This week was a really good week for me. This week I ran a total of 27 miles. that’s seven miles more than in the beginning and I did not feel as bad as I did that first week. I feel the training starting to cause changes in me both physically and mentally. I have lost about 2 more pounds after my last weight check a couple of weeks ago and sit at around 183-184. I’m looking to drop maybe 2 more pounds next week. I was able to run and weight train this week and didn’t come out as sore as that first week I tried.

I had two easy runs that were a total of 6 miles each and one run at 9 miles. then my speed workout this week was 2 mile warm-up followed by a 2 mile threshold run and ending with a. 2 mile cool-down. A threshold run if you do not know is a pace that is a bit faster than a normal easy run but slower than a 5k-10k race pace. Right now I’m shooting for an 8 and a half minute mile race pace, so I ran the threshold at around a 9-9:30. The most difficult workout this week was definitely the nine miler for reasons i’ll explain in a bit.

Firstly, that speed run was not too bad. What I have been dealing with more this week is pain in the soleus muscle. It’s a muscle that runs alongside the sides of the achilles tendon( as shown in the following picture). The pain is on the same leg that I broke my foot on so I understand that it may be a part of the atrophy that I experienced while in a boot. I’m going to try and research for some way to relieve the pain and post about it if I find something that works.

The nine miles I ran this week was the most difficult workout this week because it was so hot! I’ve heard some sayings along the lines of training during the summer like, “Summer miles bring fall smiles/or fast miles.” I’ve read somewhere that the optimal temperature for a runner to run in is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees celsius. If you try running in hotter weather the body not only has to expel the heat that is being produced through exercise but the heat of the environment. Your body ends up working twice as hard to maintain homeostasis than at the optimal temperature. So this week when I decided to sleep in just a little longer and put off my run I allowed the outside temperature get to the 80’s and possibly 90’s. I tend to overheat really quickly so that run ended up being more of a chipper. I would run and stop to cool down then get back to it and ended up making the workout last almost 2 hours because of how much I had to stop to lower my temperature.

Hydration is super important especially in hot and humid weather. Depending on your body your can lose a substantial amount of sodium, potassium and water through your sweat. The rule is that you should drink water at regular intervals throughout a run longer than an hour and should probably take something to replenish your electrolytes like a gel or dried fruit. if you aren’t hydrated well your body will not run well. I actually need to start managing this well as my mileage starts getting higher. Anyways, hope this information can help! God bless and keep training!