Week in Review
91 Miles
8 Runs | 0 days off | 2 Lift days | 1x strides
14.6M with 8M alternating every 600m @ 92-94, 1000m @ 84-86
14M with 9M alternating 552-604/620-640
23.7M Time on Feet hilly long run in 7:09 average
Phew! Somehow summarizing on paper my runs this week made me more tired than the actual running itself! I guess that’s a good sign! I’ve been surprised at how tirelessly I’ve been able to maintain running 90 miles a week, with an increased intensity than in previous cycles. It feels a little surreal. Like, how is this possible to feel this strong? A part of me expects an acute injury to sneak up, but it hasn’t happened yet. And, of course, I’ve been very intentional about lifting regularly, eating a well-balanced diet and taking the rest when I need it, so hopefully that injury never happens.
On Tuesday, Dena switched things around for Mara so she and I could do the same workout together on the track. While on paper, the workout of 8 miles alternating every 600m and 1000m sounded fairly easy, it was a mental grind of 32 laps on the track. I don’t prefer to do long tempos or repeats on the track during marathon training, because it’s just so much harder for me to stay mentally engaged with so many laps. But, this is exactly the sort of practice that will prepare us best for the Atlanta course, which has criterion style 8M loops. It was great to work together with Mara and to get a feel for what it might be like if we are running side by side at the Trials race.
When Terry sent the training for this week and next, after considering my current fitness and ability to handle the last few weeks of greater intensity, he decided to push the envelope a little bit before taper. So, after two days of easy runs, on Friday, I was back at it with a 9 mile tempo with Jenna at Baylands. While Terry had instructed me to go on a moderately hilly route, it was too difficult for me to orchestrate that without sacrificing having Jenna’s company, so we just went flat from my house. The workout went great, minus having to stop for a quick bathroom break after mile 5. My legs felt fresh and the pace felt comfortable, two things that definitely were not expected considering the workout on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, I spent some time hanging out with Jenna, Ollie and Matthias while Peter took some pics of me in the new Brooks racing kit for the Trials. It’s been a lot of fun to make the most of my time with Ollie before they move to Seattle in just a few short weeks.
On Sunday, Jenna and I met for a time on feet long run through Los Altos Hills, to Stanford and back to downtown Los Altos. We grabbed Tom and Imran for parts of it, which made the conversation rotate on to interesting topics. Even though I never checked the pace the whole run, the first part was substantially uphill, and I felt so bad and my breathing was so heavy that I questioned whether I’d be able to complete the run. Fortunately, that feeling dissipated, but then was replaced with some stomach issues through miles 14-22. While my legs felt totally fine for the entirety of the run, it was pretty uncomfortable. I made two stops and even had to stop to walk at 22 miles to let the feeling pass.
Jenna wins the award for best long run buddy this cycle, as we have run every single long run together in 2020. That’s 5 long runs for a cumulative total of 107 miles!
