Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Monday, October 4 - Recovery Run
6.01M, 42:48
Garmin Data

Tuesday, October 5- Easy Run/Easy Run+ Hill Sprints
am: 7.02M, 50:35
Garmin Data
pm: 6.20M, 43:17 (6x Hill Sprints)
Garmin Data


Wednesday, October 6 - Easy Run/Tempo 400s

am: 5.01M, 35:19
Garmin Data
pm: 13.02M, 1:23:57 (16x400, 30sec jog R, 72.5avg)
Garmin Data

Thursday, September 30 - Recovery Run
5.51M, 40:00
Garmin Data

Friday, October 1 - Easy Run/Trails+Tempo
am: 5.26M, 38:11
Garmin Data
pm: 15.20M, 1:44:17 (60min Trail + ~40min Tempo/Marathon pace)
Garmin Data

Saturday, October 2 - Recovery Run

6.32M, 45:02
Garmin Data

Sunday, October 3 - Long Run
37.01M, 4:06:25
Garmin Data



Total Week Miles:106.56
Total Week Time: 12hr 09min 56sec

A much quieter and much harder training week. I got pretty close to the edge in every workout. In my mind that is both good and bad.

It's a good sign because I was so relatively unfit and out of practice with regards to speedwork when I started training that I wasn't able to dig very deep in workouts. I wasn't strong enough to push very hard. Now, with increased volume and little bit of speedwork I did in September (365 miles), I'm able to go harder for longer.

The bad side is that I have to be careful not to do too much of that. Friday's workout left me pretty worn out. I bounced back after an easy day Saturday to do my longest training run ever Sunday, but emptied the tank pretty far to do it.

The purpose of Friday's workout was specificity. The course layout for JFK breaks down roughly to 15+ miles on the Appalachian Trail, 26+ on the flat Potomac towpath, and 8+ miles of undulating country roads. For me the mix of trails and roads is always a bit uncomfortable. I liken it to the bike-run transition of a triathlon. There is just a different rhythm to running on the trail. So I went out and ran a little over 60 minutes on the Tech/Nara trails, finishing up near the flat recreational trail that runs along the Portage canal, and then ran a little over six miles at a tempo/marathon pace effort. The trail section was successful in sapping some of the get-up from my legs, so the tempo portion of the run turned out to be harder than I expected. Part of me wonders if this workout is a little too hard. I had originally planned to do this workout three times, adding 10 minutes to the tempo portion each time. Now I think I'll just keep it in the 40-45 minute range and try to make it feel easier.

The long run this week was very tough, but that helped to shine a light on what I need to work on for JFK. The legs felt surprisingly good through out. I was a little sore starting out, but it never really got worse the whole run. I never felt like I was breaking down in that respect. But I had another tough go of it from a fueling standpoint. My stomach just didn't like the gels and Cytomax after about 25 miles. I took a few extra Thermolyte caps and that helped some, but my head started getting very woozy as the run progressed. I need to figure out some sort of fueling strategy that will work late in the race, whether that is more solid food or perhaps holding off on gels for later in the race. Pretzels and bananas have worked in the past so I may go back to them as well. I may give VESPA a try during my next long run in a couple weeks.

The positive side is that even though I didn't feel the greatest, my splits didn't really fall off at all. Mentally, however, I was discouraged by the thought of running 13 more miles. That's what the next six weeks are for I guess.