Weekly Summary – 144 miles in 14 runs. Finally, feeling good and consistent here in Quito! A great week w/ lots of hilly miles, sleep, and sunshine. Two great workouts including some hilly km repeats on Wed and back-to-back long runs making a 53 mile weekend. Saturday’s session was a real ball-buster. Rolling with the positive momentum!

 

Don’t forget, you can follow me day to day on Instagram and Twitter (@TylerCAndrews) and my daily training log on Trackster.

Oh and hey if you’re reading this and don’t know about STRIVE, you should probably check ’em out. I lead groups through the mountains of Peru on a  journey of running, service learning, and adventure. If you’re interested, join us this summer, when we’ll once again have programs for High School and Internships for College students, and even 10-day trips for adults and families.

Lastly, I’m very grateful to support from Outback Physcial Therapy here in Somerville, MA. Dr. Ithamar Jokowitz has been a great help in analyzing my gate and physiology and helping me put together a specific strength-training regimen to really dial things in. If you’re interested in improving your running mechanics, enhancing your recovery, learning about what injuries you might be at risk for, or even get your VO2 max tested, he’s definitely the guy to see in the area!

 

Lunes, 6 de Enero, 2020 – 08:15: Slept very long and woke up a bit later. Ran up to the metro for the first time this trip. A bit wet and cool to start off, but not too bad. Ran up Portugal from CP (only had one 6’00+ km, but didn’t look at the watch until after). Really beautiful up there as always, not too muddy. Did the usual loop and was very pleasantly surprised to find the avg pace much quicker than expected at the usual spot outside the park (4’49 avg at that point). Ran down Eloy and stopped a bunch to scope out some apartments. Finally headed to Carolina and ran just to the track. Did drills and 6x strides in 1’26 and then 200m in 31.5. Finished easy to Megamaxi to grab yogurt and then home. Total run 18km+ in 1’22’30.

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes

15:00: Ran over to Bosmediano to visit an apartment there, then ran down to Carolina. Really nice out and sunny. Did 2 big laps in 16’01, 15’48, then to the track and around the grass for 11km-. Kept pace very easy about 4’28 to that point. Drills and then 4x strides in 1’26. Saw a Kenyan guy who said hi and so went to jog w/ him after strides. Turns out he’s Boaz Korir, who I’ve met before (which we realized when he was giving me his phone number). Hopefully, we can add another international Chasqui to the stable. Easy back. Total run 12.5km in 56’.

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes, pedestal (9x weights) + jwal core

 

Martes, 7 de Enero, 2020 – 06:45am: Ran solo around the park a half lap and then down to the Estadio. Met up w/ the gang there and did an extended warmup w/ the new coach (Freddy) and group (which includes 2 Kenyan guys). Felt pretty good and did a reasonable amount of drills and then 4km easy on the grass. The guys were doing a fartlek of 4’ on, 2’ off, 2’ on, 1’ off for 45’. I basically told the coach that I wasn’t going to do that today and he was like “ehh go for it” so I left with them (since they were running at the park) and started the session but dropped after 2’ at 3’30 pace. Absolutely wasn’t going to happen today, as I planned.

Jogged back to the stadium and then did my original plan which was just a small amount of short hills on the hill right alongside the stadium. Actually felt really good on these and kept it at 6x which is about the max I let myself do w/o really calling it a workout. Cooled down back inside and then w/ Isra nice and slow on the grass. Total run 12km++ in 61’ (though it took like 3.5 hours).

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes, hips

13:40: Early double just because I felt like it. 2 big laps (15’45, 15’19) to the track and then did 4x strides in 1’20 — very quick! Finished easy and then over to Inaquito to finish.

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes

 

Miercoles, 8 de Enero, 2020 – Sparknotes: 10x [1K @ 3’12.9, 30” rec, 200m uphill @ 33.7, 2’30 rec] on hilly road out/back.

 08:25: Drove down to Chaquiñan for solo workout today. Warmed up on the trail and then changed into Carb X for the workout and jogged over to the rolling 1K stretch of road that runs along the reservoir. Planned to do 10x [1K, short rec, 200m quick]. I hoped the 1Ks would be around USOT marathon pace since it’s a fairly hilly stretch of road. I figured under 3’20s would be solid.

Did drills, 4x strides, 200m in 35.6. NB stashed a bottle of nuun which was gone after my first two reps which was a bummer as it was very hot and sunny.

