After a hectic few days that did not include as much running as my training planned called for, I finally started to get back into things on the Monday of week 7. In a move that will not surprise my return readers, I did not get my butt out of bed to run on Monday morning. I thought about it, even set an alarm. But sure enough, rolled over and went back to bed, promising myself that I would run after work.
That evening I got home from work, and set myself up to go on a treadmill run. My husband got home from a bike ride right before I started, and mentioned how it was tolerable outside….. so in a non-committal way I headed towards the front door, just to test the water. It seemed ok, so I shifted gears and headed outside. I listened to a podcast, and just made my way though some easy miles. I got through the six miles on my schedule, and then made time for a 10 minute stretch before sitting down for dinner.
I made plans to meet Mike at a local track on Tuesday morning, but after a rough night of sleep that included my knee aching enough to wake me up, I felt like it would be a bad idea for my knee. I had actually managed to get myself out of bed that morning, so I decided to do some light strength work and yoga in. I know from experience that when my knee starts to hurt I often am slacking with strength training, so I did a 15 minute strength for runners class and a 10 minute core class, followed by a half hour of yoga.
After work my knee was feeling better, so I decided to make another attempt at my interval run. I didn’t have a run buddy, and I don’t like being at the track alone, so I hopped on the treadmill.
I did a mile warm-up, then hopped off the tread to do some stretches. Then I spent half a mile alternating easy miles with strides before getting into the quality part of my workout. The schedule called for a ladder workout, starting at 400 m, working up to 1600 m, and then back down to 800 m, with 400 m of rest between each. I felt really good, and it was nice to have shorter intervals at the start after four hard 1200m intervals last week. When the distance built up to a mile, I had to employ some positive self talk to keep myself moving to hit that one mile mark, and managed to do it at a 7:53, as intended. Once I got passed the one mile interval, the return side of the ladder was easier mentally, having already conquered the hardest part.
When I got though all of the speedy parts of the run, I did a mile cooldown before hopping off the treadmill. I was really pleased with how this run felt, and had totaled 7.5 miles at the end of the run. The icing on the cake with this run? For this first time this year I hit my 100 mile goal for the month with more than a week to spare.
I was happy to have an off day on Wednesday and even got to head by my grandpa’s house to hang out and watch jeopardy after work. Before bed I decided to get in a little bit of strength work, by logging onto the Peloton app. I picked a 20 minute strength for runners’ class, and then spent some time on recovery, by working on my quad with a massage gun for a while.
The weather looked promising Thursday morning – temps in the 60s and low humidity? What a gift for July! I set out a new pair of running shorts (a pair of Oiselle long toolbelt rogas that I picked up in a recent “fast faves” sale), hoping that the promise of new running gear would motivate me to get moving in the morning. I may have snoozed my alarm a little, but I ultimately managed to get moving. My schedule told me I had a 7 mile tempo run on tap, and I was hopeful that I would be able to hit the paces that I wanted to. I started with a one mile warmup, and then stopped to stretch and grab a sip of water before picking up the pace. The weather was cooler than usual, but as the sun continued to rise I was thankful for each patch of shade that I could find. I was running loops around my neighborhood and made it a point to weave a little extra as I headed further from home. I wanted to stop and walk so many times, and kept bargaining with myself to hang onto the pace for a little longer.
I told myself that when I got to the halfway point I could stop for some water, and at 3.5 miles made a quick pit stop at the house, where I chugged water and popped a few honey stinger gummies before I got outside again. I also grabbed a visor, since I was starting to sweat into my eyes. I got moving again, and struggled a little to get back down to a sub-9 pace. I got there, but was thwarted when I hit an uphill, and in my pace frustration walked up the hill. Ugh! But I did not give up, I once again got moving, and picked up the pace. The subsequent miles did not go as well as the first ones. It was more of a struggle to hang onto the pace, and I paused my watch and walked a few times. I managed to get though all of mile 6 at tempo pace without stopping, but when I saw the time on my watch, I knew that I would not have the time to get through mile 7 before work. So I started heading back towards my house, and finished my run with a total of 7.2 miles, with 6 miles run at a sub-9 pace. I stretched quick, and then rushed to get ready for work.
