Training log: a Power Mile

Training for: A fast mile time trial
When: Late summer
How this week went: I had some rough days this week. It got really hot, and then we had a tropical storm rolling in, too. And I was overdue for an easier week, so I just created an easy week by flopping some workouts, haha.
Monday: Seven miles easy with 8 hill sprints thrown in. I am doing these on the side of the levee, so they're short sprints, and I am trying to work on turnover while doing them. 7 miles.

City park for workouts

Tuesday: Kind of a weird Tuesday: we had an aerobic workout instead of some speed work. But it ended up being brutal. We met at City Park and ran up Wisner Boulevard, and looped around to take Marconi back. HOT. No shade. I was dying. I squeezed out eight miles, but I was extremely glad my shoe came untied at mile 7. I needed an excuse to stop. I ran a 7:13 pace overall, but the final six miles were right around 7:00 pace, and it was upper 80's and high humidity, so it was harder than it should have been. We followed the aerobic run with 8 strides.
My friend Kate has been joining us since we got back together, and it has been good to see her out - she's a talented runner who moved from Illinois a year and a half ago. She was involved in a running club there, and we are happy to find a club home for her here! 8.7 miles.
Wednesday: Stroller run: kept the baby awake. Easy 6.
Thursday: Another aerobic?! Yep. Headed out for maybe 9 on the levee, followed by strides, but it didn't happen. I was feeling a little tired during the run, and my legs felt very flat. I was wearing different shoes than normal: I usually do these in my Kinvaras, but I was at the very end of my mileage on my Kinvaras, so I pulled out the New Balance Zantes instead. I know people say these shoes are very similar, and I thought that myself in the past. I wore them a few years ago, and they seemed very alike to the Kinvara. But this pair doesn't seem close - very thin cushion, different fit in the toe box. Probably both shoes have changed since the last time I wore Zantes. So I was working a bit too hard the whole run, and I didn't like my shoes, and I ended it early. At around mile six, I suddenly broke out in goosebumps - not a good sign when it's high 80s and full sun. I was verging on heat exhaustion. I stopped and caught my breath, but I was still far from home, so I had to easy jog home. 8.3 miles (6 at aerobic). 
Friday: Another fun one! Two mile warm-up, 8 strides, six repeats of (one minute at goal mile pace, 3 minutes walk), 8 more strides, two mile cool-down. Lots of rest, so should be easy,right? Except I still had some slow reps! I totally felt like I was killing this workout, but my Garmin splits say otherwise. Paces were 5:31, 5:17, 5:21, 5:19, 5:36, 5:27. They were supposed to all be 5:25. So I missed my pace on half the reps, and they were only one minute long! Not sure what was off this morning. Anyway, it FELT like goal mile pace, so probably still a good workout. 8.1 miles. 
Saturday: Stroller run. 6 miles. 
Sunday: Long run in the rain and wind. Tropical storm Cristobal was overhead, but we cobbled together a good group anyway. I don't mind running in the rain, and we had a good basic run with no fancy workout or hard finish. This was kind of a sad run for us: it was our teammate Paige's last long run, as she recently earned her doctorate and got a job out of state. Paige has been a pillar of the team, and developed from a good runner to an amazing runner. She is also a kind and sweet person and we will all miss her! 14.3 miles. 
Total for the week: 58.5 miles. Looking forward to stronger workouts this week, and if that doesn't happen, I'll make sure I cut some workouts back to avoid overreaching.