Another summer week of workouts in the books for 2020!
I cut things back a bit this week, running 3 days instead of my average of 4 running days. After running 5 days last week and several weeks of 4 days of running in a row, I just felt like it was time to do a little less. The funny thing is, I don’t feel as though I’m doing that much less. I count my morning walks as workouts (some people call them rest days?) but to me, it’s still activity. Walking is certainly less stressful on the body in comparison to running but I don’t consider it a rest day. I consider it a walking day. All of my activity counts to me, it’s not all about running.
Be sure to scroll down to Saturday’s boardwalk run — I ran an old favorite workout that maybe you want to try this week!
Monday – 4 Mile Walk
Beautiful weather for a walk today!
Tuesday – 5 Miles
I’m obsessed with the new Brooks Ghost 13. Just obsessed. They are just so comfortable. Even though the Ghost 12 was comfortable, I can already tell that I like this model better. It’s all in the continuous cushioning I think.
It’s a wonder I remember my workouts specifically but somehow, I do! It’s really fun and engaging to mix up the miles with speed intervals.
- Mile 1: Easy
- Mile 2: .25 hard/.25 easy/.25 hard/.25 easy
- Mile 3: .50 hard/.25 easy/.25 hard
- Mile 4: .25 easy/.75 hard
- Mile 5: .25 easy/.25 hard/.10 easy/.10 hard/.5 easy/.25 hard
Wednesday – 30 Min Pure Barre/Short Walk
I thought I would have more time for a walk but I wasn’t aware that it was supposed to rain. Oh well.
Thursday – 5 Miles
- 2 miles easy
- 2 miles alternating .50 hard/.25 easy
- 1 mile: .25 easy/.75 hard
Friday – 3 Mile Walk/20 Min Pure Barre
Saturday – 8 Miles
It was a beautiful morning at the beach today! The humidity was higher than it has been (and there was wind when heading west) but it was still a really nice summer morning. I so love my weekend runs at the beach this summer.
I realized that I had zero plan for today’s run. No distance or workout in mind, so I just started to run and assumed I would figure things out as I went along. As I noticed my pace getting faster with each mile combined with knowing it’s usually at mile 4 on the boardwalk that does me in from the bright sun and heat, I suddenly remembered my favorite running workout from blogging years of the past!
Does anyone remember this 8-mile workout that I created years ago?! It was a favorite of mine, favorite of other runners, and a popular search result too.
You can read more about it in the post itself but this is the 8-mile workout infographic below.
You don’t focus so much on pace, rather, you focus on effort. Pushing yourself in a progression run style for a few miles with an easy mile in between. It’s a great way to keep yourself engaged without having specific pace goals. The goal is to go faster but the overall run isn’t based upon specific pace ranges, it goes by where you are effort-wise on that specific day.
This workout worked incredibly well for me today, allowing me to ease up for mile 4 and recover enough to push again for a few miles before cooling down again. The second half of the run was HARD because of the bright sun and humidity but I did it! I felt so accomplished with my effort. Can’t wait to try this workout again when the temperature cools down in the fall.
Sunday – 40 Min Walk/30 Min Yoga
The Cookie ChRUNicles 
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