BACK TO TRAINING!
Vacation running: the 5k "race" last Saturday (already discussed) and then DS2 and I ran on the treads on the ship on Monday. The original plan was to run almost every day, but with the trip itinerary, and when our port stops were, that was the only day it happened. Whoops! I could have ran on Friday, but it was quite wavy/windy and I was weaving down the halls and using the handrails on the stairs, so running on a treadmill seemed like a not-great choice. I probably would have fallen off! For excursions (which I'm counting as cross-training!) we walked up Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica, snorkeled and met string rays in Grand Cayman, and did an all-inclusive resort/beach in Cozumel (and then I carried a sleeping 4yo through the whole port area while we shopped....which is the cross-training part of that day.)
We picked up our puppy today, the boys decided on Ronin for a name, and I can already tell that DD is going to make the puppy-training really difficult for a few weeks because she cannot.leave.him.alone. Hopefully her obsession subsides before next week so I can get into my training plan without worrying if she's terrorizing him. Side note, he's SO TINY. I was not prepared for him to be this little and had to shorten his harness up as small as it'll go. (Pics will be added in a little bit.)
We're also hatching out chicks and planning on starting seeds for our garden this week, and heading to Texas for robotics in 3 weeks. EEP!
(Brown dog making sure she’s still getting pets while DH holds the puppy 
)
I was going to try to run today, but I still feel like I'm on a ship, and also kind of hungover(?) where I want to go back to bed, and also get dizzy if I look up, down, or focus on something in the distance for too long. It's not fun. I'm hydrating, so hopefully tomorrow is better.
Speaking of which....here's what I've tentatively decided on. I sort of mashed the Higdon Int2 and Adv plans together, to hopefully make something that is aggressive, but doable.
The rhythm of the plan is
Sundays: cross-training (yoga, weights, spin bike, walking, whatever sounds/feels good)
Mondays: Speedwork in the form of repeats. I started these a little slower/less volume than the Adv. plan did. This is also a day DD has school, so I won't have to manage her while I'm trying to run a certain pace.
Tuesdays: 3mi recovery runs. These have the option to be longer, but need to be at least 3mi with no pace expectations.
Wednesdays: Tempo runs starting at 30min and increasing the duration by 5min every week, with a cutback weeks a few times (coinciding with optional 5k,10k, and 15 races.) DD is also in school on these days. Higdon tempo runs are basically to slowly increase your pace during the first half of the run, run at race pace for 10ish minutes, and then slowly decrease your pace.
Thursdays: Rest day.
Fridays: Race pace runs. The longest one is 5mi, so this is mostly about feeling the pace. If it's too much fast running, I'll likely change the Wednesday tempo runs into easy runs. Again, a day DD is in school. I should have just enough time to get these done, get cleaned up, and have to go back to pick her up from school. These are also rest days on the cutback weeks.
Saturdays: Long runs. These cap at 12mi, with that run falling 8 days before the race (1 week taper.) Higdon also gives the option to do practice races every 3rd week in the plan with a 5k, 10k, and 15k race (which coincide with the cutback weeks of the tempo runs as noted earlier.) I am very unlikely to do any races just because there aren't many around here, and I don't really want to spend money on training runs. Plus the risk of injury will go up if I am also adding in 3 races.
I know that on paper this looks like a lot of speedwork, and that means greater chance for injury. I will probably end up dialing some of it back (fewer repeats, or swapping a tempo run for an easy run) but feel like I should definitely keep the Friday runs as written. But I feel like if I'm not pretty aggressive, I'm not going to end up anywhere near 2:2x:xx.
What's the catch?
Pacing. I know that you are supposed to "train at the fitness level you are currently at" but for what I'm trying to do here, I basically am trying to make my lactate threshold/10k pace into my HM pace. So. Do I use my current paces for those repeats? Do I split the difference? Adjust them for what my goal is and light it on fire? Do I start with where I'm at now and then adjust faster sometime during the training plan?
Exit points (because I'm not completely insane): these include massive, multiple schedule conflicts that I haven't already accounted for; injury (obviously); being unable to sustain goal race pace on Fridays, starting in May (because I recognize it'll probably be a struggle in the beginning); lack of motivation (because I'm good at planning, and not-great at executing and I recognize this about myself.)
Other: I'm going to try to get my protein intake back up to 120+g/day because that helps a lot of my other eating habits, and I'm considering switching from coffee to green tea in the morning. I think that cutting out my creamer habit might help with some weightloss, but I'm not willing to give up my caffeine. I'm also getting my old water bottle out because getting enough water has been a lot of work with my new one and I'm pretty sure it's because the straw is smaller.
So you never know!
I wish registration was later.
