Mississauga Marathon Training Week 4!

Well, despite some seriously cold weather and the constant challenge of fitting those five runs into the week, I was able to hit all milestones during week four!

Monday: Rest day! Whew!

Tuesday: Tuesday was going to be frigid. I knew that the only way I'd get a run in would be to do so in the morning before work as I was booked solid in meetings that day and I had planned to go to family swim that night with friends. So, I set the alarm for 5am and headed to the gym! I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run a tempo pace that early in the morning, but I exceeded my expectations and was able to hold 20 minutes on the treadmill at a  5:02/km pace! 6.44km, 35:34

Wednesday: Plans for swimming the night before never came to fruition as Alasdair spent all of Tuesday at the hospital and ended up with a diagnosis of Transient Synovitis. This common childhood ailment meant he couldn't do anything for the week, so the normal plan of him and Ken skiing while I ran and Fergus hung out with my parents was off. Instead, I came home (full from a luncheon speaker series) and decided to hit the road for the 10k with tempo that was on the plan. It was still COLD out, so I wore Alasdair's skiiing balaclava and it really helped. I couldn't hold 20 minutes of tempo so instead I ran the following: warm up for 2k, 2k tempo (4:54, 5:05), 1k rest/easy, 2k tempo (5:01, 5:18 - I got a stitch from not breathing properly, so I walked for a few seconds here). The rest was easy to get home. 10.01k, 57:13

Alasdair took the photo, Ken took the photobomb

Thursday: was clinic night. The guest speaker spoke about cross training and injury prevention. Basically, I learned that my ass doesn't fire when I run. My glutes need work. I had an Ah-Ha moment when I learned why my back sometimes hurts after a particularly challenging run (because my lower back does the work of my non-working ass). Then we were off for a very easy 8k run. I was alone and then in the front-ish pack with a bunch of men. There may have been some inappropriate freezing sword talk. I'm not sure. It was cold. Even our clinic coach, Chris who wears shorts all the time was in pants. 8.5k, 50:58

Friday was supposed to be a rest day, but I had the Robbie Burns 8k on Sunday and wanted to take Saturday easy. You see where this is going, right? I had to do my LSD run on Friday. It helps that I work from home on Friday's and that I only had 16k on the plan, but a busy work day kept foiling my plans for the run. Finally, around lunch time I was able to take off and run. I debated doing 11k and then going back out later, but I talked myself into doing the whole 16k. I couldn't imagine putting wet gear on and getting out there again, even if the day wasn't that cold. I also ran for Colton that day and got my photo done. 16k, 1:36:01

Saturday: Rest. Whew. I needed that!

Sunday: Robbie Burns 8k Race! I promise a race report, but spoiler I ran a PB. 8.07k, 42:25

Total KM: 49.02, Total Time: 4:42:11, Average pace per KM: 05:45

Oh... and we SOLD OUR HOUSE!

Another great week! I'm hoping to repeat my Tuesday treadmill tempo success tomorrow and enjoy increasing the LSD distance to 19k this week. I really do feel like time is flying by and I'm sure that packing and moving will keep me busy, but I do not intend to let it get in the way of the training.