The route is uphill and then downhill in both directions, with the odd reps feeling quite a bit harder due to what I think is a net uphill direction and a significant climb from about 150m-450m.

Anyway, this was one of those workouts that just felt hard immediately and never got better or worse (as they often do at altitude for me. Ended up doing 1K, 30” jog, 200m (both of which were uphill, though the even reps were all uphill and the odd reps had a bit of downhill and then up), 2’30 jog between sets. I got slower in the first 2 sets, 3’09, 09, ‘12, ‘12, and then ran #5 in 3’18 and thought I might be done, but rallied well and ran 3’13 and then 3’12-14 for the rest. All the 200s were consistent at 32.x for the odd reps and 34.x for the even reps.

Overall this was a really solid workout mentally and physically. Really pleased to stick with it when it felt tough even like 1’ into the first rep and then especially after the slow 5th rep. Really stayed in the moment well.

Cooled down on the other side of the res. Extremely dehydrated and hot. Total run 

Splits:
1000 m (3’09.8) 3’09.8 (37’45.8)
rec m (0’28.0) 3’37.8 (27’49.9)
200 m (0’34.4) 4’12.2 (3’12.9)
rec m (2’28.2) 6’40.4 (0’29.3)
1000 m (3’09.3) 9’49.7 (0’33.7)
rec m (0’32.1) 10’21.8 (2’30.6)
200 m (0’32.8) 10’54.6
rec m (2’37.0) 13’31.6
1000 m (3’12.4) 16’44.0
rec m (0’30.9) 17’14.9
200 m (0’34.5) 17’49.4
rec m (2’33.7) 20’23.1
1000 m (3’12.6) 23’35.7
rec m (0’29.5) 24’05.2
200 m (0’32.7) 24’37.9
rec m (2’29.0) 27’06.9
1000 m (3’17.8) 30’24.7
rec m (0’29.5) 30’54.2
200 m (0’34.5) 31’28.7
rec m (2’38.0) 34’06.7
1000 m (3’13.5) 37’20.2
rec m (0’26.0) 37’46.2
200 m (0’33.7) 38’19.9
rec m (2’32.0) 40’51.9
1000 m (3’14.7) 44’06.6
rec m (0’29.0) 44’35.6
200 m (0’34.9) 45’10.5
rec m (2’29.0) 47’39.5
1000 m (3’11.7) 50’51.2
rec m (0’30.0) 51’21.2
200 m (0’33.0) 51’54.2
rec m (2’39.0) 54’33.2
1000 m (3’14.6) 57’47.8
rec m (0’31.0) 58’18.8
200 m (0’33.9) 58’52.7
rec m (2’31.0) 1’23.7
1000 m (3’12.1) 4’35.8
rec m (0’27.0) 5’02.8
200 m (0’32.9) 5’35.7

 

XT: Heel drops/toes. before I left Chaq but then in the car forever getting back to the city and went to Greg’s and then pool, so that’s all.

16:30: Ran later after a lovely afternoon w/ Greg relaxing in the super-hot sun, in the pool, playing chess, etc. Felt pretty bad on this one. Don’t think I ate quite enough. Ran 2 big laps (16’13, 16’16) and then felt like I was going to die getting to the track and did 2 laps to just round up. Did drills and 4x strides in 1’25 which actually felt better than the running. Finished easy down to Tasty Korean which was closed (no!) so jogged home. Total run 12.5km in 56’. 

XT: Ate some when I got back and then did the full shebang. Heel drops, monster walk, upper bands, lower bands, beach ball, toes. Then leg circuit (3x 10x rep each exercise, first 1x w/ no weight, 2x w/ weight vest): static lunge (on balance pad), step up/down, split squat, side lunge, air squat. Took a long time! About 7pm by the time I was done but got to watch the sunset on the roof.

 

Jueves, 9 de Enero, 2020 – 08:30: Easy run up to the metro. Beautiful, clear morning. Stopped at one of the overlooks and got some great shots of Cayambe. Thought I was running slower than last time, so surprised to see 4’46 avg at the usual spot just below the park. This is really quite quick for metro running. Ran down Eloy to Carolina and did half lap to the track at 15km in 69’. Did drills and then 6x strides in 2’06 and then 200m in 32.2. Beautiful day. Ran shirtless for most of this. Total run 17km+ in 77’. 

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes

15:17: Easy run around Carolina, 2 big laps in 16’05, 15’43. Felt 1000x better than yesterday PM. Easy to the track at 11km and then did drills, 4x strides in ?? (watch glitched on stride 3), but felt good. Easy jog home. Total run 12km+ in 52’.

