A Tale of Two Weeks
I ran the modified first week of 12/70 as I planned from the last entry, and it had a big high and a pretty low low. First, I really nailed my MP workout on Wednesday. I was able to run the last 8 miles of a 15 mile run at a 6:53 pace, and it felt pretty do-able. This gave me tremendous confidence, as the run was in less-than-ideal conditions - low 70s temps and moderate humidity.
By the time I got to Saturday's 16, it started off well enough, but about 10 miles in I knew something was wrong - I was way more fatigued than normal, and by mile 13 I had to slow down because I was just sucking wind. That was very frustrating - to be able to hold a sub-7 pace for the second half of a 15-miler three days prior and then not be able to hold 8:30 really made me wonder if I was overreaching. The best I can gather is that the run on Wednesday took more out of me than I thought, and I didn't adequately recover enough on the days in between to handle Saturday's run in the hot (low 80s) and humid conditions. I also wonder if I was a little dehydrated.
That was the first long run I have struggled to finish in over a year, so during the second week of the plan, I decided to follow the mileage, but really take it easy on the easy days, as it was very hot and humid again this past week.
Just as a comparison, here were my first two weeks, with mileage, workouts and average pace:
Week 1 (7/25)
Monday: 11 @ 8:08
Tuesday: 6 @ 9:40
Wednesday: 15/8@GMP (6:53) @ 7:25
Thursday: 5 @ 9:08
Friday: 8/10 strides @ 8:17
Saturday: 16 @ 9:02 (last 3 are SLOW-10+min pace and horrible)
Sunday: Rest
TOTAL: 61.21 mi
Week 2 (8/1)
Monday: 12 @ 9:25
Tuesday: 11 @ 8:58
Wednesday: 5 @ 9:20 AM 4.8 @ 9:35 PM
Thursday: 9/4@HMP (6:37) @ 7:47
Friday: 3.4 @ 10:02
Saturday: 17 @ 9:03
Sunday: Rest
TOTAL: 62.43 mi
A couple of things jump out. First the average paces are a little misleading, but I definitely ran the MP workout pretty fast. That took a lot out of me. Then, right before I did the 16, I did an 8-miler at a pace that wasn't super-hard, but perhaps too hard given the conditions to allow for good recovery before the 16. In the second week, I ran an unplanned double on Wednesday, so on Friday I went very short and slow with the dog, in a run which pretty much felt like a day off, and that made Saturday's 17 very comfy even though the average pace was similar to last week, and I felt like I could have run a lot longer. Much of Saturday's run was in a downpour as well, which also probably helped (even though in the second half the rain stopped and was pretty warm and humid).
The bottom line I think is that the heat and humidity is still affecting what I can do and how quickly I can recover and I need to really pay attention to that. The failure on the 16 was a real wake up call and I really paid attention to the amount of rest, my diet, and my effort on my runs in the second week to make sure I didn't have another bad long run.
What's Coming Up
This week Catherine and I travel to Grand Rapids for another adventure in relay racing. We'll start in Grand Rapids at Riverside Park and head up North to Cadillac, MI on the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail, circle Lake Cadillac, and then head back South to Grand Rapids, so I will again have to again adjust my training schedule. I want to get at least one medium length run and one long run in before the relay, but I also need time to recover for and from the long run. So here's what I'm thinking:
Monday: 14 miles, start slow, take it very easy and see how it goes
Tuesday: 5 miles recovery
Wednesday: 16 miles, much like Monday
Thursday: 5 miles recovery
Friday: Relay day 1. I'm running a 5 miler and a 9.5 miler. Both will probably be at a pretty hard pace - maybe HMP for the 5 miler and MP for the 9.5 miler.
Saturday: Last Leg of the relay, 6.6 miles at whatever I can manage after little to no sleep
Sunday: Wake up at 4am to work Rock and Roll half marathon, sleep lots in the afternoon and rest.
Total: 61.1 miles
I took an off day before Madison to Chicago, the weather for that relay was perfect, and I was running lower mileage, still recovering somewhat from Green Bay, so thus I don't anticipate the relay runs this time around being anything near the quality of what my runs were in June. I am definitely going to run these legs with a different purpose - to continue to dial into HMP and MP and hopefully get a small boost to my Lactate Threshold while not killing myself in the process. It should be fun regardless.
I should have a pretty spirited entry next week sometime. I hope to have some pics of the relay, a report on that, as well as my experience volunteering at Rock and Roll, which will be my first ever attempt at working a water station. Good times!
Hope to see you at the RNR! My first half!
ReplyDeleteGREAT MP run! As for the downs, your theories make sense, dehydration, recovery. I think the weather is really making things hard lately, like it's accumulating in suckage. All I can say is hold tight, a week or two more and things should start improving.
ReplyDeleteGood luck at the relay!
Mary - I'm so excited for your first half! Look for Catherine and I at the water station at mile 6!
ReplyDeleteGIM, I think you're right, it was considerably cooler and drier today and I felt like I was back to normal. Hopefully training in all this suck will pay off if I get a nice day to race.