Yesterday I reached a recovery milestone—an eight mile run that felt good! Scooby has done amazingly well ramping up with me. I think the cool weather helps with that, and we usually encounter a few squirrels that keep him going during the last mile.
I could have used sunglasses by the end,
but it was barely light when I started.
Reaching A Recovery Milestone
In my head, this was my first eight mile run since my summer sufferfest, so I was surprised to find an eight mile run in September in my Garmin data. Further digging reminded me of how miserable that run was. It was a test run to see if I had a chance of training for/running the Richmond Half that gave me a clear answer: NO.
I had joined an MRTT group run for two 4 mile loops. I barely made it through the first loop, and have to give credit to a long traffic light that gave me a break. A mile into the second loop I was struggling to keep up, and told the others go on without me. I had to dig deep and use run/walk intervals to get through the rest. My average pace for that run was about 10:30, but the splits show more of the story, with 10 mm splits giving way to 10:30 splits, and then 11+ splits.
I averaged a 10:00 mm pace on yesterday’s run, and more importantly felt GOOD. While I started off conservatively so I wouldn’t run out of steam, I still was suprised to end up with negative splits. After the first mile at 10:30, the other miles were in the 10-ish range, and the last 2 miles were in the 9:30 range!
Now that I’ve reached this recovery milestone, my plan is to stick with 8 mile long runs for the next few weeks. To keep these runs interesting, I’ll be on the lookout for the RunChatHunt scavenger items. So far I’ve only found a snowman!
If you are playing along, make sure you post on Twitter and not just Instagram.
Weekly Run Down
I feel like I spent most of the week bringing in packages and opening them up to be reminded of what I bought on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I think I’ve got two more packages en route, but Amazon, Best Buy and Bed, Bath & Beyond did great with fast, free delivery. Here’s what my other workouts looked like:
Monday: Strength workout
Balance exercises can be boring, but I’ll take pre-hab over rehab!
Tuesday: 5.2 Scooby Miles
5 dark miles at dark o’clock!
Wednesday: Cyclebar
Francina made another great playlist with a Jolene re-mix and one Christmas mash-up.
Thursday: Corepower Yoga
Our peak pose for December is forearm stand. Anne urged us to be open to the possibility, which I am, but …. the best possible I could do was kick up my legs and have them both over my head for a second.
Friday: Orangetheory Fitness
This was my first 12 Days of Fitness class, and the theme was 6 Legs-A-Shaking–I guess two legs shaking at each station? We did goblet squats and goblet lunges during the row block, a series of single leg moves during the floor block–including single leg bench sit/stands, and seven 1-minute “all out” intervals on the treadmill at increasing incline.
Look how my heart rate inched up with the inclines!
Saturday: 8 Scooby Miles
My Garmin still says I’m “maintaining” my status, but I’ll take it!
Sunday: 22.6 mile bike ride
When Mother Nature brought weather that met my winter cycling criteria (40s and sun) I didn’t want to risk losing my one opportunity for a December bike ride. It felt cold, but not too cold thanks to warm layers and warm gloves!
Hopefully we’ll make it out again before 2020!
Thanks to Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down link up
–join in for motivation and encouragement!
Are you celebrating any accomplishments this week?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
I love that running scavenger hunt. Might have to try that.
So glad to hear how strong you felt with yesterday’s eight miler. And yay Scooby being squirrel powered. DOg gels
So happy to hear that you are tuning and feeling good.
Me. No. But hope it is short lived.
Me too! Get better!
fingers crossed for good news on the injury front.
That is so great 8 miles feel so good again! I also super love that Scooby can totally hang with you for that distance. Ozzy would probably like to, but I know he’s too little for more than a couple of miles. I wonder who the powers that be are that think up such creative OTF workouts. The Runchat scavenger hunt is so fun!
Glad to hear about hitting that 8 mile distance. Your plan to do a few of those is exactly what I did this fall. They started to feel better as the weeks passed and I finally decided to do that half last month. I miss my speed, but I can’t complain about where I’m at. Keep up the cross training!
Eight miles is a good distance for me. It feels long but doesn’t wreck me for the rest of the day.
wait, you have not gotten the coffee shop photo yet?!
Not associated with running! If I run from work I can get it. 🙂
That scavenger hunt sounds fun! I can picture where all of those would be in my town. I think eight miles is a great distance…it’s long enough to be a “long distance,” but not too long to be exhausting or much of a time commitment. What a great week! And a bike ride as well 🙂
It’s a good base mileage to be at. It does take more than I remembered though — about 1.5 hours with warm up and Scooby stops!
Accomplishments. Hmm. Well, last night’s race was pretty good. No PRs, no course PRs, yet it felt good — so I feel you on a good long run too (although lately the weather has been kind of miserable for long runs, so it’s really all about just maintaining that base.
Sounds like you had a strong week, Coco!
Thanks. It’s amazing how much I appreciate having my strength back after losing it for a few months!
So often we don’t realize how bad things are until after the fact.
Yay on 8 strong miles! I think I can tick off all of the scavenger items except a selfie with another runner and a brewery.
You should join in! There are prizes!
Man, that OTF class sounds rough! I am actually glad I missed that one, lol.
Awesome job on your 8 mile run 🙂 That’s for posting those RunChat scavenger items – I think I’ll play along and try to find those items on my runs this weekend.
I wish I’d taken a photo of the abandoned scooter for my “free” one. Maybe it will still be there next week.
Great to hear you reached a key milestone! Running 8 miles is a good solid distance and best of all you felt good! Hope this streak continues for you!
Thanks, me too! I think 2020 should be a good year!
That’s great news that you felt good during the 8 miler! It looks like Scooby is enjoying the running too 🙂
That’s awesome you were able to hit 8 miles! (Hi, Scooby!). So proud of you! I also love all those themed OTF workouts. Such a great way to keep things different and interesting.
I guess my big accomplishment this week is that the surgeon put my leg back together? I’ve really done nothing else LOL.
Hooray for that 8 mile milestone!!! that’s GREAT!!! And hooray for a winter ride!
big accomplishments? well, not really. maybe soon 🙂
Yay! Great job on your week of workouts! I love that Scooby is partially powered by squirrels, hehehe.
Great job on the 8 miles! I am loving all the pictures you shared here too!!
I 1,000% agree: prehab over rehab ANY DAY! It can be monotonous and boring, but so worth it !