Hi friends! Whose weekend went too fast? Oh, everyone’s, of course. At the start of every weekend, I think, “I’m gonna write so much this weekend, and then next week, I’ll just proofread and post!” And then suddenly it’s Sunday night.

On that same note, sorry for the lack of pictures in the following post. It’s already 9:00, which means this granny needs to get this posted and start moving toward bed.

This week marked my last week of “whatever I want” running. Here’s what it looked like:

Monday: 5 easy miles and an hour of strength. The run was outside thanks to a day off work.

Tuesday: 6 miles of treadmill hills that I talked about here, plus some core work.

Wednesday: AM: 6 miles easy PM: An hour of strength

Thursday: Thursday was not exactly the best day of my professional life. When I left work, I was frustrated and, I’m sure, a real peach to be around (sorry, hubby). So I got on the treadmill and cranked out 14 400m repeats at 5k pace, with 400m recoveries. I felt much better. Totally worth 2 days of DOMS.

Friday: No run; I did 15 minutes of plyos (which I’m sure didn’t help the DOMS issue) and this upper-body workout.

Saturday: 9 miles in more shorts-worthy weather. I’m okay with this, January.

Sunday: 4 recovery miles, followed by some core work and some stretching and foam rolling. For once.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned (many times) that over the holidays, I won a week of Better With Veggies‘ MoveHappy challenge. Part of the prize pack was a custom training plan for a 5k or 10k, designed by Heather. I chose a 10k in March as my goal race, and my training plan starts tomorrow.

I’m excited for this training cycle for several reasons. First, I’ve never actually trained for a 10k; I’ve always run them as part of or between other training cycles. Second, I’ve never had a plan designed just for me by someone who knows what she’s doing. Third, I’ve never trained for a PR in a distance shorter than a half, so I’m excited to see what this does for my speed.

I’m also nervous about a few things. For one, I’m only running five days a week. Mondays are rest, and Fridays are strength-training only. That seems so weird to this run-at-least-six-days gal, but I will trust the person with the coaching certification. (That would be Heather, not me). This is also comparatively low-mileage: I’ll be running around 35 miles a week. That’s about what I’ve been running all winter, but seems short compared to the 70-mile weeks I was pulling in the fall. But obviously, 10ks are shorter than marathons. Dur.

The lower mileage and days off running will probably be necessary, because the hard days are hard. On Tuesday, my pace for 400m repeats is supposed to start with a 4. Yeah. If you don’t hear from me again, it’s safe to assume that workout killed me.

In all seriousness, though, I’m really looking forward to this training plan and learning to be faster!

What’s your bedtime?

What’s your favorite race distance to train for?

Ever worked with a coach or have one design a plan for you?