Stop the presses! I’ve got big news: I kind of actually stuck to the schedule this week.

Hard to believe, I know.

After last week’s declaration that I was done with bad runs, I was determined to have a great (heck, I would have settled for “good” or even “mediocre” at that point) week of training and I’m happy to say that I did! Well, for the most part.

I think that my issue was that I wasn’t really pushing myself when I was running; I would get out there, find a pace at which I was comfortable and just try to get the run done. I wasn’t trying to get faster or stronger; I was only focusing on covering the miles, and that’s not the only thing that I need to work on.

So I decided to try to make the most of my runs this week. I picked up the overall pace and tried to push myself more than I have been recently. If there was a hill that I would have normally slowed down for, I tried to power through it instead. I found that I not only enjoyed the runs more, I also felt stronger during them.

I might be whistling a different tune when I test my theory again this upcoming week, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Let’s recap:

Monday
On the schedule: rest
What I did: rest

Tuesday
On the schedule: 3 mile run
What I did: 4 mile run
I was all sorts of determined when I left the house for my run today. I thought about it a lot at work and was just ready to rock when I tossed on the old sneaks and hit the road. There is a little hill at the beginning of the 4-mile route that I run and I noticed that I was used to slowing down a little bit once I got to it. Not this time though! I powered on up, and lo and behold, I recovered once it flattened out. Not the end of the world. That just reminded me that yup, I can try a little harder on my runs and it won’t leave me lying on the sidewalk until Justin comes to find me. Huzzah!

Wednesday
On the schedule: 5 mile pace
What I did: 5 mile pace
Kind of a similar situation as yesterday. I pushed myself a little harder than usual, felt good during the run and stayed upright for the duration of my outing. Also, I am still really liking that it is staying light out past 4pm. I know that daylight savings was awhile ago, but I still get so excited when I don’t have to put on a reflective vest to go running. I mean, I still wear it around from time to time, but that’s less for safety and more for looking awesome.

Thursday
On the schedule: 3 mile run
What I did: 4 mile run
My shins were yelling a little bit during this run. Overall it was pretty good (similar to Tuesday) but it probably took about a quarter of a mile for my legs to warm up and by then my shins had stopped hurting. I’m hoping that my legs were just stiff from the past 2 days – I’ve been making sure I take an appropriate amount of time to stretch and that seems to be helping. I’ve never had full-blown shin splints but I’ve heard that they are less than pleasant, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’re not headed down that road. I would hate to have to hitch Brody up to a wagon and have him lug me around…wait, scratch that – I would love it. Anyone have a wagon I can borrow?

Friday
On the schedule: rest
What I did: rest

Saturday
On the schedule: 10 mile run
What I did: rest
Just kidding. I did 10 miles! Double-digits! That is definitely uncharted territory for me. If I’m being a real stickler for details, I probably did more like 10.2 miles because I stopped my watch to refill my water bottle at the library and forgot to start it again once I got back out on the road. I’ll knock those .2 miles off of the record as punishment for the obscenity I hollered once I realized what I had done (just kidding mom, I didn’t really holler it. I just thought it in my head and whispered it a little). But back to the run: it was pretty good. There were some times when I felt great and like I could have run forever, and there were times when I was hoping someone would take pity on me and bring me to my house. I’m thinking that I might start doing a run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and try taking 2 rest days before my long run. My legs were a little off and I’m wondering if an extra day off would have helped. I’ll give that a shot this upcoming week. But overall I was pretty happy with my long run. Weary, but happy.

Sunday
On the schedule: cross train
What I did: cross train!
I borrowed my brother’s bike today and tore around town like a total pro. You might have seen me but you probably thought it was Lance Armstrong or something. Especially if you drove by when I tried to switch gears whilst in the bike lane of a pretty well-traveled street and accidentally put the bike in first gear and then couldn’t figure out how to change it back, which resulted in my legs windmilling so fast (and so uselessly) that my knees were hitting my elbows and came close to just leaving my body altogether. So yeah, I would say that I’m kind of a natural. After that hiccup I really did enjoy myself. It was a great way to get some fresh air and loosen up my leg muscles, which were a little sore from yesterday’s run. I hit up a nearby biking/running/walking trail and I ended up covering 12.5 miles while enjoying the lovely scenery. A great way to end off the week!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!