Weekly Summary – 74 miles in 13 runs. A good tune-up victory at the Somerville 4 miler and then a nice easy workout on Sunday. Feeling GREAT with the big drop in mileage (now less than 50% of my peak). Less than a week to CIM!!
Lunes, 24 Noviembre, 2014 – 11am: Slept late and lazy morning. Warm out – almost 60F, but drizzly. Ran first 3M very slow with David to Davis and then on the gobble gobble course. Felt good. A bit sore at first but warmed up. Total run 8.5M in 61’.
5pm: Easy run late on C-loop. Still pretty warm. Total run 3.5M in 23’.
XT: Core, 12’.
Martes, 25 Noviembre, 2014 – 9am: Ran solo on Gobble course and then home. Legs felt very good out the door. Running quickish by the end. Total run 6M+, 10k, in 41’.
3pm: Ran solo to Davis and then did drills and long strides (150-200m) along the last mile of the race course. Felt very good. Timed 200m in 31. Ran back after. Felt good overall. Total run 4.5M in 29’.
XT: Off.
Miercoles, 26 Noviembre, 2014 – 9am: Ran with Mariana and David for 3M very easy and then 2M a bit quicker. Felt good. Cold in the 30s and drizzle. Ugh. Total run 5M in 39’.
4pm: Ran solo on lakes to the grocery store. Really ugly weather – slushy sidewalks and wet snow coming down. Very slippery. Total run 3M+, NT.
XT: Hips.
Jueves, 27 Noviembre, 2014 – 9am: Woke up early, before 5am, for Somerville Gobble x3 4 mile Turkey Trot. Had a bagel and cup of black coffee and then another half cup of coffee around 7:30am before heading out.
Jogged to Davis to pick up my number and then sat around for a bit before heading out to warm up. Cold, about 30F, though not too windy, so not so bad. Warmed up about 3M in 20’ and then did drills and strides. Did one longer stretch, running the first 350m or so of the course.
The goal was mostly to just win the race and get a good solid tempo effort. I’ve run this course a few times and had never won – I think my fastest time before this was about 20’30 for the very hilly 4 mile course.
I should mention the course because it is deceptively tough. The course is almost never flat – with a steep ~300m uphill start and then it’s rolling until about 1.5M. From there, it’s a long, gradual uphill climb to about 5km where these a steep downhill kilometer and then a flat 400m or so to the finish. It’s a very tough course.
The race started actually about a minute early, but luckily I was on the line and ready. I ended up racing in the HOKA ONE ONE Cliftons and the HOKA kit with just hat and gloves.
The race went out about as I expected – within about 200m I was on my own. I didn’t feel great, but the uphill start was tough. I was then running downhill and starting to feel much better, passing the 1km in 3’04 – way behind the 2’55-57 that I wanted. I figured it was going to just be slower than I wanted.
The next km was quicker, with a short uphill and then a longer downhill section before the long up – and that was quicker – 2’57, passing the mile in about 4’49 (I was hoping for 4’40-45).
From there, it was a rough 3km uphill through ball square to the top of the course. I slowed down each km – running 3’05, 3’12, 3’21 (!!) – that’s REALLY slow. Yikes!
That very slow 5th km brought me to the very top of the course and the next km was very fast and almost entirely downhill in 2’53, bringing me to 6km in 18’34. My garmin read from 6km to the finish as .44km (pretty much exactly correct) in 1’14.9 – about 4’30/mile, 2’48/km pace – and brought me into the finish at 19’50. This was good as I clearly had plenty left to kick.
Overall, this was pretty much what I expected. I was afraid I was going to finish and feel not all that tired since I just wasn’t used to making myself work this hard over such a (relatively) short race. And that’s basically how I felt. I really struggled just to run fast during most of this race, which is honestly not that surprising given how little work I’ve done at that pace, particularly on tough terrain like this.
Anyway, great to get the win and a good effort on the day. Definitely didn’t take too much out of me, so now I’m just looking forward to resting up and looking forward to CIM in 10 days!!
Cooled down with Gordon, Mariana, and Jon Waldron who came to support me – very fun!
Total run 11M+.
Splits:
1 (3’04.4)
2 (2’57.3) 6’01.7
3 (3’05.3) 9’07.0
4 (3’12.4) 12’19.4
5 (3’21.9) 15’41.3
6 (2’53.4) 18’34.7
6.44km (1’14.9) 19’49.6
5pm: Got dropped off about halfway to Mariana’s folks house to get my afternoon run in between our two family Thanksgiving obligations. Felt totally fine – definitely didn’t go that hard this morning. Total run 5km, 3M+ in 21’.
XT: Off.
Mid-stride at the Somerville Gobble Gobble Gobble 4-miler
Viernes, 28 Noviembre, 2014 – 9am: Easy run solo from Mariana’s parents’ place. Ran on the Charles and felt very good. Around 7’00/M to start and down to under 6’00/M by the end. Felt very relaxed – surprised to look down and see I was running that quick at the end. Total run 7M in 45’.
4pm: Easy run with Mariana through Davis. Very slow – felt fine. Total run 3M+ in 25’.
XT: Core, 10’.
Sabado, 29 Noviembre, 2014 – 9am: Ran solo on LL out and back. Felt fine, pretty cold ~25F. Total run 5M in 34’.
4pm: Ran to marathon sports and back to try out a pair of shoes. Running quick. Felt good. Total run 5M in 31’.
XT: OFF.
Domingo, 30 Noviembre, 2014 – 10am: Light workout today. Warmed up about 2km easy with drills and one longer stride (~400m at MP). Workout was 10km progression run from moderate to HMP or a bit quicker.
Started off just under 6’00/mile (3’40/km) and then brought it down about 5sec/km for the first few km. Felt very easy at first. Running close to MP by about 5km (passed in 17’26), then kept it relatively steady (3’10-15/km) through 8km.
Picked up the pace the last 3km (8’59.2), running 3’04.9, 2’59.7, 2’54.6. This honestly didn’t feel hard at all until the last 1600m or so. The last km felt fast, but not impossible. I was never going close to all out, just running hard and even.
Overall, it was 10km in 32’49 (5’16/3’16 pace). The last 5km was 15’23.
A very good workout – a good confidence booster but shouldn’t leave my legs too tired moving forward. Still feeling fresher and better everyday. 1 week to go!
Cooled down short ~2M to the gym for (light) legs and then home.
Total run 10M.
1 (3’40.1)
2 (3’35.7) 7’15.8
3 (3’33.9) 10’49.7
4 (3’20.4) 14’10.1
5 (3’16.1) 17’26.2 (17’26.2)
6 (3’14.0) 20’40.2
7 (3’10.3) 23’50.5
8 (3’04.9) 26’55.4
9 (2’59.7) 29’55.1
10 (2’54.6) 32’49.7 (15’23.5)
PM: Off.
XT: Legs at the gym. Felt good. Only 2 SETS of [step ups (10x each leg, 20 lb bar), walking overhead lunge (16x, 5lb plate), dynamic lunge (8x each leg, 20lb bar), deep squat (8x, 30 lb bar).
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