This week’s stats:
88 miles
15 miles with 4x2 mile @ 552 average
22M with 16 miles @ 630-553 pace
8 runs, 0 days off
2 Lift session + 3 prehab sessions
This marks the second week of mileage just over 85 miles. After 2 weeks complicated by some setbacks, it’s surprisingly felt pretty easy for me to hit 85 miles, which isn’t typically the case for me. I normally feel like 75 miles a week is my sweet spot, but so far, 85 has felt pretty easy to achieve.
For the first time this cycle, I had a midweek workout that actually felt like a grind. During the other 4-5 workouts I’ve done, they’ve felt pretty comfortable. But in the two-mile repeats at Stanford on Wednesday, my legs were heavy. It took every ounce of positive self-talk to convince myself to finish that entire workout. After all, I had put in a ton of quality and quantity last week, with back to back hard runs on Saturday (10M marathon pace tempo) and Sunday (moderate 22 miles). However, by the time today’s long run rolled around, my legs felt pretty accustomed to the higher mileage and higher quality. I finally feel like I’m starting to get my marathon legs back under me, and am slowly building that muscle memory for a marathon.
The crew at the starting point in San Mateo
Speaking of today’s long run, we absolutely crushed it. Not just from a pacing standpoint, but also from a logistics standpoint. We were able to get 9 people to show up for a point to point long run that required most of us to shuttle ourselves 22 miles away and then to uber back to cars parked at the starting point. We ran from San Mateo Crystal Springs Reservoir to Stanford Track. We had the whole group through 9 miles, then Rachel, Max, Tom and I continued with our steady state.
By mile 12, we had dropped Max and so three of us continued to coast down Alpine Road before reaching Stanford. Once we hit Stanford, Rachel and I were running stride for stride, and I was trying to make the last few miles feel as relaxed as possible. Even though I knew the pace must be hot, I wanted it to feel easy. My legs could feel the fatigue in them, but it didn’t feel hard, except for when I ran up a small hill.
By some small miracle, Rachel and I chose a route that would make so we ended 22 miles right in front of my car. Talk about perfection! It was a great long run and I was really happy with how the pace progressed!
immediately after the run, I chugged four bottles of various beverages including Maurten, Nuun, Tea, and Reishi Protein. I’m still thirsty as I type this now…
The whole crew at Stanford, where we finished! With a guest appearance from Endy!