’ve never used all oats (and no flour) before in a muffin recipe. I did like the fact I was using 100% oats, but does change the texture. I didn’t mind it though.

- Trust me, you cannot taste the spinach. The banana overpowers the spinach flavor.

- I liked these muffins. They really are a very healthy recipe with the added protein from the PB2 and egg whites, plus no flour. The only improvement would be to cut back on some sugar, and I think I could easily cut back to 1/3 cup.