Week in Review:
89 Miles
8 Runs | 2 Lift Days | 2 Strides Days
14.3M total with workout of 3x3M via 605/603/600, 1/2M jog, 606/600/602, 1/2M jog, 604/557/556
13M Medium Long Run
22M Long Run with 2 x 5M progression
With the Olympic Trials 48 days away, I’ve just now completed the third full week of training at 80+ miles. On the schedule, that means there are really only 4-5 more weeks of mentally taxing, physically grueling training on the horizon.
Running with Endy has been fun
On Wednesday, I ran with Jay to do the standard marathon workout of 3 x 3 miles at a few seconds under marathon pace. While running around a gently rolling 3M loop, I felt relaxed and comfortable and didn’t check my watch for splits. I could tell that the effort was even and that I was accurately assessing my body’s response to the work. I'd love to implement this same strategy at Atlanta - one that involves running on feel and trusting that the effort matches my goal.
For the easy days in between, I’ve been really lucky to log 20+ miles with my dog, Endy. Now that he’s over 1.5 years old, he’s got the stamina to keep up with me for back to back 10+ mile runs. His four-legged company makes me feel like I’ve got a running buddy on days that I opt to sleep in later than my human running friends.
The Canada Long Run Crew (with Jenna behind the camera lens)
On Saturday, a large group of us got together at Canada Road for tough 22-miler with an uptempo progression in between. With 5 miles warmup, 6 miles cooldown, and a workout sandwiched in between, it was definitely a grind — both mentally and physically. But, it’s always easier together and together you all win. That’s definitely what happened on Saturday! Jeff, Max, Koda, Liza, Jeannette, Jenna and I all ran together for the first progression tempo, but on the second one, there were only 5 of us. With the rolling hills of Canada Road, it was a true test of how good we could be on “running on effort” when faced with a sizable uphill or downhill.
With just a half mile to go in the last tempo, my legs started to feel super heavy. Liza pulled ahead of me on the final downhill and I struggled to maintain just below 610 pace as I felt like my legs were dangerously close to shutting down in the same way they would if I were “hitting the wall” at mile 20 of a marathon. The beep from my watch for the lap split couldn’t have sounded better, as I was silently urging the Garmin to malfunction and beep sooner than the actual mile mark. Liza’s daughter Maddie was being pulled behind Koda in the kidrunner stroller. Fortunately for me, they had conveniently strapped some bottles of Maurten to Maddie’s carriage and I desperately asked for a bottle, which Liza graciously gave up. It was a rough bit for a few minutes there, but together with these tough people, they helped me bring me back so that I could finish the rest of the run.
Today’s struggle was a nice reminder that anything can happen on race day and helped me practice how to handle those issues when they come up. On this particular day, Jenna, Jeannette and Liza’s company helped pull me along; more specifically, I focused on how much they were sacrificing just by being there on a Saturday, taking time away from med school, or time with their family, to run together as a group. That was enough motivation for me to finish out the run with my friends.