Did I Just Do That? New (Weekly) Mileage PR

Saturday workout: 6 miles, 11:33 average, Connects

Sunday workout: 10 miles, 10:26 average, Connects

And thus we conclude a perfect month of training and my highest mileage week ever! 41.5 miles. I'm no Shalane Flanagan, but I do all right.

So does Anchorage.

It seemed it was going to be kind of a blah day outside, but obviously the weather gods were excited I was going to beat my previous weekly mileage PR, because it got clearer and clearer as the run went on and turned into a bright, sunny day!

I took y'all's advice and introduced some fuel into this run: Nuun and shotbloks. Also, side note, I must have been raised by savages because I was shocked that Anchorage shut down for Easter. I had planned to go to REI and blow my dividend, but I had the (all too uncommon) foresight to look it up before I left. Closed! Then, after my run when I wanted to go to Subway, both locations I stopped at were also closed! Quiznos? Ditto! Seems not even that creepy hamster creature works on Easter. Didn't they know I needed to reward my hard effort with a delicious sandwich? I had to settle for a boring grocery store sandwich. Rude.

Anyway, Sports Authority was open so I hit them up. Last year, a blogger sent free Nuun samples to anyone who wanted them, and although it took me a year to use twelve tablets, I liked it enough to buy more. Lemon-lime and pink lemonade. The lemon-lime was not nearly as tasty as I had hoped, but it seemed to do its job well. I didn't bother looking at the suggested water-to-tablet ratio, so maybe if I tinker with that it will taste better. Also, drinking something sweet for an entire run is too much. Towards the end all I wanted was regular water, but I was stuck with my sweet brew. I'm going to start with water next week and slip in a tablet halfway through the run (that sounds like a roofie joke) and see how that goes. I'll also bring more shotbloks - three was not enough. Strange, since I usually don't need food or water for anything 10 miles or less.

As for the run itself, it went really well! I manned up and didn't let myself run on my flat pavement route. Granted, there wasn't much elevation gain on the route I chose, but it was enough that I was able to tell myself I wasn't taking it easy. Also, I'm glad to see my elevation chart confirms that miles 7.3-8.8 (and  2.4-3.9 since I did an out-and-back twice) were all uphill. It was pretty gradual so I wasn't yelling about it or anything, but I remember wondering at mile 8.5 just how long I had been going up because it seemed like a comically long time.

I was more bored than usual (I managed to refrain from turning music on), but my energy levels were pretty solid. The only time I had that end-of-long-run-deadleg feeling was on a random downhill during the first half. The road I was running on (see here for a very basic description) ends at a rehab center where my mom actually used to work, and it seems patients were allowed to go for an Easter walk with their families because I passed a lot of groups that obviously originated from that parking lot and not the one the rest of us have to park at. They all seemed to be having a really nice time, which made me happy.

Here are some splits, just for kicks:

----

How convenient that the last day of the week and month happen to fall on the same day! Here's a little roundup:

Monday: 6 miles, easy

Tuesday: 6.5 miles with 6 x 800 (at 8:30 with 400m rest) while dodging pucks

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 8 miles with 5 tempo (9:44)

Friday: 5 miles, easy

Saturday: 6 miles, easy

Sunday: 10 miles, slightly faster than easy

Weekly total: 41.5 miles

Monthly total: 154.75

Like I said, I ran more miles this week than I've ever done before, and I feel SO MUCH better than I did after my peak week last year (which was 4 runs of 5, 10, 5, and 20 miles). Granted, I didn't run a 20-miler. But I also don't want to kill myself. I'd call it a huge win. Last year, running 10 miles meant I was done for the day (unless there was a promise of beer - these legs will always move for beer). Today, if I didn't have homework to get to (you know, after the more important task of blogging), I'd be out shoveling my deck. I'm really not that tired. And I'm not kidding when I say I think I'm in the best running shape of my life. I swear that's not just me being dramatic again.

I'm beginning to really trust these Hanson dudes. They seem to know what my body is capable of better than I do. I can't tell you how many times I've looked ahead at my plan and just laughed because there is absolutely no way I'm capable of what they're asking of me. Then, of course, I do it, I survive, and I feel great. Although my heart still sometimes starts a-fluttering when I look at what's in store for me (this coming week's 10+ - miler with 8 tempo miles, for example, or my 15-miler next weekend), my first thought is no longer "no f-cking way." Now it's more, "Well, it's not going to be easy, but I'll do it." And really, although I've worked hard these past 8 weeks, it hasn't been as hard as I imagined. I'd say it's been easier than Higdon's plan, actually [I reserve the right to take that back six weeks from now when I'm running almost 60 miles a week].

Let's catch up!

• What did you get up to this weekend? Any great runs? Any Easter fun? I've kind of ignored Easter the past six years, but since I'm home this year I guess it feels more like a holiday. I wish it came with a weekday holiday, though...
• What's your favorite Nuun (or whatever other electrolyte drink you may use) flavor? I really thought lemon-lime would do it for me; I was so disappointed!
• What do you do when you're on a long run and you start getting bored (besides listen to music - I want to save it for when I really, really need it)? Usually the scenery keeps me entertained but maybe, horror of horrors, I'm getting used to it?!