Training, Week 7

Day 1 - 8 x 600 w/ 400 rest + 2 warm-up/cool-down (target is 3:10, did my intervals in 3:05, 3:02, 3:03, 3:12, 3:06, 3:05, 3:07, 3:01)
Day 2 - REST (but went to the gym)
Day 3 - 5 mile tempo + 2 warm-up/cool-down (10:08 pace for the tempo, goal is 10:18)
Day 4 - 4 miles easy (11:32 pace - running club, got a slow running buddy)
Day 5 - 6 miles easy (11:10 pace)
Day 6 - 10 miles long (11:02 pace - goal is 11:05)
Day 7 - 4 miles easy (still have to go do this, but I will)
TOTAL - will be 38 after I finish today's 4 miler. Yikes.

Another hard week (they all will be, until taper), really. On yesterday's long run, I really, really felt like I was starting to have to deal with that "cumulative fatigue" thing that is supposed to be the trademark of the Hanson's plan. I mean, and I honestly don't mean this as a humblebrag, a 10 mile "long run" isn't actually that long for me these days. It's long, but it isn't THAT long. It's not something that I should find difficult. But, I definitely had some fatigue that I had to try and shake out/run through. And afterwards, I was SHATTERED. I was so tired driving home. After I stopped off to pick up Chinese takeaway and got home, it was pretty clear that I wasn't moving again for the rest of the day. I had to take a nap on the couch before I felt perked up enough to make it upstairs for a shower.

My best friend and I have spent the week getting excited about the Princess Half Marathon. Corral assignments came out this week and we're stupidly excited that we've been put in corral A. Only at Disney, people, only at Disney. Whatever, I love it. It's actually really, really nice to be so far forward (and, since A is for anyone planning to finish under 2:15, we very much deserve to be there), because I've heard that the course gets incredibly crowded later on. We shouldn't have to deal with walkers and won't have any trouble running through the Castle. w00t! Our outfits are all planned and I managed to snag a late-night reservation for the Be Our Guest restaurant after the race - it's the new Beauty & the Beast restaurant in New Fantasyland and is incredibly hard to get a reservation at right now. What a great way to celebrate, right?!

I'm also looking forward, as ever, to seeing my cousin and her family! They're all doing the 5K the day before Princess and I'm excited to be a spectator! I need to make some signs and find a cowbell somewhere.... Afterwards, we're doing breakfast with the Princesses! I've been told that it's very likely that my cousin's young son will be in full-on adorable flirt mode and that it's going to be the most adorable thing ever.

The thing I'm worrying about, with Princess week, honestly, is what to do with my training schedule. I know that I won't be able to run on Thursday, because I'm going to work for a few hours and then don't land in Florida until about 11pm. So, I THINK I should move my easy Thursday run to Tuesday. That's pretty easy. But, do I still do my easy 5/6 milers on Friday and Saturday? 5 miles isn't much, but SHOULD I taper going into Princess, even a little bit? Should I skip that week's tempo run? (I think this is a yes, because I think I'm planning to run Princess as a tempo at marathon goal pace - well, a few seconds faster so I can get in under 2:15).

Finally, I have to say that I am still loving my skating lessons. Dance is great, although I can definitely feel places where I'm not as comfortable as I once was and my legs are a bit wobbly. I did get my blades sharpened yesterday, so that might make a difference (apparently they were VERY in need of it). But, I was told that my edges are strong and not just because I can use my physical strength to save them. I also did the freestyle lesson yesterday, which was a bit meh. I was set to working on my spins: one foot and, later, scratches. After a tiny bit of correction about how I needed to stay down on my knee when stepping into them (because I could feel that my free hip was in the wrong place, but wasn't sure how to fix it), it all came back pretty quickly. What DOES NOT apparently come back is your inner ear's ability to adapt to spinning. After 20 minutes of spin practice, I was feeling a bit nauseous. But, anyway, apparently muscle memory is a beautiful thing. I also don't think my body has changed that much since I last skated regularly, other than the fact that I'm probably stronger now, which helps me a great deal. I'm essentially operating with the same set of physical tools that I skated with for years.