Sunday August 20, 2017
Tuesday– Track day…
Woke up ready for a great workout. I had a 1600 and 2 x 1K on the schedule and Carrie volunteered to come out and keep a good pace. My left calf and foot has been tight and wasn’t sure where my target would fall. I was looking to keep a 7:50 1600 and knew I had to hit 1:56 on the 400’s. I don’t look at my watch as Carrie was calling out splits at the 400’s. I hit 1:56 and was running right on target and more importantly on feel. I finished out the 1600 at 7:33 which was quick but a good sign that I was quicker than I had anticipated.
Although the foot and calf was a little sore, I finished out strong. The 1K’s followed and I was trying to keep it close to 1:53 or 1:52. Again, Carrie was calling splits at the 400’s as I never looked at my watch and ran on feel. The first 1K was clocked in at 4:36 and the 2nd at 4:37 but I had to work back to pace for the last 600 of the last K. I usually have a strong kick at the end and needed it to keep pace.
Overall, I felt good and it always feels tough during the workouts but so rewarding. Finished off with a good 10 mins stretch and roll which feels soooo good!
Wednesday– Recovery run
I met up with Carrie who put in a few miles before joining me for my 6 miler. I put in the Enertor insoles to see how that would impact my running. Still having some slight pain as I got close to mile 4-4.5 especially on the uphill. I think I have to work out my left calf which is tight and could be causing some of the pain or tingling feeling in the foot.
The run went well and I’m digging my new light from Amphipod which lights up the road clearly! Speaking of Amphipod, the company reached out to me after I sent my review and video of the running light. I’m hoping to become a product tester in the future and provide some feedback.
Thursday– Easy run (Treadmill)
I wanted to give my feet a little bit of a break but still get in some miles. The treadmill is not my first choice and although it does work the muscles differently, it is a nice supplement to the road for the softer landing pad which is nice to have to help give my feet a break from the pavement.
It took me a few miles to wake up on the treadmill, I was feeling a little sluggish but settled into a nice groove. The only thing about the treadmill at my gym… there is a 30 min auto stop to prevent people like me who need to run on it longer :). Fortunately, I only had to start it up once. After a good easy run with my Enertor insoles which I’m trying again, I made my way to the mats for a nice long stretch and roll. I’m actually looking forward to doing my various stretching and rolling. I see it as my 10 minutes to unwind and help relieve some of the tightness.
In fact, In all of my 10 weeks, I have only missed 1 day of stretching and rolling… that’s 69 days out of 70 where I have stretched at least once a day, sometimes twice. I can honestly say that I really like to spend that time after my runs cooling down my muscles and staying loose!
Saturday– Long run
I was hoping to have a good run after last weekend which turned out to be a tough run that was in the hot muggy and rainy condition. I knew that my left foot which has been an ongoing issue would get painful but I had a plan. I was not hell-bent on pushing through the pain to the point I would feel like I did last weekend and suffer for most of the week.
This time, I was planning on running a good pace and if/when the pain set in, run through it and see if I can push it for a little longer then take a short rest and continue. The run played out as good as I could have hoped for. The first 6 miles went very well as I made my way back to the car to swap out my hydration bottle and catch my breath. I then had a really good 4 miles after the break. My foot did give me some pain and I stopped a few times for 30-40 seconds and got back on my feet.
I remember around mile 10 thinking to myself what a difference a week makes. The weather was much nicer and not muggy like last weekend with the storms and humidity and high dew points. This morning I was feeling relaxed and in control throughout the run, more importantly, not exhausted for running 12 miles. I was in a good place throughout the run both mentally and physically. I’ve come to terms that I will be in pain on race day, there’s no way around it. At the same time, I want to get to the starting line feeling pretty good. I was prepared to cut the run short by a few miles if I needed to in order to preserve the foot but everything worked out and I got my 12 or 12.1 miles in just for good sake!
Sunday– Recovery run
The day after a long run is always tough to get those tired legs of mine moving. I put no pace on these runs, not that I would walk it but the legs are going to be tired and a little sore after a hard run 24 hours prior. This morning, I ran the first two miles just over 10 mins which is slow for me. I was running uphill a little to go with the fatigue from yesterdays long run.
But I was also paying attention to how my whole body was feeling. I was a little sore but not in pain, that was great! My foot was not giving me fits and although my turnover was slow, it’s all about getting the legs moving regardless of what the pace is. Pace is irrelevant on recovery days, getting used to running on tired legs like on race day helps prepare you for that moment.
This was a great week for training both for speed and the long run. I was more worried about the long run than speed in terms of holding up and not having the pain that would make it tough to run. I feel very good a day after my long run when normally the foot is very tight and doesn’t respond as well.
Now I have a cutback week which I am looking forward to before a few more tough weeks before the taper!
Athlete tracker..
Everyone seems to be doing great on their workouts as well. Lane is consistently running well in his base building. Meredith had a very strong long run on a hilly course and powered through as she continues to towards her Ironman training for the summer. Anne is early into her Half Marathon training and going strong into her workouts while Hannah is getting good base building before we start her official training in a few weeks!
That’s all from this camp, here’s to hoping for continued cooler mornings but with storm chances this week, I’m afraid the mugginess will soon follow :(.
Have a great week!
n2running 