BAA Plan Week 3 and continuing #RWRunStreak

The BAA Plan Week 3 has come to a close and once again I finished all four prescribed workouts, and did a better job of trying to run within the target paces.  I was on the low end of the mileage ranges because it was A WEEK.  My daughter had surgery to fix an umbilical hernia (everything went great!), my son turned 2 and we had a birthday party for him, presentation to CEO at work, book club meeting, volunteer event, there was a Santa breakfast at my daughter's school, and the usual appointments/schedule that already make for a busy week.  I truly was squeezing running in whenever possible!  On top of that, I did not get a ton of sleep because I was anxious about the surgery.

Workout 1:  1-2 mi warm up, 8 x 1/4 mi at half marathon pace (7:00-7:15) with 60 seconds of jogging in between, 1-2 mi cool down

1 mi warm up @ 8:07
8 x 1/4 mi (6:36-6:53 pace each, recovery jogs at 8:00-9:00 pace each)
1 mi cool down @ 7:46

Workout 2: 4-5 mi easy run (8:15 - 8:50)

4.1 mi @ 7:55

Workout 3: 4-5 mi aerobic run (7:50-8:10)

4.1 mi @ 7:24

Workout 4: Long Run: 8-10 mi aerobic (7:50-8:10)

8 mi @ 7:28

I continued the #RWRunStreak challenge by running 1.1 miles on the other 3 days of last week.  1.1 miles is the distance of one entire loop of my neighborhood.

As I am writing this, I have completed 12 days of consecutive running...and I don't like it.  It seems silly that I am stressing out to get out to run a mile just to say I ran that day and not break the streak.  It feels like I am running to do the streak, rather than really enjoying it.  I think it is also contributing to me feeling "meh" about gearing up for another marathon.  My book club unfortunately got an ear full of negativity and as I listed to myself whining to them, I was thinking, "Boy, I do not sound like someone who is in love with running right now."

On the positive side, the BAA plan has helped me log 3 great running weeks in a row (24.6 miles, 24.2 miles, 24.4 miles).

In bigger news, I had a great running conversation with a friend and running coach last night which made me excited about training.  He is serving up a running plan in the next couple of weeks and then I will officially stop this BAA plan and use his. His philosophy about running really resonated with me.  I was slightly nervous to talk to him because I REALLY do not want to be running more than 4 days a week...and let's be honest, with working full time outside the house and wanting to see my kids, I can't really commit to more than 4 days.  To my surprise and relief, he was down with it.  PHEW!  I am a little afraid of his "two big workouts" though after he promised that they would be hard.

Now I am off to try to find a half marathon in the next month or two!