In search of the 5k PR (week 2 training update)

The quest for the sub-24 5k continues...


Last week's plan / actual:

Paid my respects to Mr. Lincoln*

• Monday: strength circuit + 3 mile run / core and upper body workout + 3.2 mile run
• Tuesday: hill repeats / 1.5 mile warmup + 5 hill repeats at 7:45 pace
• Wednesday: yoga / 25 min yoga podcast
• Thursday: 4-5 mile easy run / 5.2 mile run
• Friday: rest day / Is an air-travel day really restful?
• Saturday: 6 miles / 6 mile run through Rock Creek Park and along the Mall in DC
• Sunday: fun workout / beach walk + hike at Fort Pickens area of the Gulf Islands National Seashore

I accomplished all of my workout goals for the week AND visited two national parks. (Not bad, eh?)

Last week I was sore and struggling by Wednesday. This week I skipped lower body strength exercises on Monday to leave my legs fresh for hill repeats on Tuesday.

It worked.

I needed my Friday rest day, but I wasn't so worn out that walking up stairs seemed like a chore...

For the record: Rock Creek Park might be my new favorite place to run...


This week's plan:

• Monday: strength circuit + 5 mile tempo run
• Tuesday: reverse ladder intervals (1600, 1200, 800, 400)
• Wednesday: yoga + stretching + foam-rolling
• Thursday: 4-5 mile easy run
• Friday: rest day
• Saturday: 9 miles + core workout
• Sunday: fun workout -- anything goes

What's your favorite national park?
How are you progressing on your own 2013 goals?

*Yes, you might recognize that photo of Lincoln from an earlier trip I took to DC.
With a mere 24 hours in the city, I decided to really RUN on Saturday morning, rather than pause to play photo-journalist. I took only one picture on the run, this rather grainy, out-of-focus-and-overexposed shot from the entrance to Rock Creek Park near Connecticut Ave NW:

Entrance to Rock Creek Park at Connecticut Ave NW

The photo hardly does justice to the beauty of dawn breaking over the city...

...but sometimes just being there is more important than stopping to take a picture.