I really wanted to get in a swim after work on Thursday night, but got stuck at the office too late and the pools were near closing by the time I got home. Womp womp. I was hopeful that I would get myself to the pool at least once before the end of the week.
Friday morning the weather looked agreeable again, so I set an alarm in hopes of getting out to run before work. I snoozed my alarm, but as I considered sleeping for another hour, I thought of two words: Cumulative Fatigue. AKA the cornerstone of hanson’s marathon method. The thought was enough to get me out of bed and into running clothes, and when I got moving outside I was happy to discover that the humidity was tolerable, and it was actually kind of pleasant outside. I popped on a podcast and enjoyed just moving along, not thinking about my pace.
When I finished my run, I realized that I was already at 26 miles for the week, and was pretty pleased with myself about it. My weekend training schedule called for a total of 22 miles, so I was on track for my highest mileage week in a long time. I was hoping to get my “long” run in on Saturday, so on Friday night I set out an outfit, and packed my long run supplies all together.
Of course, luck would have it that I woke up Saturday morning with a throbbing headache, feeling super dehydrated. Dennis had planned to accompany me on his bike, but as he started to get ready, I told him to go back to bed. I took some asprin, drank some water, and went in search of some breakfast, hoping that food would improve my overall well-being.
After an easy morning, I was feeling a little better, so I decided to test the waters on my treadmill. I had to do an 8 or a 14 mile run, and the 14 mile run had a prescribed pace of 9:30. As I trotted along on my treadmill, I tried to turn the pace up a little bit each mile, inching closer to that 9:30 goal, figuring that I could catch that pace if I could pull off some negative splits. But as I approached mile 6 I was already bargaining with myself to keep moving forward, and I was rapidly feeling worse, despite taking in fuel as I ran. Ultimately, I made it to 8 miles, and decided that I would just have to see where I was at on Sunday and hoped that I could get my full distance in regardless of the pace.
When i finished the less-than-stellar 8 miles, i questioned why I felt so cruddy… and came to the realization that the only protein I had consumed the day before was a single scoop of protein powder after my morning run. Whoops. I made sure to up my intake for the rest of the day.
The key to making sure you show up for your long runs? Accountability buddies! I made plans to meet Katie and Michal on Sunday morning, and since they were planning to run 10 and 8 miles respectively, I talked Mike into meeting me at mile 8 to finish off the last 6 miles with me. I woke up to discover it was a rainy morning, and despite my best efforts to get to a group run on time, managed to miss an exit and show up 10 minutes late. In my haste to throw my fuel into my hydration pack, I forgot to take off my glasses. I almost never run with them on, so almost get confused by how well I can see when I accidentally bring them along on runs.
We headed onto the path and trudged up some hills, chatting as we made our way through the miles. We planned to run out and back for the first 8 miles, so that Michal could finish her run back by the car, and we could pick up Mike for the last few miles. Around mile 5 we found ourselves in a real downpour, and by asthma decided to take a seat at the head of the table. I went from feeling good, to struggling to get words out as we chatted. Thankfully Katie and Michal were super understanding, and walked with me for a minute while I caught my breath. Once we started running again I focused on one breath at a time, and did more listening than talking. When we got to mile 8 Michal said goodbye, and Mike joined our run. We turned around and went up the path in the same direction, having to take on the big hill once more as we did a 2 mile out and back so Katie could finish her miles.
When I hit mile 10 it was just Mike and I for the last 4, as we steadily got more drenched by the rain. I was really struggling with my breathing, and was so thankful that Mike had agreed to meet me, and was being gracious with me when I needed walk breaks. He chatted and kept me occupied, and after what felt like a very long time, my watch buzzed and announced that I had completed 14 miles – just as the rain started to let up.
I was soaking wet, and immediately pulled off my waterlogged shoes when I got into the car and swapped my wet shirt for a dry one. I hadn’t thought to grab a towel, and would wind up soaking the seat enough that it would be wet until the next day. I was pooped for the rest of the day, which I mostly spent doing laundry, but had pulled off a 48 mile week – something I hadn’t accomplished in a really long time.