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes, pedestal (9x weights), Jwal core

Really noticed a difference on the Jwal core today. The hipflexor intensive things felt much better. I’m getting stronger from all this core and hills, I think!

 

Viernes, 10 de Enero, 2020 – 07:40: Slept very well and long, like 10.5 hours last night. Woke up later than planned and got out the door in 40 min. Ran Chasqui loop around metro. Felt good and kept things easy w/ big effort tomorrow. 4’49 avg out of the park. Stopped and did strides on the road up there, 6x in 2’00 and then 200m (garmin, downhill) in 33.x. Finished down the hill fairly quick ~3’40. Total run 14km+ in 64’.

XT: Heel drops, toes only, giving everything else a break today.

16:00: Ran easy to the park and then only like 2km to the track to do strides as I was meeting Brittany and wanted to finish up early. Drills and 4x strides and then jogged over to the corner to meet her. Ran 1.5 big laps w/ her, very relaxed. Felt great. Really nice to force myself to run slower. Total run 12km in 56’. 

XT: Heel drops, toes

 

Sabado, 11 de Enero, 2020 – Sparknotes: Hilly 30km in 2h00 (4’01 avg) + 25x 400m up/down @ 79.8 / 71.7 avg (1’ rec, 3’ b/w sets of 5). 

07:30: Up at 05:30, slept pretty poorly. Drove down to Chaquiñan around 07:00 to meet Boaz Korir for the session today. Plan was similar to the workout that Matt and I did in Ollantaytambo this summer. 2h00 of moderate running and then 25x400m on the road. Big difference was that this would be a much hillier workout. The 30km would be on the Chaq which is relentlessly hilly and then the 400s would be on the paved 1K stretch of road on the west side of the reservoir. I’d done 1Ks on this stretch on Wed and figured the first 400m would be very tough but appropriate. It starts off gentle downhill for about 90m and then gradual up to about 150m and then steeply uphill all the way to 400m. We’d run back and forth w/ 1’ rec and 3’ between sets. I figured if I could average 80s up and 70s down, that’d be fantastic.

The first 30km felt like a whole separate run. Boaz only ran to 10km w/ me, so that felt like a nice mental check-point. Always forget how hard the Chaq is until the first time I do a run like this. The trail is much rougher than say Battle Road or even most of the Pisaq Roads (or maybe I’m just spoiled running on the river in Boston and don’t remember). Running 4’00 pace there is not that easy, despite the slightly lower altitude.

Ran well and made it down into the canyon. Got pretty hot and turned back just before the first tunnel at 15km. Coming back out of the canyon was brutal (had a couple 4’30s) and then knew it was net downhill all the way to the 2.5km to go point, so tried to just relax. Only took 2 short breaks at around 20 and 25K to pee/take caff pill. Hung on well in the last 2.5km which is unrelenting steep uphill.

Got back and found Boaz and changed into Carb X and jogged over to the road. Honestly, really wasn’t sure how this was going to go. Felt pretty worked from that 30km, didn’t feel easy, and really had no idea. Still just told myself to get through one set of 5x.

Did drills and 2 short strides and that was it. Very hot and sunny at this point.

First rep was uphill and felt really hard and ran 1’21. Thought maybe that was a bad sign but just went with it. Ran back down in 1’12 and was pleased to see the next few reps getting quicker, not slower, (79, 71, 77).

The 3’ rest actually felt quite long and the next set went well. I think it was after these 10x that I first thought, “yes, I think I can do this whole session.” I made it to 15x and at that point, Boaz was running 300s. I was still maintaining the same pace but that long uphill stretch kept getting harder.

Finally, Boaz ran 200s in the last set which was a lovely mental boost. Tried to push but had absolutely no more gears. Felt like I was going to poop myself on the last 3 reps. Last rep I went super hard for the first 200 and then felt like I was walking the last 150m up the hill. Must have split like 32/48.

Walked back down and jogged it in. Big, big day.

Really good work out there. Great to have company. This compares very favorably to the flatter version in Ollanta. Hills here are no joke. I’m enjoying all this hill work, though. Excited for some hilly races to come.

Total run 43.5km in 3h13.

Fueling: Ate 2-3 oreos at T-5’, 30’, 60’, 90’. Took a caff. 100mg pill at 90’ as well. Took one last Maurten gel at about rep #12-14. Drank ~1L of caff nuun (shared w/ Boaz), first 500mL in the first 30km, second during the reps. Could have drank much more. Extremely thirsty.

