My First Week - Training Update

it's almost been one full week that i've been working with James (PowerMultisport), and it's already been one of the best weeks of training i've had. we had our initial meeting on Monday, April 4. since then, I've done six workouts. i posted last week about my first two runs (tempo thursday is BACK!) the following saturday, i was to run 12 miles easy, 9:30 to 10 minute pace. terri and i started at 6 a.m. to avoid the heat, but there wasn't much avoidance. it was warm and really humid and the run suffered. i didn't get to upset about it, i just wanted it to be over. my legs were fatigued from thursday, but the heat and humidity weighed me down more than anything. i didn't have pain, i just couldn't go. we managed a 9:33 pace for the run, so i was satisfied. the run wiped me out for the day though. i had zero energy and even walking through the mall with my mom and niece was work. i took two naps and went to bed early. terri suggested we do our sunday run that morning since it was going to be so warm that afternoon. we were done before 7:30, and after a shower, i went back to bed for a couple of hours before it was time to go to church. i was pleased that my legs and body felt better. that run had no time expectations, and we didn't even look at our pace. we just ran. monday is my spin day, but my legs still felt some fatigue, so i kept it moderate becuase i knew i'd need fresh legs for tuesday's workout. my schedule was for 4 x 1 mile repeats in 7:50. 8 miles total with warm-ups, recoveries, and cool-down. i felt great, and we nailed all four of them. chris and james ran all four with me, and terri was there for three of them. when i couldn't talk, chris and james chatted it up for me. i had a blast. i took the rest of the day easy. wednesday is another spin day, but i felt pretty good in class. we eased into the workout and ended strong. i also took it easy the rest of that day, because thursday (today) was tempo. my workout was to be 8 miles with 6 at 8:10. that's what i did last week, but today i wasn't going into the workout thinking 8:45 like last week, i was going into it thinking 8:10. it was a bit intimidating even though i did it last week. terri and vicki were doing their own thing, and chris overslept, so it was just james and i for the run. we did our mile warm-up, and we were off. we maintained and kept our pace, even with a crazy dog and a brief stop for water. the splits were 8:05, 8:04, 8:15, 8:32 (water), 7:56, and 7:51. james had his virtual partner set on his garmin, and even though he got a bit ahead of us, we caught him and left him in our dust at the end. the last two miles reflect why they were the hardest, they were faster. james let me take a minute to breathe at the end of the 6, and we walked a minute or two before jogging it in. we averaged 8:07 for the 6 miles in 48 minutes and 46 second. dang proud of that! today, i will rest the remainder of the day - will be in class from 2:30 until 8:30 or 9 tonight with a break between classes for dinner. tomorrow is a complete rest day, and i am looking forward to sleepng IN until 6:30! that's 2 whole hours later than all 4 days this week. back at it saturday and happy about it! dawn is getting her groove back!