Mon: 7 miles
Tue: AM – 4 miles; PM – 8 miles, including strides/drills
Wed: 10 miles, including A.T. session
Thu: 6.5 miles
Fri: AM – 4 miles; PM – 9 miles, including turnover work
Sat: 6.5 miles
Sun: 15 miles
Total: 70 miles
This was a pretty good week. Everything went according to plan, and it was a nice step in the right direction. I wish my fitness was higher than it is, but I guess that’s always the case. However, I am definitely paying the price for missing three weeks of training, and attempting to run fast on hot, humid afternoons only accentuates that fact. Regardless, if I can continue to knock out weeks similar to this one, I should eventually get back where I need and want to be, even though it might take longer than I would like.
I started the week with an easy day on Monday followed by a double on Tuesday with drills and strides towards the end of the afternoon run. I’m doing my drills barefoot now, hoping to reap the benefits of the drills while strengthening my feet at the same time. It’s working great so far, but it might be a bit more difficult when winter arrives in a couple of months. I’ve already started planning for that though by purchasing a pair of Brooks Pure Drifts. If you take the insole out of the Drifts, they have a heel-toe drop of zero, so between that and how flexible they are, they’re about as close to barefoot as you can get and should allow me to do what I want to do even when the ground is cold and/or wet.
On Wednesday, I accompanied Andrew for the first part of his marathon workout which consisted of six times a mile with 60 seconds recovery. I did the first four and was pretty pleased with the way it went. I was able to run more volume than I did in the aerobic threshold session from the week before and was also able to do it at a slightly faster pace while feeling more comfortable. That’s a win-win-win for those counting. However, it was still just six minute pace, so nothing to get excited about.
After an easy day on Thursday, I tackled a track session Friday on what was a very warm, humid afternoon. After a warm-up and some drills, I did 4X400, 4X200, and 4X100. I can’t say much good about it other than I finished and got some work done (my heart rate maxed out at 191), but the splits were slower than I would have liked and none of it felt good, so overall it was a struggle and a bit disappointing.
Saturday was a day where I ran slow and felt like I was taking it easy, but my heart rate indicated otherwise. That’s one of the things I like about wearing a heart rate monitor. It can tell you things that you might not know otherwise. I believe I was pretty taxed from the week and my body was struggling even at the pace I was running. I probably should have slowed down even more than I did or even cut the run short, but I did make note of it with the idea of adjusting my plans if I didn’t seem recovered the next day. Fortunately I did feel much better the next day and managed to run the Lee’s Gap loop in Fincastle at a decent clip without any issues. I won’t say it was easy, but then again this loop has over 1,900 feet of total elevation change and isn’t easy even when you’re fit and feeling good, so to complete it as well as I did at this point in time was a pleasant surprise.
The next two weeks could prove challenging for me based on my work schedule, but there’s nothing I can do about it other than try my best to stay on track. It’s unfortunate timing based on the fact that this is the point where I should be just starting to build some momentum, but it is what it is. Once I clear this, things should settle down a bit for me, and I’m really looking forward to that on many levels. Onward!
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