400 m (1’21.0) 1’21.0 (31’37.5 of work, 75.6 avg)
rec m (1’01.0) 2’22.0
400 m (1’11.9) 3’33.9 avg up: (1’19.8)
rec m (1’01.0) 4’34.9
400 m (1’19.0) 5’53.9 avg down: (1’11.7)
rec m (0’58.0) 6’51.9
400 m (1’10.7) 8’02.6
rec m (0’58.0) 9’00.6
400 m (1’17.9) 10’18.5
rec m (3’15.0) 13’33.5
400 m (1’11.4) 14’44.9
rec m (1’04.0) 15’48.9
400 m (1’20.2) 17’09.1
rec m (1’00.0) 18’09.1
400 m (1’11.3) 19’20.4
rec m (1’00.0) 20’20.4
400 m (1’19.7) 21’40.1
rec m (1’01.0) 22’41.1
400 m (1’10.2) 23’51.3
rec m (3’00.0) 26’51.3
400 m (1’21.1) 28’12.4
rec m (1’01.0) 29’13.4
400 m (1’12.7) 30’26.1
rec m (1’03.0) 31’29.1
400 m (1’17.9) 32’47.0
rec m (1’03.0) 33’50.0
400 m (1’11.9) 35’01.9
rec m (1’08.0) 36’09.9
400 m (1’19.9) 37’29.8
rec m (2’59.0) 40’28.8
400 m (1’13.5) 41’42.3
rec m (1’04.0) 42’46.3
400 m (1’18.8) 44’05.1
rec m (1’00.0) 45’05.1
400 m (1’11.4) 46’16.5
rec m (1’02.0) 47’18.5
400 m (1’21.7) 48’40.2
rec m (1’03.0) 49’43.2
400 m (1’12.8) 50’56.0
rec m (2’57.0) 53’53.0
400 m (1’19.7) 55’12.7
rec m (1’07.0) 56’19.7
400 m (1’10.2) 57’29.9
rec m (0’57.0) 58’26.9
400 m (1’20.4) 59’47.3
rec m (1’11.4) 1’00’58.7
400 m (1’12.0) 1’02’10.7
rec m (0’59.0) 1’03’09.7
400 m (1’20.2) 1’04’29.9

XT: OFF

 

15:30: Relaxing afternoon w/ Boaz at the apt and chilling in the pool, napping on the rooftop. Went out for an easy true Kenyan shakeout. Ran laps around the outside of the giant track on the grass. First km was like 5’30 and then settled around 4’40s. Pretty beat but good to shake out. Finished w/ drills and 4x strides relaxed. Total run 6.5km in 30’30.

XT: After Boaz left, put my big kid pants on and did full leg circuit (3x 10x rep each exercise, first 1x w/ no weight, 2x w/ weight vest): static lunge (NO balance pad as ankles were sore), step up/down, split squat, side lunge, air squat. Phew.

 

Domingo, 12 de Enero, 2020 – 08:45: Slept very long last night. I think it’s true that my ability to sleep my be my greatest talent for distance running. Beautiful sunny day again. Ran on the ciclopaseo. Wasn’t sure how far I’d go, but kept the idea open for back-to-back long runs if things felt good. Ran the first 2km in like 10’ but then started to loosen up. Ran SoBo and didn’t really look at my watch until around 10km (other side of the Panecillo) and was around 45’. Decided to go out an hour. Felt good so went to 14km in 63’ and then turned back. Settled in mostly around 4’10s-20s. Lovely morning. Ate 8 oreos total w/ 2-3 at 40’, 60’, 90’. Finished at the track and did drills, 6x strides slow (2’10), 200m (dodging folks) in 33.6. Jogged home. Total run 28.5km+ in 2h05.

XT: Heel drops, toes only. Pretty worked. Longer session in the PM.

15:15: Easy shakeout around the park. Thought about taking the PM off w/ the bigger morning but it was nice out again. Mostly on grass. 1 big lap slow in 16’44 (lots of pedestrian dodging since it’s Sunday). Drills and 4x strides on sidewalk since the track was way too crowded. Jogged home. Total run 6.5km+ in 30’. 

XT: Heel drops, one leg bands, upper hands, monster walk, beach ball (9x weights), toes, pedestal (9x weights), Jwal core. Tired!