14 & 13 weeks to Sugarloaf

Week 13 plan: 50-58 miles
Week 13 actual: 55.5
Key planned work: Two track workouts and a 15 mile long run


Week 14plan: Recovery week, 39 miles
Week 13 actual: 39
Key planned work: 8x400 m repeats and a 12 mile run with 6 miles at tempo/6:45 pace.

Week 13:
MORE EFFING SNOW.  All easy runs were on a treadmill.    My 1000m repeat workout was on the treadmill.  This actually went much better than I was expecting.  I would say the biggest issue was not being able to go through my pre-workout routine of a/b skips, strides, etc.   Really no place for that in the gym.  Was not supposed to have any off-days this week, but a) I had banked some miles earlier in the week (7 miles vs scheduled 5, for example) and b) we got lots of snow Saturday night so Sunday was a shovel day, with no access to a treadmill (YMCA was closed.)    This winter has been incredibly bad.  We're on the verge of setting the season snow fall record in boston, and it isn't even the end of February yet...and as for February, we're on pace for the second coldest Feb in Boston history.  Every single day this month has been blow average temp...I was shocked to see that the average temp this time of year is close to 40 degrees!  At this point, when it gets into the 20s, it feels like the 40s.

I had to take PTO time off from work Friday afternoon to get in my track session at Reggie.  Thanks to state track and field championships every single night that week, I had a window of about 2 hours on Friday I could get my run in.  It was rushed, but I hit my 800 and 400 paces...I was feeling it the next morning though on the long run.

The long run for Week 13 was done with the FHR group of 5-6 folks, doing 2 eight mile loops from JP Licks down to MFA area and back up the SW corridor.  The night prior hit negative temps, and when we started running it was around 5 or 6 degrees...I carried my new handy water bottle with gatorade and 4-5 miles into the run, the nozzle froze over.  Marc from FHR weighed his clothes afterwards and they weighed 8 lbs!   We started off sub 7:20 the first two miles and I was feeling clunky (I guess from the previous days track sesh.)  So, I let the other 4-5 runners get ahead of me...I would catch them at some stoplights, but not on the second loop.  It was fine, I ended up at 7:51 pace for the 16.  Not great, but better than where I was at in the Philly training (see image below.)

Oh, I almost forgot, I got a massage from  Nicole on Wednesday.  This turned the conversation to the groin pain that has been lingering since the Philly taper.  She suggested pubic bone irritation, which caused her tons of problems, and eventually a surgery related to the issue.  Like every other injury I've ever researched online, that sufficiently freaked me out.  Coach Alan suggested that or possibly a sports hernia...either way, I'm hoping this is just "the one thing I'm going to worry about at any given time."  Nicole (who ran at the Athens and Beijing Olympics!) talked to me a bit about my pre-track workout and suggested a) a series of lunge movements: forward/backwards/side w/ pivot and b) walking over low hurdles to open up my hips.  Good input, I think.

Week 14:
Still doing all my easy runs on the treadmill.  Which is a wonderful convenience, but even with the incline at 1% to replicate wind resistance, it still feels like cheating.  Also, this week's track workout was 8x400 and without anyone to pace me, my track speed inexperience was on full-display.  Was shooing for low-mid 80 seconds times, and my first one out was 77 seconds.   Everything else was fine, but I'm sure I put in more effort than I should have, and my runs the rest of the week (that was Tuesday) were harder than they should have been as a result.  Glutes and Hamstrings definitely still feeling the track session--not injured, just sore.

Long run this AM by myself...i settled in on a 1.5 mile out&back in JP that has minimal traffic.  I woke up this AM feeling great, but I struggled wiht my first up-tempo session (shooting for 6:45) and couldn't keep it below 7min pace.  The second 3 mile up-tempo was clear from the downhill start (7:15 range) that I was toast.  Soon after I changed the view on my watch to show my the total runs average pace, not the current lap pace...so was a bit surprised after the run ended to see the drift end up so close to 8 min/miles.

I would say that I'm as worn down mentally as I am physically.  Not broken....just drained.  After 2 really good long runs with Maartje, the last two weeks have been disappointing since I haven't been able to maintain the target pace.

And, one week from my first B race in Arizona, I'll hopefully (weather permitting) be on a plane tomorrow and I'm obviously looking forward to the week in the desert.  A few weeks ago I was very confident I would crack 1:30 at this race, but now I'm not sure.  My legs just aren't feeling strong right now.  We'll see how the next few days go, but I may only be able to aim for low 7 min pace in the race. 

But, when I'm feeling down about the current state of my body, it is nice to look at the progress I've made over the last year.   Through the first 4 weeks...40 more miles, 8 lbs less than Philly (18 less than Boston!) and stronger paces across both the week total and the long run pace.  All good.

Edit: and oh yeah...I turned 37 this week and it did NOT snow that day!  But, I still ran inside on a treadmill.

15 weeks to Sugarloaf

Plan: 50-55 miles, 6 days of running, option for 7, 3 key workouts: track, hills, long run. 

Actual: 50.9 miles @ a total pace of 7:38.

Links to Key workouts:  
Tuesday track - 3200 in 13:00, 4 mins rest, 8x400 in 1:35 with 15 seconds rest; 
Thurdsay hills...SKIPPED; 
 Sunday 15 with the last 4 progressive 7:20 down to 7:00

First off, when I read this years from now, all I'll need to remember is that this is the month I saw the most snow I have ever seen.  As I'm typing this (Monday night) we're in the middle of our 4th storm in 2 weeks, and have now exceeded 5 feet of snow.  There are no sidewalks.  There are no bike baths.  There are no shoulders to run in.  My attempt at this hill session: Friday hills: 5x (30 seconds up, 45 down recovery, 60 seconds up, 90 down, 90 up, 2 mins down recovery actually was attempted Thursday evening on Adams street in Milton...one trip up and I bagged it.  That still just meant I had only one rest day last week, it just meant I replaced a 5 mile hill workout with an easy day.

