Welcome to Monday, friends.

Lots of running related news to share with you, but let’s start with a recap of last week’s training.

M: Spin

T: 10 m run, 8:20 avg. pace

W: Body pump + stair-stepper

T: 7 m, 4 @ <7:30 pace +lifting

F: 80 min swim, 3500 meters

S: 8 m run (1.5 warm up, Float Dodger 5k, 3.5 m cool down)

S: 18 m run, 8:45 avg. pace

Total: 43 miles

This week felt great. I was feeling a little sluggish after last week, so I wanted to hit it pretty hard in terms of quality workouts this week. The swim on Friday was more of a “I’m awake and can’t fall back asleep so I might as well do something” kind of workout, but it was still refreshing and my muscles enjoyed it.

All my runs went well, particularly the tempo and my long run yesterday.

I was running on somewhat tired legs from the 5k I raced the day before, but aside from a little shin split, I felt pretty tip-top. BF joined me for 4 miles toward the end, which was a helpful distraction. And not once did I feel any pain in my knee from my IT band. I’m still wary of saying a big “Hallelujah!” but it does seem that my knee/leg is starting to get its shit together—finally. I finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes, which is right around where I want to be in terms of LR speed.

Some more to report from this weekend!

My sister came and hung out which always makes for a fun and entertaining time.

We did little shopping, a little fro-yo eating, and a lot of giggling. I love when she comes to town.

BF and I also ran the inaugural Float Dodger 5k on Saturday, which was a great local race as well as my first race since the Tacoma Marathon. I’ll be doing a full race report tomorrow, but I will say that it went better than I had expected…

As for the whole “I felt great about this week” thing, I think a lot of it had to do with my IT band behaving well. It’s always encouraging when you’ve been dealing with the same nagging pain over a period of time to finally feel like you can see some light at the end of the tunnel of sadness. I also feel really good about how my recovery from each run is going. I haven’t had any calf fatigue, which is something that’s always plagued me, and my soreness from particular workouts seems to be going away quicker than normal.

I’m crediting this recovery speed to two things: my shoes and strength training. I think my changed foot-strike (using the Brooks Pure Connect) has a lot to do with my calves feeling less sore, as well as why my IT band has started loosening up. I also think the fact that I’ve finally started doing squats, lunges, etc. in my regular lifting routine is paying off in my running. Ground-breaking…I’m sure no one has ever made that statement. I’m learning…

That’s about all for today, but I will leave you with this precious gem for a Monday pick-me-up:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/the-cutest-things-that-ever-happened

Baby animals are the best. Enjoy.

Happy Monday!