Training log - Week ending 5/6/2018

This week was 56 miles of running, 16 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

First week back.  I started off with my preferred "ease into it" workout - hill repeats in Georgetown where I run medium hard up one of the side streets between Water and M Streets, and then loop around and down another of the side streets.  It ends up being about 60-70 seconds of somewhat hard running with 2:30 recovery between each rep.  I like this because it's not very stressful due to the long recovery, and the uphill forces me to maintain good form.

That having gone well, I returned to the track with 3200, 1600.  I had low expectations for this workout, given that it was my first workout back and also unusually warm (70 degrees), so I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went and how comfortable I felt.

On Sunday, I ran 2x4 miles at marathon pace.  Why?  Well...though I'm entered in the Garry Bjorklund half-marathon at Grandma's in mid-June, I started considering swapping to the full after I finished Boston.  

There's a few good reasons for doing so - I feel more confident of my ability to run a good marathon in mid-June than I do of my ability to shift gears and run a good half.  And a friend who had to drop out of Boston is targeting Grandma's - if I switch, that gives him a training partner.  

I'm not missing much else by doing Grandma's full - the only races I care about that would be sacrificed are the Loudoun Street Mile and the Bjorklund half, each of which I've run several times before.  And all the other races that are important to me are in August and later, so I'm not compromising them as long as I don't get injured.

There's also an obvious question: didn't you try this before (Chicago and then CIM) and found out it wasn't the best choice for you?

Well...yes.  But in retrospect, I think that my struggles at CIM were not because of lingering fatigue from Chicago.  Rather, I didn't have enough time between Chicago and CIM - I only got two weeks of training in between recovery and taper.  This time, I'll have four weeks.  

Also, I made the crucial mistake of speeding up my marathon pace work slightly in the gap between Chicago and CIM, under the belief that I might be fitter for the second race.  Nope.  Bad idea.  So this time, I'm backing off on the marathon pace work.  6:45s were what I was holding in February and March, but 7:00 pace is fine for now.  Heck, I might even pull back more and run even slower on hot days.

Very few people can run two marathons in a short period of time, and be in better shape for the second.  And I'm not one of them.  At best, I'll probably be about 85-90% as fit for Grandma's as I was for Boston.  And that sucks but it is what it is.  It's still worth going out and giving it a shot - especially since (as noted above) I'm helping a teammate by doing so and not missing much myself.

This weekend's 2x4 at marathon pace was a test to see how I felt.  And....it went OK.  I didn't struggle or go to the well, and I finished feeling like I could have done more.  At the same time, it didn't feel as easy as I had hoped it would.  Perhaps it was fatigue from ramping stuff back up, or the jump in temperatures and humidity this week.  And as my teammate noted, this isn't supposed to be an easy workout.  The problem may have been my expectations, not my reality.

Either way, the workout didn't dissuade me from my decision.  And looking at the calendar, we've got some hot weather coming up.  When it's hot, I'd much rather train for a marathon than a half.  One can run a solid marathon off of just mileage; I need tempos to run a good half.  No matter how hot it is, I can slow down and still get the miles in; I need decent weather for a quality tempo.


Dailies

Monday: Foam rolling, upper body weights and core, and 7 "miles" of pool-running.

Tuesday: 10 miles, mostly easy, but with 8x60-70 second hill repeats with 2:30 recovery.  Also injury prevention work and 1150 yards recovery swimming.

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy to yoga (9:17), yoga, and then 4 miles very easy home (9:17), plus drills and 4 strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core and 9 "miles" of pool-running; foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 10 miles, including 3 mile warm-up (8:52), then a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 12:56 (6:32/6:23) and 6:19.  4.5 mile cool-down (8:54), plus injury prevention work and 1500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:07), drills and four strides, and then upper body weights and core and DIY yoga.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  14 miles, including 2x4 miles in 27:52 (6:58/7:01/6:55/6:58 - 6:58 pace) and 27:55 (6:59/7:01/7:01/6:54 - 6:59 pace).  Followed with injury prevention work and 600 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in the evening.