Wine & Dine: Week 1

Well, week 1 is in the books! It's been a long week, certainly, and at first I wasn't too sure on how this week was going to turn out, but come the end of it, I'm pretty happy with my progress. This is the first plan I've been on since April, but I really couldn't even call that last one a plan because I hardly followed it at all; so truly, first real plan since January. Rough.

Week 1!

Sunday: Do whatever (plan started Monday)
3 miles / 34:47 / 11:19 pace + 10 minutes bike cool-down
Quick run on the dreadmill in Nashville. Our hotel wasn't in the best place to get in a good road run, so Heather and I sucked it up and ran inside. I haven't run inside in so long, it's pretty torturous and I definitely felt the effects of that. Run and done, plus 10 minute cool down on the bike.


Monday: 3 miles
Rest
A long day on Sunday (run, business, touring Nashville, delayed flight to Atlanta, late arrival home) made for running being the last thing I wanted to do. So I took the fact that I had run on Sunday without really needing to as my go-ahead to rest on Monday. Also considering I was on campus volunteering at this:

Ooooh yeah!

Tuesday: 5 x 400 @ 5K pace
3 x 400 / 9:18, 8:21, 8:51 / x400 cool-downs for 1.67 miles
 First speed workout of this plan, and really, only my second speed workout ever. It's difficult remembering to hit the lap button; only since that I have learned that I can set auto-lap to quarter-mile increments on these kinds of days. Well, gee, if only I had known. These laps were crazy inconsistent, and I'm looking forward to challenging and pushing myself to tighten these up and make them more consistent over the next few weeks!

Wednesday: 3 miles + strength
3.01 miles / 30:18 / 10:04 pace 
I don't remember much about this run other than it was moderately difficult to get moving. Once I did though, I felt like I found a really great stride and was able to move along pretty well. I got to wear a long-sleeve shirt at 7 am... to run... in Georgia... in August. What a feeling! The mornings this week were in the mid- to high-60s and just heavenly. I know fall is around the corner and that makes me so excited! Please come quickly, fall, please!

Thursday: Rest
Rest
Happily.

Friday: 3 miles
2.89 miles /  29:42 / 10:16 pace
I didn't take this run too crazy knowing that I had Saturday's long run to tackle. Another beautiful morning, felt really great getting in these few miles before work. I think I can get back into this morning runner plan. Nothing special about this morning, just lots of runners/walkers out and about - love seeing an active community around me!

Saturday: 5 miles
5.25 miles / 1:02:10 / 11:15 pace
Certainly one of my slowest long-ish runs, but a good one nonetheless. One of the grad students I work with, Paula, joined me - also a rarity in that I had a running buddy; I'm so used to running alone! So the overall pace was pretty slow, but I actually spent 5 miles running and talking, which I would consider quite a feat, considering that never happens, and I wasn't feeling like I was going to die! It also helps that we didn't head out until 8:45 this morning or so, and the high didn't hit 70 until nearly 10 am. Beautiful - dear weather, please stick around. I'd appreciate it. Nothing special to report about this first long run; glad it's on the books, glad I did it pretty well, and glad that I completed the first week back on schedule. It was nice getting back on my old loop, but I'm looking forward to exploring some new routes in the next few weeks as my mileage increases!

After mellowing out for a little bit, Molly and I headed out to the river for a little fun. Much needed and it totally wiped her out for the rest of the evening.

Things I want to work on:
- Journaling each run: that way I can actually remember runs when I come to blog, but also so I can look bac and see a visual log of the progress I've made.
- Stretching: I don't know why this is so hard for me to want to do, considering we always did it before and after pretty much every soccer game. Just need to get back in the zone! And take care of my knees.

Total Week Mileage: 15.82 miles

Are you getting back on a training plan? How was your first weeks(s) back? How do you get your head back in the game?

Hope you all had a great week!