It feels good to see this much green filling up my Nike+ week:

My sole mission for today was to get my treadmill speed workout done.  That means I barely did anything else (you know, all those mental negotiations insuring my arrival at the gym took too much energy to do much else).  My original plan was to do 8 x 400 (plus a 2 mile warm up).  However, as I started, I realized that the plan would really tax my legs and leave me in bad shape for my planned long run tomorrow.  Stopping after 4 x 400 followed by another mile cool down seemed like a good compromise that will hopefully avoid injury and fatigue on tomorrow’s run.

I feel great on day 6.  This “challenge” has not actually felt that challenging after all.  Having a clear goal each day has made it harder to make excuses for not running.  I tend to be pretty good and sticking with my weekly plan but this tougher routine has been quite easy to adapt to.  As a reward for this week’s work and keeping in mind that the Tinker Bell 1/2 only about 3 weeks away, I will probably take Monday as a rest day and cross train Tuesday.  I will be upping my usual weekly mileage to about 30 miles this week (up from my usual 20-24) so I do not want to get injured!

Speaking of Tinker Bell, I can’t believe it’s so soon!  It has always seemed remote but it is certainly sneaking its way up.  As we round the corner into the new year, I will need to start mentally focusing on this race as well as choosing my next 5k.  I want to put a buffer between Tink and Princess and (hopefully) also select a race that has a healthy field but that I may have a chance of getting an AG place.  We shall see what the future holds!

—

What’s your next race?  How frequently do you race?  Do you plan it out at the beginning of the year or as you go?