Overall a pretty good week. I got in some of my longer runs, which is much needed since next week is my race week. I have some days where I just didn’t have any motivation or energy, but the key is do what you can on those days, and then kick butt the other days. That is exactly what I did and I ended the week on a high note with a great hike!

Monday 3/8

To start off my week, my Nike Run Club plan called for an endurance 4 mile run. I wasn’t in the mood to workout, but knew I needed to get in something, and it needed to be running. So I did my planned Tuesday workout, 3 x 400 meter speed work. I did my usual NTC Wake-up Warm-up and started off with my 5 minute warm-up walk. I then did the 3 intervals. I pushed myself and went at 7.2 mph. As I have noticed with all of my runs that are in the evening, my heart rate was a bit elevated, topping out around 153 BPM. Even though it was consistent for all 3 intervals, I was extremely exhausted when I was done. And of course, that was not enough to close my rings, so I hopped on my bike and rode for 22 minutes. Overall it was a good workout, but I was mentally not excited about getting in the workout at all.

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Tuesday 3/9

Today’s plan was the 3 x 400 meter speed work, but I completed that yesterday. I wasn’t much in the mood to workout, but we needed to pickup some medication for one of our cats, so we walked to the pharmacy for a short 1.26 mile walk. It was really relaxing. Of course that wasn’t enough to close my rings, so I hopped on the bike for about 37 minutes later in the evening. I am not really sure why my watch had a blip that spiked to 125 BPM. I am just going with anomaly since I was just going at a really relaxed pace.

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Wednesday 3/10

For my rest day I decided I would push myself a bit on the bike, so I did a ladder workout. I started off at a moderate resistance, then build up to max over a 15 minute period, then gradually went back to the moderate resistance. The total workout was 46 minutes and I was beat afterwards. It felt really good to get in a tough ride though. I’ll have to start doing some more them.

Thursday 3/11

I am not sure what was going on today. From the moment I woke up until the end of the day, I thought it was Friday. Therefore, I ended up doing strength training instead of my planned run. I did a 20 minute strength session, which included my usual push-ups, bar hang, Russian twists and laying extensions. I also added some weighted tricep and shoulder movements as well. That with my NTC warm-up felt really good. Not sure what I’ll do for tomorrow’s workout yet.

Friday 3/12

I was pretty tired today, so instead of doing my Thursday workout, which was a 6 x 200 meter speed workout, I did a short ride. I just did a moderate resistance for 32 minutes and then called it. I just had no energy and I closed my rings, so I called it and relaxed the rest of the night.

Saturday 3/13

Today’s plan was a 7.75 mile long run. This is my final long run before my race next weekend. I was a bit tight, but my NTC Wake-up Warm-up did the trick as always. I only ended up doing 7.5 miles because I forgot I need to do an extra 0.25 miles. Oops. Oh well, I felt pretty good and 2 Nuun Energies plus a Honey Stinger gel kept my energy and hydration up. Overall, I hit all but one set of Galloway intervals. I think I am ready for my race!

Sunday 3/14

Beautiful weather today meant one thing; back out to the trails with my wife for some hiking! We had enjoyed hiking so much last summer and fall. We did our usual lap at Valley Forge State Park making sure to hit up Mt. Joy. The total loop is about 7.6 miles and it was a ton of fun. I was really excited that my legs felt fine from my long run the day before. I cannot wait for more nice weather and more hiking.