Catching Up the Past Couple Weeks

July 4-10
Mon: AM - 7 miles; PM - 3.5 miles
Tue: 7.5 mile progression run
Wed: 6.5 miles
Thu: 6.5 miles
Fri: AM - 4 miles; PM - 8.5 miles
Sat: AM - 6.5 miles; PM - 3.5 miles, incl 6 X 20/40 sec strides
Sun: 5 miles easy
Total: 58.5 miles

July 11-17
Mon: 6 miles easy
Tue: AM - 4 miles; PM - 6.5 miles, incl 6 X 20/40 sec strides
Wed: AM - 4 miles; PM - 8.5 miles, incl 6 X 2 min on/off fartlek
Thu: 5.5 miles easy
Fri: AM - 4 miles; PM - 9 miles with a little faster finish
Sat: 5.5 miles, incl 6 X 20/40 sec strides
Sun: 13 miles
Total: 66 miles

The past couple weeks haven’t been perfect, but they have been productive. I’ve had a bad trend for quite a while now of hitting anywhere from 60-70 miles one week then bombing out the very next week with no more than 30-40 miles and sometimes even less than that. So, to hit right at 60 one week then mid-60’s the next week is a step in the right direction, especially since I need consistency right now more than anything else.

The week of July 4th involved a mid-week trip to Fayetteville, WV, for Leslie’s grandfather’s funeral, so that threw things off a bit. He was a great man, who at almost 91 years of age lived a very full life. He served his country in WWII, earning two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, and he had a sharp mind and was able to live on his own and care for himself right up until the end. Pretty amazing! Things like this are always sad, of course, but if ever there was a man whose life could be celebrated, this was it.

That event aside, I still crashed towards the end of the week and had to bail on the long run I had planned for Sunday. That led to some serious evaluation of my training and a change I hope will prevent future roller coaster rides and crashes. Essentially I realized that I was never taking any truly easy days. Too many of my “recovery” days consisted of doubles and/or runs of 50 min or more, oftentimes at average heart rates that were more in the moderate range rather than easy range. So, going forward, Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are going to be VERY easy. Most of the time they’ll consist of just one run of no more than 40-45 min and I’ll be focusing on keeping my heart rate well below what it is for most other runs. Hopefully that will allow me to better process the work I’m doing on the harder days and prevent me from having to alter my plans due to fatigue. It’s one thing to embrace the grind, but another to let that grind turn you into dust!

This past week was my first week employing my new strategy, and it seemed to work pretty well. I was able to hit everything just the way it was planned out, and I actually got in a fartlek workout, a medium long run of sorts with a little faster finish, and the longest single run I’ve done since getting plantar fasciitis back in December, 13 miles on Sunday. Considering my general lack of fitness and how hot/humid the week was, I’ll call that a success.

This coming week will likely look pretty similar to the most recent one. As I mentioned earlier, I think the most important thing for me right now is consistency, so I’m focusing on that above all else. I want to incorporate faster workouts as often as I can because I need those in order to get race fit, but if I can get at least one workout, a couple days with strides, and a long run each week, that should set me up well by the time fall gets here and it gets easier to run hard. Right now it seems like surviving the heat/humidity is about enough of a challenge in and of itself. Until next time, run happy…or run angry…whatever…just run!