Harder Better Faster Stronger

A quick recap: Thursday I did a quick 3-mile run while my squash was in the oven. It was an unexpected speedworkout, I really felt like sprinting the straights at Lincoln Park, and then doing some tempo work.

Friday, I overslept (again, once I get off my sleep schedule I'm a mess) and so did the 10-miles after work. I planned on warming up and cooling down for a mile each at 9 min/mi pace, especially since its hard to focus on pace when I need to slow down every block to look for cars. Then, I planned on again doing eight miles of rotating 8:00 min/mi and 7:30 min/mi pace.

Last time I tried this, I didn't do very well at all. Of course, it was my first time using auto lap on my watch and I was totally thrown off. It was also 5a.m. and I hadn't slept well. I'm noticing that my evening workouts are a lot better than my morning workouts and I'm glad I decided to switch to them after MCM. Friday night, my mile splits were:

1- 8:58

2- 7:29

3- 7:56

4- 7:30

5- 7:57

6- 7:28

7- 7:57

8- 7:29

9- 7:58

10- 8:55

A+ for me! And honestly, I wasn't even that worn out! Since I had 16 miles planned for the morning, recovery was super important. I drank Powerade before and after, and had sports beans during the run. When I got home I started dinner right away and drank a lot of water. I'm so glad I live alone and no one watched me shovel the ridiculous amount of food down my throat. I ate two entire cups of brown sticky rice and a whole chicken breast (with TJ's delish sweet chili sauce) in about 3 minutes. Topped it off with an entire bowl of corn and 4 giant pieces of broccoli. I could just feel my muscles absorbing all the carbs and nutrients. Aahhh...

Today's long run was tough. I wanted to do it at race pace and keep myself accountable for every mile. I did my usual warm-up and started my timer at Stanton square. I knew the Nat'l book festival was today on the Mall, but there was no way around it. The whole run, I really needed to push myself. I could tell I was still worn out from the last night's workout. Even at mile 8 I was feeling it.

It was a cool, breezy morning, but a little too breezy. The only mile I didn't make was the one heading across the bridge on the way back. The wind was really strong and I was running against it for a half mile (I always forget how long those bridges are!). I just couldn't gather the energy to get it under 8:05--which was my rule.

Because of this, I still get punished. No burger today, just fish, lentils and vegetables. Sigh.

Still, it was a great run and I showed myself I can run 26.6 miles in 3:30, but I doubt I'm allowed to stop at mile 10, eat a meal and sleep for 8 hours. My song for this run was Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk. Its easy to remember to keep your pace up when you have this blasting in your ears:

Work It
Make It
Do It
Makes Us
Harder
Better
Faster
Stronger
More Than
Hour
Our
Never
Ever
After
Work is
Over

Work It Harder Make It Better
Do It Faster, Makes Us stronger
More Than Ever Hour After
Our Work Is Never Over

Great song! Even when walking to it I start to speed up.

I've had to adjust my orthotics in my shoes a number of times, but that usually happens at first. Now, they are feeling really great. Love them! As for my other purchases. I tried the vanilla bean GU gel, and it was so delicious and I loved it. I had sports beans yesterday during my run and those sat well too. So, totally worth it!