So for the last 2 weeks, I run at the Reggie Lewis Track or on either the treadmill at work or at the YMCA, and then I've done my long runs with my FHR friends early on Saturday AMs from Jamaica Plain...we run in the streets and haven't had too many issues with cars...just a few jerks here and there.  But since the big blizzard two weeks ago (it feels like a month) I've run outside just 3 times...and the first time I hurt my ankle.  The other two trips out have been for the long runs.  So, I feel like I'm cheating things a bit with all the treadmill running. 

The long runs the last two weeks 14 and 15 miles, both in the low 7:20 range have been a good test for me.  Two weeks ago, I had great energy and rolled through the first 10 miles before doing the hard/easy 2 min workout, which went fairly well.  This week we did two 5 mile loops in JP, and then did our progressive run on a flatter section.  It didn't end up as a true progression run, a hill came into play and my pace fell way below my expectations (down to 7:45.)

The other issue on the last two long runs has been my decision to forgo carrying fuel with me.  No fuel, no water.  And this past week, I paid for it.  Thankfully, a friend I was running with bailed me out with an extra PowerGel (also, he had a PowerGel that basically just tasted like chocolate frosting.  I liked that one.) So, I took fuel at around mile 12 or 13 (without any water) and I don't think it really kicked in until the last mile, but I was happy with the pace of that last mile (which was also downhill.)

Anyway, I'm nit-picking a bit...it was a strong 15 mile long run.  At some point in that training run, I had a 1:36 half marathon time, which a year ago was my 1/2 PR.    I also hit 51 miles this week, in terrible weather, and one of my stronger paces.   IF I had done the hill workout, I would have really been in rough shape for the long run though, so I'm a bit torn between whether or not it was good that I replaced the hill workout with the easy day. 

Looking ahead to week 3 of the 16 week plan...in the words of Coach Alan:

Monday easy 5 recovery, 5x15 second acceleration "strides" in the last mile Tuesday track 8x1000 w/ 400 jog rest in 2:30, first 4 in 3:52, last 4 in 3:48 Wednesday 8@7:40 progressive to 7:10 Thursday easy recovery 5-6, 7:45 pace, 5 strides in last mile Friday track 2000M in 7:42, 4min rest, 6x400 in 85 with 2:00 rest, 6x200 in 37-38 with 1:30 rest. Saturday long? 16@7:30 average Sunday easy 4-5 recovery
Total 58, no days off this week, easy recovery week next week

I'm confident about the track work, especially if I have company at the track.  I also don't see the 8@7:40 as a problem, since it will be on a treadmill.  The long run will be a challenge if it is my 3rd workout of the week.  

58 miles will be the second most miles I've ever run in a week behind the 64 I ran peak week for Philly.

16 weeks to Sugarloaf

Plan: 40-45 miles, 6 days of running, 2 key workouts, including the long run.
Actual: 45.7 miles @ a total pace of 7:38.

Links to Key workouts: 6 x 1200 @ Reggie Indoor and 14 mile long run w/ 6 x 2 min fast/2 min recovery

After last week's long-run failure, my coach suggested I needed to a) get some treatment for the knee issue that has been bothering me for the last 2 weeks and b) pick up the training pace a bit, since he didn't see me moving at the level of someone capable of running a 1:30 half or 3:10 full.  And, given the long-run pace--never much below 7:45--I understood his point.

Mother Nature threw a rest day at me early in the week when we received a fairly massive blizzard (around 2 feet of snow) on Tuesday.  That snowfall was so bad that it actually kept the indoor track closed Wednesday night.  The good news is that I had a training partner last week for the two key runs who is currently at the level I would like to be at in mid-May, so we were able to coordinate our week together to do a strong 1200 workout, coming in at and slightly below our targets for all 6 reps.

a peaceful and empty track

We also managed to meet up for the long run yesterday, which she claimed would be 10 miles at a 7:30 pace...which at the time daunted me a bit, but as is normally the case, if I'm running with other/stronger runners, I get moving pretty well.  I really really have trouble pushing myself to fast paces through long runs.  I can do my tempo workouts to my target times, but if I just venture out for a long run on my own, I just can't seem to get moving right away down at sub 7:30 pace...so having the company yesterday was tremendous.  Plus, she mapped out a route that had us in mostly empty streets and not running on the layer(s) of snow and ice.

Besides these two speedy/strong workouts, I kept three easy runs at sub 8 min mile, and substituted a hard elliptical session for one recovery run on Friday.  One of the easy runs came before the storm, and one came on a treadmill on Saturday AM (we received more snow that AM) and then one was on Wednesday, the day after the storm.  That run I was in the streets (people aren't keeping up with the shoveling) and I did turn my ankle very hard, and I've been icing and compressing since.  While the ankle is bothering me when I torque it around at home, it doesn't seem to be a major issue for me when I run, but it has been more sore after running than before.

HOWEVER, as is usually the case with me...I'm only feeling one pain at a time.  So, the ankle pain has supplanted the knee pain.  I am hopeful I can get treatment on my knee this week anyway, the next two weeks will have mileage at 50+ miles before I get a cut-back week the week of my birthday.

Of course, today we're getting another foot of snow.  I'll be on the treadmill today definitely, and maybe 1-2 more days this week as well for easy runs.