"First comes the shy wish. Then you must have the heart to have the dream. Then, you work, and work." - Estee Lauder
Monday:
10 AM: 9.4 miles averaging 7min pace. Easy laps of Davidson Mesa with 3x30sec fast since I knew it would not be muddy there due to the crushed gravel. Felt easy but average pace shows otherwise I guess. Feeling good today so there is that as well.
5 PM: 50mins lifting... VASA Lift class with Paula... Leg day, lots of deadlifts.
Tuesday:
6:30 AM: 8.2 miles averaging 7:45pace. Took all my will power to get out the door this morning in the rain, at
least it was not coming down very much. Parked at work and ran out past Sterns Lake and back. Super chill this morning, legs
really did not have anything for me this morning, quads and hip flexors
were tired and sore it seemed, most likely from lifting last night. All good, made me keep this chill.
6 PM: 8.2 miles averaging 6:55pace. 2 plus mile warmup- Dash-n-Dine 5K in 17:49 - 2 plus mile cooldown. Was
not planning on racing, just jogging it because how crappy I have been
feeling all day but once the gun went off I got sucked into racing.
Started a few rows back and just worked my way up the field ending in
3rd place overall. Probably could have ended up 2nd if I would not have
started so far back but oh well. About 15secs off my PR which I will
take considering how windy it was tonight, in the middle of higher mileage training, and how I was feeling all day today. Call that a win in my book. Great meal afterwards they served us. Plan on going again next week.
Wednesday:
9 AM: 11.4 miles averaging 7:35pace. Easy cruise with Michi and Taylor around Davidson Mesa. Let them pick
the pace until they dropped off at mile 7 then just cruised along easy.
Legs are really shot today, achy... Need to get in the airboots
tonight. Another Hans flyby. He seems to be out there every Wednesday doing speedwork to get ready for Western States.
5 PM: 50mins lifting... VASA Lift- upper body followed by 45mins in the airboots when I got home.
Thursday:
9:30 AM: 8.7 miles w/ 400ft of vert averaging 7:35pace. Easy cruise by Sterns up the hill and back between meetings this
morning. Legs feeling a little better today but still beat up some, can
mostly feel it on the downhills in my quads. Hopefully they start
feeling better before Saturday's big workout.
-- 20mins in the hot tub once I got home from work. Heat training but mostly hoping it helps with the dead legs.
Friday:
-NOTE: Weight check in: 165.4 lbs at 7.6% bodyfat. Mostly flat for the most part, up 1 pound from last week but I still consider that flat. I did start snacking more since last week was such a huge drop from the week before so good to see the weight stabilize some.
7 AM: 9.4 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 7:25pace. Easy cruise from Coalton Trailhead west into Rocky Flats and back after
dropping Paula off at DIA. She is off in Missouri racing the 24 Hour Mid-West Adventure Race Championships, if they do good enough then they get invited to Nationals. This route is one of my favorite runs that is
within 10 or so minutes from the house. Super chill just cruising. Ran
into Bryan P on the way back and finished the last few miles with that
youngster (he's 28), why the pace dropped down to 6:30-6:50 the last few miles. 20 minutes in the hot tub right when I got home before logging into work.
2 PM: 2 mile afternoon walk with Venus... have dog duty all weekend since she is gone of course.
Saturday:
-- Finished book 13 of the year this morning before going out to run. An ok read.. For Love of the Grind by Sara Hall. Back to fiction books for one or two books.
8:30 AM: 22 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 6:40pace. Last really marathon focused long run in the block. Legs came back
today after being sore all week which was needed. Solo at Davidson Mesa
putting my fluids and gels at the trailhead so I could hit them every 3
miles which is about how I will use the aid stations in the marathon.
Workout was:
2.5 hrs with 10/8/6/4/2 min fast/ 2 min easy between each in the middle. want these no faster than a half-marathon effort. Keep it very controlled.
Went great, intervals were in the 5:40s-5:50s. Of course I was trashed the rest of the day and useless but that is just part of the process.
3 PM: 2 mile dog walk with Venus later in the afternoon once I was somewhat more functioning than I was after my run.
Sunday:
8 AM: 9 miles averaging 8min pace. Meet Don, Brandon, Ben, Michi, and Veronica down at Crown Hill Park for
easy laps around the park bullshitting. Good way to keep me from
pushing to hard and planned that on purpose after yesterday's run.
After getting brunch with the crew took off up north to meet JT, Katie, George, and Donnie to catch up as well since JT was in town for a race. Always a good time and that was more socialization in one day today than I do in a month sometimes.
-- Picked up Paula from the airport in the afternoon. Next time you see her tell her congrats for winning the Midwest 24hour Adventure Racing Championships and being invited to Nationals. I am still trying to talk her into going to Nationals in Bend. I think she needs to do it, we aren't getting any younger.
-- 20mins in the hot tub this afternoon as well.
Total Weekly Numbers
Very solid week.... needed this week to help build a little bit more confidence. Funny how after doing the intervals in the middle of my long run on Saturday my easy effort pace was much quicker around 6:40 after the intervals than before the intervals when it was around 7-7:15pace. Funny how that works. Anyways super pleased on the week. Getting there fitness wise I think.... Quadrock this coming weekend which does not really help me with my build up for the marathon next month, I signed up for this when I thought I was still doing Tahoe 200 as part of the build up for that. Thought about skipping it and just putting in another solid marathon long run in but 25 miles with 5500ft can help too I guess. Still pondering so open to suggestions, should I still do Quadrock or stick to focusing only on marathon training this weekend instead?
