Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 4 Recap

Zingzingzing!  That was me all day today - partially because I managed to catch some extra zzzz's last night (poor Hubs has a man cold so we headed to bed early), but mostly because I had a super kickass workout this morning at bootcamp that just got me all jazzy and energized for the whole day.  Now I'm not gonna lie...when I saw who was teaching bootcamp this morning I was filled with a bit of dread...not because I don't like the instructor (quite the opposite!) but because I knew I was gonna get my hiney kicked to kingdom come and I had me a case of the Mondays.  We started off with ten ten-second all out, gut-busting, barf-inducing, leave-it-all-out-there high intensity sprints up a hill that rocked the Mondays out of our legs...I think I may have even seen a white light at one point...ha!  Oh, and did I mention that our bootcamp instructor J is well known all over town as an amazing running clinic instructor?  A lot of his workouts include intense intervals which I'm thrilled about because it can only help my running.  After practically puking up a lung, we did sets of multiple exercises like burpees, pushups, mountain climbers, etc., mixed with more hills or stairs.  Today was one of those workouts where it was tough going, but I felt absolutely amazing when I was done...love love love the exercise afterglow!

So workouts last week...

Sunday - 20 mins stationery bike
I know, I know.  No speed and no weights done.  I started to do a NROLFW workout but could feel my back not feeling quite right (I'd just been to the chiropractor on Friday) so I decided to be safe than sorry and not risk pulling something.  In my defense, I sucked a little less this week and did some speedwork on the treadmill and did a full lifting session...woohoo!

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - bootcamp
J really likes them hills I tell ya.  At least I don't have to do any hillwork in my training plan since I seem to be getting a pretty hefty dose at bootcamp!

Thursday - running clinic
Second to last class...and I think I'm getting it.  Marilyn was a bit pickier on our form and really tweaked our body positioning.  Things are starting to click and were starting to really get a taste of the effortless running that Marilyn is trying to teach us. 

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 10K run
Oh le sigh.  Not sure what it was, but my legs felt super heavy and I had no endurance or energy...I could barely run a full kilometre without wanting to stop.  I decided to not fight how I was feeling and used this opportunity to practice what I was learning in my running clinic.  Marilyn had suggested that we run short intervals using proper form, and then stop and reset our posture when we could feel ourselves starting to get sloppy.  I'm sure I looked weird stopping and starting...but you know what?  When I did get into a really good groove with my form, when I checked my watch I was running at just below a 5:00 min/km pace.  What?!  I've never seen that kind of pace without feeling like I'm all out sprinting.  So I don't lose what we've learned, I think I might head out on Sunday for a short run to practice some more.  Year of Speed, I've got you in my sights now.