Mon - 7 miles
Tue - 9 miles
Wed - 11 miles (medium long run)
Thu - 6 miles
Fri - 10.5 miles (progression run)
Sat - 6 miles
Sun - 14.5 miles (long run)
Total: 64 miles
Week three in the books and it was very much a success. I’ve been able to get my mileage back to around the range I want it a little faster than I thought I would and I’m feeling more like my normal self every day. My heart rate is still way too high for the paces I’m running, but it’s coming down all the time, as is my resting heart rate, both good signs that I’m making gains in my fitness level. On the injury front, my hip is 100% now and the rest of my body seems to be holding up pretty well too. I did battle a sore left calf this week, but it never bothered me during any of my runs (only got tight after), and as soon as I hit it with a little e-stim on Wednesday and Thursday it got better quickly to the point where it was fine from Friday on. My only complaint right now is a sore left shin, and I’m pretty sure that’s just the effects of getting back into things. I always seem to get shin splints in one leg or the other any time I take some time off and then return to running. No big deal, just something to keep an eye on and make sure I treat so it stays under control.
I don’t have a lot to report on the specifics of the week since most everything was just going out and putting in the miles. The best runs of the week were Friday and Sunday. I didn’t expect much on Friday based on the way I was feeling, but Andrew and I wound up getting in a solid progression run over the Greenway 10-miler course. After 3 miles at a little over 7 min pace, we cut the pace down for the next 5.5 miles, getting all the way down to a 3:00 flat last half mile. I hit the loop about 2 minutes faster than the week before and was definitely pleased with the effort. On Sunday, Dave, Andrew, and I hit the Goat Farm Short loop, a course through the hills of Fincastle that has almost 2,000 feet of climbing and therefore almost 4,000 feet of total elevation change over about 13.5 miles. It was slow early and I felt pretty bad to be honest, but by the second half of the run I was feeling pretty good and the pace had worked down and stayed solid throughout. We had lots of 6:40’s and 50’s and finished with a mile on the track where we timed the last lap at 6:24 pace.
Anyway, this week will be more of the same. I’m pretty much going to lock into the training pattern I’ve had the past couple weeks and keep it going for the foreseeable future. I do plan on adding in a stride workout this week and keeping it in the rotation going forward. It won’t be anything crazy, just something like 8 times 30-seconds strides at 5k pace with 60 seconds recovery. All I want to do is work on my form a little and remind my legs what it’s like to turn over at a little faster rate. I figure if I do one of those, a medium long run, a faster paced day (progression run or steady state run), and a long run, that makes for a pretty good base building week. String enough of those together and I should develop some solid, aerobic fitness that I can put to use down the road. Onward!
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