Hard to believe, but I am a third of the way through the eighteen week training plan for the Boston Marathon. Took a bit of a cut back/ recovery week; all in all things went well. Reduced overall mileage by 10-15%, and took two rest days instead of one. Also there was only one "hard" workout this week, as the second workout was 19 miles, without any pace, threshold, or interval miles. I use the word in quotation marks, since any run over say 15 miles still poses a fair amount of challenges.
Got to get back on the trails of my beloved Carolina Beach State Park as well for three of my runs, as my work schedule permitted some day time runs, coupled with the annual Wilmington Road Runner's Survival Run this past Sunday. Once again I volunteered to set up and mark courses, of which everyone inevitably gets lost anyway. All in good fun though.
Only injury concern again is some tightness, soreness in my right knee. Taking some extra vitamin C, and some turmeric to help forestall the dreaded head cold, and help with any swelling around the knee area. Been a bad winter flu season, and several people I know have been battling nasty head colds. But as I told Amie, it's hard to make it through an 18 week plan, and not have either a cold, or some type of small injury to force some lost training time. My guess is that some of this is baked into such training cycles, and is why they are as long as they are. Most people will miss some days, and/or some workouts.
Continue to use gels as fuel, and look forward to consuming most runs. Getting better at carrying, opening, and ingesting while running. Something of which I rarely did in previous marathon trainings.
Thinking back to Adam Goucher in Running with the Buffaloes and how he would get such large weekly mileage totals on single, daily runs. Trying to emulate in my own way. Using the Strava app's statistics feature to track; converting the data, for instance, into average distance per daily run. Hoping like him to reap big aerobic benefits from running this way.
Trying to stay focused on each run. Remaining humble and grateful. Catching brief glimpses into what I consider to be God at work in the environment around me. Not giving up, or giving in, before the magic occurs. Whether that be on a daily run, some upcoming race, or at the end of the long, hard road to Beantown.
Week #6 (1/15/18-1/21/18)
68.8 miles total
Monday: 17 miles. WO2. Stayed over in Shallotte so did run on roads on MLK Day. 7 + 8T + 2. Amended WO some, wasn't fully sure going in what I wanted to do, until I actually got a few miles into the run. Knew I wanted to one of the weekly WOs. Instead of beginning the T miles early in the run as prescribed, I put in 7 miles at a decent pace first. Since one of my previous T WOs I had done basically the opposite. Also run called for 4 x 2T w/ 2 min rest. Decided just to knock all 8 out consecutively, trading off the rest and likely faster pace per each mile, for an 8 mile T run at a pace close to 15 seconds below M pace. Felt pretty good and worked hard; didn't check watch except at mile marks. T miles: 6:39, 6:53, 6:43, 6:35, 6:45, 6:40, 6:42, 6:44. Temps were in the 30s w/ a pesky wind about 10+ mph. Had on long pants. Run time- 2:03:55 (pace 7:17)
Tuesday: 8.36 miles. CBSP trails. Easy miles, felt ok. Some tightness/ twinge in upper part of right hamstring. Legs not too beat up from Monday. Run time- 1:18:30 (9:23)
Wednesday: Rest/ recovery
Thursday: 20.05 miles. WO1. Ran w/Amie who had a straight 20 miles as her WO. Started at 7am and was very cold. Temps in the mid 20s with wind chills in the low to mid teens. Wore long pants, two pairs socks, and UNCW sweatshirt over top long sleeve Tec-shirt. Ended up being kind of a survival run, though once sun rose it did help a little, and last half of run or so was fairly tolerable. Steady pace in low 9s. Her first long run since coming off the flu-she was still battling a cough. Ran roads, including River Road and into the Cape. Legs held up ok, but was really counting off the mileage to get done. Longest run I had done since pacing Wrightsville Beach Marathon last March. Run time- 3:04:43 (9:13 pace)
Friday: 7.61 miles. CBSP trails, marking survival run course. Easy pace, had to stop many times briefly to put flags in the ground. Split run into two parts as moved car after a few miles to better access some trails. Was trying to keep mileage down. Did debate doing some hill repeats, but bagged it (On mind, that I need to start incorporating hills more, though did run Snows Cut bridge 2x on Thurs run. Been mentioning to runners doing Boston as well. Need to address in this next 6 week cycle). Pleasant afternoon, temps in the 50s. Run time- 1:16:08 (10:01 pace)
Saturday: Rest/ recovery
Sunday: 15.81 miles. CBSP Trails. Met English Rob at 7am and ran 7+ miles with him before meeting the club for the survival run. Pleasant run and conversation, easy pace 9+ mile/min. 8+ then with several runners- 4 with Michelle, and 8 w/ Kent, Mike, Paul, Stuart, David etc. Good conversations about ultras, marathons, training plans, Boston, hydration, fueling. Typical runners chatting away, good times. Ran a bit harder, low-mid 8 minute miles. Legs got a bit fatigued later in run, but I made mental note in the first few miles with Rob how fresh they felt, as if they were saying "hey isn't it about time for a hard run?" Positive signpost. Enjoyed a big breakfast afterwards in the Visitor's Center of the state park. Run time- 2:22:20 (9:00 pace)
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